The Art of the Distillation of 'Spirits' As a Technological
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THE ART OF THE DISTILLATION OF ‘SPIRITS’ AS A TECHNOLOGICAL MODEL FOR HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. THE CASES OF MARSILIO FICINO, JOSEPH DUCHESNE AND FRANCIS BACON Sergius Kodera Summary This article concerns the role of the distillation apparatus for the production of alcohol in early modern physiological discourses. Here, the still had an amazingly powerful explanatory potential, and this is especially true for the elusive concept of medical spiritus. My text investigates the function of the art of distillation in different authors who were interested in the workings of human, and of celestial, bodies. Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) used the still as an explanatory foil for his Neoplatonist metaphysics, which entailed important and highly influential modi- fications of Aristotelian natural philosophy. In contrast to Ficino’s predominantly theoretical approach, Joseph Duchesne (1546–1609), a French Paracelsian, gives a highly detailed description of the practical aspects of the art of distillation of liquors, which relates to his concept of human physiology. Francis Bacon (1561– 1626) uses a modification of the still to quantify the medical spiritus but also to further elaborate the Paracelsian and the Neoplatonic concepts of physiology. The distillation of ‘spirits’ seems to have been invented at some point dur- ing the twelfth or thirteenth centuries;1 the Florentine Taddeo Alderotti (ca. 1223–1292) called the products generated by the new technology aqua ardens.2 In fourteenth-century Nuremberg, Hausbrand, a kind of brandy made from grapes, was sold cheaply by apothecaries, while distillation 1 On the following, see Multhauf R.P., “Distillation” in Strayer J.R. (ed.), Dictionary of the Middle Ages (New York: 1984), vol. 4, 219–220, who also discusses the (rather improb- able) older origins of the art. Holmyard E.J., Alchemy (Harmondsworth: 1957) 51 mentions a certain Salernitanus († 1167) as the inventor. 2 Ficino uses this term in Ficino Marsilio, De vita libri tres, eds./trs. Kaske C.-V. – Clark J.R. (Binghamton, NY: 1989) Book I, 6: 120/1 and Book III, 1: 247. The word ‘alcohol’ was perhaps introduced by Paracelsus to denote pure wine spirit, but actually refers to the Arabic word for ‘black eye-paint’; cf. Holmyard, Alchemy 168. Yet Paracelsus also retains the original meaning of the word, as a signifier for ‘fine powder’; cf. Pagel W., Paracelsus. An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the Renaissance (Basel-New York: 1958) 155–156, n. 82. 140 sergius kodera from beer and grain spirits commenced around the year 1400.3 The pro- cess of distillation of liquors is quite a sophisticated art, which in all prob- ability significantly changed the ways of life of both men and women in late medieval Europe. The must to be distilled, contained in the cucurbit or gourd-shaped vessel, is surmounted by a beak-shaped head or alem- bic that conveys the vaporous product to a water-cooled device, where the vapours condense and are subsequently led to a receiving vessel. This water-cooled still, which seems to have been a European invention, is a prerequisite for the production of alcohol; the older alembics, known since classical Antiquity, lacked this cooling device.4 Following the inven- tion of printing, tracts with numerous and detailed illustrations of the new instrument in its amazing varieties ranked amongst the more popu- lar books streaming from early modern European printing presses; apart from producing brandy, and from supplying ingredients for new medi- cines and tinctures, the novel technique was also praised as a means of extracting the alchemist’s elixir, a substance that was again closely related to, or even identified with, the celestial aether, the substance of which stars are made.5 The technology was, therefore, perceived as being capable of purifying virtually any organic substance from a state of decomposition into a clear and transparent liquor that still preserved recognisable traits of the origi- nal material. The alembic was obviously an instrument by means of which one could extract the most characteristic property of a given substance, its essence.6 As we shall see, this particular perception of the capacities of the still had important consequences for some basic tenets in natural 3 On the spread of the use of ‘Brantwein’ in Germany, see Eckstein F., “Brantwein”, in Bächtold-Stäubli H. – Hoffmann-Krayer E. (eds.), Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglau- bens (Berlin-Leipzig: 1927–1942), vol. 1, col. 1497–1507, with many references. 4 For early illustrations and discussion of the principles of the so-called ‘Moor’s head’ and the ‘Rose-hat’ see Forbes R.-J., Short History of the Art of Distillation from the Begin- nings up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal (Leiden: 1948) 83–86; cf. also Holmyard, Alchemy 50–51, with illustrations. 5 On the medical use of aqua ardens in alchemical literature, see Pereira M., “Medicina in the Alchemical Writings attributed to Raimond Lull (14th–17th centuries)”, in Rattansi P. – Lericuzio A. (eds.), Alchemy and Chemistry in the 16th and 17th centuries (Dordrecht- Boston-London: 1994) 1–16, esp. 8–9. For a concise introduction to the genre of aqua ardens literature, see Debus A.G., The Chemical Philosophy (New York: 1977) 20–25. 6 On this issue, see the interesting remarks in Colnort-Bodet S., “Eau-de vie logique et ‘Banqueroutiers du Saint-Esprit’ ” in Morazé Ch. – Aron R.C.F. (eds.), Culture science et développement. Mélanges en l’honneur de Charles Morazé (Paris: 1979) 310–311..