Diana's Tree

Well-developed Diana's tree grown up over copper rod from silver/mercury amalgam placed in 0.1 M solution of silver nitrate – reaction time 2 hours.
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Diana's Tree (Latin: Arbor Diana or Dianae), also known as the Philosopher's Tree (Arbor Philosophorum), was considered a precursor to the philosopher's stone and resembled coral in regards to its structure.[1] It is a dendritic amalgam of crystallized silver, obtained from mercury in a solution of silver nitrate; so-called by the alchemists, among whom "Diana" stood for silver.[2][3] The arborescence of this amalgam, which even included fruit-like forms on its branches, led pre-modern chemical philosophers to theorize the existence of life in the kingdom of minerals.[4]

  1. ^ Conniff, Richard. "Alchemy May Not Have Been the Pseudoscience We All Thought It Was". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  2. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1894). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
  3. ^ "Diana". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. ^ Collis, Robert. Interest at the Petrine Court. University of Turku. Retrieved 2007-05-23.