Note 3046 — Chapter XXXIII · TREATISES ON THE ARTS BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF ARABIC ALCHEMY
Reading edition
Ibid., I, xii:
“Sed vim cristalli cruor antea temperet hirci Sanguis enim facilem ferro facit his adamantem.”
Mrs. Merrifield (I, 194) has incorrectly rendered this passage, “But let the blood of a goat first temper it, for this blood makes the iron so hard that even adamant is soft compared to it.” What Heraclius says is,
“But first let the blood of a he-goat temper the force of the crystal, For this blood makes adamant soft to the iron.”