But Theophilus explains that the “gentiles” (that is, Muslims) have commendable skill in making basilisks. They lock up two old roosters in a narrow place and overfeed them until they copulate and lay eggs. The eggs are given to toads, who hatch them into chicks that soon grow serpents’ tails and mature into basilisks. The basilisks are raised underground in kettles and later incinerated, their ashes mixed with vinegar and blood, and the paste smeared onto plates of copper. Exposure to fire then turns this copper into fine gold.
