Recipes for imitation agate, and the earth as a star
Marbling and hardstone imitation; a note that our world is a star like the moon; fire and candle
Most of the page is given over to craft recipes ('misture') for making imitation agate and marbled hardstone, illustrated by hexagonal and clustered patterns in the margin: circular coverings of little rods pressed together, paper made with strained arum milk, and layers of white, sardonyx and transparent broken and reassembled to produce veined effects. A directive at the head ('Go to 42') tells Leonardo to conclude that the earth is a star almost like the moon and to treat the sizes of the stars. A short note observes that fire grows without limit if fed wood, while a candle's light shrinks in a colder place.
On this page
Recipes for agate-like marbled material
Make the coverings circular and cut the little rods equal, then press each among six so they touch all over and dry. White paper made with strained arum milk, moistened and wrapped at random, or a card of sardonyx broken between sheets of papyrus, glued and filled with transparent, black and white, yields veined, agate-like effects.
The earth is a star almost like the moon
All the discourse must conclude that the earth is a star almost like the moon, thereby proving the nobility of our world; and one should likewise treat the sizes of many stars according to the authorities. The instruction 'Go to 42' points to where the argument is continued.
Fire grows with fuel; the candle dims in the cold
Fire would grow to infinity if wood were added to it infinitely. The light of the candle becomes smaller the colder the place in which it is set.
