From the book
Nine Books on the Nature of Things
Attributed to Paracelsus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Gems and corals are grouped by the claim that their life is colour alone. In the mortification catalogue they are again paired, now through operations said to turn them into liquor. This pairing is source-specific and does not imply a modern mineral identity between gems and coral. Pearls follow a different criterion, lustre, and should not be silently absorbed into the same definition.
Places to read
- Book 4 · Life · Passage 7Latin“Vita gemmarum & corallorum”