Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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23 What the Generation of Minerals Is and Which Principles Constitute Them
German & Latin
1723 pp 205–206Diesen nimm und pulverisire ihn aber, setze ihn in einen Kolben in Sand, geuß wieder Aqua Regis drauf, aber nicht viel, nur so viel, daß er solviret werde, denn sonst machst du ihn flüchtig, daß es per Alembicum herüber steige in Forma Liquoris. Ziehe das Aqua Regis ab, wie vor, daß es im 3ten oder 4ten Grad zum Stein fliesse, solchen Stein nimm heraus, pulverisire ihn, thue ihn in Kolben, geuß darauf distillirtes Regen-Wasser, setze es in gelinde Digestion, laß es 1. Monat also stehen, so wird sich eine gläntzende metallische Terra zu Boden setzen, und immer mehr und mehr verkehren und eine marcasitische körnichte Art seyn, in welcher der Arsenic beygemischet ist. Solche Terra thue in einen Schmeltz-Tiegel, an calcinirte und pulverisirte Kiesel, cementire per Gradus Rotationis, daß der Tiegel endlich starck glühe, brichs auf, nimm die Massam heraus, und siede es mit Bley an auf dem Treib-Scherben, hernach capellirs, so wirst du ein Korn Silber oder Gold finden, aber wenig Nutzen. Denn so du mit diesem Proceß Reichthum suchest, so gebe ich dir Brieff und Siegel, daß dein Haus in kurtzen drauf gehet. Curiositatis gratia kans einer probiren. Dicis: Die Natur hat keine Oefen, Sand-Capellen, Kolben, Tiegel etc. Resp. Gieb mir Ignem centralem, ein von Stein gemachtes Geschirr will ich dir darzu schaffen. Schaffe mir die centralische Dämpffe in Copia, so will ich dir solche Generation, Operation, auch einrichten. Allein warte du es 100. Jahr aus, so wirst du endlich auch was ausbrüten.
The Golden Chain of Homer: 23 What the Generation of Minerals Is and Which Principles Constitute Them
1723 pp 205–206Take this stone, powder it again, and put it in a flask in sand. Pour on aqua regia again, but only enough to dissolve it: otherwise you make it volatile, so that it passes through the alembic in the form of a liquor. Draw the aqua regia off as before until, at the third or fourth degree, it flows into a stone. Take out the stone, powder it, put it in a flask, pour on distilled rainwater, and set it in gentle digestion. Leave it thus for one month. A shining metallic earth will settle, progressively changing into a marcasitic, granular kind mixed with arsenic. Put this earth in a melting crucible with calcined, powdered pebbles and cement it by degrees of rotation until the crucible finally glows strongly. Break it open, take out the mass, boil it with lead on the assay dish, and then cupel it. You will find a grain of silver or gold, but little profit. If you seek wealth by this process, I give you my signed and sealed assurance that your household will soon be ruined by it. One may try it for curiosity’s sake. You say: “Nature has no furnaces, sand baths, flasks, crucibles, and so forth.” I answer: give me central fire, and I shall provide you a vessel made of stone. Supply central vapours in abundance and I shall arrange such a generation or operation for you. Only wait a hundred years, and you too will finally hatch something out.
Socrates
Reading The Golden Chain of Homer · 23 What the Generation of Minerals Is and Which Principles Constitute Them · B1C23S049 · 1723 pp 205–206
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The two-book alchemical work of 1723 in German with a new English translation, 399 notes, eight historical diagrams, chapter outlines, keyword essays, a glossary, bibliography, subject index, and 400 discussion questions.
Historical Text and Translation
Anonymous, Aurea Catena Homeri. Frankfurt and Leipzig: Johann Georg Böhme, 1723. Traditionally attributed to Anton Joseph Kirchweger; the attribution remains uncertain. Historical diagrams from the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung copy digitized by e-rara.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The supplied edition identifies the 1723 German source and historical diagrams as public-domain material. Its new English translation and editorial apparatus are published with the site owner’s authorization. The complete original files are retained unchanged.