SPRING QUARTER, 2006
Department of History
University of California, Irvine
Instructor: Dr. Barbara J. Becker
Week 2. Vitality excerpts from
|
Tractate i -- Stones in General
Chapter 2: The Material of Stones
|
|
Albertus Magnus |
To begin, then, with our treatment of the nature of stones: we say in general that the material of all stone is either some form of Earth or some form of Water. For one or the other of these elements predominates in stones; and even in stones in which some form of Water seems to predominate, something of Earth is also important. Evidence of this is that nearly all kinds of stones sink in water: and so they must be rich in the material of Earth.... Now no kind of stone floats, unless it is spongy, or burnt and made spongy by burning, like pumice and the stone spewed out by hot springs and the fire of a volcano; and even of these, if they are reduced to powder, the powder sinks in water. Furthermore, if in transparent stones there were not something earthy mixed with the Water and imposing a boundary on the moisture, they would not sink in water, as rock crystal and beryl do; for ice and the other things that are entirely or chiefly made up of Water do not sink. And likewise, all stones that are produced in the kidneys and bladders of animals are made of a viscous [thick, sticky liquid; molasses-like], gross, and earthy moisture; and therefore something of the sort must be the material of stones.
In speaking in particular of those stones which are made of Earth, it is perfectly clear that in these Earth is not the only material, for this would not cohere into solid stone. For we say that the cause of coherence and mixing is moisture, which is so subtle that it makes every part of the Earth flow into every other part; and this is the cause of the thorough mixing of the parts of the material. And in that case, if this moisture were not soaked all through the earthy parts, holding them fast, but evaporated when the stone solidified, then there would be left only loose, earthy dust. Thus there must be something viscous and sticky, so that its parts join with the earthy parts like the links of a chain. Then the earthy dryness holds fast to the moisture, and the watery moisture existing within the dryness gives it coherence....
And that it is the viscous and unctuous [oil-like] moisture which gives coherence to the material of stone is indicated by the fact that the animals called shellfish are very commonly produced with their shells in stones. These are extremely common in the stones found [at Paris], in which there are many small holes shaped like the shells which some people call moonshells. For the cause of this is the moisture which has evaporated there; and being confined by the surrounding material, it rolled itself up, hardening first on the outside and coiling inwards, and received vital spirit....
Chapter 5: The Efficient Cause of Stones,
According to the Correct Opinion; and its Particular Instruments
Now, drawing the correct conclusion from all this, we say that in very truth the productive cause [of stones] is a mineralizing power which is active in forming stones. For the mineralizing power is a certain power, common to the production of both stones and metals, and of things intermediate between them. And we say in addition that if this is active in forming stones, it becomes a special [power for producing] stones. And because we have no special name for this power, we are obliged to explain by analogies what it is.
Let us say, then, that just as in an animal's seed, which is a residue from its food, there comes from the seminal vessels a force capable of forming an animal, which [actually] forms and produces an animal, and is in the seed in the same way that an artisan is in the artifact that he makes by his art; so in material suitable for stones there is a power that forms and produces stones, and develops the form of this stone or that. This can be seen still more distinctly in the gums that ooze out of trees; for we see that these are moisture that has been intensely acted upon by earthy dryness; and so they are solidified by cold. But when they remain in the tree and do not ooze out, a force in the tree converts them into wood and leaves and fruit. In exactly the same way it happens that, when dry material that has been acted upon by unctuous moisture, or moist material that has been acted upon by earthy dryness, is made suitable for stones, there is produced in this, too, by the power of the stars and the place, as will be shown below, a power capable of forming stone -- just like the productive power in the seed from the testicles, when it has been drawn into the seminal vessels; and each separate material [has] its own peculiar power, according to its own specific form....
And ... every formative power which makes anything into a specific form has its own particular instrument by which it acts and produces its work: so this power, too, existing in the particular material of stones, has two instruments according to different natural conditions.
One of these is heat, which is active in drawing out moisture and digesting the material and bringing about its solidification into the form of stone, in Earth that has been acted upon by unctuous moisture. And this heat is controlled in its operations by a formative power, just as the heat which digests and transmutes the seed of an animal is controlled by the formative power in the seed. For otherwise, undoubtedly if the heat were excessive it would burn the material to ashes; or if it were insufficient it would leave the material undigested and unfit for the form of a stone.
The other instrument is in watery moist material that has been acted upon by earthy dryness; and this [instrument] is cold, which is not so active in congealing moisture [in stones] as it is in metals, but which is active in expelling moisture: for this produces the most intense hardening and solidification. And since it completely expels moisture, so that only enough remains in the material to hold it together, such stones can by no means be liquefied by dry heat....
There is one other thing to be noted about this instrument -- namely, that cold, although by no means effective in producing life in living things, nevertheless [is effective] in producing stones; because stones are not far removed from the elements, and in the material [of stones] the elements are only slightly transmuted; and therefore the qualities of the elements in them remain very little altered.
Chapter 6: The Substantial Form of Stones
It seems madness to have any doubts concerning the substantial forms of stones; for sight assures [us] that they are all solidified and their material is fixed according to a definite, specific form. For if the arrangement of the elements were only such as occurs in the successive transmutations of one element into another, or into something else -- as, for example, in clouds, rain, and snow -- then certainly [stones] would not long remain as they are, but after a while would be dissolved again into elements; and we see that the nature of stones is just the opposite of this. Moreover, we find in stones powers which are not those of any element at all -- such as counteracting poison, driving away abscesses, attracting or repelling iron; and, as we shall show later, it is the common opinion of all wise men that this power is the consequence of the specific form of this or that stone. From this it is firmly established that stones do have specific forms.
These forms are not souls, as some of the ancients thought; for ... the soul has [not] one function only, but many, which it performs by its own power and not by chance; but the nature of stone has only one function, and what it performs is performed by necessity, which is not so with the soul. Furthermore, the first function of the soul is life; but no characteristics of life are found in stones. For if a stone used food, it would necessarily have pores or channels by which food would sink into it; and that this is not so is shown by the hardness and compactness of many stones, which prevent them from being divided and opened up for the intake of food. Furthermore, if [a stone] used food, it would necessarily have a part for drawing in the food in the first place, like the roots of plants or the mouth of animals; and we see nothing like this in stones. Nor is it correct to say that the soul of a stone is weighed down by earthiness, so that it cannot exercise [the powers of] life and sense, as many natural scientists have claimed. For according to this belief, nature would fail in something which was necessary, in not giving a stone the organs by which it might carry on its necessary functions. Stones, therefore, have no souls; but they do have substantial forms, imparted by the powers of heaven and by the particular mixture of their elements....
Summarizing all that has been said, then, we say that a stone is not a combination, but a simple mixture, solidified into its own form by a mineralizing power. And from this, it further appears that stone is of a more homeomerous [uniform] nature than living things are, although it, too, is essentially made up of different elements. For this reason the science of stones should be taken up before the science of combinations....
Chapter 9: How the Power of the Place Acts upon the Nature of Stones
There remains one more thing [necessary] for understanding everything that has been said. This is that we should determine how the power of one thing attacks the substance of another and transforms it into itself. Now this can be understood from what we have said about the transmutations of the elements into each other. For when Earth converts Water into [Earth], first of all the powers of Earth enter into the substance [of Water] and alter it and, as it were, master it and hold it fast; and then the Water begins to grow firm and be limited by a boundary [to solidify], although as yet it does not lose its transparency; and then finally it is destroyed and passes into Earth, and takes on the qualities of Earth, opacity and dryness. It is the same with the other elements when they are transmuted into each other. And it is just the same, too, with the powers of mixed substances, as is shown by the juice of plants and the food of animals. For in these the powers of living things first of all alter, and then, as it were, attack the material and hold it fast, and afterwards convert it into the part of the body that is being nourished. And it is just exactly the same with the stone-forming power when it penetrates anywhere, whether in Water or in Earth: first of all it alters the material it touches, and then masters and holds it fast, and after so holding and overcoming it, converts it into stone.
This action generally occurs in three ways, although really the number of ways is infinite. One of these [ways] is that the power attacking the material alters it only as to the active [heat and cold] and passive [moist and dry] qualities by which the action takes place; and this is a weak power. The second way is that it alters not only the qualities of the material but also the secondary effects of these qualities, which are hardness and softness; [but still] in such a way that the transparency or opacity of the material is not removed; and this is a stronger power, and in this way transparent stones are produced. The third way is that it attacks the material completely, not only the secondary effects but also the consequences of these; and thus alters the qualities, and the hardness and softness, and even the colour that belongs to the material. And in this way there are sometimes produced from Water stones that are not transparent, or not completely so, like chalcedony and the kind called 'toadstone', and some others....
An example of this is that sometimes the earthy force, which acts upon moisture by compelling cold and dryness, acts upon Water in such a way that there remains in it some power of such cold and dryness; and then things that are washed in such Water are intensely dried out and cooled. The alchemists try very hard to make waters of this kind, which have the qualities of different elements -- not actually but as a [potential] power -- so as to use them in drying out and solidifying what they wish to transmute....
Tractate ii -- The Accidental Properties of Stones
Chapter 8: Certain Stones That Have the Figures of Animals Inside and Outside
It seems wonderful to everyone that sometimes stones are found that have figures of animals inside and outside. For outside they have an outline, and when they are broken open, the shapes of the internal organs are found inside. And Avicenna says that the cause of this is that animals, just as they are, are sometimes changed into stones, and especially [salty] stones. For he says that just as Earth and Water are material for stones, so animals, too, are material for stones. And in places where a petrifying force is exhaling, they change into their elements and are attacked by the properties of the qualities [hot, cold, moist, dry] which are present in those places, and the elements in the bodies of such animals are changed into the dominant element, namely Earth mixed with Water; and then the mineralizing power converts [the mixture] into stone, and the parts of the body retain their shape, inside and outside, just as they were before. There are also stones of this sort that are [salty] and frequently not hard; for it must be a strong power which thus transmutes the bodies of animals, and it slightly burns the Earth in the moisture, and so produces a taste of salt.
A story that confirms this is that of the Gorgon, who is said to have converted into stone those who looked upon her. A strong mineralizing power was called 'the Gorgon', and exposing the bodily humours to the petrifying power was called 'looking upon the Gorgon'.
BOOK II -- Precious Stones
Tractate i -- The Cause of the Powers of Stones
Chapter 1: The Cause of the Powers of Precious Stones,
with a Refutation of Those Who Say That There Are No Powers in Stones
...The cause of the power of stones is very obscure and many natural scientists seem to have held very different opinions about it. Many indeed seem to doubt whether there are in stones any of the powers which are regarded as belonging to them, such as curing abscesses, expelling poison, reconciling the hearts of men, bringing victory, and the like; and they assert that there is nothing in a composite substance except [what is due to] its constituents and the way they are combined. But such action as is said to be inherent in stones is not caused by their constituents. These are responsible only for such properties as heat and moisture, hardness, and capacity to be acted upon, and the like.... And moreover, they say, the powers attributed to stones ought rather to belong to living things, since these are nobler than stones. This is the kind of reasoning used by those who do not admit that stones have any powers.
But the opposite is proved most convincingly by experience: since we see that the magnet attracts iron and the adamas [diamond] restricts that power in the magnet. Furthermore, it is proved by experience that some saphirus [sapphire] cures abscesses, and we have seen one of these with our own eyes. This is a widespread belief; and it is impossible that there should not be some truth at least in what is a matter of common report.
But there have been some who, even though they assign special powers to stones, attribute these to a soul in the stone. These are certain of the Pythagoreans; for they say that this [power] belongs to soul alone, and not to any single material; but it extends from one [thing] to another by a sort of vital activity -- just as man extends his intelligence to intelligible things and his imagination to imaginable things. And thus they say that the soul of one man, or of some other animal, can go out and enter into another, fascinating it and hindering its actions; and therefore they warn [one] to be careful in all actions so as to turn aside the fascination of the eye. So, too, certain augurs say that undertakings may be hindered or helped by the sight and sound of certain birds or other beasts. Therefore they assign souls to stones and extend them to the natures attributed to stones....
Therefore, leaving aside these and similar [statements] as too ridiculous, let us say that there are no two opinions about it: stones do have powers of wonderful effect and these powers reside not in their constituents but in the way they are combined.... Nor is it true that living beings [only] ought rather to have these powers. For throughout nature it is as if a thing which is occupied with the higher powers is withdrawn and cut off from the lower [ones]. Evidence of this is that intelligent beings, such as men, are not so keenly aware of changes in the elements as brutes are -- for instance, birds judge the different hours and seasons better than men do. And man himself, when he is occupied with meditation, does not exert his sight and hearing, so that he does not perceive what is before his eyes. Thus in the whole of nature it is as if living beings, when they are occupied with the higher powers of the soul, do not exert the lower, less noble powers that inanimate compounds exert....
Chapter 4: The True Cause of the Power of Precious Stones
...[T]he specific form of individual stones is mortal, just as men are; and if [stones] are kept for a long time, away from the place where they were produced, they are destroyed, and no longer rightly deserve their specific name -- although [so far as] shape and colour [are concerned], the name might cease to be used only after a very long time. And just as in the making of animals, sometimes there is in the combination such disorder that they do not attain to a human soul, but only to a somewhat human appearance, so it is in the production of stones, either because of disorder in the material, or because of very strong heavenly powers acting in opposition....
BOOK III -- Metals in General
Tractate i -- The Substances of Metals
Chapter 2: The Special Material of Metals
...[W]e know that the primary material of all liquefiable things is Water. For every liquefiable substance, so long as it is liquid, seeks to be bounded by something else, having no boundary of its own.... Thus all liquefiable substances are fluid because of the large amount of water moisture incorporated in them....
We know ... that water moisture is easily converted into vapour.... But we see that metals retain their moisture even in hot fires. Therefore the moist materials of metals cannot be simple Water, but rather [Water] which has been to some extent acted upon by other elements. But if we consider the [kinds of] moisture which are difficult to separate from things that naturally contain them, we find that they are all unctuous and viscous; because ... their parts are connected like [the links of] a chain and cannot easily be torn apart. And therefore, since the moisture in metals is not torn out of them, even by strong heating, this, too, must be unctuous. Evidence of this is that all the radical moisture on which the natural heat of animals depends is unctuous; and certainly wise nature would provide this just because it is difficult to separate and difficult to dry out. For nature intends it to last for a long time in the individual and for ever in the species. And for this reason [nature] decreed a moisture of this sort as nourishment for the vital heat. Therefore, since the moisture of metals likewise seems to be inseparable, even in a heat that liquefies them, undoubtedly the moisture which is the material of metals will be unctuous.
But we see further that what is unctuous in oil and all fat is easily inflammable and is active in burning things with which it is joined. And we see that the Fire does not leave these things until they are consumed, as we observe with oil in lamps and the radical moisture in fevers. But we do not see anything of the sort in the moisture of metals; and therefore it may seem to some people that perhaps the moisture of metals is not unctuous. But to all objections of this sort we reply ... that in many things there are two kinds of unctuousness. One of these is, as it were, extrinsic, very subtle, having mingled with it nothing that yields any sediment or ash; and [the other] is not inflammable, but is intrinsic, fast-rooted in the thing itself so that it cannot be torn out and driven off by fire....
Evidence of this is what we see done in the art of alchemy, which is, of all arts, the best imitator of nature.... [T]here must be an abundance of similar unctuous moisture in the materials of metals produced by nature; and this is the cause of their malleability and fusibility. This is expressly stated by the authorities, Avicenna and Hermes and many others, men of great experience in the nature of metals.
Furthermore, in all kinds of metals we see that when liquefied they do not wet anything on which they are poured out, and they do not stay still [that is, they roll about] on a flat surface, and do not spread out completely over it, as we see almost all watery, unctuous moisture do -- for instance, water, wine, beer, or oil. For all these, if poured out on stone, earth, or wood, when they find a flat surface wet it and spread out over it. But molten metals do none of these things; they do not adhere to anything that touches them, nor do they spread out completely; but rather they are solid in some respects and fluid in others. And therefore a subtle, unctuous moisture cannot be the only material in them, but it must be completely mixed with subtle Earth, which prevents it from adhering to anything that touches it, or from being completely fluid, but [makes it] stick together like globules; because the subtle Earth everywhere in it seizes upon the moisture and, by gluing it together, as it were, holds it fast, providing it with a boundary, in so far as to prevent it from adhering to anything except itself. And the moisture, wherever it is present, draws the earthy dryness out of itself, so that it flows and runs on a flat surface. But if the earthy dryness were not everywhere protected by the moisture, it would be burnt up at once by a fire that causes liquefaction, and would become rough and scaly -- just as in iron the fire finds out all the dry earthiness that is not covered by moisture and makes it scaly. And it is the same with nearly all metals....
Chapter 5: The Efficient Cause and the Production of Metals in General
Let us discuss the efficient cause in this way: on superficial consideration it appears that for all metals it is cold that brings them to their perfect specific form. It is by [cold] that they grow firm and solidify, and their solidification and firmness seem to bring them into being, while fusion dissolves and destroys them. Evidence of this is that in many or in all metals something is separated from their substance when they are fused. But nothing at all is lost from them when they solidify. And for this reason many people declare that cold alone, which solidifies them, is the productive cause in metals. Moreover, in things that take on the specific form of life, there is nothing that limits and changes the material so as to produce its form, except heat; and therefore it may appear that it is the same with metals. And this appears all the more [probable], since metals retain their identity whether they are molten or solid. But if it were cold that conferred the specific form, metals would lose their identity except when solid and hardened. It seems, therefore, that cold is not the cause of the production of metals. Furthermore, hardening and solidification are phenomena of matter that happen in the same sense to many things, which are nevertheless of different specific forms and different natures; but there is no one substantial form that can in this way fit different things. From this and similar [arguments] it is established beyond doubt that cold does not impart specific form to metals. And yet certain philosophers, who have not thought deeply about the nature of metals, believe [this].
But since the material of all metals is moisture containing in it well-digested subtle Earth, which on being burnt gives off an odour of very foul-smelling Sulphur; and since Sulphur is not produced except by heat, then it must be that heat, digesting and converting Earth and Water and mixing them together, is the cause that transmutes the material. And therefore heat will be the cause of the production of metals....
But on further consideration it will appear that heat alone cannot be the cause of their production; for as we have said in the book on the production of stones, undoubtedly if heat alone were the cause, it could [not] act continuously without drying out the natural moisture and burning up the Earth. But we see that [the process] stops with the specific form of a metal. And therefore the heat itself must be merely the instrument directed towards an end -- which is the form of a metal -- without turning aside in its operation.... [U]ndoubtedly there is a formative power in nature, poured into the stars of heaven, and this [power] guides towards a specific form the heat that digests the material of metals. For as we have said elsewhere, this heat has its right direction and formative power from the Moving Intelligence, and its efficacy from the power of light and heat emanating from the light of the starry sphere and from the power that separates things that are alike from things that are different -- [that is,] the power of Fire.
For these three things are necessary where material is shaped into a specific form: first, the unsuitable materials must be consumed by the heat of Fire, which digests them; [for], there must be digestion, the combination, by their own natural heat, of the opposed passive properties [moisture and dryness]; and finally, when these have been removed from the material, the material must have a boundary imposed upon it, and be perfected in its specific form. And it is heat that has the power of doing this; but it would not have the power of imposing upon it, and be perfected in its specific form. And it is heat that has the power of doing this; but it would not have the power of imposing a boundary at all, except for the power of the boundary itself -- that is, of the form, which is the boundary. And therefore the formative power must guide and control the heat that imposes the boundary. But this form is not the form produced in the material: therefore it must be the form of the First Cause that gives forms to all things in nature. And this cause is the Mover of the sphere, bringing forth natural forms through the motion of heaven and the qualities of the elements: just as the artisan brings forth the forms of his art through the use of axe and hammer. And for this reason Aristotle says that the work of nature is like that of art, where a house comes from [the idea of] a house [in the mind of the builder], and health from [the idea of] health -- by the reactions of heat and cold -- in the mind of the physician.
This, then, is the particular cause that produces metals.
Chapter 6: The Essential Form of Metals
The essential form in all things is what gives them being, and in metals it seems to be something different from mere solidification; because [metals] are, as we have said, of the same number and kind, even when molten. For molten gold is still gold, and the same [is true of] silver and other metals. And this form, especially in metals, some people say, is the numerical proportion of earthly and heavenly powers. In certain alchemical books ascribed to Plato, number or numerical proportion is called the form of a metal; and he postulates this proportion in the powers of the constituent elements, for he would produce everything from the proportion of earthly and heavenly powers. Now the power of Earth is cold and dry, but the power of heaven, according to his story, is that of the seven planets. Therefore if there is more of the power of Earth, according to its three properties [dryness, coldness and heaviness] than of [the power of] the planets, which send out light and nobility, then the result will be dark-coloured, heavy, and cold, as lead is. But if there is more of the heavenly power, and less of the potentiality of Earth, [the result] will be very bright and indestructible and somewhat more compact, and because it is compact, necessarily heavy; and in so far as this, or its opposite [is true], the proportion is said to be that constituting the specific form of gold. And in the same way, he says, the other [metals] are formed. For this reason they call the seven kinds of metals by the names of the seven planets: naming lead, Saturn; tin, Jupiter; iron, Mars; and gold, the Sun (Sol); copper, Venus; quicksilver, Mercury; and silver, the Moon (Luna); and declare that by the different numbers in their composition they acquire the constitutions of the seven planets.
Hermes, indeed, seems to have been the author of this opinion, although Plato later followed him in it. And the alchemists seem to have taken it from them, declaring that precious stones have the power of the [fixed] stars and constellations, and the seven kinds of metals have their forms from the seven planets of the lower spheres; and thus the powers of the heavens are first in producing results on earth, making the planets, as it were, secondary [in importance]. In support of this declaration they say -- what is indeed true -- that the heavenly sphere imparts motion to Earth, and this is the reason why things produced from Earth are so varied in their shapes and so numerous, as compared with things produced in any of the other elements. And Father Hermes Trismegistus seems to confirm this opinion when he says, 'Earth is the mother of metals and Heaven their father' and 'Earth is impregnated with them in mountains, fields, and plains, and in waters', and everywhere else. But we have understood this opinion to mean that the proportion of the powers of the elements -- that is, both active [hot and cold] and passive [dry and moist] -- is the predisposing cause of the substantial form, just as [it is] in everything else....
As to the attribution of the kinds of metals to the planets rather than to the other stars -- this is said because stones are stable and the forms that they assume on hardening are attributed to the fixed stars and constellations, which keep their places and figures perpetually [in relation to one another].... Thus stones are found to be of the same constitution and shape as long as they endure. But metals have, as it were, a variable behaviour, being sometimes fluid and sometimes solid. And since their material is liquid, and liquid has a variable behaviour, it seems to have something in common with the planets; and the powers of the planets infused into the powers of the elements confer the specific form. And these powers, thus caused and infused, shape the specific form, in agreement with the forms of metals. In just the same way the formative power in the seed of animals is in agreement with the form conferred by reproduction, and similarly, the form of an art agrees with the artifact....
And in this way what the Platonists say is true: for in this way the First Cause sowed the seed of all forms and species and entrusted the perfecting of it to the fixed stars and planets, as is told in the Timaeus. And this is the reason why the number and properties and specific forms of the metals are held to agree with the planets. For we know from what is reported in the First Philosophy of Aristotle that all things are produced from suitable material: although it may not be entirely suitable to the Idea, Form, and Purpose. And in this way all spontaneous generation can be reduced to natural generation....
[I]f it is said that one stone conceives another [as in geodes], yet it is not to be thought of as being produced by its own seed, but rather from some other material, whatever it may be -- unless perhaps there is something intermediate between stone and plant, just as there are many things intermediate between plant and animal, such as the sponge, sea-cucumber, etc.
Chapter 7: The Opinion of Callisthenes [Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Muawiya (d. 704)],
Who Postulated Only One Form of Metal
The experience of the alchemists, however, here confronts us with two grave doubts. For they seem to say that the specific form of gold is the sole form of metals, and that every other metal is incomplete -- that is, it is on the way towards the specific form of gold, just as anything incomplete is on the way towards perfection. And for this reason metals which in their material have not the form of gold must be 'diseased'; and [the alchemists] try to find a medicine which they call elixir, by means of which they may remove the diseases of metals in their blending and ingredients; and thus they speak of 'bringing out' the specific form of gold. And for this [purpose] they invent many different methods for compounding and blending this elixir, so that it may penetrate and attack the metal, and remain [unaffected] in the fire, and impart colour, solidity, and weight. Therefore we must make some inquiry here into these [methods]. For if the statements of these authors are true, then undoubtedly there will be only one form of metal [that is, gold], and all other metals suffer from 'under-cooking', and are like abortions of nature which have not yet attained their proper specific shape....
[A]s to the experiments which [the alchemists] bring forward, not enough proof is offered: because it is not certain whether [their procedure] induces the colour, weight, and odour of silver and gold, by means of whatever is added to and penetrates into copper and lead, or whether it induces the actual substance of silver and gold. And Callisthenes ought to have supplied proof that it would induce the actual substance of gold. But even if we admit that perhaps it does induce the substance of gold, still this does not satisfactorily prove that there is only one specific form of metals. For by calcination, sublimation, distillation, and other operations by which the alchemists cause the elixir to penetrate into the material of metals, it may be possible to destroy the specific forms of metals that originally were in their material: and then the material that is left, being in a general sense metallic, but not the material of any specific metal, can, with the help of art, be reduced to another specific form, just as seeds are helped by ploughing and sowing, or nature is helped by the efforts of the physician.
It is obvious from this that we are by no means forced to think that there is only one specific form for all metals; for we find that the places where they are produced, and their constituents, and their passive qualities, all differ widely; and that this is the result of accident is by no means certain. For, as we have just now stated, these accidental qualities are not common to all [metals], but they themselves indicate substantial differences by which they are produced in the material of metals.
Chapter 8: The Opinion of Hermes and Other Philosophers
Who Say That in Any Metal There Are Several Forms
Hermes and Gilgil [Abu Daud ibn Juljul, 10th c.] and Empedocles and almost all that group of alchemists seem to defend an opinion which is opposed to this. For they say that in any metal whatever there are several specific forms and natures, postulating one that is occult and one that is manifest, or one inside and another outside, or one in the depths and another on the surface -- like those who speak of the 'latency' of forms, and say that 'all things contain all things', as Anaxagoras believed. For they say that lead is gold inside and lead outside; but gold, on the other hand, is gold outside, on the surface, but inside, in the depths, it is lead. And copper and silver are related to each other in the same way, and so is almost any metal at all to any other. And this seems a strange statement....
[There] is no reason for saying that lead is gold 'in the depths'; because, granting that it is gold which thus [comes out] shining from lead, yet we already know that these transmutations completely destroy the lead. Therefore, since the specific form was that of lead, the specific form of gold was never simultaneously present in the same material. And this will appear all the more true, if what comes from the lead is not proved to be gold. Perhaps it is something like gold, but not [real] gold; because art alone cannot confer substantial form.
Besides, we have rarely or never found an alchemist, as we have said, who [could] perform the whole [process]. Instead, by means of the yellow elixir he produces the colour of gold, and by means of the white elixir, a colour similar to silver, attempting to make the colour remain fast in the fire and penetrate throughout the whole metal, just as a spiritual substance is put into the material of a medicine. And by this sort of operation a yellow colour can be induced, leaving the substance of the metal unchanged....
Chapter 9: Whether One Form of Metal Can Be Transmuted into Another, as the Alchemists Say
...[S]kilful alchemists proceed as skilful physicians do: for skilful physicians, by means of cleansing remedies clear out the corrupt or easily corruptible matter that is preventing good health ... and then, by strengthening nature, they aid the power of nature, directing it so as to bring about natural health.... [S]kilful alchemists proceed in entirely the same way in transmuting metals. For first, they cleanse thoroughly the material of quicksilver and sulphur, which, as we shall see, are present in metals. And when it is clean, they strengthen the elemental and celestial powers in the material, according to the proportions of the mixture in the metal that they intend to produce. And then nature itself performs the work, and not art, except as the instrument, aiding and hastening the process, as we have said. And so they appear to produce and make real gold and real silver....
But those who colour [metals] white with white, or yellow with yellow [colouring], leaving the specific form of the original metal unchanged in material -- without doubt they are deceivers, and do not make real gold and real silver. And yet they nearly all follow this method, completely or partly....
Chapter 10: The Places Where Metals Are Produced
...The natural scientist seeks to understand the cause of all these things; and, as we have said in the science of stones, the place produces things located in that place because of the properties of heaven poured into them by the rays of the stars. For as Ptolemy says, in no place does any of the elements receive so much of the rays of all the stars as in Earth, because [Earth] is the invisible centre of the whole heavenly sphere; and the power of the rays is strongest where they all converge; and therefore Earth is productive of many wonderful things.
In order to know the cause of all the things that are produced, we must understand that real metal is not formed except by the natural sublimation of moisture and Earth, such as has been described above. For in such a place, where earthy and watery materials are first mixed together, much that is impure is mixed with the pure, but the impure is of no use in the formation of metal. And from the hollow places containing such a mixture the force of the rising fume opens out pores, large or small, many or few, according to the nature of the [surrounding] stone or earth; and in these [pores] the rising fume or vapour spreads out for a long time and is concentrated and reflected; and since it contains the more subtle part of the mixed material it hardens in those channels, and is mixed together as vapour in the pores, and is converted into metal of the same kind as the vapour....
Tractate ii The [Accidental Properties] of Metals
Chapter 6: That There Is a Cyclical Production of Metals from Each Other
An additional statement should now be made: one thing that is common to all metals is that their materials are closely related. We know, from what has been determined in the science of Generation and Corruption, that among [things] having a common property in their material, powers, and potentialities, the transmutation of any one into another is easy. And this is the reason for the assertion of many philosophers -- whose father is Hermes Trismegistus, called the prophet of philosophers -- that the production of the metals is cyclical, from each other, just as the production of the elements is cyclical. And this seems to me very true.
For when, in matter, the properties that are nearest together and farthest apart are still not separated by very much,... the differences among them result from the parts of both [kinds of] materials -- the well-purified and digested, and the impure and undigested. And so it happens that everything impure and undigested is purified and digested, if the natural powers of digestion prevail. Otherwise, it happens that everything that is digested suffers from imperfect cooking, or from an admixture of undigested material, or perhaps insufficient heat to solidify it. Therefore it happens that the materials that are closest to the elements are transmuted into each other; and since such transmutation [of the elements] occurs, the metals must be capable of being transmuted into each other. And thus it happens that the production of metals is cyclical, from each other.
Experience shows that this [is the case], both in the operations of nature and in the techniques of art. As to natural processes, I have learned, by what I have seen with my own eyes, that a vein flowing from a single source was in one part pure gold, and in another silver having a stony calx mixed with it. And miners and smeltermen have told me that this very frequently happens; and therefore they are sorry when they have found gold, for the gold is near the source, and then the vein fails. Then I myself, making a careful examination, found that the kind of vessel in which the mineral was converted into gold differed from that in which it was converted into silver. For the vessel containing the gold was a very hard stone -- one of the kind from which fire is struck with steel -- and it had the gold [pure] and not incorporated with the stone, but enclosed in a hollow within it, and there was a little burnt earth between the stony part and the gold. And the stone opened out with a passage into the silver vein, traversing a black stone that was not very hard but earthy; and the black stone was fissile, the kind of stone from which slates are made for building houses. This proves, however, that from a single place which was the vessel of the mineral matter both [gold and silver] evaporated, and a difference in the purification and digestion had been responsible for the difference in the kind of metal.
And what artisans have learned by experience is also the practice of alchemists who, if they work with nature, transform the specific form of one metal into another, in the way already described. Thus it is, then, not improbable that there is a cyclical production of metals from each other; and in this metals are unique, occupying a special position between elements and mixed bodies. But let it not escape us that in all things produced cyclically from each other, the transformation is easier between those that have more properties in common. And that is really why gold is made more easily from silver than from any other metal. For only its colour and weight need to be changed, and this is easily done; for if its substance is more compacted, its weight will be increased as its Water is decreased; and an increase in good, yellow Sulphur will result in a change of colour. And it is the same with other [metals], too....
 |
