alchemist without the damned earth is like a sailor without his ship

An example of analogy, and metaphor, used in explaining a proto-scientific idea:

"The damned earth…is the mighty 'instrument' that opens the gates of matter, allowing the innermost parts of bodies to be revealed and intimately examined. Like a sailor who cannot acquire knowledge of other peoples without his ship, 'so [according to alchemist Edward Kelley] the philosopher, unless he has this damned earth, will perceive little or nothing of the most important secrets in other metals'. This chemical instrument is evidently a solvent capable of dissolving precious metals…' The Damned Earth alone is the doorkeeper, the only master, which can open up these mysteries of nature."

Jennifer M. Rampling (2020) The Experimental Fire. Inventing English Alchemy, 1300-1700. The University of Chicago Press.

Read about analogy in science

Read examples of scientific analogies

Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.