"The metals are all essentially identical; they differ only in form. Now, the form brings out accidental causes, which the experimenter must try to discover and remove, as far as possible. Accidental causes impede the regular union of sulphur and mercury; for every metal is a combination of sulphur and mercury. A diseased womb may give birth to a weakly, leprous child, although the seed was good; the same is true of the metals which are generated in the bowels of the earth, which is a womb for them; any cause whatever, or local trouble, may produce an imperfect metal. When pure sulphur comes in contact with pure mercury, after more or less time, and by the permanent action of nature, gold is produced."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Albertus Magnus (ca. 1240) as quoted by , A Short History of Chemistry (1894) p. 28.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Metal
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Metal
63 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Metal →
Related Quotes
"While Paracelsus was pressing his doctrines on all sides, and endeavouring to lead chemistry into a new channel, anot…"
"Iron yields to certain degrees of beatings or repeated pressure; its impenetrable molecules, purified by man and made…"
"A neutral salt, which is composed of an acid and alkali, does not possess the acrimony of either of its constituent p…"
"One worker on one of the supports... either manually or with a trowel distributes the mortar over the chicken wire...…"
"The export of into Italy was strictly forbidden; but aluminium was almost the only metal that Italy produced in quant…"
"The Franklin sold at £4. 6s, each at the furnace, and at Philadelphia £18 per ton, the price varying with the metal."
"The art of tempering and iron developed in India long before its known appearance in Europe; , for example, erected a…"
"[T]here are not really 2-dimensional metals because conventional metals, for physics reasons... don't really like to …"
"The whole work was done under conditions of great mental excitement. His cousin ,.. his assistant, relates that when …"
"Mercury doesn't contribute its valence electrons readily to the [electron] soup. The thinner soup can't bind the merc…"