Posted by grim (206.162.192.39) on October 13, 2003 at 05:12:43:
Maybe too much is being read into the "greed is an evil root" passage.
Ovyyus has a letter on his site that says Bessler was too ill to exhibit his wheel at what
seems to be some sort of festival or exhibition. So apparently he would put this thing on
display at big town gatherings, etc., probably for the purpose of finding a buyer.
Is the dog and kennel doing tricks for stiff fops (fools) a sarcastic metaphor, for say, Mr. Gardner or someone like him?
Or could JB be describing how he felt demonstrating his device to these people, i.e., feeling he was the
"dog doing tricks for fools"?
Salt, sulfur, and mercury were attributes given to substances the alchemists knew from the three kingdoms,
animal, vegetable, mineral. For example, essential oils from plants were their "sulfur".
Sort of like horoscope signs. It doesn't mean one is a ram, scorpion, etc., they are supposed to
represent attributes. The planets named generally were the alchemical names for metals.
Just a thought.
Regards
grim