linguistic:paraphrasing, stylistic:style_transfer, structural:scholar_edition
The sulfur-mercury theory of metals

The sulfur-mercury theory of metals, though first attested in pseudo - Apollonius of Tyana 's The Secret of Creation (Sirr al-khalīqa, late 8th or early 9th century, but largely based on older sources), was also adopted by the Jabirian authors. According to the Jabirian version of this theory, metals form in the earth through the mixing of sulfur and mercury. Depending on the quality of the sulfur, different metals are formed, with gold being formed by the most subtle and well-balanced sulfur. This theory, which is ultimately based on ancient meteorological speculations such as those found in Aristotle 's Meteorology, formed the basis of all theories of metallic composition until the 18th century.