Metals being sick dead c. Fourthly For the Vnctuosity as well of the Metal as Menstruum Of both saith Ripley pag. 150. Medulloe Phil. There is some certain Similitude of the Trinity to be perceived in the Body Soul and Spirit of our Work The Body is the substance of the Stone the Spirit is the Virtue that is the Quintessence which excites Natures from Death and the Soul is to be taken for the Ferment which cannot be had but out of the most perfect Body Gold in Sulphur of Gold there is a Terrestreity for the Body and in Mercury Menstruum an aereal serenity for the Spirit and in both a natural Unctuosity for the Soul For they are all fermentable in the Unctuosity of the Body being mix'd and inseparably united with it throughout its most minute parts by which Soul is the Stone formed because nothing can be any way formed without it 7. That this Menstruum is called Vegetable Mercury produced from red or white Wine The Adepts have many Mercuries The First is Common Argent vive running or sublimed The Second is The running Mercury of Bodies extracted out of Metals by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine A Third is Any Salt Alkali especially fixed with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Lully calcines Celandine and from thence extracts a Salt of which thus Repeat this Magistery so often till you have extracted all the Salt which is the Mercurial Part of that Individual Celandine These things therefore being done take all these Dissolutions Lixivia's and transmit them through a Filter or Linnen-Cloth that they may be purged from Terrestreity then distilled by Balneo congeal and the moisture being gone over in the bottom of the Vessel will remain a Mercury or Salt of a white colour and by this means you will have extracted out of this Matter a Mercury which hath almost innumerable Virtues of acuating the Vegetable Spirit drawn from Philosophical Wine so as to have the power of dissolving all Metals with the conservation of the Vegetative and Germinative Form In Magia Naturali He calls Tartar calcined and impregnated with the Vegetable Menstruum by being four times distilled then resolved per Deliquium and coagulated by the Name of Mercury And saith he pag. 379 you wil have the Salt of Art or Testamentary Mercury without which is nothing done Sometimes the Salt or Caput Mortuum in the separation of the Elements called exanimated Earth he calls Mercury So in Exp. 6. The inanimated Earth of Vrine dissolved in Water filtred and coagulated he calls Mercury Then saith he Keep our fixed Sal armoniack our animal Sulphur our fixed animal Mercury Lay a little of which upon a Fire-hot-plate and if it melt as Wax without fume it is a sign you have Argent vive fixed and perfectly depurated wherewith you will be able to produce many Experiments This is that Mercury which hath afforded us most convenient relief The Fourth Mercury is either Vegetable or Animal of which saith Ripley in Pupilla pag. 300. There are more Mercuries than the two above-said Mineral the red and green Lyon namely the Vegetable and Animal Mercury because both may be extracted out of some Liquors as out of Blood and Eggs. Lully Distinct 3. Libri Essentioe in Figuris Tabulis Individuorum describes the Vegetables and Animals in which are found these Mercuries most readily There is saith he lastly this other Secret of Nature for the Artist of this Art to know and really have the knowledge of the Individuals in which our Mercury is found most easily Wherefore let the Artists of this Art know that our Mercury is found in every Elemented Body yet in some so remote as to anticipate the Life of Man before the Artist of this Art can possess it being extracted as is expedient Wherefore we do in that place reveal those things which contain it most nearly Of this Mercury saith Lully Libro Mercuriorum pag. 8. VVhen we say common Mercury we speak of that which the Philosophers understand and when we say vulgar we speak of that which the Rustick understands and which is sold in Shops Which Ripley in the 326th pag. of his Concordance thus expresseth VVhen I speak of Mercury understand Mercury more common than common The Fifth is The Spirit of Philosohical VVine which Lully in Exp. 3. calls Vegetable Mercury So saith he will you have a Vegetable Salt extracted from this Individual Honey which Salt is most precious and hath the power of acuating the Vegetable Mercury and dissolving the two Luminaries c. in Exp. 5. Salts he prepares out of Portulaca Apium Squilla c. with all which saith he you may acuate the Vegetable Mercury extracted out of VVine either joyntly or severally of which lower in the fifth kind of Menstruums The Sixth is The Philosophical Menstruum it self for our present Menstruum is called Vegetable Mercury produced from white or red Wine The Seventh is The animated Spirit or Air of every Body in the separation of the Elements which Mercury being a Fire or Oyl is called Sulphur in almost all Receipts The Eighth is Sal armoniack Vegetable Animal or Mineral the Sulphur of Nature which is also called our Mercury Mercury Sublimate and Philosophers Mercury Necessary it is we should observe these things in the following Descriptions of Menstruums except we would some times confound the things themselves with the Names The Third KIND Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Oyly Salts or such as can neither be called fixed nor volatile hitherto called Essential Salts such as are Sugar Honey Tartar of Common Wine and other Vegetables 10. The Mellifluous Heaven of Parisinus In practica Elucid p. 231. V. 6. Theat Chym. THe way of acuating this Celestial and Burning B Spirit of Philosophical Wine is to take of the Substances declared to you what quantity you will But we take the Substances of Flowers United that is the Substance of New Honey pag. 269. which we put in a Vessel to distill all the Aquosity through Y Balneo Marioe pag. 270. Then we pour in three parts and more of B upon that Substance prepared after this manner shutting the Vessel with its Cover called Antenotorium and put it in Putrefaction for the space of one Natural Day then with three Distillations by Z. Fire of Ashes pag. 270. we distill till we obtain all the Mercurial Part with the whole Juice of the Blessed Substance by that Method then repeat the aforesaid Magistery with New Substance of Flowers and making this Regiment four times at the end of which you have reduced B solutive from Power into Act by Virtue of the Manna of the Flowers United Now take a strong Glass Vessel able to hold as much Water as a common Pitcher with a Neck one span and a half long to which another Glass Vessel containing a fourth part only of the Pitcher must be joyned and well luted Into this Vessel put four Pounds of C the
the Receiver and stop it to prevent respiring and then set the Urinal upon Ashes and if any corruptible part Phlegm and unprofitable Earth remain with the matter let it be burnt and the Vessel having remained two or three Hours in a Fire somewhat remiss and not any thing more distilling through the beak of the Alembick let the Vessel cool and then pour the same Water Aqua Vitoe or Spirit of Philosophical Wine which you kept before stopt in the Receiver upon the matter again This matter therefore being dissolved distil the Water again in Balneo as before which having taken away the Receiver you must keep well stopt from respiring then set the Urinal in Ashes and dry the matter being dryed dissolve it in again with the Water which you kept in the Receiver and if you see the dissolution is not clear and diaphanous you must transmit it so often through a Filter or Linnen Cloth and so oft dissolve and congeal it by turns as before till it be free from all Terrestreity and appear clear and splendid then may you be assured that the impure and corruptible part is separated and you will see the whole matter transmuted into an Oyl But now most dear Son you must proceed to the composition of our Mercury and Sal Armoniack the Powers and Virtues whereof are so many and so great as scarce to be comprehended within the expression of Man The way of which operation is thus You must know the weight of the Salt or Oyl which you beheld in the bottom of the Vessel depurated and pour to it so much of our Spirit that is Aqua Vitoe rectify'd so as to burn a Cloth steeped in it as will be four Fingers above it or let there be six parts more of the weight of the Aqua Vitoe than is the Salt or Oyl the whole being mix'd together put into an Urinal with a Cover or Antenotorium well luted that it respire not putrifie in Balneo the space of two Natural Days then take off the Antenotorium and put on an Alembick with a Receiver close the Joynts well and distil in a Furnace of Ashes with a slow Fire which distillation must be continued till the Beak or Head discover no Veins but suddenly after the Veins disappear lay aside the Receiver with the distilled Water Spirit of Philosophical Wine and stop it close for now comes the animated Spirit Spirit of Wine impregnated with the Essence of Tartar which hath the power of vivifying its Body or Caput Mortuum then continue the same distillation in the end augmenting the Fire that if any part of Phlegm remain it may exhale and be removed by that degree of heat Lastly the Vessel being cold take out the matter and grind it know the weight of the matter and pour to it four parts of Aqua Vitoe more than is the Earth Caput mortuum and covering the Vessel close with its Antenotorium putrifie as before then putting an Alembick to it with a Receiver well luted distill as before in a Furnace of Ashes the Soul being with its Spirit gone over with the same Signs of Veins as before appearing repeat the same Magistery three times For then will you have the Spirit perfectly animated and the Body exanimated and calcined This Spirit with the Soul of Tartar is indeed capable of disposing every Physical operation but in this place we will use it for the vivifying of the calcined Earth Take therefore the aforesaid Earth out of its Vessel and grind it then put a little of it upon a red hot plate which if it melt like Wax without fume is a sign of perfect exanimation if this sign appear not this Magistery must be reiterated till you have obtained that sign Then know the weight of the Earth upon which pour a fourth part of the animated Spirit and the Vessel being covered close with its Antenotorium set it in Balneo two or three days to be congealed or till it be congealed which done remove the Antenotorium putting on a Head and distill in a Furnace of Ashes without a Receiver that if there be any part of Phlegm it may be from thence removed for that which comes out from this distillation will be insipid of no savour or esteem in the Form of Rain Water Then again pour on a fourth part of the animated Spirit as before and congeal in Balneo as before then distil the Phlegmatick moisture by Ashes as before and thus repeat the aforesaid Magistery till the Earth hath drunk up and attracted to it all it s animated Spirit and attain'd to such a sign that if you put a small quantity of it upon a Fire-hot Plate the major part fume away which will be a sign that the matter is disposed for the subliming of our most precious Mercury which hath the power of dissolving any Metal whatsoever with the preservation of its Vegetive and Germinative form Take therefore the aforesaid pregnant Earth and put it into a Bolt-head Sublimatory with a long Neck which you must lute very well with Lutum Sapientioe and the luting being dryed set it with the matter into a distilling Furnace administring in the beginning a gentle Fire till the Bolt-head grow hot whose Mouth must be stopped with Cotton-wooll and continue that gentle heat the space of six Hours then augment the Fire somewhat six Hours more but if it begins not by that degree of Fire to sublime increase the Fire gradually to a more violent degree till it begin to sublime which Fire continue the space of twenty four Hours at the expiration of which time the Vessel being cold take from thence our Sulphur sublimed the Vegetable Sulphur of Nature our Mercury Vegetable our Heaven dry our Sal Armoniack Vegetable our Stone not yet fermented and call'd by many more other Names whose faculty is to acuate its Spirit of Philosophical Wine as shall be made appear by the Experiments hereafter following This Volatilization of the Salt of Tartar is sufficiently tedious yet easie and clear according to the tenour of the Receipt In the following kind of Menstruums we shall have divers examples of making such Sal Harmoniacks wherefore we will thither reserve those things which are to be admonished about this way of making the Volatile Salt of Tartar Lully mixeth three pounds of this Volatile Salt with four of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine successively by various distillations and reduceth the mixture by circulating sixty Days into the Vegetable Heaven But here we are to be advised that the Sal Armoniack of Tartar in its own dry Form is a Vegetable Menstruum and so according to the prescribed method of the Receipt it is not always necessary to reduce that into a liquid substance for that and the Menstruum made from thence are therein different because in the making of Heaven the Vnctuosity of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine being superadded and now prevalent hath absorbed and dissolved the aridity of the Sal Armoniack but this
thus done 28. The Sweet Spirit of Salt of Basilius Lib. Partic. sub Sulphure Solis Rep. 12. Clav. TAke of the Spirit of Salt wholly dephlegmed one part of the best Spirit of Wine free from all Phlegm or the Sulphur of Wine made as I shall tell you lower the Description of which we lately had in the precedent Pages one half part fit an Alembick well luted and distil strongly so as that nothing remains To the Distillation add one other half part of Spirit of Wine and distil and that repeat three times putrefie fifteen days or till it become sweet which must be done in a gentle Balneo thus will you have the Spirit of Salt and Wine without any corrosion for extractions But though this Menstruum may deserve its Praises yet it can scarce be reckoned amongst Menstruums of this Kind where we discourse not of acid Spirits but fixed Salts it must therefore be considered as an Appendix of the circulated Salt to the Illustratino of which it will not a little conduce From the Receipts we observe 1. That by Aqua Vitae or Spirit of Wine the Adepts did not in the least intend Common but Philosophical Aqua ardens for Common Aqua ardens will never perform that which is desired in these Receipts and it being granted that it seems to perform yet Menstruums so made cannot be Menstruums of the Adepts but Common of no efficacy or esteem in the more secret Chymy 2. That Basilius has indeed sometimes used common Aqua ardens for his Menstruums but never by it self but mixed with Vegetable Sal Armoniack or Philosophical Salt of Tartar that is with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine volatilized which Salt being brought into a liquid substance by virtue of this Spirit is his Menstruum for he separates again from thence the Spirit of Common Wine either by Flame or by quick Lime 3. That the greater quantity of Sal Armoniack is joyned with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine the stronger are these Menstruums made wherefore Basilius his Menstruums of this Kind from which all the common Aqua ardens is separated are to be reputed among the best 4. That these Menstruums are the Magistery of fixed Salts by Paracelsus call'd the less Circulatums or Arcanum of the Alkali of Tartar Beans Wormwood as also common Salt Alom Nitre c. 5. And therefore that these Menstruums are Medecines 6. That these Menstruums may be made several ways as these out of the Sal Armoniack of Lully by the method of Paracelsus his Circulatums and so on the contrary provided the Alkalies or fixed salts be volatilized and distilled together with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine through an Alembick 7. That the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is not easily mixed with these Salts but by certain degrees First He extracts the Tincture or Soul from them that is the more unctuous parts which being more volatile than the rest are then easily distilled into a volatile Tincture or to use Luly's phrase into the animated Spirit then the remaining Earth being now fixed by the same means is again volatilized by absorbing the said animated Spirit by degrees and sublimed into Sal Armoniack 8. That these Sal Armoniacks are sublimed with a very strong fire 9. That these Salts are called Harmoniack by reason of the Harmony ar Perfection of their mixtion So have you saith Lully the formal Harmoniack mixtion of all the Elements wherefore wonder not if we call it Sal Armoniack for so it is called because of its exalted and sublimed property the pure and first Matter of Nature Lib. Mercur. pag. 155. 10. That the volatile Salt of Tartar the volatile Salt of Wormwood Carduus Benedictus c. common volatile Salt by Paracelsus call'd Sal enixum are rightly term'd Sal Harmoniacks Philosophical Vegetable Mercuries and Sulphurs of Nature c. 11. That the Spirit of Salt Nitre Vitriol Aqua fortis c. are by being cohobated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine made sweet The Sixth KIND Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of the Spirit and Tartar of Philosophical Wine 29. The Coelum Vinosum of Parisinus made of the Salt of Philosophical Wine In Appendice Eluc Pag. 271. Vol. 6. Theat Chym. TAke the Philosophers first Matter called Chaos Vegetable Mercury the Philosophers Wine distil its Spirit ardent and Watery Element Phlegm in its convenient Vessel as we shall teach in its proper place till its Body remain in the bottom like melted Pitch which by two distillations wash with its Watery Element then pour its Spirit to it four Fingers above it mixing the Matter well till it be well united and set the Vessel to distil in Balneo with an easie heat then put it into Putrefaction six Days in a convenient Vessel and distil in Ashes the animated Spirit then take other Spirit ardens and that being poured to it put it again into Putrefaction six Days and so repeat this Magistery till you see that the Spirit has imbibed and extracted the Soul out of the Body an infallible sign of which will be when you see its Earth hard and dry for then may you be assured that the Body is for its health-sake dead which you may vivify and make incorruptible and it will no more fear Death nor Corruption in this World Now take the aforesaid Body first weigh it then put it in a convenient Vessel and pour to it an eighth part of its Spirit animated Spirit which extracted its Soul then put your Vessel in a Fire of digestion which we shall speak of afterwards and continue the Fire till you see that the Earth hath imbibed its Liquor then open your Vessel put on an Alembick and gather that little sweat which will have the taste of hot Water Imbibe now your Matter for a second time with a seventh part of the aforesaid Spirit which contains the Soul and proceed in the methodizing of the aforesaid Magistery Now for a third time imbibe with a sixt part for a fourth time imbibe with a fifth part for a fifth time imbibe with a fourth part and do not multiply the weight of the aforesaid Spirit but continue it so observing the aforesaid Method till the Matter which hath drunk up its Spirit and is again united with its Soul be white Take now the aforesaid Earth and put it in convenient sublimation the lower part of the Vessel being luted below the Matter and make the pure part sublime from the impure and so will you have our Mercury which is clear and shining as a Diamond This is that which the Philosophers do by divers Metaphors call the first Vegetable Matter Sal Armoniack our Mercury our Sulphur of Nature whereas notwithstanding 't is one and the same thing Take the other Simple Spirit which you first extracted out of your Chaos that which hath not extracted its Soul and make it more pure and subtil by the way following Take of the Vegetable first Matter Sal Armoniack which you made before one Pound and put
three Ounces of the VVater Aqua ardens rectifyed to the highest revealed to you before and the Vessel being covered close put it in Balneo for one Natural Day then Distil in Ashes till all ascend that can then know the weight of the Salt remaining at the bottom of the Vessel and pour to it three times its weight of the aforesaid Aqua ardens and put it in our Balneo the space of one natural Day then Distil in Ashes and thus do three times Then is all the Vegetable Salt come over the Helm with its own VVater and mixture is made and the Water clear which we call Simple Menstruum My Son Take a Glass Vessel which must be white Glass and sound and it must be a large Vessel and put into it four Pounds or six at most of this Menstruum thus simply dissolved and the Vessel being well shut and sealed put it in Balneo or Dung the space of sixty Days and it will in that time be converted into a Quintessence exceeding Glorious and Odoriferous which you will know when you see in the bottom of the Vessel a Sediment like that in the Urine of a well Complexioned Youth and it will be clear and resplendent as a Star of Heaven Keep it in a hot and moist place as is a Balneo separating it first from its Sediment and sealing the Vessel well as may be Both Receipts agree in all things except that Lully calcines the dead Earth and by dissolving in common Water and calcining purifies it Parisinus not so this Earth notwithstanding seeming by this way of putrifying to be made fitter for the Reception of its Spirit The Receipts consist of these two parts the preparation of the Vegetable Sal Armoniack and the Reduction of the same Salt into a liquid Substance or Menstruum The preparation of the Sal Armoniack is effected by two Operations In the first the Soul is extracted out of the Body by Virtue of the Spirit to exanimate and fix the Earth and make it melt like Wax on a red hot Plate In the second the Soul is stored to this fixed Earth by times and this variously to make it Volatile In both Receipts as well of Lully as Parisinus the animated Spirit is restored to the Earth so exanimated in an eighth seventh sixth fifth and fourth part of its weight till it wholly evaporates upon a fiery hot Plate this method of impregnating or revivifying the Dead Body will be confirmed and illustrated by the Vegetable Sal Armoniack of Parisinus In Apertorio Cap. F. and L. and parte secunda Citharoe vel Violettoe and Cap. 5. Elucid pag. 235. Vol. 6. Theat Chym. OUr Vegetable Mercury is that Principle to be admired above all other things of this Art which consists in the preparation and ablution of its most precious Earth which is of so great Virtue as not to be comprehended by the wit of any Men those only excepted who have attained to the miraculous effects of it Our purpose is to take the matter remaining in the distillation of Philosophical Wine like melted pitch to which pour of its Death Phlegm the height of four fingers above it agitate that the tincture or unctuous superfluous part of it may be dissolved let the matter settle decant the tincture to the remaining matter pour new Phlegm agitating and decanting so oft till no more tincture ascends and the Earth remains white sparkling like a Diamond which dry in the Sun or some such heat being dryed and pulverized pour to it of C that is its ardent Spirit so much as will swim upon it the space of four Fingers digest in a blind Head three natural Days then distil with a slender heat of Ashes till the Veins disappear take away the Receiver stop it well put another to distil away all the Phlegm with a Fire somewhat stronger cool the Vessel take out the Matter being hardened pulverize and putting it in the same Vessel pour to it of C the breadth of three Fingers lute and putrefie three days take away the blind Head distil through an Alembick till the Veins ascend then change the Receiver as before repeat these Operations till the Earth remain white and fume not upon a hot Plate Now take a Phial put the aforesaid Earth into it lute well the Neck of the Phial and set it to digest or calcine rather in Ashes and you will have your most precious Earth now sit to receive its Spirit animated or Soul with the conservation of its radical moisture Take this Earth put it in a round Vessel a hands breadth deep broad about the Orifice and imbibe it with its Soul or animated Spirit as we shall declare cap. L. thus have you so full an Instruction of this Matter that 't is impossible for you to err if you be a faithful Christian I promised he goes on cap. L. to give you full direction for the making of all sorts of Sulphurs for our Magistery that is Mineral Vegetable and Animal Sulphur Wonder not that I did first sublime and vivify the Mineral Sulphur of Nature I doing this to give them in order and that you might the better attend your Practice and Theory though I know you are not ignorant that no dissolution can be made without either Vegetable or Animal Sulphur Now to our purpose Take the Vegetable Earth prepared as I taught you cap. F. imbibe it with it s animated Spirit giving an eighth part of it in respect of the Earth cover the Vessel with a Blind Head digest eight days in Balneo then lay aside this Head and draw of all the insipid moisture in a gentle heat of Ashes or of the Sun then imbibe with a seventh part digesting in Balneo and distilling in Ashes as before then imbibe with a sixth then a fifth lastly a fourth part and with this quantity repeat the rest of the imbibitions till the Earth hath drank up two parts and more of its weight Then take the Earth out of the Vessel pulverize and put a little of it upon a red hot Plate if the greatest part of it fume away put the powder into a Sublimatory and sublime the Philosophers Sal Armoniack giving the beginning of Vegetation to both the terrestrial Luminaries Gold and Silver without which neither the Vegetable nor Animal Work yea nothing at all can be done in this Magistery This Volatilization of the fixed Earth the Adepts performed other ways also not always observing the order of the aforesaid weights of the animated Spirit in the resuscitation or impregnation of the dead Body For sometimes they imbibed this exanimated Earth with an eighth part of its animated Spirit so oft till it became animated again and was made Volatile Thus Lully made his The Vegetable Sal Armoniack of Lully Libro de materia Vegetabili in practica quarta TAke excellent Wine either red or white distil by the Rule of Art an ardent Spirit burning Cotton evaporate the Phlegm till the Matter remain thick as
melted pitch to which pour of the ardent Spirit so much as to swim four Fingers above it digest for a week in Balneo then distil the animated Spirit by Ashes to the Earth pour new ardent Spirit repeating so oft till the Earth remain dry and in the Form of powder Moreover you must from the Earth distil an Oyl in Ashes with a Fire sufficiently strong so as that the Earth being laid on a red hot Plate casts forth no fume That Oyl as also the Phlegm are of no value in the present Work Calcine or Reverberate the said Earth in a close Vessel to which pour of the animated ardent Spirit an eigth part in an Alembick digest in Balneo three days then gently draw off the superfluous moisture being insipid as common Water imbibe as before and continue so oft till the Earth in a close Vessel to which pour of the animated ardent Spirit an eighth part in an Alembick digest in Balneo three days then gently draw off the superfluous moisture being insipid as common Water imbibe as before and continue so oft till the Earth be made Volatile which you will know if a little of it put on a red hot Plate be almost wholly evaporated This impregnated Earth sublime with a subliming Fire the space of twenty four Hours The Volatile and sublimed Salt sublime by it self yet twice which is to be with the ardent Spirit dissolved distilled and forty or fifty days Circulated into an Odoriferous Liquor Sometimes they impregnated the Earth from the beginning to the compleat saturity of it with a fourth part of the animated Spirit thus The Vegetable Sal Armoniack of Lully In Apertorio suo TAke of the best Juice of Lunaria that you can find one Pound or two and put it into a Vessel with an Alembick the seams being well joynted and luted set it in a little Furnace and underneath make a Fire of one wiek and with such a gentle heat let the aforesaid Spirits be distilled and so long till it begins to make Veins When therefore the Phlegm begins to shew Veins then is it a sign that the Spirit is distilled which contains in it all the perfection of Life and then take that distilled Spirit and keep it very choicely in a Glass well stopt with white Wax then put another Receiver under the Alembick and receive the second Water because it retains yet something of the aforesaid Spirit though not so strong as the first distil from that second Water so long till nothing else comes but Phlegm which is no otherwise then as common Water tasting a little if it has yet any Virtue than may you distil yet more but if it be as the other Water pure in taste then lay aside the Receiver with that second Water and put another Glass to receive all the Phlegm distilling so long till nothing more distils and then let all the Phlegm be poured away because it is that which brings Death to our Precious Stone and this the vulgar knows not but we know Now have you the Earth which remained in the bottom of the Vessel black like melted Pitch For that calcination of the Earth cannot be done with a strong Fire as Sophisters believe but it is done by its own Spirit which keeps it from burning because its Spirit draws the Soul from its Body and repels its superfluous Phlegm and mortifies the Earth and then vivisies it Now therefore calcine the aforesaid Earth in this manner Take the second distilled Water Aqua ardens mix'd with Phlegm and pour it upon the black Earth Pitch in its Vessel and mix well till it be dissolved because the Earth is presently dissolved Then put on an Alembick and lute well and distil the Spirit with one wick as I told you before till you see Veins then again separate the Receiver of the Alembick with the Spirits and set it apart and put another Receiver to and distil on looking if there be yet any Spirits there if not then the Water which is distill'd hath a taste like hot common Spring Water which put away again because such Water is Phlegmatick which causeth Death to our Stone And after the whole distillation take the Vessel with all the Matter which you will then find more hard than before and this is the reason because that Spirit hath attracted the Aereral Soul to it from its Body it being the place in which the Soul is contained that Operation repeat so oft till you see your Matter calcined in the bottom in the Form of a black Powder or even so long till you see no more Phlegm arise so as the last Water to be of as great virtue strength smell and taste as the first And you must not be ignorant that in the third distillation those two Spirits ill and well rectify'd are to be mixed together upon their Earth so long till the Earth and Spirits have those signs aforesaid namely the Earth be calcined and the Spirits yield no Phlegm Then take the Earth and with it a fourth part of its weight of the Spirit and put the Matter into your Vessel which we call Retentorium and place it in a Furnace continuing an easie heat so long till the Spirit be altogether coagulated in the Earth Know Son that the Body which was Dead puts on white Garments as if God please you shall see when you try the things aforesaid Son this must you repeat with new Spirit so long till you see the Earth altogether white as Snow and then is the Earth big and impregnated with Eternal clarity which will bring forth an Infant according to this way When the Earth is very white then Son take it out of its Vessel and grind it into a most fine powder and this do upon a Glass Plate then again put it into a Vessel luting the Joynts of it well and set it on a little Furnace and kindle a Fire continuing it for thirty Hours and in the corners and sides of the Vessel you will find our Infant born and resuscitated in the likeness of a powder most white most fair and in such clearness as the Body of Silver Keep it therefore in high esteem because it is your Terra foliata and it is called the Spirit of sublimed Bodies converted into Terra foliata so winto the same the Soul c. Sometimes they impregnated this Earth without observing any weight as thus Another Vegetable Sal Armoniack of Lully In Luce Mercuriorum TAke Wine red or white putrify it in Balneo twenty days at least that the parts of it may be disunited and the better separated then by distillation of Balneo with a most gentle Fire draw off the Aqua ardens which put in rectification so oft till nothing of the Phlegm remains then draw off the Phlegm by distillation with a Fire of Ashes till a certain matter remains in the bottom of the Vessel like liquid Pitch and the said Phlegm put apart then take the said matter and pour to
evaporate being a little of it cast upon a red hot Plate This impregnated Earth being put into a Sublimatory sublime according to Art into a Volatile Salt which digest in Balneo two days and more with six parts of the ardent Spirit circulated decant the dissolution gently and if any thing remain undissolved proceed with it as before this dissolution circulate thirty days and it will be a Quintessence to be compared in Virtue with the Aurum potabile of the Ancients As these Menstruums are made either weaker or stronger according to the variety of weight so also are they more or less pure by longer or shorter or altogether neglected circulation for some Menstruums there are of this kind which the Adepts circulated not For an Example take the following 32. The less Vegetable Menstruum of Lully Lib. de materia Vegetabili in practica prima TAke the best Wine red is the best two pounds of it put into a Cucurbit with a blind Head and luting the joynts well put it in Balneo to putrify kindly the space of forty five days then fit an Alembick to it and augment the heat that the ardent Spirit may be distill'd which rectify thrice by it self or till it is free from all Phlegm and burns Cotton keep this ardent Spirit well stop'd in a cold place take the matter remaining in the first distillation and draw off the Phlegm till it remain thick like liquid Pitch upon which pour of the Spiritus ardens so much as to be the space of four Fingers above it digest three days in Balneo then distil gently by Ashes three days and by Virtue of a stronger Fire the ardent Spirit will carry over the Soul with it which it could not do in Balneo keep the distillation To the remaining Matter pour new Spirit doing so often till all the Soul be come over and that you will know if by being projected in a small quantity upon a red hot Plate it yields no smoak because the matter is now deprived of its Soul which we call dry Earth which imbibe with an eighth part of the animated ardent Spirit digest for three days in Balneo then distil gently in Ashes the superfluous Liquor being insipid as common Water make the second imbibition with a seventh part and so continue doing as before till the Earth be made heavier by a fourth part of its weight and it will be disposed to a reduction into a Volatile Salt by the way of sublimation This Earth therefore being well pulverized put into a Sublimatory administring Fire according to Art and that which you find sublimed white as Snow is the Volatile Salt which keep in a Vessel well stop'd Take of this Volatile Salt one part of the ardent Spirit six parts digest in Ashes and the dissolution is the Vegetable Quintessence apt to dissolve the perfect Bodies of Sol and Luna to make an Elixir and other Medicines precious and grateful Vegetable Sal Armoniack dissolv'd in Aqua ardens one part of the Salt to six of the Spirit makes the present Menstruum but the following is prepared from Sal Armoniack resolved per deliquium 33. The Vegetable Menstruum per deliquium of Lully Lib. de materia Vegetabili in Practica secunda TAke the best white-Wine putrify it in Balneo twenty days or longer then distil the Spiritus ardens according to Art till it burns Cotton then draw off the Phlegm till the matter remains in the bottom of the Vessel thick as liquid Pitch to which matter pour so much of the Phlegm as will swim four Fingers above it digest in Balneo two days and in Ashes one day decant the tinged Phlegm pour new Phlegm to the matter doing as before till no more will be tinged and the matter remains at the bottom of the Vessel like a white Earth upon this Earth pour the height of two Fingers of the ardent Spirit digest for a day in Ashes and the Soul which is in the Earth will enter into the ardent Spirit decant the ardent Spirit being animated pour off the ardent Spirit again upon the Earth doing it so oft as before till the Spirit draws out no more Soul and the Earth remains in the Form of a most fine powder being despoiled of all its Soul which you will know if it smoaks not upon a fiery Plate this Earth digest ten days in Ashes then put it in Balneo and pour of the tinged Phlegm so much as will swim two Fingers over it distil in Balneo cast away the distillation as a thing of no Virtue then again pour the tinged Phlegm upon the Earth repeating as before till no Phlegm remains and the Earth is impregnated with all the tincture that was in the Phlegm This done imbibe the Earth with the animated ardent Spirit digest with an easy heat in Balneo till the Earth is well dryed then again imbibe and so oft as before till the animated ardent Spirit is absorbed by the Earth and is made Volatile which you will know if a little of it cast upon a burning Plate fumes away for the most part then put this matter into a sublimatory and sublime with a subliming Fire and that which is sublimed is the Volatile Salt of the Vegetable matter put that Volatile Salt into a Phial digest in Balneo for a day and it will be reduced into a Water which we call Vegetable Menstruum which is a wonderful dissolvent for the radical dissolving of the two Luminaries These Menstruums the Adepts made sometimes not of Vegetables Sal Armoniack but by the way following 34. The Vegetable Mercury of Lully Lib. de Mat. Vegetabili in practica sexta TAke the best odoriferous Wine put it in a Circulatory large enough stop the said Vessel very well with Sulphur melted and putrify in Balneo twelve or fifteen Days then distil the Spirit and Phlegm according to Art till the Spirit burns Cotton upon the matter remaining like liquid Pitch pour six parts of the Phlegm digest two Days in Ashes shaking the Vessel now and then decant the Phlegm being tinged pour on other and doing as before till it hath extracted all the tincture and a black Earth remains at the bottom of the Alembick put the tinged Phlegm in an Alembick and distil in Balneo and that which remains at the bottom of the Vessel will be the Vegetable Oyl pour the ardent Spirit to the height of four Fingers upon the black Earth distil by Ashes and that which is distilled will be the ardent Spirit impregnated to the matter pour new ardent Spirit repeating as before three times and in the last increasing the Fire about the end Calcine the Earth with a Fire of Reverberation into whiteness out of which extract the fixed Salt with a little of the Phlegm the fixed Salt being pulverized put in an Alembick pour to it the animated ardent Spirit about two Fingers distil gently in Balneo the insipid and useless moisture repeat as before till the animated
c. 2. That these Menstruums are called Circulatums because they were by the ancient Philosophers Circulated for the space of thirty or forty sometimes sixty Days 3. That these are called the greater Circulatums to be distinguished from the less Circulatums being less excellent the greater having greater strength and communicating tincture to things that are dissolved in them 4. That these Circulatums are the first Beings or graduated Essences of Metals and Minerals and amongst things Volatile nothing can be more excellent than they they being exalted from a fixed Essence or Astrum into a much more Noble Essence called an Arcanum 5. That these Circulatums are Medicines or Medicinal Arcanums 6. That these Circulatums ore most red Sublime the Stones saith Paracelsus till they come to redness He extracts the tincture of Lily out of Antimony reverberated to a Purple or Violet Colour but makes the Soul of Metals out of Sulphur reverberated of which thus What Hermes said that the Soul alone is the means of joyning the Spirit to the Body was not impertinently spoken For Sulphur being that Soul and maturing and excocting all things as Fire it will be also able to bind the Spirit with the Body and incorporate and unite them together so as from thence to produce a very Noble Body The vulgar combustible Sulphur is not to be reputed the Soul of Metals but the Soul is something more than a combustible and corruptible Body and therefore cannot be burned by any Fire being all Fire it self and indeed it is nothing else but the Quintessence of Sulphur which is extracted out of Sulphur reverberated by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and is of a red Colour and clear as a Ruby Which is indeed a great and notable Arcanum to transmute white Bodies and to coagulate running Mercury into fixed and tested Gold Accept this as commended to you to make you Rich and you have reason to be content with this only Secret for the transmutation of Metals Lib. 1. de gener rerum Nat. pag. 87. If Mercury Antimony and Sulphur fixed by reverberation and the Spirit of Philosophical Wine drawn off be red and diaphanous as a Ruby it follows that the same Bodies volatilized with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine do become more red From hence we observe that the Menstruums of Diana are of divers Colours sometimes white milky and opake sometimes most clear sometimes again most red and most transparent so that the Arguments of Bernhard denying the diaphaneity of Menstruums may be easily resolved Where Fools saith he do out of the less Minerals extract corrosive Waters into which they put any sort of Metals and corrode them for they think that therefore they are dissolved by a Natural solution which solution indeed requires permanence together that is of the dissolvent and the dissolved that from both as from the Masculine and Feminine Seed a new Species may result I tell you truly no Water dissolves a Metallick Species by Natural Reduction but that wh … remains with it in matter and form and which the dissolved Metals are able to recongeal which happens not in any sort of Aqua fortis but is rather a defiling of the Composition that is the Body that is to be dissolved Nor is that Water pertinent to Bodies in solution which remains not with them in congelations Mercury is of this sort and not Aqua fortis or that which Fools esteem Mercurial Water clear and diaphanous For if they divide and obstruct the Homogeneity of Mercury how will the first proportion of the Feminine Seed stand and be preserved Pag. 60. Epist ad Thomam The Elixir and Azoth he goes on that is the Vital Spirit Spirit of Life Philosophical Aqua vitae and fugitive Soul animated Spirit are not diaphanous nor transparent nor clear as the Tear of ones Eye nor any dissolving Spirit Pag. 94. Ejusd Epist Which cannot be done in a diaphanous clear and transparent Liquor because if the aforesaid Elixir and Azoth that is Spirit and Soul had or could shew any diaphaneity the Earth would now in proportion have dismissed the Water and separated it self from it whereas otherwise it would have inspissated and coagulated the parts of it caused an opacity in the Elixir and Azoth and made the Metallick Form to stand congelable For in restringing fixed Metallick Species the restringer must of necessity act upon the restringible and the congealer upon the congelable which cannot be done in the aforesaid diaphanous and clear Water otherwise it is in Vegetables in which a simple and diaphanous Water is by decoction inspissated in those Vegetables which notwithstanding vanisheth and evaporates at length by the Tryal of Fire because it is not permanent and fixed in the Composition not having an Earth Naturally Homogeneous to it in Composition with it as Argent vive has which Earth is indeed the cause of permanent fixion in things Homogeneous wherefore simple Water cannot by congelation be fixed with Vegetables as Mercury with Metals If therefore Mercury hath received diaphaneity in the Philosophers Work it will remain in the quality of an irrestringible substance and will not be congealed upon Laton as to a Metallick Form Species and Proportion which carries the congelation of it self neither with it nor in it as Water does Earth which Earth as aforesaid is indeed Mercurial and the first cause of inspissation coagulation and fixation If therefore that Water remains not in Metallick Proportion how can the like Species be produced from this Composition They therefore that think so to extract a clear transparent Water out of Mercury and work many wonders by it are in an Error for suppose they can make such a Water yet would it be of no advantage to the Work nor to the Nature and Proportion of it nor could it restore or erect a perfect Metallick Species for so soon as Mercury is altered from its first Nature so soon is it excluded from being an ingredient to our Philosophical Work because it hath lost its Spermatick and Metallick Nature By these things therefore it is known what Truth your Opinion contains and wherein it is contrary and absurd you asserting it to be necessary in order to perfect the great Elixir to have a Gum in which are all things necessary to it containing the four Elements and is a most clear Water as the Tear of an Eye made Spiritual which causeth Gold to be a meer Spirit For one Body penetrates not another but a pure Spiritual substance congealed is that which penetrates and tingeth a Body Be it as you say my Honoured Doctor that Natures are not joyn'd without a Gum or Oyly Matter c. Had Bernhard disputed only against every Mercurial Water not permanent made diaphanous with Aqua fortis or any other vulgar Menstruum and not also against the most clear Mercurial Water of Thomas de Bononia then the Arguments aforesaid had been of great strength but now the objections against the limpidity of
close Vessel in Balneo the space of six or eight days stirring it three or four times a day then let it cool and settle filter the tinged Vinegar pour on new repeat this Work till no more Vinegar will be tinged Draw off all the tinged Vinegar in Balneo that a Powder of a golden Colour may remain at the bottom This Powder prepare and extract with Vinegar as before filter the solution and draw it off till at length it leaves no Feces behind it then draw off the Vinegar that the rest of the Matter may remain in the form of a Powder Take of this Powder one part of Salt prepared one part of Roman Vitriol dried six parts mix them all well and sublime by degrees first with a weak Fire secondly stronger lastly most strong for the space of two days sublime the sublimation mix'd with its Feces three times then casting away the Feces sublime with new Species and repeat the Work three times then dissolve the Sublimation in the Dissolving Water for the red of what Description soever in the Twentieth Kind the Water being drawn off sublime pour on New Water and sublime and that do three times Then take seven parts of this Sublimation one part of the Calx of Sol and sublime This Sublimation being put into a Philosophical Egg made of Gold for one of glasswould be of little use for this purpose because it would become soft as wax stop it well and set it upon a Tripos the space of eighteen Weeks to be fixed but the first six Weeks with a gentle Fire the next six a stronger the last most strong These Eighteen Weeks being ended take out the Matter being fixed reduce it to Powder to which being put in a dissolving Vessel pour an equal quantity of our red burning Water of the aforesaid Dissolving Water for the red seal or stop the Vessel very well let it dissolve and settle then take it out and distil it through an Alembick in Balneo with a very small Fire It is necessary for the Receiver to be well luted and the Alembick must have a pipe in the upper part for it must be six times distilled always with new Red Water and your Matter will at length become thick as Honey which distil in Sifted Ashes by degrees and an Air will ascend like Water then changing the Reciver an Oyl of a Golden Colour will distil gilding the Alembick as also the Receiver let it continue in the same heat till the Alembick be of a Blood Colour then take away the Receiver stop it suddenly put another to and increase the Fire for the space of twenty four hours till the Vessel grows red hot in which heat let it continue twelve hours and the Matter will ascend red as blood and at last also a red fume These Spirits no more appearing let the Vessels cool keep the Distillation but the Feces reverberate c. Out of the Receipts these things we observe 1. THat these Menstruums made of the graduated Vitriols of Metals fixed in a close Vessel have the like place amongst Mineral Menstruums as the greater Circulatums of Paracelsus have amongst the vegetable Menstruums Dissolve the aforesaid Circulatums in any Acid Spirit and you will presently make Menstruums of this Kind 2. That these Menstruums are Medicines call'd Volatile Arcanums dissolved in an Acid. 3. That the graduated Vitriol of Venus has some certain peculiar Priviledges above the rest 1. Because in the Distillations of these Menstruums it hath a Fixed Body besides a Soul and Spirit whereby the two aforesaid must be fixed into the Stone but all the other Metals and Minerals being reduced into graduated Vitriols have no Fixed Bodies and are divided into two parts only Spirit and Soul but because the Adepts found it necessary to borrow some Fixed Body elsewhere for the fixing of these they therefore more than often affirmed the possibility of making the Stone out of Vitriol alone without any Addition thus have we heard Isaacus in the antecedent Receipts saying God hath vouchsafed such a blessing to Vitriol that the Philosophers Stone may be made of it alone without Addition it translating all Metals into true Sol but the Oyl of it must be fixed with its Earth or Body but that is not so with Metals for their Earth distils together through the Alembick But who observes not here these Words Without any Addition to be meant of any Foreign Matter and are so to be understood with some certain restriction For this most red Oyl of Vitriol shining by night and which must be fixed with its Salt into the Philosophers Stone cannot in the least be produced from Vitriol alone and that crude being not graduated with Philosophical Menstruums Moreover as the like Oyl being distilled from Gold and fixin the purified but not volatalized part of it is called by Isaacus the Stone of Sol alone whereas notwithstanding he used his Philosophical Vinegar to the making of it so the Stone may be said to be made out of Vitriol alone without Addition though the same Vinegar was used in the preparation of it Lastly It is manifest by the Kinds of almost all Menstruums that no Acid that is dry and incombustible Matter can be reduced into Oyl without an Oyly Menstruum because it must receive this unctiosity from the Vnctions Spirit of Philosophical Wine 2. Because it is of mean value and so by the Adepts call'd the Stone which God hath given us freely This Work saith Isaacus you cannot enter upon with a little Matter you must have at least four or five Pounds of Matter Gold or Silver if otherwise the Work will be insufficient For it is not the Work of poor men except the Stone given us by God freely might happily be obtained then other Charge is not necessary more than Vessels Coals and Food till we have prepared the Stone And the two Stones which God hath given us freely for the White and Red Work require but half the time as the Matter which is to be taken for preparation sake for before we come to Sublimation the Stone given us freely is already almost brought to fixation Cap. 17.1 Oper. Mineral Pag. 313. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. The same thing is affirmed by Basilius saying There is no moisture in Gold unless it be reduced into graduated Vitriol which would be a Work indeed of no Profit but much Charge because of the great quantity of Vitriol required to the making of the Philosophers Stone and though there is in Vitriol the desired Spirit of Gold of a white quality and a Soul and Salt of a glorious Essence but how many Countreys Estates and Riches have been thus consumed I will not reckon but this Admonition I give my Disciples to follow the shorter way of Nature that they may not also fall into extream and inextricable Poverty If you intend therefore he goes on to make the Philosophers Stone out of the Vitriol of Sol as many men indeed endeavour consult
desired Oyls may be drawn from them the reason why Vitriols alone made of Copper should be deprived of the said Priviledge cannot easily be apprehended It matters not whether Vitriol be graduated according to the method given in Numb 113. or according to the prescription of the present Receipt for the same Spirit and Oyl is produced either way Now this Oyl of Venus being made and diluted in common Water Iron is reduced into graduated Vitriol which must like the Vitriol of Venus be also calcined into a Red Colour and then distilled tnto a White Spirit and Red Oyl The Method of this Process is in Libro particul in particulari Martis thus Take off the Red Oyl of Vitriol one part of Spring-water two parts mix wherein dissolve the Filings of Steel filter the Solution warm then evaporate it gently to the comsumption of a third part and in a cold place you shall find Cristals sweet as Sugar the true that is graduated Vitriol of Mars from which decant the Solution then draw it off a little and in a cold place you will have New Cristals which gently calcine under a Tyle stirring them continually with an Iron Spatula into a Powder of a Purple Colour to which pour Philosophical distil'd Vinegar extract the Soul Tincture or Essence of Mars draw off the Vinegar and edulcorate the Soul This is that Soul of Mars which being dissolved in the Spirit of Mercury and united with the Soul of Sol tingeth Luna into Sol. But of these below The Vitriol of Mars being graduated and calcined into a Purple Powder in our Receipt is without the extraction of its Soul distilled into the Philosophers Mercury and Philosophical Sulphur the true Oyl of Mars and Venus the Menstruum next fore-going in Numb 131. Out of which to make the present Spirit of Mercury the Salt must be extracted out of the Caput mortuum with Philosophical Vinegar which Salt being mix'd with the Oyl of Mars and Venus and distil'd together through an Alembick is call'd the first Matter of Metals Basilius sometimes used the Salt and Sulphur of Sol instead of the said Salt extracted out of the Caput mortuum Thus 133 The Oyl of Mars and Venus acuated with the Sulphur and Salt of Sol of Basilius In Supplemento TAke of the Purple Coloured Gold the Crocus of Sol des Konings Purpur Mantel half an ounce of the Philosophers Oyl of Mercury the Oyl of Mars and Venus one ounce and half dissolve to which add of the Salt of Sol two drachms all being resolved into an Oyl rectifie it by a Retort that it may be clear and pellucid For the Spirit of Universal Mercury Basilius took Copper dissolved in Philosophical Vinegar and cristallized into graduated Vitriol and with gentle calcination reduced it into the true Crocus or Red Powder of Venus But the Iron he dissolved in the Oyl of Venus distilled out of the said Crocus of Venus cristallized and calcined into the Crocus of Mars For the present Menstruum he requireth Gold dissolved in Balneo Regis described in Numb 89. and reduced into a volatile graduated Vitriol which then being dissolved in Distil'd Water he precipitates with three times as much of Argent Vive out of the Menstruum but the amalgame from thence produced he gently calcines under a Tyle into a Purple Powder or Crocus as to the making of which here only by the by but in the following second and third Books we shall treat more fully of it The way of making the Salt of Sol he has thus in Libro particul in particulari Solis described Take the White Body of Sol left in the extracting of its Soul the Essence extracted out of the Crocus of Sol with the sweet Spirit of Salt described in Numb 28. reverberate it gently for half an hour that it may be made corporal then pour to it the Corrosive Water of Honey well rectified which in a gentle heat will extract the Salt in the space of ten days All the Salt being extracted draw off the Menstruum from it in Balneo edulcorate the Salt by repeating Cohobations in common Distilled Water and lastly Clarify it with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and you will have the Salt of Gold Concerning this Water of Honey Basilius in Curra triumphali Antimonii Pag. 77. thus Out of sweet Honey may be made the strongest Corrosive and Poyson which is to most men a thing incredible The same affirms Paracelsus saying The like is to be understood in Honey which by its elevations is made much sharper than any Aqua Fortis and Corrosive and more penetrative than any Sublimate such a property of sharpness it hath not Naturally but by elevation which changeth this Honey into a Corrosive Libro 5. Archid. Pag. 18. and elsewhere Cap. 14. de Morbis Tartar Pag. 319. Honey of it self is innocent but in the third elevation becomes mortal The way of making this Water is not indeed in the Writings which we have either of Basilius or Paracelsus yet easily will a diligent Disciple learn the same by the Principles of his Art for either the Coelum Mellifluum of Parisinus must be dissolved in distilled Vinegar or some stronger acid or crude Honey cohobated in Philosophical Vinegar that is common mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and the Process will be shorter and better But this Salt of Gold may be also made without the said Water of Honey provided the Menstruum be so corrosive as to dissolve the remaining Body of the Gold thus in Labore tertio Revelat. he reverberates the Caput mortuum of Gold the space of three days then calcines it with an equal weight of the Salt of Tartar which he washeth off with Distilled Water and extracts the Salt out of the dried Powder with Vinegar which drawing off the Vinegar he clarifies with the Spirit of Wine that is he dissolves filters draws off and cristallizeth it into the true Salt of Sol. In another place he extracts the Salt of Gold by the Spirit of Vniversal Mercury as in Elucidatione 12. Clavium where he affirms that the Philosophers Stone cannot be coagulated or fixed without this Salt and that he hath taught the way of making it in the fourth Key By the Philosophers Oyl of Mercury he means the Oyl of Mars and Venus not yet reduced into the Spirit of Vniversal Mercury or acuated with its own Salt and the more fixed part indeed of this Menstruum which he calls the Philosophers Sulphur not the more volatile part which is call'd the Philosophers Mercury With this Sulphur he dissolves the Soul or Crocus of Sol and converts it into potable Gold Libro de supernaturali Medicina Yet sometimes he would have us take the same Oyl of Mercury for the Oyl of Roman Vitriol the Menstruum described in Numb 98. So in Libro de particular in particulari Solis he reduceth the white Body of the King Gold left in the extraction of the Soul or Crocus
Vegetable Heaven dissolved in a mineral Menstruum of Lully 364 145. Ice compounded of Vegetable and Mineral Menstr of Lully Ibid. 146. The Aqua mirabilis of Ripley 365 147. The stinking Menstruum acuated with the Sal Harmoniack of Lully 366 148. The stinking Lunar Menstruum acuated with the vegetable Sal Harmoniack of Lully 366 149. The Spirit of Mercury made with Vitriol and the fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius 367 150. The mixt Menstruum of Paracelsus Ibid. THE PREFACE TO exempt Diana from being exposed Naked to the Petulant Lust of Vnsatiable Men as also to the Scorns and Contempt of the Ignorant as a Common Prostitute the Adepts have taken care not only to cloath but cover her almost with several sorts of Garments To this kind of Apparel Antiquity has been pleased yet not properly enough to refer an Allegory of the Procreation of Man deduced from the Analogy of Seed anciently received however ill applied to the Mineral Kingdom First They reckon Coition Secondly Conception Thirdly Impregnation Fourthly Birth Fifthly Nutriment If therefore no Coition no Conception without Conception no Impregnation without which no Birth can be premised Which Disposition the Ancient Morienus himself confesseth to have been derived to him from Antiquity Hermes whom they call Father of the Adepts in his Tabula Smaragdina hath described to us the Father Mother and Nurse of the Chymical Infant No wonder therefore that such an Ancient and Easie Doctrine as this should have found so easie an access to Posterity it would be besides the Intention and Scope to offer those things which might be inferred by us against this Analogy of Seed Here let it suffice to remember only that the greater part as also the more ancient Adepts comparing the Chymical Magistery to the Generation of Man did under the Notion of this Allegory call their Dissolvents Menstruums or Feminine Seed but the Things which were to be Dissolved Masculine Seed My Son saith Lully The Vegetable Menstruum is of the Nature of a Womans Menstruum because a Mineral Menstruum proceeds from it by Dissolution of Minerals and Metals and is made artificially as Nature requireth for it hath the property of an incorruptible Spirit which is as a Soul and hath the Conditions of a Body because it generates and produceth Seed as a Woman therefore we call our D. Dissolvent Menstrual Blood or Menstruum because it is Generative and Nutritive and makes the said C and C Metals grow and increase till they be converted into M Sulphur of Nature or Philosophers Mercury or into Q Tincture or Philosophers Stone for as Menstrual Blood perfects the Embryo by nourishing and altering one Principle into another and one Quantity into another and one Form into another yet the Principles and Quantities appearing in every Alteration under divers Forms differing from the first Forms themselves till a certain Substance appears in one entire Quantity dependent upon several Matters which is a Body with Spirit and Soul reduced into Action And thus it is with our Infant Philosophers Stone Lully Distinct 3. Can. 4. Lib. de Essentia When K. Colour appears yellow then let the Artist know that the Body of our Infant is formed made and compleatly organized and begins to be prepared for the reception of the vegetable Spirit into it and Nature continues in that preparation till the yellow K. vanisheth away and a red K. Colour appeareth and then may the Artist be assured that the said Infant is perfect both in Body and Soul so that he may let the Fire alone till it grows cold which being cold the Artist will find our Infant round as an Egg which he must take out and purifie for it is a hard Stone in the middle of many Superfluities as the Infant of a Woman appears after Birth Can. 11. Distinct 3. Lib. Essent and let him take and put it into some clean Glass Vessel c. 3 Distinct 3 Part Lib. de Essent Parisinus Ripley Espanietus and other later Adepts the Disciples of Lully had this Analogy of Seed from him being doubtless the most Learned of the Chymical Philosophers Of this living Heaven saith Parisinus Raymund speaks in his Third Book de Quintessentia in the Chapter beginning Coelum Mercurius noster Our Heaven hath the property of an incorruptible Spirit which is as the Soul of it and hath the Conditions of a Body in it generating and producing Seed as a Woman and herein it differs from the other Principles of the Art It is also sensual because it is apprehended by sense namely by sight taste and smell as is declared in the first Distinction in the Chapter which beginneth Proeterea est principium movendi scilicet corpus sive forma And a little after speakidg of the aforesaid living Heaven he saith And in this point our Understanding knows that D. his living Heaven or Dissolvent hath a Vegetable property the similitude of which R and S Gold and Silver do transmit into the Sulphur of Nature which is the Spirit of Metals or Stone or transforming Poyson according to the signification of Raymund which signification he useth in his Alphabetum figuroe arboris Philosophicoe and therein produceth this following Sentence in Capite de figura Quintoe Essentioe As the Vegetative part of the Mother or Nurse transmits her Likeness into the Son which she generates which property the Son retains so our Mercury The Intention of the Philosopher Lully is to demonstrate that the Philosophers Sulphur or Stone or transforming Poyson receives all its benefit by the excitation of the vegetative Virtue which is in this Divine Vegetative Heaven The same Author in the Continuation of his Doctrine saith And also the Understanding knows that the said Metals R and S Gold and Silver retain the property of Menstruum with which they extend their similitudes into exotick substances transmuting the said substances into their own kind which is the reason why we call it Vegetable Mercury as also because it is extracted out of Vegetables The same thing at the end of the said Chapter he speaks afresh And our Understanding also knows that principle is as a Woman conceiving the Mans Seed and bringing forth in the same form and virtue as it was in the beginning From whence we necessarily conclude that the Elements of this Stone namely Gold ought to be moved by vertue of a living Quintessence and the aforesaid Vegetable Heaven which way I have sufficiently proved and demonstrated Parisinus in Lib. 1. Elucidarii pag. 221. Vol. 6. Th. Chym. Ripley having the same Master as Parisinus expounds this Doctrine more briefly thus As an Infant in the Womb of the Mother does by the concoction of temperate heat convert the Menstruums into its own Nature and Kind that is into Flesh Blood Bones yea Life with all other Properties of a living Body so if you have the Water of Sol and Luna it will attract other Bodies to its kind and make their Humors perfect
so the Liquor or Essence of Vitriol or Copper is called Wine of the first Metal Cap. 12. Lib. 3. de Vita longa pag. 65. Being now instructed by the light of these Premises let us come nearer to the Spirit of Wine of Lully which we shall find like an Oyl swimming upon its Phlegms deduced not from the Common but Philosophical Aqua vitae by Circulation But all other Essences being made by the belp of some certain Essence this first Essence of Wine alone must by its own virtues emerge its self out of its own foeculencies and impurities In this respect the making of Philosophical Wine red or white renders the work of all the most secret Chymistry most difficult and abstruse of which we shall by the Blessing of God clearly and truly treat in a particular Book namely our Fifth Our purpose at present is to prosecute the Vse of this Wine in the making of Menstruums where we find Aqua vitae the first and weakest of all Menstruums which being by circulation alone reduced into an Oyl is made much more excellent than before Lully 's Receipt is clear enough yet however we thought it advisable to confirm at least if not illustrate it with the Receipts of other Adepts Johannes de Rupescissa a Scholar of Lully had so great an esteem for the first Distinction of his Master's Book of Essence that he made it his own with a little alteration He hath described the Spirit of Philosophical Wine after this manner 2. The Essence Soul or Spirit of Wine of Johannes de Rupescissa described Chap 5. of his Book de Quintessentia REpute me not a Liar in calling Aqua ardens a Quintessence and saying that none of the modern Philosophers and Physicians have attained to it Aqua ardens being commonly found every where for I spoke true of a certain for the Magistery of a Quintessence is a thing occult and I have not seen above one and him a most approved Divine that understood any thing of the Secret and Magistery of it And I affirm for a truth that the Quintessence is Aqua ardens and is Aqua ardens And may the God of Heaven put prudence in the heart of Evangelical Men for whom I compose this Book not to communicate this Venerable Secret of God to the Reprobates Behold now I open the Truth to you Take not Wine too watry nor Wine that is black earthy insipid but noble pleasant savoury and odoriferous Wine the best that can be found and distill it through cooling pipes so oft till you have made the best Aqua ardens you can that is you distill it from three to seven times and this is the Aqua ardens which the modern Physicians have not acquired This water is the Matter out of which the Quintessence which we intend principally in this Book is extracted because when you have your noble water you must cause such a Destillatory to be made in a Glass-makers Furnace all entire of one piece with one only hole above by which the water must be put in and drawn out for then you shall see the Instrument so compleatly formed that that which by the virtue of Fire ascends and is distilled into the Vessel through the Pipes may be again carried back in order to ascend again and again descend continually day and night till the Aqua ardens be by the will of God above converted into a Quintessence and the understanding of the Operation is in this because the best Aqua ardens that can be made hath yet a material mixture of the four Elements therefore it is by God ordained that the Quintessence which we seek for should be by continual Ascensions and Descensions separated from the corruptible composition of the four Elements and this is done because that which is a second time or oftner sublimed is more pure and glorified and separated from the corruption of the four Elements than when it ascends only one time and so to a thousand times and that which is by continual ascent and descent sublimed comes at length to so great an altitude of Glorification as to be almost an incorruptible Compound as Heaven it self and of the Nature of Heaven it is therefore called Quintessence because it is in reference to our Body as the Heavens in respect to the whole World almost after the same manner so far as Art can imitate Nature in a near and connatural similitude Circular Distillation therefore being for many days made in a Vessel of Circulation you must open the hole which is in the head of the Vessel which is indeed suppos'd to have been seal'd with a Seal made of Lutum Sapientioe compounded of the finest Flower and the White of an Egg and of wet Paper most carefully pick'd and mix'd to prevent the least exhaling And having opened the Hole if the Odour which ought to be super-admirable above all the Fragrancies of the world which shall seem to have descended as it were from the sublime Throne of the most glorious God be so great that setting the Vessel in a corner of a house it shall by an invisible force with the fragrancy of the Quintessence which is wonderful and highly miraculous attract to it self all people that enter in then have you the Quintessence which you heard of to which none of the modern Philosophers and Physicians except him that I excepted before have so far as I have been able to understand attained But if you find not the Odour and Influence of attracting men as I said seal the Vessel as before and bring it to the heat above described in order to compass your desire by Sublimations and Circulations namely in finding out this Quintessence so glorified into an Odour of inestimable fragrancy and savour glorified to a wonder and the influx of attraction before expressed and not only so as to yield a wonderful Scent but also to raise it self more fully to a kind of incorruptibility it hath not that heat in your mouth which Aqua ardens hath nor that moistness that is such an Aqueity flowing because the acute heat of the Aqua ardens and its watery moistness is by Sublimations and Circulations wholly consumed and the Terreity will remain apart in the bottom And the Heaven as well as Stars of which this our Quintessence is compounded both as to Matter and Form are not as that which is compounded of the four Elements but there is but little of it glorified so much even to the highest fill'd with so noble a form that the power of Matter cannot aspire to any other Form and so remains uncorrupted till the Composition be destroyed by command of the Creator Nor is the Quintessence which we seek altogether reduced to the incorruption of Heaven as neither is Art equal to Nature yet notwithstanding it is incorruptible in respect of the Composition made of the four Elements because should it be altogether incorruptible as Heaven it would absolutely perpetuate our Body which the Author of Nature
Life And I said that the most High created the Quintessence which is by the Art of man extracted from the Body of Nature created by God And I will name it by its three Names attributed to it by the Philosophers It is called Aqua ardens Anima or Spiritus Vini and Aqua Vitoe And when you have a mind to conceal it call it Quintessence because this is its Nature and this is its Name the greatest Philosophers have been willing to disclose to no man but caused the Truth to be buried with them And that it is not moist as the Element of Water is demonstrated because it burns which is a thing repugnant to Elementary Water That it is not hot and moist as Ayr is declared because dry Ayr may be corrupted with every thing as appears in the generation of Spiders but that remains always uncorrupt if it be kept from expiring That it is not dry and cold as Earth is expresly manifest because it is exceeding sharp and heats extreamly And that it is not hot and dry as Fire is apparent to the Eye because it infrigidates hot things and wastes and eradicates hot Diseases That it conduceth to incorruptibility and preserves from corruptibility I will demonstrate by an Experiment for if any Bird whatsoever or piece of Flesh or Fish be put into it it will not be corrupted so long as it shall continue therein how much more will it therefore keep the animated and living Flesh of our Body from all corruption This Quintessence is the humane Heaven which the most High created for the preservation of the four Qualities of mans Body as Heaven for the preservation of the whole Universe And know of a certain that the modern Philosophers and Physicians are altogether ignorant of this Quintessence and of the truth and virtue thereof But by the help of God I will hereafter declare to you the Magistery of it And hitherto I have taught you a Secret the Quintessence that is the humane Heaven Cap. 2. Lib. Essentioe 9. Lastly That many Receipts more obscure and otherwise intelligible by no man are by these illustrated The Second KIND Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and the hottest Vegetables Herbs Flowers Roots c. being Oyly 5. The. Anima Metallica or Lunaria Coelica of Lully Described in Composit Animae Transmut pag. 193. Vol. 3. Theat Chym. FIrst you must know that the Matter of our Stone or of all the Stones of the Philosophers together with Precious Stones which are generated or compounded by Art is this Metallick Soul and our Menstruum rectify'd and acuated or the Lunaria Coelica which among the Philosophers is called Vegetable Mercury produced from Wine red or white as is clearly manifest being revealed to us by God in our Figura Individuorum Distinct 3. Libri Quint. Essent c. But first it is expedient to draw our Menstruum by Art from Death that is the Impurities and Phlegm of Wine by the Office of an Alembick and to acuate it in distillation with pertinent Vegetables such as are Apium sylvestre Squilla Solatrum Carduus Oliandrum Piper nigrum Euphorbium Viticella or Flammula and Pyrethrum an equal quantity of all and pulverized Then the Menstruum must be circulated continually for the space of ten days in hot Dung or Balneo Marioe Annotations THE Vnctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine attracts none but the Vnctious natural Essences of Vegetables as we shall observe below in the Book of Medecines Essences being thus extracted as also all other Oyly things crude or expressed and all distilled of both Kingdoms Animal and Vegetable this Spirit of Wine doth by simple digestion divide into two distinct parts two Oyls or Fat 's whereof one is the Essence of the thing the other the Body The Essence so made we named the Second Spirit of Wine Both Essences this by Division and that by Extraction prepared are by longer digestion made one with the aforesaid Spirit of Wine For those things which are of one and the same purity and of a symbolical Nature are easily mix'd together and that inseparably and so an Essence made by an Essence is joyned to that Essence And if we protract Digestion further one of the Fat 's namely the Body less Oyly and therefore left hitherto is at length received also into a symbolical Nature by reason of which mixtion not only is the Spirit multiplied but also made fitter for the Dissolutions of dry things because the Particles of this Body less Oyly incline to dryness concerning which way we treat in this Receipt in the Prescription of which the Oyl drawn out of Oyly Vegetables is by distillation together with the Spirit of Philosophical VVine circulated into a Magistery or double Essence Natural and Artificial of which lower in its place by which the Spirit of Wine is multiplied and made more homogeneous to dry Bodies There is the same Menstruum but a little otherwise described in his Natural Magick pag. 358. thus Take Nigrum nigrius Nigro and distil ten or eight parts of the same in a Glass-Vessel and in the first distillation you must receive only one half this again distil and hereof take a fourth part and the third distillation you must take in a manner all and so distil that part eight or nine times and it will be perfect but not rectified under one and twenty Distillations Take of this VVater a quarter of a pound and acuate the same by distilling it with the Vegetables which are Apium Sylvestre and so of the rest of which was spoken above in Anima Transmutationis in the Chapter which begins First you must know c. And then put it into a Vessel of Circulation in hot dung or in the remains of a Wine-press with the preservation of the Species Which water is also one of the things without which nothing can be effected in the Magistery of this Art That Menstruum which ought to be drawn from the Death of Wine by the Office of an Alembick acuated with the said Vegetables and at length circulated is the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which is by these degrees so exalted as to be by Lully deservedly called the Matter of all the Stones of the Philosophers and vertuous Stones that is Precious Stones Anima Metallica and Lunaria Coelica which also is called Vegetable Mercury deduced from Wine red or white The Matter of which this Menstruum is made is called Wine in the former Receipt the Menstruum must be extracted from the Death of Wine But in the latter it is called Nigrum nigrius Nigro To these two Lully adds a third synonimous pag. 1. Test novissimi Take red Wine which we call the Liquor of Lunaria and Nigrum nigrius Nigro By which synonimous Terms none but a Fool can understand Common Wine for the common Spirit herefrom distilled is altogether insufficient to perform such and so great things yea all the Arcanums of the more secret Chymy which
may be supplied with the Alkalies of Honey Celandine and the rest of the Individuals named by Lully with which the Adepts did also sometimes acuate their Spirit of Wine as shall be declared below in tht Fifth Kind of Menstruums But these things make also against the Literal sense of our Receipt and do prove that the Salts of the Vegetables not the crude Vegetables themselves were taken in the Receipt But though he made choice of Tartar because of the strongest Alkali to be from thence prepared yet did he not for the same reason intimate that Celandine the Flowers of Rosemary Herb Mercury red Lilly and mans Blood were better than the rest because with these he proceeds another way for he separates the Elements from them with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine from which he takes only the Fire or Oyl which he circulates with the Spirit and so acuates it as is clearly enough evident in secunda Tabula Individuorum But because Honey surpasseth not only its own collateral Individuals but also the Tartar it self for he saith that the Spirit of Wine in Tartar hath one but in Honey two free Operations and therefore attributes his peculiar process to Honey namely by distilling the whole Comb the Honey together with the Wax with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine through an Alembick Now between both processes of Honey and the rest of the Individuals our Receipt keeps a middle station If Honey be volatilized as to the whole substance it becomes thereby a Magistery which being joyn'd to the Spirit of Philosophical Wine yields us a Menstruum of the Third kind But the Fires or Oyls of Celandine of the Flowers of Rosemary common white and red Wine c. are by separation of the Elements made with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Essences which being added to the said Spirit of Wine do not alter but multiply it rather because an Essence is added to an Essence that is the second to the first Spirit of Philosophical Wine But if Celandine the Flowers of Rosemary as also the Vegetables of our Receipt be distilled with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine it does extract and elevate all their Vnctuosity with it self rejecting the aridity of them being more simple subtil volatile and less loaded with dry Particles than the Vnctuosity of crude Honey and so by being circulated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine it is made indeed a Magistery yet more inclining to the nature of an Essence and therefore less dry and less altering the Spirit of Wine than that of Honey and so being now deservedly united with the aforesaid Spirit it makes a Menstruum different from the Menstruums of the Third Kind So the Literal Sense of our Receipt does hitherto stand unmoved But not to derogate from the Authority of the Author and his own Commentator Lully it is necessary to suppose that the Spirit of Philosophical Wine being distilled upon the aforesaid Vegetables he did sometimes out of the remainder prepare an Alkali by calcination and acuate his Spirit with it and so make a Menstruum of the Fifth Kind From these and the like Receipts we observe 1. That Wine Lunaria Nigrum nigrius Nigro the Matter of the Menstruum of Vegetable Mercury or Soul of Metals is not Common but Philosophical Wine nor that the Spirit of this Wine is the Common but Philosophical Aqua ardens 2. That a Menstruum of this kind is the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine acuated that is tempered with the common Vnctuosity of Vegetable Oyls Mix digest and distil any common distilled Oyl with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and you will obtain a Menstruum of the Second Kind much sooner yea you will make the same in a moment if you mix the Essence Spirit of Philosophical VVine with the Magistery of an oyly Vegetable 3. That one oyly Vegetable Saffron or Macis of so many is sufficient for the acuation of the Spirit of Philosophical VVine nor yet will you err if you take Triacle which Spirit of Triacle made with this Spirit of Wine will be a Menstruum of this kind 4. That these Menstruums are Medecines 5. That these Menstruums made out of meer Vegetables are properly called Vegetable Menstruums tho' some which we call Vegetable Menstruums compounded are by reason of the addition of Metals or Minerals sometimes by the Adepts called Mineral Menstruums so Lully in the 34th Experiment calls his Circulatum majus made of Gold and Silver the true Mineral Menstruum But we distinguish them from the Mineral Menstruums because they are corrosive being prepared with the acidity of Miâ—eral Salts But these are most sweet without any Corrosive and do kindly dissolve things that are to be dissolved 6. That a Menstruum is call'd the Soul of Metals Soul is diversly taken among the Adepts First For perfect Metal Gold or Silver So Arnold in Flore Florum Philosophers call the Soul a Ferment because as the Body of man can do nothing without its Ferment or Soul so is it in the thing propounded for Ferment is a Substance which converts other things into its own Nature And you must know there is no Ferment except Sol and Luna that is Gold and Silver appropriated to those Planets c. Ferment therefore must be introduced into the Body because it is the Soul thereof This is that which Morienus said except you cleanse the unclean Body and make it white and infuse a Soul into it you conduce nothing to this Magistery Secondly For Metals and other things volatilized with a Philosophical Menstruum So Lully calls Gold and Silver volatilized in the preparation of his Circulatum majus Menstruum or animated Spirit Take saith he the animated Spirit of Sol and the animated Spirit of Luna joyn them together c. So the Tinctures of Gold and Silver volatilized by a Menstruum as also of imperfect Metals are by him called Souls So in the 20th Experiment he hath the Animal Water of Saturn in the 21th Experiment the Soul of Mars Yea separating the Elements from all things he calls the tinged distilled Liquors Souls or animated Spirits because by them is the dead dry and fixed Earth again revivified volatilized and reduced into a Sal harmoniack See the Revivification of the Salt of Tartar by its own Water in the Volatization of it given in the Second Experiment Thirdly For Menstruums themselves For Menstruums are the Souls of Metals by which the Metals otherwise dead are animated and revivified so Lully of this our Menstruum the Soul of Metals pag. 195. Comp. Anim. Transm Otherwise saith he Metals cannot be dissolved unless they be animated with a Vegetable Menstruum by the power of which Resolution is made in things resoluble And in Elucid Testam pag. 145. Aqua vitoe is the Soul and Life of Bodies by which our Stone is vivified So also Ripley in Libro Mercurii pag. 108. saith The Sperm of Metals is also called Metallick Aqua Vitoe because it administreth life and health to
it in a convenient Vessel in Balneo till the Matter dissolve it self per deliquium then putting to an Alembick distil the superfluous Water then pour on three Pounds of the aforesaid Simple Spirit ardens and the Vessel being conveniently stop'd as will be manifested below put it into Putrefaction for one Natural Day after the manner following Get you a Brass Vessel about one span and a half broad and three spans and a half long which towards the Orifice must have a Copper Bottom pierced with many Holes the Cover whereof which is to go into the Vessel and stop it well must have one or two Holes but the Glass Vessels which you would put to that Copper Vessel ought to be conveniently covered in the lower part of those Copper Vessels of Putrefaction must be common Water those Copper Vessels put upon a Furnace making a moderate Fire under by the strength of which the fume or vapour of the Water will ascend and heat the Vessels in which your Matter is the whole work of our Supream Magistery will be matured and prepared by this Method then distil conveniently in Ashes with a heat scarce unlike to the heat of the Sun till you have drawn all the Juice from it then dissolve the Matter by pouring to it of the aforesaid Simple Spirit three parts in respect of the Matter which remained in the Vessel after the aforesaid Juice was abstracted from it Repeat the Magistery a fourth time proceeding and observing all things exactly as above So will you have the Spirit of your Chaos which is by the Philosophers called Fire depurated reduced from power into act with the Virtue of the Vegetable Matter Take therefore a Glass Vessel strong able to contain the measure of a common Urne pure and long whose Neck must be strong and two spans and a half long whose Cover must be another Glass called Antenotorium with a Neck turned downward containing the fourth part of a common Urne to be put into the aforesaid Vessel Into this Circulating Vessel put four Pounds and no more of the depurated Spirit which you brought from power to action by Virtue of the Vegetable Matter as I taught you before Circulate in Balneo or Dung the space of sixty Days and when Conversion is made of the Spirit deduced from power to action by the first Vegetable Matter then this you will thereby know that in the bottom of the Vessel will be a Sediment like the Urine of a sound Man Then will you see a Quintessence brighter and clearer then a Diamond which exceeds the Stars in splendour so as to be doubted whether it be contain'd in the Glass or not which you must dexterously separate from its Sediment and keep in a Vessel close stopped in a cold place This is that Virtue which the envious have hidden and obscured by innumerable Metaphors calling it Spiritus Vivus Aqua Argenti vivi Aqua Vitoe Aqua Celestis Aqua Dianoe Anima Menstrui Vegetabilis Fumus Ventus our Heaven Menstrual Blood Vrine sublimed Menstruum our Water of Sulphur our Blessed Stone giving it infinite other Names which we mention not here but have by Experience seen and known them to be one and the same thing Annotations MOst of the Adepts knew no other but this way of acuating the Spirit of Philosophical Wine for they believed there was one only thing and one only Method but this is not the last amongst the difficult Methods nor much different from the Coelum Vegetable of Lully made of the Alkali of Tartar The Tartar of this Wine is less Oyly than common Tartar and therefore adjoyned to this as a higher Kind but that we may the better understand the Receipt 't is convenient to compare it with its Original taken out of the last Testament of Lully 30. The Coelum Vinosum of Lully In Testam Noviss TAke Red Wine which we call the Liquor of Lunaria and Nigrum nigrius nigro and distil an Aqua ardens in Balneo and rectify it till it be without Phlegm which you will know when it burns a piece of Linnen Cloth by reason of its heat which you will make it do in five times sometimes in three and having such a sign divide it into two parts and keep one part for the making of the Menstruum and with the other part abstract the Soul from the Earth a pitchy mass by the way which I shall tell you The way my Son is to distil the Phlegm till it remain in the form of liquid Pitch then put to it of the Water ardens which you rectify'd so much as to swim three Fingers above the Matter and the Vessel being very close set it in Dung or Balneo six Days to digest after that distil all the Water in which is the Soul upon hot Ashes then increase the Fire a little and take out the Oyl which keep then pour in of the other Water ardens or Spirit of Philosophical Wine as before and put it in Putrefaction six Days as before and then distil in Ashes first the Water then the Oyl and thus continue the Magistery the same way till you have extracted all the Soul from the Earth keep it because it is the animated Water and keep the Oyl for the Tincture Then take the Earth being dry and hardened and calcine till it grows white being white give the Soul in the Water reserved to it My Son the way is this Take the Earth being white and depurated Salt and know the weight put it in a Vessel of Glass and pour upon it an eighth part of the animated Water the Vessel being very close and place it in Balneo three days till you see the ardent Spirit condensed in the Balneo and rectify it till it be without Phlegm then having put on an Alembick draw off the Liquor without taste because the Soul hath embraced the Spirit which is in that part and imbibe a second time with a seventh part of the animated Water and digest as before and distil away the moisture A third time imbibe with a sixth part digest and distil away the VVater A fourth time pour on a fifth part of the animated VVater as before The fifth time give a fourth part and digest as you know and continue with the fourth part always digesting and drawing of the Liquor till our Earth be pregnant and white Then take the Earth being pregnant and put it in a subliming Vessel luted and very close in a Fire of the third degree the space of twenty four Hours and sublime the pure from the impure And thus my Son will you have the Vegetable Mercury sublimed clear resplendent in the Form of a wonderful Salt Know you must my Son that the Philosophers and we do call it properly Vegetable Sulphur Sal Armoniack our Sulphur the Sulphur of Nature and many other Names we also give it Take my Son of this Vegetable Sulphur which you made one Ounce put it in a Glass Vessel and pour upon it
it of the Phlegm so much as to swim four Fingers above it and put it for two days in Balneo then one day in a Fire of Ashes that it may boyl leisurely and you will find the Phlegm much coloured which empty into another Vessel set it in Balneo again for two days with new Phlegm and for one day in Ashes then empty it into another Vessel and thus proceed till the Phlegm will be no more coloured and if Phlegm be wanting then take the coloured Phlegm and by distillation draw off one half or a third part of it by Balneo and operate with it as before but when that Phlegm is no more coloured then will there remain in the bottom of the Vessel an Earth almost white the Phlegm having attracted all the Oyl out of it if you would separate them asunder put them in distillation of Balneo then the Phlegm only riseth and the Oyl will remain in the bottom of the Vessel most red Take this Earth and pour to the same of Mercury Vegetable or Aqua ardens so as to swim two Fingers above it and put it in a Fire of Ashes for one natural Day so as to boyl gently then draw off distil the Earth by a Fire of Ashes as before and put it apart And of new Aqua ardens pour to the said Earth so much as to swim two Fingers above it and set it in Ashes for a Natural Day then draw it off by distilling in Ashes as before and thus proceed till there be no more Spirit elsewhere called Soul remaining in the Earth but all pass'd over with the Aqua ardens which you may know by the Earth remaining in a most impalpable powder and putting it on a Fire-hot Plate it will yield no smoak which will be a sign that it is without Spirit Soul which Earth put then into digestion in an Athanor and there let it stand ten days in a continued Fire Then take of the Aqua ardens in which the Spirit Soul is and pour it upon the said Earth swimming one Finger above it and put it in an Athanor for one Natural Day then set it in Balneo and by distillation draw off the Aqua ardens without the Spirit Soul the Spirit remaining in the Earth then pour on other Aqua ardens and thus reiterate till the Earth hath drank up all its Spirit which you will know by putting the Earth upon a red hot Plate because the greatest part of it will turn into Smoak which Earth digest for six Natural Days in an Athanor then put it in Ashes increasing the Fire till by the sublimation the Vegetable Mercury riseth at the sides of the Vessel and in the bottom remains the Terra damnata which is not an ingredient to our Work Which Mercury gather speedily and whilst it is new after its rising mix it with its Water for two days and it becomes a Water which hath wherewithal to dissolve all Metals with the preservation of their Form and this Water we call Vegetable Menstruum Animal Sal Armoniacks may also be made the same way as Vegetable Sal Armoniacks thus is made The animal Sal Armoniack of Lully In Testam Novissimo SOn there is another way of this animal Sulphur of Nature in which there is most accurate knowledge as in Vegetables which you must perform by the method which we shall teach you and Son the way is to take the Urine of Young Men of good Complexion and put it in a Glass Vessel forty days till it be putrified then take a Cucurbit and putting on an Alembick in Balneo for the space of forty hours distil a clear Water and the Spirit will remain in the Earth the Soul as Pitch dry it being well luted and rectify the Water seven times and the white Salt Volatile which it made in every distillation gather warily that it may not feel the Air and put it in its Water Spirit Then put the Earth and Water Pitch and Spirit together in Balneo or Dung for four days then distil in the same Balneo and put it again upon the Eaâ—â—â— digest and distil again as before four days then take the Water by it self and put it in Dung the space of two Natural Dâ—ys and distil in Balneo and again putrify in Dung and continue this order five times Then is the Water Spirit perfectly rectify'd and clear This work being ended restore the Water to the Earth Pitch and set it in Dung then distil in Balneo and dry up the Earth and the Alembick being taken off and another Cover put on sublime for the space of twenty four hours the animal Sulphur of Nature Then gather it together and upon the Earth which remained pour its animated Water and put it in Dung and distil in Balneo dry and sublime as before repeating till all the Sulphur be sublimed Son We have revealed to you every way of knowing our Vegetable Sulphurs and also the animal Sulphur with a Declaration of the whole Magistery Now with the help of God we shew you that there is one way and means in the animal and in the Vegetable without any variation This Receipt being less clear in making no mention of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and yet of no worth without it I will therefore add his sixth Experiment of the rational Animal where thus Very great certainly and incomprehensible Gifts hath the most high God vouchsafed to us in the acknowledgment of which our Duty is both Day and Night to love worship and revere him with our whole heart and everywhere extol his Name with all our might for besides his creating us out of nothing and redeeming us with his most precious Blood he hath also made Man partaker of all the Blessings contained in the greater World and for this reason is called Microcosm for it has by divine inspiration been revealed to us that all Virtues as well Animal and Vegetable as Mineral are in Man himself and this very thing I will prove to be true by this wonderful Experiment Take the Urine of Boys which must be from the eighth to the twelfth Year and no more which Urine gather from those Boys in the Morning rising out of Bed a great quantity of which 't is convenient for you to have which must be very well putrified in a Glass Vessel the Vessel being stop'd not to respire two parts of which Vessel must be full the other empty and thus ought it to be placed in Horse Dung to putrify till the Urine grows black which commonly happens within forty or fifty days but that the Urine may putrify and grow black in a shorter space of time this we have had for a secret and proved it by true Experiment thaâ—â—ixing and joyning a Cup of Aqua Vitoe Philosophical but first highly rectified with the aforesaid Urine will accelerate Putrefaction Putrefaction being done put the Urine in an Urinal Cucurbit with an Alembick and Receiver carefully stop'd two parts of which Vessel must
be full but the third empty and distil in Balneo with a gentle Fire one part of three or till it produceth Veins in the Head which Veins being vanished and gone remove the Receiver and being very close stop'd keep it with the distilled Water which is the Mercury Spirit of it in a place as cold as you can then continue the distillation increasing the Fire and its Phlegm will be distilled which requires a stronger Fire to go over the Helm and thus continue distilling till the Body appears in the likeness of Honey or melted Pitch then let the Vessel cool and keep the Phlegm which shall distil Then take the first Mercury or first Spirit which you distill'd in the beginning and rectify it thus Put it into a large Cucurbit an Arm and a half high then put into the Mouth of the said Vessel Cotton enough to stop the Mouth of it which Cotton must be first moistened with Oyl and pressed out and tyed to a Hempen Thred that when you have a mind you may draw it out of the Neck of the Vessel and that the Cotton may not fall into the Cucurbit then put an Alembick to the Cucurbit with a Receiver the Joynts being very close besmeared with Wheat-Flower and Linnen Swaths that is impasted with the Pap of Flower bound fast to the Neck of the Cucurbit to keep the Vessels from respiring which past Chymical Lute being dryed put the Cucurbit to a Fire of Balneo boyling gently and the matter will be sublimed into a most precious Salt Yet Son take notice of this that the Beak of the Alembick must be large and wide lest the Salt rising and subliming out of the Cucurbit should stop the Mouth of the Beak of the Alembick when it flows over into the Receiver for if so the Vessels would be broken as it hath also happened to us when we brought this Experiment to practice when you see all the Salt gone over by distillation there will remain in the Cucurbit a certain Phlegmatick Water which throw away as nothing worth but the Salt empty with care and keep it in a Glass Vessel very close stop'd which Salt will be Volatile and we will use it either for the dissolving of Bodies or for the making of Medecines There is also another way of rectifying or purging the aforesaid animal Spirit or Mercury Take therefore that animal Spirit and distil by Balneo and half the Liquor being gone over remove the Receiver and throw away that which remains in the Vessel that which is distilled distil again taking two parts of it what remains in the Vessel throw away again as before and what is gone over distil again a third time and take little less than all of it and thus will you have the animal Spirit or Mercury perfectly rectify'd wherewith you may exanimate your Earth which you had before remaining in the likeness of liquid Pitch Take therefore that liquid Pitch or rather Earth dissolved and pour upon it so much of the aforesaid animal Spirit as to rise four Fingers above it the Vessel with its Antenotorium lute with Wax gummed that it exhale not then shake the Vessel or Urinal very well that the Spirit may be incorporated and the Earth being well joyned with the Spirit dissolved put it in putrefaction for two Natural Days then take away the Antenotorium and immediately put on an Alembick with a Receiver lute well to prevent respiring and distil by Ashes Have a care of the fumes when you open the Vessel for they are exceeding strong All the Spirit therefore being by distillation gone over increase the Fire that the Soul may be imprinted into the distilled Water and lastly again increase the Fire thus gradually till some other Salt or Sulphur be sublimed When no more will sublime cool the Vessel and gather the sublimation and lay it with the animated Spirit lately distilled then take out the hard and burned matter remaining in the Vessel and grind it and pour again to it of new Spirit as above cover the Vessel with its Antenotorium again as above and putrify then take away the Antenotorium and putting on an Alembick with a Receiver well stop'd distil the animated Spirit by Ashes which being distill'd again as before increase the Fire at last that some part of the Oyl may be forc'd over and the other part of the Sulphur sublimed but when you see nothing more will distil nor any thing sublime suffer the Vessel to cool and keep the animated Spirit last distilled with the other distilled before So also if any part of the Salt ascends by sublimation mix it together with the aforesaid Spirit as before and keep them all in a Vessel close stop'd then again pour new Spirit upon the Earth so as to rise three Fingers above it and joyning an Antenotorium to it putrify as before and then distil in Ashes as before but when nothing more will distil increase the Fire as much as possible by adding fuel that the Earth may be calcined and in this third Operation converted into a Beretine or ash Colour then the Vessel being cold and the Receiver with the animated Spirit taken away keep it with the rest of the animated Spirit but put the Earth into a Vessel of Earth or Chalk which must be sound and able to endure Fire covered with the like Vessel giving it as strong a heat as can be made with wood and so continue two days then by that time you will have calcined the Earth the Vessel being cold draw out the said Earth which will be almost white or of an ash Colour clear and bright pour so much of its Phlegm upon it as will swim four Fingers above it and let it boyl in Ashes four Hours and then decant the Liquor warily into another Vessel and keep it dry the remaining Earth and pour to it again of new Phlegm as before then make it boyl as before then decant as before and dry the Earth thus repeat the Magistery till all the Earth is dissolved or the most part of it imprinted into that Phlegm which probably will happen in the third or fourth dissolution if any thing remains undissolved throw it away for it is an empty Earth of no Virtue but the Earth which was dissolved in the Phlegm pass through a Filtre and then again through a most fine Linnen Cloth which done congeal the dissolution in a most gentle Fire of Ashes in a Glass Urinal to which must be put an Alembick with its Receiver which being congealed dissolve again in the same Water lately filtred then pass it through a Cloth again and lastly congeal it as before But this Magistery you must reiterate till it yields no more Terrestreity in the Filtre Then keep our Physical Sal Armoniack our Animal Sulphur our fixed Animal Mercury whereof lay a little upon a hot Plate and if it melt as Wax without smoak it is a sign you have the Argent vive fixed and perfectly depurated
stronger than the rest as to the preparation of the Sal Armoniack though it may be sooner made with this Oyl than simple Aqua ardens but as the Sal Armoniack already made is mixed and again circulated not with the thin Philosophical Water but with the Oyl or Aqua Vitae circulated 7. That the divers ways of subliming these Salts do most clearly discover to us as well the Nature of that Spirit of Wine as of these Menstruums and moreover commends the incomparable Experience of Lully in these things 8. Animal Menstruums tho' extracted out of the Vrine and other parts of Man are nevertheless not properly so called so long as the matter of that Spirit of Philosophical Wine was Vegetable and only acuated with an animal thing yea the very Spirit of Philosophical Wine made also out of the animal Kingdom as also acuated would notwithstanding differ not from the simple Vegetable Menstruums in the properties of dissolving because it would together with the said simple Vegetable Menstruums very much vary from the tinging faculty of the compounded Vegetable Menstruums from which it ought to be distinguished whereas otherwise it might be ranked among the Vegetable Menstruums The Seventh KIND Vegetable Menstruums compounded of the aforesaid Simple Menstruums 38. The Circulatum majus of Guido Pag. 4. Thesauri Chym. TAke of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine six Ounces of the Salt of the same Wine four Ounces the Vessel being well stopp'd distil the Spirit in Balneo which pour back upon the Salt of Wine and again distil and this ought to be done twelve times then distil for a Month in Balneo roxido Putrefaction being done take out the matter and distil in a Cucurbit with an Alembick of two Heads or Beaks in Balneo and the Spirit of Wine will ascend through the upper Beak into its Receiver but the Phlegm through the lower into its Vessel Take out the Salt of Wine pour one half of the Spirit of Wine to it and distil with a Retort into the other part of the Wine distil yet once upon the remainder and all the Salt will ascend into a strong Menstruum But if you desire a weaker add six other Ounces of the Spirit of Wine and if you would have it very weak pour to it a greater quantity of Spirit but according to the aforesaid weight it is made our great Vegetable Menstruum or Circulatum majus Annotations HItherto of Simple Vegetable Menstruums now follow those which are said to be compounded not as if they are compounded of more Ingredients but because they are stronger than the Simple as well in their qualities of dissolving as tinging The Menstruums of this Kind differ not from the former in matter nor in the method of preparing but in weight only for the more aridity you add to the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine the stronger are the Menstruums made Guido made his less Circulatum of one part of the Salt of Wine and four parts of the Spirit of Wine but the greater Circulatum he makes of two parts of the Salt of Wine and three parts of the Spirit of Wine The greater quantity of the Salt the stronger is the Circulatum The less Circulatums do extract the Essences or Tinctures of things but the greater Circulatums do dissolve the whole Body into a Magistery as will appear in the second Book Vegetable Menstruums compounded are made also if the simple Vegetable Menstruums be taken instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in the Descriptions of them all as thus 39. The Menstruum acutum of Guido Pag. 8. Thesauri Chym. TAke of the Vegetable Menstruum Circulatum minus described in Numb 36. one Pound of Sal Armoniack common twelve Ounces distil by a Retort first with a weak Fire then a stronger and the Sal Armoniack will in part ascend pour it back and distil yet once then again add twelve Ounces of new Sal Armoniack distil strongly in Ashes pour back and cohobate yet twice and you will have our acute Menstruum Sal Armoniack reduced into a liquid substance by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is a Menstruum of the fourth Kind but the same Salt distill'd with the Circulatum minus of Guido is made not a simple but compound Menstruum and the better for adding so great a quantity of new Sal Armoniack Parisinus in the third Kind of Menstruums acuates the Spirit of Philosophical Wine with crude Honey by which way it is made a simple Menstruum of that Kind but if mixed with its fixed Salt and distilled through an Alembick 't is made a compound Menstruum 40. The Coelum majus of Parisinus In Apertorio TAke B that is red Wine putrify'd as you know how put it in a Glass Cucurbit with its Alembick and Receiver well luted and set it in Balneo wherein must be so much Water as to swim two Fingers above the said Lunaria and distil gently and forthwith you will see Veins appear in the Alembick continue the distillation so long as they appear and these Veins will be like Tears clear as Cristal and when Death Phlegm comes which kills the Spirit the said Veins or Tears will cease and appear round as Pearls then take away the Receiver stop it that the Spirit may not evaporate and set it in a cold place and so have you separated the Soul Spirit of it tho' it contains a little of its Death yet in it and thus continue the distillation the Receiver being now changed till all the odoriferous Phlegm is ascended and the matter remains like melted pitch black and thick which observe not to dry overmuch but according to the said Signs only And thus will you have two ferments from our B. beware of revealing to any one this Practice which we communicate to you under the peril of your Soul for you would be the cause of much Evil in this World to be committed by the Sons of Iniquity put it therefore into the hands of Almighty God who knows the Will of those that live according to his Will and the triumphant Gospel for the Glory of which you have extracted the Form out of B and the same way you may extract from all Individuals Animal and Vegetable Cap. secundum significatum per C. Take the Soul Spirit of it reserved in the cold place and distil half of it in Balneo or till the precious Veins cease from ascending rectify yet twice observing the same Rules but the third and fourth time so soon as the Veins appear leave off distilling and try whether it will burn a linnen Cloth if not repeat the distillation till it doth then cohobate by it self four or six times in Balneo And thus have you acquired a way fit for the rectifying of the said Matter or Soul Spirit which is of so great Virtue as not to be expressed by any Tongue or the Secrets which the Eternal God hath vouchsafed to it recited as when we were at Venice that Famous City we both
Menstruum of Guido for Precious Stones Pag. 92. Thesauri Chym. TAke of the Vegetable Menstruum acuated described in the Seventh Kind in Numb 38. or Numb 39. four parts of the Oyl of the Mercury of Sol or Luna one part mix He elsewhere pag. 84. describes the Oyl of the Mercury of Metals thus Take of the Mercury of Sol a Description of which we shall have lower in the third Book three Pounds of the red Lyon Gold sublimed of the preparation of which in its place in the second Book twelve Ounces or equal weight mix very well put it in a Cucurbit with its Alembick lute well and increasing the Fire by degrees sublime and the Mercury will ascend partly quick partly in the form of a wâ—â—â—e or Ash-Colour'd Sublimate and about the lower part of the Glass of a citrine Colour mix the quick Mercury again with the Sublimate and again sublime and that so oft till all the Mercury is sublimed which being so sublimed put into Phials of a large bottom and in every one eight Ounces to putrify in Balneo six weeks and then six weeks in Balneo rorido and the sublimed Mercury of Sol will be resolved into a black Oyl which rectify through an Alembick first with a weak Fire then a stronger lastly most strong so will you have the Oyl of the Mercury of Sol. But besides Mercury that open Metal Menstruums of this Kind may be also made of the other Metals though more compact an Example of which we have in the Lunar Menstruum of Lully 48. The Lunar Menstruum of Lully In Experimento 24. TAke common Mercury and wash it with Vinegar when the terrestreity of it is taken away let it run through a Goats Skin then put it into those your Vessels of which you had a Form before in Numb 46. put the Mercury in those Vessels and distil with repetition till it turns all into Water as I taught you above then take four Ounces of this Mercurial Water and therein dissolve one Ounce of the Vegetable Mercury of the second Experiment Salt of Tartar sublimed or Vegetable Sal Armoniack made of the Salt of Tartar pass it through an Alembick together with the aforesaid Mercurial Water then in every four Ounces of the Water dissolve one Ounce of Mercury as before prepared that is Vegetable putrify eight days then distil by Ashes increase the Fire at last that so it may pass into that which was distilled in which dissolve half an Ounce of Silver cupellated then putrify three Days then distil in Ashes and lastly increase the Fire a little that all the clearness or whiteness of the Luna may go over by an airy resolution in this distillation He extracts not the whole Silver but the more Volatile part of it called in the ways of making Sal Armoniack animated Spirit by the Menstruum of three Vessels already described in Numb 26. with the Description of it there declared you may explain those things which are more obscure in the present Receipt He sometimes joyns the animated Spirit of Luna and the animated Spirit of Sol together and by circulation reduceth them into an admirable Menstruum after this manner 49. The Circulatum majus or Acetum acerrimum of Lully In Experimento 25. TAke the simple Vegetable Menstruum of three individuals described before in Numb 26. then take Luna calcine it with Mercury then take principal care to remove all the Mercury from the calcined Luna and the same way calcine Sol with Mercury then let all the Mercury be taken wholly from it these two Bodies put into Glass Dishes each by it self apart and to them each by it self apart pour clarifyed Honey mixing the Calxes of the two Bodies very well with the Honey upon Ashes so as to boyl then take the Honey from the Calxes by washing them in hot distilled Water and the Calxes will remain in the bottom of the Vessel then mix the Calxes with the Honey again boyling as before and mixing with a Spoon as before and thus repeat your Work three times as well in the Calx of Luna as Sol Then take these two Bodies being calcined and washed and put them into a Vessel of solution severally and pour upon them of the former coelificated Menstruum of the three individuals so much as will swim three Fingers above it cover the Vessel with a blind Head luting the Joynts well with wax gummed that it may no way respire set it in Balneo for a Natural Day so as to boyl gently then for two other Days put it upon Ashes and let it boyl gently as before then empty that part of Sol which was dissolved into another Vessel by it self which solution will be of a yellow Colour So also take out the dissolution of Luna by it self apart and pour it into another Vessel each of which dissolutions keep in each Vessel as before in Balneo but the dissolution of Luna will be of a Sea or Green Colour the undissolved Earth as well of Sol as Luna dry upon Ashes Which done pour again to each of the new circulated Menstruums and the Vessel being covered with a blind Head as before set it in Balneo and make it boyl gently as before and continue the same boyling upon Ashes lastly decant the dissolution of each Body as before into its Vessel wherein the other dissolutions above were kept by themselves apart But this Magistery you must repeat till all the Sol and all the Luna are dissolved these dissolutions putrify by themselves apart the space of forty Days after putrefaction put the dissolutions severally into two Urinals with Alembicks and Receivers stopp'd and the Joynts being well luted distil first the whole Menstruum in Balneo but the Bodies will remain in the form of an Oyl then again pour upon them so much of their Water lately distill'd as to swim three Fingers above the Matter cover the Vessel with a blind Head and putrify twenty four Hours then take away the blind Head and put on an Alembick with a Receiver and luting the Joynts distil with a gentle Fire in Ashes lastly increase the Fire somewhat that the air the animated Spirit may pass over into the Water last of all likewise force it with a stronger degree of heat till the Fire the Soul being more viscous ascends over into the air the Vessels being cold pour again the new reserved Water to the remaining Matter the animated Spirit of each Body being first luted in its Receiver to prevent respiring cover the Urinal again with a Hâ—nd Head putrifying as before and lastly distil in Ashes as before last of all as before increase the Fire thus repeat the Magistery till both the Bodies of Sol and Luna are by an airy revolution transmitted severally through the Alembick But if these Bodies will not entirely come over by distillation a little indeed will remain which keep for the rest of the Experiments then take the animated Spirit of Sol rectify it
unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine with things Oyly Dry-oyly Oyly-dry and purely Dry and reduced them to divers Kinds of Vegetable Menstruums in which we have exhibited Menstruums every way absolute and perfect in Smell Taste and Colour incomparable dissolving without hissing or effervescence and permanent with things dissolved Now follow in order those which are called Mineral Menstruums which though they be of a stinking Smell of an acid or corrosive Taste and for the most part of a milky and opake Colour and dissolve Bodies with very great violence and corrosion yet nevertheless having the same Spirit of Philosophical Wine as the Vegetable Menstruums for their Foundation are therefore as permanent as they yea better than they as to the abbreviation of time for the acidity of Mineral Salts for which corrosive or acid Menstruums are called Minera lcannot destroy the Nature of the Spirit of Wine nor the Nature of the Vegetable Menstruum but by corroding makes the particles of dry Bodies more apt to unite themselves with the Oyly Spirit of Philosophical Wine but if that acidity be taken away it becomes that which it was before namely either the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or a Vegetable Menstruum The method which we used in the Vegetable Menstruums we will as near as we can observe also in these Mineral Menstruums In the Vegetable we extracted from the Philosophical Wine an Aqua ardens from which we did by Circulation separate an Oyl or Essence of Wine which is our Spirit of Wine which then by acuating divers ways we reduced into the precedent Kinds of Vegetable Menstruums but in the Mineral we will begin with Philosophical Grapes the Matter it self of Philosophical Wine which is elsewhere called Green Lyon Adrop c. Though the Discourse of this Matter appertains not to this place yet if any thing presents it self to us either in the Receipts themselves or elsewhere which may tend to a more clear manifestation of it we will not conceal it but on the contrary have determined to illustrate and explain things so as not only to make you more assured of the use and necessity of this Spirit promised to you but moreover also that you may have some certain notions beforehand of its Conception Substance Nativity c. For the elucidation of this Receipt we will propound some other Receipts of the same Matter that being compared together they may be made the plainer In the first place we will propose a Menstruum made indeed not of the Green Lyon it self but of the Green Lyon dissolved with an acid and reduced into a certain Gum. 60. A Menstruum made of the Gum Adrop of Ripley Libro accurtationum Pag. 381. TAke Adrop that is the Green Lyon which we spoke of before and dissolve it in distilled Vinegar for the space of seven Days shaking well the Vessel which the Matter is in three times dayly then empty the dissolved Liquor and distil through a Filtre three times from its Faeces till it be clear as Cristal and evaporate the Vinegar with a gentle Fire till it be thick as Bird-Lime which you cannot stir by reason of its Viscosity and being cold take it out of the Vessel and keep it and again make more of it and this do till you have twelve Pounds of this Green Lyon or Adrop reduced to the Form of a Gum then have you the Earth extracted from the Earth and the Brother of the Earth Then take a Pound of that Gum and put it in a Glass Vessel of the bigness of a Bottle well luring the Joynts of the Alembick with Glew made of the white of Eggs and Filings well mix'd together This Receipt in the Treatise of the Philosophical Adrop which is in the sixth Volume of Theatrum Chymicum and inscribed to an anonimous Disciple of the great Guido de monte but differs not from the Books of Ripley namely the present de Accurtationibus and the Clavisaureae portae the greatest part of which is ascribed to the Famous Dunstun Archbishop of Canterbury is altogether the same as to the Sense though these Words run better in the Translation thus Now take three Pounds of the aforesaid Gum put it into a Distillatory able to hold about two Measures and putting on an Alembick lute the Joynts with luting made of Ale the white of an Egg and Wheat-Flower Pag. 552. Volum 6. Theat Chym. Which is confirmed with the Process or Receipt of the Clavis aureae portae were thus Put three Pounds of this Milk thickned or Gumn'd into a Glass Pag. 257. Clavis aureoe portoe and distil in a Sand Furnace and let the Sand be the thickness of two Fingers under the Vessel and so round about even to the middle of the Vessel or till the Matter be covered put a Receiver to it making at first a gentle Fire but not luting the Receiver till the Phlegm be gone over and this continue till you see fumes appear in the Receiver white as Milk then increasing the Fire change the Receiver stopping it well that it may not evaporate and so continually angment the Fire and you will have an Oyl most red as Blood which is airy Gold the Menstruum foetens the Philosophers Sol our Tincture Aqua ardens the Blood of the Green Lyon our unctious Humor which is the last consolation of Man's Body in this Life the Philosophers Mercury Aqua solutiva which dissolves Gold with the preservation of its Species and it hath a great many other Names And when first the white fumes appear continue your Fire twelve Hours in which space if the Fire be strong will all the Oyl be distilled which keep well stopp'd to prevent respiring This Menstruum differs from the precedent for asmuch as in this the Green Lyon is dissolved in Vinegar but in that it is all distilled alive but they are both clearly enough described in themselves yet the Matter of the Menstruum remaining more obscure and less intelligible to the Reader we have found out four Reasons in Ripley why it is called Green Lyon First saith he by Green Lyon the Philosophers means the Sun which by its attractive Virtue makes things Green and governs the whole World Tract de Adrop Phil. Pag. 547. Volum sexti Theat Chym. and else where The Green Lyon is that by which all things became Green and grow out of the Bowels of the Earth by its attractive Virtue elevated out of the Winter Caverns whose Son is most acceptable to us and sufficient for all the Elixirs which are to be made of it for from it may be had the power of the white and red Sulphur not burning which is the best thing saith Avicenne that Alchymists can take thereby to make Gold and Silver But these Words may suffice a Wise Man to know and obtain the Green Lyon Medulla Phil. Pag. 139. Secondly It is moreover also called Green because that Matter is as yet sharp and unripe that is not yet fixed or perfected by Nature as
very small Fire and sometimes increase it by degrees till your Matter begins to sublime which it will do with a little heat and when you see the Matter ascend diligently observe to keep the Fire in the same degree that it may sublime very gently which will be easily done for the Matter is sublimed and ascends with a very little Fire pag. 402. of the same Volume Gold dissolved in this Aqua fortis of Isaack and once or twice cohobated then washed with common Water becomes so volatile as to ascend with a very small heat into a most poysonous Sublimate if any man does the same by as easie a Method with common Aqua Regis made of Sal Armoniack and Niter we declare he needs not Menstruums of this Kind but that common Sal Armoniack is insufficient for such a purpose even the Novices of vulgar Chymistry have long since experienced Besides the Vse of this Menstruum the Encomiums of Sal Harmoniack which agree not in the least with the Common of the same Name do prove the excellency of this Menstruum Now saith he we have a mind to teach you how and which way to joyn Soul Body and Spirit together so as to enter one into the other for a Congregation of Contraries cannot be so as to remain together without a Medium which before in cap. 146. he called Sal Harmoniack or dry Water Take an example from the Dyers that dye Cloaths c. Thus it is with our Stone Though we have rightly prepared the Body Soul and Spirit if they enter not into one another they will neither now nor at any time ever remain together without the Medium of our dry Water Now Beloved where now shall we find this Water For Geber saith Our water is not Rain-water Aristotle saith Our water is a dry water Hermes saith Our water is gathered out of a filthy and stinking Menstrual Matter Danthynus saith Our water is found in old Stables Houses of Office and stinking Sinks And Morienus Our water springs in Mountains and Valleys and Fools understand not these words but think it Mercury it is not Mercury it is a dry water which causeth all Mineral Spirits Soul and Body to enter and mix together and when it has joyned them together it departs from them and lets them remain fixed And this water is found in all things of the world For if this water was not in vain should we endeavour to make the Stone For how should we make one of our prepared Matter enter into another As the Apothecaries gather their Herbs together so ought we to do either in the Vegetable Animal or Mineral Kingdom to make a perfect work or Quintessence we ought to have a dry water out of every distinct thing A dry water therefore is in all things to make themselves perfect Therefore saith Galen All things have their own Medicine to make the Stone either in the Mineral Animal or Vegetable Kingdom without the addition of any exotick things Wherefore when we would make the Stone or any Fixation we ought to make that conjunction with our dry water as was said of the Dyer and Apothecary Therefore is it my Beloved that so many fall into Errors because they do not understand nor follow Nature Therefore did I mention the Dyer and Apothecary for you to understand Nature by that rude way that you may in your own mind perceive that no conjunction can be made without a Medium .. Wherefore all the works above cited are good but those two things are not there named the Spirit that is and Dry Water weights and way of joyning wherein consists our whole Art wherefore I conjure you never to reveal this Secret for all the Art that is in the world is comprehended in it to make the perfect work in a short time and little pains Cap. 147 148 149. 2. Oper. Min. pag. 524 525. Vol. 3. Theat Chym. Ripley hath described the same Water thus 88. The Aqua Regis of Ripley Pag. 349. Viatici MAke a corrosive Water of Salt Peter and Harmoniack and put not above four Ounces in the Destillatory and draw a water with a slow Fire wherein dissolve and make the Oyl of Sol c. This Water Basil Valentine calls the Kings Bath of which thus in the elucidation of the second Key Take notice Friend and seriously consider because here lies the principal Secret Make a Bath have a care that no strange thing enter into it lest the Noble Seed of Gold be radically destroyed after the dissolution of it Exactly therefore and with care examine the things which the second Key informs you of that is what Minerals are to be taken for the Kings Bath wherein the King ought to be dissolved and his external form subverted that his Soul may appear without blemish To this purpose will the Dragon and Eagle that is Niter and Sal-Armoniack serve out of which being united is made an Aqua fortis as you will be informed in my Manuals where I shall treat of the Particular of Sol. 89. The Kings Bath of Basilius Lib. Partic. in Particul Solis TAke of Salt Peter one part of Sal Harmoniack one part of Flints pulverized half a part mix and distil Take notice that this Water must be carefully and exactly distilled for it cannot be distilled by the common method He that is expert in the operations of the more secret Chymy will know what is to be done Observe you must have a strong earthen Retort well luted in the upper part of which must be a Pipe half a span long and two fingers broad put a great Receiver to it lute well and increase the Fire by degrees till the Retort grows red hot Then put in a spoonful of this Matter through the Pipe and suddenly stop the Pipe with a wet Cloath and the Spirits will pass impetuously into the Receiver the Spirits being asswaged put in another spoonful of the said Matter thus proceeding till no Matter remains and you will have Aqua Gehennea or Hell-water dissolving the Calx of Gold in an instant into a thick solution which we mentioned in the third Part as also in the second Key not only dissolving Gold but reducing the same into volatibility c. This Kings Bath is described also by Basilius in Revelatione Manualium Operationum thus 90. A Philosophical Water for the Solution of Gold of Basilius Labore primo Revelation Man Operat TAke of Salt Peter and Sal Armoniack of each two parts of Stones washed one part grind them together and by a Retort with a Pipe distil the Water into a large Receiver putting in two or three ounces through the Pipe the Receiver must be a big one and lie in a Vessel full of cold Water and covered with wet Linnen Cloaths that the Spirits may cool for it will be very hot stop the Joynts of the Retort very close kindle a Fire and the Retort being hot cast in three ounces of Matter the Pipe being suddenly
the Three Natures Three Kingdoms namely the Vegetable Animal and Mineral and they so much learned from it that the separation of Natures is nothing else but a defect of coction in Nature Then they considered them somewhat further how for instance those Essences which were most weakly cocted by Nature might be succoured in a Natural way with common Fire that the Essences which are now combustible may by their Liquors which the Ancients through envy called Mercury and are black separated from the Essence be made perfect by Art so as that the Essences may remain with the Liquor safe and secure from burning and the Liquor not be able to separate it self from the Essence This the Ancients called our Sulphur for according to this preparation the Essence is no more Vegetable nor Animal but now by coction made a Mineral Essence and therefore called Sulphur And afterwards pag. 264. he thus proceeds One Nature is more cocted by its moisture with its Elementary Fire than another whereof the Vegetable Nature is in coction the least because the Essence of it is easily burned and the Liquor also is most easily separated from the Elementary Fire by the help of common Fire The Animal Nature is in coction not much unlike the former Vegetable Nature the Essence of it being likewise easily burned and therefore the Mineral Nature is in coction the highest because the Metalick Liquor will be more and better united by coction with the Elementary Fire than the other two aforesaid Natures Wherefore also Metals do resist common Fire better than the other things comprehended under a Vegetable and Animal Nature as you may see by Metals put into Fire which do not Flame as Wood for the Essence of it is not so cocted with Liquor as the Metalick moisture with its Essence and the conjunction of the Liquor with the Essence is not Metalick but simply Vegetable which is consumed in a black Fume But when the Essence hath attained to coction by Nature then it remains not a Vegetable but is now made a Metalick and is now consumed in a white Fume by common Fire no otherwise than as you see in perfect Metals when they are melted in Fire disperse a white Fume from them Now consider saith Chortalasseus or the Author of Arca arcani Artificiosissimi in his Cabula Chymica pag. 369. Vol. 6. Th. Chym. by way of advice how the aforesaid Speeches of Vegetables and Animals are to be taken neither of them must be rejected for they differ one from the other no otherwise than that the Vapour is purer and of greater quantity in one than the other but you may make the more impure like to the pure Vapour for they may by subtil management be so reduced that those two that is the Animal and Vegetable in a Watry Body may be taken together with the Mineral Spirit or Vapour and then the Mineral Spirit separated from the rest with great discretion which though it shews it self in a small quantity is notwithstanding of the greatest Virtue and clearer than the Light at Noon In this state will that Spirit if you please bring the Animal and Vegetable Spirit so as to be like it self This is the Foundation of the whole Art that is for the Vegetable or Animal Spirit to leave its combustibility and become Incorruptible and Immortal This is the Key to open all Gates here you have the true first matter of Gems and Metals Yet if I consider this thing rightly it is not the first Matter but a threefold extraction out of the first matter of Gems and therefore you ought to praise God Eternally and give him thanks in making you worthy of this matter and vouchsafing you so much understanding whereby to obtain to your use that which is the deepest in the Earth I proceed in this first matter which if you make Liquid and open by the incombustible Vegetable Spirit not common you will be able to dissolve Gold Silver all Minerals and Gems in it and make it melt like Ice in warm Water destroy mortifie and renew it again by this means I say visibly obtain see touch and perceive an Astral Spirit as a Lanthorn wherein the Eternal Fire and Virtue of the highest Star of Eternal Wisdom dwelleth you will I say with your Eyes behold an inconsumptible Fire shining Night and Day Sun Moon Stars Carbuncles and a Splendor exceeding all manner of Fire and observe the perfection of the whole Firmament in it O man my Creature how great a Divine Gift as that which is above all the Heavens most excellently clear and is most deep in the Earth may you in a few Hours time obtain whereas she hath been a vast time employed in it and in subtilty is far inferior to you c. The same Author of this first matter in his Rusticus pag. 308. of the said Volume thus This Doctrine certainly is very worthy of Observation for many Notable Men do herein err thinking they have the first matter when they have obtained the Philosophers Mercury or Salt of Metals For the first matter is made when the Man and Woman are joyned together witness Count Bernhard saying Then is the Conjunction called the first Matter and not before that is of the Stone and all Metals concerning which see Turba For before this is done we do according to the foundation of Nature and with good reasons deservedly reject Animals and Vegetables as things extraneous and contrary and ineffectual to our Work and our Stone we place rightly among Minerals 8. That both Spirits ought to be warily mixed because of the danger of overmuch effervescence 9. That these Menstruums are by digestion made sweet and called the sweet Spirit of Vitriol sweet Butter of Antimony 10. That the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is sometimes not expressed in the Receipts of Menstruums but it appears by collateral places and necessity requires it to be understood The Twentieth KIND Mineral Menstruums Compounded of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and other tinging things Vitriol Cinabar Antimony Lapis Haematites c. 98. Oyl of Vitriol of Basilius Cap. 6. Sect. 2. Libri de Conclusionibus TAke Hungarian Vitriol dissolve it in distilled Water coagulate cristallize repeat five times and so purge it from the Salts Alume and Niter This Vitriol thus purged distil with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine to a red Oyl which ferment with Spiritual Gold add to it its part of the Mercury of Stibium and you have a Tincture for Man and reducing Luna into Sol. Visitando Inferiora Terroe Rectificandoque Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicinam Annotations THE Antecedent Kind contained Mineral Menstruums compounded of Acid Spirits containing a Metalick Tincture in them in thus present we use the Bodies of these Spirits to make the Menstruums a degree better For a Tincture for Example extracted out of the dry part or body of Vitriol distilled with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is an Essence which being in the same
sufficient information of all things from Artists of the more secret Chymy Alchymists and Operators so also to be more instructed by the same in the way of correcting the Spirit of Wine Basilius in his Elucidat 12. Clavium Where he made the following Menstruum spoke of such a graduated Vitriol not common 99. A Menstruum of Basilius made of Hungarian Vitriol In Elucid 12. Clavium IF you have obtained such a highly graduated and well prepared Mineral called Vitriol most humbly beseech God to give Understanding and Wisdom for the success of your Intention and when you have calcined it put it into a Retort well luted Distil it at first with a slow Fire then increase it and the White Spirit of Vitriol will appear in the form of a horrid Fume or Wind and passeth into the Receiver so long as any of the same Matter is in it And take Notice that in this Wind are hidden all the Three Principles proceeding from one and the same Habitation it is not necessary therefore to be always diving in pretious Things because by this Means a nearer way to the Mysteries of Nature lies open and is obvious to all Men apt to learn Art and Wisdom Now if you can well and purely separate and free this Expelled Spirit by the way of Distillation from its terrene Moisture then will you find in the bottom of the Glass Treasure and the Fundamentals of all the Philosophers hitherto known to few which is a Red Oyl ponderous as Lead or any Gold whatsoever as thick as Blood of a burning and fiery quality which is the true Fluid Gold of the Philosophers which Nature compacted of the Three Principles in which are found Spirit Soul and Body and it is Philosophical Gold that Spirit of Philosophical Wine excepted with which the Dissolution of it is performed c. Cinabar the Adepts sometimes added to the Vitriol thus 100. The Mineral Menstruum of Isaacus Pag. 59. Manus Philos TAke of the Roman Vitriol calcined to Redness and Cinaber an equal quantity mix and pulverize then pour Aqua Vitae to them distill and cohobate upon the Caput Mortuum three or four times The same Menstruum hath Lully in Magia Naturali but instead of the Caput mortuum he takes new Species in every Rectification 101. The Stinking Menstruum of Lully made of Vitriol and Cinabar Pag. 371. Magiae Naturalis AFter the Fourth Distillation of the Water aforesaid Aqua Vitae or Ardens made of Philosophical Wine Distill seven times with an equal weight of good Cinabar and Vitriol putting in new things every time constantly and drying the Matter of the Stone Vitriol and Cinabar well in every Distillation before you pour in the Aqua Vitae c. 102. The same Stinking Menstruum of Lully Epist Accurtatoria Pag. 327. THe Vegetable Stone being Distilled the Vegetable Menstruum or rather Aqua ardens or the Spirit of Philosophical Wine till the Water is free from Phlegme and that commonly is in the fifth time take an equal Weight of Vitriol very clear and of the best Cinabar mix and grind them well together dry the Matter in the Sun till all the moisture is exhaled then cast in your Water and Distil first with a gentle Fire and strong in the end as the custom is in preparing the Philosophers Acute Water and then the Spirits or Quintessence of Vitriol and Cinabar which do principally make the Mineral Stone Mineral Menstruum do mix and joyn together with the Spirit of the Quintessence of Aqua Ardens which Spirit is the Vegetable Stone and this continue ten Times beginning after the fifth five times after the fifth Rectification of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and so continue the Distillations five times with those Bodies Vitriol and Cinabar And you must remember to make the things thorough dry before you put them into the Water so that all the Water all the Phlegme must be dried up evaporated and the Spirits remain which must be joyned together because of the strength of the Aqua Ardens and every Distillation you must put in new things To Vitriol and Cinabar he sometimes added Niter thus he made this call'd 103. The Stinking Menstruum of Lully made of common Vitriol Cinabar and Niter In Clavicula Pag. 299. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. TAke of Roman Vitriol calcined to Redness three Pounds of Salt Peter one Pound of Cinabar three Ounces grind all together upon a Marble then put the Matter in a thick and strong Body Cucurbit and pour Aqua Vitae seven times Rectify'd upon it and put it in Horse Dung fifteen days the Vessel being well Sealed Then Distil with a soft Fire till you have all the Water in the Receiver then increase the Fire till the Head Alembick be red then strengthen the Fire till the Head Alembick be white then let the Vessel cool take away the Receiver Seal it very well with Wax and keep it for occasion Take Notice that the Menstruum ought to be seven times rectify'd by Distillation every time casting away the Feces before it be made use of Besides the Ingredients of Aqua Fortis and Cinabar he sometimes adds also Tartar calcined thus 104. The Stinking Menstruum of Lully made of Vitriol Niter Alume Tartar and Cinabar In Experimento 26. TAke Aqua Vitae so hot as to burn a Linnen Cloth then take Vitriol free from all Phlegme so as to Boyl upon Fire without Liquefaction Vitriol calcin'd the common way the best Sal Niter Roch Alume dephlegmed and dried one Pound of all the aforesaid of white Tartar calcined and Cinabar of each half a Pound grind and sift every one severally through a Sieve then mix and put the Matter into a Retort pouring the aforesaid Aqua Vitae upon it put a Receiver to it the Joynts being very close and the Luting first thoroughly dried The Receiver must be large as those wherein Aqua Fortises are commonly distilled Now the Luting being dried make a gentle Fire at first till the Retort grows warm then continue the Distillation in this degree that you may pronounce ten words between each drop of the Distilling Water and when it will Distill no more with that Degree of Fire increase the Fire so as to return the Distillation again to the same ten Words as at first and this degree continue till the Distillation increaseth again and lastly increase the Fire with Wood covering the Retort round about with Tiles above that it may have a Fire of Reverberation but this observe the Retort must first be strengthened on all sides with strong Luting before this Distillation is begun and when the Distillation is begun and when the Distillation is it ought to be placed in a convenient Fornace with an open Neck but it would be best and most commodious in this Work if the Receiver of this Distilling Water could be handsomly set in a Bason full of cold Water but if that cannot be you must at least lay Linnen Cloths dip'd
of Sol with Philosophical Sulphur which is the second Principle in order and the Spirit of Mercury a little before call'd the White Spirit of Vitriol into pure and malleable Gold as it was before not in the least defective in colour and virtue Sometimes he acuates the Spirit of Vniversal Mercury with the Sulphur and Salt of other Metals Thus 134. The Spirit of Universal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur and Salt of Luna of Basilius Libr. partic in particul Lunae THe Sulphur of Luna being extracted and edulcorated dry the remainder of the Calx of Luna to which pour the same Corrosive Water of Honey that you used for the Salt of Sol digest gently the space of four or five days that the Salt of the Luna may be extracted which you will know by the Whiteness of the Menstruum All the Salt being extracted draw off the Water of Honey edulcorate the Salt distilling and clarifying it with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine The remainder left in extracting the Salt of the Luna edulcorate and dry then pour the Spirit of Tartar to it digest fifteen days and proceed as with the Gold and you will have the Mercury of Luna of which in the Second Book for here we use it not The said Salt of Luna hath excellent Virtues for the Body of Man of which I shall treat in a place more convenient In the mean time the efficacy of the Salt and Sulphur of Luna you will learn by the Process following Take the Lazurine Sulphur of Luna dissolved in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine rectified and coagulated put it in a Cucurbit pour to it double the quantity of the Spirit of Mercury made of the White Spirit of Vitriol In like manner take the Salt of Luna extracted and clarified which mix with three times the quantity of the Spirit of Mercury lute both the Glasses and digest gently in Balneo the space of eight days and nights have a care that none of the Sulphur and Salt be lost but let them be in the same quantity as they were separated from the Silver Putrifaction being ended mix both Dissolutions and distil c. He sometimes acuated this Spirit without Metallick Salt and Sulphurs only thus 135. The Spirit of Universal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Sol and Luna of Basilius Libro particul in particul Lunae TAke of the Sulphur of Luna one part of the Sulphur of Sol half a part of the Spirit of Mercury six parts joyn them together lute well digest in a gentle heat and a Liquor will come over of a Red Colour distil through an Alembick so as nothing to remain This Spirit of Mercury he fermented not onely with the Sulphurs of the perfect Bodies but sometimes added to them withal the Sulphur of some imperfect Metal as Mars thus 136. The Spirit of Universal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Sol and Mars of Basilius Libro partic in partic Solis TAke of the Sulphur of Sol and of the Sulphur of Mars equal parts of each of the Spirit of Mercury the heighth of two Fingers above them that the Matter may be well dissolved into a C … n Water of a Ruby Colour being mix'd distil through an Alembick that they may become one as they were 〈◊〉 first from one Stem keep it well that nothing may evaporate Besides the Sulphur of Mars he sometimes added also the Sulphur of Antimony thus 137. The Spirit of Universal Mercury acuated with the Sulphurs of Sol Mars and Antimony of Basilius Libro partic in particul Antimonii TAke of the Sulphur of Antimony two parts of the Sulphur of Sol one part mix Take of the Sulphur of Mars three parts of the Spirit of Mercury six parts being well luted di … that the Sulphur of Mars may be wholly dissolved therâ— cast in a fourth part of the Sulphur of Antimony and Sol â—ure again and digest till they be all dissolved then add another fourth part of Antimony and Sol repeating the Work as before till all be perfectly mix'd and the Matter made like a thick Red Oyl distil the whole through an Alembick Sometimes he fermented this Spirit after an unusual way namely without the Sulphur of any perfect Metal but meer imperfect onely thus 138. The Spirit of Universal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Mars Jupiter and Saturn of Basilius Libro partic in partic Mercurii Vivi TAke of the Soul of Mars two Ounces of the Soul of Saturn one Ounce of the Soul of Jupiter one Ounce dissolve them in six Ounces of the Spirit of Mercury being well dissolved distil them through an Alembick without any Sediment into a Golden Water like to the transparent Dissolution of Gold Tho these Menstruums of Basilius may well deserve the first place among the Dissolvents of the Adepts yet some of the Adepts made Menstruums not much inferiour to them Isaacus Hollandus not onely the better to dissolve Bodies but tinge them also deeper made his Menstruums of Tinging Menstruums and common Mercury but being satiated with the Tinctures Souls Sulphurs c. of Tinging Things Thus made he the Menstruum call'd 139. A Compounded Mercurial Water for the Red Work of Isaacus Cap. 43.3 Oper. Miner TAke Argent Vive purged with Salt and Vinegar which sublime with an equal quantity of Aes ustum Crocus of Mars Crocus of Venus and Lapis Haematites of Roman Vitriol the weight of all and a little Salt and repeat the Sublimation seven times every time with new Species and the Mercury will be sublimed for the Red. Take of Aes ustum Cinabar Crocus of Mars Venus Lapis Haematites Antimony equal parts of each of Roman Vitriol the weight of all mix and reduce to a fine Powder to which pour of Aqua Vitae compleatly rectifi'd Spirit of Philosophical Wine the height of two hands breadth digest in Balneo three days stirring the Matter daily then draw off the Aqua Vitae with a gentle Fire then increase the Fire gradually lastly force with a most strong Fire for the space of Twelve hours that all the Spirits may ascend This Work must be three times repeated with new Matters continually Take of this Water one Pound of Argent Vive sublimed for the red as much as sufficeth or you can dissolve distil and reserve Besides Mercury he sometimes added also Sulphur and Sal Armoniack sublimed for the red thus 140. The Philosophers Water made of Three Spirits of Isaacus Cap 10.3 Oper. Min. TAke of Roman Vitriol six parts of Lapis Haematites Crocus of Mars of Venus Cinabar Aes ustum Mineral Antimony of each one part dry well and mix put the Matter in a Retort and pour to it of Aqua Vitae rectifi'd Spirit of Philosophical Wine four Pounds distil and cohobate three times with the Caput Mortuum pulverized Divide the Water into two parts whereof save one in the other dissolve one Ounce of Salarmoniack sublimed to redness in Balneo which being dissolved dissolve one Ounce of Sulphur prepared
increase the fire extreamly and that which comes over keep very close for it is the animated Spirit or Soul of the Gold From the Receipts we observe 1. THat the Menstruums of this Kind are more noble than those of the 20th and 21th Kinds there the Essences or Magisteries of Metals were dissolved in Simple Mineral Menstruums but here in the same compounded 2. That these Menstruums differ not from the Menstruums of the Tenth Kind but in the addition of Acidity dissolve a Menstruum of the said Kind in what Acid you will and it will be forthwith transformed into a Menstruum of this Kind 3. That these Menstruums are by Digestion made sweet again and Vegetable as before 4. That these Menstruums are not satiated but by their Dissolutions augmented as well in quantity as quality in infinitum 5. That the Spirit of Universal Mercury or first Matter of Metals of Basilius is by him also called Mercury duplicated wherein the Kings Mantle is to be dissolved Sect. 1. Cap. de Sulphure Mercurii Sect. 2. de Vitriolo Phil. and Sect. 2. Cap. 4. de Vitriolo Veneris In another place the Sulphur of Mars and Venus duplicated Sect. 1. Cap. 3. de dulph Martis Veneris In another place the Soul of Mars and Venus as in Particul Veneris 6. That this duplicated Mercury is made much better by adding the Kings Mantle the Crocus of Sol Luna and other Metals That the Menstruums of almost all Kinds are promiscuously called Philosophers Mercuries but of these more copiously and more exactly in the Third Book 7. That the Spirit of Universal Mercury of Basilius is the same with the Magisteries of Mars and Venus made after the Mineral way dissolve the Magisteries of Mars and Venus in the common Spirit of Vitriol and by this simple Dissolution you will make the same Spirit of Universal Mercury 8. That as Mars and Venus so also Jupiter and Saturn and the rest of the Metals may be made into the said first Matters that is of the same Virtues with the first Matter of Mars and Venus as to the faculty of dissolving But Mars and Venus are preferred for the excellency and exuberance of their Tinctures The Four and Twentieth KIND Mineral Menstruums compounded of Vegetable and Mineral Menstruums mix'd together 143. The Vegetable Fire dissolved in the Calcinative Water of Lully Pag. 363. Magiae Naturalis TAke of the Vegetable Water acuated the Metallick Soul of Lully described in Numb 5. one Ounce put it in a Phial with a long Neck into which you poured three Ounces of the Calcinative Water the Mineral Menstruum described in Numb 68. and suddenly cover the Phial with its Cover luted close with Wax then place it well in a Balneo the space of two Natural days and in that time the whole Vegetable will be converted into Clear Water Animadversions THe Adepts acuated the Spirit of Philosophical Wine divers ways and reduced it into several as well Vegetable as Mineral Menstruums in the antecedent Kinds Now in this 24th and last Kind of Menstruums they mix not either common Oyly or Arid or Acid Matters with the Vnctious Spirit of Philosophical Wine as they did in the aforesaid Compositions of Menstruums but joyn Vegetable and Mineral Menstruums already perfected together in order to make Menstruums of this Kind The like Menstruum almost is made by Luly and call'd 144. The Vegetable Heaven dissolved in a Mineral Menstruum of Lully Pag. 59. Testam Novissimi TAke of the Stinking Menstruum described in Numb 99. one Pound add one Pound or half a Pound which will be enough of Aqua Vitae most perfectly rectified Philosophical described in Numb 30. and acuated with the sublimed Salt of Tartar in Numb 17. or Wine Hold the Vessel in your hands and do not put it on the ground or any other place till the fury of the ebullition is over and it is a mixture of a Vegetable with a Mineral seal it with Wax and let it stand a day then put it two days in Balneo and distil in Ashes and you will have a limpid clarify'd and ponderous Water then put it in a Circulating Vessel very well sealed the space of sixteen days in Balneo conveniently till you return and see the Water well united and at the bottom of the Vessel in the form of a Cristalline Salt keep it The same Menstruum but of different weight he made elsewhere he added half a part of the Vegetable Menstruum to one part of the Stinking Menstruum in the antecedent but in the following Menstruum he takes more of the Vegetable than Mineral Menstruum 145. Ice compounded of Vegetable and Mineral Menstruums of Lully Pag. 68. Testam Noviss TAke of the Mineral G or Stinking Menstruum three Ounces and of Aqua Vitae rectifi'd and acuated with the Salt of Tartar four Ounces put them together in a Glass and distil nine times in Balneo and in that time it will be all converted into one as Ice Ripley mix'd vegetable and mineral Menstruums thus 146. The Aqua Mirabilis of Ripley Pag. 212. Philorcii TAke the Tartar calcined white as Snow grind it upon a Marble and incerate it with Aqua Vitae fortified with its Species as is premised with the Menstruum described in Numb 8. till it be as thin paste then put it in a Circulating Vessel and circulate the Water till it is wholly dried up in the Tartar repeat the same Work and so continue till it hath drank off the Water double its part and quantity in weight which done grind the Tartar and lay it upon a Stone or hang it in a Linnen Bag and put a Glass under to receive the droppings of it and this must be done in a place under ground till all the Tartar is distilled into clear Water out of which after Distillation and Coagulation is made a wonderful Salt of Nature which the Philosophers call Salt-peter and incombustible Sulphur properly the volatile Salt of Tartar which fixeth any Argent Vive But to have perfect Aqua Vitae requisite for this Work put Philosophical Wine in a Circulatory for a hundred days to be circulated with its Species and then extract Aqua Vitae out of it the Menstruum in Numb 23. because if you put to it as much Salharmoniack sublimed as Tartar one drop of it after it is perfected suddenly kills a Cancer in the Flesh of Man and if it be dropped upon ones hand penetrates it and dissolves every Body Without this Water we profit little in this Art and he that has this Water will not in the least doubt of compleating the Art But this Water is made twice as strong if an equal quantity of the Mineral Spirit which is the Philosophers acute Water the Green Lyon of Ripley in Numb 59. be added to it and then circulated upon the Tartar and upon the Sal harmoniack to spissity and then dissolved into Water which if done this Water will be of greater value than any Gold and
Mercury and other things synonymous to the Matter of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or things prepared by the same Spirit Vegetable Sal Harmoniack Philosophical Vinegar c. For this Spirit of Wine being prevaricated the Adepts knew that all the rest though never so plainly discovered to the Sons of Art could not contribute the least benefit to the Reader Wherefore I fear not the indignation of the Adepts nor the Anathema's which they thundred out against the Betrayers of their Secrets having herein done nothing more but to speak ingenuously less than they themselves I have according to my capacity methodically digested those things which were here and there confusedly dispersed but added nothing of my own and so expect neither Honour nor Thanks from you but this only that I may know if our Studies please and I shall supply those things that are here wanting and desired somewhat more largely for I will not refuse to assist you yet further by the industry of my Studies So that nothing remains but upon our bended Knees to return most humble Thanks to the Father of Lights in vouchsafing us this Art by the Writings of his Servants and the High Priests of Nature without which it would be beyond the power of man to arrive to so great a degree of Knowledge Now celebrate with me the Urns of our pious Masters who have for the Welfare of Mankind rather dispersed than buried their Talents and may you oblige your selves to the same good Office if you have any of their Writings not yet published Finally It is my earnest Suit to the Adepts now living that they would please to employ themselves freely in expounding Nature correcting Philosophy and Medicine And lastly refuting all the deceitful Sects of Philosophers as well in the Academies as private Schools for the advancement of the Glory of God being singularly eminent in this Art So be it The First Book OF MENSTRUUMS RIPLEY Cap. 2. Medullae Philos Chym. We will here demonstrate the clear Practice how such Menstruums as be Unctuous and Moist Sulphureous and Mercureal well agreeing with the Nature of Metals wherewith our Bodies are to be artificially dissolved may be obtained London Printed for Tho. Howkins in George-Yard in Lombard-Street 1685. The Translator to the Reader YOur Business it is not mine otherwise than as a Reader to judge of this Work but the ample and publick Encomiums of Learned Societies beyond the Seas already declaring their Sentiments of its Rarity and Excellency are convictive Authorities far beyond my Opinion and therefore I shall be silent only this I think necessary to let you know that our Author having little spare time himself left his Latine Impression to be by others corrected which has been the cause of many Errors and indeed in some Places so gross that the Author himself could scarce retrieve his own Meaning This to prevent in the English Translation he has been pleased to use all Care to have it exactly import his own Mind I must also tell you that though I have taken no small pains in endeavouring to make this weighty Work speak true and perfect English yet my Copy not being punctually observed you will find many small Mistakes besides the Errata's inserted at the latter end of the Book which you may please as you read to correct Farewel G. C. A Catalogue of Menstruums I. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Philosophical Wine only 1. THE Heaven Essence or Spirit of Wine of Lully 1 2. The Essence Soul or Spirit of Wine of Rupescissa 9 3. The Spirit of Wine of paracelsus 11 4. The Essence of Wine of Guido 12 II. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Spirit of Philosophical Wine and the hottest Vegetables Herbs Flowers c. being Oyley 5. The Anima Metallica or Lunaria Coelica of Lully 16 6. The Aqua Vitae of Paracelsus 21 7. Another Ibid. 8. The Aqua Vitae of Ripley 23 9. The Compounded Aqua Vitae of Ripley Ibid. III. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Oyley Sals as Sugar Honey Tartar Common c. 10. The Mellifluous Heaven of Parisinus 31 11. The Spirit of Honey of Lully 34 12. The Spirit of crude Tartar of Guido 36 13. The Spirit of crude Tartar of Paracelsus Ibid. IV. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Volatile Salts as Sal Armoniack Salt of Blood Urine c. 14. The Spirit of Sal Armoniack of Trismosinus 38 15. A Water of Sal Armoniack of Trismosinus 40 16. The Gelative Sulphur of Lully Ibid. V. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Fixed Salts of Vegetables and Minerals not Tinging 17. The Coelum Vegetabile of Lully 46 The Volatile Salt of Tartar of Lully 48 18. The Spirit of Wine of Basilius 52 19. The Fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius 54 20. The Spirit of Calx vive of Basilius 55 21. The simple Spirit of Calx vive of Basilius 57 22. The Tartarized Spirit of Wine of Basilius 58 23. The Vegetable Acetum acerrimum or Ignis Adepti of Ripley 59 24. The Aqua fortissima of Rupescissa 60 25. Vegetable Mercury acuated with the Salt of Tartar of Lully 61 26. The simple Vegetable Menstruum produced from 3 Individuals of Lully 62 27. The Circulatum minus or Water of Salt circulated of Paracelsus 65 28. The sweet Spirit of Salt of Basilius 70 VI. Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of the Spirit and Tartar of Philosophical Wine 29. The Coelum Vinosum of Parisinus 73 30. The Coelum Vinosum of Lully 76 Vegetable Sal Harmoniack of Parisinus 78 Vegetable Sal Harmoniack of Lully 80 Vegetable Sal Harmoniack of Lully 81 Another 83 Animal Sal Harmoniack of Lully 85 Vegetable Sal Harmoniack made by the Accurtation of Lully 89 Another 90 31. Coelum Vegetabile of Lully circulated 92 32. The less Vegetable Menstruum of Lully 93 33. The Vegetable Menstruum per deliquium of Lully 94 34. The Vegetable Mercury of Lully 95 35. The rectify'd Aqua Vitae of Lully 96 36. The Circulatum minus of Guido 97 37. The Animal Heaven of Parisinus 98 VII Vegetable Menstruums compounded of the aforesaid Simple Menstruums 38. The Circulatum majus of Guido 103 39. The Menstruum acutum of Guido 104 40. The Coelum majus of Parisinus 105 VIII Vegetable Menstruums compounded of Simple Vegetable Menstruums and Common Argent vive or other Metals 41. The Ignis Gehennae of Trismosinus 110 42. The Alchymical Mercury of Ripley 113 43. The Exalted Water of Mercury of Ripley 114 44. The Glorious Water of Argent vive of Lully 115 45. The incalcinated Menstruum of Lully 115 46. The Mercurial Water by three Vessels of Lully 116 The Mercurial Sal Harmoniack or Mercury of Mercury of Lully 119 47. The Menstruum of Guido for Pretious Stones 122 48. The Lunar Menstruum of Lully 123 49. The Circulatum majus or Acetum acerrimum of Lully 124 50. The Circulatum majus of Parisinus 126
IX Vegetable Menstruums compounded made of Simple Vegetable Menstruums and Things tinging being first fixed 51. The Circulatum majus or Metallick Acetum acerrimum of Paracelsus 137 X. Vegetable Menstruums compounded made of Vegetable Menstruums compounded and Metallick Bodies 52. The Neapolitan Menstruum of Lully 144 53. The Pretious Menstruum for Pearls of Lully 146 54. The Mercurial compounded Menstruum of Lully 147 55. The sweet Spirit of Mercury of Basilius 148 56. The incalcinated Menstruum of Parisinus 149 XI Vegetable Menstruums compounded graduated made of the compounded Vegetable Menstruums impregnated with the Influences of Heaven and Earth 57. The Etherial and Terrestrial Waters of Metals of Lully 154 XII Vegetable Menstruums compounded most highly exalted made of compounded Vegetable Menstruums graduated 58. The Ethereal and Celestial Limes of Lully 163 XIII Simple Mineral Menstruums made of the Matter of Philosophical Wine only 59. The Green Lyon of Ripley 172 60. A Menstruum made of the Gum Adrop of Ripley 174 61. A Menstruum made of Red Lead of Ripley 179 62. The Simple stinking Menstruum of Ripley 181 63. The Menstruum of Sericon of Ripley 182 64. The Green Lyon of Roger Bacon 192 65. The Green Lyon of Paracelsus 198 66. The Stinking Menstruum made of the Gum Adrop and Common Vitriol of Ripley Ibid. 67. The Stinking Menstruum made of Azoquean Vitriol and Nitre of Lully 199 68. The Water calcining all Bodies of Lully 201 69. The Stinking Menstruum for reducing Metals into Argent vive of Lully 202 70. The Stinking Menstruum made of Azoquean Vitriol Common Vitriol and Nitre of Ripley Ibid. XIV Simple Mineral Menstruums made of the Acid or Saline Essences of Salt 71. The Water or Oyl of Salt of Paracelsus 211 72. The Water of Salt by another Description 214 XV. Simple Mineral Menstruums made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Acid Spirits as Aqua fortis Spirit of Nitre c. 73. Aqua fortis mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Paracelsus 222 74. Aqua fortis mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Trithemius 223 75. Vinegar mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Basilius Ibid. 76. The Spirit of Salt of Basilius 225 77. The Spirit of Salt of Guido Ibid. 78. The Aqua fortis mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Lully Ibid. 79. Aqua fortis mixt with the Spirit of Wine of an Anonymous 226 XVI Simple Mineral Menstruums made of Philosophical Vinegar and Volatile Salts as Common Sal Armoniack Urine c. 80. The Oyl of Sal Armoniack of Guido 229 81. The Water of Sal Armoniack of Isaacus 230 XVII Simple Mineral Menstruums made of Philosophical Vinegar and fixed Salts non tinging as well vegetable as mineral 82. The Aqua comedens of Paracelsus 233 83. The fixative Water of Trithemius 234 84. The Aqua mirabilis of Isaacus 235 85. The resuscitative Water of Basilius Ibid. 86. The Water of Sallabrum of Paracelsus 236 XVIII Simple Mineral Menstrums made of Vegetable Sal Harmoniack and Acids not tinging 87. The Aqua fortis of Isaacus Hollandus 240 88. The Aqua Regis of Ripley 244 89. The Kings Bath of Basilius 245 90. A Philosophical Water for the solution of Gold of Basilius Ibid. 91. The most strong Aqua fortis of Paracelsus 247 92. The Aqua Regis of Guido Ibid. 93. The Aqua Regis of Lully 248 XIX Mineral Menstruums compounded of Philosophical Spirit of Wine and Acid Spirits not tinging Spirit of Vitriol Butter of Antimony c. 94. Spirit of Vitriol mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Lully 251 95. The Butter of Antimony mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Basil 253 96. The Water of the fourth Gradation of Paracelsus 254 97. The Water of the sixth Gradation of Paracelsus Ibid. XX. Mineral Menstruums compounded of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and other tinging things Vitriol Cinabar Antimony c. 98. The Oyl of Vitriol of Basilius 261 99. A Menstruum of Basilius made of Hungarian Vitriol 293 100. The Mineral Menstruum of Isaacus 294 101. The stinking Menstruum of Lully made of Vitriol and Cinabar 294 102. The same Ibid. 103. The stinking Menstruum of Lully made of Vitriol Cinabar and Nitre 295 104. The stinking Menstruum of Lully made of Vitriol Nitre Alume Tartar c. 296 105. The dissolving Water for the Red of Isaacus 297 106. Another 298 107. Again another 299 108. A dissolving Water of Isaacus for the White 299 109. Another 299 110. A Red Water shining Day and Night of Isaacus 300 111. Another 301 112. Again Another 303 XXI Mineral Menstruums Compounded made of Simple Mineral Menstruums and Mercury the rest of Metals and other tinging things 113. The Spirit of Venus or Spirit of Verdigreece of Basilius 306 114. The Water of Paradise of Isaacus 310 115. The Mercurial Vinegar of Trismosinus 312 116. The Mercurial Water of Trismosinus Ibid. 117. The Mercurial Water of Albertus Magnus 313 118. The Mercurial Water of Paracelsus 315 119. The stinking Menstruum of Lully 316 120. The Mercurial green Lyon of Ripley 317 121. The stinking Lunar Menstruum of Lully 317 122. The stinking Solar Menstruum of Lully Ibid 123. Philosophers Vinegar made of the Mercury of Silver of Isaacus 318 XXII Mineral Menstruums compounded of the Philosophers Vinegar and other Simple Mineral Menstruums and things tinging being first fixed 124. The Menstruum of Venus of Isaacus Hollandus 322 125. A Menstruum of Vitriol of Isaacus Hollandus 324 126. The Circulatum majus of Isaacus 332 127. The Oyl of Vitriol shining by Night of Trismosinus 335 128. The Circulatum majus of Ripley 337 129. The Metallick Acetum Acerrimum of Ripley 338 130. The Circulatum majus of Isaacus made of Sulphur 339 XXIII Mineral Menstruums compounded made of Mineral Menstruums compounded and Metallick Bodies and other tinging Things 131. The Oyl of Mars and Venus of Basilius 346 132. The S irit of Vniversal Mercury made of Vitriol of Basilius 347 133. The Oyl of Mars and Venus acuated with the Sulphur and Salt of Sol of Basilius 351 134. The Spirit of Vniversal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur and Salt of Luna of Basilius 353 135. The Spirit of Vniversal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Sol and Luna of Basilius 354 136. The S irit of Vniversal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Sol and Mars of Basilius Ibid. 137. The Spirit of Vniversal Mercury acuated with the Sulphurs of Sol Mars and Antimony of Basilius 355 138. The Spirit of Vniversal Mercury acuated with the Sulphur of Mars Jupiter and Saturn of Basilius Ibid. 139. A compounded Mercurial Water for the red Work of Isaacus 356 140. The Philosophers Water made of three Spirits of Isaacus 357 141. The compounded Water of Silver of Lully 358 142. The stinking Lunar Menstruum acuated with the Essence of Sol of Lully 360 XXIV Mineral Menstruums compounded of vegetable and mineral Menstruums mixed together 143. The Vegetable â—ire dissolved in the calcinaâ—ive Water of Lully 363 144. The
by its intrinsick Virtue and Heat Ripl Lib. de Merc. Phil. We saith Espanietus to deal plainly and truly affirm that the whole work may be perfected by two Bodies only that is Sol and Luna rightly prepared For this is that Generation which is performed by Nature with the help of Art in which the coition of Male or Female is requir'd and from whence the Off-spring more noble than its Parents is expected Sect. 20. Arcan Herm. Sol is the Male for he yields the active and informing seed Luna is the Female which is called the Matrix and Vessel of Nature because she receives the seed of the Male into her womb and nourisheth it with her Menstruum Sect. 22. Arcan Herm. Phil. But the Philosophers do not by the name of Luna mean common Luna which also acts the parts of a Male in their white work let no man therefore attempt to joyn two males together it being wicked and contrary to Nature nor can he hope for any Offspring from such a copulation but put Gobritius to Beja Brother to Sister Conjugio junget stabili propriamque dicabit That he may have from thence the noble Son of Sol Sect. 23. Arcan Herm. Phil. I would have the Reader know saith Sendivogius that Solution is twofold though there be many other solutions but of no effect the first is only true and natural the second violent under which are all the other comprehended the Natural is that by which the pores of the Boby are opened in our VVater that the digested seed may be injected into its Matrix But our VVater is Celestial not wetting your hands not common but almost like Rain The Body is Gold which yieldeth seed our Luna is not common Silver which receives the seed of Gold Tract 10. Novi Lumin Saturn taking the Vessel drew up ten parts of the VVater and presently took some of the Fruit of the solar Tree and put it in and I saw the fruit of the Tree consumed and resolved as Ice in warm water This water is to this fruit as a VVoman The fruit of this Tree can be putrified in nothing but in this water only for no other water can penetrate the pores of this Apple but this and you must know that the solar Tree sprang also out of this VVater which is extracted from a magnetical virtue out of the Rays of Sol and Luna and therefore they have great affinity one with the other In the Dialogue of Mercury Now here we in this Book intend to treat of this Feminine Seed or dissolving Waters of the Adepts Great indeed yea vast is the Treasure of our Chymy but altogether inaccessible by those that have not the Keys thereof without which the Adepts themselves could neither dissolve nor coagulate Bodies If you know not the way of dissolving our Body it is in vain to operate is the Advice of Dionysius Zacharias pag. 798. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. But he that knows the Art and Secret of Dissolution has attained to the Secret of the Art saith Bernhard pag. 40. suoe Epistoloe For this cause it is saith Parisinus that the wise men say To know the Celestial Water which reduceth our Body into a Spirit is the chief Mystery of this Art in Eluc pag. 212. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. For without these Menstruums things heterogeneous can never be perfectly mixed Coral though never so finely pulverized cannot be mixed with the purest Powder of Pearls Yea Gold mixeth not with Silver much less with Bodies less perfect though both be melted together the Particles of each do indeed touch one another in their extream parts being in a mass or heap consisting of things heterogeneous yet they are and do remain all distinct unblemished and unaltered in their Figures and Properties no otherwise than as a heap composed of Barley and Oats But in the more secret Chymy there is no Body no heterogeneity but what hath its own peculiar Menstruum and with which as being homogeneous to it it runs into one Concrete rejoycing in the inseparable Properties of either So long therefore as you intend to joyn Metals with Metals dry things with dry without the Menstruums of Diana so long to use the Phrase of Espanietus do you presume to joyn males together which is a thing wicked and contrary to Nature Hearken therefore to Bernhard Pag. 757. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. Perswading you to leave Stones and all sorts of Minerals likewise also Metals alone though they are the beginning and our matter Metals are not only the matter but are also call'd by Lully the form of the Stone yet without these Menstruums they signifie nothing The Form saith he which is the Efficient Principle Former and Transformer of all other Forms of less virtue and power is described by C or C Metals cannot of it self only be the Magistery of the greater work c. Very commodious it is for that Principle to be known because hereby the Understanding knows it to be one of the two Substances from which our Infant is produced having in it the condition of a male from which proceeds a sperm in the belly of our D. Menstruum or Dissolvent Lul Dist 3. Lib. Ess Heaven or Mercury Menstruum is the fourth Principle signified by D. It is the Cause and Principle moving C and C from Power to Action ruling and governing them in its belly as the VVoman the Infant which she procreates in her Matrix And in this point knows the understanding of an Artist that D Menstruum hath action upon C and C ruling governing and reducing them into Action even as the Heavens above do by their motion bring things Elementary into action And an Artist is to understand that of the two substances of which our Stone is compounded and by which it is generated this namely D Dissolvent is the more principal Ibid. In the Book de Medicinis secretis pag. 336. he goes on You must know saith he that hitherto I have not told you the most secret thing and matter of the whole Magistery which is our incorruptible Quintessence extracted out of white or red VVine which we call Celestial Crown and Menstruum after the sublimations putrefactions and final depuration of it which Quintessence is indeed the foundation principal matter and Magistery of all medicinal things My Son if you have it you will have the Magistery of the whole thing without which nothing can be done But you My companions know what mean the Menstruums of Diana you know I say they are the highest secrets of the more secret Chymy much more secret than the Menstruums of Women that the same also were never acquired but by the extream Pains and ingenuity of an Adept most cautiously described and recommended to us principally as the Keys of the Art You easily believe Lully saying Without these Menstruums nothing can be done in the Magistery of the Art Mag. Nat. pag. 329. Or Christopher Parisinus That the great secret lies in these Menstruums insomuch
if they be not known nothing can be done as to the transmuting of Metals Elucid pag. 222. Vol. 6. Th. Chym. Wherefore I think it enough to declare to you in short that these Menstruums which hitherto you have with so much study to little purpose sought in the Theoretical Books of Adepts are now offered to you being found by me in Practical Books no longer shrowded with Obscurity but disrobed and exposed naked to the sight and understanding of all men But you have no cause to fear the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which you perceive in any Menstruum it being familiar and most gentle because Philosophical Nor have you need of many Conjurations to make it appear to you for in all Pages of the Theoretical Books of Adepts it offers it self willingly and expects you provided you pray to God that he would graciously vouchsafe to open your Eyes for without his permission or special appointment it dares not manifest it self to you By the Menstruums of the Adepts understand not therefore yours though they be most secret to you because I fear they are yet but vulgar which dissolving a dry Body are transmuted with it into a Salt or Vitriol not with a true but seeming coalition and mixture which a searching Fire easily discovereth presently separating these same heterogeneous substances again On the contrary the unctious Spirit of Philosophical Wine does by its Vnctuosity mollifie a dry Body and transmute it not into a Salt or Vitriol but into an Oyl It easily joyns things heterogeneous by its own equal temperament and is by its homogeneity easily joyned with things homogeneous to it by which also it is augmented according to that of Bernhard No Water dissolveth bodies but that which is of their species and which can be inspissated in bodies for a Dissolvent ought not to differ from that which is dissolved in matter but proportion and digestion Pag. 43. of his Epistles For Nature is not meliorated but by its own nature our matter therefore can be no otherwise meliorated than by its own matter Parmenides saith the same L. de Alchym pag. 768. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. This Spirit of Phylosophical Wine may be united to all things and is able to unite all things inseparably But they that suppose another water are ignorant and unwise and will never come to the effect saith Parisinus in Eluc p. 222. Vol. 6. Th. Chym. Of which Morienus pag. 52. thus As to this Magistery let Fools seek other things and seeking err for they will never attain to the effect of it till Sol and Luna be reduced into one body which cannot come to pass before the Will of God Which Arnold if I mistake not thus expresseth You will sooner joyn the Sun and Moon in the Heavens than Gold and Silver in the Earth without our Menstruums But you that have hitherto desired one only universal immortal indestructible Menstruum I mean the Liquor Alkahest or Ignisaqua that undeclinable word instead of one whereof you never yet knew the Name Matter Preparation and Vse behold I offer a great many kinds of universal Menstruums in their Descriptions more clear in Virtues equivalent if not better than this your Alkahest What others have either obscurely or impertinently said and written of this Liquor Alkahest we little regard as Opinions and Conjectures By the Menstruums of the Adepts we intend not all manner of Dissolvents prepared without the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and only corroding but not in the least altering the more minute Particles of Bodies Nor do we understand an immortal Liquor not permanent with things dissolved in it But by Menstruum we mean a volatile Liquor made several ways of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and divers things not only separating Bodies but also continuing with them and altering them with the addition of it self so as to be no more two nor again what they were before For out of this Dissolution the solemn Wedlock inseparable Vnion and Combination of Body and Menstruum emergeth a new Being containing the unblemished Properties of the thing dissolved and the thing dissolving not at all separable by Art or Nature These Menstruums I have distinguished into Vegetable and Minerals not as if the Vegetables were made of Vegetables only and the Mineral of Minerals but every Menstruum that hath not manifest acidity acting without ebullition and motion is called Vegetable though it be made of meer Animals or Minerals by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine On the contrary a Menstruum becomes Mineral so soon as manifest acidity is mixed either with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or a Vegetable Menstruum for by adding the acidity it now dissolves Bodies with violence and effervescence I have subdivided both kinds into Simple and Compound but not as if the Simple consisted of fewer Ingredients but because they are of more simple or less virtue Simple Menstruums tinge Bodies dissolved in them less but the Compounded more OF Vegetable MENSTRUUMS The First Kind Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of Philosophical Wine only I. The Heaven Essence or Spirit of Wine of Lully Described Can. 1. Dist 1. Lib. De Quinta Essentia TAke Wine Red or White the best that may be had or at least take Wine that is not any way eager neither too little nor too much thereof and distil an Aqua ardens as the custom is through Brass Pipes and then rectifie it four times for better purification But I tell you it is enough to rectifie it three times and stop it close that the burning Spirit may not exhale because herein have many men erred thinking it ought to be seven times rectified But my Son it is an infallible sign to you when you shall have seen that Sugar steeped in it and being put to the flame burneth away as Aqua ardens Now having the water thus prepared you have the matter out of which the Quintessence is to be made which is one principal thing we intend to treat of in this Book Take therefore that and put it in a circulating Vessel or in a Pelican which is called the Vessel of Hermes and stop the hole very close with Olibanum or Mastick being soft or quick Lime mixed with the White of Eggs and put it in Dung which is naturally most hot or the remainings of a Wine-Press in which no heat must be by accident diminished which you may do my Son if you put a great quantity of which you please of those things at a corner of the House which quantity must be about thirty Load This ought to be that the Vessel may not want heat because should heat be wanting the circulation of the water would be impaired and that which we seek for uneffected but if a continual heat be administred to it by continual circulations our Quintessence will be separated in the colour of Heaven which may be seen by a diametrical Line which divides the upper part that is the Quintessence from the lower namely from the Faeces
we are solicitous to describe would be prostituted to all men were this one only Word literally understood by Wine therefore is meant a Philosophical Secret hidden from all the unexpert It is expedient to draw from the Death of Wine by the Office of an Alembick that is we must rectifie so often till it become most pure without the Foeces and Phlegm of Wine which is by Lully called the Death of the Spirit It is saith he purged from all its Superfluity and Phlegmatick corruptible matter which is its Death and which mortifies its Spirit which hath the power of vivifying its Earth let therefore the corruptible Phlegm be purged and separated from it by a subtil method which I will tell you For what reason because if it be not well purged its Earth will never become white nor will Matrimony be made between the Body and Spirit and so that Spirit is call'd the Spirit of the Stone in Apertorio The Method of Rectification omitted in the former Receipt is described in the latter as also in Epistola accurtatoria This Rectification of Philosophical Wine Sendivogius understood not as appears by the Sixth of his Epistles Brux 25. Martii 1646. Where thus The second Article my Companion of the Pagesian work endeavours to repeat the mysterious way of extracting and preparing Mercury more than needed the Authority of Lully being misunderstood and the Precepts of other Philosophers ill applied he commanding the tenth part of his Magnesia first ascending by distillation to be saved as the only useful and truly Mercurial substance but the other nine parts proceeding by continuance of distillation to be cast away as of no use to this end that the said tenth part reserved might at length be restored to the Earth remaining after compleat distillation which Earth is foolishly supposed to be the Salt and Sulphur of Mercury and by repeated cohobations inhumations digestions and sublimations described by him united but it is a grievous Error for that which Authors declare concerning the tenth part containing the Spirit and of inhumations in its own Earth is otherwise referred than to the extraction and preparation of Mercury as shall be elsewhere in time demonstrated nor for the said extraction and preparation of Mercury is there any Rule to be used besides the bare distilling of Magnesia whereby the Spirit and Oyl are together elevated to a Siccity even of the Foeces and separation of the Spirit from the Oyl and rectification of the same Spirit oftentimes repeated But these things we will in their proper place more amply treat of in the Method of operating Parisinus a Disciple of Lully will correct Sendivogius who learnt of Lully to rectifie his Spirit of Philosophical Wine after this manner Take A Chaos our Vegetable Mercury in which the four Elements are found confused pag. 271. Vol. sext Theat Chym. and put it in a Vessel to be distilled through Y Balneo pag. 276. and in this temperate distillation gather its B. Celestial ardent Spirit pag. 269. continue that distillation this way and method till you attain to the Signs declared in our Apertorial and till you know that the said B. is dissolved and separated from its Elemental Nature continuing this Magistery even to the fourth Revolution Then put this Celestial fiery Matter into a pure Vessel and distil slowly with ordinary fire and take only a tenth part in the second distillation take half and in the third two parts of three and in the fourth take four parts of five and more Then take that last Celestial Water and distil it three or four times by the Rule abovesaid taking the whole without any separation appointed This observe and admire the necessity of this Mystery and Foundation and you will understand the reason why dull and ignorant men make the worst Bread with the finest and purest Flower because they mix the course part with the fine The same thing happens to presumptuous Artists who perswade themselves that they are able to find out the beauty of our Quintessence with the exuberated Spirit negligently purified without an exact separation of the pure from the impure in Elucid pag. 230. Vol. 6. Theatri Chym. Which way notwithstanding of rectification so exactly to observe there seems to me to be no necessity rectification of the Spirit being good enough which way soever done either with fewer or more cohobations provided it be separated from the impurities of the Wine which you will know saith Lully when it burns a piece of Linnen by reason of its vehement heat that is as elsewhere more clearly till a Linnen Cloth moistned with this Spirit and kindled be wholly consumed This rectified Spirit is in distilling sharpned with the oyly Vegetables nominated in the Receipt the Oyls of which being nearest to it it easily carrieth with it and is impregnated with the same and acuated by the aridity contained in them Yet are we not obliged to use these Vegetables only and no other or is it necessary to mix all of them together as if one or two would not suffice The Oyl of any Vegetable or drawn out of a Vegetable with the help of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or already made and added to the Spirit of Philosophical Wine will here satisfie us I will give one form or other in confirmation of this kind of Menstruums of which sort is 6. The Aqua Vitae of Paracelsus Pag. 508. Tom. 1. TAke of the Alcool of Wine exsiccated three pounds of the Flowers of Rosemary Macis Lavender of each half an ounce of Cubebs Cloves Cinamon of each two ounces of Mastick half an ounce of both sorts of Storax half a dram of each of Doronicum three ounces and cohobate seven times The following Vse besides the Alcool of Wine exsiccated testifies that this Water is made with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Take of the Leaves of Gold Num. 20. of Pearls not perforated Granats Rubies of each half a drachm digest for a Month Then take of this Oyl three or four grains with Malago wine or the water of Majoram or Sage This Menstruum is Vinum Essatum or Essentificatum or Spiâ—it of Philosophical Wine impregnated with the Essences of the Oyly Ingredients with which Paracelsus dissolves Gold and Precious Stones into a most noble Oyl or Elixir which he says is a Secret against the superfluity of Womens Menstruums The Description of this Water being clear requires no other Light I will therefore propose another Receipt more obscure 7. Another Aqua Vitae of Paracelsus Pag. 115. Chyr Min. TAke of the waters of Melissa Roses Cheirus Sage Balsamus of each one pound of all the Peppers Cubebs Ginger Cinamon Mastick red Myrrh Mace Cloves of each two ounces of the Juyce of Honey half a pound of rectifi'd Aqua Vitae sive pound Let them be all digested together for the space of nine days and after that separated and distilled in a Pelican into a Spirit Then to this Liquor add an Apple roasted and
Metals being more compact do more require Sometimes also they did by the Spirit of Wine intend Vegetable Menstruums compounded so Lully among the other Names of Circulatum majus reckons up also Aqua Vitae This Menstruum saith he the Wise Men called by almost innumerable Names the Acetum acerrimum which converts Gold into a Spirit this is Aqua Sicca Aqua Solis Aqua Vitoe in Exp. 25. Yea Mineral Menstruums also the Adepts more than often call by the Name of Aqua Vitae So Albertus in suo Composito de Compositis pag. 939. Volum 4. Theat Chym. Distills a Mercurial Mineral Water of which thus Behold this is the Aqua Vitoe the Acetum Philosophorum and Lac Virginis by which Bodies are resolved into the first Matter Though therefore it be uncertain to Divine what Spirit of Wine out of such a vast number of Menstruums Trismosinus intended yet shall we not much err from the Truth if we take any Menstruum whatsoever eithâ—r Simple or Compounded Vegetable or Mineral instead of this Spirit for we may with all promiscuously perfect the same Philosophical Work differing only in degrees as being stronger or weaker which common Spirit of Wine makes altogether impossible and fallacious Yet notwithstanding Directions there are which may in this ambiguity make us more certain as 1. Any ambiguous or unknown Name of any Menstruum iâ— easily known by its Synonima's if there be any in the same Book or other Writings of the same Adept as for Example If in the Description of the Balsamum Samech of Paracelsus you know not what the Circulatum minus is the Synonima's produced by Paracelsus himself Lib. 10. Arch. in the Description of the Circulatum majus where it is called Primum Ens Salis and Arcanum Salis denoting moreover the Nature yea and preparation of the Menstruum delivered here perhaps less clearly quatenus Menstruum but elsewhere more plainly under the Title of Essence or Primum Ens do put it out of all doubt that it is the Arcanum of common Salt But I said Synonima's in the Writings of the same not of another Adept because oftentimes others intended another thing by these Names yea that Name which hath in one Book the same signification with the rest hath commonly in another though of the same Author a signification different from them and therefore that Synonymum must if possible be had out of the same Book which must then be compared both with other Writings of the same Author and also with the Writings of other Adepts to confirm the meaning of the Author about the identity of the Synonimum which was doubted of 2. But if there be no Synonima's in Books of the same Author it is not convenient for this unknown Name to be explicated by the Writings of other Adepts because the Adepts themselves have sometimes also erred in giving an explication either better than was fitting or altogether contrary to an obscure Name and Place yet is it not only lawful but necessary also to observe what they say especially the Scholars or Followers of the same Author for though they shew not the Authors Meaning yet do they their own as to that Matter 3. But if Synonima's cannot discover the Name some expression used in the Receipt will perhaps explain more easily provided it be rightly examined by an industrious Observer of those Receipts as 1. If it be not known whether the Adept means a Mineral Acid or Vegetable Menstruum it must be enquired by the Particulars following First Whether that Menstruum dissolves Bodies with force or heat for then it must be Mineral this Sign betraying the acidity of Minerals Salts because Vegetable Menstruums dissolve Bodies always sweetly and slowly Secondly Whether the dissolution digested for a time be converted into a Black Colour or Black Powder swimming upon the Menstruum for that signifies a Vegetable Menstruum because the dissolutions of Mineral Menstruums do contain Bodies twice dissolved once with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine wherewith they become Black then with the corrosive or acid Spirit of Salts Therefore the Black Powder and Colour are Signs of a Vegetable dissolution whereto is added a Milky Opacity common indeed to both Menstruums for all weak or weakened Menstruums containing as it were their aridity less dissolved and precipitated as also Vegetable dissolutions longer digested after blackness do become Opacous and Milky and so continue till they are made diaphanous and most clear by drawing of the Phlegm the acid part or the Spirit of Philosophical Wine being better concentrated yet these three Signs we never observe in the use of the Mineral Menstruums Thirdly Whether the Adepts admonish the Operator to beware of air or fume in Operation or Poyson in the use of the thing already prepared for that is a Sign that his Menstruum is or was Mineral because Poysons derive themselves Originally from acidity for Pearls and Corals yea Gold and all other Arids though otherwise most Innocent do by being prepared with a Mineral Menstruum become the worst of Poysons Lastly If you see Mineral Bodies distinguished into two Oyls swimming distinctly and severally upon the Menstruum say that also was a Mineral Menstruum because this cannot be done by any Vegetable Menstruum though never so strong 2. If it be not known whether either the simple or compounded Vegetable Menstruum is to be taken we observe the things following as to the use of them First If in the dissolution of a Metallick or Mineral Body a White Body or some residue be left then may ye know it to be a simple Vegetable Menstruum because it extracts only the Tinctures or Essences of things dissolving the Oleosity but not the Aridity of things on the contrary Vegetable Menstruums compounded as also Mineral Menstruums which are stronger than the Simple do dissolve the whole Body not leaving any Foeces Secondly If the whole Body of a thing dissolved be turned into Oyl swimming upon the Menstruum that was a Vegetable Menstruum compounded for that only are they able to do The simple Vegetable Menstruums are not strong enough but Mineral Menstruums are too strong those therefore dissolve not the whole Body but these dissolve not only the whole Body but reduce it being dissolved into Oyl not one only but twofold So the Temperatum of Paracelsus a Menstruum otherwise sufficiently unknown is by use known to be the Circulatum majus or a Vegetable Menstruum compounded because he reduceth Metals by it into a swimming Oyl or Magistery Thirdly If in the dissolution or digestion of the thing dissolved you see it made Black or cast forth a Black Powder say it is was a simple Vegetable Menstruum because Vegetable Menstruums compounded and Mineral as being stronger do better retain their Body dissolved in them 3. But the doubt whether the simple Vegetable Menstruum or Spirit of Philosophical Wine is to be taken length of time alone resolveth for the sooner Essences are made in the Mineral
Kingdom the stronger are the Menstruums and on the contrary But in the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms it is difficult if not altogether impossible to discern by the length of time alone the dissolutions of the Bodies as being more opened of which sort are Oyls Salts as also the open Metal Mercury especially sublimed being more amply opened by the acidity of Salts The Fifth KIND Simple Vegetable Menstruums made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and the fixed Salts of Vegetables and Minerals not tinging 17. The Coelum Vegetabile of Lully made of the Salt of Tartar In the 34th Experment TAke the best Aqua Vitoe rectified so as to burn a Linnen Cloth as you have seen operating with me and therefore no need of amplifying to you the Magistery of this Water Take therefore of Aqua Vitoe four Pounds and put it in a Glass Urinal Cucurbit which is very sound then take of the Vegetable Salt sublimed of the second Experiment Volatile Salt of Tartar one Pound grind very well and put it in the Aqua Vitoe Iute the Vessel with its Antenotorium Blind Alembick firmly with Wax Gummed that nothing may respire then putrifie two Natural Days after that take away the Antenotorium and put on an Alembick with its Receiver the Joynts being very close and distill upon hot Ashes Take notice that the Receiver must be very large and sound that it may not be broken by the force of the Aqua Vitoe and thus continue your distillation with a slow Fire till all be distilled through the Alembick But if any part of the Salt remain in the bottom of the Vessel pour it again upon the Water now lately distilled and distill as before making the Joynts as close as may be the distillation repeat in this order till all the Salt be passed through the Alembick in the Form of clear Water Then put of the aforesaid Salt one other Pound into an Urinal and pour the same distilled Water to it cover the Vessel with its Antenotorium as before putrifie as before then distill as before and when all the Salt is passed over with the Water take again as before of new Vegetable Salt one Pound and pass it all through the Alembick again as before with the distilled Water and by this means you will have those four Pounds of Aqua Vitoe united with three Pounds of the Vegetable Salt which hath the power of dissolving the two Luminaries Gold and Silver and all the other Metals with preservation of the Vegetable Form But now we intend to reduce this simple Menstruum into a Celestial Form Take therefore this simple Menstruum and put it in a sound Glass Vessel a Circulatory four parts of which must be empty but the fifth full Stop the Vessel so as not to evaporate and Circulate in Dung or Balneo sixty Natural Days and by this Method will you have a clarify'd Menstruum in which you will see a Sediment wherefore empty the Celestial Water into another Vessel and have a care that no Sediment pass over with the Water which you must keep very close in Balneo Annotations AS to the facility of preparation the Coelum melleum of Parisinus is better than the rest of the Menstruums but this of Lully hath preference among simple Vegetable Menstruums for it is the Sapo Sapientium compounded of fix'd Alcalies and the Vnctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine Fix'd Alcalies are not easily joyned with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but when they are throughly mix'd together they are easily sublimed into Sal Armoniack Sulphurs of Nature or Philosophers Mercuries the chief Instruments of the more secret Chymy Lully having prescribed several Acuators of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine speaks at length of acuating this Spirit with these Salts Philosophically Volatilized Let saith he our Menstruum which is the Quintessence of Wine be depurated from all Phlegm and acuated with the Philosophers Armoniack because it cannot otherwise dissolve Gold nor Precious Stones But let the Philosophers Sal Armoniack be well purified that is sublimed and cleansed from all terrestreity and uncleanness according to the manner of the Philosophers of which Philosophical Sal Armoniack we have indeed treated largely in our Book De intentione Alchimistarum Dedicated to the most Illustrious King Robert in the Chapter De Salibus Armoniac c. and in Clausura Testamenti otherwise called Vade mecum in the Chapter which begins Partus Veroe Terroe There you may read from first to last the Magistery of making and purifying together with the Virtues and Energies of this Salt And know my Son that whatsoever we Write in that Chapter we mean that Salt and nothing else Read and Peruse that Chapter because nothing can be done in the Magistery without that Salt for that is the thing with which we acuate our Menstruum to dissolve as Gold and Precious Stones and Pearls as well for humane Medecines as for a Metallick and Lapidifick Magistery and to make Pearls and Precious Stones In which Receipt of Lully we have the Volatile Salt of Tartar given us freely hitherto sought in vain with very great pains and cost of which the Theoretical Philosophers have in their Theories exhibited nothing but what is most obscure I speak saith Sendivogius all things openly the Extraction only of our Sal Armoniack or Philosophical Mercury I have not so openly revealed Send in Epilogo 12. Tract pag. 337. Now out of his second Experiment alledged we have the following Description of Sal Armoniack or Volatile Salt of Tartar thus The Volatile Salt of Tartar of Lully Out of the Second Experiment TAke the best Tartar pulverize and put it in an Earthen Vessel not glazed to calcine the space of three Days or till it be White Which being done dissolve it in the Aqua Vitoe first distill'd in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine not yet rectify'd thus namely Put this individual being calcined and White into an Urinal and pour in the Aqua Vitoe so as to be seven Fingers above it and cover the Vessel with its Antenotorium Blind Alembick and set it on a Furnace of Ashes to simper two Hours then pour that which is dissolved into another Vessel carefully but that which remains undissolved dry then again pour in new Aqua Vitoe and again boyl it upon Ashes empty the dissolution again as before and keep it with the other former dissolution the matter remaining in the Vessel dry again and take it out of the Vessel because it must be again calcin'd to be the more easily dissolved which being calcin'd dissolve again with new Aqua Vitoe and boyl it upon Ashes this dissolution keep with the other as above and repeat this Magistery so oft till all this individual be calcined and dissolved then put all the dissolutions in an Urinal fitting an Alembick with a Receiver to it and closing the Joynts very fast distil by Balneo till the matter be congealed or till no more will distil by that degree of heat then remove
being this way too much diluted in a greater quantity of that Oleosum loseth much of it strength and becomes less fit for the dissolutions of dâ—y Bodies But now if the volatile Salt of Tartar be a Menstruum in a dry form some have unadvisedly said it serves instead of a Philosophical Menstruum which notwithstanding is rightly and very well said if a corrosive Menstruum which we call Mineral be understood whose place the volatile Salt of Tartar or Vegetable Menstruum may upon several occasions supply Now as this Sal Armoniack reduced into a liquid substance by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine makes our Vegetable Heaven so being dissolved with the Spirit of common Wine it makes the Spirit of Wine of Basilius dissolved with Vinegar our Vinegar dissolved with Aquafortis the Philosophers Aqua Regis and so of many others At present the aforesaid Spirit of Basilius hath its place 18. The Spirit of Wine of Basilius In Fine Libri Revelat. TAke generous white-Wine common and distil after the usual manner to make a strong Aqua Vitoe thereof in a Copper which rectifie in a Phial and separate the Phlegm this Aqua Vitoe is thus proved If it burn all away and leave no Aquosity behind it being kindled in a Glazed Vessel but if any remain distil yet once or twice the Joynts being very close that the Volatile Spirit of the Wine may not exhale The Aqua Vitoe being thus distilled and exactly rectifi'd but have a care that in the time of distilling you put not a Candle to it lest it hurt you joyn three Ounces of Tartar perfectly sublimed with a quantity of this Aqua Vitoe in another Phial so as that the Phial be half full put an Alembick to it with a Receiver large enough and distil in Balneo Marioe most gently because of the Volatile Spirits a little of the Aqua Vitoe being left in the bottom and as you distil cool the Alembick with wet Cloaths thus is the Spirit sooner resolved and passeth into the Receiver This is that Spirit of Wine which Basilius used in several places especially in his Conclusions where by the Spirit of Wine he reduceth as well Metallick as Mineral Bodies into Oyl Whosoever hath imagined to himself another Spirit instead thereof must have a care lest he prove the truth of this saying to his own detriment There is yet indeed another description of that Spirit of Wine in Appendice Elucidationis which notwithstanding differs not from the former except that in the former description it was read the Volatile Salt of Tartar but here it is read Sal Armoniack perfectly sublimed but that they are Synonyma's is even now manifest by the Receipt of Lully For whatsoever Salt either fix'd or volatile is joyned with the Spirit of Philosophical VVine and sublimed is called our Volatile Salt our Sulphur of Nature and our sublimed Mercury which may be used promiscuously as Salt Philosophically sublimed for both those Salts of Tartar and Sal Armoniack were by Basilius made perhaps out of one and the same matter But this his Menstruum is not so strong as the Coelum Vegetabile of Lully though prepared out of the same Salt of Tartar just as that For Basilius diminisheth the virtue of this Salt by adding the Spirit of common Wine Lully accomplisheth the same work but with the Spirit of Philosophical VVine yet Basilius sometimes also made his Menstruum stronger than the Coelum Vegetabile of Lully by separating the Spirit of common Wine from the Philosophical Sal Armoniack which indeed he performed two ways First by kindling the Menstruum in a Copper Vessel design'd for this use to burn away the Spirit of common Wine but leave the Vegetable Sal Armoniack by it self reduced into a liquid substance The way is this 19. The Fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius In the Place as above TAke the antecedent Spirit of Wine being fit for this preparation of the Fiery Spirit make an Instrument of Copper which may be taken up in the middle below and above the Holes as also above the middle of the Vessel put on an Alembick with a Pipe let them be all of Copper except the Receiver which must be of Glass which put in a wooden Vessel into Water and cover it above with wet Cloaths in the wooden Vessel let there be a passage by which the Water when hot may fly out and cold be poured on all things being thus prepared the Spirit of Wine prepared is put in through the lower Holes so as to touch the Holes then is it kindled and the Mercury is driven upwards through the middle Holes and resolved by the coldness of the Water and passeth out of the Alembick into the Receiver Thus is the true Spirit of Wine prepared but in the work never cease from refrigerating and pour on new Aqua Vitoe lest it burn too low In the Addition or Appendix of manual operations Basilius described this Spirit thus Take Wine burned rather Wine to be burned made of the Sal Armoniack of Tartar and Spirit of Common Wine which put in a strong Vessel that can endure the flame of Fire and kindle it with a Match of Sulphur and forthwith apply an Alembick of Iron or Copper with a large Receiver and the true fiery Spirit of Wine is resolved and distilled into a Liquor this is the true airy and fiery Spirit of Wine Secondly He impregnates Calx Vive or Quick Lime with the Menstruum described in Numb 18. from which he distills a Menstruum yet stronger called Spirit of Calx Vive Calx Vive saith he is strengthened and made more fiery by the pure and not sophisticated Spirit of Wine made of Sal Armoniack and Spirit of Common Wine very often cohobated to which Calx add the Sal alkali of Tartar the dryed Faeces of the same Salt being also added from which being thoroughly mix'd distil the true Spiritus Gehenneus or Spirit of Hell in which are great Mysteries hidden the method of acquiring this Spirit I have told you which observe keep and accept for a farewel-Gift Basilius in Repet Lapidis in Cap. de Calce viva Mark saith he in the End of this Book De Medicinis supernaturalibus I told you of the Virtues and Qualities of Precious Stones but there are also found many Stones despicable and ignoble yet of great Virtue as Experience testifies though the ignorant and unskilful will scarce give Credit to these sayings and cannot conceive those things with their dull Brains yet will I demonstrate it by an Example of Calx vive which Calx is according to the judgment of the Vulgar of little value and contemptible in obscurity yet nevertheless there is powerful Virtue in it which appears in the application of it against most grievous Diseases but its triumphant and transcendent efficacy being in a manner unknown to most Men for the sake therefore of those that inquire into Natural and Supernatural Mysteries do I discover the secrets of
this Book as a farewel also will I reveal the Mystery of Calx vive and declare first the way of distilling the Spirit of it which work does indeed require an expert Artist well informed before in this preparation 20. The Spirit of Calx vive of Basilius In Fine Lib. de Med. Supernatur TAke of Calx vive what quantity you will grind and prepare it on a Marble into an impalpable Powder whereto pour of the Spirit of Wine Menstruum in Numb 18. so much as the pulverized Calx is able to imbibe no Spirit swimming upon the Calx Then apply an Alembick lute well and put a Receiver to it abstract the Spirit from it in a most gentle Balneo this abstraction must be repeated eight or ten times this Spirit strengthens much the Spirit of the Calx which is thereby made more fiery Take the remaining Calx out of the Cucurbit grind it very well and add to it of the Salt of Tartar Alkali a tenth part and as much as all of the Earth of the Salt of Tartar or matter left in extracting the Salt of Tartar and well dryed distil them all being well mix'd out of a Retort well luted three parts of which must be empty in a Receiver large and firm Take notice that the Receiver into which the Beak of the Retort is put must have a Pipe one Fingers breadth to which another Receiver is to be applyed in which must be a little quantity of Spirit of Wine Menstruum in Numb 18. then distil with a soft Fire and the Phlegm will ascend into the first Receiver the Phlegm being distilled increase the Fire and then will come a white Spirit in the Form of the white Spirit distilled from Vitriol Philosophical which will not descend into the Phlegm but through the aforesaid Pipe into the other Receiver there joyning it self with the Spirit of Wine even as Fire is easily joyned with Fire Take notice if this Spirit of Calx be not rightly prepared or impregnated with the like Spirit of Wine by the aforesaid cohobations it is in distilling mixed with its Phlegm extinguished and loseth its Virtue so difficult a thing it is to drive deeply into Nature she reserving many things to her self This Spirit being now mix'd with the Spirit of Wine take away the Receiver pour out the Phlegm and keep the Spirits of the Calx and Wine wearily Observe both these Spirits are separated not without difficulty for they embrace one another and in distillation ascend together Wherefore if you kindle the Spirits being mix'd and united in a Glass Vessel the Spirit of Wine is burned but the Spirit of the Calx remains in the Glass which keep diligently This is a great Arcanum few Spirits do exceed its efficacy if you knew the use of it its qualities can scarce be described by way of Compendium This Spirit dissolves Crabs Eyes andthe hardest Cristals these three distilled together through an Alembick and many times cohobated make a Liquor three drops of which taken in warm Wine do break and dissolve the Gravel and Stone in Mans Body this Liquor expells the very root or cause of that Disease without any pain to the Patient This Spirit of Calx at the beginning is of a Sky-Colour but being gently rectified appears white transparent and clear leaving some few Faeces behind it This Spirit dissolves the most fixed Jewels and Precious Stones and on the contrary fixeth all Volatile Spirits by its transcendent heat This Spirit overcomes all Symptoms whatsoever of the Podagra though never so knotty and tartarous all which it dissolves and radically expells If Spirit of Wine acuated with Vegetable Sal Harmoniack be kindled the Spirit of common Wine is burned but the Sal Harmoniack being incombustible ascends in the Form of a Liquor and is called the Fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius but the same Spirit of Wine joyned with the Sal Harmoniack being absorbed by the Calx vive and then distilled into it self and then kindled the Spirit of common Wine is indeed consumed by the Flame as before but the Spirit of the Calx or rather the Vegetable Sal Harmoniack ascends not as before but remains in the bottom of the Glass because more digested and made more fixed But for the greater elucidation of these Spirits we thought good to add another Description of the Spirit of Calx 21. The Simple Spirit of Calx vive of Basilius In manualibus Operationibus TAke pure Calx vive burn it in a Potters Furnace with a most strong Fire to reduce it to an exact maturity grind it very fine upon a Marble and put it in a Cucurbit pour to it Spirit of Wine made of Philosophical Tartar as I shall teach in my method of making Aurum potabile that the Calx may be made like thin Pap this being done distil from thence the Phlegm till the Calx be dry pour on new Spirit of Wine and draw of repeat it six times then grind the matter very curiously and put it in a Cellar to be dissolved per deliquium and within a few days a Liquor will run from it which being gather'd and distilled by a Retort in Sand first sends forth a Phlegm to be kept by it self after that a Spirituous Liquor which also keep apart Now take Cristals pulverized mix them with the same weight of Vive or Mineral Sulphur burn this matter continually stirring it till all the Sulphur be burned away then reverberate in an open Fire the space of three Hours this done pour the aforesaid Liquor to this matter Take also Crabs Eyes to which also pour the same Liquor of quick Lime in another Glass let them be digested fourteen Days in a heat strong enough and from both will ascend an humidity upon the superficies which decant finely into a little Glass and rectifie in Balneo and a Liquor will remain in the bottom three grains of which administred in Wine have produced very great and admirable effects This Medicine cures also radically the Stone of the Bladder and Kidneys as well in Men as Women The Spirit of Wine made of Philosophical Tartar which Basilius promised to give in his method of making Aurum potabile will confirm all the aforesaid Menstruums of Basilius for those are made of Sal Harmoniack or the Volatile Salt of Tartar being divers ways prepared but this Spirit of Philosophical Wine is acuated with the Salt of Tartar not indeed the common Alcali but that being reduced together with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine into a liquid substance for we are to be admonished that it is not always necessary to make the Coelum or Heaven of Lully and the rest of the Menstruums of this kind with the Salt of Tartar as being Philosophically Volatilized but that sometimes also the same Menstruum may be made of the Salt of Tartar without the sublimation or reduction of it into the Vegetable Sulphur of Nature by cohobating only the Spirit of Philosophical Wine upon
wherewith you will be able to accomplish many Experiments This is that Mercury which hath afforded us most seasonable succour as shall be manifested in the following Experiments To this exanimated Earth restore the animated Spirit by various imbibitions according to the ways described in the preparations of Vegetable Sal Armoniacks because saith Lully there is but one way and method in the animal as in the Vegetable nothing varying But the ways of making these Salts being very tedious we will for a conclusion add Lully's way of abbreviation The Vegetable Sal Armoniack made by the accurtation of Lully In Testam Noviss THis Sulphur of Nature may my Son with the help of God be wonderfully abbreviated and the way is this To take our liquid Pitch after the Phlegm is drawn off and put it into a Cucurbit in a Fire of the third degree and extract the Oyl till the Earth remains dry and burned My Son calcine as I have taught you and purify the Earth and to separate the Salt from it and upon it pour a forth part of the Spirit which is in the second Water distilled out of the Ritch and digest as above then drawing off the Liquor superfluous insipid and to be cast away pour again a fourth part digest and dry as before till the Earth be pregnant the sign will be that nothing more of the aforesaid Phlegm or Liquor will distil sublime and you will have the Vegetable Sulphur clean and pure and of the same Virtue with the first I charge you my Son with the fear of God not to reveal this most excellent way of abbreviation to any Man Parisinus in his way of making Vegetable Sal Armoniack declares the Oyl extracted out of the Pitch of Philosophical Wine to be superfluous and inconsonant Separate saith he all the superfluous unctuosities which do burn the perfect and precious Elements mix'd and latent in that Vegetable Matter and are repugnant to that composition and a little after After the separation of the superfluous unctuosity and aereal substance which blacks and burns the other precious Elements of this composition pour to it its ardent and celestial Spirit Yea Lully himself has in some Experiments before declared that Oyl as also the Phlegm of this Wine to be of no Virtue in the present Work nevertheless in this accurtation of Sal Armoniack he not only useth the said Oyl and indeed which you may wonder at for the abbreviation of a most tedious labour but also affirms that Sal Armoniack thus prepared is of the same Virtue with the rest Sometimes he used also the Water or animated Spirit together with the Oyl for present abbreviation thus Another Vegetable Sal Armoniack by the Accurtation of Lully Lib. de materia Vegetabili in practica septima TAke the best red Wine distil the ardent Spirit according to Art so as to burn Cotton after that the Phlegm upon the matter remaining in the bottom of the Alembick being thick as liquid Pitch pour the Phlegm half a foot above it let it boyl three Hours decant the tinged Phlegm pour on other repeating so oft till no more will be tinged if you have not Phlegm enough you must draw off the tinged Phlegms in Balneo which being evaporated a Vegetable Oyl will remain in the bottom of the Glass the tincture being drawn out of the Phlegm the matter will remain like a dry Earth upon this dry Earth pour of the ardent Spirit the height of four Fingers let it boyl two Hours that which is in the mean time distill'd pour again to the Earth let it settle two Hours then decant the animated Spirit from the Spirit or Soul of the Earth pour new Spirit upon the Earth doing as before three times The Earth being black and calcined put into a Glass with a long Neck and pour the Vegetable Oyl aforesaid to it digest in Ashes ten days then decant and put it into an Alembick to which add a fourth part of the ardent Spirit animated digest in a vaporous Balneo for twenty four Hours then continue the superaddition of the other three parts of the animated Spirit every twenty four Hours then distil away the superfluous insipid and useless Liquor gently by Ashes and augmenting the Fire by degrees sublime the Volatile Salt c. Hitherto of the various preparations of Vegetable Sal Armoniacks We will now proceed to the other part of the Coelum Vinosum namely the several ways of reducing these Salts into a liquid substance The Adepts did for the most part distil through an Alembick one part of Vegetable Sal Armoniack with three parts of the Aqua ardens to which Liquor they added again one part of the aforesaid Salt and distill'd and that they repeated three and sometimes four times to make the weight of the Salt and Water equal for the greater the quantity of the same Salt the stronger is the quality of the Menstruum then lastly they circulated the Menstruum thereby to make it more pure and excellent But though this Method was more in use among the Adepts yet either their curiosity or sedulity found out also other ways so instead of the Aqua ardens wherewith they prepared the Vegetable Sal Armoniack as well as the Menstruum they sometimes took Aqua ardens circulated or the Heaven or Essence of Philosophical Wine described in Numb 1. It is thus done 31. Coelum Vegetabile of Lully Circulated Lib. de materia Vegetabili in practica quinta TAke the best white Wine distil the ardent Spirit till it burns Cotton put this Spirit into a Circulatory two thirds empty strengthen the Mouth with Wax and Bury it in hot Dung with its Mouth downward for the Spirit to be circulated and digested the space of forty five Days or till it swims above more pure and clear in the Form of an Oyl see the Heaven or Essence of Philosophical Wine in Numb 1. having seen this sign take out the Glass warily and with a Needle perforate the Wax that the impure may flow out then suddenly turn up the Circulatory that the pure or more fine may remain which we call the ardent Spirit circulated which is of a most delicious Sent now take the residue from which the Spirit of Wine was drawn and distil the Phlegm and upon the matter remaining like melted Pitch pour the said Phlegm so as to swim four Fingers above it digest two days in Balneo decant the tinged Phlegm and pour on other and that repeat so often till the Phlegm will be no more tinged which is a thing useless in this operation Now the Earth calcine in a Reverberatory pulverize put it in an Alembick and imbibe with an eighth part of the ardent Spirit circulated digest in Balneo and distil some certain superfluous moisture by Ashes continue this imbibition digestion and distillation till the Earth be impregnated with the dry Spirit which was in the ardent Spirit circulated of which the sign will be if it doth almost all
or second Experiment being both of the same strength then distil in hot Ashes with an Alembick and Receiver well luted which being all distill'd add new Salt to it again observing the same weight as before of the Salt as well as Water then distil again as before and this same way distil four times to every distillation adding new Salt as before and distilling in Ashes and so will you have a Mercurial Water fit for all Physical Operations Then take common Mercury washed with Vinegar and Salt and strained through a Goats Skin put it in a Vessel and if there be one Ounce of Mercury add four Ounces of the aforesaid Mineral Water and having put on a blind Head in Ashes let it boyl gently and it will in a short time be all dissolved empty the dissolution into another Vessel warily that if any Terrestreity be left in the bottom it may be separated from the said dissolution as a thing of no effect you may this way dissolve as much Mercury as you will Then take the aforesaid Mercury dissolved and putrify thirty Days in Balneo or hot Dung which must be changed every ten Days that the heat may endure and not be extinguished having putrify'd remove the Vessel and putting on an Alembick to with an Urinal and Receiver well luted distil all the Water in Balneo and the Mercury will remain in the Vessel white as Snow then pour to it so much of this Water which you now distilled as to be four Fingers above it the rest of the Water keep in its Vessel well stopp'd in a cold place then putting a blind Head upon its Vessel and sealing the Joynts putrify a Natural Day then taking away the blind Head and putting on an Alembick with a Receiver close luted distil in Ashes and increase the Fire that the Soul may pass over into its distilled Water lastly distillation ceasing let the Vessel cool take away the Receiver and keep it well stopp'd for that which is distill'd therein is the animated Spirit but to the matter remaining in the Vessel that is the Urinal pour again of the distilled Water so much as will swim four Fingers above it and having put on a blind Head putrify as before and taking away the blind Head by turns and putting on an Alembick with its Receiver wherein you kept the other part of the animated Spirit the Joynts being well luted distil again by Ashes and lastly increase the Fire for the Soul to go over into the distilled Water as before then the Vessel being cold keep the animated Spirit in the Receiver as before well stopp'd and to the matter remaining in the bottom pour again new Water as before and putrify as before distilling in Ashes pour the Spirit into the same Receiver where you kept the other thus repeat the Magistery till the Body remains dead black and void of all moisture which you will prove by this sign take a little of this black Body or Earth and lay it upon a hot Plate and if it fumes not nor flyes away from Fire then take that Earth and put into a little Glass-Globe wel luted and the Mouth well stopp'd set in a reverberating Fire the space of twenty four hours then remove that calcined Earth and put it in hot ashes very well stopp'd to prevent the attracting of any moisture Then take the animated Water and rectify it seven times in Ashes which animated and vivifyed Water divide into two parts whereof one we will use for the vivisying of the Earth the other for the dissolving of Sol and Luna Then take one part of the said Water and know the weight of the Earth reserved before grind first put it in an Urinal then pour upon it of the aforesaid Water a fourth part of its weight and joyning a blind Head to it well luted set the Vessel in Balneo not to touch the Water of the Balneo but for the matter to be heated by the vapour only and so let it remain four days then having taken away the blind Head and put on an Alembick distil in Ashes with a gentle heat like that of the Sun and an insipid Liquor will flow over which cast away as nothing worth then again imbibe with a fourth part of the animated Spirit as above digesting as above and distilling the Liquor by Ashes as above This Magistery thus repeat till the whole Body hath re-assumed its Liquor or Soul and remains white as Snow which Body take out dry and grind being ground put it into a small Cucurbit strongly luted with lutum sapientioe and the Mouth of the Cucurbit stopp'd with Cotton and set the Vessel in a Furnace of Ashes but take notice if the Fire be too violent the matter will turn into Oyl and cannot be sublimed besides there will be danger of breaking the Vessel as has happened to us and therefore we are willing to advise you to continue an easy heat till the matter be sublimed This also observe that this way of subliming may also be done in the Fire of an Athanor but then the matter will not be sublimed in less than the space of three or four days which sublimation will indeed be most white as the Scales of Fish or as Talk Then warily take out the Magnesia the first matter of our common Mercury our Sal Armoniack our Sulphur which keep in a small Cucurbit well stopp'd in Ashes warm as the Sun but that which remains in the bottom and cannot be sublimed cast away because of no efficacy its precious Seed being vacuated Here he dissolves Mercury with calcined Jupiter upon an Iron Plate per deliquium with which he cohobates the Vegetable Salt of the first or second Experiment Salt of Tartar impregnated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or sublimed into a Vegetable Sal Armoniack in equal weight yet by degrees through an Alembick instead of this Menstruum may be taken the Vegetable Heaven of Lully with this Menstruum he dissolves common Argent vive and reduceth it into a white Oyl out of which Oyl he draws the animated Spirit repeating the Work till the Earth of the Mercury remains black fixed and without fume on a hot Plate This exanimated and reverberated Earth he revivifies by imbibing it with a fourth part of the animated Spirit seven times rectify'd till it becomes white and volatile which then he sublimes into a Mercurial Sal Armoniack the making of which differs not from the antecedent Descriptions of the Sal Armoniacks but if it be mixed with four parts of Lully 's Vegetable Heaven that which is call'd the incalcinated Menstruum is made from thence and so much the stronger as that Sal Armoniack is stronger than the Oyl of Mercury but if this first matter of Mercury be circulated according to its time you will make a Menstruum deserving the Name of Mercurial Heaven Guido prepares the incalcinated Menstruum not from common Mercury but the Mercury of Metals Sol or Luna 47. The
the Earthly feculency is to be wholly taken away by sublimation c. This sublimation or depuration of Mercury he describes in the third Chapter following The Craft Way therefore of removing the Earthy superfluous substance from it is to sublime it once or twice with Vitrum Vitriol formerly so called and Salt till the substance of it becomes most white having ascended most white cast it into Aqua fervens till it returns into Argent vive then take the Water from it and Work with it because it is not good to operate with it except it be first purifyed this way and therefore saith Avicen The first things to begin with is the sublimation of Mercury after that the solution of it that it may return into its first Matter and sublime it wholly Then put clean Bodies in the same weighed into this clean Mercury c. If we respect the sound of the Words Bernard in his long Argumentation corrected Arnold deservedly but if the Sense of the Words here is nothing deserving Correction Aqua fervens the Name of Arnolds Menstruum is the chief and almost only thing concealed by Arnold in the whole Practice of his Book which had he manifested he would have prostituted all the more secret Chymy but that he meant not common boyling Water is proved by the following considerations 1. Gold or Silver must be dissolved into Argent vive or the first matter first Being Essence c. by Argent vive not common but Philosophically prepared Nothing reduceth Gold into a first Matter but a first Matter as here the first Matter of common Mercury clean Mercury or the Mercury of Mercury The Adepts have a Rule That a first Matter prepares a first Matter Therefore as Mercury prepares Mercury an Essence an Essence a Magistery a Magistery so the Philosophers Mercury or the primum Ens Essence c. of Sol or Luna cannot be prepared but by the Philosophers Mercury primum Ens or some Essence wherefore by Aqua fervens in this Receipt we understand the Essence of Mercury but not in the least common boyling Water 2. Clean Argent vive or the first Matter of Mercury made of Argent vive sublimed by Aqua fervens cannot be running Mercury because it is in the Form of a Liquor For First The dissolution of Gold made with this clean Mercury is to be filtred Grind time after time and imbibe and boyl-in-Balneo then distil through a Filter till it meaning the Metal dissolved in the Menstruum Chap. 3. goes through Secondly In the Dissolution of Gold the Tincture only is extracted the Body being left Be patient saith he and extract not the Tincture hastily nor seek to have things perfect hastily or swiftly for the first Error in this Art is haste c. Bodies dissolved are reduced to the Nature of a Spirit and are never separated as neither Water mixed with Water and that because Nature rejoyceth in Nature as the Spouse is joyned with the Bridegroom but those things which are not dissolved have not pure parts except they be mollified Therefore my dearest you want wherewith to operate in the dissolution of the Stone that is you must separate their purer parts from them that the Work may be effected with lighter the heavier parts being cast away Cap. 3. Thirdly Mercury or the first Matter of Gold prepared with clean Mercury is also liquid Chap. 3. The beginning of our Work is to dissolve our Stone Gold or Silver into Mercury or into a Mercurial Water Chap. 4. No wonder therefore if Mercury prepared by Aqua fervens be called Water It is saith he expedient to dissolve Bodies by Water that is by Argent vive Cap. 3. Fourthly Because it extracts an Oyl from every thing Put saith he of the purest Mercury so much as to swim four Fingers or more which is better upon the substance of the Body from which you would extract an Oyl then kindle a gentle Fire under it till you see the Oyl that is the Air of it by little and little ascend or be elevated upon the Mercury gather it warily and keep it apart c. Cap. 10. 3. This Process of Arnold is ordinary and call'd by the Adepts The way of separating the Elements which cannot be done without either a Vegetable or Mineral Menstruum 4. Aqua fervens among the Adepts is the usual Name of Menstruum Dissolve saith Lully the purest Sol in its own Aqua fervens then separate the Phlegm and the Sol will remain below c. Codicil cap. 43. Pag. 203. That Fire burns Gold more than Elemental Fire because it contains heat of a terrestrial Nature and resolves without any fortitude force effervescence or corrosion which common Fire cannot do we therefore enjoyn you to make the Magistery of the hottest things you can get and you will have an Aqua calida which resolves every strong thing Vade mecum Pag. 272. Which Form of Speech Bernhard himself knew out of Morienus Saying Know that our Laton is red but of no benefit to us till it be made white Know also that Aqua tepida calida and fervens Synonima's of one Menstruum penetrates and whitens even as it self is white and a moist vaporous Fire effects all things Again Bendegid Johannes Mehungus and Haly You that seeking Day and Night spend your Mony waste your Wealth and Time tormenting your Wits in vain about the subtilties of Books I admonish you out of Charity through Compassion as a Father moved toward his Son that you would I say whiten the red Laton by a white odoriferous Aqua tepida but tear so many Sophistical Books so many Methods and leave such great subtilties believe me that it may be well with you Lib. Alchym 770. Vol. Theat 11. Chym. 5. It is by the blackness of the dissolution proved that Arnold's Aqua fervens was a simple Vegetable Menstruum the black appearing above saith he gather apart because that is the Oyl and the true sign of dissolution because this which is dissolved attains to the end of sublimity and is therefore separated from the lower parts ascending upwards and aspiring to higher places Cap. 3. Rofarii These things we are willing to say not impeaching the Reverence and Honour of Bernhard but we contemplate and defend the Truth and Experiment of Arnold The Ninth KIND Vegetable Compounded Menstruums made of Simple Vegetable Menstruums and Things tinging being first fixed 51. The Circulatum majus or Metallick Acetum acerrimum of Paracelsus Lib. 10. Arch. pag. 38. IF common Mercury ought to be reduced into the first liquid Being then is it first to be mortify'd and deprived of its Form and that is done by several sublimations with Vitriol and common Salt that at last it may be made like sixed Cristal Then dissolve it in its Matrix namely in the primum Ens of Salt the Circulatum minus made of Salt or the Water of Salt circulated described above in Numb 27. putrify a Month add to it
Menstruums as well of this as other Adepts are of no validity The same Earth which being less than well dissolved is the cause of opacity in Bernhard's permanent Menstruum the very same exactly dissolved is the cause of limpidity with Thomas inspissating and coagulating the Water as well if not better than if it had been less dissolved The diaphaneity of Menstruums is defended by Lully Parisinus and most of the Adepts Lully proclaims his Coelum Vinosum to be clear bright and resplendent as the Stars of Heaven In Test novis pag. 8. Of which very Menstruum Parisinus thus in Appendice Elucidarii pag. 273. Vol. 6. Theat Chym. Then will you see a Quintessence brighter and clearer than a Diamond which exceeds the splendor of the Stars so as to be doubted whether it be contained in the Glass or no. The Tenth KIND Vegetable Menstruums compounded made of Vegetable Menstruums compounded and Metallick Bodies 52. The Neapolitan Menstruum of Lully In Exper. 13. TAke Luna and calcine with common Argent vive that is by amalgaming and then grinding the Amalgame with common Salt prepared then evaporate the Mercury with a most gentle Fire then take away the Salt with hot Water distilled and so you will have Luna calcined Take the calcined Luna and pour to it four parts of the Mercurial Water described by the three hot Vessels before in Numb 46. and the Vessel being covered with its Antenotorium set upon Ashes so as to boyl gently and you will perceive a Green or Sea Colour which Liquor pour warily into another Vessel so that the Faeces be not disturb'd the Matter remaining at the bottom dry with an easie Fire like the heat of the Sun Then know the weight of the said Calx and pour again four parts of the said Mercurial Water upon one part of the said Calx and the Vessel being covered with its Antenotorium as above let it boyl again gently the dissolution pour into another Vessel as before and joyn it with the first dissolution but remember to keep the said dissolved Matter continually in Balneo till the whole Work of dissolution is compleated repeating the Magistery so oft 〈◊〉 the whole Body of Luna be fully dissolved and decanted over which has indeed hapned to us at the second time and set it in putrefaction fourteen Days Then put it in an Urinal with its Receiver and Alembick very well luted and distil in a Furnace of Ashes then increase the Fire that the Soul of the Body may ascend into its Water The Vessel being cold examine the weight of the Earth of Luna remaining in the bottom for I believe of one whole Ounce there will not remain above two Eights Drachms of the Body not dissolved the rest will be perfectly dissolved that is distilled But if more of the undissolved Earth remains then pour to it so much of its Water lately distilled as to be three Fingers above it and the Vessel being covered with an Antenotorium put it in Balneo for a Natural Day then taking away the Antenotorium and putting on an Alembick with a Receiver very close distil by Ashes at the end of the distillation increase the Fire as before This repeat till the whole Body of Luna be pass'd through the Alembick by an airy revolution and thus will you by the Help of God have a Menstruum with which you may dissolve Sol. Annotations HItherto we have by Argent vive acuated either the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or Menstruums made with this Spirit which had so good a faculty of dissolving that most of the Adepts being content with these Mercurial Waters desisted from inquiring after stronger Menstruums The Mercurial Water which Lully terms Glorious he saith is sufficient yea a proper Menstruum to make the Philosophers Mercury or Metallick Sal Armoniack out of all Metals and Minerals You must know saith he my Son that in the Truth and Faith of God no Sulphur of Nature of any Metal can be sublimed without this Water of common Argent vive Test Noviss Pag. 12. But in this Tenth Kind of Menstruums the Adepts made yet other Menstruums adding moreover divers Bodies according to the intended several uses to the aforesaid Mercurial Waters Lully to make a more Noble Menstruum for the dissolution of Gold added Silver to the Mercurial Menstruum If perhaps he wanted a Menstruum for Pearls he joyned Pearls with the Mercurial Menstruum If he had a mind to make Aurum potabile he prepared a Menstruum out of Gold and Silver as more suitable to this purpose yet with some Mercurial Menstruum and so of others as you will observe in the following Examples 53. The precious Menstruum for Pearls of Lully In Comp. Animoe transmut Pag. Vol. 3. Theat Chym. TAke the Liquor of Lunaria of the third or second rectification Philosophical Aqua ardens rectifyed pour it upon Argent vive so as to swim three Fingers above it and putrefie three Natural Days and a great part of it will be dissolved with the Water of Lunaria which decant and pour fresh Liquor upon the Faeces putrefie in Dung or Balneo and repeat till all the Mercury is reduced into Water then joyn all the distillations together and draw off in Balneo and when you see it in a manner thick so as to be half a Pound of the Water of Mercury and Argent vive Vegetable and Mineral putrifie six Natural Days then put in Pearls and they will within ten Hours be dissolved then exuberate them by the way which I taught in the exuberation of Metals till they be converted into a Sal Harmoniack or Sulphur Naturoe of Pearls whereof dissolve one Ounce in a Pound of its Menstruum aforesaid and distil four times then put in Pearls and they will in half a quarter of an Hour be dissolved by reason of the greater subtilty of the Menstruum As Silver is joyned to the Mercurial Menstruum made by the three Fire-hot Vessels for the Neopolitan Menstruum which may be so call'd because it was reveal'd to Lully at Neapolis by Arnold de villa nova so this Menstruum for Pearls is made of the Sal Armoniack of Pearls and the Mercurial Menstruum or Glorious Water of Mercury which if they be Circulated together a convenient time you will make thereof a Coelum perlatum 54. The Mercurial compounded Menstruum of Lully In Experim 34. TAke three Ounces of Luna and three Ounces of Sol calcine them severally with Mercury as in the former Experiments in the Neopolitan Menstruum then evaporate it from the said Metals being calcined put them severally in distinct solutory Vessels and put upon them so much of the incalcinated Menstruum described before in Numb 45. as will swim four Fingers above it cover the Vessel with an Antenotorium putrifie in Balneo two Days and two Days more in Ashes with a heat like that of the Sun decant the dissolution and dry the remainder being dryed pour upon them of the incalcinated Menstruum
again as before putrifying in a close Vessel in Balneo then upon Ashes and emptying the several dissolutions of Gold and Silver into their several Vessels as before If any thing remains undissolved dry and dissolve as before till all the remainder be fully dissolved then putrifie both dissolutions twenty Natural Days being putrifyed take the dissolutions and put them severally into their Urinals with their Receivers and having luted the Joynts well distil the Waters of both Metals in Balneo in the bottom of the Vessels will remain the Bodies like melted Honey or Oyl pour upon those Oyls again of their own Waters The Menstruum now drawn from the Oyls distilled only by Balneo so as to swim three Fingers above the Matter cover both Vessels with their Antenotoriums and putrifie for a Natural Day then take away the Antenotoriums and put on Alembicks lute well and distil upon Ashes lastly increase the Fire that the Soul or Element of Air may pass over into both their distilled Waters and last of all increase the Fire to the highest degree that the Element of Fire may pass into the Air But to the Composition of Luna this Redness or Fire is not necessary Distillation being compleated let the Vessels cool take the Receivers from them and keep them very well stopp'd that they may not respire and put distinct Schedules or Inscriptions upon them that when you have occasion you may not take one for the other Then again to the Earths of Gold and Silver left in distillation pour their Waters distilled by Balneo as before and having put an Antenotorium to it putrifie as before then distil by Ashes each Vessel having its own Receiver wherein you kept the Souls of those Bodies and thus repeat the Magistery till the Earths are exanimated and destitute of radical moisture Then take those Earths grind well and joyn them together then put them in a Glass Egg and keep them in hot Ashes till I tell you what to do with them Then take the animated Spirit of Luna and rectifie it seven times in Ashes then take the animated Spirit of Sol and after the same manner rectifie it seven times in Ashes the limosities remaining Earth which the Spirit of Sol will in every rectification eject keep very close being the Element of Fire in the form of an Earth Having rectifyed take the animated Spirit of Sol and the animated Spirit of Luna and joyn them together then Circulate in a large Vessel as that wherein we Circulated the simple Menstruum continue this Circulation sixty Days in which time you will have a true Mineral Menstruum not acid but made of Minerals as Mercury Gold and Silver by which you may operate innumerable Experiments Hereto ought to be referred the Menstruum which is called by Basilius 55. The sweet Spirit of Mercury of Basilius Cap. 3. Libri de rebus nat supernat TAke of Natural Cinabar or Oar of Mercury and of the best Oar of Gold equal parts to which being pulverized and mixed pour the Oyl of Mercury made of Mercury sublimed and putrifyed that is Oyl of Mercury sublimed alone no other Ingredients being added except the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or some Vegetable Menstruum without which it cannot be made digest them for a Month and you will have a Celestial rather than Terrestrial extraction draw off the extraction in Balneo and the Phlegm being taken away in the bottom will remain a ponderous Oyl dissolving all Metals in a moment to which add of the Spirit of Wine Philosophical or Fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius three parts Circulate in a Pellican to a Blood redness and incomparable sweetness being Circulated pour it upon Tartar calcined to whiteness and distil the Spirit of Mercury with a strong Fire the Spirit of Wine remaining with the Tartar We must distinguish between this Spirit and another of the same Name lest one be taken for the other For Basilius prepared also a Spirit of Mercury from the white Spirit of Vitriol of which you may read in several places in the Book de particularibus especially in the particular of Luna a Description of which Spirit is lower among the Mineral Menstruums because it is acid But the other namely this our Spirit of Mercury is most sweet and fragrant which you have also in the particular of Luna as also in the seventh Chapter of the Book de rebus nat supernat where he dissolves the Crocus of Luna in the white Spirit of Vitriol as also in the most fragrant Spirit of Mercury Parisinus for Alchymical Tinctures made a Mercurial compounded Menstruum of his Circulatum majus and the first or middle substance of common Argent vive thus 56. The incalcinated Menstruum of Parisinus Cap. G. Apertoris TAke of the Circulatum majus described before in Numb 50. one Pound of Mercury prepared as we shall teach in the tenth Chapter two Ounces mix and observe that true putrefaction be made with this Menstruum But when first it is incalcinated that is mix'd with such Mercury it is no more used for Men's Bodies but only as Medicines for Metals now the said tenth Chapter is this as followeth Of reducing common Mercury into the first Matter or Middle Substance Now my Son we will give you full instruction and demonstration of decocting and reducing common Argent vive into its first Matter or middle substance and as in the foregoing Chapters we declared the way of reincrudating the two Luminaries so now we will demonstrate the ways and means of decocting the said Mercury First we will teach the way of distinguishing good Mercury from bad sophisticated and corrupted which way is to take common Mercury brought out of Spain in Skins sealed or if you cannot have this take any other and put a little of it in a Silver Spoon heated so as to make the Mercury evaporate and if the remainder of it be of a white or citrine Colour 't is good but if of another Colour bad and not at all sit for our Work because sophisticated Then take of Roman Vitriol two Pounds melt it in a glazed Vessel being melted add one pound of Mercury and as much of common Salt prepared stir and shake till they be all mix'd evaporating the moisture with such a heat as that of the Sun then take out the Matter grind and put it in a Sublimatory and sublime the Mercury by the usual degrees of Fire The Vessels being cold take out the sublimation to which being put into a Retort pour of the Vegetable Water without Phlegm Philosophical Aqua Vitoe rectify'd about three or four Fingers let it boyl in Balneo two Hours then distil in Ashes that the Vegetable Water may ascend then cover the Retort with Ashes and increasing the Fire the Mercury vive will ascend into the Aqua ardens decant the Water from the Mercury which again sublime with new Matters and that six times always casting away the Faeces But take notice that
common Gold The Philosophers Green Lyon therefore is green Gold Gold vive which is not as yet fixed but left imperfect by Nature and for this reason hath it the Virtue of reducing all Bodies into their first Matter and making those Bodies which are fixed Spiritual and Volatile Tract de Adrop Pag. 547. Thirdly It may also be called Lyon because as all other Animals give place to a Lyon so all Bodies yield to the power of Gold vive which is our Mercury Tract Adrop Pag. 548. Fourthly This Noble Infant is called Green Lyon because when it is dissolved it is cloathed with a Green Garment Yet out of the Green Lyon of Fools Vitriol is with a violent Fire extracted that which we call Aqua fortis in which the said Lyon ought to be elixirated Medulla Philos Pag. 139. These things spoken of the Green Lyon are also to be understood of Adrop being a Synonymous term of the same Matter Take saith Ripley Adrop that is the Green Lyon Now as to Adrop he declared as followeth Adrop saith he is Gold and Silver in power but not in sight as Rhasis saith and our Gold and Silver according to the Philosophers is not common Gold and Silver for our Gold and Silver are airy which in order to be well fermented ought to be joyned with the beloved common Gold Forasmuch as the Philosopher saith That Adrop in its prosundity is airy Gold and Adrop it self is called Leprous Gold And to these Sayings seems to assent Guido the Greek Philosopher speaking of the Mercurial or Menstrual Spirit the Spirit or Blood of the Green Lyon which is extracted out of the Natural Adrop by Art where he writes And that Spirit is Sol extracted out of the Philosophers Solary Water Arsenick and Luna And in the same place presently adds The Body is the ferment of the Spirit and the Spirit the ferment of the Body and the Earth wherein lies the Fire dries imbibes and fixeth the Water and the Air wherein lies the Water the Air which lies in the Water it ought to be read according to the Doctrine of separating the Elements washeth tingeth and perfecteth the Earth and Fire and so Guido's Saying that they tinge and perfect ought to be understood that the Stone the Menstruum drawn from Adrop or the Green Lyon is sufficient for the compleating of it self into an Elixir and that no Exotick or Heterogeneous Matter as he affirms is or ought to be introduced to it but all the parts of it are co-essential and concrete because the Philosophers meaning was to compleat that work in a short space above the Earth which Nature scarce perfecteth in a thousand Years under the Earth Unskilfully therefore according to the Opinion of the Philosophers as Guido saith do they proceed that seek to obtain a ferment from common Silver and Gold for our select Body For that Matter in which is Argent vive clean and pure not most is ill read throughly brought to perfection by Nature is as Guido affirms after compleat purification a thousand times better than the Bodies of Sol and Luna vulgarly decocted by the Natural heat of the Sun Concord Lully Guidon Pag. 323. A certain Philosopher saith He goes on Discoursing of the same Adrop A fume white is drawn from its own Mines which if rightly gathered and again sprinkled upon its own Mines will there make a fixation and so the true Elixir will in a short space of time be produced from it And certainly without those Liquors or Spirits that is the Water and Oyl of Mercury Menstruum this Alchymical Body which is Neutral or Adrop is not purged And that is the Alchymical Body which is called Leprous Body that is black at the beginning of the Work in which as saith Vincentius in his Speculum Naturale are Gold and Silver in power and not in aspect which in the Bowels of it is also airy Gold to which no Man can attain except the unclean Body be first cleansed which is without doubt after its compleat dealbation and then it is a thousand times better than are the Bodies of common Gold and Silver decocted by Natural heat The first Matter of this Leprous Body is a viscous Water inspissated in the Bowels of the Earth Of this Body according to the Judgment of Vincentius is made the great Elixir for the red and white the Name whereof is Adrop otherwise called the Philosophers black Lead out which Raymund commands us to extract an Oyl of a Golden Colour or such like Raymund adds But this Oyl is not necessary in the Vegetable Work namely for the inceration of the Vegetable Stone because solutions and coagulations are there soon made and if you can separate it from its Phlegm and after that ingeniously find out the Secrets of it you will in thirty Days be able to perfect the Philosophers Stone For this Oyl makes Medecines Tinctures penetrable sociable and amicable to all Bodies and in the World there is not a greater Secret Medul Phil. Chym. pag. 131. Ripley hath here recited various Synonima's of this Adrop We for a time will follow the Green Lyon by the way of Philosophical Lead as we are directed by Ripley in these very Words First understand when Avecenn saith that Gold and Silver are in Lead by Power and not by sight and they are left by Nature crude and half cocted and therefore that ought to be perfectly supplyed by Art which is left imperfect by Nature and by way of a ferment digesting and cocting that which is left crude For a ferment therefore take perfect Gold for a little paululum not paulatim of their fixed substance those fixed Bodies will draw and convert much of Bodies not fixed to the perfection of Gold and Silver And thus will Art help Nature that in a little space of time that may be done above the Earth which is not in a thousand Years done under the Earth And by this means you will understand how Lead contains in it the greatest Secrets of this Art For it hath in it Argent vive clean pure odoriferous not brought by Nature to perfection And this Argent vive is the Basis and Ground-Work of our pretious Medicine as well for Metallick as Humane Bodies so as to be the Elixir of Life curing all infirmities Which the Philosopher meant saying There is in Mercury whatsoever Wise Men seek From this are the Soul Body Spirit and Tincture drawn Moreover also in this Mercury is the Philosophers Fire always burning equally within the Vessel and not without It hath also a great attractive Virtue and Power in dissolving Sol and Luna and reducing the same into their first Matter With this Mercury are to be dissolved the Calxes of the perfect Bodies in congealing the aforesaid Mercurial Spirit c. Pupilla Pag. 295. But have a care that you operate not with common Saturn because commonly it is said Eat not of the Son whose Mother is corrupted and believe that
inspissated into a Gum in taste like Alum is by Ripley in the Description of the antecedent Menstruum in Numb 62. called Lully's Vitriol of Azoth or Vitriolum Azoqueum Lully in practica Testamenti Cap. 9. Pag. 159. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. makes a Menstruum of B. C. D. By B. he meant the said Green Lyon or common Argent vive which as he says elsewhere is more common to Men than vulgar Argent vive B. saith he Pag. 153. of the said practica signifies Argent vive which is a common substance consisting in every corruptible Body as appears by the property of it c. By C. he intended common Niter C. saith he signifies Salt Peter which hath a common acid Nature and like Argent vive by the property of its strong acid Nature Pag. 154.4 Volum aforesaid By D. he understood Gum Adrop made of the Green Lyon D. saith he signifies Azoquean Vitriol which corrupts and confounds all that is of the Nature and Being of common Argent vive In the same place Both C. and D. he calls the purer mediums Cap. 58. Theor. Test pag. 96. You must know Son saith he our Bath you may wash the Nature of Phil Argent vive so as Nature could never do that is to make Argent vive a compleat Elixir But Phil. Argent vive and Metals being both in Nature and in your Work extreams and extreams not being able to joyn themselves without the Virtue of a middle disposition which is between the softness of Argent vive and the hardness of Metal because there is by reason of that middle disposition a Natural complyance which is the cause of Conjunction between Body and Spirit as it is in every thing generated or in capacity of being generated In Nature are many mediums whereof two are more pure and more viscous the Green Azoquean Vitriols with the stony Nature which is the Salt and Nature of Stones By the help my Son of this contemptible Matter is our Stone which we have so much sought for procreated c. With the other of these mediums C the stony Nature Salt Peter Salt of Peter or Niter we have no business at present but being solicitous of D. Gum Adrop or the Azoquean Vitriol of Lully it will be worth while to consult Lully himself Of which the Philosopher Cap. 59. Theor. Testamenti thus Son saith he the Azoquean Lyon which is called Azoquean Vitriol is by Nature made of the peculiar substance of common Argent vive which is the Natural Root from whence Metal is procreated in its own Mine By common Argent vive he meant not the Vulgar but Philosophical Argent vive the natural Root as well of Metals as Minerals When we say common Mercury saith he we speak of that which the Philosophers understand and when we name the Vulgar we speak of that which is known to the Country-men and sold in Shops Cap. 1. Lib. Mercuriorum which the following Synonyma's of this Mercury namely Chaos Nature Origo Green Lyon Argent vive Unguent Oyl Pasture and Liquor of great Value do also testifie in Cap. 45. Theor. Test pag. 75. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. This common Argent vive or Green Lyon must be purged from its Superfluities before the Aroquean Vitriol of Lully or the Gum Adrop of Ripley can be made of it You must saith he my Son being a Student of this Science be stedfast and not search after this or that because this Art is not perfected with many things and therfore we tell you there is but one only Stone that is Sulphur and one only Medicine namely the composition of Sulphur to which nothing is to be added only the Terrestrial and Phlegmatick Superfluities taken away because they are and ought to be separated from our Argent vive which is more common to men than Vulgar Argent vive and is of greater Price Merit and stronger Union of Nature from which and the first forms of it it is necessary to separate by the known degrees of separation all that belongs not to the Sal Armoniack of Metals c. Cap. 18. Theor. Test pag. 33. Volum 4. Th. Chym. We say there is but one only Philosophical Stone volatile not yet fixed or matter of a Menstruum extracted from the things aforesaid by our Magistery And therefore when it comes newly into the World you must not add any other Powder or any other Water nor anything incongruous to it more than that which is born in it being radical to its own Nature and the Mother of it which feeds and carryed it that is Sulphur which formed the Stone in a Celestial Colour But before you extract distil it the Stone throughly purge and cleanse it from all its Phlegmamatick Terrestrial and corruptible Infirmities which are contrary to its Nature because they are the death of it with which it is surrounded which do mortifie its vivificative Spirit Cap. 7. Theor. Test pag. 20 of the said Volum It is to be diligently noted that one of the two aforesaid Natural Principles Sulphur and Argent vive is more truly Natural in the whole and through the whole substance of it as well within as without and that is the pure Sulphur hot and dry introducing its form that is according to which the form of a Metal pursues a pure effect But the other Argent vive is unnatural that is inwardly natural and outwardly against Nature but the internal natural part is made proper and also con-natural to it self because it comes by its own Nature but the external part is added to it by accident and is to be naturally separated from it after the corruption Putrifaction of it wherefore it is manifest that such Argent vive is not in the whole substance of it natural in the first reception of it nor is depurated to the full unless it be depurated by the Ingenuity of Art C. 5. p. 10. Codicilli As to this Purification of Argent vive or the Green Lyon Ripley thus Wherefore saith he this Mercury the corrosive Spirit of common Vitriol is by Raymond called Our Fire against Nature Nevertheless the same thing happens in some measure to this Mercury the acidity of Vitriol as also to the other Vegetable Mercury or Green Lyon which is our natural Fire For both of them are hidden in the middle or center of their Bodies that is between the Phlegmatick Water on one side and Terrestrial Crassitude on the other side nor are they obtained without the great Industry of Philosophy and so those parts can avail us nothing except only their middle substance For saith Raymond We take neither of the first Principles because they are too simple nor of the last because they are too gross and feculent but only of the middle wherein is the Tincture and true Oyl separated from unclean Terrestreity and Phlegmatick Water Therefore saith Raymond thus The unctious Moisture is the near Matter of our Physical Argent vive pag. 289. Pupilloe Alchym Argent vive or the
Green Lyon is purified by common Vitriol as thus When the Argent vive is put in a dry Vitriolated Vapour Spirit of Vitriol which is a sharp Water it is presently dissolved by the Incision and Penetration caused by the sharpness being manifestly strong and in dissolving is converted into the Nature of Terrestrial Vitriol not taking a Metalick nor a clear Coelestial Form as appears after the evaporation of the said Water and the congelation of it in the form of Yellow Cristals which Yellowness proceeds from the sharp Sulphurous Terrestreity which was beyond measure mixed in the said Water by Atoms with an Homogeneous Universality and simplicity which simplicity was taken and bound by the said Terrestreity with the alteration of the Light Clarity and Lucidity into Obscurity c. Cap. 89. Theor. Test 141. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. Son the thick Vitriolated Vapours from which Vitriol is produced is very sharp and pontick and therefore penetrates the parts of the Sulphur and Argent vive being depurated and penetrating tingeth that purify'd Matter congealing it into the Form of that Vitriolated and yellow Terrestrial Vapour which is mixed with them Wherefore what we have said is manifest that is This is the great Gate namely that the Terrestrial Virtues must not excel the Coelestial but on the contrary if you will have the thing desired Cap. 85. Theor. Test pag. 137. of the same Volume You may remember that you would put nothing with the Menstrual the Matter of the Menstruum but that which proceeded from it at the beginning of its mixtion for if you add an incongruous thing it will presently be corrupted by the incongruous Nature nor will you ever have that which you would have Gold and Silver and Mercury are dissolved in our Menstrual because it participates with them in proximity and vicinity of the first Nature and from hence will you extract a white Fume which is our Sulphur and the Green Lyon which is your Unguent and the stinking Water which is our Argent vive But it is requesite for the Green Lyon to be throughly dissolved in the Aqua Foetens or stinking VVater before you can have the said Fume which is our Sulphur which Sulphur is indeed the same way dissolved from the Body congealing the Spirit in the form of a dry Water which we call Stone and the highest Medium of all our Work which is the connexion and aggregation of both Natures that is of Body and Spirit Son This Water is called Aqua ignis or if you had rather Ignisaqua that undeclinable Word because it burns Gold and Silver better than Elementary Fire can do and because it contains in it heat of a Terrestrial Nature which dissolves without Violence which common Fire cannot do Wherfore we enjoyn you to make the Magistery of the hottest things you can get in Nature and you will have a hot Water which dissolveth all things Cap. 59. Theor. Test Pag. 98. Of the same Volume These Sayings Ripley comprehends in short thus These Words saith he may serve a Wise Man in order to know and acquire the Green Lyon But this Noble Infant is called Green Lyon because being dissolved it is Cloathed in a Green Garment Yet out of the Green Lyon of Fools Vitriol is extracted by a violent Fire that Water which we call Aqua fortis Spirit of Vitriol in which the said Lyon ought to be Elixirated For all Alchymical Gold is made of Corrosives c. Pag. 139. Medulla Phil. This Argent vive Green Lyon Philosophers Lead c. being purifyed with Vitriol must be further matured or calcined into a red Colour Minium Lead calcined Sericon c. E. that is Vitriolated Azoth Pag. 15. Theor. Test the fourth Medium or Principle is a substance produced from its Mine and in it more near to the Nature of Metals which is by some called Calcantis and Azoth Vitreus Mercury Vitriolated or Azoquean Vitriol which is the Earth and Mine of Metals and is by another Name called Vrisius of shining white and red within Black and Green openly having the Colour of a Venomous Lizard immediately generated out of Argent vive the Matter aforesaid impregnated with the said hot and dry sulphurous Vapour of common Vitriol in its resolution congealed into a Lizard in which Azoth Vitriolated is the form and species of the stinking Spirit in its mixtion the Mineral heat of which is multiplyed which is the Life of Metal and is signified by E. Cap. 3. Theor. Testam Pag. 12. Volume 4. Theat Chym. And a little after In the Work of Nature is Argent vive but not such as is found upon the Earth nor will be till it be first turned into an apostemated and venomous Blood In the same place You must know Son that by Art and Nature Argent vive is congealed by an acute Water understand therefore Philosophically because if it were not sharp and acute it could not penetrate which is the first action in dissolution after which dissolution it is returned into an apostemated Blood by the mutation of its own Nature into another Son there are two things which ought to stick together by the agreement of contrariety one pure the other impure the impure recedes Fire being an Enemy by reason of its Corruption the other remains in Fire because of its purity being transmuted into Blood and this is our Argent vive and our whole Secret cloathed with a tripartite Garment that is black white and red and that alone we want for the purpose of our Magistery Argent vive containing all that is necessary for a Quintessence There is in Mercury whatsoever Wise Men seek for under the shadow of it lies a fifth substance for the substance of it is pure and incombustible and all of it is nothing else but Gold and Silver not common Metals but airy being in Mercury or the Green Lyon melted and fused within and without by Virtue of the Fire against Nature and afterwards purify'd and separated from all its Original Blemish and Pollution for that Gold which is incombustible remains fused and liquid and imparts its Golden Nature in the said Mercury c. Cap. 62. Theor. Test Pag. 103. Volume 4. Th. Chym. Out of this Philosophical Minium calcined Lead or Sericon only the Adepts sometimes distilled their Menstruums for Example the first of this Kind in Numb 59. Sometimes they dissolved this Minium in distilled Vinegar which being drawn off they reduced it into Gum Adrop or Lully's Azoquean Vitriol out of which they then distilled the stinking Menstruum or Menstruum foetens in Numb 60. Sometimes they dissolved Gum Adrop per deliquium first and then distilled it The thirteenth way of practising saith Ripley as it here appears is very curious and that is in Saturn Philosophical rubified in a Glass Vessel stopp'd to prevent respiration with a strong and continual Fire till it becomes red Take therefore that rubified Saturn and pour a good quantity of distilled Vinegar
parts and half a part of the husks of Grapes or the powder of dry Fire and mix it with the said Saw-dust and with this Composition fill your Furnace then light your Fire at both ends and let it burn for you must make no other Fire till you see six or ten or fifteen or twenty drops of Water distil and when twenty have distill'd make your Fire with small Wood dry and so by little and little make the Fire flame directly to the Matter and see when it distils that the Water be clear and when it is at fifteen Points and the Water clear and the fumes subtil continue that Fire equally And if you see it returned from fifteen to twelve Points or less strengthen the Fire and continue it according to the Point of its distillation and then thirdly strengthen your Fire one Point further and continue it till nothing more distills and then let the Fire go out stop your Furnace and let the Matter cool and if the Water be clear without any disturbed Colour or without muddiness take and keep it and stop the Phial with warm Wax that nothing may respire nor the Air enter because the Spirits which are subtil would presently be corrupted by the Air. Remember when you begin to make the Fire of dry Wood that your Vessels must be covered with the aforesaid Paste and wrapped about with Linnen Cloaths and the Phials well luted to the Beaks of the Alembicks with the same luting putting a Quill between the Beak of the Alembick and the Phial for whilst the Fire operates the Air will for the most part go out and respire when it hath not a Receiver to retain it for it is hot and the subject which retains it is not able to endure an exceeding heat and therefore it requires some place wherein it may respire when therefore you hear it blow open the Quill-hole for it O Father how have you made the practice thus tedious Son That you may be acquainted with all things both small and great and that you may have both a general and particular knowledge of Fires and other operations as also of all sorts of luting because it is not our intention to speak any more of them there being nothing difficult to the wise circumspect and intelligent and that you may hereafter say that the stinking Menstruum is at your command which is a mean thing by which all Bodies are in a short time converted into their first Nature and it is the pure and proper Original of a wonderful and most commodious thing but you must know how to apprehend it with a clear understanding c. The like Menstruum hath Lully in his Magia Naturalis which is called 68. The Water calcining all Bodies of Lully Magioe Naturalis Pag. 359. TAke of the Earth that is D. of Azoquean Vitriol five Ounces and a half and of the Water that is C. of Salt Peter and Niter two Ounces and a half the Sum of which is the weight of eight Ounces and being all mix'd grind the Matter fine upon a Marble then put it in a glass Vessel with an Alembick upon it and distil the whole substance first making a gentle Fire of Saw-Dust taking two parts of it and one part and a half of Coals small or ground and a little dry Bran and light the Fire and let it kindle of it self till it begins to distil from one Point to twelve twenty Points and then you must begin to strengthen the Fire with small Wood making the Fire of the Flame right under the Matter and so continue the Fire till it be returned to twelve or fifteen Points or also to fewer and then continue the whole Fire according to the Points of its distillation and after that strengthen the Fire one Point further and continue it till the Alembick loseth its Colour or no more distils then cease and let it cool gather the Water keep it in a hot and moist place and have a care that it respires not And remember to have a Quill in the luting of the Beak of the Alembick and the Neck of the Receiver that you may sometimes draw it out that the Receiver may have vent for the heat is there so quick that the Vessel containing the Matter cannot endure it wherefore it is requisite sometimes to be opened and sometimes shut Take notice that this Water though made of a contemptible thing hath the power of converting Bodies into their first Matter which being joyn'd to the Vegetable Virtue is of much perfection and must be put into practice presently after it is distill'd that the Spirit which is subtil and of a strange Nature may not be lost by the Air. The same Menstruum is described in Lully's Clavicula under this Title 69. The Stinking Menstruum for the dissolution of the Calx of Gold and Silver in order to the reducing them into Argent vive Cap. 15. Clav. Pag. 299. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. TAke of Vitriol two Pounds of Salt Peter one Pound of Cinabar three Ounces I do not understand by what Error Cinabar has crept in among the other Ingredients of this Menstruum for it is a constitutive not of this but of the following Menstruum for the dissolving of the Philosophers Stone especially Lully himself in Cap. 20. Claviculae speaking of the extracting of Mercury from a perfect Body having made no mention of Cinabar whereas notwithstanding in the same place he gave a Description of this Menstruum in these few Words saying Put of our stinking Menstrual made of two parts of red Vitriol and one of Salt Peter and let the aforesaid Menstruum be first distilled seven times and well rectify'd let the Vitriol be rubified and pulverized then put in the Salt Peter and Cinabar and grind all together then put the Matter in fit Vessels well luted to be distill'd let it be distill'd first with a gentle Fire as the Work requires and as they know how that have done it Let this Water be distill'd very often casting away the Faeces which remain at the bottom of the Cucurbit and so it will be your best distilled Menstruum Sometimes they added common Vitriol to the Azoquean Vitriol and Nitre It is thus done 70. The Stinking Menstruum made of Azoquean Vitriol common Vitriol and Niter of Ripley Cap. 1. Pag. 143. Medul Phil. Chym. TAke Vitriol made of the sowrest Juice of Grapes with the Fire of Nature and Sericon Azoquean Vitriol joyn'd together in one mass with Natural common Vitriol a little dryed together with the Sol Niter and out of these distil a Water which will first be weak and phlegmatick not colouring the Vessel which throw away Then will ascend a white Fume which will make the Vessel look like Milk which must be gathered till it ceaseth and the Vessel is returned to its former colour For that Water is the Stinking Menstruum wherein is our Quintessence that is the white Fume which is called the Fire
Stone of the Philosophers of the Sun of Metals the fugitive Servant the airy Stone the Thernian Stone Magnesia or the corporal Stone Marcasite the Stone of Sal Gemmoe the Stone of Children the golden Stone the Original of worldly things Xelis also by inversion Silex a Flint Xidar by the same inversion Radix Atrop by inversion Porta a Gate and it hath also as many other Names yet is but one only thing To Robertus Lully seems to incline who has been pleased to call every alteration of the Azoquean Vitriol or Matter of the Menstruums of this Kind the first Porta or Gate of the Work thus he call'd the dissolution of the Matter the first Gate In our whole Magistery saith he there are three principal Spirits necessary which cannot without the consummation of their resolution be manifested and they are otherwise called three Argent vives And because Resolution is so often used for the First Gate of our Magistery which we will declare the said Resolution is divided into three principal parts The first is Corporal and is called in the Latine Tongue Recfage that is Anagrammatically sacere G but by G he means Sulphur aqueum Cap. 5. The. Test pag. 115. Vol. 4. Theat Chym. or our Mercury Cap. 20. Pract. Test pag. 170. of the same Volume The second is spiritual and called Agazoph The third is spiritual and corporal and called Vbridrugat c. When the Matter in the Resolution of it appears black this Blackness for which some have call'd it Lead he would have to be a sign of the first Gate In the first Resolution saith he lies all the danger and therefore I give you notice that you must have the Sulphurs of simple Argent vives destroyed by heat in such manner and form as that their active property may not be expelled by extraneous heat and that it may not be separated from its moist Subject which appears wholly black full of a noble Spirit That Blackness demonstrates the sign of the first Gate leading into our Magistery and without it can nothing be done because it is the Fire of Nature which is to create the Stone and which cannot be manifested without the corruption of its Body Cap. 28. Theor. Test pag. 51. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. Lastly He calls the Destillation of this Matter the first Gate also The way of preparing the Stony and fermentable Spirit is to take the Juice of Lunary and extract the sweat of it with a small and gentle fire and you will have in your power one of our Argent vives in Liquor in the form of a white water which is the ablution and purgation of our Stone and its whole Nature And that is one of the most principal Secrets and is the first Gate as you may understand by the Reasons aforesaid c. Cap. 9. Theor. Test pag. 21. of the same Volume Being perswaded by these and the like Quotations I may affirm that Atrop is to be written rather than Adrop because besides the Blackness or Philosophical Lead Atrop signifies the beginning or first Gate of the Work 11. That in the Adeptical Chymy are many Green Lyons to be necessarily distinguished one from another By the first the Adepts meant the Coelestial Sun governing the whole World The second is Argent vive more common to us than common Argent vive The third is called Argent vive dissolved into a Green Colour The fourth is Adrop Azoquean Vitriol Philosophers Lead c. A fifth is the Stinking Menstruum otherwise called the Blood of the Green Lyon A sixth is the Green Lyon of Fools Roman Vitriol Verdigreece c. The seventh is extraordinary namely common Mercury sublimed 12. That there are also many Saturns The first is common Lead the impurest of Metals and consequently the most remote of all in our Art which to prove by the Sentiments of the Adepts is a thing superfluous finding almost every where amongst the Adepts a solemn caution for us to beware of this devourer of Metals and Minerals Saturn Have a care saith Ripley to bring one Witness for all of operating with Saturn because it is commonly said Eat not of the Son whose Mother is defiled and believe me many Men err in Saturn Hear what Avicenne saith Saturn will be always Saturn yea operate not with the Earth of Philosophical Saturn which the Spirit of it has despised and left for the worst Sulphur c. Cap. 2. Philorcii pag. 188. The second is Adrop or Azoquean Vitriol whereof before A third is the first Colour or blackness of the first Work of which lower The fourth is Copper the first of Metals of which Arnold in Speculo Alchym disp 8. Pag. 605. Volum 4. Theat Chym. thus There were saith he Philosophers that placed our Science in the seven Planets and our first Planet is called Venus the second Saturn the third Mercury the fourth Mars the fifth Jupiter the sixth Luna the seventh Sol The Generation of Copper hath the first place after the universal Mercury saith Basilius Libro de rebus nat supernat Cap. 4. Of all those things saith Paracelsus which proceed from Salts there is none more nearly allyed to the Mineral Virtue than Vitriol the reason is because Salts are Minerals and all Minerals lie in one Mass and Ares Now Vitriol in the separation of Minerals is the last thing to which is immediately subsequent the generation of Metals whereof Venus is the first Lib. 4. Philos de Element Aquoe pag. 279. And a little after he saith The Marcasites and Cachymys being thus separated from the first Matter of Metals then follows the first Generation which is of Venus c. Besides by the separation whereby the nature of the Marcasites and Cachymys are expelled the generations of Copper do immediately concur imprint themselves and are coagulated together because it is the first Metal after the separation of the Marcasites and Cachymys in the same Book pag. 281. The Vitriol of Venus being the first of all things added or joyned to the Vegetable Mercury in the making of Adrop is called by Lully the first Male. This Fire saith he is that Property of the Mercury which you must endeavour to preserve from burning being the Tincture of Vitriol with which the Vegetable Mercury ought to be sublimed because it is the first Male of it and is the augmentation of our Tincture which is a great addition in virtue and power when it is joyned with the Tincture of Sol for if you know how to extract the Property of Mercury from Vitriol and Salt and make them friendly by conjunction which is done by gentle sublimations you will know one of the greatest Secrets of Nature and the true principal perfection Codicil cap. 92. pag. 202. So in many places of his Theoriae Testamenti majoris he means Vitriol by his Male in these especially The Fire of our Male pag. 50. The Virtue of the Male pag. 94. The Virtue of the Sperm of the Male pag.
a tenuity per deliquium and distil them into a Water through a Filter This Water putrefy not by it self but as the Disciples of the Art ought to understand and know with the Water of Salt circulated for a Month and distil by Balneo and a sweet Water will ascend the Body of the Salt by the way of a Phlegm which cast away That which will not ascend digest again with new dissolving Water another Month and distil as before and that so oft till no more sweetness is perceived By this way you have now the Quintessence of Salt in the bottom like an Oyl scarce two Ounces out of a Pound of the burned or calcined Salt One Ounce of this Salt thus extracted if common seasoneth Meat more than half a Pound of another for the Quintessence of it remains only and the Body is drawn from it by liquid solution This way is the Quintessence of all Salts separated This Process being thus enlightned by the rayes of the antecedent reflects no small Light upon the said Receipts namely that scarce two Ounces are acquired from one Pound of the Salts In Clavi Archidoxorum Lib. 10. Pag. 37. Paracelsus has described the Essences of Salts in these Words The way of extracting the Quintessence of Salts as Vitriol Salt Nitre Tartar c. is this Cohobate with its own Liquor or Water very often putrify with the Phlegm and then draw off the Body in the form of Phlegm even to the fixed Spirit This Spirit dissolve in its own Water and by a strong heat separate the pure from the impure with the Spirit of Wine This Description is most obscure but made clearer by those aforesaid The meaning of Paracelsus is this He putrefies the Salts and cohobates them so often with their own Liquors or Waters that is with their own Circulatums common Salt with common Salt circulated Nitre with Nitre circulated Vitriol with the Water of Vitriol circulated Alume with the Water of Alume circulated the dissolving Water of Alume the Circulatum minus of Alume c. till they remain at the bottom in the form of an Oyl which Oyl being either acid or saline easily makes an effervescence with the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine or its own Circulatum and in this heat le ts fall some of its impurities and so becomes purer which thing is confirmed by the Description it self of the Water of Salt circulated where he putrefies Salt being melted and resolved per deliquium with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine cohobates and draws it to an Oleity Joyn it saith he with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and the impure will fall to the bottom which separate but let the pure be Cristallized in a cold place pour the distillation to it again and cohobate so oft till a fixed Oyl remains at the bottom and nothing sweet will more distill Moreover this Oyl of Salt as a Menstruum makes his Process in Chyrurgia intelligible which otherwise could not be understood 72. The Water of Salt by another Description of Paracelsus Cap. 2. Tract 3. part 2. Chyr major Pag. 66. TAke Salt without any addition of Art being most white by Nature it self Sal Gemmoe which must be divers times melted then being reduced into a most fine Powder mixt with the Juice of Raphanus stir them together after resolution distil distil the distillation with an equal quantity of the Juice of Sanguinea five times more In this Water are Plates of Sol being purged by Antimony easily resolved into Powder this Powder being thus prepared must be washed with sweet Water distilled till it hath no taste of Salt for the Salt not entring into the substance of it is easily washed away In this Process Sal Gemmae being fused by the method of the Water of Salt circulated is dissolved in the Juice of Raphanus evaporated and resolved per deliquium then six times distilled with an equal proportion of the Juice of Sanguinea In the antecedent Description of this Oyl of Salt this fusion of the Salt dissolution in the Juice of Raphanus and resolution per deliquium is not necessary because the Water of Salt Circulated is sufficient of it self to separate the Essence of Salt from its Phlegm But where we use the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in making the Water of Salt circulated without the said previous preparation of the Salt we should have the Work too tedious In the mean time both Processes agree in weight of Menstruum for it is all one whether the Salt be cohobated into an Oyl with six times as much of the dissolving Water or distilled six times with the Juice of Sanguinea in equal weight One thing that mades the latter Process inexplicable is the unknown Juice of Sanguinea but however it is evident by what hath been said that either the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or the Water of Salt circulated supplies its place Basilius indeed resolved common Salt with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine not into an Oyl but reduced into it a Green Stone thus Viride Salis of Basilius In supplemento Libri de conclusion TAke common Salt calcine it well yet without fusion reduce it to a Powder resolve per deliquium in a Cellar or in Raphanus made hollow then distil in Sand with a quick Fire and a Water will ascend the residue in the bottom pulverize and dissolve it in its distilled Water and distil again this repeat till all the Salt has ascended which will be in the fourth or fifth time Draw off the Phlegm from the distilled Water in Balneo the remainder put into a Cellar in cold Water and you will have Cristals which take out and dissolve in the Phlegm then draw off one half and you will find new Cristals repeat the Operation four times or more for the oftner the more fusible will be the Cristals which being dryed and pulverized on a Marble pour to them the rectify'd Spirit of Philosophical Wine which cohobate from the Salt so oft till you perceive the Oyl of Salt coagulated into a Green transparent Stone which reserve Paracelsus in his Receipts appointed the calcination of Salt to be done by the fusion of it but in this Process Basilius prohibits this liquefaction of Salt wherefore we conclude it to be little essential in the said depuration of Salt nor do we think it so necessary for the Salt being resolved per deliquium to be distilled thereby to be made a fusible Salt Paracelsus having taught how to make the same Oyl out of fused Salt which Oyl Paracelsus himself besides Basilius in many places affirms to be of a Green Colour Thus we read of the Green Oyl of Salt Libro de male curatis Pag. 170. Chyr Majoris Of the Greens of Salt Libro 4. de Gradibus Pag. 154. From the Receipts we observe 1. That these Menstruums are the Essences of Salts not tinging 2. That the Oyls or Essences of tinging Salts as Vitriol c. may also be made by the same method
the Quintessence cannot be extracted from Metals especially Gold which cannot be subdued by it self alone but some fit Corrosive must be made Use of which may afterwards be separated from it again so Salt dissolved in water is drawn again from the water left void of Salt Whereas notwithstanding it must be considered that every Corrosive is not fit for this purpose because they cannot all be separated For if Vitriol or Alume be mix'd with water neither can be separated from it again without detriment or corruption but will leave some sharpness behind them because they are both watry and two likes concur together which ought not to be in this place Wherefore it is to be advised not to put watry to watry or oyley to oyley nor resiny to resiny but a thing contrary must separate the Quintessence and extract it as waters extract the Quintessences of things oleaginous and the oleaginous the Quintessences of watry things as we may learn by the Quintessences of Herbs The Corrosives therefore are to be separated again after the separation and extraction of the Quintessence which may easily be done for oyl and water are separated with ease but oyl cannot be drawn from oyl nor water likewise from water without mixing which being lest would indeed infer very great detriment to the Quintessence For a Quintessence ought to be clear and pure without any mixture so as to have an uniform substance by virtue whereof to penetrate the whole Body Lest the Essence should be defiled by things added for the necessity of extraction he commands no Watry Matter to be extracted by a watry Menstruum an oyley by an oyley a resiny by a resiny but by some contrary This Rule if understood according to the Letter is erroneous for it takes away all the permanence of Menstruums established upon the Maxime so often repeated by the Adepts The Dissolution of the Body is the Coagulation of the Spirit or Menstruum and on the contrary It takes away I say all the natural homogeneity of the dissolvent and the dissolved yea is repugnant to the Experience of Paracelsus himself who had no Menstruum but what remained in a radical mixtion with the things dissolved in it as by the Vse of them we shall prove hereafter Now an Essence is divers ways coinquinated by things added in the extraction of it First When a Natural or Seminal Essence is extracted by the like Natural Essence of another species For example the Essence of Saffron is inquinated and confounded with the virtues of Cinamom in extracting it with the specifick Essence of Cinamom and therefore the Essences of Vegetables are not to be extracted with a Natural or rather Artificial Essence or with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine not yet specificated Secondly An Essence is inquinated when a Menstruum or Essence is in greater than convenient quantity used in the extraction of another Essence by which quantity the quality of the said Essence is washed wasted and as it were inquinated wherefore the superfluity of the Menstruum must always be taken away that the Essence may remain by it self alone without any mixture Thirdly An Essence is inquinated by extracting it with Air or mineral Menstruums according to some Processes of the Ancients For an Acid though it cannot be radically mix'd with any Essence being no Essence it self yet is easily absorbed or hidden by the aridity of mineral Essences and so joyned with the said Essences by accident and from a thing otherwise innocent creates a very strong Poyson This therefore to remove the Ancients first washed off that which stuck to the outside of the Body then transmuted that which was more deeply admitted by the digestion of Vegetable Menstruums But in the making of Essences with acid or mineral Menstruums according to the reformed Process otherwise called by Paracelsus the Process of two Colours the said inquination of an Essence hath no place In the beginning of this Process the acid being absorbed by the arid becomes indeed the cause of venenosity as in the Process of the Ancients but when this Process of Paracelsus is by industry and ingenuity raised to such perfection that no more Aridity can remain to hide any Acidity in it but on the contrary the whole Body is converted into two Oyls or Fat 's from which all Acidity may easily be washed away with common Water then is there no inquination to be feared from Acids The Saying of Paracelsus we suppose is to be referred to this Method he having there treated of it on purpose especially having said that the oleaginous Essences of Metals are to be extracted by Watry that is acid or corrosive Menstruums but that the watry Essences of Herbs that is less oyley in respect of Metals must be made by Oleaginous that is Vegetable Menstruums which things being not in common terms but obscurely enough delivered we do therefore leave them to be better explained by his Disciples but if they were to be understood according to the Letter it would certainly be an Errour not indeed to be connived at in the Prince of Adepts But according to the Proverb We are Men c. For sometimes good Homer himself has nodded and the Pen of Paracelsus has wanted mending The Fifteenth KIND Simple Mineral Menstruums made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Acid Spirits as Aqua fortis Spirit of Nitre Spirit of Sulphur Salt c. distilled Vinegar c. 73. Aqua fortis mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Paracelsus In Tinct Paracelsica Pag. 37. Aurei Vel. Germ. TAke the best Wine the red or white of Lully rectify till a Linnen Cloath burneth being dipp'd therein and kindled This Spirit is called the Essence of Wine Take of Vitriol two Pounds of Nitre one Pound from which distil Aqua fortis into the aforesaid Essence of Wine then digest ten Days that they may be well united Annotations THat the Adepts acuated the Spirit of Philosophical Wine divers ways as well with Oyly as Dry things we have given plenty enough of Examples in the antecedent Kinds of Vegetable Menstruums it shall now be declared in the following Menstruums which ways this Spirit is to be acuated by Acids In this Fifteenth Kind we will joyn the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine with some Acid Spirits that by the help of their acidity it may dissolve and perfect Arids sooner and easier than before without Paracelsus in our Receipt intending to asswage the excessive effervescence in dissolving the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in Aqua fortis distill'd the Aqua fortis into the Spirit of Wine that they might both by degrees be mix'd together which being thus mix'd one with the other he digested moreover the space of ten Days The same Menstruum is described by Trithemius 74. Aqua fortis mix'd with the Spirit of Wine of Trithemius Pag. 46. Aurei velleris Germ. TAke of the Spirit of Wine three Pounds of Vitriol and Nitre one Pound distil the Spirits of the Aqua
fortis into the aforesaid Aqua vitoe digest eight Days This quantity of Aqua fortis is insufficient to dissolve three Pounds of the Spirit of Wine Ounces perhaps are to be understood for so many Pounds No Art is here required provided the Acid and Oyly be mix'd together In former times the Adepts used distilled Vinegar instead of Aqua fortis for this Menstruum thus 75. Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Wine of Basilius Cap. de Wein Essig in Repet Lapidis DEr Wein Essig Vinegarwine a single undeclinable Word is not the Philosophers Vinegar which is another Liquor viz. the Matter it self of the Stone because the Philosophers Stone is made of the Philosophers Azot but Vinegarwine is made of common Azot distilled common Vinegar and Spirit of Wine that is Philosophical And elsewhere Libro de particularibus de particul Veneris I spoke even now saith he Parabolically of this preparation in Libro Clavium in Repetitione Capite de Wein Essig where I said that common Azot Vinegar is not the Matter of the Stone but our Azot or first Matter extracted out of common Azot and Wine which composition is called the expressed Juice of unripe Grapes with which the Body of Venus is to be dissolved and reduced into Vitriol then into our Azot the first Matter of the Stone Philosophers Mercury Spirit of Mercury made of Vitriol c. which you must very well observe that you may be free from many troubles and dangers The Philosophers Mercury saith he Libro de Conclusionibus Sect. 2. de Vitriolo Philosophorum or first Matter of the Stone must be made by Art for our Azot is not common Vinegar but extracted by Virtue of common Azot Though therefore a Philosophical Menstruum may be made of common Azot or distilled Vinegar and the Spirit of Philosophical Wine as also sufficient and qualified for the dissolutions of some Bodies yet being less sharp especially in the Alchymical use of Metals and Minerals instead therefore of Vinegar the Adepts took Aqua fortis the sooner to finish their Operations You must know saith Isaacus Hollandus that our Ancestors laboured in the Art divers ways and yet came to one and the same end but their Stone made not projection always alike one making a deep another a strong projection as the Works Menstruums were sharp or of a deep Colour some sweat a long time with pains before they produced the Stone others shortned the time by sharpness of Wit as it is now done every day with sweat and pains Some of our Ancestors wrought three Years some four before they acquired the Stone for in those days Aqua fortis was unknown and they used nothing but distill'd Vinegar but now their Successors have found out Aqua fortis which hath much abbreviated the Work Cap. 6. Lib. 2. Oper. min. pag. 423. Volum 3. Theat Chym. Even at that time Bodies were to be opened slowly namely by calcination reverberation solution in our sharp Vinegar Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which their posterity observing and considering quickned their Wits and found out Aqua fortis which did much abbreviate the way to them Cap. 77. Lib. 1. Oper. min. pag 358. of the same Volume To make the present Kind of Menstruums the Adepts dissolved this Spirit of Philosophical Wine not in Vinegar and Aqua fortis only but in any acid Spirit not tinging as of Salt Sulphur c. It is thus prepared 76. The Spirit of Salt of Basilius Lib. partic in particul Solis TAke of the Spirit of Salt accurately dephlegmed one part of the best Spirit of Philosophical Wine without any Phlegm or of the Sulphur of Wine half a part the Vessels being luted distil with a strong Fire so as that nothing remains If you add new Spirit of Wine to the distillation and digest for some time it becomes sweet It is therefore requisite to dissolve the Spirit of Wine in the Spirit of Salt without digestion lest the acidity or brackishness of this Spirit be lost Guido sometimes took his Circulatum either minus or majus instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine into which he distilled the Spirit of Salt 77. The Spirit of Salt of Guido Pag. 7. Thesauri Chym. TAke of the less Vegetable Menstruum in Numb 36. or the great in Numb 38. one Pound put it in a large Receiver Then take of common Salt or Sal Gemmoe of the Stone of Tripoly of each four Pounds distil in an Earthen Retort with an open Fire first gentle till all the Phlegm is drawn off then put the Receiver with the Circulatum to it and distil the Spirits till not a drop of the Oyl of Salt ascends and you will have an acuated Menstruum To make these Menstruums stronger they sometimes separated or drew off the Acid from the Oleosum that the Spirit of Philosophical Wine might remain in the form of Oyl or Ice thus 78. Aqua fortis mix'd with the Spirit of Wine of Lully In Elucidat Testam pag. 147. Artis aurifer TAke of Vitriol one part of Nitre one part of Alume a fourth part mix them all well together and distil with a gentle Fire till the Liquor is gone over then give a stronger and lastly most strong till the Alembick grows white for then is the Aqua fortis prepared Then take of the aforesaid Water one pound put it in a large Cucurbit and pour it upon four ounces of Aqua Vitoe Aqua ardens four times distilled and put an Alembick on with its Receiver then will it make great noises boyling exceeding violently without Fire and therefore the VVaters ought to be mixed by little and little Then put it into a less Cucurbit and put on an Alembick with its Receiver and distil the Water in Balneo that a Matter may remain alone at the bottom of the Vessel in the form of Ice pour back the water and distil again and this repeat nine times then will an Oyl or Matter like Ice remain in the bottom This Menstruum of Lully is clear and therefore requires not our Explanation But it is described by an Anonymous in Rhenanus thus 79. Aqua fortis mixed with the Spirit of Wine of an Anonymous Author Libro de Principiis Naturae Arte Alchym pag. 28. Syntagm Harm Joh. Rhenani TAke an equal Quantity of Niter and Alume distil the Phlegm till the strong and dissolving Spirits ascend and set before them new and clean distilled water and force the Spirits into it with a most strong Fire Then take the Spirits of Wine being well purged and artificially distilled in Balneo take four ounces of them to one pound of Aqua fortis put them into a large Cucurbit apply an Alembick to it stop and put it into cold water and let them boyl till they will boyl no more Then put it in Balneo and distil the water so that the Spirits may remain yet moist then pour the water first drawn off to them again and do as
simul In the same place he calls this Sallabrum the Medium of joyning Tinctures the middle between two Extreams between hard and soft between Luna and the Spirit between the Body and Spirit As the Menstrual Blood is the Medium between the Sperm of the Male and Female so this our Salt pag. 1085. Sallabrum he calls thundring Salt illuminating Stone and fatness of the Eagle pag. 1087. Sal Alembrot the Stone Bore Borax and fatness of the Eagle pag. 1097. Tincar Borax This Sallabrum or Saline Labrum is by Paracelsus made of these Salts Niter Sal gemme common Salt and Alcali Guido used these four following in his reduction of Metals into Mercury Common Salt Alcali Sal armoniac and Salt of Tartar pag. 23. Thes Chym. Thomas Aquinas took the same Salts as Guido for his Labrum Salis. The Affinity which I observe between the Salts of Paracelsus Gemme and Common I perceive also between the Salt of Tartar and Alcali of Guido but the foundation of the Receipt is not grounded upon these four Salts Paracelsus was sometimes satisfied with Niter and common Salt fused and resolved together per deliquium Nor does the Mystery of the Receipt lie in the Wax in the room of which if you chose any oyley thing else you will not err Instead of the same he sometimes used Linseed-Oyl in the Water of the sixth gradation but of this hereafter From the Receipts we observe 1. That these Menstruums are simple Vegetable Menstruums of the Fifth Kind dissolved in Acids Dissolve any of them in common Aqua fortis and you will have a Menstruum of this Kind but take away the Acid and it will be a Vegetable Menstruum again as it was before 2. That these Menstruums are by reason of the Acidity both sooner made and do more powerfully operate than the said Menstruums of the Fifth Kind 3. That they are not always made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but also with any common Oyley Matter provided it be undertaken by an Artist expert in the Method of making the Spirit of Philosophical Wine 4. That these Menstruums do by their own strength without any addition of Common Argent vive reduce Metals and Minerals into running Mercury 5. That Metals dissolved in these Menstruums and sublimed are properly enough called Philosophical Mercuryes because as Common Mercury sublimate so these are most easily resuscitated into running Argent vive The Eighteenth Kind Simple Mineral Menstruums made of Vegetable Sal Harmoniack and Acids not tinging 87. The Aqua fortis of Isaacus Hollandus Cap. 122. Oper. Min. pag. 397. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. MAke an Aqua fortis with an equal quantity of Sal Harmoniack and Sal Niter dry the Sal Niter to a dry Powder then mix the Sal Harmoniack discreetly among the Powder of the Sal Niter so as to be well mixed together and incorporated one with the other then distil not luting the Receiver close to the Beak before it begins to distil for if you lute the Receiver at first to the Beak of the Alembick there are windy wild Spirits in the Matter which would break the Receiver but having distilled a little while lute the Beak without fear and distil the Water according to Art Annotations BEsides the Philosophers Vinegar there is a Sal Harmoniack under the Name of which is comprehended the Spirit of Philosophical Wine the root of all Menstrums being concentrated dried in an Arid and sublimed into an admirable Salt This present Kind treats of this Salt not common Sal Armoniack dissolved in common Acids not tinging We have also made indeed Philosophical Menstruums before of common Sal Armoniack by the help of Philosophical Vinegar or an Acid mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but the Menstruums of this Kind are stronger than they the Spirit of Philosophical Wine being sublimed into a Vegetable Sulphur or Mercury is made better as being acuated either with an Alcali or some fixed Arid and for this reason being dissolved in an Acid it yields also a more noble Menstruum Isaac in our Receipt mixeth Vegetable Sal Harmoniack with so much of Sal Niter for the Vegetable Salt to be by subsequent distillation dissolved in the Mineral Acid of Sal Niter but because this way of dissolving is by reason of the sudden ebullition of the oyley and acid too dangerous he durst not therefore lute the Receiver close to the Beak but the like effervescence appearing in the distillation of common Sal Armoniack and Sal Niter we must prove that by Sal Harmoniack Isaacus meant not the Common but Philosophical which we prove first by the Vse of the Menstruum Of which saith Isaack thus Dissolve your Sol in the Water made and put it in Balneo with a glass Alembick upon it kindle the Balneo no more than that you may endure your hand in it and lute the Receiver very firmly to the Beak and a little hole being made above in the Alembick put a glass Funnel therein whereby other Aqua fortis may upon occasion be poured in and keep the Balneo in that heat aforesaid a day and a night and when you see your Aqua fortis brought to a small quantity by distilling as it was when you dissolved the Sol in it pour to it new Aqua fortis ' and let it gradually distil a day and a night in Balneo and ' when it is thick again pour Aqua fortis again to the Matter doing in all respects as before repeat it three times always pouring to it new Aqua fortis but the third time distil it dry to siccity then let the Body cool and take the Receiver from the Beak and stop it firmly with wax remove the Alembick from the Pot and then take a Drachm or Scruple of the Matter out of the Pot and put it in a glass Phial pour common distilled water to it and set it on a Fornace in Ashes and let the water boyl half an hour Then let it cool of its own accord and stand a day and a night and a Powder will settle in the bottom of the Vessel pour off the top of the water gently and the rest evaporate with a lukewarm heat to dry your Powder Being dry take it out and heating a silver Plate put a little of your Powder upon it and look earnestly whether the Powder fumes not if you perceive it fume have a care of your self for the fume may kill you c. pag. 397. of the same Volume Then he goes on Cap. 24. saying Then put your Matter or Powder in it the subliming Vessel with a large and clean Alembick upon it very well luted so as to be certain that no Spirits can pierce the luting for they are subtil beyond description and should they penetrate and you receive the fume you would die Lute also a large Receiver to the Beak of the Alembick and let the luting be in every place throughly dry Then put Fire under the Fornace first a
distillation dissolved in its own Acid Part produced a Menstruum of this Kind whereas in the Precedent Kind that small quantity of Copper dissolved or contained in common Spirit of Vitriol and elevated with a violent Fire is by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine reduced not into the Essence but Magistery little effectual as well through the smalness of its quantity as Tincture This present Oyl of Vitriol is not the least esteemed among the Secrets of Basilius and therefore we will a little more exactly consider his most clear description that by his more abundant Light we may Illustrate darker places First Basilius bids us purifie Roman Vitriol by divers solutions and coagulations which purification is necessary to separate the Vitriol from strange Dust Dross and other impertinent Offals yet this we think Superfluous when the Vitriol is purely cristallized for the Terestreity setling in the dissolution of Vitriol is not Foeces but Copper less dissolved than the rest and left by the Acid being too much diluted with common Water The Vitriol being purified he enjoyns to be distilled with the Spirit of Wine into a red Oyl He reduced not only Natural Vitriol but also Artificial Vitriols made of Metals into such Oyls The Sugar or Vitriol of Saturn he distills together with the Spirit of Wine into a red Oyl curing Melancholy the French Disease c. Coagulating and fixing Mercury but if fixed with the Mercury of Mars tinging thirty parts of Mercury into Gold Libro de Conclu Tract 2. Sect. 1 Cap. 1 de Sulphure Saturni The same way saith he is a red sweet Oyl tinging Saturn into Gold to be distilled out of Sugar or Vitriol of Jupiter in the following Chapter which he repeats in Sect. 2. Cap. 2. de Vitriolis Saturni Jovis Argent vive he dissolves in Aqua fortis and being reduced into Cristal or Vitriol distils with the Spirit of Wine rectify'd before with the Salt of Tartar the Menstruum described in Numb 18. into a sweet Oyl curing the French Pox Old Vlcers Palsie c. to be joyned to Martial Tinctures in the Transmutation of Metals Sect. 2. Cap. 5. de Vitriolo Mercurii The more fixed Metals Gold and Silver he distills in Balneo Regis in Numb 89. through an Alembick which the Menstruum being drawn off he reduceth into Volatile Vitriols to be distilled with the Spirit of Wine into Oyls Sect. 2. Cap. 1. De Vitriolo Solis et Luna The more dry Metals Iron and Copper he prescribes to be distilled into the same Oyls but omits the way of distilling Sect. 1. Cap. 3. De Sulphuribus Martis Veneris Sect. 2. Cap. 3. De Vitriolo Martis Cap. 4. De Vitriolo Veneris but the following Kind of Menstruum will prove that they are to be distilled with Philosophical Vinegar By these places compared together we are better assured of divers things First that the Oyl of Vitriol is not any common Acid of Vitriol though drawn out of Vitriol most exquisitely purify'd for the same Oyls may be made with the Vitriols of all Metals by the same Spirit of Wine Secondly that common Spirit of Wine is altogether useless to this Work but that the Philosophical or Menstruum rather described in Numb 18. is meant by Basilius by the Spirit of Wine Moreover that the Vitriols of Saturn and Jupiter do yield sweet Oyls because made of some weak Acid namely common Vinegar which is easily altered or transmuted by this Philosophical Menstruum But that the Oyls of the other Metals being made with stronger Acids either Philosophical Vinegar or Mineral Menstruums do remain Acid especiaily the present Oyl of Vitriol in the distillation of which the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or Vegetable Menstruum is dissolved by the Natural Acid or common Oyl of Vitriol and with such a prevalent Acidity ascends in the form of a red Oyl Lastly that this Oyl of Vitriol is commended to us by Basilius as a Menstruum to be fermented with Gold which we would have you take special notice of for Basilius hath here and there in his Books discovered many notable things concerning the Menstruum of Vitriol but most rarely advised the distillation of it with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine yet without which all Processes and Labours all Endeavours and experiments are vain and of no importance in the more Secret Chymy For the making this Oyl of Vitriol the Adepts sometimes dissolved it in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which afterwards being cristallized they called Vitriol corrected or graduated Of this correction or graduation of Vitriol Paracelsus thus The Description of Vitriol saith he is to be directed to Medicine and Alchymy In Medicine it is an excellent Remedy In Alchymy it is good for many other things but the Art of Medicine and Alchymy consists in the preparation of Vitriol For the Crude is not such but like Wood out of which any thing may be carved Lib. de Vitriolo pag. 200. At first he proceeds the Spirit of Vitriol being obtained the custom was to graduate it to the highest wherewith being exalted they cured the Epilepsie whether new or old in Men and Women of what condition soever c. But let us return to the beginning how the Spirit of Vitriol was found First they distilled the moist Spirit of Vitriol by it self from the Colcothar then they extended its degree by distilling and circulating it alone to the highest as the process teacheth Thus the Water began to be used for several Diseases as well Internal as External as also for the Falling Sickness so a wonderful Cure was performed But those that came after were much more diligent in the extraction for they took the Spirit of Vitriol corrected as before and distill'd it with the Colcothar eight or ten times with a most strong Fire so the dry Spirits were mixed with the moist They urged the work so long continually and without intermission extracting till the dry Spirits were over then they graduated both Spirits the moist as well as the dry in a Phial together their own time This Medicine they found to be of much greater operation against Diseases that they confounded all the Humorists in general Yet is there some correction by Artists added by Spirit of Wine for better penetration sake but of no higher degree But I will communicate to you my process which I commend to all Physitians especially for the Epilepsie which hath the only cure in Vitriol wherefore even the Charity of our Neighbour requires us to appoint the more diligent care in that Disease Now my Process is for the Spirit of Philosophical Wine to be imbibed by the Vitriol and then distilled as I said from the dry and moist Spirits c. But you must further know that the aforesaid Receipts of making the moist Spirit of Vitriol cannot be more clearly described for an Artist is required to understand it those sordid Boylers do not in the least understand a thing of so great moment You must expect
Glass and stop it close Take the Caput Mortuum grind it to a fine Powder put it in pure clear Water for two hours let it settle pour off the clear and pour it upon pure clear Water again as before and let it boyl an hour as before then let it settle again add it again to the former cast away the Feces and that which you poured out the Solution evaporate and a yellow Powder will remain weigh it add as much Sal Niter and mix them together put them into a Glass pour your Distilled Water or Menstruum upon it put on an Alembick strongly luted all over adding a Receiver and leave it three days upon thee Fornace to Digest before you put Fire under then kindle your Fire and Distill first with a small Fire then sometimes a greater till the White Spirit is gone over then cease and you have a Red Water shining Day and Night which dissolves fixed Luna as Luna is commonly dissolved and it will take a Tincture as the purest Sol that ever was seen yea it tingeth all White Metals of the colour of Sol. 111. A Red Water shewing Light by Night of the Second Description of Isaacus Cap. 44. Oper. Min. Pag. 458. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. TAke of Roman Vitriol three Pounds of Cinabar Verdegrese Cerusse of each half a Pound of Crocus Martis Lapis haematites of each four Ounces of Sal Niter as much as the whole Mass five Pounds pulverize and mix them well together divide the Mass into three parts and of one part make an Aqua fortis which pour upon the powder of another part distill Aqua fortis again and pour it upon the third powder and distill Aqua fortis again which being done pulverize all the three Caput Mortuums Take the Water of Sal armoniack which I shall teach you below to make but we have already declar'd it in Numb 81. wherewith grind the aforesaid powder so fine as that a Painter may paint with it then dry it in your Dry Stove in glass Dishes being dried grind it dry upon a Stone and put it into an earthen Pot and pour the Aqua fortis before distilled upon it distill first with a gentle fire the space of twenty four hours then increase the Fire as yet 24 hours more then increase till it begins to shine then keep it in the same fiery brightness six hours more then let it cool take it away from the Fire and stop the Receiver well Then grind and pulverize the Caput Mortuum upon a Stone with Vinegar distilled and extract the Salt or Element of Earth out of the Feces put the Salt into a Glass pour yout Aqua fortis upon it the Alembick and Receiver being very close put the Glass in Sand in a Kettle with Water in Balneo distill all that will distill when no more distilleth let the Balneo boil a day and a night whether it drops or no Then let it cool remove it from the Fire put it in Ashes use first a weak Fire for 12 hours then increase the Fire yet 12 hours more then let it be moderately hot and let it be so for six hours then let it cool take it from the Fire and cover it well and having taken away the Feces or Salt grind them very small with Distill'd Vinegar put it into a Stone Jugge and a good part of the Distillation being poured to it put it in Balneo doing as was taught before see if it hath yet any Feces and make the Salt clear put it again in a Glass pour on the Aqua fortis again do every way as before three or four times and all your Matter or Earth will distill with the Aqua fortis then take it from the Fire stop close and keep it well For you have a pretious Water above all the Waters that ever I heard of and believe me in good faith I have seen and done also my self wonderful things with this Water This Water I have reduced to a Red Christalline Stone which would give light by night so as that my Friends might see to eat and drink by it Keep it well for use and esteem it as the most secret Water of all you have The Method of making such Shining Menstruums is better perceived by the following Water 112. A Red and Shining Aqua fortis of the Third Description of Isaacus Cap. 72. 1. Oper. Min. Pag. 354. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. TAke of Vitriol clarified and purified from its Feces of Sal Niter an equal quantity distill an Aqua fortis out of them according to Art then take the Caput Mortuum out of the Glass and reduce it to a fine Powder then grind it upon a Stone then put it in common Distill'd Water and draw out all the Salt then filter it that you may have it clean from Feces congeal again and being congealed make it an impalpable Powder and put the Powder into a Glass and then pour that Aqua fortis again upon the Powder which you distill'd from thence and distill again all that will distill Then take out the Caput Mortuum again grind it to Powder as before and do in all things as before this Operation repeat till you have distilled all the Salt within the Aqua fortis Then have you an excellent Red Water shining by night like a clear Fire then rectifie that Water in Balneo oftentimes distilling and pouring on again so as at last to have all the Distillation in Balneo Then is your pretious Water prepared by which you may multiply and open your Philosophical Stone These Menstruums are little different yea almost the same with the former of Isaacus as to the Ingredients as well as Method of preparation but the addition of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which Isaacus prescribed in those Dissolving Waters must of necessity be understood in these his Aqua fortises for without this Spirit all these Waters would be common of no Vertue and Vse From the Receipts we observe 1. That all Tinging Bodies whatsoever being either naturally or artificially dissolved in an Acid and reduced into Salt or Vitriol by the help of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine do yield the present Menstruums by these two Methods either by repeated Cohobation or Simple Distillation but in this latter way it is necessary for the Salts or Vitriols of the said Bodies to be first graduated that is by various Dissolutions and Coagulations joyned with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and then distilled where Caution must be had lest in this gradation of the Vitriol the Acid be by Operations less necessary than convenient debilitated for so you will easily prepare Menstruums unexpectedly of the Eighth instead of this Kind 2. That these Menstruums differ from Menstruums of the Eighth Kind these being Acid but those Sweet Dissolve a Compounded Vegetable Menstruum of the Eighth Kind in Distilled Vinegar Spirit of Sulphur Common Aqua Fortis c. and you will immediately have a Menstruum of this Kind on
the contrary debilitate the Acidity of these Menstruums and they will be transmuted into Menstruums of the Eighth Kind 3. That these Menstruums are the Essences of Things tinging dissolved in an Acid. 4. That Hungarian Vitriol Copper naturally dissolved in an Acid tho artificially purged from Heterogeneous Salts and Feces does nevertheless as well as other things tinging require the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in order to be reduced into an Oil so excellent in Medicine as well as Alchimy 5. That it is even much at one by what Acid Copper or any other tinging Body is reduced into Vitriol provided it be afterwards graduated that is mixed with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Wherefore you must once for always take notice that not only in the Writings of Basilius and Paracelsus but of other Adepts also as in Via Veritatis c. in several places of which you will meet with these Phrases Things graduated corrected exalted c. you must understand not Common Menstruums but prepared with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and so made fit for the Works of the more Secret Chymy 6. That Roman Vitriol is reduced into so Noble an Oil not by the Spirit of Common but Philosophical Wine 7. That these Menstruums do by continued Cohobations become most red shining by Night so that Men at Supper want no other Light permanent and multiplying the Philosophers Stone but of these in their proper places namely the Third and Fourth Books The One and Twentieth KIND Compounded Mineral Menstruums of Simple Mineral Menstruums and Mercury the rest of the Metals and other Tinging Things 113. The Spirit of Venus or Spirit of Verdegreece of Basilius Libr. Partic. de Particul Veneris TAke of Copper as much as you will of which make Vitriol the common way or instead of it take Common Verdegreece sold in Shops which will do the same thing to which being pulverized pour Common Distilled Vinegar put it in a heat decant the Vinegar being transparent and green to the remainder pour new Vinegar and repeat the Work till the Vinegar be tinged and the Matter remain in the bottom of the Vessel black draw off the Vinegar being tinged and gathered together either to driness or to a thin Skin that the Vitriol may be cristallized and you will have the Verdegreece purified after the common way to which being pulverized pour the Juice of Unripe Grapes Philosophical Vinegar in Numb 74. put it in a gentle heat and digesting you will have a transparent Smagragdine Tincture with which is extracted the Red Tincture of Venus an excellent Colour for Painters This Tincture being extracted mix all the Extractions together and draw off the Phlegme gently that the Vitriol being very clear graduated may be cristallized in a Cold place whereof if you have a sufficient quantity you have also enough Matter for the making of the Philosophical Stone if perhaps you should doubt to perform such a Mystery with every Natural Vitriol whatsoever Concerning this Preparation we lately spoke parabolically in Libro Clavium Capite de Wein Essig where we said That common Azoth is not the Matter of our Stone but our Azoth or first Matter extracted by common Azoth and Wine which are the expressed Juice of unripe Grapes whereby the Body of Venus is to be dissolved and reduced into Vitriol This is to be well observed for thus you will free your selves from many Difficulties Now out of this Vitriol thus prepared distil a Spirit and Red Oil c. Annotations IN the Eighth Kind common Mercury and Metals were either by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or by some simple Vegetable Menstruums converted into compounded Vegetable Menstruums In the Twentieth antecedent Kind tinging Arids dissolved in Acids are more easily distilled together with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine into compounded Mineral Menstruums But the present Kind volatilizeth the said Bodies not by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but Mineral Menstruums that the Menstruums may be thereby made sooner easier and of a higher Kind In the last Kind we distilled natural Vitriol being macerated in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or which is much more conducible dissolved in the same Spirit and reduced into graduated Vitriol into a Mineral Menstruum For the natural acidity of Roman Vitriol for the corrosion of Copper was in the composition of it able and strong enough to dissolve the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in the making of the said Menstruum but here in Artificial Vitriols the matter is otherwise for the dry Bodies of Metals co-operating in their Dissolutions do debilitate the acid and therefore Vitriols containing this debilitated acidity are scarce fit either for the dissolution of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or the constitution of the present Menstruum Wherefore the Vitriols of Saturn and Jupiter being made with a common acid do by virtue of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine yield sweet Oils or Vegetable Menstruums not at all acid or mineral for that weak acid remaining in the Vitriolification of those soft Metals is wholly transmuted in the dissolution of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine as also in the very Distillation of it self so that Vitriol being artificially made of Copper and Iron by acids is distilled not by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but Mineral Menstruums into a Menstruum of the present Kind but Gold and Silver need not only these Mineral or Stronger Menstruums but to be likewise volatilized by the same and reduced into Volatile Vitriols Thus Basilius in Conclusionibus suis Sect. 2. de Vitriolis Cap. 1. de Vitriolo Solis Lunae reduced Gold and Silver into Volatile Vitriol It is requisite saith he first to have our Water made of the cold Salt of the Earth Niter and the Eagle Vegetable Sal harmoniack wherewith Gold and Silver are made spiritual and coagulated into Cristal or Metallick Vitriol by which c. In Labore primo Libri Revelationis ut in Elucidatione 12 Clavium this Vitriol of Sol is more exactly thus described Take saith he of this Water the Kings Bath or Menstruum described above in Numb 89. three parts of the Calx of Gold one part mixe put it in a Cucurbit with an Alembick upon hot Ashes to be dissolved if it be not all dissolved pour off the Water and pour on new and that till all the Calx is dissolved in the Water when it is cold white Feces settle in the bottom which separate joyn all the Water together and digest in Balneo a day and a night then having taken away the Feces digest the space of nine days continually distill away the Water that the Matter may remain in the bottom like Oyl the Water distilled from it pour on again being heated distill as before pour on again distill and this repeat some certain times thus will the Menstruum be debilitated then pour new Water to the Matter like Oyl digest a day and a night distill in Sand to an Oyl pour on Water again being hot distill
Matter into a Glass Plate set it on a Tripos or our Calcining Fornace and there let it stand six Weeks and apply such a heat as if you would keep Lead melted without congealing Those six Weeks being expired let it cool then put it in a cold Cellar and cover it with a Linnen Cloth that no dust may fall in and in the space of six or eight days it will be wholly dissolved into a clear Water Now you must know this is the Philosopers clear Vinegar for when they write our Vinegar they mean this Water and when they say Philosophers Mercury they mean this Water and it is their Vinegar which they write or so wonderfully speak of From the Receipts we observe 1. That Metals and Minerals volatilized with Simple Mineral Menstruums are Menstruums of this Kind 2. That these Menstruums are the same with the Menstruums of the Eighth Kind dissolved in Simple Mineral Menstruums but differ from the antecedent Kind in being made not with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but Philosophical Vinegar 3. That these Menstruums are the Essences or Magisteries of Things tinging dissolved in Simple Mineral Menstruums 4. That those Menstruums being Mineral or Acid are in Alchymical Processes better than the Vegetable Menstruums of the Eighth Kind because stronger 5. That the dissolutions of Metals performed by these Mercurial Menstruums have been by the Adepts sometimes called Amalgamations You must know saith Isaacus That this is the best Solution that ever was found in the World for herein is no error of Proportion and Weight For Nature errs not For when Mercury is dissolved it dissolves other Metals also as is rightly taught in other places Nor will it dissolve more than it is able nor will it receive more of a Body into it than its Nature can bear For whatsoever has no need of it it cannot dissolve And it is the best Amalgamation that can be found 2. Oper. Min. Cap. 103. Pag. 494. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. That Bernhard in Epistola ad Thomam treated not of a dry but of this moist Amalgamation I shall prove elsewhere 6. That the Menstruum of Venus Sol Luna c. is of the same Virtue as to the faculty of Dissolving with the Menstruum of common Argent Vive this Mercurial Menstruum has been indeed more in use than the other by some Adepts because of the more easie way of operating upon the Open Body of Mercury tho it be less powerful than the rest in Point of Tinging 7. That there are divers Kinds of Stinking Menstruums The Thirteenth Kind taught us how to distil the most Stinking Menstruum of all out of Atrop For there the Oyly Matter of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine being dissolved in Vitriol is in its Distillation purged from all its Putrid Feculencies but the Twentieth Kind treats of Menstruums less stinking being made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine now purified and sweet The present Kind produceth from the same Matter Menstruums of the same Name indeed but not of the same Stinking Savour Colour c. For Philosophical Vinegar is by reason of the perfect dissolution of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Diaphanous not of a Milky Colour but in the Distillation of a Menstruum it is made Milky because the Acidity of the said Vinegar being debilitated by the Aridity of a Body dissolved cannot retain the Vnctious Spirit of Philosophical Wine so well as before but in the precipitation of which the Distilled Liquor becomes Milky for this reason the Adepts sometimes added common Vitriol and Niter to the Azoquean Vitriol that the said Spirit might the better be dissolved In a word The greater quantity of Philosophical Vinegar or any other Mineral Menstruum stronger than this is made use of in the making of these Menstruums the less Milky and less Stinking will the Menstruums be because made not of the embrionated Stinking Matter of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but of the same purified by Circulation and Distillation 8. That these as all other Menstruums are by Digestion made sweet and transmuted into Dissolvents of the Eighth Kind The Two and Twentieth KIND Mineral Menstruums compounded of the Philsophers Vinegar and other Simple Mineral Menstruums and Things tinging being first fixed 124. The Menstruum of Venus of Isaacus Hollandus Cap. 82. 3. Oper. Miner I Will now Son teach you how to make the Stone which God gives us freely You must know it is made divers Ways but I will teach you the Way which I learnt from my Father Take of the Stone which God gives us freely the Vitriol of Venus as much as sufficeth which dissolve in Philosophical distill'd Vinegar let the Feces settle decant the Dissolution from the Feces warily and filter draw off the Vinegar with a gentle Fire that the Matter may remain dry being dried dissolve it again in Distill'd Vinegar decant filter and draw off and that to be four times repeated till no more Feces settle in the Solution Then distil away the Vinegar with a gentle Fire till the Matter becomes so dry as to flie away in the beating of it into Powder yet retains its Spirits Now it is prepared for Calcination You must know Son that this Matter is in its Nature Stiptick and Astringent partly volatile partly fixed and so dissolved in Distil'd Vinegar that it may retain the subtil Spirit of the Vinegar and be calcined together with the said Spirit made more subtil be better opened and dissolved for the Spirit of Vinegar dissolves well before all things The Vitriol being thus prepared Put it in a Glass Bottle or Egg lute hermetically but the Vessels must be fill'd that there may be no space for the Spirits to elevate themselves set it on a Tripos and there let it remain in a temperate heat to subtiliate it self Then take out the Matter and pulverize it put it in a Cucurbit put on an Alembick with a Receiver to it and so distil in Balneo whatsoever will distil it will be distilled in about 20 or 25 days Then lay aside the Distillation take out the Feces lying at the bottom of the Cucurbit grind them very fine upon a Stone put them in a Dissolving Vessel pour all the Distilled Water to them seal hermetically and it will be all dissolved in Balneo without Feces distil the Solution in a Cucurbit through an Alembick in Balneo with a moderate heat that all the Water may separate it self which keep very choicely continue the Distillation in Ashes that you may receive the Element of Air in the form of a very noble Citrine Oyl and this must be done with a strong Fire lay aside the Air by it self very well stopped near the Water The Feces being as red as Blood take out of the Cucurbit grind them to an Impalpable Powder upon a Stone put them in a Glass Bottle or Egge seal and set it 30 days and nights on a Tripos to be subtiliated with a temperate heat then take out the Matter grind
White Body Lastly These words following do prove that the same Menstruums may be also made of any other Metals But if you would extract an Oyl out of Metals as has been taught of Vitriol you must dissolve your Metal in Aqua fortis and make it precipitate and wash away the Saltness of it with common Water and being dryed put into a Glass with a long Neck and congealed and put upon a Fornace with Sifted Ashes make a Fire under it as for Vitriol till the Metal be alogether red and till the inside of it is turn'd outward Then dissolve it in Distil'd Vinegar as the Vitriol and Congeal till no more Feces remain Then distil and the Metal will wholly distil into a Red Oyl and it is the perfect Oyl of the Philosophers but the Projection of it is not so high as of the Oyl which was first Salt And the Oyl of every Metal you must Multiply with the Oyl of Vitriol as aforesaid And the Oyl is very easily made after the same manner out of Saturn and the Projection of it is very high Give thanks to God Work and remember the Poor dispense the gifts of God to your own Salvation Cap. 80. 2. Oper. Min. Pag. 478. of the same Volume All Metals saith he Cap. 67. of the same Work even Jupiter and Luna will become red as blood for the inside of all Metals is red one more red than another When therefore they are brought to redness they must then be dissolved in Philosophical Vinegar and again congealed till they be free from any Feces and yet contain their Elements together perfectly for when they are brought to that pitch nothing remains save only Feces for the Earth the Caput Mortuum being made subtil and liquid is likewise dissolved when you have made it subtil by Dissolving and Coagulating so as that no more Feces remain Thus you may Distil it through an Alembick into a Red Oyl As you was here taught concerning Vitriol so must you also do with all Metals as also Mercury when it is dissolved in Aqua Fortis and precipitated the Saltness wash'd away and dried put it in a Glass as was said of Vitriol and done moreover so as was taught before concerning Vitriol And that which is here declar'd of Metal you may also do with Antimony and all other Minerals Open your Ears and hearken and open your Mind it was never heard that such a Work should be done with so little Pains Here I would advise you to take Notice of the difference between the Oyls of Vitriol and other bodies the like Oyl is produced from all Metals as from Vitriol yet with this difference that Vitriol in the Distillation of its Oyl leaves an Earth or Salt behind it wherewith the Spirit and Oyl of it are fixed into the Philosophers Stone but Metals and the rest of the Minerals not so they totally ascending into Spirit and Oyl no Earth Salt or Caput mortuum remaining whereby to be fixed into the Stone Vitriol therefore is that alone which hath all things in it relating to the Perfection of it self whereas the Oyls and Spirits of the rest are forced to borrow fixed bodies elsewhere for their fixations You must know saith he when you would reduce the Salt of Metals to an Oyl the same as hath been said of Vitriol the Elementary Earth of Metals will distil together with the Oyl red as blood but that the Earth of Vitriol does not the Oyl seperates it self from the Earth God hath vouchsafed such a blessing that the Philosophers Stone may be made of it alone without Addition translating all Metals into true Sol but the Oyl of it must be fixed with the Earth its own Earth or Salt but that is not so with Metals the Earth distils together through the Alembick and the whole Body is converted into Oyl translating all Metals into true Sol Herein do all the Philosophers agree An Oyl he goes on is also made of Mercury and of Antimony but their Earth goes over together and their whole Body turns into Oyl and remains an Oyl for ever and with this Oyl you may do wonderful things which here to recite would be too long You know also what is written of Antimony and the Oyl of it Yet must my Son know That the Oyl of Mercury is much better in all works wherein the Oyl of Antimony is used This is a Secret Cap. 69. and 70. of the same Work An Example That Metals wholly ascend into Oyl he brings in the following Chapter namely the 70th which we will name 126. The Circulatum Majus of Isaacus Cap. 70. 2. Oper. Min. Pag. 474. Vol. 3. Th. Chym TAke this Mercury the Metals sublimed in the Philosophical Menstruums aforegoing Dissolve it in Aqua Fortis with an equal quantity of Vitriol and Niter being Dissolved put the Solution in a Glass Vessel put on an Alembick set it in Sifted Ashes give first a gentle Fire Distil the Aqua Fortis from it then the Mercury will sublime upwards into the Alembick when it will sublime no more take it away take the Mercury out of the Alembick put it in a Glass with a long neck as you did with the Vitriol put it in a Vessel with Sifted Ashes light your Lamp under it so leave it till it be perfectly red as hath been taught of Vitriol Dissolve Congeal being clean Distil it into a red Oyl as hath been said of Vitriol but all the Mercury distils into Oyl so as to leave no Earth The Menstruum immediately antecedent in Numb 125 is in all things clear except the first Branch of it wherein is omitted the necessary Dissolution of Vitriol in Philosophical Vinegar before the Calcination of it into redness or fixation The first Menstruum of this Kind is imperfect not indeed in this but in another Branch insomuch as it is not therein declared that Vitriol must after the Calcination of it be again Dissolved in Philosophical Vinegar In this present third Tho it be said that it ought to be made according to the rule of the precedent Menstruums there is no mention at all made of Philosophical Vinegar yet without it Vitriol can neither be fixed into redness nor when fixed be again Volatalized or Distilled The Receipts therefore must be compared as often as the Adepts have either through too much fear or envy left us them imperfect It is enough if by comparing them together we can pick out their meaning or intention being not fully enough expressed in every circumstance the terms being either too obscure or altogether omitted Bodies in this Kind are to be fixed and then volatilized by Mineral Menstruums as Mercury and Antimony in the Ninth Kind are first fixed and then distilled in the greater Circulatums by vegetable Menstruums This light borrow'd from the said Ninth Kind will dispel all the Obscurities and Doubts of this Kind Vitriol therefore purged with common Water by Solutions and Coagulations must first be graduated that is
several times dissolved in Philosophical Vinegar and coagulated according to the Receipt in Numb 125 as Mercury is dissolved in the Water of Salt circulated in the Circulatum majus of Mercury This Vitriol being graduated in a close Vessel must be fixed into a most red Powder and being fixed then dissolved and coagulated in Philosophical Vinegar that it may again become volatile as Mercury being fixed in its own Circulatum is again made volatile by virtue of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine At last the Vitriol is to be Distilled into its Spirits Now by knowing the method it is manifest that the mystery of the Receipts consists in the Vinegar but to remove all scruple from these most excellent Menstruums we will prove by the very words of Isaacus himself that he meant not a common but Philosophical Menstruum Have not I taught you saith he how to draw all Metals through the Alembick so as to Distil wholly into Oyl leaving nothing but that alone does the strong Spirit of Vinegar and makes them Metals to be perfectly separated and rectified from their Feces within and without as I taught you and that the inside should be outward and the outside inward and then they are so resolved and subtil that the Elements cannot be separated one from another if you sought all the means in the world you would not be able to separate these Elements by reason of their subtility cleanness and resolution and when they have the subtil penetrating Vinegar with them they pass all together through the Alembick with the Vinegar but if you should put them to fire and any Spirit of Vinegar in sufficient quantity was present they the Metal and Vinegar would be forthwith fixed together and because the Vinegar is copiously in their clean open subtil Body they distil into Oyl and the Spirits of the Vinegar are fixed with the Body Now you must know thdt the Spirit of Vinegar is more Subtil than all things in the World yea a thousand times more subtil than the Quintessence of Aqua Vitae it cannot be contained in any Vessels but it is easily half fixed and therefore it easily fixeth the thing to which it is applied as it is demonstrated in the Vegetable Work where the Discourse is of Wine and the Nature of it where you will be sufficiently instructed what Vinegar is and the Spirit of it how all things are dissolved and ascend Cap. 77. 78. 2. Oper. Miner Pag. 477. Vol. 3. Theat Chym. You must know saith he elsewhere this is the greatest Secret in this Art for the middle parts of Vinegar are of so great Virtue as to be incredible by reason of their great Subtility for every thing they are mixed with becomes exceeding subtil and penetrable wherefore they make the Philosophers Stone a thousand times more subtil than it was before and more penetrable and the subtil parts mix themselves with the Stone for they are of one Nature and are both clean and subtil and are mixed together as Water with Water and it is a Medicine of that Nature as to make every thing fixed which it is mixed with and of its own Nature wherein it is and thus are the subtil parts of Philosophical Vinegar fixed in the Philosophical Stone and are made of one Nature with the Stone and they make the Stone as fusible as an Artist can wish as he oftentimes dissolves the Stone in Vinegar and congeals it for as many or few Spirits remain in the Stone the more fusible is the Medicine Wherefore I have taught my Son how to make his Stone so fusible as thereby to bring Mercury to Sol and Luna and it is a great Secret known to few peruse this Lecture diligently what vertue there is in Vinegar and what with the middle matter of Vinegar may be made Cap. 51. 1. Oper. Min. Pag. 337. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. That Vinegar which is a thousand times more subtil than the Quintessence of Aqua Vitae or Spirit of Philosophical Wine The Spirits of which makes the Philosophers Stone a thousand times more Subtil That is of one Nature with it and fixeth every thing it is mixed with you your selves will say is no common Menstruum but another of more excellent quality Isaacus moreover dissolves and coagulates the Stone in this Vinegar so oft till it is converted into Oyl which will be no more congealed Cap. 51 59 107. of the same Book With the same Vinegar also he made Metals fat and transmuted them into Oyls thus he dissolved and coagulated Gold so often continually in New Vinegar till an Oyl was made thereof as red as blood as Cap. 54. of the same Book Sometimes also he did with the same Vinegar reduce Gold to the consistence of an excellent White Oyl out of which he then distilled a White Spirit and a Red Oyl apart and not immixible together so subtil as that he advised the Artist to have a care lest these Oyls should condense again by too much Rectification for then being forced with too strong a Fire the greatest part of them would by reason of their great Subtility penetrate the Glass and so be lost Cap. 126 128 1. Oper. Min. Pag. 406. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. Who can expect such and so great things from Common Vinegar The same Vinegar that dissolved the fix'd Metal Gold and divided it into Spirit and Oyl the Constitutives of the Stone out of Sol alone the same also is required to dissolve fixed Vitriol and distil it into Spirit and Oyl the constitutives of the Stone out of Vitriol alone of the making of which in the Third Book of Alchymical Tinctures That this Oyl of Vitriol shews light by night affirms Trismosinus who hath described the said Oyl thus 127. The Oyl of Vitriol shining by Night of Trismosinus Libro Gangeniveron sive novem Tincturarum in Tinctura prima TAke of the best Hungarian Vitriol twelve pounds grind and dissolve it in pure clean Water or Rain Water distilled let the Feces settle decant the Solution into a Glass Dish placed in a Brass Bason full of Sand put the said Bason in Balneo and draw off the Water to a thin skin let it cool and stand three days in a cold place and in the mean time you will find green Stones which take out the remainder draw off again to a thin skin and let it Cristallize and this seven times repeat put the Stones in a Stove of the same heat as the Sun in Dog-days and in such a heat they will turn into a White Powder The Vitriol being thus prepared put it in a Cucurbit with a long neck well Sealed in Ashes under which put a Lamp so as that the heat exceed not the Sun in March thus leave it till the Vitriol begins to be yellow being yellow the Fire of the Lamp increase one Degree and thus leave it ten days and nights or till it begins to be red then again increase the Fire in the Lamp another Degree and
part of the Kings Crown obtained a part dissolved with a part of Sol and Luna together and putrified in this Oyl eight days and nights is changed into good Gold Praised be God Annotations THo every Mineral Menstruum is able enough to dissolve any Body whatsoever yet the Adepts thought good to acuate them yet more by the addition of Metallick Bodies that they might the better dissolve and tinge their Dissolutions In the present Receipt Basilius dissolves Mars in the Spirit of Venus described before in Numb 113. reduceth it into Vitriol and at last distils it into a Compounded Oyl Sect. 2. Cap. 4. This Menstruum he calls Oyl of the Salt of Mars Now saith he I have taught you how to extract a clear Vitriol out of Venus and to distil its Red Oyl this Oyl dissolves Mars into Vitriol and being yet once distilled strongly by a Retort you will have a Noble Tinging Oyl or Salt of Mars which is a Subject that pays Tribute to the King and enricheth him This Oyl dissolves the Purple Spiritual Gold and brings it over the Helm c. The Process of this Oyl of the Salt of Mars c. being by its brevity too obscure will be not a little illustrated by the following Spirit of Mercury 132. The Spirit of Universal Mercury made of Vitriol of Basilius Labore 2. Libri Revelat. TAke Common Copper make Verdegrese of it after the common way grind it pour to it a good quantity of Distilled Vinegar Philosophical or Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine stir it well and the Verdegrease will be dissolved let the Feces settle and the Solution will be very pure clear and green Draw off the Vinegar in a Cucurbit to thickness and in a cold place a weighty Vitriol graduated to the highest degree will be cristallized which again dissolve in hot Water evaporate the Water till it be thick put it again in a cold place and the Vitriol will be again coagulated which solution and coagulation must be three times repeated and the purification of the Vitriol will be perfect Let the Phlegm evaporate from this Vitriol in a Calcining Pot and calcine it till it begins to be red that is enough Then take pure Flints calcine and being red hot quench them in Distilled Vinegar repeat some certain times till they be well calcined Then again calcine and when they are a little cool pour to them Philosophical Vinegar made hot and let them be gradually dried Of these little Stones thus prepared take one part of the Vitriol now calcined two parts grind and mix put the Matter in an Earthen Retort that will not suck up the Spirits or in a Glass Retort well luted put a large Receiver to it and the Vessel being well luted kindle a Fire by degrees the space of 24 hours then give a stronger Fire 24 hours more and the Green Spirits will come over White and the Fire being thus continued Red Drops at last Keep this violent Fire till all the Spirits and Drops are gone over then put the Distillation in a Cucurbit and the Vessel being very close rectifie it in Balneo with a most gentle Fire and the Phlegme will ascend but in the bottom of the Cucurbit will remain the Oyl of Vitriol red and ponderous This Work being finished Take pure Filings of Iron put them in a Cucurbit pour to them the said Oyl of Vitriol so as to swim above them add so much distilled Rain Water till you see that the Oyl dissolves the Iron then draw of the Phlegme by Disâ—illation and let the remainder cristallize in a cold place into pure Vitriol and thus are Mars and Venus joyned together This Vitriol calcine it under a Tyle and stir it with an Iron Hook into a fine reddish Powder This Powder put into a Glass Retort well luted and the Vessels being very close distil by degrees of Fire as you distilled the Oyl aforesaid and first you will have a White Spirit which is the Philosophers Mercury then a Red Spirit which is the Philosophers Sulphur an incombustible Oyl compounded of both the Tinctures of Venus and Mars never to be separated and this is the Blood of the Green and Red Lyon with which the King their Father ought to be nourished draw of the Plegms from this Oyl in Balneo and it is prepared for Gold to be tinged with it Take the Caput Mortuum which is of a Beautiful Crimson Colour grind it to a most fine Powder put it in a Glass pour Philosophical Vinegar distilled to it digest three days in a gentle heat to extract the Salt wherein lye the Treasures of the whole World without which Salt all labour would be in vain draw off the Vinegar in Ashes and the Salt will remain in the Glass to which pour the aforesaid Oyl of Venus and Mars in a Glass Retort and the Salt will be presently dissolved and then distil with the same violence as before and the Oyl will carry its own Spirit of Salt over with it which rectify once in Balneo and it will be ten times stronger than before and you have the incombustible Oyl of Mercury Sulphur and Salt issuing out of one root prepared this Oyl is the true first Matter of Metals and the true root from which Gold is generated This Spirit of Mercury ye searchers of Nature has been to my knowledge detrimental to many unwary men seeking after it either too inconsiderately or arrogantly which to prevent for the future I will somewhat more clearly manifest the Nature Qualities and Original of it Common Verdegrese reduced into Vitriol by Vinegar then three times dissolved in common Water and coagulated must be calcined to redness in an open Vessel that the superfluous Phlegm may be drawn away and made fitter for the ensuing Distillation But whoever calcined Verdegrese purified in Apothecaries Shops call'd the flowers of Verdegrese to redness without the diminution of its Virtues Who I say has distil'd a most Red Oyl out of this calcined Powder Verdegrese therefore must be dissolved not in common but Philosophical Vinegar in order to be not only purified but reduced also into Vitriol graduated to the highest In the 20th Kind Basilius distils the same Red Oyl of Venus ponderous as Lead or Gold thick as Blood and of a fiery quality that is of extream acidity out of Roman Vitriol being highly graduated that is either macerated or throughly dissolved in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine In the 21th Kind We took Notice that the same Vitriol of Copper or Verdegrese being purified with common Vinegar was reduced into a graduated Vitriol not indeed by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine alone but with the juice of Sowre Grapes that is mix'd with common Vinegar or some other stronger Acid and then distilled into the Oyl of Venus If Metals Minerals and all other Acids dissolved in acids and reduced into Vitriols be so graduated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or Philosophical Vinegar that the
consequently Dissolvents transmutable with the dissolved into a third substance different from both These Menstruums therefore are so far from being immutable that according to the Edict of the whole Crowd of Philosophers to wit The dissolution of the Body is the coagulation of the Spirit and so on the contrary nothing in the more Secret Chymy can be more infallible Now this permanence of Menstruums you have observed not only in the volatilizations of Menstruums but also in the fixations of some thus you had the fixation of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in the greater Circulatums of the Ninth and Two and Twentieth Kinds but you will find more in the Preparations of Medicines as well as Tinctures They were by an Analogy of the Ancients ill called Menstruums unless also they could be transformed into the substance of an Embryo and yield proper Nutriment and augmentation to the Infant The Spirit of our Wine is indeed an absolute Oleosum that is combustible but here being throughly mixed with Aridums it becomes incombustible and despiseth the violence of Fire It is also moist and so uncapable of fixation but the moister and thinner parts which it contains are separated in the work of fixation from the more Oyley Particles being now concentrated So you observed that in the Preparations of the Sal Harmoniacks or Sulphurs of Nature the Spirit of Philosophical Wine as also the Vegetable as well as Mineral Menstruums are partly reduced into insipid Water and partly sticking to the Matters left in the bottom and fixed But better Examples you will have both in the Second and Third Books IX That Menstruums are not satiated with dissolving but become rather more avidous and so are by Dissolutions augmented as well in quantity as quality THough the Spirit of our Wine is the Basis Root and Center of all Menstruums Medicines Alchymical Tinctures and Pretious Stones yet nevertheless doth it dissolve slowly yea only such Bodies as are homogeneous to it that is purely Oyley as it self is a pure Oleosum and associate the same to it transmuting into its own Nature and so multiplies its self by this means Now so soon as this Spirit is transmuted into an Arido-Oleosum it does under the name of a Simple Vegetable Menstruum dissolve Arido-Oleosums that is the Sulphurs or Tinctures of the Mineral Kingdom the pure Aridum being untouch'd and left in the form of a white Powder with which Essences the said Menstruums or Essences may indeed melt together but not in the least be satiated because there is an Addition and Multiplication of like Parts But the same Vegetable Menstruums being now compounded of the Simple do no more extract the Tinctures and Essences of Minerals but dissolve and transmute the whole Mass or Substance of these Bodies into an Oyl swimming above which is called a Magistery Now this being digested together with its Menstruum at length falls in is united and so multiplies the Compounded Vegetable Menstruum For an Example to young Beginners The Spirit of Philosophical Wine being a Menstruum of the first Kind and acuated with the Oyl of Nutmegs is hereby made a Menstruum of the second Kind or acuated with Honey if you would have a Menstruum of the third Kind distil either of those Menstruums with Common Sal Harmoniack and you will have a Menstruum of the fourth but if you desire one of the fifth Kind cohobate either of them with the Salt of Tartar and you will have the Acetum acerrimum of Ripley or with common Salt and you will make the Sal circulatum of Paracelsus Cohobate Mercury or any other Mercury or any other Metal through an Alembick with this Vinegar or Salt and you will transmute the Simple Vegetable Menstruums into the Compounded Vegetable Menstruums of the eighth Kind from which you will further prepare Menstruums of the tenth Kind by dissolving and volatilizing any other Metal in them The same Rule you have as to our Mineral Menstruums But the Common Menstruums cannot receive beyond their Capacity X. That these Menstruums are also Secrets of the Second Book YOu have in this Book observed that among the Vegetable Menstruums there is none but what is either an Essence or a Magistery and it will be more copiously demonstrated in the Book of the Preparations of Medicines You have also taken notice by the aforesaid Receipts of them especially being compared with the following Descriptions of Medicines that Mineral Menstruums are the same Medicines but mixed and dissolved with Acids XI That these Menstruums are likewise Secrets of the Third Book IT is now partly clear by the Receipts of them but will be more clear by the Secrets of the Third Book that the Simple Menstruums are the Philosophers Stones not yet fermented but the Compounded are Menstruums mixed with the Masculine Seed and therefore Volatile and Fermented Stones XII That these Menstruums are in like manner Secrets of the Fourth Book THat these Menstruums do gove Light by Night and consequently are perpetual Lights yield also Matters for Pearls Pretious Stones c. the Receipts themselves do shew which will be confirmed by the Fourth Book RIPLEY Cap. 13. Philorcii Without these Waters we do little Good in this Art but he that hath these Waters will without all doubt compleat the Art The End of the First Book ERRATA EPist Ded. pag. 5. l. 3. read these for that Ep. to the Reader p. 10. l. 10. r. have a mind to Preface p. 3. l. 20. for Vegetative r. Vegetable p. 8. l. 28. for Minerals r. Mineral p. ibid. r. fixt Vegetable p. ib. l. 8. after that r. it scarce deserveth p. 12. l. 6. for mixt r. mix p. 14. l. 26. for is it r. it is p. 24. l. 12. dele of p. 31. l. 3. after oyl r. or middle salts for salts or p. 39. l. 5. for their r. the. p. 42. l. 33. for with r. which p. 45. l. 4. for the r. a. l. 16. for that only are they able to do r. that only is able to do this p. 48. l. 16. for as r. us p. 54. l. 11. for fly r. flow p. 56. l. 14. for drive r. dive p. 69. l. 24. for distil r. distil'd p. 78. l. 19. for stored r. restored p. 81. l. 1. omit the first four lines wholly p. 95. l. 1. for the latter is r. it p. 119. l. ult dele to p. 127. l. 12. for Metallick of r. Metals p. 128. l. 31. for extract r. extracting p. 130. l. 32. for prefers r. preserves p. 138. l. 21. for wherefore r. whereof p. 146. l. ult r. for an Aurum potabile he prepares a Menstruum out of Gold and Silver thus p. 152. for away r. all the. p. 177. l. pen. for out r. out of p. 181. l. 8. for its r. in p. 182. l. 14. for greens r. greeness p. 199. l. 33. for fire r. Firr p. 215. l. 5. for into it r. it into l. ult for greens r. greenness p. 246. l. 22. for Water r. Matter p. 261. l. 3. after Wine r. and Salts p. 296. l. 27. dele and when the Destillation is p. 301. l. 14. for shewing r. shining p. 306. l. 2. after Menstruums r. made p. 326. l. 27. for Tho r. tho p. 349. l. 30. for Acids r. Arids d 351. l. 33. for repeating r. repeated Books Printed for and Sold by Tho Howkins in George-Yard near Lombard-Street CLavis Horologiae or The Art of Dyalling with an Explication of the Pyramidical Dyal set up in His Majesties Garden at Whitehal Anno 1669. Illustrated with 40 Copper Cuts in Quarto By John Holwell A Cabalistical Dialogue in Answer to the Opinion of a Learned Doctor in Philosophy and Theology That the World was made of nothing By F. M. Van-Helmont in Quarto Trigonometry made easie fitted to the meanest Capacity it being the Foundation of Astronomy Surveying Navigation c. in Octavo By John Holwell Mellificium Mensionis or the Marrow of Measuring wherein a new and ready way is shewed how to measure Glazing Painting Plaistering Masonry Joyners Carpenters and Brick-layers Work in six Books and Illustrated with Copper Cuts the like not heretofore Published The Second Edition Corrected in Octavo By Venterus Mandey The Royal Catholick English School Containing a Catalogue of all Words in the Bible beginning with one Syllable and proceeding by degrees to eight divided and not divided c. in Octavo By Tobias Ellis Dr. Everard's Works in Octavo The Paradoxal Discourses of F. M. Van-Helmont concerning the Macrocosm and Microcosm c. in Octavo The Narrow Path of Divine Truth described from living Practice and Experience of its three great steps viz. Purgation Illumination and Vnion according to the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures c. By F. M. Van Helmont in Twelves The Artless Midnight Thoughts of a Gentleman at Court The Second Edition with Additions in Twelves The Young Man's Companion or a very Useful Manual for Youth c. The Second Edition with Additions By William Mather in Twelves
the Lord Jesus Christ forbids Now have I opened to you much of the Secret to the Glory of the immortal God Paracelsus extracts his Essence of Philosophical Wine not out of Aqua ardens but out of Philosophical Wine it self Thus 3. The Spirit of Wine of Paracelsus Described Chap. 9. of the Third Book of Long Life pag. 64. YOur Wine being powred into a Pelican digest in Horse-dung and that the space of two Months continually you will see it so thin and pure that a Fatness which is the Spirit of Wine will of it self appear in the superficies Whatsoever is under this is Phlegm without any nature of Wine but the Fatness alone being put into a Phial and digested by it self is of most excellent energy for long Life Guido used the following Method little differing from the Paracelsian 4. The Essence of Wine according to Guido Described Pag. 1. Thesaur Chym. TAke White or Red Wine which is better distil by Balneo till the Matter remain in the consistence of Honey which being divided into two parts in a duplicated Cucurbit mixt with the distilled Liquor and joyn together again and after the digestion of six weeks a green Oyl will swim upon the Matter which separate through a Funnel From the Receipts we think these Things following worthy of Observation 1. That the Wine Red or White is not Common but Philosophical and that is the only thing that is obscure in these four Books to be understood not according to the Letter but by Analogy but Aqua ardens Aqua vitae Spirit or Essence of a Philosophical Wine are the proper Names of it 2. That the Aqua ardens of Philosophical Wine doth in some things agree with the Properties of Common Spirit of Wine namely it goes before its Phlegm in distillation it is rectified as the Common from its Phlegm Lastly being rectified it is known by burning Linnen Sugar c. 3. That this Aqua ardens doth by Circulation dayly lose its moisture and sharpness and is at length converted into a swimming Oyl the Essence and Spirit of Philosophical Wine But who ever reduced Common Spirit of Wine or Aqua Vitis by bare Circulation into an Oyl Who I say hath by continual Circulation brought that Oyl to Driness so as to be sublimeable as a volatile Salt and that not but by a strong Fire as Isaacus affirms himself to have experienced in the Description of his Vegetable Stone Of which lower in the Third Book 4. That the Oyl or Essence of Wine may be divers ways made out of Philosophical Wine 5. That not only the Time but also the Scent Colour c. of the Essence are varied according to the variety of Method The Essence of Lully is like Heaven that is of a Sky-colour the Oyl of Guido is green 6. That it hath not a Scent so fragrant unless it hath a Body especially a Metallick or Mineral dissolved in it 7. That this Heaven the first of all Menstruums is also a Medecine and is called the Essence or Specifick to a long Life 8. That it is called Heaven for several Reasons by Lully First Because it works Contraries like Heaven Our Vegetable Menstruum saith Lully the Celestial Animal which is call'd Quintessence preserves Flesh from corruption comforts things elemented restores former Youth vivifies the Spirit digests the crude hardeneth the soft rarifies the hard fattens the lean wasteth the fat cools the hot heats the cold dries the moist moistens also the dry One and the same thing can do contrary operations The Act of one thing is diversified according to the nature of the Receiver as the heat of the Sun which hath contrary operations as in drying Clay and melting Wax yet the Act of the Sun is one in it self and not contrary to it self Secondly Because like Heaven it receives the Forms of all Things As the universal Form the Macrocosmical Heaven hath an appetite to every Form so the Quintessence of Philosophical Wine to every Complexion whereby it is evidently manifest that the Quintessence of things is said to be of that complexion to which it is adjoyned if joyned to hot hot if to cold cold c. This therefore the Philosophers called Heaven because as Heaven affords us sometimes heat sometimes moisture c. so the Quintessence in mens Bodies at the Artist's pleasure c. Distinct 1. Lib. Essentioe To this Heaven we apply its Stars which are Plants Stones and Metals to communicate to us Life and Health Ibid. Thirdly Because like Heaven it moveth all things from power to act Therefore Heaven or our Mercury is the Cause and Principle moving G C Metals from power to act And in this point knows the understanding of an Artist that D our Heaven hath action upon C and C ruling and governing and reducing it into action as Heaven brings that which is in Elemental things by its own motion into action c. For we call it Heaven by reason of its motion because as the upper Heaven moves the universal Form and first Master and Elements and Senses to compound Elemented Individuals so D moves C and C and the four Elements to M the Sulphur of Nature or Philosophers Mercury or to Q the Tincture Distinct 3. de quarto principio Libri Essentioe 4. Because like Heaven it is incorruptible Aqua vitoe is the Soul and Life of Bodies by which our Stone is vivified therefore we call it Heaven and Quintessence and incombustible Oyl and by its infinite other Names because it is incorruptible almost as Heaven in the continual circulation of its motion pag. 145. Elucid Testam 5. Because it is of the colour and clarity of Heaven Heaven or our Mercury is the fourth Principle in this Art and is signified by D of an azure colour and line and is signified by that colour because it is celestial and of a celestial Nature as we said before in the description of it Dist 3. Lib. Essentioe This Essence Johannes de Rupescissa calls Humane Heaven for the following Reasons We ought to seek that thing which is to the four Qualities of which our Body is compounded as is Heaven in respect of the four Elements Now the Philosophers called Heaven Quintessence in respect of the four Elements because Heaven is in it self incorruptible and immutable and not receiving strange impressions but by the command of God so also the thing which we seek is in respect of the four Qualities of our Body a Quintessence in it self incorruptible so made not hot dry with Fire nor moist cold with Water nor hot moist with Ayr nor cold dry with Earth but is it a Quintessence able to work Contraries as the incorruptible Heaven which when it is necessary infuseth a moist Quality sometimes a hot sometimes a cold sometimes a dry Such a Radix of Life is the Quintessence which the most High created in Nature with power to supply the necessity of the Body to the utmost term which God hath appointed to our
well as perfect Metals from power into action And though I may seem not to have delineated to you the Form of the Glass yet I know and do remember that I left some of them at your House and many other of our Cucurbits which are every one good Govern your self according to your discretion we having sufficiently manifested to you the way of Truth in this Chapter From the Receipts we observe 1. That the Menstruums of this seventh Kind differ from the former simple Menstruums not in matters nor in ways of making but in the weights and use of the Ingredients 2. That these Menstruums tinge not their dissolution which is the property of compound Menstruums Every Vegetable Mercury contains indeed its own tinging Sulphur in its Bowels sufficient both for it self and others as will be demonstrated in the third Book but especially in the fifth nevertheless we affirm that every Spirit of Philosophical Wine wants Tincture as being not acuated with things more tinging The Eighth KIND Vegetable Menstruums compounded of Simple Vegetable Menstruums and common Argent Vive or other Metals 41. The Ignis Gehennoe of Trismosinus made of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and Mercury Sublimed Pag. 7. Aurei Velleris Germ. TAke of Alum calcined Nitre of each two parts of Salt decrepitated one part mix take of this mixture and Mercury sublimed of each one pound sublime by the Law of Art mix the sublimation with new mixture of Salts and sublime and that repeat three times To this Mercury thus sublimed and pulverized pour the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and draw it off in Balneo to an oleity cohobate sometimes and the fourth time will ascend the Mercury together with the Spirit of VVine rectify the distillation till it leaves no Faeces and it will be a VVater burning like Hell-Fire This VVater rectify again in Ashes till it ascends without leaving any Sediment lastly distil through a Paper seven times double in Balneo and you will have a VVater truly Spiritual which keep in a Vessel close stoped by reason it is very Volatile Annotations THe Kind immediately antecedent is indeed computed in the number of the greater Circulatums or Vegetable Menstruums compounded because the Menstruums of that Kind do in the power of dissolving excell the other Simple Menstruums but not in Tincture which that as well as those do want but we will now offer those which shall be better they will not only dissolve but in dissolving moreover tinge the things dissolved in them and so make them better they will not only extract the Essences of things but transmute whole Bodies into Magisteries Amongst these the Vegetable Mercurial Waters made of common Argent vive and simple Vegetable Menstruums have priority for many of the Adepts being so taught by Experience have called common Argent vive the open Metal for it is sooner dissolved than the other Metals and does by its aridity more temper the unctuosity of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine than the individuals hitherto used in the antecedent Kinds of Menstruums As concerning this matter hear the Philosophers and above the rest the great Paracelsus Prince without question of all the Adepts who saith If you intend to convert Metals into a Magistery and tinge the whole Body altogether into an Essence you must take the chief and open Metal to which all the rest have affinity in Nature and putrify it in its own Matrix which is situated in VVater and is call'd the Mother of all Metals Paracelsus his Circulatum minus made of common Salt purge it from superfluities and reduce it into its liquid first being that is the Metallick Acetum acerrimum the primum Ens of Mercury Lib. 10. Arch. Cap. 3. pag. 37. As a temperate Essence he goes on is drawn out of Herbs as out of a Vine for example by which very Essence the like Essence may be extracted out of all sorts of Herbs and Roots so as that the Mercury of VVine shews not its own Nature but the Nature of that with which it is essentiated for the like reason out of Metals and Minerals the like Mercury or Spirit is extracted out of the open and middle Metal Mercury Lib. 10. Arch. pag. 39. Mercury vive is the Mother of all the seven Metals and ought deservedly to be called the Mother of Metals for it is an open Metal Libro de rebus naturalibus pag. 87. VVherefore call to mind those things which have been said before of half perfect Natural Things among which Mercury vive is one which is not brought into compaction but left in liquidity Besides you must know that every generated thing which is open as Argent vive is like an open House into which every Man that will may enter for so lies Mercury open that every Physitian may take what he will from it but it is not so with Gold Silver Tin c. for that Gate is shut by coagulation till opened dissolved and reduced into the first matter by Art which Metals have indeed many impediments such as are not in Mercury for it is open and wants nothing but the direction of preparation Tract 2. lib. 2. de morbis metallicis 723. Basilius agrees with Paracelsus saying In the beginning of Generation the first of all is Argent vive being open and loosely coagulated because it hath little Salt communicated to it and therefore is more Spiritual than Corporeal the rest of the Metals being derived from its Essence have more Salt and therefore are made more Corporeal Lib. de rebus natural supernat Cap. 2. Chortalassaeus affirms the same saying Argent vive is of divers Colours white skyish ash blackish one slow another swift yet in it self an open Metal and hath a Body easily transmutable Cap. pag. 359. Volum sexti Theat Chym. In searching for Sulphur despair not saith Sendivogius I tell you by all that 's sacred it is in Gold and Silver most perfect but in Argent vive most easy Pag. 213. lib. de Sulphure Of the antient Philosophers I will add Arnold who in Lib. 1. Cap. 7. Rosarii saith The Medicine is as well in Metallick Bodies as also in Argent vive as to Nature because they are found to be of one Nature but indeed in these Bodies harder in the Argent vive nearer but not more perfectly In Argent vive alone it is found more easily and more nearly not more perfectly it being the Father of both those Luminaries and all things fusible for they are all derived from it and therefore are they all resolv'd into it because Nature embraceth its own Nature more amicably and rejoyceth with it more than with that which is Heterogeneous For in it is the facility of extracting that subtil substance Among the Metals there is none that sooner mixeth with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and is more easily altered than Argent vive wherefore the Adepts esteemed it as an open Metal all other Metals and Mineral Bodies are with
very great difficulty dissolved by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but being once counited with this Spirit they are as well as Mercury converted into a third substance never to be divided into their constitutives that is Metal and Spirit This open Metal they made more open sometimes by the acidity of Salts so Trismosinus did sometimes sublime common Mercury for his Hell Fire yet principal care must be taken that such Menstruums as these made of Mercury sublimate be by being dulcify'd with longer than ordinary circulation or repeated cohobations freed from all the acidity of the Salts but this operation being full of danger yea contrary to the Rule of Vegetable Menstruums which excludes every Acid whatsoever we have therefore thought good to advise young Beginners to use crude Mercury as safer than sublimate Instead of these we will therefore commend the Menstruums made of crude Argent vive 42. The Alchymical Mercury of Ripley In Concord Raym. Guidon TAke of crude Mercury well purged one Ounce of our Fiery Tartar or former Vegetable Salt reserved in the Fifth Kind in Numb 23. three Ounces grind both together very fine upon a Marble till they be incorporated then put the matter in a warm Balneo and let it be all dissolv'd into a kind of white Milk put it all upon a Pound of crude Mercury and let it be all dissolved into the like Milk and thus do in infinitum This Mercury being dissolved putrify in Balneo then distil in Ashes first with a gentle Fire and an insipid Water will ascend which must be thrown away then the Fire being more increased another Water will ascend more thick which Water indeed dissolves all Bodies putrifies cleanseth and fixeth them at the end with a more vehement Fire will an Oyl ascend of a Golden Colour which must be preserved for the dissolving of the red Ferment and for the multiplying of the red Elixir for it is our peculiar Gold not yet fixed by Nature Elsewhere instead of Tartar fired that is the Spirit of Philosophical Wine dryed in the Salt of Tartar or Vegetable Sal Armoniack made of the Salt of Tartar but not yet sublimed Ripley sometimes used some simple Vegetable Menstruum with which he made the exalted Water of Mercury as followeth 43. The exalted Water of Mercury of Ripley Cap. 12. Philorcii TAke Nigrum nigrius nigro and distil an Aqua ardens and fortify it with Pepper Squilla Pyrethrum Euphorbium Solatrum Anacardus grains of Paradise Staphis-agria and the like in acuity but this is a great secret Take the Water of the fifth fortification and distil pour it upon Mercury so as to swim two or three Fingers above it stop the Vessel to prevent exhaling put the Mercury in Balneo to dissolve for a Month that which is dissolved of it empty into another Vessel and keep pour new Water upon the Mercury not dissolved and proceed as before thus continuing till you have one Pound of Mercury dissolved Then put the dissolution together in Balneo the space of fifteen Days and after that distil and that which ascends keep apart in a Vessel not to respire and upon the remaining Faeces pour new Water and proceed by Balneo as above and this Work continue till all the Mercury is exalted But this is not the Work of idle and sloathful Men. Now this Water thus exalted is by the Philosophers call'd by many Names for it is Lac Virginis Aqua roris Maii and Aqua Mercurii Nigrum nigrius nigro and Philosophical Wine we have proved before by Lully to be Synonimous the fortification or acuition of that Water or Spirit with Pepper Squilla c. we taught in the second Kind Mercury though an open Metal is yet hard enough to be dissolv'd in the aforesaid Menstruum of the second Kind but the stronger the simple Vegetable Menstruums are the sooner also is it dissolved an Example you will have in the following Glorious Water of Lully where Mercury is in the space of six days dissolved in the Coelum Vinosum of Lully by a Menstruum of the sixth Kind 44. The Glorious Water of Argent vive of Lully In Testamento Novissimo TAke of common Argent vive one Pound put it in a Glass Vessel and pour upon it of the Vegetable Menstruum above described 〈◊〉 the Sixth Kind in Numb 30. so much as to swim four Fingers above it set it in Balneo or Dung six Days and it will be all dissolved into a Glorious Water elevate the Menstruum gently by Balneo and at the bottom of the Vessel will remain the Light of Pearls and Soul of Metals This we meant in the Chapter which begins Oportet nos cum eo incipere cum eo finire Then take of this Glorious Water of Argent vive one Pound and mix it with two Pounds of the Vegetable Menstruum coelificated of Coelum Vinosum in Numb 30. and it will all become one Water with which you will dissolve all Bodies as well perfect as imperfect for the Production of our Sulphur The same way almost he prepares that which he calls the incalcinated Menstruum 45. The incalcinated Menstruum of Lully In Experim 34. TAke common Mercury brought out of Spain in Skins seal'd with a Spanish Seal to prevent Sophistication force it through a fine Skin then take the Mercurial Water extracted from Mercury by the Magistery as we taught you in the Experiment of three Vessels as you know and so dissolve the Mercury being all dissolv'd draw the Water from it by Balneo and in the bottom of the Vessel will the Mercury remain in the Form of an Oyl This therefore we will use to be incerated circulated rather into our Heaven or our coelificated Menstruum Take therefore four Pounds of the coelificated Menstruum the Vegetable Heaven described in the Fifth Kind in Numb 17. and one Pound of the aforesaid Mercury reduced into Oyl and joyn them together then will you have at length the incalcinated Menstruum with which you will dissolve the two Luminaries preserving their Form and not only preserving it but also propagating it in infinitum The Receipt of this Menstruum is plain yet must we declare what he means by the Mercurial Water extracted by the Magistery of three Vessels the Description of which Menstruum we read thus 46. The Mercurial Water by â—â—â—ee Vessels of Lully In Experim 13. TAke Spanish Mercury which is brought in Bladders with the Seal of Spain that it may not be adulterated sublime it thus Take Vitriol dryed from all Phlegm and common Salt prepared and decrepitated or first burn'd in Fire joyn the Mercury with these two grinding very well then sublime in a Vessel at first with a gentle Fire then increase the Fire till it be perfectly sublimed the Vessel being cold gather the sublimation carefully and beware of the fumes being Venomous imbibe the sublimation very well with the Oyl of Tartar per deliquium and quick Lime then put the matter into