Lapis Philosophorum

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The philosophers’ stone defined through supreme terrestrial power and its imparting of tincture.

In the book. Filum arsenicale and Phenix also lead to the philosophers’ stone.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 29; facsimile PDF page 357.

Historical Definition

Lapis Philosophorum is the highest power of all earthly things, giving tincture.

Meaning

The definition is functional and evaluative. It gives the stone a highest place among earthly powers and describes it as communicating tincture. It does not identify a starting substance, explain how the stone is prepared, or enumerate all the effects meant by tincture. Those omissions leave a reader dependent on the larger argument of the work being read.

The ordinary meaning of stone is insufficient here. The adjacent Lapis entry makes fixity a basis for the name, while this compound adds an exceptional efficacy. The claim is thus about a perfected agent as much as a solid-looking object.

Use in the Book

Filum arsenicale and Phenix also lead to the philosophers’ stone. They provide names to recognise, rather than independent preparations that should be combined merely because their headings differ.

Places to Read

Lapis. Stone as a general designation of fixity.

Filum arsenicale. Another name for the Philosophers’ Stone.

Phenix. A name with quintessence-of-fire and philosophers’ stone senses.

In This Edition

Vertue is modernised as power. This preserves its claim about efficacy without making moral virtue the immediate meaning of a material definition.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 29; facsimile PDF page 357 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 357, Lapis Philosophorum

See also. Lapis; Filum arsenicale; Phenix