Congelation

Use in the book

At p. 117 the author says that precious stones congeal from mercurial moisture through cold after condensation and sublimation (II.117.1). He contrasts this with metallic hardening after gradual coagulation through persistent warmth in ores. The order matters. Cold is not presented as acting on wholly unchanged rainwater; the moisture has already undergone conditions relevant to its preparation and formation.

The same paragraph qualifies sublimation. Uncoloured matter rises more readily than coloured matter, since no fatness or sulphur ascends without force. Colour thus belongs to the explanation of different mineral conditions, not merely to the final naming of a gem. Yet the later diamond qualification prevents this from becoming an assertion that a colourless stone essentially lacks one of the three principles.

Reports follow as support. The earlier account of Bier’s water includes a mass from which pieces were struck, polished and set, one judged by a Nuremberg jeweller to be a pale but otherwise good emerald (II.118.1). The assessment is testimony within a narrative, not a modern mineral analysis. At p. 119 M. M. is said to have sent the author crystals derived from rainwater and formed in the cold; an experienced lapidary judged them good stones and topazes (II.119.1). Later the author says he took those crystals for the essence of gold rather than topazes (II.124.1). The differing judgments should remain visible.⁶⁹

The theoretical conclusion at p. 155 reaffirms that stones share the matter of metals and arise in the first instance without a particular seed or proximate matter (II.155.1). Congelation differentiates a route of formation within that shared mineral nature. It does not establish a separate universal subject exclusively for gems.

Places to read

1. Part II · II.117.1The explicit account of cold, mercurial moisture, condensation and sublimation.
2. Part II · II.118.1; II.119.1; II.124.123The reported emerald and rainwater crystals, with distinct judgments of their identity.
3. Part II · II.155.1The concluding common-origin account and the diamond qualification.

Translation

The edition keeps “congelation” as a historical technical term. “Freezing” alone would suggest an ordinary phase change that does not cover the author’s account of lasting stones. The German angeschossen describes crystals forming; its contextual English is “crystallized,” not a supposed quotation of the Latin term congelatio.

Connections

Generation of precious stones provides the full setting, while Coagulation records the paired contrast with metals. Colours concerns the relation of coloured and uncoloured moisture. Sulphur philosophical is essential for the later refusal to regard the diamond as entirely without Sulphur.

Cautions

The report does not warrant identifying the narrated stones as laboratory-produced emeralds or topazes by modern criteria. Nor does the vocabulary supply a reproducible procedure. Its value for the reader is the author’s distinction of conditions and sequence, together with the clearly marked status of the supporting accounts.

congelation

congelation — congelation. II.117.1.

Kälte

Kälte — cold. II.117.1; II.119.1.

angeschossene Chrystallen

angeschossene Chrystallen — crystals that have crystallized or formed. II.119.1.