Two Dialogues on Alchemy

...so that I may be able to imitate them in some part.

GEBER. Although the four elements are believed to be the most distant principles and roots of metals, according to the operation of Hermes Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary founder of alchemy., nevertheless, since things are named after whatever part of them is dominant,
. there is no doubt that earth mixed with water is the true principle and foundation of all minerals. Aristotle affirms the same in the fourth book of Meteorology original: "4. Metheororum." This specific book was the primary authority for medieval theories on the formation of minerals.. He taught that metals, which melt or are poured by fire, have their origin from earth and water. He also confirms this in the third book of Meteorology.
.. Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, and Saint Thomas Aquinas follow Aristotle in this opinion in their own books on minerals and meteorology.

DEMO. I greatly desire to understand and know now how earth mixed with water can be transmuted or converted into metal.

∴ GEBER. The Sun and all the stars, both the fixed and the wandering stars original: "erraticae." This refers to the planets, which appear to move against the backdrop of the "fixed" stars., use light borrowed from the Sun to constantly heat the earth. They heat it from above, below, inside, and outside through their circular motion, the bouncing of their rays, and their powerful ability to penetrate. Since everything that is burned or cooked is easily destroyed and changed, and the destruction of one thing is the birth of another A fundamental Aristotelian concept: corruptio unius est generatio alterius., it is necessary that earth mixed with water, burned and changed over a long time, eventually turns into another earthy nature. We see this in daily life: wood and stones, when strongly burned, are converted into ash and lime original: "calcem." Quicklime, produced by heating limestone, was a key substance in early chemistry..

∴ DEMO. Into what earthy nature is the earth transmuted when it is burned in this way?

GEBER. It is converted into a type of earth that has something of the substance of salt or alum Alum is a specific mineral salt used in tanning and medicine. within it. We are taught this by experience. We perceive that ash, lime, sweat, urine, and seawater dried by the Sun all contain saltiness.
. For this reason, we said at the beginning of the Testament The Testamentum, a major alchemical work traditionally attributed to Geber or Raymond Lull. that salt can be made from every burned thing.

DEMO. By what name is this salt of yours commonly called, which is hidden in this burned earth?