The Net (substance)
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'''The Net''', in [[alchemy]], is an [[alloy]] of [[copper]] and [[antimony]], whose [[crystal structure]] induces a network pattern on its surface. It was described in the 17th century by the [[Harvard College|Harvard]]-educated alchemist [[George Starkey (alchemist)|George Starkey]].
Starkey produced the substance by following what he regarded as a recipe, encoded in [[classical mythology]], for part of the process of achieving the [[philosopher's stone]]. The relevant myth involved the god [[Vulcan (god)|Vulcan]] finding his wife [[Venus (goddess)|Venus]] (alchemical symbol for copper) in bed with the god [[Mars (god)|Mars]]
Starkey's interpretation rested on typical alchemical associations, construing Vulcan as a stand-in for fire, Venus for copper, and Mars for [[iron]]; Vulcan, the craftsman of the gods, having made a metal net for the purpose of hanging the adulterous couple from a high ceiling, Starkey saw the use of iron to [[reduction (chemistry)|reduce]] [[stibnite|antimony sulfide]] at high temperature to [[antimony regulus]], and combining it with copper to produce the "network" on the alloy, as fulfilling the real meaning of the story.
[[Isaac Newton]] described his own synthesis of the Net in his secret notebooks (alchemy being a serious crime in England in its time), and adopted a theory like Starkey's, of mythological tales as secret alchemical information.
== External links ==
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=tZXHoMl_J6sC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=%22antimony+regulus%22&source=web&ots=RAtew2dBnU&sig=YUhDU7FmCNhbRVw7d4ETX9CSWP0&hl=en#PPA35,M1 "The Chymical Laboratory Notebooks of George Starkey"], by William R. Newman and Lawrence M. Principe, pp. 25-41 in Frederic Lawrence Holmes et al., ''Reworking the Bench: Research Notebooks in the History of Science''.
[[Category:Alchemical substances]]
[[Category:Copper alloys]]