SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT,

BISHOP OF REGENSBURG,

OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS

BOOK ONE

OF MINERALS.

TREATISE I

ON STONES IN GENERAL.

CHAPTER I.

Concerning mixture and coagulation, and likewise freezing, liquefaction, and other passions of this kind, it has already been spoken of in the book Meteorology original: "Meteororum". The things in which these effects first appear in nature are the classes of stones and metals, and those things which are intermediate between these, such as marcasite a type of sulfide mineral, and alum a crystalline salt, and certain other things of this kind. And because those are the first among the composites formed by nature from the elements, as they exist prior to the complexions the balanced combination of the four humors/elements that are animate, it is necessary to speak of them

immediately after the science of Meteorology: for they appear to exceed only slightly the simple mixture of elements. We have not seen books of Aristotle on these matters, except for those excerpted in parts. And those things which Avicenna handed down about these in the third chapter of his first book on the subject are not sufficient. Therefore, we shall first make an inquiry into stones, afterwards into metallic substances, and lastly into those things that are intermediate between them: for the generation of stones is easier and more manifest than that of metals. Many things must be said in general about the natures of stones, which we will place at the beginning. Then we shall dispute about stones in the species that are more well-known. We will shorten our speech, because the causes of many things to be said here have already been determined in the book Meteorology. While treating of stones in general, we will inquire into the matter of stones in general, their proper immediate efficient cause, and the place of their generation.