Hermetic and Alchemical Writings (Coelum Philosophorum, Aurora of the Philosophers, Concerning the Nature of Things, ...)

Take quicklime, salt of alkali, and oil mixed therewith. Distil, and imbibe the spirits with test water, repeating the process until it melts on the plate. Water of Mercury Fixing all Spirits. Take Mercury, j. marc. Sal Ammoniac, ij. marc. Rub the two together into a glass vessel over a slow fire, and it will become a hard mass. Pound this and it will become a powder, which dissolve in water. Then take j. marc, of pure Luna or Sol carefully made into plates. Put this in the aforesaid water ; and this water fixes all spirits. To Fuse Bones. Take any quantity of bones and burn them into lime. Having done this, carefully pound it. Take of this Ib.iiij., of quicklime -^Ib. Mix them together in the powder. Afterwards dissolve some bitumen in a moderate quantity of wine, until the whole of it is melted away. Then place the bones therein, and stir briskly into a thick pulp. Afterwards pour into a mould made of paper. First, however, let it be smeared with oil ; set it to cool, and it will be hardened like ivory. You can, in course of fusion, give it any colour with minium, flos seris, or any other tints you like.

To Make a Mould for Casting ail kinds of Images. Pound tiles very fine, and boil them in strong lixivium so that they form an exceedingly thin paste. Dry this and strain it carefully. Afterwards make a water from the white of eggs. Then let it be pressed on a machine, and it will dry from the top. To Colour Glass. Take tartar, wood ashes, and quicklime. Make an alkali from them. Take thereof j. part, dissolve in iij. parts of colour in water (kV). Coagulate, and again dissolve with the colour. Do this three or four times until the stone shall be thoroughly coloured. Afterwards melt glass with the aforesaid stone. It will be coloured by the stone, and thus you can fuse crystal. A Method of Colouring whereby Softened Crystal can be Tinted and Hardened like a Precious Stone. Take alkali made from tartar, j. part : sublimated salmiax, \ part : colour ij. parts. Pound well together, dissolve in water, and again pour the colour thereupon, repeating the process until the colour is sufficiently deep. Then it will be coagulated into a stone. Pound this very fine, and mix it with a crystal that has been previously softened with oil of tartar. The red colour is made with cinnabar, and becomes equally red therewith ; the citron-colour is made from saiTron, and the green with sap-green.

How EVERY Stone can be transmuted into a clear one, though it be itself opaque, and whereby you can tinge a body, both Crystal and all similar Bodies. Example. Take of ematite stone, very finely pounded, ij. parts. Let it boil fiercely in a lixivium (previously prepared from tartar, wood ashes, and quicklime) for half a day, so that it may be alkalised. Then sprinkle over it iij. parts each of sublimated sal ammoniac and also crude sal ammoniac. Dry overa veryslow fire. Afterwards dissolve in water in a damp cellar, and what remains on the stone imbibe again with that water, repeating the operation until the whole is turned into oil. Then put it into a glass vessel and sublimate from the oil itself the sal ammoniac which is not fixed. When you see it has ascended and is no longer in the oil, then pound the stone, and boil it still further in the lixivium for six or eight hours ; and then again, as before, dissolve with the sal ammoniac, both sublimated and crude, then by the sublimation of the lixivium and the solution of the sal ammoniac it is changed into a thick oil. Then those spirits which are not fixed are separated from it, as the sal ammoniac by sublimation, in the way before specified. The lixivium will not be separated ; but add water, which has been distilled by a filter ; then the oil will remain at the bottom, and the lixivium will be raised up with the water. Thus it will be separated, and you will have the oil of the stone alone. It is better, however, not to separate the alkali, but to let it remain in the oil.

Description of the Adept's Fire. Alum, \ j. lb. each. Calcined Alum, j ^^^^^^^^ Distil in aquafortis for 30 hours. Afterwards take Ib.ij. of the following strong water :— Calcined Alum, \ Calcined Vitriol, j J- 'b- each. Distil as above and renew thrice. Having done this, dissolve in the following Sal Ammoniac, ij. quarts. Calcined Tartar and its Alkali (no quantity given). Sublimated Arsenic, j. quart. After each has been separately dissolved, let it be distilled by a bath and poured over twice. Afterwards let it be hardened a little and dissolve in a moist bath into a water In this water dissolve iij. parts of Luna, or as much as will dissolve. Coagulate into a hard stone and let this boil in a very strong lixivium into most potent water until it is alkalised. Dissolve and coagulate as long as you please. equal parts of each. Salt of Alkali or Tartar, Sublimate in a glass vessel. One part tinges six parts of purified brass. Then add Luna. The Purification of Brass is effected thus : With Acetum, Salt, and Tartar. Oil of Sulphur. Take three pounds of Hepar Sulphur. Boil it in a lixivium of soap ; afterwards add Rubified Vitriol, Ib.ij.

Crocus of Mars, j. quart. Verdigris, j. quart. Mix well into one mass. Distil by an alembic, having previously putrefied for three days ; and with a very strong fire, so that the spirit may be energetically expelled. Set aside the white part. Pour that which is red upon the caput mortuum again. Re-distil ; and keep doing this until no whiteness comes forth. Then thoroughly reverberate the caput mortuum. Distil it ; and repeat this process until it no longer burns in the fire. Putrefy from the white oil. These tinge in a wonderful manner. Mode in which Sol is produced with Pars cum Parte. Take Antimony, ij. parts. Common Salt, iij. parts. Vitriol, ) Alum, I j- P^*"'- Grind to a powder. Take ij. parts of this, and j. part of filings of Luna. Mix together, and place in a tigillum on a slow fire for two hours. Then place it in a very strong fire for another two hours, and melt it in glass. Afterwards imbibe in Saturn and purify by means of a cineritium. Next convert it into plates, and put them layer on layer with this powder. Then take Common Salt, fused, Salt of Nitre,

\ lb. of each. \ oz. of each. Dry by the fire. Make into a powder. Imbibe three or four times with urine. Place in a luted tigillum and set in a graduated fire for six hours. On the last day (sic) put in the regulus, having purified it by a cineritium. Wash it again and cement it, until it is proof against aquafortis. Then take of that Luna (sic) iij. parts, of pure Sol j. part, of copper ij. parts. Dissolve together and cement for ten hours. Let the regulus be dissolved into iiij. parts, and placed in the aquafortis to be hereafter described. Then you will have a residuum of Sol perfect according to every test. The Aqua Fortis. Take Vitriol, \ Saltpetre, > j.lb. each. Alum, ) Antimony, 4 ss. Cinabrium, 5 4 vij. Verdigris, 5 ss. Distil all these into a water. For Beauty of Face. Take Oil of Tartar and Dragaganth. Make an ointment and besmear the face therewith once. Then remove it. Take laminated Luna and let it be cemented with species of cements twice or thrice. Afterwards add one part of purged Venus. Dissolve in water ot gradation, and you will have gold if it remains its time, namely, until it acquires a red colour. Note that pars cum parte is made as above.

Place verdigris in ashes so that it may grow white. Then extinguish in vinegar, when it will become red. Afterwards pound, wash thoroughly, and desiccate again Tutty is made as above, and becomes red. Also let colcothar be imbibed with vinegar as above. Also take §s. of cinnabar and §j. of vitriol as above. Next let the vitriol be imbibed with vinegar after the manner of a pottage. Divide it into two parts. Let one part be placed at the bottom of the tigillum. Arrange cinnabar above in layers, well luted. Place by the fire, so that it may not glow, for two hours. Afterwards pound well. Also take 5ij. of crocus of Mars. Wash in the manner of ceruse. Take the more subtle portion. Desiccate and imbibe with vinegar. Thus dry twice that which floats above. Also take of Crocus of Mars, j of Tutia, j- 5j. each. of Vitriol, prepared as above, gj. Mix together, pounding well. Fixed Venus. Take of Filings of Iron, of Antimony, of Venus. Place in a tigillum well luted. Let it stand twelve hours in flux. Afterwards infrigidate and fulminate the king with the same quantity of Saturn. You will then find 12 lotones of fixed Venus of j.lb. It makes no more scoria, nor is further destroyed by R. You can make it red or white.

To THE White with Metallic Arsenic. Let it be fixed by means of imbibition of the oil of eggs and of tartar until the tincture be made. Crocus of Mars. Take any quantity of Mars, and the same of saltpetre. Make it burn and become red. Let it also become sulphur, etc. Also take §j.s. of sal ammoniac. Pound. Also take 5ij. of glass, prepared and pounded as above. Mix and imbibe with vinegar twice. Also take iiij.oz. of filings of Mars and two ounces of red vitriol. Make crocus with vinegar, as you have seen. Let the oil of Mars be distilled. Imbibe sal ammoniac as before until it reddens. Take of antimony h. j., vsrell pounded, and of tartar h. j. Mix well. Next dry. Shut up in a jar, so that it may not grow white on the coals. Leave for two hours. Afterwards pound it and pour vinum ardens over it, so that it may be inebriated. Place it in a phial for a night and a day. Next distil. Pour over it again, and distil by a slow fire. To Soften Glass. Take Lybisticum. Press out the sap. Cause the glass to boil in this.

This is the Method of Making Luna. Take j.lb. of Mercury. Heat it, and pour over it the following water : Take common salt j-lb., saltpetre j. quart. Grind them, and then bake j. quart of lime. Mix well in an iron dish over a slow fire until it froths, for one hour. Remove from the fire and cool. Mix all together, and dip it into oil twice. Fulminate this Mercury in a cineritium, and you will rejoice for ever. Correction of Oil of Tartar, for Beauty and for Luna. Make layer on layer with tartar and lime. Burn well. Then filter for two hours. Lastly dissolve, and you will have corrected oil of tartar. Note. Take equal parts of sulphur and Mercury. Form a paste like amalgam. Then mix with salt. Let them remain in gentle fluxion for half an hour or thereabouts. Then burn ; afterwards wash. The Mercury which you find there grind with a salve of Aza, wax, vimtm ardens, etc., until it is burnt. Finally reduce in a cineritium with borax, and you will have Luna without any doubt. Rectify the white of eggs with their own shell four times. Take of this Ib.j., of well purified Sol j. §, and sal ammoniac j, §. Boil them well with

urine. Dissolve these together and distil by means of an alembic. Imbibe therewith sulphur and arsenic, sublimate until fixed, and you will have an Note. Take Cinnabar, Ib.j. Alkali of Soot, lb. \. Salt, nine times prepared, Vo.\. Salt Nitre, the same weight as all the rest together. Mix, pound, and moisten several times with the water of eggs or albumen of tartar. Let them remain in a state of fusion for three hours. Afterwards kindle and warm, when it readily dissolves the saltnitre ; one part of sublimated Mercury and two parts of sulphur must be stirred continually with a stick. It then speedily loses its smell. The salts are prepaped by frequently evaporating the acetum or urine. Afterwards melt them so as to mix for four hours over a very strong fire. Then wash and purge over ashes ; and you will have the Treasure of the World. Reduction. Take Goldsmith's Borax, part j. Assafoetidaj Sarcocolla, Oxicroceus, Wax, Galbanum, Dissolve the gums in vinum ardens, mix with the borax, as above, and it is burnt at the same time. If it does not melt, add more borax until it melts. Oil which Fixes and Tinges. Take Linseed Oil,

Yolk of Eggs, oz.vj. Eggshell and Quicklime, each j. quart. Calcined Alum, j ^^'^^ "J" l"^-"*^- Antimony and Tartar, each Ib.^. Juniper Wood, 4. Pound, mix, and distil. Having done this drive out the spirits of nitre, alum, colcothar, and antimony until the water or oil becomes red and thick. Then warm the tartar and antimony, and pour in the oil that the spirit may thus be more reddened. Add iiij. parts of aquafortis, so that the oil may thereby be more fixed. It would be well, too, if this oil were previously rectified from the calx of the eggs and its own fixed spirits by renovating and distilling six times. Lastly, take of this oil j.lb. and ten parts of fixed salt. Let it be fixed by ten cementations, solutions, and fusions, and as often by nitre. At the same time take one quart, each of alkali fuliginis, Jamen alum, and sulphur of tartar. If the sulphur has been imbibed with nitre it renders it red and more fixed, and gives it ingress. Take of this sulphur j. part ; of coagulated Mercury ij. parts. Cement for four hours, and it becomes gold more perfect than that of Nature. In like manner all spirits are fixed by this method. They perform wonders, do the like, and ingress and tincture are added to all species. It turns to Sol the calx of Luna when placed upon it, and equally fixed copper in the same manner. It fixes calcined or sublimated Mercury, both into a body and into a tincture, that is, an elixir. This oil can be coagulated over a very slow fire, and you will then have a stone, the virtue of which is to turn into pure Sol, Luna, fixed Venus, and all metals prepared for it. It fixes also cinnabar into Sol.

Caput Mortuum for the subject of this Sublimation. Sulphur, \ jib. each. Salt, fused and prepared, Ib.ij. Saltpetre to the weight of all. Dissolve over a slow fire with Ib.j. of crude antimony, until two hours are completed. Then kindle, and let them melt for an hour. Let this caput mortuum be imbibed with the said oil. No better caput has been discovered. Ready Method for Coagulating Mercury. Take it when made very warm, steep frequently in warm oil, and it will be hardened. Common Salt, j J' P" Calcined Tartar, ij. p. Mix with the clear part of eggs. Make into pills, and distil by descent. Take equal parts of Alum, Sublimate all these. It will become four times as white. It also becomes white in a strong capitellum if you boil it for a night. Jupiter steeped in oil of tartar 7, or more, becomes good, etc. Note. For making Ice easily Fusible in Fire, and such also as IS NOT Dissolved by Water. Take aquafortis made from saltpetre and alum, together with oil of tartar, j.lb. each. Pour all together ; then put into them a little vinum ardens, and the whole will coagulate into an ice by the power of fire.

Oil which we use for Projection on Melted Luna. Take Purest Gold, j. loth. Sal Ammoniac, iij. loth. Oil of Antimony, x. loth. Aquafortis, quant, suff. Dissolve, as you know how. Having done this, let it putrefy for seven days, and distil by a bath, continually renewing the whole until the aforesaid materials are converted into a thick oil. Of this take x. loth., with purest gold ij. loth. Dissolve at the same time iiij. loth, each of sublimated Mercury and fixed sublimated sal ammoniac. Proceed as above with fresh aqua fortis, and all these ingredients are converted into a thick oil. In this oil dissolve as much gold as possible. The oil will then transmute into gold all metals on which it is projected, and if it be coagulated into a stone it tinges it beyond measure. By this method you can proceed to silver. Mercury will be fixed with white of eggs, and in the same manner sal ammoniac. A Wonderful Cement by one Stone over Luna, Take Crocus of Mars, j loth. Haematite, ij. loth. Verdigris, v. loth. Pulverise well and boil in a very strong lixivium for ten hours, so that it may be alkalised. Having done so, take of this alkali ^Ib., of sal ammoniac iiij. loth., and of sublimated salmiax j. loth. Mix together and dissolve on marble into a watery oil. Pour the oil thus made on the dregs, and keep doing this until the whole matter is turned into water.

This being done, coagulate it into a stone, which sublimate in order that the sal ammoniac may evaporate, and the matter alone may remain. Then once more boil the stone in very strong red lixivium. Again add the aforesaid weight, dissolve into oil, and again coagulate the oil, sublimate the sal ammoniac from it, and do this over and over again until the matter of the species flows from them on the marble. Take this water, coagulate it afresh, dissolve it again and put it in j. quartal of powder or j. loth, of water of ducat-gold. When it is dissolved coagulate it. This stone is effectual in cements, and eff^ectual also in projections. It also tinges crystal.

Cement by which half of Luna becomes Sol. Take Hematite, v. loth. Flos Aeris, ij. loth. Crocus of Mars, iiij. loth. Sal Ammoniac, iij. loth. Nitre, ij. loth. Boil and desiccate. Afterwards imbibe nine times with oil of antimony ; then with equal parts of this powder and of Luna make layer upon layer. Having done this lay aside the Luna and fulminate it. Then it is separated by means of successive applications of water and purged by a cineritium. Take Antimony, Ib.vj. Sublimated Mercury, Ib.^. Distil, and there issues forth a strong red water which tinges everything into Sol. Cement whereby four parts of Luna become perfect Gold. Take Luna, iiij. loth. Venus, j. loth. Make thin plates and form layer on layer with the following powder. Take : ij. loth, each of red vitriol, calcined alum, and saltpetre ; j. loth, each of verdigris, haematite, and tutia, with iij. loth, of sal ammoniac. Dry by evaporation over a slow fire, and imbibe several times with white of eggs. Make into a powder, and cement the Luna for seven hours in a graduated fire. Afterwards put it into a cineritium with the following strong water. Calcined Alum, j. quart.

Verdigris and Calaminaris, each j. quart. White of eggs boiled in calx of eggs, Ib.iij. Mix, and make into a strong water. Distil again Ib.ij. of the aforesaid fteces with Ib.^ of calcined alum and one quartal of plumose alum. After a gradation of twenty-four hours reduce with borax, and there will result the most perfect gold. Zalusia. Dissolve calcined alum, etc., as also calx of alum. Mix with white sugar and camphor, imbibe with quintessence, and burn. Then the camphor is burnt out and consumed, while the alum is transmuted into oil. Place it in aqua vitse. Oil of Vitriol for all Weakness. Make vitriol up to redness. Dip that calx in common acetum, as far as it can be dissolved. Pour out that which is dissolved and keep it. That which is not dissolved dissolve again with fresh acetum, as above, until the whole is dissolved. Then let the acetum evaporate to dryness. Calcine the moisture from it anew. Then place it for distillation and you will have an oil. Over this pour the rectified quintessence and place in a bath for putrefying. The superfluous part remains at the bottom. Pour this off clear, and you will have the quintessence by means of the alembic. The oil, of & deep red colour, remains at the bottom.

Salt of Tartar. Calcine tartar to whiteness. Dissolve in cooked urine. Filter, coagulate, and you will have salt of tartar. Take it soon ; let it dissolve in oil. Dissolve the other part in white vinegar and coagulate into a salt. Antimony. Take of Antimony ij. p. of Fused Salt, j. p. Let them be melted until the water ceases to redden and the antimony becomes white. Put the froth in a glass. Coagulate it. Next place it in a long c«.p-pot, extract it with an iron scraper, and repeat the process until it becomes white to a powder and then red again. Then take one marc of Jupiter. Sprinkle thereon a quint of this powder when the metal is in flux. Then refine on the test. Crocus of Mars. Dissolve in aquafortis. Then distil the aquafortis from thence. Take as much sal ammoniac as crocus, and sublimate four times from the crocus. Afterwards put the whole substance in acetum to dissolve in a slow heat for two days. Distil the solution by a filter, and then cause the acetum to evaporate. Afterwards strengthen the fire. The sal ammoniac retires, and the crocus remains in a fluid state at the bottom.

Take crude Mercury j.lb. Put it in a cucurbit to distil. Give it a slow fire, and a single drop will come forth. Pour this back ; distil again, and two drops will come forth. Pour these back again, and continue this process until the whole is converted into water. This water penetrates and dissolves Take crude tartar and pound it well. Then distil through an alembic. Pour its water again upon the feeces, and distil again until a water or oil collects ; then put the same into another receptacle. Afterward rectify it. Take live calx in the same quantity as red oil. Pound it thoroughly. Then extract the water through the alembic until no more faeces remain at the bottom. Next put half as much sulphur into the oil. Putrefy for ten days. Afterwards again distil. Then make an amalgam out of one part of Luna and five parts of Mercury. Heat and extinguish in oil six times. Then Mercury is fixed, and there are many arcana in it. Note. The calx of the body is cast into a fluxion of saltpetre over the fire. Dissolve in a cold chamber. It falls on the bodies. Water of Luna. Make an aquafortis out of one pound of saltpetre and two of vitriol. Dissolve therein half an ounce of Luna ; then dissolve a common salt in warm water. Pour into it aquafortis with Luna, when it will be precipitated. Then extract the water from it, and dry it. Add to the dissolved half ounce one ounce of sugar-candy. Pour upon it again a fresh supply of aquafortis. Extract the moisture therefrom in a bath. Afterwards put it in a sand cupel and extract the water of the moon through the alembic. If it does not ascend more than once, pour the ascended water thereupon until all shall have passed through.

The Fixation of Arsenic. Take two parts of alum and one part of saltpetre. Make a water by means of an alembic, and put into the water a part of sublimated arsenic. Distil to a fixed water. Fixation of Mercury. Take of Fixed Arsenic, , ^ , . . . two parts each, of Sal Ammoniac, ) of Fixed Sulphur, one part. Melt them together. Then take one marc of Mercury. Warm it. Next put it into the melted matter therein. Wait an hour. Then refine it in Saturn on the test. You lose nothing, and you will have more than two parts of the Sun. You may then also take the Mercury which is coagulated with the smoke of Take of Sublimated Zaibach, x. parts. White Sublimated Kybrick, iij. parts. Sal Ammoniac, iij. parts. Imbibe frequently with water of sal ammoniac, and dry until they are white and roasted. Again imbibe and roast. At length take water of the eagle, that is, sal ammoniac, double the amount of the powders. Put it to dissolve under moderately warm dung for three weeks. Then take it out of the dung and congelate it into white powders. Of these project one part on 100 parts of purged Venus, and the whole will become silver. These are the truest experiments of many philosophers who have worked by Zaibach, Kybrick, and the eagle. For these are three great spirits. Thus prepared, they tinge.

To Fix Sulphur. Take as much aquafortis as you wish. Inject 3J. of live sulphur and the same quantity of pulverised alum. Dissolve in water, when the sulphur will become red as blood and fixed. This water dissolves all bodies. Note. Mercury is called honey, calcined Luna, the assistance. Water of Mercury is called water. Thus Plato. Fixing Salt. Take Quick Lime, ij. parts. Soft Smegma, j. part Wood Ashes, \ part. Also some ashes from the dregs of wine. Reduce all these to powder so that they may become a strong lixivium. Strain through a filter ; coagulate, and you will have fixing salt, concerning which see below also. Fixing Oil. Take of olive oil three parts, of quicklime two parts, and of sal ammoniac one part. Mix all together and distil the oil from them. Do this three times, always renewing the dregs. Soft Soap. Take twelve scutellse of water, in which place one scutella of wood ashes. Boil until dissolved. Then add half a scutella and boil until the water is reduced one-third. Remove from the fire and distil by a filter. Then to two parts of the water thus strained off' add a third part of oil 9. Do this by evaporating over a fire.

Make an amalgam from one part of Luna and five parts of purified Mercury. Place it in a glass vessel with a narrow neck which is well smeared below with the lute of wisdom. Place under the amalgam in the glass one layer of salt previously prepared, and also above. Afterwards pour over it the oil previously prepared to the height of three fingers, and let it boil over a slow fire for seven days. In art we find two co-operators by whose means our working is more easily fulfilled. The one is the destroyer, that is to say, sal ammoniac. But sulphur and arsenic reduced to an oil promote the work. The property of sulphur is to coagulate Mercury. But the property of arsenic is only to inspire and vivify the stone, if it be prepared in due manner. Hence, whoever omits to prepare the oil of Mercury should take the oil of arsenic in its place. But when a philosopher speaks of joining in matrimony the body and the spirit by sal ammoniac, he speaks of the oil extracted from Mercury. Solution of Bodies. Dissolve honey over a fire, and pour over it tiles heated and pounded so as to imbibe the moisture. Then distil by an alembic, and a saffroncoloured water will be produced, because otherwise the honey cannot be distilled. Into this water let the spirits of aquafortis enter, that is to say, equal parts of vitriol and saltpetre. Then dissolve Luna and Sol in that water, and get ready also an ounce of prepared common salt. Then this converted material can be eaten or drunk without injury, because it is aurum potabile.

NoTA Bene. That you may know the Recipe for Solution. Take a clean cloth, like ticken or fustian, as much as an ell in length ; pour on it a pint of good wine, and with the wine mix about a half pint of good brandy. Tear the fustian or the cloth at first into fragments. Let it remain thus three days. Afterwards take it out and dry it on a board. When it has dried take one tatter after another on a small stick. Burn it as if to make tinder. Put the burnt tatters one by one into a brazen basin. Place in a cellar, when the whole will speedily become an oil. Then amalgamate Luna or Sol with three parts of Mercury. Let the Mercury evaporate again Place a calx upon the slab. Pound it with brandy. Then take twice the quantity of the above oil, and twice the quantity of the body of Mercury. Temper it thoroughly on a table made of Saturn. Set it subsequently in a moist place, when you will soon find oil of the body, which use as you know how. Luna Fixed by Me. Take saltpetre, antimony, and arsenic, and imbibe them well with oil of tartar, so that they may be thoroughly mixed. Dry them somewhat. Afterwards melt them in a tigillum, first over a slow fire and then over a stronger one. Pound the whole together into powders. Take of these one-fifth to one loth. , or more if you like, and you have, etc. (sic).

Sol is the first which is not altered by fire, nay, it is improved by fire, and cannot (otherwise) become a great or perfect elixir, which is of eternal duration, the rectifier and lightener of all bodies, and is joined with Mars and Saturn. But it cannot be joined with Mars except Mars be filed, but with Saturn it is joined as it is."'' Take Saturn and melt it. Before it hardens project an equal amount of Mercury. Wash this amalgam thoroughly with water and salt, afterwards with pure water. Grind on a stone, and afterwards add as much sal ammoniacum as there is mercury. Place it in a damp, warm place. When it is entirely dissolved take sublimated arsenic. Imbibe it by pounding it thoroughly on the stone with the aforesaid water. Set it to dissolve, but remember that there should be something there to lighten it. Let it stand until it is quite cold. This preparation serves as a means of lightening when it is projected on one hundred parts of Venus and on two hundred of Saturn. But note that you always ought to place in it salt of alkali, so that the spirit may penetrate better and enter through the whole body. Fixation and Rubification of Mercury.

Take bloodstone, mix it with sal ammoniac and sublimate it. Then the sal ammoniac ascends red, but the stone will remain at the bottom black. Then, having once sublimated the Mercury, grind it with that sal ammoniac, and sublimate it. The mercury will remain at the bottom fused and red. *The text at this point, and in many places throughout the latter part of the collection, seems exceedingly corrupt. Note. Calcine the cinnabar well with vitriol and salt, when it all goes into the metal. With regard to what will not readily enter into lead, nothing having been taken out, boil the matters in strong alkali. Add thereto as much as you like of vitriol, and it enters in. Take of mercury sublimated and of antimony giiij. each. Break each in pieces separately. Put together in a well-luted retort. Set in a sand ; apply a gentle fire. Refine over. Should it attach itself in the tube, ease it with a coal. Increase the fire until it no longer comes over. When it is cold put the matter upon a stone. Pound it small. Should Mercury still remain, remove it. Then put again into a retort. Refine more effectually than previously, even until all the mercury has become water. Thus you may also make oil of antimony. Take the matter in a glass. Pound small. Pound the moisture. Do this continually and distil until a red oil comes over.

Fixation. Take of Mercury Sublimate, part j. Sulphur, part ij. Break up together. Put in a cucurbit. Set it in sand. Let the smell go out, at first weak, afterwards stronger. Should the sulphur not lose its smell, stir with a piece of wood ; it will then lose its smell soon. Proof. Set it upon a plate. Should it not smell it is fixed ; if it does, take equal quantities of sulphur and mercury. Pound together, as at first, until it is fixed. Take one part both of litharge and of Mercury, and a small quantity of sulphur. Put the Mercury into the crucible and thoroughly lute. Apply at first a small fire, then a stronger, until it melts. Afterwards let it cool. Wash the Luna. Refine in Saturn. Then separate in aquafortis. White. Take the white of forty eggs, break up well and boil. Then distil the water through a cloth. Afterwards take Ib.j. of Mercury sublimate, and the same quantity of arsenic. Impaste frequently with the aforesaid water, and dry sufficently. Afterwards (another copy has) let Ib.j. of sal ammoniac be added twice. Pour the water over the pounded powder to the height of a finger or two. Set in horse dung in a closed glass for fifteen days. Take out on the sixteenth day, and you will find an aqueous mass. Coagulate this in cinders. Of this j. part tinges one hundred of the bodies, and especially of purged Venus, to which if there be added three or four parts of Luna, it will become perfect Luna. If you add a ferment the Luna will be still more perfect.

Oil of Mercury and of the Sun for Gilding. Take of Sal Ammoniac, \ oz. Mercury Sublimate, j. quint, which are to be well pounded together. Put into a hard boiled e.g^. Then remove the yolk, and make under or through the floor a small hole with a barrel of a pen. Put the egg on a small glass to eliminate the humour. Do the same with calx of the Sun. Take one quarter of the Sun. Paint it with Mercury. Put therein salt pounded small. Let the Mercury lose its smell. Boil the salt with hot water from the calx. Then take twice as much sal ammoniac as calx. Put this also in an &%% with a small hole. Set it as before to dissolve into an oil, but should the sal ammoniac not melt readily, moisten it with brandy. Oil of Vitriol. Pour aquafortis on carefully-calcined vitriol. Let it stand in putrefaction for fourteen days. Afterwards let the phlegma of the aquafortis be removed, and the oil remains at the bottom. To Extract the Quintessence of Luna, Saturn, or Jove. Put tartar and sal ammoniac into acetum in a well-closed glass vessel. Put in this the ashes of Saturn, Jove, or Luna. Seal thoroughly and set in warm dung for eight days. Afterwards distil, and the acetum comes first, next the quintessence of the calx, after the manner of quicksilver.

Aquafortis on Venus, to make Luna. Take of Salt, . of Hungarian White Vitriol, ... ... M- lb- each, of Alum, j ' Pound small according to the proper manner. Make aquafortis. Dissolve therein as much as you like of Venus, and you will have silver to the quantity Take equal parts of Sol, Luna, Mars, and Venus. Melt them and make plates of them, which suspend over acetum. Scrape off the green which will be formed there. Do this until the plates are entirely consumed and turned into green. A portion of this green on 10 parts of Luna transmutes it into the appearance of Sol. If you wash this green with warm water, and afterwards mix with it some water of sal ammoniac, letting it stand for seven days, and dissolve, its effect is doubled. If, too, in place of sal ammonia you added aqua foetida, that is. Mercury, and then operated, as with the water of sal ammoniac, you would certify your work ; nor can you make any mistake on account of the metallic substances being combined in a philosophic way. Note this well. Rubify vitriol, pound it, and dissolve it in acetum. Then sublimate sal

ammoniac over a slow fire, and add what is sublimated to the aforesaid red water in equal weight. Give it a slow fire cautiously for three days, and it will be coagulated and fixed. If it be not fixed, then repeat, and it will become a deeper red. Fix it until it is completely fixed, which you will prove on a plate of copper. Put three parts of this powder to eight parts of Sol, and a sort of fermentation will be produced, one part of which tinges thirty parts of Luna into Sol ; and that Sol will change sixty parts of Luna into Sol in my opinion. Add antimony as above ; it will then be much better. One Part of Tincture on Ten Parts of Luna in Sol. Take of Verdigris, \ of Mercury, > j.lb. each, of Vitriol, ) Mix thoroughly together. Distil a water out of them, from which Mercury proceeds into the alembic. Take the alembic from it. Subject the other in a glass to a good fire, so that it may become red. Take it out. Make it into a powder. Pour its own water back into it again, and put on the fire. Let the water lose the smell thereof, so that it may become red as scarlet. Pulverise. Melt a ducat in a crucible. Incorporate the powder thoroughly with it, or melt it upon it. Take the gold and throw it upon ten ducats of silver, and melt. Thus it arrives at the twenty-fourth grade. I believe that if a ducat had been first resolved in water of Mercury, and again coagulated with the former powders and resolved, and that three times, it ought to tinge the powders.

Water of Mercury. Mercury thrice sublimated from tartar is thereby turned into water in a cucurbit in hot ashes. Particular. Take red vitriol, put it while still warm in strong acetum, and dissolve. Add crocus of Mars and leave it thus for eight days. Then take verdigris, grind it very fine, and imbibe it with the former liquid. Next take sulphur, and kill Mercury just as if you wished to make cinabrium, or else take cinabrium itself and sal ammoniac equal in quantity to the above-mentioned ingredients. Grind all together, and place on porphyry to be dissolved. Coagulate the solution. Take one part of that powder to ten parts of Luna, and it will become Sol. Add the Spirit of Venus, and it will perhaps be so much the better. Aquafortis Purging all Metals and Fixing Sublimated Spirits. Take vitriol, alum, sal ammoniac, and oil of tartar. If you put a metal over warm ashes it is soon melted. It fixes sublimated spirits and purges them from all superfluity. A Marvellous Fact about Mercury. Take salt of tartar and sulphur in equal parts, and sublimate both together. They will then ascend together into the glass. Take some of that sulphur and sublimated salt, ground small, and place them in a sublimatory on

crude Mercury. Sublimate them together ; then you will find the sulphur and the salt of tartar above in the glass sublimatory, while the Mercury remains at the bottom, and nobody can ever more revivify it. Take two parts of white sulphur, and also dissolve it. At length mix them together, and congelate. Take also j. g of these powders to 200 (or else 100) § of Mercury made warm, and caused to melt. Then you will find Luna. Cement. Take one part of common p , as it is in itself, two parts of tile dust, M. Make regal cement. Water fixing all Spirits and dissolving all Metals. Take alum, verdigris, and orpiment, j. oz. each : sal ammoniac and vitriol ij. oz. each : cinnabar \ oz. Make a strong water. The Fixation of Orpiment. Pound it and distemper it with crepine oil. Pound again, imbibe, desiccate, and pound over a stone. Preserve for use. Then put in the fire and melt. If you put heated Mercury therein it will become coagulated and hard. Then take it, place it in a glass, and close securely. Set it over a slow fire for seven days (otherwise seven hours), and it becomes good gold.

How THE Spirits of Water are produced : or concerning the Aquification of all Spirits and all Bodies. Take of Calx of the Shells of Eggs, j . of Sal Ammoniac, | J- P (I should take fixed sal ammoniac.) Put into a copper vessel. Cover well with the lid of Venus. Subject to a fire of coals. This smelts the matter. Then pour over the stone. Pound most minutely. Set to dissolve over the stone. Take j. ounce of this water. Pour over whatever spirit you will which flows in the crucible. It is then converted into a powder. Dissolve the same in water. Do this nine times. Then the waters are fixed. Take as much as there is of this water. Pour it over the Sun melting in the crucible. It is thereupon converted into powder, which then dissolves in water. The case is the same with Luna, Mercury, and other bodies. You have all waters fixed to work with them. Water of Vitriol : very good for the Red. Take vitriol, verdigris, sal ammoniac, sulphur, and, if you will, antimony also. Grind these together and distil with an alembic, until the whole of the water shall pass away, for this helps greatly to redness, and is marvellous for the above [sic) work of one day.

When sublimated fixed arsenic, sublimated fixed Mercury, and calx of Luna are covered over with water of sal ammoniac and dissolved with it, then is formed an elixir for every purified metal, and it tinges 100. This is the secret of the Greeks. The Work of One Day for the Red. Take v. parts of * and grind in a brazen mortar with j. part of sulphur. Place this in a vessel enclosed for four hours in a baker^s oven. Afterwards pound and imbibe with water of atramentum and of sal ammoniac. Of this project j. part on xxx. parts of Luna, and thus it will be coloured. If you melt this Luna with Sol it will be very good. Another for Saturn. Take Pure Live Sulphur, j. part. Crude Mercury, ij. parts. Prepared Vitriol, ij. §. First of all join the sulphur with the vitriol, pulverised in acetum over a slow fire so that it may be resolved. Next add Mercury, by well incorporating it with them, and stirring it with a rod. Then it will be black amalgam. Take this from the fire and grind it to an impalpable powder. Place in a glass vessel well luted with a good seal. Give it a moderate heat for two weeks. Then increase the fire for one week. Break the glass and pound it, giving it continuous heat, until you have a bright red colour. Then cool and pound, placing it in another great and strong vessel, well luted in the midst, and closed with its hermetic seal.

Give it a very strong fire for one week, until you see the substance melted like wax or oil. Then refrigerate and take out that most precious substance. If it does not turn to oil as is here described, dissolve it with rectified aqua vitas, and coagulate three or four times until the oil remains in the fire. Then melt viij.lbs. of Saturn and viij.lbs. of Mercury. Make an amalgam, as you know how, by fusion, and project j. lb. of this medicine leaving it to melt for a quarter of an hour by mixing it with wood. Afterwards cool the black substance ; one part thereof tinges the viij.lbs. of Saturn and the viij.lbs. of Mercury into a medicine. Melt again viij.lbs. of Saturn and viij.lbs. of Mercury. Take of this medicament one part, do again as above, and you will find Sol.

Augmentation for Sol. Take Saturn. Melt, and pour over it an equal quantity of Mercury. Then take the same quantity of white arsenic. Mix it with Saturn and Mercury, and let it become a powder. Then take three parts of Luna. Melt in * . Inject the powder gradually, and little by little, until it completely enters. Stir it well with a stick. Then purge in a cineritium. A Secret for the Solution of Sol or Luna. Pound thoroughly calx of Luna or Sol with sal ammoniac. Place it in a glass vessel with the mouth open over hot ashes, and dry with a moderate heat until there shall be seen a white mass in which is no plated Luna. Next place in dung or a bath of Maria for nine or twelve natural days. Thus it is dissolved into water, which putrefy for the proper time. Afterwards congeal and dissolve it ; and thus you will have the Stone, Or Better. Ferment the water thus produced with filings of Luna, or with Httle lumps of Luna or Sol, with an equal quantity of Mercury dissolved and then re-converted to Stone, in the way you understand. Then dissolve the Luna in the aforesaid water ; congeal it frequently according to your lofty intelligence, until, if you shall have operated rightly, the perfect Philosophers' Stone is produced. Also take care that the volatile part does not exceed that of the fixed body. This is the First Secret Way.

Water of Mercury. Take of Mercury, . „ ,-. , 1 equal quantities, of Sugar Candy, ) Pound them together. Leave the whole to putrefy for ten days. Distil it through the alembic twice and you have sublimated arsenic. Sublimated Arsenic. Take of Crude Arsenic, f o 1 jib- Pound the arsenic well. Mix these together, and so sublimate once or twice. This arsenic dissolves well in aquafortis and is good to fix. Item. Take equal parts of crude sulphur and mastich. or, Take equal parts of sulphur and white sugar. Distil, and there will come a water or an oil. Take thrice distilled aqua vitae, and place in it two parts of saltpetre. Distil to a water. It dissolves all bodies and renders Mercury fixed in one hour. Dissolving Water. Dissolve glass gall in an aquafortis. The same water dissolves all spirits, arsenic, sulphur, cinnabar, Mercury, etc. Note. Calcine Luna with orpiment. Sprinkle the same powder upon Mercury sublimate. Thus it becomes fine silver. Note. Take equal parts of orpiment and vitriol. Melt together so that a red powder is produced, of which project some on Luna in a state of flux, and you will find fine gold. Extraction of the Quintessence from all Metals. Take acetum distilled from wine and sal ammoniac fixed in it. It extracts the quintessence from all metals and is a secret.

Calcination and Solution of Sol. Take laudanum well ground {sic), stratify it with Sol perfectly divided into leaves, and burn it. Then the Sol is reduced to a calx, which is to be forthwith dissolved in the quintessence of wine. Let it be distilled by ashes and it will go over through the alembic. If you wish to have pure Sol by itself alone, then put it into water, and distil gently ; it will pass over as a quintessence, and remain in the bottom as gold of a citron colour. If you wish it for aurum potabile, use it with the quintessence of wine and rectify ; but if for a tincture, you can make these two fixed as you know how ; or otherwise, if you join dissolved gold together with its own quintessence to rectified oil of vitriol. Then there is produced a tincture which rejuvenates human bodies, and will transmute all metallic bodies into perfect gold. W|ith this Mercury dissolve white sugar in quintessence of wine. Place at once' in it the calx of Sol burnt by laudanum and it is wholly dissolved. These solutions avail for all purposes. Oil of Tartar which dissolves itself in heat. Take calcined tartar, or, as I think better, salt of tartar. Pour over it rectified water of life. Let it stand 24 hours in the bath. Extract the water from it, and add fresh aqua vitae continually. Let it putrefy for 24 hours, as before, and extract it. Do this until it dissolves itself into an oil. Then take crude Mercury (and possibly prepared with Saturn). Inject two drops of that oil and you have etc. This recipe is the best medicine for an old wound.

Take of Filings of Luna, \ oz. of Crude purged Mercury, i^ oz. Amalgamate. Add a third part of sublimated Mercury. Place in a jar or glass. Pour on oil of tartar so as to stand higher than two fingers. Shut up ; place over a fire, and apply a slow heat for six days, until the matter be hardened. Take out. Pound on a stone. Place again in the vessel. Add more oil as before. Set again over a slow fire of five or six coals. Rule the fire for three days and it will be fixed. Then test. Refine a small quantity in Saturn, but what you do not reduce augment with Mercury, and work as before. Oil of Tartar is made as follows. Dissolve calcined tartar in good wine vinegar. Distil through the filter. Cause the vinegar to evaporate. Dissolve again, doing so ten times. At length permit the salt to melt by itself into an oil, which use for the above digestion. of Sulphur, 1 Sy-"^'^'^- Pound, place in a glass cucurbit. Make therefrom a water like an aquafortis, with a gentle fire at first, latterly with a stronger. Next take Sir of Luna dissolved in common aquafortis. Pour the former water thereupon Extract the water together with the aquafortis through the alembic even unto the olitet, and the matter becomes brown in a glass ; thus the Luna in the Keldt (?) becomes hard, and melts in the warmth like an oil or wax. To the same Luna add viij. oz. of purged $ . Place in a cucurbit of glass, lute well.

Set in sand, at first with a gentle fire, for eight days until the matter unifies itself ; afterwards increase the grade of heat. Although the matter does not ascend, yet it becomes fixed, and half a. pari of it remains. For the Ashes of Luna. Put Luna in a crucible to melt, and when it is in a state of fluxion project on it salt of alkali, thus purging it. Then make filings from it, and calcine them in an open reverberatory apparatus for six days. Thus the salt is extracted, which coagulate and again dissolve. One part thereof coagulates and fixes 40 parts of Mercury, and that Mercury, being coagulated, tinges 50 parts of purified Venus into real gold. Oil of Sulphur. Take Sulphur, \ Tartar, > Ib.j. each. Glassgall, j Pound together. Melt. Immediately it liquefies extract it with an iron spoon, and put into a strong lye. Thus it dissolves, and the lye becomes red. Take Ib.j. of saltpetre in a vitrified vessel. Melt slowly. Sprinkle into flux thereupon one ounce of feathery alum [alunien plumosum). Thus it is fixed, and soon becomes an oil. The alumen plumosum must previously be pounded small. Take arum in May. Pound it with a wooden hammer. Then distil a water from it. Pour it thereupon, even to the fourth time. Pound the faeces continually, and let the water be consumed. Then make zeltele die druchne (?). Put Mercury in a crucible. When the bubbling commences, throw the powder thereupon. Thus the Mercury coagulates itself into Luna.

Oil of Mercury. Dissolve Mercury in aquafortis. Allow it to boil. Protect it from the fire and stir for three hours In an open glass. Then take the Mercury out. Dry. Pound upon a stone. Put it into a moist cellar. Thus it becomes an oil or water. Take alumen de pluma. Place vinegar over it and distil into water. This water clarifies new and immature pearls. Make the king out of naphtha and marcasite, that is, antimony made white ; the latter becomes black as amber, the other white as Luna. Cement therewith Sol and Luna with pounded glass and salt for twenty-four Fixed Ldna, Discovered by Me. Take Saltpetre, Antimony, Sublimated Arsenic. Imbibe thoroughly with oil of tartar, mixing intimately. Dry slightly. Afterwards melt in a crucible, first with a slow fire, then with a strong one. Grind the whole of this to powder. Take j. quint over 5j., or more, if you like, and you attain the result. Note. Take equal parts of common salt rendered fluid like wax by a candle, and sulphur. Place in a strong glass phial or in a crucible, setting fire above and below it. Then it will be incorporated. One part of this suffices for 60

If it be incorporated with sublimated Mercury, or several times with sublimated arsenic, and then be itself sublimated, it works wonders. The Extraction of Mercury. Take aquafortis, to which join common water, lest it be too strong, and sal ammoniac. If you evaporate this water you have oil of antimony, with which you can test anything. When you wish to Dissolve Mercury Sublimate and White Put the sal ammoniac into aquafortis, and they will dissolve ; otherwise they will not. Aquafortis is made of vitriol, saltpetre, alumen, cinnabar, and Take oil of tartar and oil 2d over amalgam of Luna and Mercury in equal quantities. Mercury will then be fixed as Hans Rormeyer has stated. The Secret Philosophical Water Coagulating Mercury and Fixing Luna. Make aquafortis out of vitriol and saltpetre in equal quantities. Take away the first water. Take Ib.j. of the other. Add viij. parts of verdigris and viij. parts of vitriol beaten small. Seal up well, and put in a bath for nine days. Afterwards distil through a filter. This water dissolves all bodies and coagulates Mercury. It is the secret of the philosophers. Place {? upon) plates the Moon. Augment of the Moon. Take j. marc of Mercury. Impaste with §j. of sulphur and one ounce of arsenic. Then pound with them four ounces of iron filings. Make cinnabar with it all. Take up j. marc, of Luna and oz. iij. of cinnabar. Should the Luna have remained in the test, throw it upon it and it augments itself.

Note. Take Ib.j. of sugar candy. Put it in a tin can. Pour therein four parts of good white wine. Put this all in a kettle with water. Close the cans (dc) well with the upper cowl. Then boil so that at least one can may be well boiled. Then pour again another can of wine upon the remaining matter. Do this in the same fashion five times and you will have the oil. Lay the species therein as you will. Take one ounce of oil or of any species of aromatic. Pour a wine into it again, as above, and let it boil as before. Then you will find a black matter at the bottom of it ; extract the oil by means of a filter, and reserve for use as you know. Lay the species according to your pleasure in the oil. Boil it and you will have an artificial balsam. Take a drop or two thereof. Imbibe with wine and it tinges itself. Of the Water which dissolves Sol or Luna. Take calx of the Sun or Moon. Pound it. Cleanse with water of salt alkali. Place in a dissolving vessel, and when it has been dissolved you will have perennial water. This water fixes spirits and coagulates Mercury. (Perhaps alkali of the Philosophers would be better.)

Note. Take a common aquafortis. Dissolve Luna therein. Place impasted Mercury with sulphur, as you know. Extract it eight times, and prove in the cineritium. If you add oil of soap thereto, it will then be made. Oil of Soap. Shave the soap small. Add to it beaten tile. Distil through retort. Prick the leaves (sic). It fixes all spirits. Take equal parts of vitriol, saltpetre, and alum. Make aquafortis and dissolve in it as much Mercury as possible. Then extract the water by an alembic, and finally give a great fire. of sublimation, so that the spirits may go out of the water. Having cooled the vessel, let what was sublimated and what remained at the bottom be again dissolved in the same water, which extract once more by an alembic. Do this five times, always giving at the end a fire of sublimation, and at the fifth time it does not ascend. It remains at the bottom as red as blood. Keep this. Next take sal ammoniac sublimated once by iron filings, j.lb.; and of the above-mentioned Mercury an equal weight. Sublimate five times. Then put it on marble to be dissolved, and let it become a red oil, which also preserve.

Take Sol which has been calcined and five times sublimated, with an equal weight of the above-mentioned sal ammoniac. Put this to dissolve ; and you will have a red liquid, which you must retain. Then take oil of Mercury j.g, liquor solis j.5. Mix and coagulate. Take one part of this medicine, project it on twenty-five parts of calcined Luna, and you have Sol always remaining at twenty-four degrees. Note. Take of Calx of Luna, \ of Saltpetre, > each part j. of Salt Alkali, ) Pound the three substances well upon a stone. Put them in a crucible. Set on a gentle fire until all melts. Then pour out of the crucible on a stone. Next, pound it to a small pwder. Leave the matter with the stone in a damp cellar. When it dissolves in water, take one part of this and one part of water of Mercury. Put both waters together in one glass. Leave in a moderate temperature to coagulate. One part of the powder tinges xij. parts of revivified Mercury. Fixation of Venus. Make a sharp alkali of piich ashes and quicklime. Take of Arsenic, Ib.j. (alias qq). of Saltpetre, Ib.j. of Calcined Tartar, §iiij. of Mercury Sublimate, ) of Orpiment, ) ^^'

Make powders. Pour four parts of the lye therein. Let it boil as dry as a powder. Melt Venus. Add an equal weight of the powders in flux thereupon. It will then be fixed Venus. Take some that has been subtly ground. Distil therefrom an ordinary aquafortis, until it becomes white. Next pour the quintessence thereupon. Distil it until it becomes fixed. This proves it. Take the antimony and calcine well. If it does not diminish in weight it is right, Next, pound it small and pour the quintessence thereupon, when it extracts to itself a certain substance. This you must pour into the same glass vessel ; it tinges Mercury into Luna, and it is the fourth part of gold. Water of Mercury. Take Mercury sublimate, pound it small ; imbibe a few times, say, five or six, with oil of vitriol. Continue to pound it dry seven times. Put it in a thoroughly luted glass. Pour upon it six times the weight of oil of vitriol, together with the moisture. Place it in a distilling stove. . Distil it as an aquafortis, at first gently, then stronger, and strongest last of all. Then the third part of the sublimated Mercury distils away, and the other stands up beautiful and brilliant like a small oriental pearl in a distillatory ; it is such beautiful sublimated Mercury as can never before have been seen. Then proceed continuously as long as you please. Next, gradually extract the phlegm in the bath. Then you will have water of Mercury, which is above all waters. Ferment this with soul of the Sun. Coagulate and dissolve fix and coagulate, and it will tinge if God has so willed it.

Augment of the Sun and Moon, good and short. Take of Vitriol, of Verdigris, of Alum, of Saltpetre, of Caluerey, gj. Pound all together and place the powders in the crucible. Put the Sun and Moon over them. Place the powders again on the top. Set among ignited coals for two hours and pour together. Then it is right. Take Calcined Tartar, Ib.j. with one measure of acetum distilled by the filter, and extract the salt with the said acid, with which imbibe the amalgam, until the acetum with the salt shall harden. After every imbibition let the acetum evaporate, and so the amalgam will be fixed. Also, if you will, imbibe arsenic, and even Sulphur, with oil of tartar three or four times, and add to the former. Thus beyond a doubt will be obtained the fixation of the amalgamated Mercury. Lastly, melt all, and Take two pounds of strong lixivium, and put therein iiij.oz. of sal ammoniac, with iij.oz. of sulphur. (If the sal ammoniac and sulphur be fixed, and you add salt of alkali, it will be an oil coagulating Mercury.) Set to boil on a slow fire, constantly stirring it until all is turned into water red as blood.

Distil by 3 and keep enclosed in glass for future use. Oil of Luna Dissolving Sol. Take of aquafortis from vitriol j.lb., arsenic j.lb., and stibium j.lb. Purify these by dissolving a little Luna therein. Then take water of alum and pour on that Luna in the glass. It will form a substance white and resembling cheese. Remove this carefully with a spoon. Then you will have water of Luna, to which add aqua vitse, and distil the moisture thence in a bath. Thus you will find the oil of Luna, wherein you will be able to dissolve gold. Convert into an oil, coagulate, and you will attain your desire. A Good Aquafortis. Take vinegar and cinnabar in sufficient quantities. Dissolve sublimated Mercury. Coagulate, and you will find alutnen chatinum, which is made out of glass. Take the same quantity of arsenic out of iron to sublime. Take one part of Luna, filed and calcined by means of salt into subtle powders ; also one part of Mercury, purged by vinegar and salt. Make an amalgam in vinegar, and afterwards pour into hot water. Then take it and press it delicately out. Next take exactly double the quantity of both. Put

them together in an egg with a long neck Set on hot ashes over a gentle fire. Let the humidity come out first. Then thoroughly lute the neck, and the neck shall emerge {sic) on the side through the cupel. In order to pound it sublimate it away ; let it stand continually for four hours, and stir the &%%■ Do this for nine days. Then remove and take exactly the same quantity of arsenic as there was of Luna at first. Let the moisture previously escape. Then seal up, and treat in all respects as before for nine days. Then take sal ammoniac sublimated by itself in the same quantity as the matter. Remove the sal ammoniac. Dissolve that which is at the bottom in the white of eggs, as you know, while that which will not dissolve is to be dried. Take again the same weight of sal ammoniac. Pound together. Sublimate the arsenic again therefrom, and dissolve it once more in the small trough. Continue this until it is all dissolved. Then put it all together into the e.%^' Lute it if the moisture has departed. Treat it as before for nine days, stirring it about. Thus it all becomes fixed. Ultimately it melts in the glass like an enamel, of which one part out of ten parts of purged Venus will be perfect Luna.

To Augment the Tincture. If you have a quint, put it in a crucible. Stir it continually with a small piece of wood. Afterwards, when it is hot, set it on a -^oz. of Mercury. Leave it thus to stand in the fire until you can no longer perceive any smoke. When it is again ready, treat in this manner successively, according to the amount of the weight of the tincture. When a Thing contains Gold or anything else and will not In this case cast a lump of arsenic twice or thrice upon it ; it then speedily departs and becomes fair. For Saturn. Take it in filings dissolved with acetum. Distil it by the tongue and again by the alembic. What remains in the bottom dissolve again in acetum, filter and distil by an alembic. Keep on until the Saturn remains at the bottom as a fused oil. Possibly the oil of Jove could be produced in the same way. Flowers of Bodies. Take the dregs of wine. Place them in a vessel to the thickness of five fingers. Let there be in the middle of the vessel a circulus, and on the circulus place a wooden cross. On this cross put plates, and let the aperture of the vessel be smeared with the lute of wisdom. Place in a hot furnace for seven days. On the eighth day take it out and put aside the flower, washing it with a brush, or simply in water. Let the water subside, strain it through a cloth, and dry the flower. Then operate as before with the plates.

Note. Make an extract of lemons in a clean vessel. Put gold filings therein. If water is produced during the night, this is the gold for leprosy, and it keeps a man young. Also. Crush green sloes in a pan. Amalgamation. Take equal quantities of orpiment and vitriol. Smelt together so as to produce a powder. Take one part and throw it upon Luna when it melts, and you will find Luna. Take bismuth in any quantity as calcined tartar and pitch (?). Melt and found three or four times. Then add to the bismuth this wilderness. Take one part thereof and one part of Luna. Purge by Saturn and you will have Luna. Also the pars cum parte * will be tincture over Luna. But if the flower of Luna be added to Mercury sublimate or arsenic, and be prepared according to art, it will become a tincture over Venus. Each of them tinges Liquefy the body Zidar in a large crucible and take it out with an iron spoon, projecting it upon a flat stone. There will be plates which you can select according to your pleasure for the above-mentioned operation. To Extract the Soul. Take Luna and let it melt. Whilst in flux project within it some talc, which attracts the soul of Luna. Then extract the soul in thrice distilled acetum. The Luna will be fixed if it be frequently melted with some more talc. Note when the soul is extracted.

Then take earth and extract from it the combustible oil. Pour on the earth distilled phlegma and extract from it its salt. Then take the spirit in which is the soul, plant it by degrees in the earth, always with an eighth part of water. Imbibe the earth and continually repeat this, always drying it with a gentle heat night and day, until it has drunk up as much as it can. Afterwards distil (otherwise sublimate) as you know how, and as you have the intention.

Sol and Luna. Take filings of Sol or Luna, and place them in a glass vessel. Pour thereon a sufficient quantity of undistilled acetum, and let it stand four or five days to putrefy. After this pour away the acetum and wash the filings well with common salt so that it may be pure. Dry on a stone, and then imbibe with water of sal ammoniac. Grind, dry in the sun, and keep doing this as often in the day as you can until the substance shall become black. Before this many colours supervene, to which you need pay no heed. When the substance is after some difficulty coagulated on the stone in the sun, after it has come to the point that it can be dissolved with * in the sun, it suffices. Now put the stone with the substance into a cellar, and it is resolved entirely into oil in the course of the night. Set this oil in dung for five days to putrefy. Then distil with an alembic in a warm and moist place. Having done this, take a clean sponge, dip it in water of sal ammoniac, which changes over the oil. Thus extract the sal ammoniac. After this is extracted, press the sponge in the hand, and having entirely drawn off the sal ammoniac water from the oil, pour on it common tepid water, and you will remove thus all saltness with the sponge, until you perceive nothing saline remaining and the whole of the oil is sweet.

Precipitation. Take of Calcined Alum, I of Saltpetre, ] P^*"* ■"■ Melt them. Two ounces thereof fall upon one marc of Luna. The Luna does not in anywise weaken aquafortis. Tincture. Take thin plates of Sol in any quantity you like, place them in oil and boil in one glass vessel. Put in it sublimated wine, kindle it, let it burn, and it will become calx of gold. Do this thrice or oftener. Take the calx, grind it well on a stone with an equal quantity of fixed sal ammoniac ; place in it a modicum of strong acetum. Having ground these ingredients, put them in a glass vessel carefully closed with the lute of wisdom. Set this in horse dung for eight days and a red water will be produced. Take sublimated Mercury, place it in water and grind on a stone. It becomes a red powder. Place it in dung for eight days and it will become a water. Congelate this and then one part tinges one hundred parts of Luna. Tested Augment of Luna. Take of Well-calcined Alum, Ib.j. of Saltpetre, Ib.ij. Make aquafortis and purge. Take of that 4 oz. In this dissolve gij. of Luna. Take again of the aforesaid water gij. Add thereto a little sal ammoniac, and in that water dissolve ij. ounces of metallic or crystalline arsenic. Ao-ain take two ounces, with the addition of sal ammoniac, and dissolve ij. ounces of sublimated Mercury.

Preserve these waters specially, each by itself. Then dissolve in the said aquafortis Ib.j. of purged Venus, which solution takes place, say, in twenty-four lotones. These being dissolved, conjoin all the waters in a grand cucurbit. Pour a fourth part of water thereon. Let it stand three hours to mix. Afterwards distil the water from it by means of an alembic, the faeces will then remain moistened at the bottom. Dry these by means of a slowly burning fire. Then take saltpetre and melted salt. Mix them under the powder in a crucible. Set it in a wind furnace. Melt together. Pour it into a receiver or crucible smeared with honey or suet. Crush and refine upon the test ; you will then have twelve ounces of Luna.

Cement Regal. Take of Brick Dust, two parts, of Salt, one part. Moisten with vinegar ; grade therein. Take sal ammoniac, which has been thrice sublimated, distilled, and coagulated, and then once more let it be resolved and distilled. Let the process be repeated thrice. If it has been dissolved in aqua vitse, distilled, coagulated, and finally resolved, it dissolves all calcined and burnt bodies, as also all calcined and sublimated bodies, with a marvellous solution, in a crucible on the fire, within the space of a single hour, and this by the help of God and by virtue of Him. Let us compound our Philosophic water by the help of God and His virtue. Take of sal ammoniac, dissolved^and thrice distilled, vj. drams, and of rectified oil vj. drams. Mix together and imbibe six of the aforesaid plates by degrees on porphyry, or on a glass table until it has thoroughly imbibed, and when all is absorbed, put it in a glass vessel under horse-dung for three days. On the fourth day project this on three pounds of the aqua vitas already described, and put in a venter equinus for fifteen days. On the sixteenth day you will find the plate dissolved into a white water like milk. Change the

dung every fourth day, complete this water, and this is the philosophic oil, a water penetrating and quieting, lighting candles and illuminating the house, and whereby all philosophers are sustained. Herewith every volatile substance is restrained from escaping, such as Mercury, Sulphur, and Take equal quantities of Mercurialis and Saccharum. Mix and let stand for nine days. After this extract the oil according to the fashion of lay people. That is perfect, if perfectly produced. If it be placed in a glass globe it shines by night, and makes a beautiful colour on the face of a man or a woman. If anyone drinks of this oil every morning, though he be loo years old, he shall have the complexion of a young man, all his limbs will be light, and he will not be able to be out of spirits. Taking this oil for 40 days on an empty stomach perfectly cures epilepsy of 40 years' standing. So, too, asthma. The white strengthens man's nerves beyond all other kinds. Mixed with castor oil and applied to the bone it removes all contraction of the limbs, and cures paralysis of the nerves. For these reasons we put it forward as precious. One drop of this white put in the eye every morning clears the eyes and keeps them healthy.

Take white (? cadmia), gold leaf, oriental pearls, and rhabarbarum in equal parts. Grind together. This is the best medicine for leprosy, which it entirely cures if it be taken each morning on an empty stomach. It produces a good colour, but care must be taken to drink little and only good wine. A man should use this medicine until his complexion is good, and he himself will be perfectly healthy, please God. Otherwise Take equal parts of Mercurialis and Meter. Mix so that the Mercury shall be previously heated. Then allow to stand for nine days. Afterwards extract the oil according to the mode of the lay people. This oil is perfect, etc. A Light which always Burns. Take any quantity of sugar, and an equal amount of Mercury. Mix thoroughly and leave it to stand for 13 or 14 days. Afterwards distil as an oil. Then take a small linen cloth and press it through. If it were put in a glass it would shine like a light. Fixation of Mercury. Take alum and dregs of wine. Dissolve in urine, and distil by a filter. Then resolve sulphur in it by boiling. Place Mercury in it and let it boil with a gentle fire, continually stirring it, so that it may escape the fire.

Note.. — Certain formula and quantities which occur in the Manual of Paracelsus are either peculiar to the treatise or have long fallen into disuse, and it is difficult to identify their meaning. Here ends the First Volume of the Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.