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Anonymous

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

The White Philosophical Phoenix

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Candida Phoenix PhilosophicaPart II — Chapter 6: Rainwater as a Subject

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German & Latin Page · Branch 183 of 411

Part II — Chapter 6: Rainwater as a Subject

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German & Latin

124–125

Hingegen aber noch eines zugedencken / was gestalt nemlichen ein Liebhaber der Chymiæ und anderer Wissenschafften / mich berichtet / wie daß an einem gewissen Ort ein Silber-Bergwerck seye / da sich begeben / daß als man auff eine Zeit darinn gearbeitet / und mit der Saigerung dem Gebrauch nach verfahren / folgends den Unberg oder Abgang under den freyen Himmel geschüttet / und derselbe wegen des damahligen Kriegswesens wol 20. Jahr also im Regen ligend gelassen / nachmahls aber wieder gesaigert worden / habe man mehr und besser Silber / weder zuvor darinn gefunden. Welches / daß es von dem Regenwasser herkommen / ausser Zweiffel ist: Sintemahln das Wasser / und nicht die Erde (sagt der seel. Arnd) die Wurtzel der Metallen hat.

124–125

Candida Phoenix Philosophica: Part II — Chapter 6: Rainwater as a Subject

124–125

I will, however, mention one further matter. An enthusiast for chemistry and other branches of knowledge told me of a silver mine where the following occurred. After work had been carried out there and the customary liquation performed, the waste rock or residue was thrown into the open air. Because of the warfare at that time, it lay exposed to rain for some twenty years. When it was afterwards liquated again, more and better silver was found in it than before. There is no doubt that this came from rainwater, for, as the late Arnd says, water, rather than earth, contains the root of metals.

124–125

About This Reading Edition

An anonymous Hermetic treatise of 1680, presented in its original German and Latin with a new English translation, 279 explanatory notes, the historical phoenix frontispiece, an introduction, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and original registers.

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Candida Phoenix philosophica. Frankfurt am Main: Christian Hermsdorff, 1680. The chosen witness is the Wellcome Library copy digitized as b32993456; German and Latin, with French, Greek, and Hebrew passages retained.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The 1680 source is identified as public domain by the Wellcome/Internet Archive record. The supplied 2026 transcription, English translation, introduction, notes, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and editorial arrangement are published with the site owner’s authorization. The frontispiece is retained from the supplied edition and credited to its historical witness.