From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.
- In the bookThe first Iliaster definition and Mysterium magnum offer broader first-matter vocabulary.
- A place to readThe 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 PhilosophorumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- AquilaAn eagle-name with more than one stated material meaning.
- IliasterFirst matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.
- Mysterium magnumA universal first matter, rather than one particular prepared subject.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 5; facsimile PDF page 333 — Facsimile