Coal, charcoal and ash

carbo; carbones; cinis; cinerem

Coal or charcoal and ash are related but distinct products and working materials.

From the book

Nine Books on the Nature of Things

Attributed to Paracelsus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Coal or charcoal and ash are related but distinct products and working materials. Calcination is broadly said to produce both; later charcoal supplies a particular kind of furnace fire, while ash can serve as a heating medium. Translating both words as generic residue would lose the text’s distinction between something combustible and the material left or used after burning.

Places to read

  1. Book 7 · Transmutations · Passage 2Latin“carbo & cinis”