The Mineral Exhalation Theory of Metallogenesis in Pre-Modern Mineral Science

Author: Norris, John

Source: Ambix, Volume 53, Number 1, March 2006 , pp. 43-65(23)

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Abstract:

This paper explores the theory of metal generation through mineral exhalations, and its connection to the view of metals as composite substances. In Aristotle's theory, the vapour stage was important for allowing the elemental mixing necessary for generating composite yet homogeneous metallic matter. The idea of exhalations was variously incorporated with the Sulfur–Mercury theory of metal composition by medieval Arab authors, and the diversity of ways in which these ideas were utilised together by later European authors is also considered. The main strengths of the mineral exhalation theory were compositional flexibility and upward mobility: the mixing of protometallic vapours, which could vary compositionally and react with other mineral matter during their movement through subterranean regions, seemed sufficient for producing a plurality of metals and ores. The considerable diversity of thought concerning these processes continued as the idea of mineral seeds and aqueous minerallogenesis became influential during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The compositional emphasis of the vapour theory was ill-suited to an overriding mechanism for imparting specific form, such as mineral seeds, while evidence for the reality of mineral vapours continued to mount throughout the eighteenth century.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/174582306X93183

Publication date: 2006-03-01

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