1 Alchemy, nature Antimony

Antimony was known in the days of alchemy (500 BCE to 1600 ce) when it was associated with other metals and minerals such as arsenic, sulfides, and lead used as medications. It is possible that an alchemist, Basilus Valentinus (fi. 1450), knew about antimony and some of its minerals and compounds sometime around the mid-fifteenth century ce. Physicians of this period—and earlier periods—used elements such as mercury and antimony to cure diseases, although they knew that these elements were toxic in larger doses. Antimony was used to treat depression, as a laxative, and as an emetic for over two thousand years. Despite the elements poisonous nature, physicians of that early era considered both mercury and antimony good medicines. 

Symbols and metaphors allow us to represent phenomena we do not fully understand and thoughts having no rational translations. Four centuries ago, the wolf represented the biting behavior of antimony (or its sulfide) on base metals. At a much deeper, subconscious level we may employ sexual imagery to convey perceptions of the male and female nature of things. For millennia, these dualities were projected to explain properties of matter that could be understood only symbolically. It is no wonder that the psychologist Carl Jung wrote extensively on the symbolism of alchemy. ... 

Even before alchemy became a subject of study, many chemical reactions were used and their products applied to daily life. The first metals used were probably gold and copper, which can be found in the metallic state in nature. Copper can also be readily formed by the reduction of malachite—basic copper carbonate, Cu2(C03)(0H)2—in charcoal fires. Silver, tin, antimony, and lead were also known as early as 3000 bce. Iron appeared in... 

---