Latin — 1533, repaired
[XXXV]
Compertum habemus in natura inferiori, non inveniri in uno quodam comprehensas unitatis superiorum corporum dotes, sed per plures apud nos species esse dispersas, sicut sunt plures res solares, quarum tamen unaquaeque non cunctas Solis continet virtutes, sed alia alias habet a Sole proprietates. Quare aliquando necesse est, in operationibus fieri mixtiones, ut, si centum vel mille Solis virtutes per tot plantas, animalia et similia sparsae fuerint, possimus has simul conflare et in unam redigere formam, in qua dictas virtutes iam omnes unitas videbimus contineri.
Est autem in commixtione virtus duplex: una videlicet, quae partibus suis prius insita est, et caelestis; alia, per certam et artificiosam multarum rerum invicem confusarum, et secundum certas proportiones commixtionum, quales cum caelo consentiant sub certa constellatione acquisita: et haec virtus descendit per similitudinem et habitudinem quandam rerum ad invicem cum superioribus, in quantum sequentes virtutes antecedentibus gradatim correspondent, ubi praesertim patiens ad suum in super agens accommodatur: sic ex certa quadam herbarum, vaporum et similium compositione, cum physice tum astronomice confecta, resultat quaedam communis forma, pluribus siderum dotata muneribus: sicut in melle apum, quod ex innumerabilium florum succis exceptum, et in unam formam redactum, omnium continet virtutem, divino prope et admirabili muscarum artificio.
Quo tamen haud minus mirandum est, quod Eudoxus Gnidius refert de melle factitio, quod gigantum in Libya gens quaedam ex floribus conficere novit, optimum, adeo ut ab apum melle minimum distare videatur.
Omnis autem commixtio, quae constat ex pluribus, tunc est perfectissima, quando ita ex suis partibus conglutinatur, ut unum fiat, undique sibi constet, neque facile dissipetur: sicut videmus aliquando lapides et corpora diversa, vi quadam naturali sic conglutinari et uniri, ut penitus unum videantur: sicut duae arbores per insitionem, et ostreae cum lapidibus, vi quadam naturae occulta visaque sunt animalia in lapides versa, atque sic cum lapidis substantia unita, ut iam unum corpus, et illud homogeneum efficere viderentur. Sic ebenus in arborum genere, modo lignum, modo lapis est.
Quando itaque aliquis commixtionem fabricat ex multis materiis sub caelestibus influxibus, tunc varietas illinc quidem caelestium actionum, hinc vero potentia naturalium congregata, facit quaedam mirabilia, per unguenta, per collyria, per suffumigationes, per similia, qualia videlicet leguntur in libris Chiramidis, Archytae, Democriti, et Hermetis, quae Alchorat inscribitur, et aliorum plurium.
De unione rerum commixtarum, atque introductione nobilioris formae vitaeque sensibilis.
Close translation
We have found by experience that, in the lower nature, the endowments of the superior bodies are not found gathered together, united, in any one thing, but are, among us, dispersed through many species; just as there are many solar things, of which nevertheless each one does not contain all the powers of the Sun, but one has one set of solar properties, another has another. Wherefore it is sometimes necessary, in operations, that mixtures be made, so that if a hundred or a thousand powers of the Sun have been scattered through as many plants, animals, and the like, we may be able to fuse these together at once and reduce them into one form, in which we shall see all the said powers now contained, united.
Now in a mixture the power is twofold: one, namely, that which was already implanted in its parts beforehand, and is celestial; the other, acquired through a certain artful confusing together of many things with one another, and according to certain proportions of mixtures, such as agree with the heavens under a certain constellation obtained: and this power descends by a certain likeness and relation of things to one another with the higher things, insofar as the following powers correspond, step by step, to the preceding ones — especially where the patient is accommodated to its agent above. Thus, from a certain composition of herbs, vapors, and the like, made both physically and astronomically, there results a certain common form, endowed with the gifts of several stars: as in the honey of bees, which, taken up from the juices of innumerable flowers and reduced into one form, contains the power of them all, by the almost divine and admirable craft of the bees.
Yet no less to be wondered at is what Eudoxus of Cnidus reports concerning a manufactured honey, which a certain race of giants in Libya knows how to make from flowers, so excellent that it seems to differ least of all from the honey of bees.
Now every mixture composed of many things is most perfect when it is so glued together out of its parts that it becomes one, holds together throughout, and is not easily dissolved: just as we sometimes see stones and diverse bodies so glued and united by a certain natural force that they appear altogether one; as when two trees are joined by grafting, and oysters with stones, by a certain hidden force of nature — and animals have been seen turned into stones, and so united with the substance of the stone that they now appear to make one homogeneous body. Thus ebony, among the kinds of trees, is now wood, now stone.
When, therefore, someone fashions a mixture out of many materials under celestial influences, then the variety, on the one hand, of celestial actions, and on the other, the gathered power of natural things, produces certain marvels, through ointments, through eye-salves, through fumigations, through similar things — such as indeed are read of in the books of Chiramis, of Archytas, of Democritus, and of Hermes (the book that is entitled Alchorat), and of many others.
On the union of mixed things, and the introduction of a nobler form and of sensible life.
Modern rendering
Experience shows that the lower world never gathers all the powers of the heavenly bodies into one single thing. Instead they're scattered across many different species here. Take solar things: there are plenty of them, but no single one contains every power of the Sun — each carries a different subset of solar properties. So sometimes an operation calls for mixing things together: if a hundred, or a thousand, solar powers are scattered across that many plants, animals, and so on, we can fuse them and reduce them into a single compound form that holds all of those powers together at once.
A mixture actually carries two kinds of power. One was already built into its ingredients beforehand, and is celestial in origin. The other is acquired through skillfully combining many things together in specific proportions that match the heavens under a particular astrological configuration obtained for the purpose. This second power comes down through a kind of resemblance and relationship that things bear to the higher powers — later effects correspond, step by step, back to their causes, especially where the receiving material is properly matched to whatever acts on it. So a carefully composed blend of herbs, vapors, and the like — put together with both physical and astrological knowledge — produces a shared form endowed with the gifts of several stars at once. Bees' honey is the model case: gathered from the juices of countless flowers and reduced to one substance, it holds the power of them all, thanks to the almost divine, remarkable craft of bees.
Equally remarkable is something Eudoxus of Cnidus reports: a manufactured honey that a certain race of giants in Libya knows how to make from flowers, so good that it's barely distinguishable from real bee honey.
A mixture made of many ingredients works best when it's fused so thoroughly that it becomes genuinely one thing — consistent all the way through, not easily pulled apart. We sometimes see stones and different bodies bonded and unified by some natural force until they look like a single thing: two trees joined by grafting, oysters fused to stones by some hidden force of nature. Animals have even been seen turned to stone, merged so completely with the stone's substance that the result looks like one uniform body. Ebony works the same way among trees — sometimes it behaves like wood, sometimes like stone.
So when someone builds a mixture from many materials under the right celestial influences, the combination of varied celestial action on one side and the gathered power of natural ingredients on the other produces genuine marvels — through ointments, eye-salves, fumigations, and similar preparations, of the kind described in the books attributed to Chiramis, Archytas, Democritus, and Hermes (the book titled Alchorat), and many others.
On how mixed things unite, and how a nobler, sense-bearing form gets introduced into them.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: The book title 'Alchorat' attributed to Hermes is kept exactly as printed; this is very likely a genuine (if obscure) alchemical/magical work-title in Agrippa's source tradition rather than OCR damage, but it has not been cross-verified against a modern critical edition in this pass.
- uncertain: 'gigantum in Libya gens quaedam' (a race of giants in Libya making artificial honey, per Eudoxus of Cnidus) is a real classical anecdote-citation; the specific reading 'gigantum' vs. a possible alternative ethnonym was not cross-checked against a clean source text and should be verified.