Helmontiâ—ns may in complement to their Master pretend it to be a new discovery yet though the Arguments be for the most part his the opinion it self is very ancient as there he further proveth at large to which for brevity sake I remit the Reader But no Author in my judgment hath more fully plainly and truly described the matter manner and order of the generation of Minerals then that learned and most experienced Chymist Helmont hath done and therefore we shall give you his opinion at full though some part of it hath been recited before who saith Non raro nempe contingit quod metallarius in fodinis saxa diffringens dehiscat paries â—imam det unde tantillum aquae subalbidae virescentis manavit quod mox concrevit instar saponis liquidi Bur voco mutatoque deinceps pallore subviridi flavescit vel albescit vel saturatius viridescit The English of it you have before And from thence he draweth these conclusions Sic enim visum est quod alias intus absque saxi vulnere fit Quia succus ille interno efficiente perfiâ—itur Est ergo prima seminis metallici vita in condo sive promptuario loci homini plane incognita Ac ubi semen in lucem liquore vestitum prodit Gas incoepit sulphur aquae inquinare vita est seminis media ultima vero cum jam indurescit So that it seemeth it is made otherwise within without the breach or wound of the stone Because that juice or liquor is perfected by an internal efficient Therefore the first life of the metallick seed is in the cup hole or little cellar of the place altogether unknown unto man But when the seed doth appear unto light invested or cloathed with the liquor and the Gas hath begun to stain or corrupt the sulphur of the Water it is the middle life of the seed but is the last life when it beginneth to harden To this we shall onely add the opinion of the Author of the Arcae Arcani artificiosissimi apertae who saith thus Which because it is large I shall onely give in English Therefore it is to be known that Nature hath her passages and veins in the Earth which doth distil Waters salt clear and turbulent For it is always observed by sight that in the Pits or Groves of Metals sharp and salt Waters do distil down While therefore those waters do fall downwards for all heavy things are carried downwards there are sulphureous vapours ascending from the centre of the Earth that do meet them Therefore if the waters be saltish pure and clear and the sulphureous vapours pure also and that they embrace one another in their meeting then a pure Metal is generated but in defect of purity an impure Metal in elaborating of which Nature spreadeth near or about a thousand years before that she can bring it to perfection which cometh to pass either by reason of the impurity of the salt Mercurial waters or of the impure sulphureous vapours When these two do embrace one another shut up close in the rocky places then of them a moist thick fat vapour doth arise by the operation of natural heat which taketh its seat where the air cannot come for else it would fly away of which vapour then a mucilaginous and unctuous matter is made which is white like Butter which Mathesius doth call Gur which may be clam'd like Butter which I saith this Authour can also shew in my hand above the Earth and forth of the Earth The Labourers in the Groves do often find this matter which is called Gur but of it nothing can be prepared because it is not known what was the intention of Nature in that place for a Marchasite as well as a Metal might equally have been made of it 2. In the next place we come to the efficient cause of their generation which Aristotle and his followers have made external some of them hot and some of them cold and some both vainly holding that the efficient cause in natural generations did not enter the compound being seduced as is most probable by the similitudes taken partly from artificial and manual operations as the Painter or Statuary being the efficient cause of the Picture or Statue were external and separate from them after they were wrought and finished Not considering that these and the like make no alteration intrinsecally in the compound but onely are conversant about the figuring and altering the dimensions of quantity partly from humane animal and vegetative generations wherein they conceive the male and female to be efficient causes of generation and so to be external and separate from the thing generated Which is merely false for the male and female are but instrumental or artificial causes of moving and ejaculating the seeds into the due matrix 〈◊〉 which seeds being joyned together become agent and patient being excited by the heat of the matrix as an adjuvant cause and the intrinsecal efficient cause is contained in them which we call the Archaeus or seminal Idaea that doth form and organize the body according to the species from whence it was derived if the matrix be proper and of due kind for it And the male and female in this do no more then the husbandman that ploweth and tilleth the earth and then casteth in the seed onely Nature hath prepared and provided seed intrinsecally in the male and female which the husbandman must have elsewhere provided by Nature for him ab extra being no intrinsecal or efficient cause of its generation or growth but onely that particle of vital air or aether within it Which being the Faber or Archaeus and excited with the hot and moist vapours in the Earth or matrix doth produce its like or as the Holy Writ words it gives to every seed it s own body But to come to the true efficient cause of the generation of Metals though what hath been said might suffice the substance seems to be this That the Solar particles celestial spirit or internal and incombustible Sulphur which is the true fire of Nature hid in the viscous matter or mercury and excited aâ—d stirred up by the motion of the celestial bodies central sun or subterraneous fire or heat which we shall not take upon us to determine but leave it to the judgment of the learned Reader doth generate perfect and ripen Metals as most of what hath been said before doth sufficiently testifie And all do consent that Sulphur is the efficient cause or father and Mercury the passive or mother of all Metals Now for the manner of their generations there hath been so much related in the passages of this Chapter that we shall but onely add this short collection That the Water being sharp and salt and falling down in the subterraneous caverns and passages of the Earth doth meet with the drie sulphureous and warm steams that rise from the lower paâ—ts of the Earth do joyn together and so becomes unctuous
species but is apt to be transmuted by any mechanical and generative spirit into them And this matter is not the Elements themselves but subterraneal seed placed in the Elements which not being able to live to themselves do live unto others This seminary spirit is acknowledged by most of Aristotles Interpreters and Morisinus calls it Elphesteria not knowing how otherwise to attribute these generations to the Elements And this is the cause why some places yield some one mineral species above another Quippe solo natura subest Non omnis ferâ— omnia tell us The seminary spirit hath its proper wombs where it resides and forms his species according to his nature and the aptness of his matter But as Severinus affirms of animal seeds that they are in themselves Hermaphroditical and neither masculine nor feminine but as they meet with supervenient causes So it is in these Mineral seeds and species which in one womb do beget divers sorts of Minerals either according to the aptness of the matter or the vigour of the spirits Thus far this learned Author whose reasons we shall not censure nor confute his opinion which may pass with as much probability as any others but leave every one to his own liberty in judging Onely we shall note one thing to the Reader to be considered of and that is where he makes Plants to be nourished and augmented by the ingression of nutriment which fills and inlarges them but that Minerals are onely augmented externally upon the superficies by superaddition of new matter concocted by the same virtue and spirit into the same species Of this we shall offer these things 1. As for Plants we take it for a probable truth though some may look at it as a new fansie and paradox that the true and proper generation of the most if not of all Plants is in the former generant Plant that did produce the seed in its husk or covering and that the seeds contain in them a Plant of its own kind as that was of that did produce the seed though not to be discerned by our senses nor perhaps by the best microscopes because in many the little Plant contained in that husk or covering is in so extream minute parts and artificial means not yet found forth to cause them to open themselves nor due observations had from time to time as they open and display themselves in their several wombs in the Earth And that after they are fallen or cast into fit wombs in the Earth that the warm and moist vapours or steams of the Earth as an external and adjuvant cause doth soften and dissolve the husk covering or shell and excite and stir up that heat in the seed or little Plant which is the true agent and efficient cause of its increase and growth that before lay as it were idle and asleep by which means that little embrio doth open and expand it self and receives in by its pores or cavities of those parts ordered for roots whether by attraction or propulsion of its heat and moisture by the steams of Earth and its saline atoms I shall not here determine the fit warm vapours and assimilates it to its own nature And as this is as we conceive the growth of Plants though commonly called their generation so we commend this to be inquired of by all industrious persons that if Nature as is most probable contain in her Cabinet the secret seeds of Minerals then why may she not meeting with fit matter and adjuvant causes have those small seminary particles stirred up and put into motion grow and expand themselves in the manner of Plants and by taking in new matter grow and increase This I onely offer as fit to be noted and considered of 2. The other thing that I would note is That though Plants when young may receive their nutriment by the matter having ingression by their pores yet when they are grown older and their truncks great and hard it is probable that then their growth is by superaddition of more matter to their outward parts and assimilating it into their species For it is generally in the North parts of England especially in old Oaks that yearly great store of sap ariseth betwixt the bark and the trunck which afterwards hardens into wood like unto the other and if this be a truth as all our Carpenters and buyers of Timber affirm if Metals do but increase by addition of new matter to the superficies then in some sort it differs not from the increase of Trees when grown great and old But if the relation given by Galen and approved of by Agricola be true that Lead being placed in a moist Cellar or subterranean rooms where the air is gross and turbid will be increased both in bulk and weight then it must probably be by taking in some parts of that gross air or the mineral particles contained in it by which it makes protrusion of its parts and getteth an increase in weight By all which we may learn to observe 1. That it may be that the seeds of Metals rising in steams may sometimes finding a fit room or vault setle together and in time become an hardned and metalline substance 2. Or that other-sometimes those mineral seeds may become setled in some holes and cavities of rocks in the form of water or of that thicker substance that the Germans call Gur and so in continuance of time grow to be a Metal 3. Or that after they be hardned into a metalline substance if the place will give leave may protrude it self further and further as the roots of Vegetables do in hard Rocks and old Walls by virtue of the mineral steams piercing from the root through insensible pores or at least may ripen from one degree of perfection to another as from Lead to Silver and the like For my self and divers other ingenious persons have observed that in the late Wars when many Castles and other old buildings were dismantled or demolished that the Leads that were taken from off them would have sold dearer then any other Lead and I have heard divers persons of credit affirm that it would yield very considerable quantities of silver and the longer it had laid the more Which if true is an evident argument that either by long lying the Lead being the softer part wasted away with the Sun and Weather and so left more of silver in the same bulk of matter then the same bulk of Lead contained when newer and fresher or else that the Silver in the Lead as all Lead contains some more or less did maturate some part of the Lead into its own more noble Nature or got increase from the beams of the Sun or particle in the Air or both And these noble hints I onely give as worthy to be considered of and inquired after Now we shall come to the other opinion of the causes and manner of the generation of Metals which is that of the mystical Authors learned Chymists
which Paracelsus maketh three sorts saying Aurum est in essentia triplex Gold in essence is threefold 1. Coeleste est solutum celestial and loosed 2. Elementare and that is fluid 3. Metallicum and that is corporeal I confess the place is very dark and hard to understand but I thought good to commend it to the curious searcher of Natures secrets for there is more of truth in it then at the first sight any one would imagine and that which follows will make it more plain Rhumelius a German Author of good account and experience whose Works are not translated that ever I could hear of saith thus There is no greater strife amongst the Physicians then about the subject out of which the matter of the Elixir vitae is to be taken and prepared And it is found in the final conclusion that in Gold alone the medicament is to be sought and found because that Nature alone doth consist in the spirit of Gold that drives away all diseases and brings in health and this all Philosophers with one voice confess It is found also in Philosophia adepta naturae thesauro that in rerum natura there are four sorts of Gold 1. Astralish 2. Mineralish 3. Metallish 4. Elementallish 1. Astralish is and is called that very thing which as yet lieth in primo ente and therein is as yet imperfect Frater Basilius calls it the Star of the Sun because the stars as yet have their influence and first operations therein And from this spiritual-like matter saith he from whence the beginnings of Gold doth grow may be made Aurum potabile more perfect and better then from the perfect common gold it self which first must be opened and made spiritual ere forth of it drinkable gold can be prepared Theophrastus calls it Electrum immaturum primam compositionem solis because therein Nature doth yet work her first composition and it is there likewise called aurum immaturum unripe or immature gold Aureum Vellus calls it primum ens solis and Rosarius gold and silver in posse Turba Philosophorum calls it leonem viridem the green Lion while it is yet green crude immature and imperfect Moreover this matter is entituled by the Mine-workers and named with its proper Teutonick or German name which in this place cannot be remembred without prejudice 2. Aurum minerale or Mineralish gold is that very thing which as yet doâ— stick in its Earth-ore or Berg-stuff until it be melted from thence and brought into a pure and clear Metal 3. Aurum metallicum or Metallish gold is that which being freed from its Schleck and raw mineralish Ore-stuff and with great force of fire is driven forth of it and then may be called a pure and clear Metal 4 Aurum Elementale or Elementalish gold is any Earth Mineral Stone or the like wherein the spirit of gold doth lie hid and may be drawn forth by the Spagyrick Art And he from hence concludeth that the Astralish gold according to the experience and the testimony of all Philosophers is the best and most profitable of all these four From whence we may note 1. That Mineralish gold as it lies undrawn from its Ore Marble Earth Sparr Stone or the like is commonly known and easily to be had there being divers sorts of gold Ore of sundry sorts to be gotten from many places 2. That Metalish gold is that which is purified and refined and is commonly known and to be had 3. That Elementalish gold being that which lieth hid in many Earths and Minerals may by a laborious and skillful Chymist be had and obtained As Wormius relateth of the Terra sigillata Silesiaca or Strigonensis which is found in the gold Mines near Strigonium amongst the hard Rocks And was first invented by Iohannes Montanus a most famous Physician who published a Book of the same Wherein he setteth down that it is gold by the provident ordination of God and Nature transmuted into a most excellent prepared medicament profitable against poison no less then the medicaments prepared with great charges forth of Hungarian Gold and saith that the Chymists call it Axungia Solis Of this also Schroderus tells us that that which was gotten and prepared at Striga a Town of Silesia was called Medulla vel axungia Solis because it was believed to be impregnated with the sulphur of gold And that Earth called Lignicensis was termed Axungia Lunae because it was mixed with the sulphur of Silver And this or such like it is probable that was which Paracelsus calleth Axungia Solis which he prescribeth against the poysonous bite of a Salamander used both inwardly and outwardly 4. But the Astralish gold is the great secret and therefore may be questioned whether it may be found in a liquid and soft form or hard or both and of the former we shall say thus much 1. We shall give the testimony of Paracelsus and leave it to censure who saith thus The first ens is an imperfect compound predestinated unto some certain end and corporeal matter And because it is not perfect therefore it can alter any body with which it is incorporated as Mercury which is like this imperfect ens according to its imperfection But we speak of the first ens which is perfect to renew and restore the whole body as is the first being or ens of Gold and that for this cause by reason it altogether possesseth the spirit of gold and is most subtile and far more subtile then the true body of Gold it self Also from hence it cometh to pass that the first ens of Sol or Gold is penetrable even as Mercury in Metals and doth not contain in it self the spirit of Salt by which it may be coagulated For the spirit of Salt the first coagulating ens receiveth so great forces that Gold for the hundred part is not so potent in its vertues as the primum ens of it is Further it is to be known that the first ens that is to say the first composition of Gold which as yet remains a liquor not coagulated doth renew and restore whatsoever it takes not onely men but also all Peasts Fruits Herbs and Trees From hence we may note these things 1. That if this Author be to be credited then in rerum natura there is such a thing as the primum ens of Gold and this as a liquor not coagulated To the search and enquiry of which I humbly and heartily intreat all ingenious persons and Sons of Art to use their industry and ultimate endeavour and not to think it a Chymical Chimaera For if the quotation of that honourable person Mr. Boyle who useth not to cite Authors of small credit or veracity may be trusted from Gerardus the Physick Professor a man of great learning and Chymical experience and whose fidelity is not questioned by any that at Anneberg a blue water was found where silver was yet in primo
the mineral that is found washed down or otherwise brought down into the Valleys Shoad 11. They have a thing they call Mundick sometimes found in the Ore which they separate lest it should spoil the Ore some of it is yellow which is the worst and sometimes of other colours and the Mundick after smelting the Ore is blackish and hard Of it Mr. Boyl saith thus Mundick I have had of a fine golden colour but though it be affirmed to hold no Metal yet I found it in weight and otherwise to differ from Marchasites and the Mine men think it of a poysonous nature 12. They have a thing they call Maxy mixt with the Ore which cannot be separated by the water but by the fire and then smells very ill and is of a blewish colour 13. Lastly They also find something like bright Ore which they call Shim And thus much of this Metal seeing there is no need to speak of any Medicaments prepared forth of it because I have not had experience of any such CHAP. XXIV Of the several sorts of Mercuries according to the Mystical Philosophers or Adeptists THough I may be censured variously by several sorts of men for intermeddling in such a mysterious and high a subject as this Chapter importeth yet without valuing them I shall lay open some things that have not been much noted or understood by many that think themselves sufficiently knowing in these matters and leave them to those that with me do understand the Authors from whom I have these things I now treat of being assured that these things are not for those that are led by fansie and opination but for those that are understanding and the genuine Sons of Hermes I find in the heedful and diligent search of the Writings of that profoundly learned and experienced person Paracelsus absit invidia verbis that he understood four several sorts of Mercuries which we shall rank in this order and so handle them 1. There is the Mercury of the Philosophers which is a thing in a various sense Mercurio vulgi communius 2. There is that which he calleth Mercurius Corporis which is made astraliter by the Tincture forth of another Metal as when Lead Tin or Copper is transmuted into true running common Mercury or Quicksilver or it may be as Libanius recordeth of Kelley that common Gold is changed into Quicksilver of which he thus speaketh Sic etiam Mercurius Corporis è metallo alio factus astraliter multo nobilior fixior est Mercurio communi 3. There is Mercurius Metallicus or Corporalis that is extracted drawn and separated from the perfect or imperfect Metals as is that mercurial part of Copper mentioned by Helmont after the external and combustible sulphur be separated from it which may be reduced into a white and anonymous Metal and this not to be had but by the help of the Alkahest 4. The vulgar Mercury or common Quicksilver And of two of these we shall speak to wit of the Philosophers Mercury and of common Quicksilver 1. Concerning the Philosophers Mercury we would admonish the studious searcher after Natures Secrets that these kind of Authors did not write to such ends and purposes as the most of other Authors did plainly and openly to reveal their Art for it was not lawful for them so to do and that for weighty reasons known to themselves and not fit to be divulged But to declare the truth in riddles and parables therefore let them take this rule from a learned Author who saith thus Let a Lover of Truth make use of a few Authors but of best note and experienced Truth let him suspect things that are quickly understood especially in mystical names and secret operations for truth lies hid in obscurity nor do Philosophers ever write more deceitfully then when plainly nor ever more truly then when obscurely And therefore Geber tells us Ubicunque aperte locuti sumus ibi nihil diximus sed ubi sub Aenigmate aliquid posuimus figuris ibi veritatem occultabimus Again Let the studious Reader diligently mark in what points they agree in for there necessarily the truth is to be found for Concord is the strongest evidence and Truth consists onely in unity For Trevisan saith Consideravi potius quibus locis libri maxime convenirent in eundem sensum ibidem existimavi latere potissimum veritatem quae non potest in pluribus sed in uno tantum existere hac viâ mihi fact a est obviam veritas In quibus enim maxime convenire videbam in unum hoc ipsum fuit quod tam anxie quaesieram Lastly observe this Let the studious Reader have a care of the manifold signification of words for by deceitful winding and doubtful yea contrary speeches as it should seem Philosophers vent their mysteries with a desire of keeping and hiding not sophisticating or destroying the truth And in nothing have they been more dark and obscure then about this that they call their Mercury which they have made manifold four sorts of which we shall onely handle 1. They do sometimes call perfect Elixir and colouring medicine their Mercury though with some impropriety as to other appellations of it being perfectly fixt and not volatile because of the likeness and great conformity it hath with heavenly Mercury or with the Planet so called which accommodateth it self to the nature and quality of every thing it is joyned withal The like this uncertain Elixir worketh for that being tied to no proper quality it imbraceth the quality and disposition of the thing wherewith it is mixed and wonderfully multiplieth the vertues and qualities thereof And in this sense for the most part the Philosophers understand it and not in respect of common Mercury or its volatility For Sendivogius saith thus Dicitur Mercurius propter ejus fluxibilitatem uniuscujusque rei conjunctionem non propter essentiam assimilatur sulphuri propter internum calorem post congelationem est humidum radicale For the Philosophers Sulphur or Tincture before Fermentation is in this sense truly mercurial and universal but after it be fermented that universality is determined and specificated according to the nature of the Metal with which it is fermented and so it is no more an universal but a particular Et ante fermentationem tamen est catholica ac universalis vere in omnia sublunaria agit universaliter catholice Post fermentationem autem est specificata ad naturam metallicam And again Et est vere universalis ante fermentationem post eam specifica 2. There is another matter which they call their Mercury which is the most universal that is in nature and forth of which in the first creation all specificated bodies were produced and still continueth both the efficient and material cause and matter of all generations and productions and this they called Hyle or Chaos and Raymund Lully the genus generalissimum of all things And doubtless was
into the form of Trees Rods or Hairs c. I have been the more large in this point to prove the growth and vegetability of Metals and Minerals because it is not of the least concern in the promoting of Mineral knowledge and I could have added more testimonies but these being from most approved Authors I hold to be sufficient Onely I shall commend some particulars deduced from hence to be inquired of by all persons that love metallick knowledge and have opportunities and abilities to search after the same As also to all those that travel where any Mines are and especially to all ingenious persons that are Overseers of Mines or imployed about them or work in them to take notice of these few Inquiries 1. To observe whether Earths of any sort or Stones do grow and increase and after what order and fashion 2. And that all those in our own Nation or elsewhere that work about Allom and Vitriol would observe how their Ores do lie and are found and whether they increase or not 3. And seeing our Nation hath store of Tin and Lead Mines that they would observe whether their Ores grow or not and in what manner 4. And in Tin and Lead Mines and all other as of Copper Silver Gold Quicksilver or Cineber and of Iron whether any such liquid matter may be found as the Germans call Gur or not and of what colours and qualities as it seems the water found at Anneberg that yielded Silver was blew and that which Paracelsus calls the primum ens auri was like red water and that of Quicksilver he calls blood or not 5. That inquiry may be made whether any steams arising in Mines do grow into a metalline substance or not 6. Lastly and to inquire whether where Ores are wrought out that they do after some years renew and grow again or not CHAP. IV. Of the Causes assigned by the most approved Authors for their generations both efficient and material and the manner thereof FOr the material and efficient causes and manner of the generation of Metals We shall enumerate some opinions of the chief Authors and leave the Reader to chuse which he judgeth most probable or most true because we mean not to dogmatize nor impose upon any but rather to move all men to a diligent search after the things of this nature that if possible the truth of their generations may be found forth and discovered In the first place we shall give the opinion of the Aristotelians and to eschew tediousness shall transcribe what Dr. Iorden hath written in that case with his censure upon it and his own opinion adjoyned because that little Tract of his may be in few mens hands and hard to be got who relateth it thus For the manner of generation of Minerals although it be alike in all yet it differs from the generation of animate bodies whether animals or vegetables in this that having no seed they have no power or instinct of producing other individuals but have their species perpetuated per virtutem seu spiritum semini Analogum by a spiritual substance proportionable to seed which is not resident in every individual as it is in animals and plants but in their proper wombs This saith he is the judgment of Petrus Severinus however he doth obscure it by his Platonical grandiloquence And as there is not vacuum in corporibus so much less in speciebus for that the species are perpetuated by new generations is most certain and proved before that it is not out of the seeds of individuals is evident by this that if Minerals do not assimilate nourishment by attraction retention concoction expulsion c. for the maintenance of their own individual bodies much less are they able to breed a superfluity of nourishment for seed And how can they attract and concoct nourishment and expel excrements which have no veins nor fibres nor any distinct parts to perform those Offices withal Moreover they are not increased as Plants are by nourishment whereas the parts already generated are extended in all proportions by the ingression of nutriment which fills and enlarges them But onely are augmented externally upon the superficies by superaddition of new matter concocted by the same virtue and spirit into the same species The matter whereof Minerals are bred is much controverted Aristotle makes the humidity of water and the dryness of earth to be the matter of all Minerals the dryness of earth to participate with fire and the humidity of water with air as Zabarella interprets it so that to make a perfect mixt body the four Elements do concur and to make the mixture more perfect these must be resolved into vapour or exhalation by the heat of fire or influence from the Sun and other Planets as the efficient cause of their generation but the cause of their congelation to be cold in such bodies as heat will resolve This vapour consisting partly of moisture and partly of dryness if all the moisture be spent turns to earth salt or concrete juices which dissolve in moisture If some moisture remain before congelation then it turns to stone If this dry exhalation be unctuous fat and combustible then Bitumen Sulphur and Orpiment are bred of it if it be dry and incombustible then concrete juices c. But if moisture do abound in this vapor then Metals are generated which are fusible and malleable And for the perfecting of these generations this exhalation is not sufficient but to give them their due consistence there must be the help of cold from Rocks in the earth to congeal this exhalation So that here must be two efficients heat and cold And for the better effecting of this these exhalations do insinuate themselves into stones in the form of dew or frost that is in little grains but differing from dew and frost in this that these are generated after that the vapour is converted to water whereas Minerals are generated before this conversion into Water But there is doubt to be made of frost because that is bred before the conversion of the exhalation into Water as may appear Meteor 1. According to this assertion there must be two places for the generation of Minerals the one a matrix where they receive their essence by heat in form of an exhalation and from thence they are sent to a second place to receive their congelation by the coldness of Rocks And from this matrix come our Mineral waters and not from the place of congelation This is the generation of Minerals according to Aristotle but it is not so clear but that it leaves many scruples both concerning the matter and efficients For the matter it seems not probable that water and earth should make any thing but mud and dirt for you can expect no more from any thing then is in it the one is cold and dry the other cold and moist and therefore as fit to be the matter of any other
it waxeth hard so as notwithstanding being holden in the mouth it melteth like butter 4. A sort that is a metallick substance most white fat and soft found in the Iron Mines of Sachsenfield and in touch not unlike to that which is called Soap-stone or Earth 5. A red soft matter found in the Mines of Rochlicense which they use with great profit in stead of Bole of Armenia Lastly As for Medicaments prepared forth of Lead there are some store used in Chirurgery as Litharge of both sorts Ceruss Red Lead Plumbum Ustum and the like which are common and vulgar For Medicaments prepared forth of Lead by common Chymistry I know none of any value anâ— that by the opinion of the most of them except Hartman not to be taken inwardly is that which they call Saccharum Saturni which I confess in inflammations and the like distempers will do very handsom and commendable things But yet if we will believe Ripley Lully and some others we might be induced to believe that in this Metal there are contained far more noble secrets and Medicines For Lully tells us this in few words Scire debes quod ex plumbo Philosophorum exâ—rahitur oleum quoddam aurei coloris vel quasi cum quosi lapidem mineralem vel mixtum vel animalem post fixionem primam solveris tribus vel quatuor diebus vel vicibus excusabit te ab omni labore solutionum coagulationum Ratio est quia hoc est oleum occulium quod facit medicinam penetrabilim amicabilem conjungibilem omnibus corporibus augmentat ejus effectum ultra modum sic quod in mundo hoc secretius eo non est But there is a learned French Author who for some reasons we shall not name that describeth the drawing of an Oyl of extraordinary vertue forth of this Metal and giveth Lully's words in a shorter sense thus Ex plumbo nigro extrahitur oleum Philosophorum aurei coloris vel quasi scias quod in mundo nihil secretius est eo This is enough for those that do or can understand and therefore we shall add no exposition And Ripley saith thus An Oyl is drawn out in colour of Gold Or like thereto out of our fine Red Lead Which Raymond said when he was old Much more than Gold would stand him in stead For when he was for age nigh dead He made thereof Aurum potabile Which him revived as men might see Compare this with the Latine quoted by the aforesaid French Author and with the Latine set forth by Combachius and some passages in Ripley's Medulla and then perhaps the truth may be more apparent But that we may sharpen the appetite of the studious searchers into the secrets of mystical Chymistry we must affirm that neither the ancient Poets nor Philosophers did speak such great things of Saturn and his off spring without just and great cause whatsoever the most censorious Critick may say to the contrary and the reasons are sufficiently known to the Secretaries of Nature and for others they may be as well contented with the Husk as the Kernel And that I may put those that are inquisitive into a more serious search in this particular I shall commend unto them one Stanza of that which speaks Sir Edward Kelley a learned Adeptist and not such a person as Weaver in his Funeral Acts and Monuments would personate him to be mistaking the one born in Worcestershire for the other born in Lancashire and hardly to be reconciled by any near touch of Chronology nor other circumstances who after he hath spoken candidly enough to the Sons of Art saith thus Remember also how the gods began And by descent who was to each the Sire Then learn their Lines and Kingdoms if you can Their manners eke with all their whole attire Which if thou do and know to what effect The learned Sophies will thee not reject But to knit up this discourse which some may deride which we shall leave to their own extravagant fancies we shall give you the testimony of two eminent persons of the secrets contained in this Metal And first that of Paracelsus who though a dark Author as many account him yet few come more close to the mark whose words are these where he maketh Saturn speak of himself Mundo minime foret utile si cognosceret aut saltem crederet quidnam in me lateat efficere que possim utilius foret si mecum id quod possum facere calleret Alchymistarum artes omnes deserens hoc solo quod in me est per me fieri potest uteretur Lastly to bring up the Rear as a most stout Champion we shall give the witness of the experienced Adeptist Helmonâ— who having shewed the difficulty to obtain medicaments forth of Gold Silver common Mercury saith thus Sunt ergo praeterea quatuor Metalla quae facilius ductui optatui artificum parent Adeo ut non frustra Paracelsus glorietur solo plumbo forte ducentas morborum Classes superari posse CHAP. XXIII Of the description of Tin of its Ores Operation Stocks Floats Fallings and striking Passages and the like IT seems that betwixt the Stannum or Tin of the Ancients and that which later Authors call Plumbum album White Lead which now is taken to be our common Tin there are many that have made a difference But if there were any such thing it is now unknown therefore we shall say nothing of it but proceed to that which is commonly known by that name which Wormius thus describeth Tin is an imperfect Metal soft and consisting of a plentiful Mercury less fixed and of a white impure Sulphur of more difficult fusion then Lead scarcely contracting rust and will ring or make a sound Rulandus thus Tin is a metallick body white not pure livid participating of little earthliness of Argent-vive pure fixt and not fixt clear and white in its outside and red in its inside and of such a sulphur it onely wants decoction or digestion Basilius writeth thus of it Tin Ore is wrought in a Sand-stone having its influence from Iupiter above wrought of a dark brown purple coloured grayish black shining mercurial salt and some sulphur mixed with it interlined with an unkind gross sulphureous fume all these incorporate together making the body of Tin This unkind fume is the cause of the brittleness of Tin and maketh all other Metals that are melted with it unkind and brittle This Tin or Quitter groweth or breaketh in a threefold manner viz. it slideth it is full of fumes and it groweth in pieces It hath a threefold wildness also as Shoal Flint and Iron-mold which causeth Lead-works Their colours are black slate brown and yellow These Sand and Quitter Ores are environed or inclosed in mighty broad standing passages which appear to the day with Quitters some contain also rich paint-work some of these flints must be calcined some are mixed with store
thing as of particular Minerals And water whereof principally Metals are made to consist is very unfit to make a malleable and extensible substance especially being congealed with cold as we may see in Ice But some do add a mineral quality to these materials and that simple water is not the chief matter of Metal but such as hath imbibed some mineral quality and so is altered from the nature of pure water This assertion doth presuppose Minerals in the earth before they were bred otherwise what should breed them at the first when there was no mineral quality to be imparted to water Again this mineral quality either gives the water or the vapour of it the essence of the Mineral and then it is not the effect of water but of the mineral quality or the potential faculty to breed it If the essence then this metalline water or vapour must have the form of the Metal and so be fusible and malleable If it have onely the power and potential faculty then the generation is not perfected but must expect further concoction This concoction is said to be partly by heat and partly by cold if by heat it must be in the passages of the exhalation as it is carried in the bowels of the earth For afterwards when the exhalation is setled in the stones the heat is gone Now if the concoction be perfected before the exhalation be insinuated into the stones as it must be if it be like dew then it is perfect Metal and neither is able to penetrate the stones nor hath any need of the cold of them to perfect the generation If by cold it is strange that cold should be made the principal agent in the generation of Metals which generates nothing neither can heat be the efficient of these generations Simple qualities can have but simple effects as heat can but make hot cold can but cool c. But they say that cold doth congeal Metals because heat doth dissolve them I answer the rule is true if it be rightly applied as we see Ice which is congealed by cold is readily dissolved by heat But the fusion of Metals cannot properly be called a dissolution by heat because it is neither reduced to water or vapour as it was before the congelation by cold nor is it permanent in that kind of dissolution although after fusion it should be kept in a greater heat then cold could be which congealed it For the cold in the bowels of the Earth cannot be so great as it is upon the superficies of the Earth seeing it was never observed that any Ice was bred there Wherefore this dissolution which is by fusion tends not to the destruction of the Metal but doth rather make it more perfect as it should do according to the former rule rightly applied And therefore this dissolution by fusion doth not argue a congelation by cold which being in the passive elements doth rather attend the matter then the efficient of generations for it is apt to dull and hebetate all faculties and motions in Nature and so to hinder generations rather then to further any It is heat and moisture that further generations as Ovid saith Quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere humorque calorque concipiunt And thus much he saith for Aristotles generation of Minerals where the vapours or exhalations do rather serve for the collection or congregation of matter in the Mines then for the generation of them as Libanius doth rightly judge Agricola makes the matter of Minerals to be succus lapidescens metallificus c. and with more reason because they are found liquid in the earth Gilgill would have it ashes Democritus lime but these two being artificial matters are no where found in the earth The Alchymists make Sulphur and Mercury the matter of Metals Libanius Sulphur and Vitriol But I will not stand upon discoursing of those materials because it makes little to my purpose It is enough for my purpose to shew the manner of these generations which saith he I take to be this There is a seminary spirit of all Minerals in the bowels of the Earth which meeting with convenient matter and adjuvant causes is not idle but doth proceed to produce Minerals according to the nature of it and the matter which it meets withal which matter it works upon like a ferment and by its motion procures an actual heat as an instrument to further its work which actual heat is increased by the fermentation of the matter The like we see in making of Malt where the grains of Barley being moistned with water the generative spirit in them is dilated and put in action and the superfluity of water being removed which might choke it and the barley laid up in heaps the seeds gather heat which is increased by the contiguity of many grains lying one upon another In this work Nature's intent is to produce more individuals according to the nature of the seed and therefore it shoots forth in spires but the Artist abuses the intention of Nature and converts it to his end that is to increase the spirits of his Malt. The like we find in Mineral substances where this spirit or ferment is resident as in Allom and Copper as Mines which being broken exposed and moistned will gather an actual heat and produce much more of those Minerals then else the Mine would yield as Agricola and Thurniser do affirm and is proved by common experience The like is generally observed in Mines as Agricola Erastus Libanius c. do avouch out of the dayly experience of Mineral men who affirm that in most places they find their Mines so hot as they can hardly touch them Although it is likely that where they work for perfect Minerals the heat which was in fermentation whilest they were yet in breeding is now much abated the Minerals being now grown to their perfection And for this heat we need not call for the help of the Sun which a little cloud will take away from us much more the body of the Earth and Rocks nor for subterraneal Fire This inbred heat is sufficient as may appear also by the Mines of Tin-glass which being digged and laid in the moist air will become very hot So Antimony and Sublimate being mixed together will grow so hot as they are not to be touched If this be so in little quantities it is likely to be much more in great quantities and huge rocks Heat of it self dâ—ffers not in kind but onely in degree and therefore is inclined no more to one species then to another but as it doth attend and serve a more worthy and superiour faculty such as this generative spirit is And this spirit doth convert any apt matter it meets withal to its own species by the help of heat and the Earth is full of such matter which attends upon the species of things And oftentimes for want of fit opportunity and adjuvant causes lies idle without producing any