I read that story too and as I recall it the smith with the secret receipe was in cahoots with the pharmacist and the receipe read "An Aqueous Solution of Sodium Chloride".
Theophilus in "Divers Arts" written around 1120 A.D. suggested the urine of a red headed boy or that of a goat fed ferns for three days. Both of them work but have such an amusing smell when the hot steel hits them...
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Thomas
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