First posted on FB 24/01/2020
Two more elements – silver and bismuth. Silver has been associated with the Moon since antiquity, on account of its colour (and gold with the Sun). It was also thought that as the Moon was associated with diseases of the brain, that silver or its compounds could be remedies for such illnesses.
Bismuth, another silvery white metal, became known to German miners in the sixteenth century as the ‘roof of silver’ as when bismuth ore is found, silver is often found below. Hence the roof-tile pattern to represent bismuth.
(Further credit to Peter Wothers’ book ‘Antimony, Gold and Jupiter’s Wolf’)
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