The Skeptical Alchymist

[Sagwort 833]

 

THE SKEPTICAL ALCHYMIST

-o-

By Dr. Ambros & Dr. Lorolith Ilra of the Imperial Society

5th of Sun’s Smile, 1624

 

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PREMABLE

There are those, some would call “scholars”, who suggest the world is of a purely mystical and enigmatic nature and would rather spend their days dealing in trade crafts or reading tomes of pre established knowledge and practices than exploring the fundamental workings behind these arts to a civilizing degree.  For certain these arts are necessary, but any naturalist or philosopher ought to look further than mere craft.

 

Archaic explanations of the physical and material plane leave much to the imagination and were perfunctory at best, which, despite their romance, is troublesome for any true advancement of physical and material arts.  Thus, the Imperial Society of the Holy Orenian Empire hath written down a cumulative collection of empirical observation and forthwith explained these observations using the novel elemental & corpuscular theory of matter which hopes to fully explain all phenomena which takes place within the physical plane in a, ideally, elegant manner.  Of course, purely aengudaemonic occurrences may lay well beyond mortal comprehension and are, thusly, left out of this particular theory.  Furthermore, the Society recognizes the existence of “supernatural matter” which will not be covered in this thesis.  Such materials as thanhium, mage gold, holy fires, divine lights, etc… require a more specific form of study. Our thesis claims only to cover the familiar material world in any detail. Although it would be our firm belief that these workings happen in conjunction with those more mystical workings in a consistent way, even if so nuanced as to be beyond us.

 

Take note that a cursory glance of this literature is apt to lead to confusion and, thus, a fractured understanding of the theory.  Even the most competent of alchemists ought to read this with some tact and allow time for meditation on the topics listed herein.

 

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ARGUMENTS FOR THE INDIVISIBLE CORPUSCLE

Now, it would seem that the existence of what we call ‘corpuscles’ is certainly intuitive. These corpuscles are the indivisible, discrete unit of all matter in the physical world. The very literal building blocks of all material. That which is infinitely divisible simply doesn't tickle rational intuition in the same way. This, as we have identified, comes from a very simple logical axiom. From the impossibility of ‘infinite regress’. Or the idea that no proposition can be supported ad infinitum by other propositions to explain their existence. In this way, it seems logically necessary that there be some initial form of matter from which a greater structured matter can be composed. Since, in a similar way, it seems logically repugnant to be able to follow the fundamental compositions of all material backwards forever. Although this kind of argumentation may be satisfactory to many, it does play strongly off of the idea of logical ‘intuition’. We members of the Imperial society were first spurred on to the idea of ‘corpuscularism’ by some simple natural phenomenon that can be best explained by the existence of the corpuscle. And perhaps can only be explained by the existence of the corpuscle.

 

The main identified (although many other natural phenomena will be explained using this theory later on, as an attempt to strengthen it) are found in the properties of fluids. It would seem, given an analysis of phenomena like the buoyancy principle and analysis of the behaviour of compressed fluids that, at all times, they are exerting some kind of outwards force. That outwards force is what keeps objects afloat when it surpasses the object’s weight. And it causes those thinner gases to spread out naturally, when not confined.

 

We assert that, at any time, there is motion being imposed on fluids from some outside source. Since it is near impossible to imagine all corpuscles in a material to be still given their proposed scale and sensitivity to impulse. This motion, we assert, is the result of that force which allows objects to float and causes fluids to spread naturally. The corpuscles of solids, being bound tighter by some undescribed force, do not display this ‘spreading’ behaviour as they would never be as sensitive to the influence of external forces. This kind of phenomena cannot be explained by any continuous theory of matter. A continuous theory of matter could not truly explain how the compression of fluids is possible and why this outwards force becomes more extreme as it resists more compression. Since matter would simply occupy its space, without the individual motion of parts or space in between them. Although this document will go on to explain the behaviour and conceptual structure and geometry of the corpuscles, it should be noted that our model allows the corpuscles of fluids free movement, hence their malleability, allowing them to display this kind of behaviour as a logical consequence. We can also extrapolate to argue that those solids we come into contact with are also structured from corpuscles, since they share an existence with their fluid and gas counterparts. Water, ice and steam, for example. Only when the fluid that cannot be compressed or does not resist compression can be found can this argument for their structure be called into question.

 

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ON THE DIVISION OF SUBSTANCES

All substances within the physical plane can most clearly be divided into two categories.  Now, with evidence of the corpuscle, all substances may be considered corpuscles or quintessences.  That is, indivisible material particles making up the physical plane and aetheric energies necessary for existence and life.  This thesis is most concerned with the former, though a separation between these substances is necessary for a proper consideration of the physical plane as well as an admittance of our ignorance of the true nature of these quintessence substances.

 

The undeniable existence of the quintessences suggest the universe is not a mechanical instrument, composed of clockwork parts.  Rather, the universe is an organic and fluid reality with differing substances, forces and energies.  If the corpuscles are the body of the physical plane, then the quintessences are its soul.

 

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ON THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY QUALITIES OF MATERIAL SUBSTANCES

When considering the physical plane, there are certain sensations which we mortals must consider in regards to reality.  By convention, there are sweet and bitter, hot and cold, color, fragrance, and so on; but in truth there are only corpuscles and empty space.  These sensations are no more than mere names we assign to mortal sensation, and they reside only in the consciousness.  Hence, if the living creatures were removed, all these qualities would be wiped away.  These qualities, the qualities which are, by their nature, prone to subjective judgment and independent to the observer,  do not provide objective facts about the universe, only perceptions and experience.  These are the secondary qualities of things and do not show the true nature of materials.

 

What, then, does define a material substance?  These defining qualities are known as primary qualities.  They exist within the object regardless of the subjective judgments of a perceiver, they exist independent of an observer, such as solidity, size, motion, number and shape.  These qualities are objective in nature and factual, and thus, can be determined with some amount of certainty.  These qualities exist within corpuscles as they are the most real of things within the physical plane.  Corpuscles have only motion, size, shape, etc… not smell or color.  In fact, it is the interacting of corpuscles which produces these illusory sensations within the larger substances they compose, though do not exist within the corpuscles themselves.

 

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ON THE GEOMETRY AND ELEMENTAL NATURE OF CORPUSCLES

When surveying known alchemical knowledge one must take into consideration the four elemental symbols of flora, that is, fire, water, earth, and air.  It would seem as though these four essences are inseparable from alchemical theory and material doctrine.  In like manner, the corpuscular theory of matter takes is composed of four geometric shapes, or array of shapes, which all corpuscles can be categorized into.

 

These shapes, as far as we can tell, describe the individual properties of the elements as divided by the convention of alchemical theory. At least on a very conceptual level. Each classical element can be related to the properties of one of our categories of corpuscle and can therefore be related to the individual properties of these geometric shapes.

 

 

These four arrays of geometric corpuscles compose all material things on the physical plane in varying ratios.  While they are indivisible, it is possible for the corpuscles to shrink and grow as a result of heat.  It is this alteration in size which results in the melting or freezing of materials.

 

It's important to note that we aren’t proposing that earth is literally composed totally of brunus corpuscles. Or that water of cerulis, air of Albus or fire of Rubis. Only that we have described them as to fit with the properties of and categorization of classical alchemical theory. It would be, perhaps, impossible to know exactly the nature of these corpuscles, if not impossible to know of their existence. It is, however, easy to see that our descriptions of these objects are reasonable as they coincide with the properties of materials we are describing. We also think, in considering these kinds of descriptions, if we are right about our characteristics of materials, mineral substances, other than those organic substances may well serve to be used in alchemy.

 

 

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ON PHYSICAL STATES OF MATERIAL SUBSTANCES

All material substances have a grounded or natural state in which they prefer to be.  For instance, many metals are most commonly found in a solid state while water is most commonly found in a liquid state.  The natural state of things provides insight into what corpuscles they are most likely composed of.  Since metals prefer to be solid, they are likely composed of mostly brunus corpuscles due to their naturally stackable and stable shape while water is likely composed of mostly cerulis corpuscles due cerulis corpuscles being capable of easily rolling over each other, though not necessarily sliding past actively resulting in liquid qualities.

 

When material substances change their physical state, that is to say they melt, freeze or evaporate, the corpuscles they are composed of do not change.  Rather, the corpuscles they are composed of shrink and expand. When heat is applied to a material the corpuscles it is composed of begin to shrink in response and grow when heat is actively removed from the material.

 

For instance, naturally liquid water is composed of predominantly cerulis corpuscles.  When heat is applied to this substance the cerulis corpuscles begin to shrink.  If enough heat is applied to the water the corpuscles will shrink to such a degree that the space between them begins making it easy for the cerulis corpuscles to glide past each other and the substance begins to behave like a gas or water vapor.  When heat is removed from the substance the cerulis corpuscles begin to grow.  They grow so large that it becomes near impossible for the corpuscles to continue moving past each other and the substance begins behaving like a solid or ice.  If the water vapor or ice is left undisturbed with no continued outside forces it would naturally return to its grounded liquid state as this is what is easiest for the cerulis corpuscle to behave as.

Take note that due to the cerulis corpuscle sitting in a between state or shape of the cubic brunus and the spherical albus corpuscles it does not require a great deal of outside activity to make the cerulis corpuscles behave like either.  However, for a metal, which is composed of predominantly brunus corpuscles, it takes significantly more effort to make the brunus corpuscles behave like a cerulis or albus corpuscle.  A great deal of heat is required to shrink the brunus corpuscles to such a degree that they begin moving past each other like cerulis corpuscles and a near impossible amount of heat to make brunus corpuscles behave like albus corpuscles.

 

It is this difference in the spacing of corpuscles that allows compression in fluids and not in solids and the motion in the spaces thereof that allows for the aforementioned resistive forces to compression.  

 

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ON THE STUDY OF PHLOGISTOLOGY & HEAT

Phlogistology, or the study of phlogiston and heat, formed naturally from the study of material substances.  One need not be an alchemist or scholar to see that some materials are far more prone to burning than others.  For instance, wood burns far easier than stone.  Further, dried wood burns far easier than living wood.  Using the corpuscular theory, it would seem as though a substance, the Society has deemed phlogiston, is present in all things in varying amounts.  Phlogiston is that substance which burns.  The more phlogiston present in a material in comparison to other corpuscles present determines how well the material will burn and combust.  This substance can most clearly be defined as heat and fire.  Wherever there is palpable heat or fire there is phlogiston.

 

The reason other corpuscles, such as brunus, do not turn to gas along with the phlogiston is because phlogiston is composed of, as stated earlier, albus and rubis corpuscles.  Albus corpuscles have a tendency to become gaseous in their grounded or natural state.  Thus, when heat is applied, these (along with the rubis corpuscles) are the first to become gaseous.  The sharp edges of the rubis corpuscles carried along with the albus corpuscles cause the sensations of burning and heat.  They can easily break down and tear apart materials as a result, penetrating the spaces between brunus corpuscles.  Thus, materials which burn are both broken apart from the phlogiston and shrunken due to the escaping phlogiston.

 

A living leaf has a large amount of phlogiston present (as do all flora materials), however, it has a larger amount of other corpuscles present such as cerulis which contribute to its vitality and flexibility through water.  However, when gentle prolonged heat is applied to the leaf or the leaf falls and dies and is vulnerable to the heat of the sun, the water, and thus, the cerulis corpuscles shrink and begin to evaporate into the air as water vapor leaving the leaf composed of only brunus and phlogiston.  Now the leaf has a far larger amount of phlogiston present than any other arrangement of corpuscles making the leaf burn quite easily.  The leaf would still burn with cerulis corpuscles present while alive, granted, would not burn as quickly or easily.

 

Phlogiston is likely composed of a mixture of albus and rubis corpuscles, with the albus corpuscles contributing to the “gaseous” nature of fire and heat and the rubis corpuscles contributing to the penetrating, consuming nature of fire.  Avoid the temptation to consider phlogiston ONLY composed of rubis corpuscles as this is likely incorrect due to the composition of light which will be elaborated on later.

 

When a material is burned with a high degree of phlogiston present within, the phlogiston escapes into the air.  First as heat or smoke, which is small amounts of phlogiston leaving the material.  If further or more intense burning occurs the material begins to release phlogiston in larger amounts which takes the form of fire.  When all the phlogiston in the material has been burned away all that remains is brunus corpuscles which takes the form of ash.  One will note that if ash is burned long enough it will cease to burn at all, leaving behind a white ash or salt.  This ash has lost all phlogiston and, thus, can no longer burn.  This process is alchemically known as calcination.

As the phlogiston escapes into the air it eventually dissipates and spreads out in the atmosphere.  One can witness this process occurring after a fire when the air is, at first, very hot.  When the fire burns out the air will remain warm for a period before cooling again, this is the phlogiston dispeling in the air.  The reason the air does not simply combust, since it naturally contains phlogiston, is because it is in such diluted amounts, it has not noticeable effects.  However, one will see that if phlogiston was concentrated in the air it can in fact combust.  If a candle is lit and then extinguished, a match can be held over the smoking wick and be spontaneously ignited.  This is because the air around the wick has concentrated amounts of phlogiston present which has yet to dissipate.  A naturally combustible material, such as a match, can be ignited using this highly concentrated phlogiston around the smoking wick.

 

The Society conducted a rather curious experiment where a candle was placed within a glass bell jar.  The candle burned for a few minutes before extinguishing before the wick was fully used.  This can only be explained through the conclusion that a finite volume of air can only hold a finite amount of phlogiston.  Since the bell jar was sealed, no air or phlogiston could escape the jar.  Thus, as the phlogiston in the wick burned and escaped into the air, it could not dissipate.  Once the entire bell jar filled with phlogiston the phlogiston in the wick could no longer burn and was extinguished.  This same principle explains why one can douse a fire with a blanket or a quick splash of water.  The phlogiston can no longer escape from the material and is extinguished.

 

 

One might, understandably, be concerned about this phlogiston substance in the air.  Surely, after centuries of burning, all the air around the physical plane would become quite concentrated with phlogiston from campfires, forges, etc…  It is of the Society’s belief that, in comparison to the entire atmosphere of the physical plane, the amount of phlogiston dissipated into it, due to mortal or natural activity, is minimal and even negligible.  Even so, the highly gaseous phlogiston may also be escaping into the cosmos, or plants naturally absorb the phlogiston.  This would explain why plant material tends to have such a high degree of phlogiston present and is quite easy to burn.

 

The dissipation of phlogiston may take place in several ways.  One is simply through the dilution of the phlogiston in the air.  Another is from the fire itself.  The fire’s high energy propels the rubis corpuscles present in the escaping phlogiston in uniform beams which we perceive a light.  This will be explained fully in the next section.

 

 

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ON THE STUDY OF OPTICS & THE CORPUSCULAR THEORY OF LIGHT

Parallel to the study of fire and heat is the study of light.  It is a most puzzling of substances, and rightfully so.  Ancient texts suggest that the first substance to come into existence from the chaotic Void was a bright, white light, and from this light all things find origin.  We took great reverence in studying such a venerable topic, though, much of it remains a higher mystery to our mortal minds.  Using corpuscular theory, it would seem most likely that light is composed of uniform “beams” or rubis corpuscles which move through the air at a high velocity.  The extremely light and near massless rubis corpuscles, and at such high velocities, move in straight lines for great distances.  Granted, over extreme distances one will find that light appears to fade.  This is due to the rubis corpuscles scattering and eventually dissipating into the air much like phlogiston.  Of course, highly concentrated sources of light may have beams of rubis corpuscles travel for thousands of miles.

 

We believe light to be composed of these ‘rubis’ corpuscles because of how well light conforms to behaviour similar to any other physical object in the process of reflecting or refracting. Like any solid object bounding off of a surface in reflection, the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection. The force of the light corpuscles on the surface results in this ‘bounce’ and their inertia parallel to the surface carries them in that direction. Light behaving in a way that can be described as having inertia points towards some kind of mass and, therefore, some kind of corpuscular composition.

 

 

 

Similarly, in refraction, we can see that a more ‘dense’ material would cause light corpuscles to travel slower through it do to more resistance to their motion from the corpuscles of the material. This is what causes light, even in transparent materials such as glass, to dissipate and spread if a concentrated beam moves through for too long. This, it would seem, is also the key to understanding why refraction happens. If we assert that these beams are composed of many corpuscles (unlike the diagrams above which show them to only be one or two in width) and that these beams wish to stay ‘together’ in some way, meaning there is some attractive force between them like in normal matter, this phenomena makes sense. Upon meeting the boundary of a denser material, one side of the beam moves faster as it meets this denser material later, bending the light. Just as a wheeled cart would change direction when moving from stone path to wet mud at an angle as one wheel enters the wet mud first, resisting the motion on one side before the other.

 

Light finds origin in light sources, which come in a variety of forums.  Most commonly, light comes from fire which already contains rubis corpuscles.  The high energy of the flame propels beams of rubis corpuscles outwards, giving off light.  Thusly, in order for an object to give off natural light, it must have rubis corpuscles present.  From this, we can conclude that no natural forms of light are truly eternal.  Once the substance has lost all rubis corpuscles, it ceases to give off light.  This, of course, does not include supernatural sources of light, such as auras or aengudaemonic light.

 

One might argue that corpuscles would collide if two beams of light crossed.  While theoretically possible, the size of the corpuscles and the space between them is so finite that it becomes nearly impossible for light corpuscles to collide.  Light corpuscles that do collide are minimal and are not visually noticeable to the mortal observer.

 

Further evidence that light is composed of rubis corpuscles may be seen through a simple experiment using a magnifying lense.  When held at a proper angle in relation to the sun or another source of powerful light, one can direct the rubis corpuscles into a highly concentrated beam which can cause things to heat and eventually burn, releasing the phlogiston within.  This is done through the sharp rubis corpuscles tearing apart the corpuscles composing whatever burnable material the lense is directed at, and releasing the phlogiston within.

 

 

The other mystifying property of light is its ability to display a wide array of colors, most clearly observed through a rainbow or white light refracted through a glass prism.  The glass prism demonstration quite clearly shows that white light, the greatest of lights, is composed of an array of other colors.  The perceived color of these lights is due to the size of the corpuscles themselves.  An experiment was conducted with an enchanted glass rod that would change color when exposed to varying temperatures.  The Society is calling it a phlogistometer.  When the phlogistometer was placed under violet light it indicated a higher temperature, when placed under a red light it indicated a cooler temperature.  Using conclusions made through phlogistology, it would seem that violet light is composed of warmer corpuscles and, thus, the corpuscles must be smaller since corpuscles shrink when exposed to heat, and red light is composed of larger corpuscles since corpuscles expand when heat is removed.

 

A conundrum remains, however.  While we have adequately explained the nature of color and light, WHY different objects appear as different colored remains a mystery.  Of course, color is a secondary quality, and only exists because a perceiver is present to observe the color.  Some mechanism must exist within the mind or the eye that allows the consciousness to differentiate between different sized light corpuscles and, as a result, perceive color.  Further research is required in this area.

 

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ON OTHER NATURAL AND ALCHEMICAL PHENOMENA

Other, more specific, observations can be found through alchemical and physical experimentation which will be explained using the corpuscular theory thusly.

 

Some solid materials are far more brittle and prone to breaking than others, such as dried leaves, glass, ceramic, etc… compared to more dense materials such as solid wood, heavy metals, and stone.  Furthermore, some solid materials are more malleable such as pure gold which can be dented with one’s teeth.  These material properties are likely due to the arrangement and composition of corpuscles within the material.  For instance, brittle materials have a great deal of space between their brunus corpuscles and they form more “strands” of brunus corpuscles which can easily be shattered while more solid materials, such as stone, have more dense and efficiently arranged brunus corpuscles which are much more solidly laced together.

The malleability of materials can be explained by the corpuscular composition of the material.  For instance, gold likely has cerulis present within it, giving it its malleable properties, since the cerulis corpuscles allow for a slightly more “fluid” material.  More cerulis corpuscles would inevitably result in an even more malleable material until it becomes a highly viscous liquid, such as tree sap or honey.  This malleability and viscosity phenomenon could also be explained with the size of the corpuscles.  A solid material with slightly smaller brunus corpuscles would be more malleable than a solid material composed of larger brunus corpuscles, naturally.

 

Another unavoidable alchemical properties of substance is its acidity or corrosiveness.  Some liquids are capable of corroding other materials, seemingly consuming it like liquid fire.  This comparison to fire, of course, has some truth within it.  An acid’s ability to consume or break apart other materials can be explained with the presence of rubis corpuscles present in the substance.  The sharp edges of the rubis corpuscles can break apart brunus or cerulis corpuscles quite easily in high concentrations.  Thus, the more rubis corpuscles present within an acid, the more acidic it becomes.

 

It should be noted that some materials are more resistant to acidic corrosion than others.  For instance, the most noble of metals, gold, does not grow a layer of “rust” or tarnish as most all other metals do.  It is also resistant to near all acids.  This is most easily explained with its superior composition.  That is, most likely, a mixture of brunus and cerulis corpuscles in a perfected ratio which makes it highly unreactive, and thus, never rusts.  Furthermore, earth and water are known as the “passive” elements and are, naturally, stable in nature.  An ideal arrangement and ratio of these corpuscles would inevitably result in a highly, alchemically stable material.  The exact composition and nature of gold remains distorted.

 

On the topic of lightning, it would seem, in some way, related to fire and light.  Thus, lightning no doubt has rubis corpuscles present, mayhap even phlogiston in some degree.  Granted, the exact origin and cause of these bright streaks of destructive energy remain a mystery, further study is required.

 

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ON THE CORPUSCULAR THEORY OF MAGIC

Stemming naturally from the corpuscular theory of matter comes the corpuscular theory of arcane magic.  For centuries the extent of a magi’s knowledge of the material world stopped at simple observations and measurements leaving the scholar to question what “exactly” they were evoking from the chaos.  A great many of the arcanic disciplines may be explained, quite simply, with the corpuscular theory.

 

The art of evocation is the summoning of corpuscles from the void in varying sizes and geometries to produce the four elements.  The fire evoker summons phlogiston (albus and rubis corpuscles).  The water evoker summons cerulis corpuscles in either liquid form or a solid, frozen form.  Earth evocation, which seems to be the most intricate of disciplines.  Many stones and crystals are not composed of brunus alone, but many different corpuscular shapes which contribute to their appearance and properties.  The actual arrangement of these corpuscles further complicates the discipline of earth evocation.  Unlike the fire, water, and air evokers, the earth evoker must study an array of minerals and metals to fully understand them.  It would seem that an understanding of corpuscular theory would most benefit the earth evoker, above all else.  The exact nature of air evocation may not apply directly to corpuscular theory, as air evocation does not deal with the evoking of substance, but rather, physical energy, causing wind and changes in pressure.

 

The evokers may then manipulate the amount, concentration, etc… of corpuscles they summon resulting in the vast array of effects an evoker may produce.

 

Conjurationists, however, may not benefit from corpuscular theory.  While all material things can be reduced to corpuscles, that does not mean it is efficient to visualize all things as corpuscles.  Living organisms are highly complex creations, to envision every corpuscular component of an entire bird or tree would become highly inefficient to the conjurer.  While certain phenomena in the body may be explained with corpuscules, such as blood, the entire body ought to be considered in its totality, and not in its micro-corpuscular parts.  Granted, the apothecary or the doctor should still concern themselves with corpuscules, as the creation of medicines would benefit greatly from corpuscular study.

 

The disciplines of transfiguration, and more specifically, transmutation seem to deal considerably with the manipulation of matter.  Thus, the study of corpuscular theory would greatly benefit the transmutationist.  The transmutation simply manipulates the size, composition, and arrangement of existing materials to alter their properties and material states.

 

All disciplines of illusion remain an enigma, and cannot be adequately explained with corpuscular theory as illusion inherently deals with the immaterial.  While one might suggest that illusion, light illusion in particular, is simply the summoning of light corpuscles, this explanation is wholly unsatisfactory.  Illusionists are capable of altering the senses of individuals suggesting these illusion take place in the mind alone, not the physical world.  The mind, soul and consciousness are beyond the scope of corpuscular theory as these are gifts from the Creator, and thus, are divine, or at least, supernatural in nature in comparison to the material world.

 

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ON THE FOUR KINGDOMS OF NATURE & THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THINGS

All naturally occurring, material things can most easily be divided into four kingdoms.  Those are, vegetable, animal, mineral, and metallic.  With vegetable being all plants, fungi, etcetera; metallic being all metal substances; mineral being all mineral substances, and so on.

 

All naturally occurring things, then, of the four kingdoms may then be reduced individually.  That is to say, all minerals and metals may be reduced to their three principles, and all plants and animals may be reduced in like manner.  These three principles are salt, spirit, and oil.

 

 

Salt is the corporeal vessel of all things, typically composed of near pure brunus corpuscles.  It gives the material structure and, thus, serves as a holder of the spirit and oil.  The salt ties the volatile and passive substances to the physical plane in a symbolic sense.  Salt is most easily gathered through the calcination of the material.  This is simply placing a solid substance, plant, stone, metal, or animal matter, into a slow burning, though steady, heat.  The substance is allowed to burn for several hours as the cerulis corpuscles are driven out followed by phlogiston corpuscles in the form of simple heat or smoke, though not necessarily fire.  The resulting “ash” is known as the salt of the substance and impervious to further burning since all phlogiston has been driven out.  Typically, all that remains is brunus corpuscles.  Note that one ought to gather the evaporating phlogiston and cerulis corpuscles for further alchemical operations.  Salts can also be obtained through crystallization.  When a material, which has been dissolved into a liquid substance, is evaporated or distilled to dryness, crystals will remain in the alembic or retort.  These crystals, which did not evaporate, are the salt of the dissolved substance.  More purified salt can be produced by dissolving the ash into water, or another solvent, and heated gently once again.  The remaining ash, or crystals, are more pure.  This can be performed several times to maximize purity.

 

Spirit is the volatile substance found within all things, typically combustible.  Thus, the spirit holds a great deal of phlogiston.  Thus, to extract the spirit of a substance is to extract the phlogiston.  Spirits need not only be combustible, however, as stated above, acid is much like a liquid fire.  Many minerals and metals do not have combustible components, however, through the extraction of their spirits, highly potent acids may be produced.  Put simply, spirit is the phlogiston of plants and animals or the acids of minerals and metals.

 

Spirits may be extracted from a substance in a number of ways.  First most, through fermentation or maceration, and then through distillation.  Fermentation is the process by which organic substances are allowed to become alcohol for several months.  This process can be observed by any brewer or wine maker.  While the spirit of the substance is within this “brew”, it is not purified.  To purify the spirit one must then distill it using an alembic or retort which are simply vessels placed over a source of heat with the “brew” contained within.  The vapors of the spirit will evaporate and condense while passing through a long neck where it will proceed to perspire back into liquid spirit.  In this way, the Spirit of Wine is simply the distilled alcohol of wine.  Mineral and metallic spirits can be produced in a similar fashion, though one may need to simply distill the solid material, or first, dissolve it in another acid before performing a distillation.  Granted, much higher temperatures are required to produce “vapor” from the solid, mostly brunus, minerals and metals.  The vapor would likely sublimate back into a solid, crystal or powder like form which could then be dissolved into another substance to produce a diluted mineral or metallic spirit.  The resulting spirits may most accurately be called acids.  Take note that, when performing these distillation, the one should not distill to dryness quite yet.  Spirits ought to be distilled several times in order to maximize the purity of the spirit.

 

 

Oil is the passive substance found within all things, in contrast to the volatile spirit.  Granted, many oils are still highly flammable, and thus, contain a great deal of phlogiston.  In plant and animal matter, oils are known as the “essential oils” of the substance, which are unique to the substance and quite often fragrant.  Mineral and metallic oils are more complex and difficult to produce.  Oils are the materials which remain after the spirit has been distilled and separated from the substance as spirits are more volatile than oils, and thus, will evaporate faster.  Higher temperatures are required to distill the oil, which need not be done.  In this way, spirits contain mostly albus and rubis corpuscles which oils contain more cerulis corpuscles.  Granted, still a fair amount of phlogiston since many oils are still combustible.

 

The Oil of Wine may be produced by distilling wine several times.  The clear substance which is produced through the distillation is the Spirit of Wine.  The thick, viscous, yellow substance which remains in the alembic or retort is the Oil of Wine.  When wine is distilled several times, each distillation, the spirit is purified and more oil is left in the retort.  A similar process may be carried out for animal, mineral, and metallic matter.

 

To summarize, if a material is placed into a retort and heat is applied, the clear substance which evaporates first is the spirit of the substance, the more viscous colored substance which remains is the oil and the salt.  If another distillation is performed at higher temperatures, the oil can then be distilled off in a more purified form.  This distillation is performed to dryness.  The remaining ash or crystals is the salt of the substance.

 

The Salt, spirit, and oil of substances can be mixed with other substances in various ways to produce any number of alchemical concoctions.

 

---

 

[eulersnumber 26]

Alfonso Trastámara would be writing his works, when suddenly a messenger gave him a new treatise and theory on alchemy, which he had requested to have all copies of as they were coming out.

 

Drinking tea, he would finish reading the paper. He threw all the papers in the fire named Skepical Alchemist - which was the name of his own work and their work.

 

"Goddamnit! No point in publishing my work anymore, it's already been done!'

 

Once he cooled down, he would say,

 

"At least it's an advancement.  Better done than what I could do independently. Congratulations to them."

 

"Now it's time to beat them." He would get out new paper and a new cup of tea, and frantically begin writing. Now - he would put his new theories into place, which were proven 'not incorrect' by his work and the work of the Imperial scientists.  He would get into his workstation and begin experimenting... "No time to waste!"

 

[Man of Respect 5471]

((sORRY IF THIS IS OOC, BUT THIS LOOKS AMAZING))

((Is it normal knowledge?))

[Joe_LeeDoktor 3]

7 hours ago, Man of Respect said:

((sORRY IF THIS IS OOC, BUT THIS LOOKS AMAZING))

((Is it normal knowledge?))

0

 

 

Well, yeah. We always make sure that our stuff properly explains what is to be observed and that we can have some decent arguments for it so it can be used as 'in game' knowledge which is what we've done here. Obviously it's not perfect and isn't the same as RL atomic theory, but some aspects follow from particular observation. And we've released this thesis in scientific circles (via this forum) so I don't see why not.

 

But yeah, thanks!

 

[Fawb 557]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.