Homunculus
Homunculus
Imagine having a piece of copper; now imagine it changing into silver, and then that silver changing into gold. This is a transmutation of metal. Greek Alchemist Zosimus from the 3rd or 4th Century explained a vision in which a homunculus performed a transmutation of metal without flaw. The piece of copper was no longer that, but instead a piece of gold. A really strange thing indeed, the homunculus is a little man small enough to fit in a tube. This is because they are ‘created’ instead of being born. Instructions for a homunculus can be relatively recent, as in 1493-1541. These alchemic instructions simply stated that you could make your own homunculus through a long and unusual process. Another account of a homunculus dates back to an earlier time, 1873. Dr. Emil Besetzny recorded 10 homunculi in bottles. There may be a place in the future for these creatures, so as long the world of alchemy is persistent to learn more.