2006/03/01 by John A. Norris · 6 citations
Chemistry · Computer Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Medicine · #Chemistry #Environmental science #Exhalation #Geochemistry #Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping #Geological and Geochemical Analysis #Geology #Medicine #Mineral
paper · doi:10.1179/174582306x93183
openalex publication_date 2006/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/13
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.