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<DATE>2008-2-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>FIVE TREATISES OF THE Philo&s;ophers Stone.</P>
<P>Two of <HI>Alphon&s;o</HI> King of <HI>Portugall,</HI> as it was written with his own hand, and taken out of his Clo&s;&s;et: Tran&s;lated out of the Por|tuguez into Engli&s;h.
One of <HI>John Sawtre</HI> a Monke, tran&s;lated into Engli&s;h.
Another written by <HI>Florianus Raudorff,</HI> a German Phi|lo&s;opher, and tran&s;lated out of the &s;ame Language, into Engli&s;h.
Al&s;o a Treati&s;e of the names of the Philo&s;ophers Stone, by <HI>William Gratacolle,</HI> tran&s;lated into Engli&s;h.</P>
<P>To which is added the <HI>Smaragdine</HI> Table.</P>
<P>By the Paines and Care of <HI>H. P.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Thomas Harper,</HI> and are to be &s;old by <HI>John Collins,</HI> in <HI>Little Brittain,</HI> near the Church door, 1652.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Right Honourable, the Earle of <HI>Pembroke</HI> and <HI>Montgomery,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honourable:</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_THough in the&s;e la&s;t ages Vice hath beene e&s;teemed above Ver|tue, and men have made it their bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to advance their for|tunes by wicked means; yet if we looke backe to former ages, and the time of <HI>Hermes Tri&s;me|gi&s;tus,</HI> who is &s;aid to be <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;o called from his being hid among&s;t the Reeds in the waters; and as he was called <HI>Hermes Tri&s;megi&s;tus,</HI> he &s;tiles him&s;elfe the thrice great Interpreter, as ha|ving three parts of the Philo&s;ophy of the whole world (as may appeare in his Smaragdine Table fol|lowing; out of which all moderne Philo&s;ophers grounded their di&s;cour&s;es, and bookes:) thus hee might &s;tile him&s;elfe, being allowed familiarity with his Creator. From him likewi&s;e we had our fir&s;t Re|cord for the Creation of the world, and all things
<PB REF="3">
therein: we &s;hall finde, and be &s;atisfied in judgement, that true honour proceeded, and was at fir&s;t derived from Vertue; and what man yet ever lived, who was accounted or e&s;teemed &s;o Virtuous, Wi&s;e, Good, and Rich, as tho&s;e who had the true knowledge of Natu|rall Philo&s;ophy, and her &s;ecret operations, which from age to age, for many ages, was by word of mouth delivered by one to another, wherby many Shepheards, Heard&s;men, Husbandmen, and others of like quality (by Gods e&s;peciall favour) became great Princes, Go|vernours, and Rulers over the people upon Earth, be|ing thereby enabled to advance them&s;elves to what Riches and trea&s;ure they plea&s;ed, (as will appeare by the en&s;uing Treati&s;es,) without robbing or taxing the people of their Countries under their Government in any &s;ort; who al&s;o by their Phy&s;icall Medicine con|tinued length of dayes, youth, and &s;trength; by which means tho&s;e old men mentioned in the Old Te&s;ta|ment, with many other Philo&s;ophers, were not only &s;o long pre&s;erved from the Grave, but al&s;o thereby wrought many miracles, to the wonder of the world: as well they might, having the power and di&s;po&s;e of the greate&s;t Trea&s;ure, and highe&s;t Secret that ever Almighty God revealed to mortall man. And being fully &s;atisfied of your Honours mo&s;t Noble and Inge|nious inclination and love to the &s;tudy of this mo&s;t Divine and My&s;terious Art, which can proceed from no other then a right Noble and Vertuous di&s;po&s;ition, and by a Divine in&s;tinct: Nor is a man of any other temper fit for the &s;tudy or knowledge thereof. And con&s;idering of a per&s;on of Honour, fit for the pre&s;en|tation of the&s;e Treati&s;es, well weighing your Honours
<PB REF="3">
inclination, vertuous Di&s;po&s;ition, and mature Judge|ment, holding my &s;elfe obliged to be &s;erviceable to my power, to all faithfull &s;tudents in this mo&s;t &s;acred Art, have fixed upon your Honour, as mo&s;t worthy of the pre&s;entation not only of the&s;e my pre&s;ent endea|vours, but al&s;o of &s;uch others as I &s;hall ere long pro|duce concerning either this or any other &s;ubject; not de&s;iring Patronage, as is u&s;uall, (con&s;idering the Per|&s;ons by whom the&s;e Treati&s;es were fir&s;t written) but only Your Honours Noble acceptance of &s;o meane a pre&s;ent, from the hand of him that heartily wi&s;heth Your Honour all felicity, both corporall and &s;pirituall, temporall and perpetuall; and in that wi&s;h, I re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE><HI>(My Lord)</HI> Your Honours mo&s;t faithfull &s;ervant,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>H. P.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_HErmes,</HI> the Father of Philo&s;ophers, (mo&s;t plain|ly of any that ever writ) di&s;covered the matter of the Philo&s;ophers Stone, but not the manner of compleatment thereof; and as he &s;aith, he came to the knowledge thereof by the mercy and favour of the great Creator of Heaven and Earth, without the direction, in&s;truction, or in|formation of any mortall man, and writ thereof to po&s;terity, fearing damnation if he &s;hould not have done the &s;ame; &s;ince which time many hundred Philo&s;ophers have written of the &s;ame Science, (which is the highe&s;t and greate&s;t &s;ecret that e|ver Almighty God revealed to mortall man;) but &s;o ob&s;curely, that it is impo&s;&s;ible for any man to attain to this high and my&s;terious Art, except he be Piou&s;ly and Religiou&s;ly inclined, and re&s;olved to live a &s;erious and private life, free from all o|ther employment or bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in the world: and &s;uch a man without doubt, by the mercy and favour of Almighty God, and with the help of the&s;e following Authours, with &s;ome others of the be&s;t of the&s;e latter times, and the <HI>Hieroglyphicks</HI> now cut|ting and comming forth in Print by the Printer hereof, living in <HI>Little-Brittaine, London,</HI> never heretofore publi&s;hed; which make a full and clear demon&s;tration to the &s;ons of wi&s;e|dome of the whole worke of the Philo&s;ophers Stone, from the be|ginning to the ending, and giveth a clearer light to the un|der&s;tanding of the Reader, than all the books in the world; &s;o that by the help of the&s;e, and &s;uch like Books, with the <HI>Hiero|glyphicks,</HI> this Art doubtle&s;&s;e may be attained unto with ten times more ea&s;e, and le&s;&s;e difficulty than otherwi&s;e. The&s;e
<PB REF="4">
only I have given thee a ta&s;te of, untill the others come forth, which will &s;peedily be effected. And note this, that &s;carce one of the ancient Philo&s;ophers ever writ fully of this noble Science, but what&s;oever one leaves out, may be found in another (if you read many of the be&s;t Authours.) I have been a Student in this Art many years, and being &s;atisfied of the truth thereof, (having &s;tudied many of the be&s;t Authours), thought fit for the good and benefit of the faithfull Students of this Art, to cau&s;e the&s;e to be publi&s;hed, being by &s;ome of my be&s;t friends thereunto very much urged; and becau&s;e the Students of this Art &s;hould not be deceived by fal&s;e Philo&s;ophers, and worke as they do upon fal&s;e matters; as Salts, Alomes, Vitriols, Met|tals, Minerals, and the like: let them con&s;ider the words of <HI>Geo: Ripley,</HI> an Engli&s;h Monke, who &s;aith: yet the mat|ter of this worke, according to all the ancient Philo&s;ophers, is one only thing, containing in it &s;elfe all nece&s;&s;aries to the accompli&s;hing of its own perfection.</P>
<P>And <HI>Henricus Cornelius Agrippa</HI> in the &s;econd Book of his Occult Philo&s;ophy, in the <HI>4.</HI> Chap. &s;aith, there is one thing by God created, the &s;ubject of all wonderfulne&s;&s;e, which is in earth, and in heaven; it is actually, animall, vegetable, and minerall, found every where, known by few, by none expre&s;&s;ed in his proper name, but covered in numbers, figures, and rid|dles; without which neither Alchymy, nor naturall Magick, can attaine their perfect end.</P>
<P>And in the Ro&s;ary of the Philo&s;ophers, it is written: but I advi&s;e that no man intrude him&s;elf into this Science to &s;earch, except he know the beginning of true nature, and her govern|ment, which being known, he needeth not many things, but one thing; nor doth it require great charges, becau&s;e the Stone is one, the Medicine one, the Ve&s;&s;ell one, the Govern|ment one, and the di&s;po&s;ition one, &amp;c. And let this &s;uffice, from your faithfull unknowne friend,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. P.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="quoted passage">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>The Smaragdine Table of <HI>Hermes Tri&s;megistus,</HI> of Alchymy.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The words of the Secrets of <HI>Hermes,</HI> which were written in a Smaragdine Table, and found betweene his hands in an ob&s;cure Vault, wherein his body lay buried.</HEAD>
<P>IT is true without lea&s;ing, certaine and mo&s;t true, that which is beneath is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is be|neath; to worke the Miracles of one thing, and as all things have proceeded from one, by the mediation of one; &s;o all things have &s;prung from this one thing by adaptation. His Father is the Sun, his Mother is the Moone, the Winde bore it in her belly, the Earth is his Nur&s;e, the Father of all the Tele&s;me of this world is heere; his force and power is perfect, if it be turned into Earth. Thou &s;halt &s;eperate the Earth from the Fire, the thin from the thick, and that gently with great di&s;cretion: It a&s;cendeth from Earth into Heaven, and againe it de&s;cendeth into the Earth, and receiveth the power of the Superiours and Inferiours: So &s;halt thou have the Glory of the whole World, all ob&s;cu|rity therefore &s;hall fly away from thee. This is the mighty power of all power, for it &s;hall overcome eve|ry &s;ubtle thing, and pierce through every &s;ollid thing, &s;o was the World created. Heere &s;hall be marvellous adaptations, whereof this is the meane; therefore am I called <HI>Hermes Tri&s;megistus,</HI> or the thrice great Inter|preter; having three parts of the Philo&s;ophy of the whole World: that which I have &s;poken of the opera|tion of the Sun is fini&s;hed.</P>
<TRAILER>Here endeth the Table of <HI>Hermes.</HI></TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="1" REF="5">
<HEAD>A Treati&s;e written by <HI>Alphon&s;o</HI> King of Portugall, concerning the Philo&s;ophers Stone.</HEAD>
<P>_FAme brought to my know|ledge, that in the Land of Aegypt, there lived a Learned man that fore|told things to come: hee judged by the Stars, and the motions of the Hea|vens; tho&s;e things which Time was to bring forth which were by him before under&s;tood.</P>
<P>A de&s;ire of knowledge carried my affection, my pen, my tongue: with great humility I pro|&s;trated the height of my Maje&s;ty, &s;uch power hath pa&s;&s;ion upon man: With intreaty and my &s;peciall Letters unto him, I &s;ent for him by my Me&s;&s;engers, promi&s;ing him with a &s;ound affecti|on, great reward both in goods and money.</P>
<P>The wi&s;e man an&s;wered mee with much curte&s;ie: I know you are a great King, and that neither pre&s;ents, nor the Law of &s;ilver nor gold, nor any thing of great value, but meerly out of affection I will &s;erve you: for I doe not &s;eek that which is too much for mee, and therfore I &s;eeke not after yours, but you.</P>
<P>I &s;ent the be&s;t of my Ships, which being ar|rived
<PB N="2" REF="6">
at the port of Alexandria, the Doctor A|&s;trologer came aboard, and was brought to mee, curteous with love, for having knowne his great worth by under&s;tanding the motions of the Sphears, I alwayes held him in that e&s;teeme and love which is due to a Learned man.</P>
<P>The Stone which is called the Philo&s;ophers he could make, he taught it mee, and wee made it together: And afterwards I made it alone, by which meanes my Riches increa&s;ed much; and &s;eeing that I was able to doe &s;uch a thing, and that divers wayes, which alwayes produced the &s;ame thing, I will propound unto you the mo&s;t ea&s;ie, and therefore the mo&s;t excellent and prin|cipall.</P>
<P>I had a Library of Books of the Workes of Men of many Nations, but I in this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e did e&s;teeme neither the Caldeans, neither the Ara|bians, (though a diligent people) nor the Aegypti|ans, A&s;&s;yrians, but tho&s;e of the Ea&s;t, which inha|bite the Indies, and the Saracens did my worke, and &s;o well, that they have honoured our We|&s;terne parts.</P>
<P>The pre&s;ent time makes mee to know a &s;ound and true judgement: becau&s;e thou &s;hould&s;t give credit or beliefe to it, doe not conceive that I have lied in any point. That which I look after, is not to bury in oblivion the great worth that was in him my Ma&s;ter: but I will not give &s;uch an Empire to any man but to him that is Lear|ned.</P>
<P>Now to unriddle this my&s;tery and to propo&s;e
<PB REF="6">
truthes in ciphers, though they are ob&s;cure, yet by them you may learne, and &s;hall find they are no vaine things; and if thou comme&s;t to under&s;tand this great My&s;tery, have it not in thy ordinary conver&s;ation, but leave it in the &s;ame cipher of this impre&s;&s;ion, if thou under&s;tande&s;t how to explaine it.</P>
<P>This Matter by wi&s;e men is called by divers names: and this matter which to the unwi&s;e &s;eemes to bee &s;omething, to them is nothing, and its nature being e|qually moi&s;t and dry that it will not give one without another; which is a &s;ingular thing to have two &s;uch different natures meet together in one. The drie is there in a &s;upreame degree, the moi&s;t likewi&s;e calls for a &s;upream Authority: the hot and cold fight there together, and are contayned there likewi&s;e in a &s;u|preame degree; and from that equality, comes the name of each of the&s;e &s;everally according to the qua|lity: and though the moi&s;t be joyned with the dry, yet each of them retaines its owne name.</P>
<P>Our <HI>Hermes</HI> tells us that it is Heaven and Earth, but others call it Man and Wife, and out of their ma|riage they make other Riddles, which &s;erve for a light to the infirme Globe, and from thence are called by &s;ome, Water or Earth, others the cold which is inclo|&s;ed in heat, &s;o much the wi&s;e may under&s;tand.</P>
<P>The ancient Chaos, according to my judgement, was knit together by the fowre Elements: This com|po&s;ition is the like, when the divi&s;ion comes to bee made, the Heaven and the Earth comes to bee a fift E&s;&s;ence of all, for this matter is of that kinde, that it compo&s;eth all things. In this matter are found united the four Elements in equall parts, &s;o that if one walk
<PB N="4" REF="7">
or move, the others doe the like, for by one the others are conducted, &s;o much are they equall in their duties one to another, and where can you hope to find a bet|ter thing among&s;t all Animals, then that which is &s;o much approved by all wi&s;e men?</P>
<P>Take the Learned Philo&s;ophers Mercury, and let it bee purged from its malignancy and foule quality, for it cannot be too cleane; and &s;ee that the weight be equall with twelve ounces of the &s;ayd compo&s;ition, and then put it into a gla&s;&s;e bottle, for no mettall el&s;e is fit for it. And the forme of the gla&s;&s;e mu&s;t be of the forme of the Sphere, with a long neck, and no thick|er then can bee gra&s;ped with a large hand, and the length of the necke not above a &s;pan, and no wider then the Aegyptian &s;eale may cover its mouth. This you mu&s;t put into an earthen pot, &s;urrounded about with hot a&s;hes, and bee &s;ure with a carefull hand to &s;top up the bottle. And then you mu&s;t have an artifi|ciall Furnace made of Clay, &s;o broad and round as that you may fadome at the thicke&s;t place. You mu&s;t not put the pot in the bottome of the Furnace, but hang it or &s;et it in the middle, upon two irons, which mu&s;t lie Diameter wi&s;e, or acro&s;&s;e, and the earthen pot mu&s;t &s;tand upon the very centre and cro&s;&s;e of the two irons, that the fire may come alike to it in all parts, and then with coales make a &s;oft fire, but let not your patience bee troubled to keepe it alwayes a|like. The fire mu&s;t not come within a foot of the pot, and the &s;urnace luted up clo&s;e about the pot, that &s;o the &s;oft fire may keepe it alwayes working, and bee not troubled to keepe the fire &s;till alike, for if it bee the &s;ame at la&s;t as at fir&s;t, thou ha&s;t done the worke of an able man.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="7">
Two changes the Moone mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e by tho&s;e Ani|mals, which maketh a month, or the Sun that degree which is called Sextile, without raine, for the worke requires drought: and then you &s;hall &s;ee a paterne of the worke, of which you mu&s;t bee very carefull for unmarrying of it from his fir&s;t matter which is all one. That which time works helped by the Sun and other influences, when taking leave of the Earth, and ha|ving drawne out the moi&s;tnes that runnes in its veins, it is &s;o plea&s;ed with it, that it converts into &s;ulphur that part which was moy&s;t before; &s;o that all is &s;eene as mother Nature placed it.</P>
<P>This is the part of the Earth, Sulphur, Woman, hot and dry; for when it makes its fir&s;t change or trucke, that part is wanting which encompa&s;&s;ed the humidity; as <HI>Penelope</HI> made warre in the ab&s;ence of <HI>Uly&s;&s;es</HI> in Italy, &s;o this Widow &s;o pale and wan, hopes for the returne of her bani&s;hed Husband. By equall weights, as fir&s;t with Art mixt with Mercury, very pure, with this mixture you may worke &s;ecurely in a gla&s;&s;e made by the hands of a good Workman, for the fir&s;t and the la&s;t mu&s;t be one or like; but if po&s;&s;ibly thou can&s;t, the fir&s;t venter is the true&s;t.</P>
<P>Doe the following Worke in &s;uch maner, that you keepe the &s;ame fire that you did before, which will be &s;ufficient, and be &s;ure your fire gives no flame, and be &s;ure al&s;o to watch it nights and dayes: and if you take that paine, you &s;hall bee &s;ure to finde an excellent re|ward. Thou &s;halt &s;ee the worke in its blackne&s;&s;e, and that being changed, as it was fir&s;t borne, which is not yet the thing that mother Nature gave in her fir&s;t de|gree, but &s;hall turne to bee &s;o liquid and pure that it
<PB N="6" REF="8">
&s;hall be like to Inke, &s;o di&s;tinct &s;hall bee the forme of this creature from its fir&s;t being.</P>
<P>Ha&s;t thou not &s;een the Pri&s;on which the Silkworm makes for it &s;elfe, where it dies? and out of that car|ca&s;e dead in the Net it &s;elfe made, in which no corru|ption can come, but ri&s;eth againe in a forme di&s;tinct from its fir&s;t being, then is brought forth and paints it &s;elfe, with wings in a more ugly &s;hape: So our work begins to live with a new &s;pirit, and new &s;ub&s;tance, from whence mu&s;t bee continued the per&s;everance of the body, that &s;o bloud may bee gotten in it. Doe not you then think of making a greater fire, for by that meanes the bloud and body will bee de&s;troyed. Then &s;hall you &s;ee the mo&s;t excellent point of this Divine worke: open the bottle and it will &s;eeme to bee rui|ned, for there will come from it a very &s;tinking &s;mell. In this degree is certainly the greate&s;t labour of this work: for if it bee continued with the &s;ame heat, it wil certainly come to the highe&s;t degree of perfection. After this colour is pa&s;t, you &s;hall &s;ee many more dif|ferent in their likene&s;&s;e and appearance: the Argos, and the Iris in their &s;plendor, that the following of the liquid humour will cau&s;e to bee of divers colours, untill it comes at la&s;t to a certaine whitene&s;&s;e, then augment a little the heat.</P>
<P>Friend, bee not weary of your worke, and let it not trouble your patience, for this is the fir&s;t point of get|ting your inheritance. When the Stone is come to the whitene&s;&s;e, it is then fixt, and can never be di&s;united, though it &s;hould burne 100. yeares, for the union is perfect. Keepe, as I have told you, the fire in one de|gree, that it may come to &s;uch a whitene&s;&s;e, as to bee
<PB N="7" REF="8">
like the pure&s;t &s;now, which is called the &s;ilver Elixir. But in regard that Gold is more pretious in e&s;teeme, let it alone in the bottle with the &s;ame fire, untill the Stone is come from its white into a Citron colour: then increa&s;e the fire another degree, and thou &s;halt attaine to a pure red. All being ray&s;ed up will &s;hew your worke to be &s;ecure: the body of this being taken up, will be hard and light, and in it you may take no|tice of the body of <HI>Diaphano,</HI> and the colour of a Ru|bie, as in my owne hands my &s;elfe hath &s;eene it; for which the great God is by me pray&s;ed. Then put this into an earthen ve&s;&s;ell, covered with a cover of the &s;ame, like a di&s;h, and this &s;o well joined or luted to|gether, of the bigne&s;&s;e to hold three <HI>begadas,</HI> accord|ing to the bigne&s;&s;e of the Stone, and put it on a hot fire of flaming wood there to boile. Heere the Stone will calcine in 10. dayes of the Sun, or Sundayes, &amp;c. and being taken out of that pot, it will be an impal|pable and Divine powder. The fir&s;t &s;ub&s;tance which doth good to all, from whence it hath no quality in his Quinte&s;&s;ence, but is applied to all, and hath power to do all, and very being of the thing that is applied to. <HI>Ente,</HI> from the beginning of Naturall cau&s;es: it is nei|ther Gold, nor Silver, nor other Minerall, nor &s;ubject to the forme of any Vegetable, but hath a di&s;po&s;ition to doe good to all. If it be applied to Gold, from it, it takes firmne&s;&s;e, as to convert other things into that Mettall. For if to man, by famous workes, it gives him health, what can bee e&s;teemed more pretious? Under this impalpable Gold, it happens that there is found a bright Earth, but very blacke and gli&s;tering, which is not the be&s;t however, for that which is very
<PB N="8" REF="9">
red, is fixt and &s;table, though it be mixt with all com|po&s;itions, and &s;o makes no ingre&s;&s;ion, but his vertues are very admirable. But with equall weight thou mu&s;t unite it with its fir&s;t principall matter, very pure, and joyne or mixe them together very carefully, if you would have it be brought to live: and then, as I told you before, let it come to the moderate heat as at the fir&s;t, and in the like gla&s;&s;e as I pre&s;cribed before, very clo&s;e &s;hut: and as thou did&s;t with the fire at the fir&s;t, &s;o mu&s;t thou doe it now, and in very &s;hort time thou &s;halt &s;ee it become blacke, and of the other colours &s;poken of before, untill it comes to bee red, and will pre&s;ently turne into a &s;tone. This have I &s;eene done in a &s;hort time: and hee that knowes it not, let him know that he walks blindfold.</P>
<P>I have told you the work in plaine words, and how I did it, and &s;aw it wrought, &s;o I did it, and had the reward: and it is no fallacy, &s;eeing that I am a wit|ne&s;&s;e to it, for which I pray&s;e and ble&s;&s;e God, which gave me &s;ufficient of knowledge, &s;cience, riches, ho|nour, and &s;tate, which let me never forget.</P>
<P>If thou would&s;t have a divi&s;ion of this into 100. parts, and &s;o <HI>ad infinitum,</HI> it mu&s;t bee done before it hath firmentation or hardne&s;&s;e, and then your worke will be certaine. Take an earthen ve&s;&s;ell covered, and in it put your quick&s;ilver, and when it begins to runne over, drop in your Elixir, otherwi&s;e you cannot keep it for running over. Of Gold one part being purged by Aquafortis with foure of quick&s;ilver wa&s;ht, and foure of what is &s;poken of before, joyned with great Art, with one of your Elixir, and put it apart in a crooked gla&s;&s;e or retort, and let it feele a fire of coals
<PB N="9" REF="9">
ten dayes together, untill they be all mixed together. And if you will make a further progre&s;&s;ion, put into an earthen pot 100. graines of quick&s;ilver, and put it over a flaming fire, and when the quick&s;ilver begins to &s;moake and flie away in fume, ca&s;t in one part of your Elixir, and then cover it. Then let it coole, and it &s;hall prove a very &s;overaigne medicine: 100. parts of quick&s;ilver, according to the finene&s;&s;e of it, this &s;hall convert into Gold. But if you de&s;ire to make experi|ence and &s;ee the operation upon lead, you &s;hall there find it as well: neither doth it &s;tay there, for its ingre&s;|&s;ion retains that faculty to turne all mettals into Gold: to every thing it is to be applied, and it converts eve|ry thing into a well complectioned nature, halfe a graine of this taken into the mouth makes the party &s;trong; the weak and feeble, it makes &s;o lu&s;ty, that no man was ever more healthy, and time which is pretious to all, brings tho&s;e that take it, &s;ound to their Graves.</P>
<P>The be&s;t of Be&s;ts invites from his &s;upreame dwelling place, the mo&s;t unfortunate of all, joyning together two extreames, after which we &s;hall &s;ee him in his greate&s;t dignity and Ma|je&s;ty, which now is mo&s;t di&s;tant from it: &s;ay nothing till thou &s;ee&s;t the water produce that which is afterward turned into fire; but if thou &s;ee&s;t that play, then hide not what el&s;e thou knowe&s;t, for it is worth full eight hundred yeeres; for being come to that pa&s;&s;e, then thou &s;halt know the worth of it. Then &s;hall be accompli&s;ht the fatall time to &s;ee my trea&s;ure and my &s;elfe, and my&s;elfe inclo&s;ed or containe my &s;elfe: I &s;hall not be ob&s;cured, and thou &s;halt remaine with my gift that in this darknes thou &s;halt &s;ee &s;uch a light where a World &s;hall bee re|pre&s;ented.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="10" REF="10">
<HEAD>The &s;econd Treati&s;e of <HI>Alphon&s;o</HI> King of Portugal, concerning the Philo&s;ophers Stone.</HEAD>
<P>_THe pa&s;t worke of the mo&s;t pure &s;tone, is &s;o infinite in multiply|ing, that it is never weary to give, and to give more, &s;uch a likene&s;&s;e hath it to its workman|&s;hip. But if you would know a|nother way to &s;eperate the foure Elements, know that this follow|ing Treati&s;e under&s;tood, will teach you to do it with more brevity and &s;ecurity.</P>
<P>Two ounces of gold well refined with one of &s;ilver, very fine and pure, melted in clay, and this mixture being filed very &s;mall, and with purged Mercury ground untill it be well incorporated one into another. Then put &s;uch a quantity of common &s;alt &s;o well mix|ed, as that the body may be well conglutinated.</P>
<P>Take a gla&s;&s;e bottle, &s;ubtilly to mix the&s;e, &s;o that no unclean thing may come to it (though never &s;o lit|tle) and then upon a &s;mall fire &s;o worke it, as that the Mercury may con&s;ume or vani&s;h in its own fume. Then you may pre&s;ume the Gold will remaine being a body that will endure the fervency of the fire.</P>
<P>Wa&s;h the matter of this mixture in pure fountaine water, &s;o that after many wa&s;hings, the water may remaine many times clean, and retaine its &s;weetne&s;&s;e
<PB N="11" REF="10">
of ta&s;te: then weigh the matter that remains, and if you find it heavier than it was at fir&s;t, grind it againe with Salt enough, and put it to the fire againe as be|fore.</P>
<P>Thus I tell you, you mu&s;t doe your worke, and in a very &s;oft fire: and when it comes to bee of its fir&s;t weight, that which then remaines, will bee a matter &s;pungeous and &s;ubtle, and &s;o well di&s;po&s;ed and prepa|red, that you may u&s;e it in any Phy&s;icke.</P>
<P>And now you mu&s;t make a preparation with &s;ub|limed Mercury, Copperas, and Salt well wa&s;ht: for our Phy&s;ick and reall conjunction gives it afterwards his life, grinding it with Salt very &s;mall. Then in a gla&s;&s;e Bottle which hath his receiver, put it to make his di&s;tillation.</P>
<P>But know that within the receiving gla&s;&s;e you mu&s;t put water, and place the bottle in a &s;trong furnace, and make a fire of coales under it, and letting it &s;eeth or boyle &s;oftly, and it will turn quick, or living, and be much &s;ubject to corruption, and with this, worke &s;e|curely and be not weary,</P>
<P>Nine of the&s;e with three of the fir&s;t compo&s;ition, joyned and well mixed, and ground together: and all the&s;e and the other put into a round gla&s;&s;e, that hath a neck of a &s;pan or palme long, and then &s;top the mouth very clo&s;e, for which purpo&s;e the mouth mu&s;t not be made wide but narrow.</P>
<P>Thus I tell you the gla&s;&s;e mu&s;t be, and of a bigne&s;&s;e to hold the quantity of three <HI>begadas,</HI> and according to the roundne&s;&s;e of it, &s;o have a place fitted to put it in the fire, that there the matter may be well joyned or ma&s;ht together, then will the tincture be made.</P>
<P><PB N="12" REF="11">
Forty <HI>begadas,</HI> then &s;halt thou &s;ee the Ea&s;t adorned with the beames of the &s;unne, when this worke &s;hall be accompli&s;hed according to de&s;ire, to change the pre&s;ent gla&s;&s;e into another, which &s;erves for the recei|ver of a Still, which being clo&s;e luted with <HI>lutum &s;api|entiae,</HI> on hot water, which it mu&s;t not touch.</P>
<P>The Fire mu&s;t not bee of any great heat but mode|rate, that it may worke its effect, di&s;tilling its water in a perfect manner, and then doe the &s;ame worke o|ver againe; joine the matter with great wi&s;edome, with this his di&s;tilled Water, joine Mercury, of an e|quall weight with the fir&s;t matter.</P>
<P>Note my words which I will tell thee, that now thou &s;halt come to putrifie it, and after forty dayes put it into the Still, keeping the &s;ame order as before, for the gla&s;&s;e and the fire, take this di&s;tilled water, and in the place where it falls, put in an equall weight of the fir&s;t matter as afore&s;ayd.</P>
<P>Doe this worke as at the fir&s;t, for it mu&s;t be thrice reiterated from time to time, receiving the water that the fire will give to the very la&s;t. Think not the time light, and though you pa&s;&s;e the forty dayes and more, yet &s;till keepe the water in a gla&s;&s;e bottle.</P>
<P>Change it from the receiving gla&s;&s;e into another, and put it upon hot a&s;hes, and then thou &s;halt have, or draw out a lighter element in weight, called Ayre, which you mu&s;t &s;ubtily put into a bottle, and &s;top the mouth of it very clo&s;e with <HI>Hermes</HI> his &s;eale, and its necke al&s;o; be carefull that you let not forth the aire.</P>
<P>Put in or to the gla&s;&s;e another receiver after, (ha|ving &s;trongly luted it) and make &s;uch a fire as that by his great heat the pot may di&s;till; this Element keep
<PB N="13" REF="11">
with carefulne&s;&s;e, for it is the Element of Fire, and then, thankes be to God, in this worke thou ha&s;t &s;epa|rated the foure Elements.</P>
<P>After the divi&s;ion of this Chaos, thou mu&s;t now thinke of joyning them together againe: for if thou meane&s;t to joyne and make that world which was di&s;united, the only matter which is in the bottome of the gla&s;&s;e mu&s;t bee retayned or kept and &s;oftned by grinding, and then the compo&s;ition put into a gla&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Let this gla&s;&s;e bee round bodied, and long neckt; which gla&s;&s;e or bottle you mu&s;t fortifie by luting, and &s;et it upon the coales, that it may have the force of the fire, in &s;uch a maner that it may ri&s;e ten degrees <HI>Ti|tans</HI> Wife of the beloved Bed; and in this maner it wilbe converted into a hard &s;ub&s;tance.</P>
<P>In another like gla&s;&s;e put this with a quarter of its weight of the re&s;erved water, and then &s;top the mouth of it well, and put it in a bra&s;&s;e furnace or ve&s;&s;ell, and put it upon hot a&s;hes, and keepe &s;uch a fire to it, as the matter may become dry as it was before.</P>
<P>This being done, and the congealing and drying being pa&s;t, as I have &s;aid, do the like again, with its fourth or quarter part of that Royall water. The in|fu&s;ion mu&s;t be reitterated, and the fourth time ended of doing the &s;ame work, know that thou ha&s;t &s;atisfied the drougth, or drouth, or thir&s;t that this &s;ub&s;tance had after that water.</P>
<P>Ha&s;t thou not &s;een the earth when it wants raine, how barren it &s;hews? no fruit to be &s;een, but all looks like a fallow ground, and every thing like to peri&s;h. But if the rain falls to refre&s;h it, it makes it fruitfull for generation, or increa&s;e, and every &s;eed that is &s;own
<PB N="14" REF="12">
in its proper time brings forth its fruit.</P>
<P>And continuing di&s;per&s;eth its watery power into all plants and trees, and makes the fruit appeare on every bough: even &s;o goes this matter preparing; the Ayre which you kept in the bottle, you mu&s;t give drink to five &s;everall times, the tenth part of its quan|tity at a time, &s;o that in all it mu&s;t have halfe its own weight, and alwayes at every time be dryed up.</P>
<P>Then on a Copper plate in a flaming fire try this matter, if it will con&s;ume in &s;moake; for you mu&s;t pre&s;ume it to be of the nature of the Ganimedes to flie up to Heaven, but if it flies not upwards, then it is not yet well done, but you mu&s;t give it more water, and trye again whether or no it hath his true &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Cau&s;e it to drink a quarter part of its weight that fir&s;t it was of, which will be the tenth part of the Aire, and as you did it before, &s;o do it again: then prove it upon the Copper Plate, to trye if it will evaporate and &s;moake: then turne againe to what you did be|fore.</P>
<P>Then put the matter in &s;ublimation, and when you &s;hall &s;ee it all ri&s;e up: that which ri&s;eth not, but re|maineth in the bottome, give it drink again according as is afore&s;ayd: prove it again upon the plate, and &s;o continually trye it till it ri&s;eth; and then you &s;hall be &s;ure that in the bottome will remain a black earth like a dead body in the gla&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>As the Ganimedes went up to Heaven, &s;o thou &s;halt &s;ee this matter exalted. It &s;hall be demanded from the God of the earth, by <HI>Jove,</HI> from whom it was &s;tolen, it having been left with <HI>Demogorgon,</HI> and &s;hall be re&s;tored, and if thou &s;ublimate it, oftentimes
<PB N="15" REF="12">
grinding it untill it come at la&s;t to be firme, it will all remain in the bottome of the gla&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>To this matter there wants ingre&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e there wants the fourth Element, therefore make this ope|ration in a fire neither great nor little, but when thou putte&s;t it in its inflammation take the pot, and be &s;ure that not one drop or tittle of any foule thing comes to it before thou &s;ee&s;t infu&s;ion.</P>
<P>If then thou &s;ee&s;t it become like wax that it will rope, then thou ha&s;t a va&s;t great Trea&s;ure, that thy e&s;tate &s;hall be advanced to more than the riches of <HI>Midas.</HI> 100. parts of Mercury put on the fire, and when it begins to fume away, then temper it with one of this matter, and pre&s;ume thou ha&s;t brought it to the perfect medicine.</P>
<P>And if another time thou do&s;t the &s;ame worke, one part of this applyed to 100 will turn likewi&s;e to the &s;econd medicine, and one part of this is a great reward, being applied to 100 parts of Mercury hot, or any o|ther mettal being melted, making it becom Gold mo&s;t high and &s;ublime: For which the Lord be prai&s;ed.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<PB REF="13">
<PB N="17" REF="13">
<HEAD>The Booke of <HI>John Sawtre</HI> a Monke, concerning the Philo&s;ophers Stone.</HEAD>
<P>_ALL things con&s;i&s;ting of Naturall bodies, a&s;well perfect as unper|fect, in the beginning of Creati|on were compounded and made of foure natures, and tho&s;e foure natures bee the foure Elements, <HI>viz.</HI> Fire, Aire, Water, and Earth, the which God omnipotent did congelate, mingle, and married together in his ma&s;&s;e of Poy&s;e: for in the&s;e foure Elements is the Privity hid of Philo&s;ophers; and when their natures be com|ming and reducted together into one, then they bee made another thing: whereupon it appeareth that all things univer&s;all and variable bee of the foure Ele|ments, ingendred naturally and changed together: whereupon <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;ayth, Simple generation and natu|rall permutation is the operation of the Elements, but it is nece&s;&s;ary that Elements be of one kinde and not divers: for otherwi&s;e they have not action and pa&s;&s;ion together: for as <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;ayth, There is no true ge|neration, but of &s;uch as be convenient and agreeing a|mong&s;t them&s;elves. Therefore doe not &s;earch that thing of nature, that is not of nature, or things not ac|cording to their nature; for the Elder tree doeth not bring forth Peares, nor the Thorne tree Pomegranats,
<PB N="18" REF="14">
for we doe never gather grapes of Thornes, or figges of Thi&s;tles; for they offer no things but &s;uch as are like them&s;elves; nor doe they bring forth other fruit then their owne. Therefore it is nece&s;&s;ary that our medi|cine bee taken chiefly of &s;uch things as it con&s;i&s;teth in; but there bee many men bu&s;ying them&s;elves and medling greatly and diver&s;ly therein, that now a daies goe about to get the &s;ame medicine of dry &s;tones, and divers kinds of &s;alts, as of <HI>Sal alkali, Sal. gem. vitriol, Sal-armoniack,</HI> and allome, cicory, tutty, attramentum, &s;affron, burnt bra&s;&s;e, vitrioll Romane, verdegris, &s;ul|phur, auripigmentum, ar&s;nick, and &s;uch other unfruit|full matters, whereas neither &s;alts nor alloms, doe goe into, or be compounded in our worke; but the Philo|&s;ophers named it &s;alts and allomes in &s;tead of the Ele|ments as <HI>Theophra&s;tus</HI> &s;aith. But if thou de&s;ire to make the Elixir wi&s;ely and perfectly, then learne to know the Minerall Roots, and make of them thy worke: for as <HI>Geber</HI> &s;ayth, thou &s;halt not finde the terme or end of the thing in the veines of the earth; for &s;ulphur and mercury which be the roots minerall, and natu|rall principles, that Nature doth make the foundati|on of her operations once, as in the mineralls and chambers of the Earth, be water, vi&s;cous, and a &s;tin|king &s;pirit running by the veines and bowells of the Earth, and of them doth &s;pring a fume, which is the mother of all mettalls, joyned by a moi&s;t temperate heat, a&s;cending and verberating againe upon his upper Earth, untill that by temperate decoction in the term of 1000. years is made a certaine naturall fixation, as more plainly it doth appeare, and &s;o is made mettall, as appeareth in the bookes of <HI>Geber:</HI> Even &s;o of Sol,
<PB N="19" REF="14">
(which is our Sulphur reduced into Mercury, by Mer|cury) is made a water, thicke, and mixed with his proper Earth, by temperate decoction, and from it ri|&s;eth a fume of the veins of this proper Earth, <HI>viz.</HI> of him&s;elfe, which afterward is changed into a water, mo&s;t &s;ubtle, which is called <HI>Anima, Spiritus, &amp; Tin|ctura,</HI> that is, the Soule, the Spirit, and Tincture: and when the &s;ame water is reduced upon the Earth from whence it came, and &s;prinkled upon his owne veines, it commeth into a certaine fixation, and is made the Elixir compleat: and &s;o Art doth worke in a &s;hort time by the wit of man, more then Nature doth work in 1000. yeares. But yet wee doe not make mettall, but Nature doth make it: we doe not change mettals, but Nature doth change them; but we be Natures hel|pers or Mini&s;ters. Whereupon <HI>Medus</HI> in <HI>Turba Philo|&s;ophorum,</HI> &s;ayth, That although our Stone being perfe|ctly created in the Earth, doth naturally contayne in him&s;elfe tincture, yet by him&s;elfe, he hath no motion or moving to be Elixir, unle&s;&s;e thereto hee bee moved by Art. Therefore let us choo&s;e the naturall and next mineralls, according to the words of <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> for Na|ture hath procreated all metalique bodies of a fume, Sulphur and Mercury: wherein thou &s;halt finde no Philo&s;opher di&s;agreeing; therfore it behoveth thee to know the principles of this Art, and the principall Roots thereof; for hee that doth not know the right beginning, &s;hall never finde the right end thereof: for <HI>Geber</HI> &s;ayth in the beginning of his Booke, Hee that knoweth nor our beginning in him&s;elfe, is farre from the attayning or under&s;tanding of this Science: for hee hath not the true Root or ground whereon he
<PB N="20" REF="15">
&s;hould ray&s;e this Art, or Science, or Worke: al&s;o in another place he &s;ayth; It behoveth that our Art be found out by a naturall wit, and a &s;ubtile &s;oule, &s;ear|ching forth the naturall principles and true foundati|ons. But although that a man may know his princi|ples, yet neverthele&s;&s;e he cannot in this follow Nature in all things, as <HI>Geber</HI> te&s;tifieth. Sonne, of this Art of Alchymy, we doe open to thee a great &s;ecret; Many Artificers in this Art doe greatly erre, which do think to follow Nature in all properties and differences.</P>
<P>Therefore the&s;e things thus &s;hortly pa&s;&s;ed over, as is afore&s;ayd, let us come to that part of the worke ar|tificiall; many men doe write of the Stone, named the Philo&s;ophers Stone, but how, or of what it is made, no Philo&s;opher did plainly and openly name, for in the&s;e points divers men taught divers things: whereas the truth doth con&s;i&s;t in one thing onely; but without doubt and without all errour, we &s;ay that this Stone (which is the root of our Art and privity, or hidden &s;ecret of God: and whereof many wi&s;e men did treat, who did of it make, and did knit many knots, and &s;o deceived many men in making them thereby fooles) is none other thing but man and woman, <HI>Sol &amp; Luna,</HI> hot and cold, Sulphur and Mercury: and heere &s;ticke downe your &s;take, &s;taying only and leaving to &s;earch further for any other &s;tone, or fooli&s;hly to con&s;ume thy money, and to bring to thy &s;oule heavy thoughts, or &s;adne&s;&s;e: for what thou &s;owe&s;t thou &s;halt reape. And fora&s;much as this Stone is divided into two parts, we will &s;peake a little of the fir&s;t part <HI>Sol;</HI> and note, that without it, our worke cannot be done, as I well prove by authority of learned Philo&s;ophers. For <HI>Ari|&s;totle</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="15">
&s;ayth, of all things in this world, <HI>Sol</HI> is mo&s;t: and it is the firment of white and red, without which it is not done. Al&s;o <HI>Hermes</HI> &s;ayth, There is no true tincture but of our Bra&s;&s;e, that is to &s;ay <HI>Sol:</HI> for all <HI>Sol</HI> is bra&s;s, but all bra&s;&s;e is not <HI>Sol:</HI> &s;o all <HI>Sol</HI> is Sulphur, but con|trary, for in it is nothing of the corruption of Sulphur, but when it is made white in the worke, then it wor|keth the operation of white Sulphur, congealing and converting Mercury into Sol, of the colour named <HI>O|bri&s;on</HI> in Latine, therefore u&s;e alwayes the nobler member, that is to &s;ay Sol; for it is the kinde of kindes, and forme of formes; for it is the fir&s;t and la&s;t in mettals, and it is among&s;t them in their natures, as the Sun is among&s;t the Stars, but it doth concerne thee to under&s;tand well how to choo&s;e in what noble member <HI>materiam vel rem homogeneam amborum mundi Luminum:</HI> that is a thing of that kinde which is a kin|dred to both the lights in the world, that is to &s;ay <HI>Sol:</HI> for <HI>Sol</HI> is <HI>homogeneam,</HI> and the &s;pirit hid and covered in that noble member, without which the work is not done. Wherefore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;ayth, Doe not colour it untill his hid &s;pirit be drawne out, and made all &s;pirituall; and therefore worke thou nothing but that which is very light, and of the mo&s;t pure <HI>Sol;</HI> which doth illu|minate and lighten all lights, and ca&s;teth away all darkne&s;&s;e of the night by his power, <HI>viz.</HI> the &s;uperflu|ity of Mercury and other imperfect bodies, when that it is ca&s;t upon them; wherefore <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith in the Chapter of the Quinte&s;&s;ence and Projection of the Stone: this Sulpher, lightning and ea&s;ting forth his beames, and &s;hining abroad of his mo&s;t cleare &s;ub|&s;tance, doth irradiate and giveth light not only in the
<PB N="22" REF="16">
day, but al&s;o in the darkne&s;&s;e wherupon <HI>Pandulphus in turba Philo&s;ophoru~,</HI> &s;aith, my Brethren know ye that there is no body more precious or purer than Sol: for as the Rubie hath in it &s;elfe the effect of all precious &s;tones, &s;o Sol hath in it &s;elfe the vertue of all &s;tones and Met|tals ductible; for it containeth in it &s;elfe all mettals, and coloureth and quickeneth them, when he is mo&s;t noble of them and of all bodies, and the head and the be&s;t of them: and con&s;ider this one poynt more, that Sol is equall in the qualities and parts of it, and it is of a compleat nature of the foure Elements, with|out any exce&s;&s;e or defect, for by nature it hath part of heat, and part of coldne&s;&s;e; part of dryne&s;&s;e, and part of humidity; for it is not corrupted, nor corrup|tible, by the Ayre, nor by the Water, nor by the infe|ction of the Earth, or by the force or violence of the Fire; yet it moy&s;teneth, rectifieth, and adorneth it, becau&s;e his complexion is temperate, and his nature direct and equall: therefore that Stone is be&s;t of all &s;tones, that is mo&s;t concoct and neare&s;t, or mo&s;t akin to the fire.</P>
<P>The &s;econd part of our Stone is called Mercury, the which is him&s;elfe, and of the Philo&s;ophers is called a Stone, and yet is no Stone: Whereupon a certaine wi&s;e man, whereas he &s;peaketh of it, faith, this is a Stone, and yet no Stone, without which, nature doth never worke any thing, which both doth, and drink|eth up the worke, and of it doth appeare every colour, who&s;e name is Mercury or Argent vive. Whereupon <HI>Rasis</HI> &s;aith of it, a worke may be created &s;o, that the &s;ame worke may overcome all Natures; it is friend|ly to all Mettles, and the meane to joyne tinctures, for
<PB N="23" REF="16">
in it &s;elfe it receiveth that which is of its nature, and doth vomit forth againe that which is &s;trange, or ene|my to its nature, for it is an uniforme &s;ub&s;tance in all his part. Therefore this Stone is named of the Philo|&s;ophers, Minerall vegitable, and Animall, and al&s;o ar|tificiall, it is called Minerall, becau&s;e it is ingendred in the Mine, and is mother of all Mettles, or el&s;e it is cal|led minerall, becau&s;e that when there is projection made upon it, it is turned into Mettle, and it is called vegitable, for of the juice of three Hearbs mixed toge|ther in equall proportions, that they &s;tand in a moi&s;t fire forty dayes, there will be growne forth thereof a Stone of the &s;ame colour and vertue of the minerall, for the Hearbs be Mercury, Purcelane, called <HI>Portulaca Marina,</HI> which yeeldeth Milke, and Celendine, it is al&s;o called animall or vitall, becau&s;e of him&s;elfe, with|out any other thing put into it, his Elements being &s;e|perate and mixt together in equall weight, and then &s;et in a &s;trong gla&s;&s;e with a little hole to take ayre at in the afore&s;ayd fire, within three moneths there will engender horrible Wormes, whereof every one will &s;lay one another, untill that one onely will remaine, which if the Ma&s;ter feed wi&s;ely, it will grow and wax to the bigne&s;&s;e of a Toad, who&s;e forme is terrible, and this Bea&s;t is by him&s;elfe Elixir upon Saturne and Ju|piter, or it is called animall, becau&s;e it is made of a thing that hath life, that is to &s;ay man: For in old Hedges it is found of the putrifaction of mans dung, and ordinately heated with a &s;ubtile Ve&s;&s;ell of Gla&s;&s;e, and therefore the Philo&s;ophers &s;ayd our Stone is found in every man, and that of the vile&s;t thing, and of a mo&s;t vile price: Wherefore <HI>Pithagoras</HI> &s;aith, this
<PB N="24" REF="17">
Stone is animall, becau&s;e it is apt to bring forth Child|ren; al&s;o he &s;aith it is ca&s;t in Dunghils, and therefore it is vile and rejected in the eyes of the ignorant man. Al&s;o in the Booke which is called <HI>Speculum Alchymiae,</HI> it is &s;ayd, this Stone is ca&s;t away in the &s;treet, and is found in dunghills&punc; the which containeth in it &s;elfe all the foure Elements, and ruleth them: and this Stone is artificiall, for by mans wit it is knit together; for certaine men make Mercury of Lead in this maner: they melt Saturne &s;ix or &s;even times, and every time they draw it with Sal armoniacke di&s;&s;olved; after|wards they take of that Saturne three pounds, and of Vitriol one pound, and of Borax halfe a pound, and then they do mingle altogether, and put it underneath the Philo&s;ophers fire, by forty naturall dayes, and then it is made Mercury, and there is no difference be|tweene it and naturall Mercury, but that it doth not goe into our worke, as naturall Mercury doth.</P>
<P>Know thou the clean from the unclean, for nothing giveth that which it hath not; for the clean is of one e&s;&s;ence voyd of alterations: the unclean thing is divers, and of contrary parts, and of a light or ea&s;ie corrupti|on, therefore put in thy worke no &s;trange thing, nor let any thing goe into our Stone (except &s;uch as is &s;prung from it) neyther in part nor yet in the whole; for if any &s;trange thing be put into it, it will by and by corrupt, nor will that be made thereof which is expe|cted. Therefore purge the yellow body by the adu&s;ti|on of the fire, and then thou &s;halt finde it purged; and after that thou ha&s;t it well purged, beat it mo&s;t &s;trong|ly, and utterly, and make it into thin plates, and after beat them into leaves, the thinne&s;t that can bee po&s;&s;i|ble,
<PB N="25" REF="17">
as Gold-beaters doe, and then &s;o keep them: but the white liquor hath more &s;uperfluities, which mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be removed, for they bee <HI>faeculentiae</HI> of the Earth, which is the impediment of melting, and hu|midity fugitive, which is the impediment of fixa|tion.</P>
<P>The earthine&s;&s;e feculentine is taken away thus; put it into a mortar of marble or wood, and adde to it as much common cleane dry &s;alt, and a little vineger, and &s;tirre them &s;trongly about, and rub it very &s;trong|ly with a pe&s;tle of wood wi&s;ely, that there doe appear nothing of the liquor, and that all the &s;alt be all black, then wa&s;h all the matter with cleane hot water, untill the &s;alt bee re&s;olved into water, and then powre the &s;ame foule water away, and then put it to the liquor of &s;alt and vineger, as thou did&s;t before; and doe this oftentimes, untill the liquor bee made as cleane and &s;hining as gla&s;&s;e, or of the colour of Heaven. And la&s;t of all put it into a thicke linnen cloth, twice or thrice doubled, and then &s;traine it forth twice or thrice into a thicke ve&s;&s;ell of gla&s;&s;e, untill it bee dry; the propor|tion of the parts is &s;uch, for there bee twenty foure houres in a naturall day, to which adde one, and then there be twenty five, this is wi&s;edome: for <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith in his fourth Booke, and &s;ixth Chapter, Study in thy worke to overcome the quick &s;ilver in thy commixti|on. Al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;ayth, Bodies be of a great perfection; wherefore more quick &s;ilver is nece&s;&s;ary: and he &s;aith, that wi&s;e men hide nothing but the weight and quan|tities, and this we may know becau&s;e none doe agree with other in weight. Therefore there is a great er|ror; for although the medicine be well preparate and
<PB N="26" REF="18">
well mingled together, unle&s;&s;e that there bee quanti|ties, thou ha&s;t de&s;troyed all, as to the verity and finall complement, and that &s;halt thou &s;ee in the triall, for when that the body tran&s;muted, bee put into cinerati|on, there it will be con&s;umed late or &s;oone, according as little or much it is changed into equality of the proportions by right, according to rea&s;on it will ne|ver be corrupted: therefore no man can pa&s;&s;e through it, unle&s;&s;e that hee bee a wi&s;e man, that doeth all things according to rea&s;on, and true &s;ubtilety, and na|turall wit.</P>
<P><HI>Euclides</HI> being a wi&s;e man, coun&s;elled us that we &s;hould worke but in Sol and Mercury, which joyned together doth make the Philo&s;ophers Stone; where|upon <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, white and red do proceed of one Roote, no body of any other kinde comming between or meddling of the kind of Sol; yet it being matter and forme ab&s;ent, all the effect is deprived, <HI>quoniam ex materia &amp; forma &s;it generatio vera;</HI> that is to &s;ay, very true generation is made of forme and matter, therefore it behooveth thee to know, that no Stone, or precious &s;tone, nor any other thing be&s;ides this Stone is convenient, nor yet doth agree to this worke; but thou had&s;t need to labor about the &s;olution of the yellow body, reducing it to his fir&s;t matter: where|fore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, we truly do di&s;&s;olve Gold, that it may be reduced into his fir&s;t nature, that is to &s;ay, Mercu|ry: and when that they be bru&s;ed a&s;under, then they have in them&s;elves tincture abiding: wherefore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> in the flowers of <HI>Socrates</HI> &s;aith, make the marriage, between the Red husband and the White wife, and thou &s;halt have the ma&s;tery. Al&s;o <HI>Merlyn</HI> &s;aith in his Booke:</P>
<LG>
<PB N="27" REF="18">
<L>Candida &s;i rubeo mulier &s;ic mixta marito</L>
<L>Mox amplectuntur complecta&abque; concipiuntur</L>
<L>Per &s;e &s;olvuntur, per &s;e quo&abque; conficiuntur,</L>
<L>Et duo qui fuerant, unum qua&s;i corpore fiunt.</L>
</LG>
<P>And truly our di&s;&s;olution is no other thing, but that the body be turned againe into moi&s;tne&s;&s;e, and his quick&s;ilver into his owne nature be removed a|gaine. Therefore unle&s;&s;e our bra&s;&s;e be broken and cru&s;hed a&s;under, and ruled by him&s;elfe untill it be drawn from his thicknes, and that it be turned into a thin &s;pirit, this labour is in vaine; whereupon it is &s;ayd in the Booke called <HI>Speculum Alchymiae,</HI> that the fir&s;t worke of this worke is the body reduced into wa|ter; that is to Mercury, and that is that the Philo&s;o|phers call &s;olution, which is the foundation of all the worke, and it maketh the body of more liquefaction, and of a more hid and privy &s;ubtiliation, which &s;aid &s;olution by little and little is done by contritions, and light ro&s;ting: wherfore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, the di&s;po&s;ition of our Stone is, that it be put into his ve&s;&s;ell, and be &s;od dili|gently, untill all do a&s;cend and ri&s;e up and be di&s;&s;olved. And it is &s;poken in <HI>Specula Philo&s;ophorum,</HI> that the Phi|lo&s;ophers Stone doth ari&s;e from a vile thing unto a more precious trea&s;ure: that is to be under&s;tood, that the &s;perme of Sol is to be ca&s;t into the matrix of Mercury, by bodily copulation or conjunction, and joyning of them together. Al&s;o <HI>Pithagoras</HI> &s;aith, that when it is put together with his like, and be mercuri|fied, it is a young tree, bringing forth fruit for the &s;oule; the &s;pirit and the tincture may from thence|forth be drawn out of him by temperate heat: where|upon he &s;aith, you Artificers of Alchymie, know you
<PB N="28" REF="19">
that their kindes cannot be truly tran&s;muted unle&s;&s;e that it be reduced into his fir&s;t matter: Al&s;o <HI>Geber</HI> &s;aith, all the whole thing may be made only of Mer|cury, or Lune, for when that Sol is brought into his fir&s;t beginning by Mercury, then nature embraceth his owne proper nature, and then there is in it an ea&s;i|ne&s;&s;e of drawing forth his &s;ubtill &s;ub&s;tance: where|fore <HI>Alfidius</HI> &s;aith, take things of their owne mindes, and exalt them to their Roots and beginnings: Al&s;o the Booke called <HI>Lumen Luminum</HI> &s;aith, that except that a man do ca&s;t the red with the fairne&s;&s;e away, he can by no means come to the Sulphur, Lightning and Ruddine&s;s. Al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith in the &s;eventh Chapter, he that knoweth how to turne Sol into Luna, hee knoweth al&s;o how to turne Sol into Sol: wherefore <HI>Pandulphus</HI> in <HI>Turba Philo&s;ophorum</HI> &s;aith, he that hath wi&s;ely brought forth the venome out of Sol and his &s;haddow, without which no colouring venome is ingendred, and he that goeth about by any manner of wayes to make colouring venome without this, he lo&s;eth his labour, and enjoyeth nothing but &s;or|row for all his hopes.</P>
<P>The Ve&s;&s;ell of our Stone is one wherein all the ma&s;tery is fulfilled, and it is a Cucurbit or Gourd with a Limbeck round above and beneath, plaine, without any &s;capolis, not too high, who&s;e bottome be round after the fa&s;hion of an Egge, or of an urinall, with plaine &s;ides, that it being made thin it may a&s;|cend and de&s;cend mo&s;t freely and ea&s;ily; and let the Ve&s;&s;ell be of &s;uch quantity, that the fourth part there|of may containe all the matter: and note that it is not of any other mettle but Gla&s;&s;e, cleane, which is a bo|dy
<PB N="29" REF="19">
full of light and &s;hining every thing through it, and lacking poores, &s;hewing al&s;o the colours in the worke appearing, whereby the &s;pirits pa&s;&s;ing may &s;ucce&s;&s;ive|ly vani&s;h away; it mu&s;t al&s;o be made right convenient and meet, wi&s;ely, that nothing may enter in by it: whereupon <HI>Lucas</HI> &s;aith, let the Ve&s;&s;ell be &s;hut &s;trongly with <HI>Lutum &s;apientiae,</HI> that nothing may pa&s;&s;e forth, nor enter into it, for if his dew &s;hould pa&s;&s;e forth, or &s;ome other &s;trange humour &s;hould enter in, all the worke &s;hould thereby lo&s;e his effect: and although it is &s;ayd by the Philo&s;ophers very often, put it into his Ve&s;&s;ell and &s;hut it &s;trongly, yet &s;ufficeth but once to put it in and &s;hut it, and in that thou ha&s;t fulfilled all the ma&s;tery for that, that is more, is done of evill: Whereupon <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, keepe it continually, wi&s;ely, &s;hut and &s;et it about with dew, ever taking heed that this dew doe not pa&s;&s;e forth into a Fume: al&s;o in <HI>Spe|culum Alchymiae,</HI> it is &s;ayd, the Philo&s;ophers Stone mu&s;t remaine clo&s;e &s;hut in his Ve&s;&s;ell untill it hath drunke up his humidity, and that it be nouri&s;hed perfectly with the heate of the fire, till it be made white: Al&s;o it is &s;ayd in the Booke called <HI>Beneloquium,</HI> even as there be in a naturall Egge three things <HI>(viz.)</HI> the Shell, the White, the Yolke; even &s;o there be in the Philo&s;o|phers Stone three things, <HI>(viz.)</HI> the Ve&s;&s;ell, the Gla&s;&s;e, for the Egge &s;hell, the white liquor for the White of the Egge, and the yellow body for the Yolke of the Egge; and there becomes a Bird of the yellow and white of the Egge, by a little heate of the Mother, the Egge-&s;hell &s;till remaining whole untill the Chicken doe come forth; even &s;o by every manner of wi&s;e in the Philo&s;ophers Stone, is made of the yellow body,
<PB N="30" REF="20">
and white Liquor by mediation of a temperate heat of the mother the earthly &s;ub&s;tance <HI>Hermes</HI> bird, the ve&s;&s;ell &s;till remaining whole, and never opened untill his full perfection; keep therefore the ve&s;&s;ell diligent|ly and wi&s;ely clo&s;ed with <HI>Lutum &s;apientiae Philo&s;opho|rum,</HI> that the &s;pirit do not pa&s;&s;e forth. Al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, keep the ve&s;&s;els with his tiolls and clo&s;ures, that thou maye&s;t be able and &s;trong in the keeping of his &s;pirit: al&s;o in another place, &s;hut thy ve&s;&s;ell diligently, and doe not in any &s;ort make ha&s;t, nor cea&s;e from thy worke; al&s;o take heed that the humiditie do not pa&s;s out of the ve&s;&s;ell, and thy worke thereby peri&s;h; for <HI>Socrates</HI> &s;aith, brui&s;e them in mo&s;t &s;trong vineger, and &s;eeth it vntill that it be thick, and take heed that thy vineger do not turne into a fume and peri&s;h or vani&s;h.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Of the Fires.</HEAD>
<P>THe Philo&s;ophers in their Books have chiefly put two fires, a dry, and a moy&s;t; for the dry fire, they call it the common fire, of any manner of thing combu&s;tible that will burne: but the moi&s;t fire they call the hot, <HI>venter Equinus,</HI> which may be Engli&s;hed, the Hor&s;e belly; but rather it is Hor&s;e dung, wherein remaining moy&s;tne&s;s, there doth remaine heat, and the moy&s;tne&s;&s;e once con&s;umed, it cea&s;eth to be hot, and this heat doth remain but in a little quantity, or but five or &s;ix dayes, but this heat may be kept a longer time, by &s;prinkling him with urine and &s;alt oftentimes; for of this fire <HI>Pithagoras</HI> &s;aith, the fire of the belly of a Hor&s;e hath property not to de&s;troy Oyle, but to augment it, by rea&s;on of his humidity, whereas other
<PB N="31" REF="20">
fires doe de&s;troy it for their heat. Al&s;o <HI>Senior</HI> &s;aith, dig up a grave and lay the Wife with her husband in the paunch or belly of a Hor&s;e, or rather in Hor&s;e dung, untill they be freely with their good wills mar|ried and conjoyned together. Al&s;o <HI>Alphidanus</HI> &s;aith, hide thy medicine in a moy&s;t hor&s;e dung, which is the wi&s;e mans fire, for the fire of this dung is hot and moy&s;t, and ob&s;cure, having within it humidity, and a holy light, and therefore there is none like to this in all the world, but only the naturall fire of a hot mans body; that is in health, and this is the &s;ecret cau&s;e of the &s;trife of the Sea, and not fully combu&s;t bloud of man, and the bloud of the red wine is our fire; the Regiment of our fires is &s;uch, that the medicine to white mu&s;t be put into the moy&s;t fire, untill the full compliment of whitene&s;&s;e, and that the heat mu&s;t be lent and continuall from the beginning, untill the colour of whitene&s;&s;e appearing in the ve&s;&s;ell, for the lent fire is the con&s;ervation of humidity; whereupon <HI>Pandolphus</HI> &s;aith, Brethren, know that the body is di&s;|&s;olved with the &s;pirit whereunto it is mixed, by a mo&s;t lent decoction, and &s;o the body is thereby made &s;piri|tuall with the &s;pirit: Al&s;o <HI>A&s;tavus</HI> &s;aith, the lent fire doth &s;end forth the &s;pirits of life, the exce&s;&s;ive fire doth not make equall the Elements, but rather it wa&s;teth the humidity and de&s;troyeth all things: therefore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith in his high worke, take heed in thy &s;ublimation and liquefaction, le&s;t that when you &s;et your fire on fire, the water al&s;o do a&s;cend to the top of the ve&s;&s;ell, for if it be &s;o, then it being cold it will &s;tick there, and &s;o thou can&s;t not make thy Sul|phur, nor open thy Elements, becau&s;e it is nece&s;&s;ary
<PB N="32" REF="21">
that every one of them in their &s;phericall, or &s;pirituall motion be very often thru&s;t downe and lift up, for on|ly the temperate fire is in&s;picive and perfective of mix|tion: Therefore <HI>Botulphus</HI> &s;aith, a lent fire which is called a cleare fire, is the greate&s;t cau&s;e of true opera|tion in the Elements. Al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, it is our light fire, as in an Egge that is nouri&s;hed, untill the body be derived, and the tincture drawne forth, for by light decoction the fire congealeth the water, and draweth forth the humidity of the corruptive part, and the com|bu&s;tion of drine&s;&s;e is prevented. Al&s;o all the benefit of this worke is in the temperatene&s;&s;e of the fire; therefore alwayes take heed of a greater fire, that thou come not before thy time to &s;olution, for that bringeth to de&s;peration: wherfore <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, take heed of the intention of the fire, for if it be &s;et on fire before the time, then it is made Red before the due time, which doth not profit, and that he may &s;hew thee the time of decoction, He &s;aith, the &s;olution of the body, and the congelation of the &s;pirit mu&s;t needs be made with light decoction of the fire, and with moy&s;t putrification in forty daies. Al&s;o heare <HI>Hortulanus</HI> &s;aying, know ye that in mingling them together, it be|hooveth you to mingle the crude, quick, &s;incere, and right Elements together upon a &s;oft fire, and to take heed of the intention of the fire, untill the Elements be joyned together. <HI>Bonellus</HI> &s;aith al&s;o, by a temperate heat the body is made &s;weet and convenient.</P>
<P>Be of a con&s;tant minde in thy work, and do not la|bour in or upon divers matters or things, proving &s;ometimes this matter, and &s;ometimes another; for in the multitude or diver&s;ity of things thy Art con&s;i&s;ts
<PB N="33" REF="21">
not, nor is fini&s;hed, for there is but one &s;ubject or me|dicine, one ve&s;&s;ell, one regiment, and one di&s;po&s;ition thereof, for all the ma&s;tery doth begin in one man|ner of fa&s;hion, and endeth in one manner of mantion; yet the Philo&s;ophers did put many works and crafts thereof for the honour and hiding, and prolonging of this Art: as to &s;eeth, to mingle together, to ro&s;t, to &s;ublime, to grind, to break, or beat a&s;&s;under, to congeale, to ad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">quate, or make even in quality, to pu|trifie, to make white, to make red; of which things yet there is but one Regiment, which is but to decoct onely. Therefore cru&s;h it a&s;&s;under, and &s;eeth &s;till that thou be not weary: al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, &s;eeth without in|termi&s;&s;ion. Do not ha&s;t or cea&s;e at any time from thy worke, nor go about to practi&s;e or u&s;e the &s;ophi&s;ticall bounds of thy works, but onely intend to the com|pliment of this worke: al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, it is mo&s;t &s;ure for thee to apply thy worke diligently, nor do thou leave off thy worke, being as it were a tree cut downe from the bowes, be thou therefore &s;tedfa&s;t, and of a long continuall minde and will in the Regiment. Shut mo&s;t clo&s;e thy ve&s;&s;ell, and cea&s;e at no time, for there is no generation of things but by a continuall motion, exclu&s;ion of ayre, and heat temperate. Study and marke al&s;o, when that you are in your worke, all the &s;ignes that &s;hall appeare in every decoction, and re|member them, for they be nece&s;&s;ary for the workman, to the compliment and fulfilling of this worke, for it is nece&s;&s;ary to continue the worke, and moderate the fire; therefore all the&s;e things di&s;po&s;ed as afore&s;aid, put the ve&s;&s;ell with the medicine in the moy&s;t fire &s;o, that halfe the ve&s;&s;ell be in the fire and the other halfe
<PB N="34" REF="22">
without, to this intent, that every day it may be loo|ked upon, and within forty dayes the overpart, or out&s;ide of the medicine, &s;hall appear black like Tarr, and that is a &s;igne, that the yellow body is truly turned into Mercury: therefore <HI>Bonellus</HI> &s;aith, where that you do &s;ee blackne&s;s appeare to that water, know ye that now the body is liquefied: and that truly is the &s;ame that <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, the di&s;po&s;ition of our Stone is one, that it be put in his ve&s;&s;ell, and that it be throughly &s;odden, untill all do ri&s;e and a&s;cend di&s;&s;olved. Al&s;o in another place, continue upon him a temperate heat, untill that it be di&s;&s;olved into water impalpable, and that all the tincture do go forth into blackne&s;s, which is a &s;igne of &s;olution.</P>
<P>Al&s;o <HI>Lucas</HI> &s;ayth, When thou &s;ee&s;t blacknes inure to that water in all things, then know that the body is liquefied; for the Philo&s;ophers doe call this blacknes the fir&s;t mariage, for that the man is joyned to the woman, and it is a &s;igne of a perfect medicine and mixtion, but all the tincture is not drawne forth all at once, but it goeth forth by little and little every day untill that in a long time it be compleat and fini&s;hed; and that, that is di&s;&s;olved doth ever goe up to the top|ward, although that which is remayning beneath bee the more: whereupon <HI>Avicen</HI> &s;ayth, that which is &s;pirituall doth a&s;cend up into the Ve&s;&s;ell, and that which is thicke and gro&s;&s;e, remayneth in the Ve&s;&s;ell beneath: but this blacknes is named by the Philo&s;o|phers with many and &s;undry names; as the fire, the &s;oule, the clouds, the crowes head, oyle, tincture, red|ne&s;&s;e, or &s;hadow, Sol, bra&s;&s;e, blacklead, black water, &s;ulphur, and by many other names: and that the
<PB N="35" REF="22">
blacknes doth conjoyne together the &s;pirit to the bo|dy: wherefore <HI>Ro&s;arius</HI> &s;ayth, by the continuance of the fire in the Regiment to the number of forty dayes, both &s;hall be made a water permanent, the blackne&s;&s;e being covered; which &s;ayd blackne&s;&s;e, if it bee gover|ned as it ought to be, it doth not &s;tay away above for|ty dayes of the colour of blackne&s;&s;e. Al&s;o <HI>Pythagoras</HI> &s;ayth, as long as the ob&s;cure blackne&s;&s;e doth appeare, the woman doth rule, which is the fir&s;t &s;trength of our &s;tone; for unle&s;&s;e that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> be black, it cannot be white nor red. Al&s;o <HI>Avicen</HI> in the Chapter of Humors &s;aith, heat in moi&s;tne&s;&s;e doth fir&s;t make blackne&s;&s;e, and his moi&s;tne&s;&s;e endureth untill the &s;uperfluity thereof bee removed, and then it becommeth white. Al&s;o in our works, fir&s;t they be made blacke, &s;econdly white, and thirdly by a greater intention and compo&s;ition of fire, it behoveth to be made yellow: whereupon it is writ|ten in the Booke called <HI>Multifary,</HI> in the &s;ixth Chap|ter in the fir&s;t detection, which is called putrifaction when our Stone is made black, that is to &s;ay black earth, by the drawing forth of his moi&s;tne&s;&s;e, wherein the whitene&s;&s;e is hid, and when the &s;ame whitene&s;&s;e is rever&s;ed upon his blackne&s;&s;e, and is fixed with his earth by ea&s;ie ro&s;ting, then is made the white, in which whitene&s;&s;e the redne&s;&s;e is hid, and when it is well &s;odden, by augmentation of the fire the &s;ame earth is then turned into redne&s;&s;e, as after it &s;hall be taught.</P>
<P>Now againe let us returne to our black Stone, be|ing &s;trongly clo&s;ed in his Ve&s;&s;ell, let it &s;tand therefore continually in the moi&s;t fire untill that the white co|lour doe appeare like unto the manner of mo&s;t white
<PB N="36" REF="23">
Salt, and this colour according to the Philo&s;ophers, is called Sal Armoniack, without which nothing can be made, or is profitable in our work: And &s;o the inten&s;ive whitenes appearing, the perfect mariage &amp; copulation indi&s;&s;oluble of the Stone is made: then is that of <HI>Hermes</HI> fully fulfilled, &s;aying, That which is above, is as that which is beneath is. That which is above is to obtaine Miracles of one thing: But <HI>Pithagoras</HI> &s;aith, when that you do &s;ee whitenes comming above, then be you &s;ure that redne&s;&s;e is hid in that whitene&s;&s;e; but before that the white doe appeare, many colours &s;hall appeare.</P>
<P>Therefore <HI>Diademes</HI> &s;aith, &s;eeth the man and vapour together, untill that both of them be congelate into dryne&s;&s;e; for unle&s;&s;e that it be made dry, divers co|lours will not appeare, for it is ever black, as long as moy&s;tne&s;&s;e doth rule, and then it &s;endeth forth divers colours; for in divers manners, and at divers times, it will be moved from colour to colour, untill it come to a firme whitene&s;&s;e: Al&s;o <HI>Zenon</HI> &s;aith, all kinde of colours will appeare in it untill the black humidity be dryed up; but of &s;uch colours take you no great care for they be no true colours; for it &s;hall very often times be citrine, and very often times redne&s;&s;e will ap|peare, and often times it will be dry, and al&s;o liquid before whitene&s;&s;e, but the Spirit will never be fixed with the body, but with white colour. <HI>A&s;tavus</HI> &s;ayth, betweene the blackne&s;&s;e and the white, there &s;hall appeare all colours, even as many as can be named or thought of: from diver&s;ity of which colours, divers men gave it divers names, and almo&s;t innumerable names: for &s;ome did it on purpo&s;e to conceale and ob|&s;cure the Art, and &s;ome did it of envie: but in the
<PB N="37" REF="23">
Chapter of the appearing of divers colours in the me|dicine, there is a definition of his blacknes: for wher|as the blacknes and the white be extreme colours, and all other colours be meane colours, therefore as often &s;oever as any thing of the blacknes doth de&s;cend, &s;o often another colour and another doth appeare, untill it be an extreame whitene&s;&s;e: But for de&s;cending, and a&s;cending <HI>Hermes</HI> &s;aith, it a&s;cends from the Earth up to Heaven, and de&s;cends againe from the Heaven to the Earth and receiveth the &s;uperiour &s;trength, and the inferiour &s;trength. And note, that if there appeare between the black and the white any yellow colour, care not for them, for they do not continue, nor are permanent, but they are &s;lippery and pa&s;&s;ing away; for there can be no permanent nor perfect Red, except that go before it. <HI>Ro&s;arius</HI> &s;aith, no man can come from the fir&s;t to the third, but by the &s;econd; for it appea|reth that the white is to be looked for in the &s;econd, when that it is the compliment of all the worke, for afterwards it will never be varied into any other true permanent colour but Red.</P>
<P>Now we have the white, therefore now it behoo|veth thee to make Red, for the white medicine and the red do not differ between them&s;elves in any e&s;&s;ence, but onely in this poynt, that the red medicine hath need of a greater &s;ubtiliation, a longer dige&s;tion, and a hotter fire in his Regiment: And therefore fora&s;|much as the end of the operation of the white is the beginning of the operation of the Red: and fora&s;much as that which is the compliment of the one, is the beginning of the other: therefore unle&s;s that thou do fir&s;t make white the medicine, thou can&s;t never make
<PB N="38" REF="24">
true red. But now how it &s;hall be made Red, we will tell thee &s;hortly. Fir&s;t the medicine to the Red mu&s;t be put into our moy&s;t fire, untill the white co|lour appeare, as is afore&s;aid: afterwards, let the ve&s;&s;ell be drawn out of the fire and put it in a pot of &s;ifted a&s;hes, and warme water halfe full, and &s;et your ve&s;|&s;ell of gla&s;&s;e with the medicine in the a&s;hes unto the mid&s;t, and under the earthen pot make a dry tem|perate fire and continuall, but the heat of this dry fire mu&s;t be greater by double at the lea&s;t, than was the heat of the moy&s;t fire, and by the benefit of this fire the white medicine &s;hall receive Red tincture; truly thou can&s;t not erre if thou wilt continue the drye fire: whereupon <HI>Ro&s;arius</HI> &s;aith, with a dry &s;ire, and a dry calcination ro&s;t the dry untill that it be made like Cy|naber. Whereto from thenceforth put nothing, nei|ther Oyle, or vineger, or any thing what&s;oever it be, untill it be ro&s;ted to a compliment of Rednes; and of a truth, the more Redder that the medicine is made, the more &s;tronger it is, and of more power&punc; and that is more ro&s;ted will be more Redder, and that which is mo&s;t ro&s;ted is mo&s;t precious, therefore with a dry fire, burne it without feare, untill that it be clo&s;ed mo&s;t redly: whereupon a Philo&s;opher &s;aith, in continu|ing the Red, &s;eeth the white untill that it be cloathed in purple, and beauty; but &s;ome have it; continue the Red and the white untill it be cloathed in purple cloathing: do not cea&s;e, although the Red do a little &s;lack to appeare, for the fire being augmented, as I &s;ayd before, after white of the fir&s;t colours appeareth a mean Red when among the&s;e colours &s;hall appeare a yellow, but his colour is not continuing, for after
<PB N="39" REF="24">
that it be perfect, Red will not much tarry to appeare, which appearing, be thou certaine that thy worke is perfect: for <HI>Hermes</HI> &s;aith, in <HI>Turba Philo&s;ophorum,</HI> be|tween white colour and Red, there appeareth only but one colour, <HI>viz.</HI> Citrine, which is yellow, but it varieth more or le&s;&s;e: al&s;o <HI>Maria</HI> &s;aith, when thou ha&s;t true white, thou then afterwards &s;halt have a fal&s;e yellow, and afterwards a perfect Red: And then thou &s;halt have the glory of the clearene&s;&s;e of all the World.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The fir&s;t manner of Multiplication of our Medicine.</HEAD>
<P>ELixir is multiplyed by two manner of wayes; that is to &s;ay, by &s;olution of heat, and by &s;olution of drying: by &s;olution of heat is thus. Take the medi|cine and put it into the ve&s;&s;ell of gla&s;&s;e, and bury it in our moy&s;t fire &s;even dayes or more, untill that the Medicine be di&s;&s;olved into water without any trou|blou&s;ne&s;&s;e appearing in it. But the &s;olution of drying is that that &s;hall take the ve&s;&s;ell of gla&s;&s;e with the me|dicine, and hang it in a bra&s;s pot (having a &s;traight mouth) in boyling, and let the mouth be clo&s;e, that by the vapour of the boyling vapour a&s;cending, the medi|cine may be di&s;&s;olved. And note, that the &s;ame boy|ling water mu&s;t not touch the ve&s;&s;ell of gla&s;&s;e with the medicine, by the &s;pace of three fingers: and this &s;olution is made &s;trongly in one day, or two, or three. After that the medicine is made and di&s;&s;olved, take it from the fire to coole, to fix, to congeale, to harden or dry, and &s;o let it bee very often di&s;&s;olved, for the
<PB N="40" REF="25">
oftner it be re&s;olved, &s;o much the more perfect it is; whereupon <HI>Bonellus</HI> &s;aith, when that our bra&s;&s;e is tur|ned, and very oftentimes reitterate, it is made better then it was before, and &s;uch a &s;olution is a &s;ubtiliation of the medicine, and his vertuous &s;ublimation; where|upon the oftner it is &s;ublimate or &s;ubtiliated, &s;o much oftner it getteth a greater Virtue, and a greater tin|cture, and coloureth more abundantly, and the more it &s;hall make perfect and convert, and turne the more; whereupon in the fourth &s;olution it &s;hall get &s;o much virtue and tincture, that one part &s;hall be able upon 1000. of Mercury clean&s;ed, that it &s;hall convert it in|to Gold or Silver, better then that which is taken out of the Mines of the Earth: Whereupon <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, the multiplication of this goodne&s;&s;e dependeth whole|ly on the often reitteration of the &s;ublimations and fixation of the perfect medicine, for the oftner that the order of this compliment be reitterated, &s;o much more doth increa&s;e the nouri&s;hment thereof, and the vertue and &s;trength thereof is augmented: for the oftner then was wont that thou &s;halt &s;ublimate and di&s;&s;olve the perfect medicine, &s;o much the more oftner thou &s;halt win and gaine at every time to ca&s;t one upon 1000. as if at fir&s;t it fall upon 1000. the &s;e|cond time it will convert 10000. the third time it will be ca&s;t upon, and convert 100000. and the fourth time upon 1000000. the fift time upon an infinite: For <HI>Merodus</HI> &s;aith, know ye for certainty, that how much the more and oftner our Stone is di&s;&s;olved, &s;o much the more is the &s;pirit and body conjoyned together, and of this for every time the tincture is multiplyed.</P>
<P>The &s;econd way of multiplication is another way;
<PB N="41" REF="25">
the medicine is multiplyed by fermentation, for the ferment to white is pure Silver, and the firment to red is pure Gold: therefore ca&s;t one part of the medi|cine upon ten parts, or twenty of the firment, and all &s;uch &s;hall be medicine; and put it upon the fire in a Ve&s;&s;ell of Gla&s;&s;e, and &s;hut it well, &s;o that no ayre may enter nor pa&s;&s;e forth, and let it be di&s;&s;olved or &s;ubli|mated &s;o often as thou wilt; and as thou doe&s;t the fir&s;t medicine, and one part of the &s;econd medicine &s;hall receive as much as one part of the fir&s;t medi|cine. Whereupon <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, now have we fully made our medicine, hot and cold, dry and moi&s;t, e|qually temperate, whereof what&s;oever we doe put to it &s;hall be of the &s;ame complexion that it is put to; therefore conjoyne or marry him that he may bring forth fruit like unto him&s;elfe: But yet doe not con|joyne or marry it with any other thing to convert it, but with it that it was in the beginning; whereupon it is written in <HI>Speculum,</HI> this &s;pirituall earth which is the Elixir, mu&s;t be fir&s;t in his owne body, from whence it was taken at the beginning of his &s;olution, that is to marry his earth, and it being &s;o rectified and purified by his &s;oule to conjoyne it by conjunction of his body, from whence it had its beginning; al&s;o it is &s;ayd in the Booke called <HI>Gemma &s;alutaris,</HI> the white Worke hath need of a white firmentation; whereby when he is white with his white firmentation, and when he is made red in his red firment, for then that white earth is firment of firment, for when it is joyned to Luna, all is firment to ca&s;t upon Mercury, and upon every body being unperfect mettle to make it Luna: And with the red thereof mu&s;t be joyned Sol; and
<PB N="42" REF="26">
that is medicine upon Mercury, and Luna to make it Sol. Al&s;o <HI>Ra&s;is</HI> &s;aith, it behooveth that he be mingled with wite and red quick&s;ilver of his kinde, and that it be contained and kept that it fly not away; where|fore we bid that quick&s;ilver be mingled with quick|&s;ilver, untill that one cleare water be made of two quick&s;ilvers, and not to make three mixtures untill e|very one of them be di&s;&s;olved into water; but in their conjunction put a little of the Worke upon much of the body, as upon foure, and in a certaine time it will be made in the nature of powder, which is of red or white colour, and this powder is Elixir compleate. And truely the Elixir mu&s;t be of a &s;imple powder; al&s;o <HI>Egidius</HI> &s;aith to 25 Stones of &s;olution, put &s;olution, and to &s;olution de&s;iccation, and put all to the fire, and keepe the fume, and take heed that nothing flye from it, tarry and dwell nigh the Ve&s;&s;ell, and behold and ob&s;erve the marvellous working, how it &s;hall be re|moved from colour to colour in le&s;&s;e then an houre of a day, untill that it commeth to the marke or prick, or butt of whitene&s;&s;e or redne&s;&s;e, for it will &s;oone melt in the fire, and come all into the Ayre; for when the fume doth fill the fire, it will enter into the body, and the &s;pirit will then be pulled together, and the body will then be fixed, cleare white or red: Then divide the fire, &s;uffering it to coole, and be cold: For and if one of the&s;e doe fall upon 1000. or Mercury, or any o|ther body, it turneth it into the be&s;t Gold or Silver, according as his firment is prepared; wherefore it doth appeare, that he who doth not congeale quick|&s;ilver that will &s;uffer the fire, and joyne it to pure Sil|ver, he de&s;ireth no right way to the white worke; and
<PB N="43" REF="26">
he who doth not make a red quick&s;ilver that can &s;u|&s;taine all fire, and joyn it to meer gold, he taketh not the right way to the Red worke, for by &s;olution and fermentation the worke or medicine may be multi|plyed into an infinite: and note that the Elixir giveth a very light fu&s;ion or melting even like wax: where|upon <HI>Ro&s;arius</HI> &s;aith, our medicine nece&s;&s;arily ought to be of a mo&s;t &s;ubtile &s;ub&s;tance and pure adherence, cleaving to Mercury of his nature, and of a mo&s;t thin, and ea&s;ie liquefaction as water; al&s;o in the booke which is named <HI>Omne datum optimum,</HI> when the Elixir is well prepared, it ought to be melted upon a burning plate, or upon a burning cole, even as wax melteth, for that thou do&s;t in the white, doe it in the red, for the &s;ame is the operation of both, as well in the mul|tiplication, as in the projection. <HI>Geber</HI> the Philo&s;opher doth beare witne&s;&s;e in his fift Booke, and tenth Chap|ter, that there be three Orders of Medicines; of the fir&s;t Order is that which is ca&s;t upon imperfect bodies, and doth not take away the corruption, but imper|fection, for it doth give tincture, but that tincture doth go away in examination.</P>
<P>The medicine of the &s;econd Order, is that which is ca&s;t upon imperfect bodies, and doth give tincture to them in examination; for after the examination the tincture doth remaine, but all the corruption of the bodies is not cleare taken away for ever by that medicine.</P>
<P>In the third Order, the medicine is that which is ca&s;t upon imperfect bodies, and taketh away all their imperfection and corruption, and from corrupt Mi|neralls it bringeth them into incorruptible. But the
<PB N="44" REF="27">
two fir&s;t of the&s;e medicines being left off, we will &s;peake &s;omething of the projection of this medicine of the third degree.</P>
<P>The perfect medicine truly is ca&s;t 1000. or upon more, according as the medicine is prepared or ad|vanced by di&s;&s;olution, &s;ublimation, and &s;ubtilliation; but becau&s;e &s;o little, that is, &s;o little is ca&s;t upon &s;o little, by rea&s;on of the littlenes thereof, it &s;hould not be lift up before his virtue be fulfilled. Therefore the Philo&s;ophers made their projection diver&s;ly, where|fore this is the be&s;t way.</P>
<P>Let one part be ca&s;t upon a hundred of Mercury, and all is medicine, and it is called the &s;econd medi|cine; and let every one part of this &s;econd medicine be ca&s;t upon a hundred of Mercury, and all is medi|cine, and is called the third medicine, and is made 1000. yet againe, let every part of this third medicine be ca&s;t upon 1000. of mercury, and it &s;hall be medi|cine, and all &s;hall be the be&s;t Luna or Sol. And note that the third and the &s;econd may be &s;o much di&s;&s;olved, and &s;ubtilliate, that it &s;hall receive a grea|ter vertue, and that it may be multiplyed in an infinite: after receive and make projection; fir&s;t multiply 10. into 10. and it will make 100. and 100. by 10. multi|plyed will be 1000. &amp;c.</P>
<P>But how the projection ought to be made, &s;hall be now taught. Put the body upon the fire in a Crucible&punc; al&s;o if it be a &s;pirit tepe&s;cat, let it do like luke-warme water, and ca&s;t the Elixir into it, as is afore&s;aid, mo|ving it well, and very &s;oone when the Elixir is lique|fied, and hath mingled it &s;elfe with the body, or with the &s;pirit, remove it from the fire, and thou &s;halt have
<PB N="45" REF="27">
by the grace of God, gold, and &s;ilver, according as the Elixir is prepared.</P>
<P>In &s;hort therefore, it appeareth by the premi&s;&s;es, that our worke doth con&s;i&s;t in the body of Magne&s;ia fini&s;hed; that is, of Sulphur, the which is called Sul|phur of Sulphur, and Mercury, which is called Mer|cury of Mercury: Therefore as it is afore&s;ayd, with one thing, that is our Stone, with one part, that is to &s;ay &s;eething, and one di&s;po&s;ition, that is to &s;ay, fir&s;t, making of it blacke; &s;econdly, with making of it white; thirdly, with making of it red; and fourthly, with making of projection, all the whole ma&s;tery is fini&s;hed.</P>
<P>Of the other part of the fal&s;e Alchymi&s;ts, and they who doe beleeve them by their di&s;tillations, &s;ublima|tions, calcinations, conjunctions, &s;eperations, congela|tions, preparations, di&s;&s;olutions, manuall contritions, and other deceptions, &s;aying, that it is by a &s;imilitude onely called an Egge, and teaching another &s;ulphur from ours, and another Mercury from ours, and that it may be drawne from &s;ome other thing, or effected by &s;ome other then our light fire.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The&s;e be all either deceivers, or mightily abu&s;ed.</HEAD>
<P>For by what and how many &s;oever names it bee called, it is but one and the &s;ame thing. Al&s;o <HI>Lucas</HI> &s;ayth, Doe not thou pa&s;&s;e or regard for plurality of compo&s;itions in nature, which the Philo&s;ophers di|ver&s;ly &s;et downe in their Bookes; for certainly there is but one thing in all the World, wherein the &s;pirit
<PB N="46" REF="28">
we &s;eeke for is to be found of any profitable and com|fortable u&s;e, with which every body is coloured: for in the Philo&s;ophers diver&s;ity of names, and compo&s;i|tions, they but cover and hide their Science.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="47" REF="28">
<HEAD>A Treati&s;e of <HI>Florianus Raudorff,</HI> of the Stone, or Mercury of the Philo&s;ophers.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">A &s;hort Declaration of the Great Matter.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 1.</HEAD>
<P>KNow yee, that our Medicine is made of 3. things, <HI>viz.</HI> of a body, &s;oule, and &s;pirit. There are 2. bo|dies, <HI>viz. Luna</HI> and <HI>Sol. Sol</HI> is a tincture, wherewith imperfect bodies are tinged into <HI>Sol,</HI> and <HI>Luna</HI> tingeth <HI>Luna:</HI> for Nature produceth or bringeth forth only its like: as a man a man, a hor&s;e begets a hor&s;e, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Proved by Examples.</HEAD>
<P>We told and named it with names, namely the bodies that &s;erve to our worke, which of &s;ome are cal|led Ferment: for as a little leaven leaveneth the whole ma&s;&s;e, &s;o <HI>Luna</HI> and <HI>Sol</HI> turne Mercury as their meale, into their nature and vertue.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 2.</HEAD>
<P>YOU may &s;ay, if <HI>Luna</HI> and <HI>Sol</HI> have a prefixed tin|cture, why doe they not tinge imperfect mettalls? An&s;wer: A babe though borne a man, doth not mans actions: it mu&s;t fir&s;t bee nouri&s;ht and bred to an age: &s;o it is with mettalls al&s;o; they cannot &s;hew their o|peration,
<PB N="48" REF="29">
unle&s;&s;e they be fir&s;t reduced from their gro&s;|nes to a &s;piritualty, nouri&s;ht and fed in their tinctures, through heat and moi&s;tne&s;&s;e. For the &s;pirit is of the &s;ame matter and nature with our medicine; for wee &s;ay, our medicine is of fire, Nature, and much &s;ubti|ler, but of them&s;elves they cannot bee &s;ubtile nor &s;im|ple, for they mu&s;t bee helped with &s;ubtile penetrating things.</P>
<P>Note, earth of it &s;elfe may not be &s;ubtile, but mu&s;t be made &s;ubtile, through moy&s;t water, which is di&s;|&s;olving, and maketh an ingre&s;&s;e for <HI>Sol,</HI> that &s;hee may penetrate the earth, and with her heat &s;he maketh the earth &s;ubtile, and in that way the earth mu&s;t be made &s;ubtile, &s;o long till it bee as &s;ubtill as a &s;pirit, which then is the Mercury, more di&s;&s;olving then common water, to di&s;&s;olve the &s;ayd mettalls, and that through the heat of fire, to penetrate and &s;ubtiliate the met|talls.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 3.</HEAD>
<P>IF you aske, why is Mercury called a better &s;pirit then others, as there are &s;ulphur, orpiment, ar&s;eni|ci, &s;alarmenic, all the&s;e are called &s;pirits al&s;o: for being &s;et into the fire, they are carried away, and wee know not what is become of them; but this Mercury is much &s;ubtiler and clearer or penetrative, then the o|ther; and mettalls are turned in it, but the others burn them, and de&s;troy them, make mettalls more gro&s;ser then they were.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP</HI> 4.</HEAD>
<P>BUT Mercury is of &s;uch a &s;ubtile nature, that he turnes mettalls into &s;imples, as him&s;elfe is, and draweth them unto him.</P>
<P><PB N="49" REF="29">
Note, no mettall may be turned by any of the other foure &s;pirits, for if you put any of them to our mettle, it turneth to a&s;hes or earth; but if you doe it to Mer|cury, it will bee impalpable, therefore is it called argent vive.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 5.</HEAD>
<P>VVE take nothing el&s;e to &s;ubtilize mettles, or make them penetrative, nor to tinge other met|tles; &s;ome call it argent vive, or a water, an acetum, a poy&s;on, becau&s;e it de&s;troyeth imperfect bodies, and divideth into &s;everall members and formes, as you &s;hall heare, and is called by &s;everall names.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 6.</HEAD>
<P>YOU may &s;ay, we doe not &s;peake true, that our medicine is made of two things, of body and of &s;pirit; it is right &s;ayd, that all mettals have one root and originall.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 7.</HEAD>
<P>VVHY can it not be made of two compounded together? An&s;wer, 1. They may be made of all the&s;e together. 2. They mu&s;t be reduced into a Mercury, which would fall difficult by rea&s;on of mans life; therefore we take the next matter, which are the two above &s;ayd things, <HI>viz.</HI> the body and &s;pirit: Some Philo&s;ophers &s;ay in their Bookes, our medicine is made out of foure things, and it is &s;o, for in mettles and their &s;pirits are the foure Elements; and others &s;ay true al&s;o, &s;aying, mettalls mu&s;t be turned into ar|gent vive: Heerein many learned and wi&s;e men doe erre, and lo&s;e them&s;elves in this path.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="50" REF="30">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 8.</HEAD>
<P>HAving &s;poken of the matter, of which our medi|cine is made or joyned, or generated; now we will &s;peake of the forme of the Ve&s;&s;ells, in which it is made.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 9.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Forme of the Ve&s;&s;ell.</HEAD>
<P>IT is requi&s;ite that the Ve&s;&s;ell be likened to the fir|mament, which enclo&s;eth and encompa&s;&s;eth all. For our medicine is nothing el&s;e but a change of Elements one into another, which is done by the motion of the firmament; and &s;o it mu&s;t needs be round and circu|lar.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 10.</HEAD>
<P>VVE mu&s;t &s;peake al&s;o of the other or &s;econd Ve&s;|&s;ell, and that al&s;o mu&s;t be round; and mu&s;t be le&s;&s;e then the outward Ve&s;&s;ell; two hand-breadth high, called Cucurbite containing; on the Cucurbite you &s;et an Alimbeck, through which the vapours a&s;cend to the no&s;e of the Alimbeck, which mu&s;t be well luted: The Lute is made with meale, &s;ifted a&s;hes, white of an Egge, &amp;c. or one part of meale, one part of calx vive, tempered with the white of Egges, which you mu&s;t lute withall quickly; lute it well, that no &s;pirits may get away; which if you lo&s;e any of them, will prejudice your Worke mainely; there|fore be cautious.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="51" REF="30">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 11.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Forme of the Oven.</HEAD>
<P>THis Oven mu&s;t be round foure hands high, and two broad, and one in thickne&s;&s;e, to keepe in the heate the better. Having &s;poken of the forme of the Ve&s;&s;ell and Oven: now we will declare how our medicine is generated and nouri&s;hed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 12.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">How the matter is extracted, and cheri&s;hed.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE &s;ay that our matter is generated through the heat of fire, and through the vapour of the water, and al&s;o of Mercury, and is nouri&s;hed in this manner: and to bring this matter into a ju&s;t compari&s;on, it is requi&s;ite to prick up your eares, and to open your rea&s;on and under&s;tanding, that we may the better under&s;tand the following Chapters.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 13.</HEAD>
<P>FIr&s;t we will &s;hew the order of the worke in the following Chapters.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t is called Di&s;&s;olution. 2. Separation. 3. Sublimation. 4. Fixation, or Congelation. 5. Calci|nation. 6. Ingre&s;&s;ion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="52" REF="31">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 14.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">What is Di&s;&s;olution?</HEAD>
<P>IS the turning of a dry thing into a wet one; and you mu&s;t know, that di&s;&s;olution belongeth onely unto bo|dies, as to <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna,</HI> which &s;erve for our Art: for a &s;pirit needs not to be di&s;&s;olved, being a liquid thing of it &s;elfe, but mettalls are gro&s;&s;e and dry, and of a gro&s;&s;e nature; therefore they mu&s;t be made more &s;ub|tile; the rea&s;ons why they mu&s;t be &s;ubtillized.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 15.</HEAD>
<P>THe fir&s;t is, our medicine mu&s;t needs be &s;ubtile, and mettalls cannot bee made &s;ubtile unle&s;&s;e through di&s;&s;olution, being reduced into a water, and a&s;cend through the Alimbeck, to be turned to water and &s;pirit, as you &s;hall heare. When it is come to that, that all is a&s;cended, and nothing &s;tayd behind: and the feces are re&s;erved for a further u&s;e, as you &s;hal hear hereafter.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 16.</HEAD>
<P>THe &s;econd rea&s;on: the body and &s;pirit mu&s;t be made indivi&s;ible, and be one; for no gro&s;&s;e thing mingleth with the &s;pirit, unle&s;&s;e the gro&s;&s;e matter bee reduced to a &s;ubtility, as into Argent vive; then the one embraceth the other in&s;eparably. For if Argent vive perceiveth a thing like to it &s;elfe, then it rejoyceth, and the di&s;&s;olved body embraceth the &s;pirit, and &s;uffers him not to fly away, and maketh it durable for the fire, and the &s;pirit rejoyceth, becau&s;e he hath found his fellow: therefore the one mu&s;t be like the other, and are of one nature.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="53" REF="31">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 17.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Of Di&s;&s;olution, how to make it.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE take leave of <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna,</HI> thinly beaten, very pure, which we put into a good deale of Mercury, which is made pure al&s;o: then we put one after the other into Mer|cury, in a pot, in a heat not too hot, that the Mercury fume not; when wee &s;ee that no gro&s;&s;e thing is in it, and is melted or &s;treameth together, then you wrought well: but if there be any feces, or &s;ettlement, then you mu&s;t adde more Mercury to it, and doe as you did for|merly: and this is the fir&s;t &s;igne of di&s;&s;olution, that all bee &s;treamy.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 18.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Pro&s;ecution of this Matter.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE take all the matter thus di&s;&s;olved, and &s;et in <HI>Balneo Mariae;</HI> continue the fire for a &s;ennight, then let it coole: take the matter, pre&s;&s;e it through a cloth, or skin; if all goeth through, then it is well; if not, begin againe in the ve&s;&s;ell with more Mercury, &s;o long till it bee di&s;&s;olved: the di&s;&s;olution in Summer is better then in Winter, yet it matters not much.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 19.</HEAD>
<P>SEparation, is a dividing of a thing into its mem|bers, and a &s;eparation of the pure from the impure: we take our di&s;&s;olved matter, and put it into the &s;mal|ler
<PB N="54" REF="32">
ve&s;&s;ell, which &s;tands in the cucurbite, &s;et the A|limbecke upon, well luted, and &s;et it in a&s;hes; wee make a continued fire for a &s;ennight, one part of the &s;pirit &s;ublimeth, which wee call the &s;pirit or water, and is the &s;ubtile&s;t part; the other part which is not yet &s;ubtile, &s;ticketh about the cucurbite, and &s;ome of it is fallen to the bottome, which we call the ayre, and this part we take warme and moy&s;t, and the third part remayning in the inner ve&s;&s;ell, is yet a gro&s;&s;er matter, which &s;tayeth in the bottome; each of the&s;e parts we put into a ve&s;&s;ell apart, but the third matter wee put more Mercury to, and proceed as formerly, and alwayes each re&s;erved apart, and thus you mu&s;t proceed: in the inner ve&s;&s;ell nothing remayneth but a black powder, which we call the black earth, which is the dregs of the mettalls, which are an ob&s;truction, why mettalls cannot bee united with the &s;pirit; this powder is of no u&s;e.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 20.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Allegation, or proofe.</HEAD>
<P>YOU may, whereas you have &s;eparated the fowre Elements, from the mettalls, or divided them, and what is the fire then, which is one of the fowre Ele|ments al&s;o?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 21.</HEAD>
<P>AN&s;wer: We &s;ay, that fire and ayre is of one na|ture, which are come open together, and mixed together, and the one is turned to the other: but it were hard to be under&s;tood, if you &s;hould not bee in|&s;tructed,
<PB N="21" REF="32">
that the dividing of the Elements is brought to that, that they have their naturall operation, as in the whole, &s;o in the parts.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 22.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE call that ayre, which remayned in the bigger ve&s;&s;ell, becau&s;e it is more hot then moi&s;t, cold, or dry: the &s;ame you mu&s;t under&s;tand al&s;o of the other Elements: if they be not &s;ought in particular, they cannot properly bee under&s;tood, but are left thus.</P>
<P>Hence <HI>Plato</HI> &s;aith, we turned the moy&s;t into a &s;iccity, and the dry thing we made moy&s;t, and turned the bo|dy into water and aire.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="23" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 23.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE &s;ay, that &s;ublimation is ari&s;ing from be|low upward, as wee &s;ee the vapors which fall on the ground and in the water, are exhaled againe by the heat of the &s;un, and the gro&s;&s;e matter lieth &s;till below, as wee have &s;ayd at the changing of the Ele|ments: thus the matter mu&s;t be &s;ubtiliated, which is not &s;ubtile enough, all which mu&s;t bee done through heat and moi&s;tnes, namely through fire and water.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="24" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 24.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Pro&s;ecution of the matter.</HEAD>
<P>KNow that we mu&s;t take the thing, which remai|ned in the greater ve&s;&s;ell, and put the &s;ame to other fre&s;h Mercury, that it be well di&s;&s;olved and &s;ub|tilized; then we &s;et it in <HI>Balneum Mariae</HI> for three dais, as formerly: but we mention not the quantity of Mer|cury,
<PB N="56" REF="33">
only we leave it to your di&s;cretion, as much as you have need, that you may make it fu&s;ible, and it be cleare like a &s;pirit: and note, that you take not too much of the Mercury, that it be not a &s;ea: then we &s;et it againe into &s;ubliming, as you did formerly, doe it &s;o often, till you have brought it all through the A|limbecke, then it is very &s;ubtile, and one thing, cleare, pure, and fu&s;ible: then we put it againe into the inner ve&s;&s;ell, and let it goe once more through the Alim|beck, and &s;ee whether any thing be left behind, to the &s;ame more Mercury mu&s;t be added, till it become all one thing, and yeelds no more &s;ediment, and be &s;epa|rated from all its impurity and &s;uperfluity.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="25" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 25.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Declaration.</HEAD>
<P>I Tell you, that we have made out of two, <HI>viz.</HI> of bo|dy and &s;pirit, one onely thing, as a &s;pirit, which is light, and the body is heavy, the &s;pirit quickly and ea&s;ily flyeth upwards; but our worke is, that the bo|dy, which was fixed is now become volatile, and ri&s;eth upward, the which is again&s;t his nature: Thus wee have made a &s;pirit out of the body, and a body out of the &s;pirit, one onely thing.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="26" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 26.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Of Fixation, and Congealation.</HEAD>
<P>HAving made a &s;pirit out of the body, which is a thing volatile: now is it requi&s;ite to be made fix,
<PB N="59" REF="33">
holding in the fire: for we turned the &s;pirit into a body, <HI>viz.</HI> we turned the dry into a moy&s;tne&s;s, and the moy&s;tne&s;s into a dryne&s;s: now we mu&s;t make it a thing fix'd: and againe to turne the &s;pirit into a body, and that which formerly ro&s;e up, to &s;tay below: and thus have we done according to the &s;ayings of Philo&s;o|phers, reducing each Element into its contrary, then you will finde what you &s;eek after: namely, make the liquid thing dry, and the dry thing to be liquid, out of a fix a volatile, and the volatile to bee fix: and this can be done only through Congelation; therefore we will turne the &s;pirit into a body.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="27" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 27.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Coagulation, and Fixation.</HEAD>
<P>HOw is it done? we take a little of the ferment, which is made of our medicince, be it either <HI>Luna</HI> or <HI>Sol:</HI> and take but a little: as if you have 100 lb. of the medicine, take but 10 lb. of the ferment, which mu&s;t be foliated; and this ferment we amalgamize with the matter which you had before prepared, the &s;ame we put into a gla&s;&s;e Violl with a long neck, and &s;et it in a pot of a&s;hes: all which being &s;et in the fit place: then to the above &s;aid ferment 2 or 3 fingers, of the &s;pirit, which is gone through the Alimbeck, then wee put a good fire to it for three dayes, then the di&s;&s;olved body findeth its like, then they embrace one another, each keepeth to its like: then the gro&s;&s;e ferment hol|deth with the &s;ubtile ferment, attracteth the &s;ame, will not let it goe, and the di&s;&s;olved body, which is
<PB N="58" REF="34">
now &s;ubtile, keepeth the &s;pirit, for they are of an e|quall &s;ubtilty, like one to another, are become one thing, and the fire never may &s;eparate them; therfore is it requi&s;ite through this means to make the one like the other, and thus the firment, a biding place of the &s;ubtile body, and the &s;ubtile body a &s;taying place for the &s;pirit, that it may not flye away: then we make fire for a &s;ennight, more or le&s;s, yet &s;o long till we &s;ee that our matter is congealed. The time of this conge|lation is either prolonged or &s;hortened, according to the ve&s;&s;ells or Ovens condition, and of the fires either continuance, or di&s;continuing.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="28" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 28.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">A further proceeding in this matter.</HEAD>
<P>VVHen you &s;ee that this matter is coagu|lated, then put of the above&s;ayd mat|ter &s;o much to it, that it be two or three fingers high over it, as you know how it mu&s;t be done, and put the fire to it as you did formerly, till it bee congealed al&s;o, and proceed &s;o long in it till all the matter be congealed. And know that Philo&s;ophers for the generallity have concealed the Congelation in their books, and none of them (as far as we can finde) have di&s;clo&s;ed it, only <HI>Larikalix,</HI> who hath compo&s;ed it into many Chapters, and produced it in the German tongue, without any alteration, which he revealed unto me without any re&s;ervation or deceit.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="29" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="59" REF="34">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 29.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Calcination.</HEAD>
<P>HAving treated of Congealation, and Fixation, now we come to the Calcination. We take the known matter, and put it into an Urinall, and &s;et a head upon it, luting it well, &s;et it in the Oven of a&s;hes, make a continued great fire for a &s;ennight, then that which is not fix ri&s;eth into the Alimbeck, which wee call <HI>Hermes</HI> his bird, and that which remaines in the bot|tome of the gla&s;&s;e, is like a&s;hes, or &s;ifted earth, called the Philo&s;ophers Earth, out of which they make their foundation, and out of it they make their increa&s;e or augmentation, through heat and moy&s;t|ne&s;s: this earth is compo&s;ed of foure Elements, but are not contrary one to another, for their contrariety is changed or reduced to an agreement unto an uni|forme nature: then we take the moy&s;t part, re&s;erve it apart to a further u&s;e, which afterward mu&s;t be put to it, as you &s;hall heare. We take this earth or a&s;hes, which is a very fixed thing, and put it into a &s;trong earthen pot, unto which we lute its lid, and &s;et it in a calcining Oven, that the fire may beat on it above and below, and that fire we continue for three dayes, &s;o that the pot is alwayes red hot, we make of a &s;tone a white calx, and the things which are of water and earth-nature, are of fire's nature; for every calx is of a fires nature, which is hot and dry.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="30" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="62" REF="35">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 30.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Subtiliation of the foure Elements into the fifth e&s;&s;ence.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE have &s;poken of Calcination, in which we have brought things to the highe&s;t &s;ubtility, namely, to fire's na|ture: now we mu&s;t further &s;ubtiliate the foure Ele|ments: we take a little quantity of this Calx, <HI>viz.</HI> if we have 100 pounds, we keep no more than the fourth part, the other we &s;et into di&s;&s;olution, with a good deale of fre&s;h mercury, even as we had done formerly, and &s;o follow from Chapter to Chapter; from time to time, as formerly hath been proceeded in.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="31" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP</HI> 31.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Changing Fire into Water.</HEAD>
<P>NOw my deare&s;t, that you may change the fix into a volatile thing, that is Fire into Water; know that that which was of &s;ire's nature, is now become the nature of water, and that which was fix is now become volatile, and being made very &s;ubtile; then we take 1. p. of this water, and put it to the re&s;erved Calx, and we adde as much of the water unto, that it go over it two or three fingers breadth over the Calx, then we put fire under for three dayes long, thus it congealeth &s;ooner than at fir&s;t; for Calx is hot and dry, and &s;ucks in the humidity greedily; this Conge|lation mu&s;t be continued till it be quite congealed:
<PB N="63" REF="35">
afterward we calcine it as formerly; being quite cal|cined, it is called the quinte&s;&s;ence, becau&s;e it is of a more &s;ubtile nature than Fire, and becau&s;e of the tran&s;|mutation formerly made.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="32" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 32.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Philo&s;ophers Examples.</HEAD>
<P>ALL this being done, then our medicine is fini&s;h'd, and nothing but the ingre&s;&s;ion is wanting, that the matter may have an ingre&s;&s;e into imperfect met|talls.</P>
<P><HI>Plato,</HI> and many other Philo&s;ophers, begun this worke againe with di&s;&s;olving, &s;ubliming, or &s;ubtilia|ting, congealing, calcining, as at fir&s;t, and that medicine which we call a ferment, tran&s;mutes Mercury into its nature, in which it is di&s;&s;olved and &s;ublimed; Philo|phers &s;ay, our medicine tran&s;mutes infinitely imper|fect mettals; and &s;ay that he which attaineth once to the perfection of it, hath no more need of it, to make any more; but they &s;peake it my&s;tically in their ex|pre&s;&s;ions.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="33" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 33.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">How our medicine tran&s;muteth mettalls into <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna.</HI></HEAD>
<P>KNowing that our medicine converteth imperfect mettalls into <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna,</HI> according to the nature and forme of the matter, out of which it is made;
<PB N="62" REF="36">
therefore know, that wee now at &s;econd time &s;ay, that this our medicine is of that nature, that it tran&s;|muteth, converts, divideth a&s;under like fire, and is of a more &s;ubtile nature than fire, for it is of a nature of the quinte&s;&s;ences, as we &s;ayd before, therefore it converts Mercury into its nature, &s;eeing our medicine is of a converting nature, as our body converts Mercury into its nature, which is an imperfect body or mettall, and the gro&s;&s;ene&s;&s;e of mettall it turneth into a&s;hes or pow|der; therefore our medicine is of a dividing, &s;epara|ting nature, as you &s;ee fire doth not turn all the world into its nature, but only that which is of its nature, and the re&s;t it turneth to a&s;hes.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="34" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 34.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Rea&s;on why a Spirit is made of a Body.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE &s;hewed by reall rea&s;on, how a body is turned into a &s;pirit, and againe a &s;pirit is tur|ned into a body, <HI>viz.</HI> out of a fixed this is made a vo|latile, and of a volatile a fixed thing; the earth is tur|ned to water and aire, and the aire into fire, and the fire to an earth, the earth into a fire, and the fire is tur|ned to aire, and the aire is turned into water, and the water is become an earth. Now the earth which was of fire's nature, is brought to the nature of quinte&s;&s;ence. Thus we have &s;poken of all the wayes of tran&s;muting, perform'd through heat and moy&s;tne&s;&s;e, and have made out of dry, a moy&s;t thing, and out of the moy&s;t a dry one; otherwi&s;e natures, which are of &s;everall motions, and of &s;everall man&s;ions, could not be brought
<PB N="63" REF="36">
to one uniforme thing, if one &s;hould bee turned in the others nature.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="35" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 35.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Accompli&s;hment of Philo&s;ophers &s;ayings.</HEAD>
<P>WEE having brought the matter to the above|&s;ayd points, then have we done, and wrought according to the Philo&s;ophers &s;ayings, when they &s;ay in their Books: Ri&s;ing from the Earth into Heaven, and comming downe from Heaven into the Earth; to that &s;en&s;e, to make the body which is of earth, into a &s;pirit, which is a &s;ubtile thing in his nature, and then to reduce the &s;pirit into a body, which is a gro&s;&s;e low thing, changing one Element into another, as earth into water, water into ayre, ayre into fire; then fire is turned into water, and water into fire, and that into a more &s;ubtile nature and quinte&s;&s;ence. Having thus done, then are you come to the glory of the world: be dutifull to God, remember the poore.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="36" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. <HI>36.</HI> Ingre&s;&s;ion.</HEAD>
<P>TAke quicke Sulphur, melt it in an earthen ve&s;&s;ell, well glazed, being melted, powr it forth into a Lie made of Calx vive, and willow a&s;hes: let all the&s;e boyle in a kettle gently, an oyle &s;wimmeth on the top, which take and keepe, having enough of it, we min|gle it with &s;and; di&s;till it through the Alimbeck, &s;o long till it become incombu&s;tible: with this oyle wee imbibe our medicine, which will bee like &s;oap, then wee di&s;till by the Alimbeck, and receive the fumes
<PB N="66" REF="37">
which come over, and put it on againe three or foure times, if it hath not enough, then put more of this Oyle to it, being thus imbibed, then put fire under, that the humors may come away, and the medicine be firme and fu&s;ible on the body of the gla&s;&s;e. Then we take <HI>Avis Hermetis,</HI> which we re&s;erv'd formerly, and put it to it by degrees, till all be made fix.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="37" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP.</HI> 37.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Laus Deo.</HEAD>
<P>ACcording to <HI>Avicen,</HI> it is impo&s;&s;ible to convert mettals, unle&s;&s;e they be reduced to their fir&s;t mat|ter. But by Arts help they are converted into other mettall: we know, that Arti&s;ts do like Phy&s;itians, purging fir&s;t the corrupted matter, which is ob&s;tructive to mans health, then Cordials are mini&s;tred, which re&s;tore health: &s;o good Arti&s;ts mu&s;t proceed in like manner by converting of mettals: fir&s;t Mercury and Sulphur in metals are purged, whereby they &s;trengthen the heavenly elementall parts in them, according to their de&s;ired preparation of metals: then nature wor|keth further and not Art, but in&s;trumentally helpeth, and then is &s;een that &s;he really maketh <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna.</HI> For as the heavenly elementall vertues worke in natu|rall ve&s;&s;els, even &s;o do the Artificiall, being made uni|forme, and as nature worketh through the heat of fire and &s;tars, the &s;ame Art effecteth by fire, if tempe|rate and not exce&s;&s;ive, for the moving vertue in the matter; for the heavenly vertue in it, mingled at fir&s;t, inclinable to this or that, is furthered by Art; hea|venly
<PB N="65" REF="37">
vertues are communicative to their &s;ubjects, as is &s;een in naturall created things, chiefly in things ge|nerated by putrefaction, where the a&s;trall influences are apparent, according to the matters capacity. Ar|ti&s;ts do imitate herein, de&s;troying one forme to beget another; and his proceedings are be&s;t, when they are according unto nature: as by purging the Sulphur by dige&s;ting, &s;ubliming, and purging Mercury vive, by an exact mixture with the mettals matter, and thus out of their vertues every mettals forme is produced.</P>
<P>The vertue of the converting Element mu&s;t be pre|dominant, and the parts of it mu&s;t appeare in the Ele|ment converted: and being thus mingled with the E|lementated thing, then that Element will have that matter, which made it an Element, and hath the ver|tue of the other vert Element. This is that great my&s;tery in this Art.</P>
<TRAILER>Scito quod ejus principium est, &s;iout finis.</TRAILER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The names of the Philo&s;ophers Stone, Collected by <HI>WILLIAM GRATACOLLE.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_GOld, Sol, Sun, Bra&s;&s;e of Philo&s;ophers, the body of Magne&s;ia, a pure body, clean, ferment of Elixir, Ma&s;culine, Argent vive fixt, Sulphur incombu&s;tible, Sul|phur red, fixed, the rubine &s;tone, ky|brik, a man, greene vitrioll, burnt bra&s;&s;e, red earth: the water that is di&s;tilled from
<PB N="66" REF="38">
the&s;e things, is named of the Philo&s;ophers, the taile of the Dragon, a pure wind, ayre, life, lightning, the hou&s;e, the afternoone light, virgins milke, &s;al armo|niack, &s;al ni<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, the wind of the belly, white fume, red water of &s;ulphur, tartar, &s;affron, water, the white compound, &s;tinking water, the filthine&s;&s;e of the dead bloud, Argent vive, a Cucurbite with his Alimbeck, the ve&s;&s;ell of the Philo&s;ophers, a high man with a Sallet, the belly of a man in the mid&s;t, but in the end it is called the foot, or the feet, or on the which feet, or earth is calcined, ro&s;ted, congealed, di&s;tilled, or made &s;till and quiet: the &s;haddow of the Sun, a dead body, a crowne overcomming a cloud, the bark of the Sea, Magne&s;ia, black, a Dragon which eateth his tayle, the dregs of the belly, earth found on the dunghill putrified, or in hor&s;e dung, or in &s;oft fire, Sulphur, Mercury, &s;econdly in number, and one in e&s;&s;ence, name, in name, a &s;tone, body, &s;pirit, and &s;oule; it is called earth, fire, aire, all things, becau&s;e he containes in him foure Elements; it is called a man or bea&s;t, that hath &s;oule, life, body, and &s;pirit, and yet &s;ome Philo&s;ophers do not thinke the matter to have a &s;oule.</P>
<P>But as it is a &s;tone, it is called the water of Sulphur, the water of the world, the &s;pittle of Lune, the &s;had|dow of the Sun, a denne, Sol, Elephas, white Jayre, eyes of fi&s;hes, Beyia, Sulphur, vine &s;harpe, water, milke, vineger of life, tears, joyning water, Urine, the light of lights, a marvelous Father, Father of Mine|rals, a fruitfull tree, a living &s;pirit, a fugitive &s;ervant, certore of the earth, venome, mo&s;t &s;trong vineger, white gumme, everla&s;ting water, a woman, a femi|nine,
<PB N="67" REF="38">
a thing of vile price, Azot, men&s;truous, Brazill, in nature Azot, water, the fir&s;t matter, the beginning of the world; and mark this, that Argent vive, Mer|cury, Azot, the full moone, Hypo&s;ta&s;is, white lead, or red, do all of them &s;ignifie but one thing, our &s;tone, our bra&s;&s;e, our water, Iron, Silver, Lime, whitene&s;&s;e, Jupiter, Vermilion white, after divers times and de|gr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">es of operation.</P>
<P>And note, that the Philo&s;ophers wa&s;hing is to bring againe the whole &s;oule into his body, wherefore you may not under&s;tand thereby, the common white wa&s;hing is convenient to be done with vineger, and &s;alt, and &s;uch like.</P>
<P>Al&s;o note, that when blackne&s;s doth appeare, then it is called di&s;pen&s;ation of the man and woman be|tween them, and that the body hath gotten a &s;pirit, which is the tears of the vertues of the &s;oule upon the body, and the body doth revive the action of the &s;oule and &s;pirit, and is made an Eagle and the meane of na|tures.</P>
<P>And note, that white earth, white Sulphur, white fume, Auripigmentum Magne&s;ia, and Ethell, do &s;ig|nifie all one thing.</P>
<P>Al&s;o the &s;tone is called Chaos, a Dragon, a Serpent, a Toad, the green Lion, the quinte&s;&s;ence, our &s;tone Lunare, Camelion, mo&s;t vild black, blacker than black, Virgins milke, radicall humidity, unctuous moy&s;ture, liquor, &s;eminall, Salarmoniack, our Sul|phur, Naptha, a &s;oule, a Ba&s;ilisk, Adder, Secundine, Bloud, Spearne, Metteline, haire, urine, poy&s;on, wa|ter of wi&s;e men, minerall water, Antimony, &s;tinking men&s;trues, Lead of Philo&s;ophers, Sal, Mercury, our
<PB N="68" REF="39">
Gold, Lune, a bird, our gho&s;t, dun Salt, Alome of Spaine, attrament, dew of heavenly grace, the &s;tinking &s;pirit, Borax, Mercury corporall, wine, dry water, wa|ter metelline, an Egge, old water, perminent, <HI>Hermes</HI> bird, the le&s;&s;e world, Campher, water of life, Auri|pigment, a body cynaper, and almo&s;t with other infi|nite names of plea&s;ure.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Secret of Secrets, and Stone of Philo&s;ophers.</HEAD>
<P>IF thou de&s;ire&s;t to bee &s;o lucky, as that thou maye&s;t obtaine the ble&s;&s;ing of Philo&s;ophers, as God doth live for ever, &s;o let this verity live with thee.</P>
<P>The Philo&s;ophers do very properly &s;ay, it tarrieth in the &s;hell, and containeth in him&s;elfe both white and red, the one is called ma&s;culine, the other feminine, Animall, Vegetable, and Minerall; there is no &s;uch o|ther thing found in this world, that hath both power active, and pa&s;&s;ive in it, and al&s;o hath within him a &s;ub&s;tance, dead, and quick, &s;pirit and &s;oule, which to the ignorant, the Philo&s;ophers do call it the mo&s;t vile thing, it holdeth in him the foure Elements, contai|ned in his skirts where he is found, and commonly of all men, it may be bought for a &s;mall price, it doth a&s;|cend by it &s;elfe, he waxeth black, he de&s;cendeth and waxeth white, increa&s;eth and decrea&s;eth by him&s;elfe.</P>
<P>It is a matter which the earth bringeth forth, and de&s;cends from heaven, waxeth pale and red, is born, is dead, ri&s;eth againe, and after liveth for ever: by ma|ny wayes it comes to his end, but his proper decoction is upon a fire, &s;oft, meane, &s;trong, it is augmented un|till they be &s;ure it re&s;teth quietly with red in the fire;
<PB N="69" REF="39">
this is according to the vow of all good Philo&s;ophers, (called the Philo&s;ophers Stone) read and read againe, and every thing more cleare thou &s;halt never find, and if hereby thou under&s;tande&s;t not the matter, thou &s;halt never otherwi&s;e know it, or learne this Art.</P>
<P><HI>Hermes</HI> &s;aith, the Dragon is not dead, but with his Brother, and his &s;i&s;ter, not by one, but by both toge|ther: note the&s;e things, three heads and one body, one nature, and one Minerall; and this is &s;ufficient for them which have any aptne&s;&s;e of under&s;tanding in this Science: the Dragon is not mortified nor made fixed, but with <HI>Sol</HI> and <HI>Luna,</HI> and by none other, as &s;aith <HI>Hor|tulanus</HI> by mountaines in bodies, in the plaine of Mer|cury, and in the&s;e looke for it, and this water is crea|ted, and by concour&s;e of the&s;e two, is called water per|manent of Philo&s;ophers.</P>
<P>Our &s;ublimation is to &s;eeth the bodies with golden water, to di&s;&s;olve, to liquefie, and to &s;ublime them; Our calcination is to putrifie and dige&s;t by foure days, and to do no other wayes, wherefore many be decei|ved in &s;ublimation.</P>
<P>Thou maye&s;t know that bra&s;&s;e which is the Philo|&s;ophers Gold, is their Gold, and that is true, but thou ha&s;t &s;earched for greenne&s;&s;e, thinking that bra&s;&s;e is a Leprous body, which he hath for his greenne&s;&s;e, wherefore I &s;ay unto thee, that all that is perfect in bra&s;&s;e, is that greenne&s;&s;e only that is in him, becau&s;e that that greenne&s;&s;e (by our ma&s;try) is turned &s;hortly into gold, and of this thing we have experience, and if thou wilt prove it we will give thee a rule.</P>
<P>Take therefore burnt bra&s;&s;e, and perfectly rubified, and breake and imboyle him with drinke &s;eaven
<PB N="70" REF="40">
times, as much as he is able to drinke in all the wayes of rubifying and roa&s;ting him againe, afterward make him to di&s;cend, and his greene colour will be made red, as cleare graynes, and thou may&s;t know that &s;o much redne&s;s wil de&s;cend with him, that it wil tinckt, Argent vive in &s;ome part with the very colour of gold, and all this we approved, for it doth worke very great operations; yet thou can&s;t not prepare the Stone by any meanes with any drinke greene and moi&s;t, which is &s;eene to be borne in our Minerals. O ble&s;&s;ed great|ne&s;&s;e! which doth ingender all things, whereby thou may&s;t be informed that no vegetable or fruit in bud|ding will appeare, except there be a greene colour; wherefore Philo&s;ophers call it their bud, and likewi&s;e they call it the water of purifying or putrifaction, and they &s;ay the truth heerin; for with his water he is pu|rified &amp; wa&s;hed from his blackne&s;s, and made white, and afterwards he is &s;o made red, whereby thou may&s;t learne to know that no true tincture is made, but of our bra&s;&s;e; &s;eeth him therefore with his &s;oule, till the &s;pirit be joyned with his body, and be made one, and thou &s;halt have thy de&s;ire. Wife men have &s;poken of this in many names, but know thou right well, that it is but one matter which doth &s;ticke unto Argent vive, and to bodies, and thou &s;halt have the true &s;ignes; yet left thou &s;houlde&s;t be deceived heereby thou may&s;t know what Argent vive is to &s;tick unto: Argent vive doth &s;tick to the bodies, which is fal&s;e; for they think that they do under&s;tand that Chapter of <HI>Gebar,</HI> of Ar|gent vive, wherein he &s;aith, when in &s;earching in o|ther things, he doth not find by our invention any mat|ter to be more agreeable unto nature then Argent vive
<PB N="71" REF="40">
of the bodies; for this place is to be under&s;tood of Argent vive Philo&s;ophicall, for that Argent vive only &s;ticketh and tarrieth in, and with the bodies: and the old Philo&s;ophers could find no other matter, nor can tho&s;e which be Philo&s;ophers now invent any other matter which will abide with the bodies, but Argent vive of the Philo&s;ophers; for common Argent vive doth not &s;tick to the bodies, but the bodies do &s;tick to that Argent vive, and this is certaine by experience; for if the Argent vive common be joyned with any bo|dies, the Argent vive abides in his proper nature, or flies away, and doth not turne the body into his pro|per nature, and therefore he doth not cleave unto the bodies; and for this cau&s;e many be deceived in working in common Argent vive, for our Stone, that is to &s;ay, Argent vive accidentall which doth advance him&s;elfe far above Gold, and doth overcome it, and he doth kill, and he doth quicken; for thou mu&s;t know that Argent vive, father of all marvellous things of this our ma&s;tery is congealed, and is both &s;pirit and body; and this is that Argent vive which <HI>Gebar</HI> did &s;peake of, the con&s;ideration of a very matter which doth make per|fect, is the con&s;ideration of a cho&s;en pure &s;ub&s;tance of Argent vive, but chiefly out of whom the &s;ub&s;tance of Argent vive may be drawne out is to be inquired of: and we making an&s;wer do &s;ay, that in them in whom it is, out of them it may be drawne; therefore Sonne, con&s;ider well, and &s;ee from whence that &s;ub&s;tance is, and take that and none other: if thou de&s;ire to come to knowledge I &s;ay unto thee, for love of Chri&s;t that by no other means we can it finde; now the Philo&s;o|phers never might finde any other matter that would
<PB N="72" REF="41">
continue in the fire, but that only which is unctuous, perfect, and incombu&s;tible, and that matter, when it is prepared as it ought, will turne all bodes Minerall which it toucheth rightly unto mo&s;t perfect Sol com|pleat and above all bodies Lune.</P>
<P>Seeth fir&s;t with wind, and afterwards without winde, untill thou ha&s;t drawne out of thy &s;ubject or matter the venome (which is called the &s;oule;) that is it which thou &s;eeke&s;t, called the everla&s;ting <HI>aqua|vitae</HI> for alldi&s;ea&s;es, the whole ma&s;tery is in the va|por. <HI>Avicen.</HI></P>
<P>Let the body be put in a fire kindled for forty dayes by elementall heat; then in that decoction of forty dayes, the body will rejoyce with the &s;oule, and the &s;oule will rejoyce with the body and &s;pirit, and the &s;pirit will rejoyce with the body and &s;oule, and they are made immortall and perpetuall without &s;epara|tion.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
