The Laboratory was used by Alexander for his chemical studies. A note suggests that the baron was trying to artificially create Vitae. However, his efforts have since been failures, as all he could create was a highly acidic liquid, which reacts violently with organic tissue.[1]
This must be prepared from scratch gathering the ingredients from the Wine Cellar. The ingredients needed for the solution are:
To prepare the solution, the chemicals must be put on the bunsen burners. In the center of the room there is a grating, where a Kaernk can be heard splashing if your sanity is low enough. In the desk of which the note is on, there is also one of Alexander's Memory Capsules.
During the time location of the game, the Laboratory is in a notable state of disrepair. Some walls have caved in, and when the player starts to create the acid, the Shadow will cause the main staircase to fall apart, so you have to use a wooden board found resting on a pillar nearby to climb on.
Locations
The Laboratory has two large areas. The first one is a wide open room. In this room, there are a few shelves holding oil bottles, a Tinderbox, and crates. There is to be a doorway in one part of the room, however, it is blocked by debris. The Shadow will roar if you approach the cave-in.
The second area is smaller and holds the actual laboratory. There is a small part of this room where crates and boxes are being held. There, the player can find a tinderbox. In another part of the room there is a note to instruct the preparing the acid, where the player makes it to later dissolve the organic matter.
Trivia
The four chemicals being mixed together.
Oddly, the only ingredient needed to burn away organic tissue, in this case the Shadow's residue, would be Aqua Regia. Aqua Regia on its own is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid already powerful enough to dissolve or purify Gold. There would be no reason to add things like Orpiment, Cuprite, or Calamine. Also, Aqua Regia is red or yellow in real life, but it's green in the game, probably due to a designer's oversight.[2]
Also, it is unlikely that it could possibly be stored in Daniel's chemical pot because it would burn right through it. It's possible, however, that the other ingredients render the mixture ineffective on non-organic tissue, or simply that the chemical pot is made out of titanium or some other metal capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of the Aqua Regia.[2]
Furthermore, if the organic tissue is muscular in nature and therefore composed of protein, a base would be much more effective at dissolving it for its ability to hydrolyse polypeptide bonds.[citation needed]
In 1839, when the game was taking place, Cuprite hadn't even been classified as such (this happened in 1845).[citation needed]
It's possible, though, that it did exist on Alexander's dimension, and he had knowledge of it before arriving at Brennenburg.
