A closer look
The Ripley Scroll is a 20-foot-long masterpiece of 15th-century Renaissance trolling. Ostensibly an instructional manual for creating the Philosopher's Stone to achieve immortality and infinite gold, the scroll is entirely devoid of actual chemistry. Instead, it relies on deeply unhinged poetry about a giant toad drinking the juices of the earth until it bursts and turns into a dragon. It's essentially an incredibly elaborate medieval riddle designed to make wealthy patrons think the author knew magic.
