A Chymical Dictionary

Aquila Philosophorum

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.

In the book. The first Iliaster definition and Mysterium magnum offer broader first-matter vocabulary.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 5; facsimile PDF page 333.

Historical Definition

Aquila Philosophorum is the Mercury of metals: that is, metal reduced to its first matter.

Meaning

The second clause is the definition’s interpretive key. It expands Mercury of metals through a claimed reduction of metal to its first matter. This is a philosophical description of a material relation or state, not merely a zoological symbol. When an author uses the phrase, ask what reduction is described and what that author regards as first matter.

The term also differs from the two uses recorded under Aquila. There, the dictionary mentions sal ammoniac and Mercury precipitated with gold. Here the qualification Philosophorum introduces its own explanatory account. Retaining the full name is essential to keeping those senses visible.

Use in the Book

The first Iliaster definition and Mysterium magnum offer broader first-matter vocabulary. Their general scope should not be transferred wholesale to this explicitly metallic entry, but comparing them helps identify the philosophical question a passage is addressing.

Places to Read

Aquila. An eagle-name with more than one stated material meaning.

Iliaster. First matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.

Mysterium magnum. A universal first matter, rather than one particular prepared subject.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 5; facsimile PDF page 333 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Aquila Philosophorum ; compare Aquila, Iliaster (first matter), Mysterium magnum

See also. Aquila; Iliaster; Mysterium magnum