From the book
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Heinrich Khunrath · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordA menstruum is a medium employed for dissolving or extracting; the body names menstrua of several kinds.
- In KhunrathPages 60–612 reject attempts to make universal first matter from specified metals by foreign waters, harmful corrosive spirits and supposed assistance to Nature.
- In this edition“Solvent” is a convenient lookup word, but the source’s dissolving-and-extracting scope is broader than one modern mechanism.
- A reading distinctionThe margin’s Menstruo præ- on page 68 continues as sertim conueniente mediante on page 69.
Meaning
A menstruum is a medium employed for dissolving or extracting; the body names menstrua of several kinds. Corrosive waters are a prominent but not exhaustive part of that category. Khunrath’s objection is not simply that every corrosive is ineffective or every non-corrosive philosophical. It is that no foreign medium acquires pri-material authority from its ability to alter a metal.
Use in the book
Pages 60–612 reject attempts to make universal first matter from specified metals by foreign waters, harmful corrosive spirits and supposed assistance to Nature. Pages 67–6923 nonetheless acknowledge an extensive range of preparations accomplished with such media. The two statements concern different claims: work can occur without obtaining the required universal ground.
Page 68 expressly names dissolving and extracting menstrua, while its margin, continued on page 69, qualifies the preparation by the mediation of a particularly suitable menstruum. Suitability therefore has a local practical meaning. It does not identify a medium as the catholic fountain.
The repeated catalogue on page 90 includes non-corrosive as well as corrosive waters. That detail prevents the negative argument from being reduced to a simple preference for gentle over harsh solvents. Subsequent regeneration is still required.
The diagnostic reply on page 116 asks what remains of an allegedly self-standing clear metallic mercury after the waters, spirits or liquors used in preparation are separated from it. Khunrath is challenging a confused attribution of the medium’s appearance to the metal’s own first matter. The question exemplifies his distinction between an effect of preparation and a demonstrated return to the right origin.
Places to read
- 1599 p. 60Foreign waters and corrosive spirits cannot independently extract the universal first matter from specified metals.
- 1599 p. 68Several dissolving and extracting menstrua are acknowledged.
- 1599 p. 69 · marginThe continued gloss specifies the mediation of a suitable menstruum.
- 1599 p. 90Both corrosive and non-corrosive waters appear in the conceded preparations.
- 1599 p. 116The employed media are to be distinguished from the alleged self-standing metallic mercury.
Translation in this edition
“Solvent” is a convenient lookup word, but the source’s dissolving-and-extracting scope is broader than one modern mechanism. Neither the adjective suitable nor the term non-corrosive establishes safety. No composition, concentration or handling method is inferred.
Source note
The margin’s Menstruo præ- on page 68 continues as sertim conueniente mediante on page 69. The split should be read as one qualification, not as two independent substance-names.