VMs: Re: Balance and the maids

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Luis,

At 13:59 23/03/02 -0400, Luis Vélez wrote:
> > One of the last Arabic alchemical treatises -- and the most 
> comprehensive --
> > was that by the Egyptian alchemist `Izz al-Din Aydamir al-Jildaki, who 
> died in
> > 1342 (743 H). His treatise
> > The Proof Regarding Secrets of the Science of the Balance (Kitab 
> al-Burhan fi
> > asrar `ilm al-mizan) was concerned to a large extent with the 
> classification
> > of plants, animals, and
> > minerals, and with the concept of `balance'. The alchemist attempted to 
> assess
> > the `balance' of any given substance by a system employing numerology, 
> the 28
> > letters of the Arabic
> > alphabet, and the numerical value of the name of the substance in order to
> > determine the proportional structure of the substance's attributes -- 
> that is,
> > heat, dryness, coldness, and
> > fluidity. Al-Jildaki's treatise represents the mystical and allegorical 
> trend
> > in alchemy, but it is also evident that the author had much experience with
> > practical chemical operations and
> > substances.
>
> source:
> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_11.html

Thanks! Does anyone know where any copies from 1500 or before of 
al-Jildaki's work are located?

> Makes one wonder what kind of a substance's attributes would have anything
> to do with our soaking nymphs.

My belief (for this month) is that the nymphs (doing whatever their 
balneological and fallopian thing happens to be) and the plants (including 
our spiralling friend her) were copied from two separate sources. So: the 
answer to your question is probably nothing at all. :-/

> Luis Vélez (back after a brief 5-year hiatus)

Welcome back! :-)  Nothing's changed. :-(

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling..... :-)