Sal-Armoniack together with the Antimony may be distilled and sublimed such an Instrument as this I but shew you describing all its Parts may be made Here place the Figure in the 82 Page A. is the Fornace B. the Retort C. the Recipient D. the Aperture with a Pipe of a Moderate bigness on which may be set the Alembeck E. The other Fornace is F which containing a moderate Fire sublimes what falls into the receiving Vessel up into the Alembeck E. And so the Matter which is distilled from the Retort B by the Fire of the Fornace F is presently sublimed Which may not only be useful in this Case but also in every Sublimation of other Matters and upon that which comes forth in the Distillation pour common distilled rain-Rain-water but let it first be made hot and so by edulcorating remove all the Salt that no Acrimony may remain and the Antimony will appear like pure white shining Feathers Dry them with subtle Heat and having put them in a Glass circulatory or Pelican pour on them good and perfectly rectified Spirit of Vitriol and Circulate the Mixture till both be well conjoyned * This Union must be so firm as in distilling one may not be separated from the other otherwise you will lose your Labour and Cost Of how great moment this Union is in Chymistry they best know who only by confounding two things together think they shall effect Wonders but afterwards their Experience failing them they learn how great difference there is between Union and Confusion for Things confounded receive no Virtue that was not in them before but by Union I know not what Spirit is ingested which performs such things as the Mind of man could never perceive to have their being thence Hence consider in the Generation of Animals who would believe it how from the Union of Elements is generated Sight Tast Touching and so many Powers of Animals which are insited in none of the Elements and yet arise from them united Whensoever it happens that any Tincture seems to have united it self with its Menstruum and afterward may be separated therefrom that therefore is because Matrimony is not legitimately Celebrated nor the Union in a due manner perfect Which you shall more than once see to happen in the Tincture of Sol and Antimony The Instrument by which I conjoyn my Tinctures and am wont to copulate them in an undissolvible Copulation you shall find described hereafter in this â—very Book That in Spirit of Wine is to be noted which happens not in other Menstruums because it is most easily united to Things and again with a slight artifice separated from the same and united then distill the whole and pour on Spirit of Wine circulate again then let separation be made and remove the Feces setling to the Bottom but keep the Arcanum which remains mixt with the Spirit of Wine and Vitriol Now when you again rectifie this Arcanum one drop of it exhibited with Rose water is more available than a Pot full of the Decoction of Herbs for it causeth a good Appetite corrects the Stomach and concocts all malignity in it drives away Sadness and Melancholy makes good Blood and a good Digestion in the Suffocation of the Matrix and Cholick Passion both which it wonderfully appeaseth it is instead of a Treasure of inestimable price and deserves Commendation not easily expressible by Words After the Arcanum of Antimony next in order follows the Elixir * This Process as it is easie to perform so it may by us be easily passed over lest we should seem to take Pen in hand rather from an itching desire of Writing then for illaminating Things obscure of the same which you may prepare in this manner Take in the name of the Lord good Minera of Antimony grind it subtlely and sublime it with half so much Sal-Armoniack Whatsoever shall be sublimed put into a Glass Retort and thrice distil it separating the Feces every time Afterward remove from it the Sal-Armoniack by edulcoration and reverberate the Matter of Antimony in a Vessel well closed with moderate Fire not forcing too much until it become like the Earth of Cinnabar This being done pour on it strong distilled Wine Vinegar and extract its Redness afterward abstract the Vinegar until a Powder remain This Abstraction must be made in Balnco Then extract this Powder with Spirit of Wine that the Feces may be separated and you will have a pure and clear Extraction Having finished this Operation put this Spirit of Wine together with the Extraction into a Cucurbit and add thereto a little of the Tincture of Corals and of the Quintessence oâ— Rubarb and then administer the Dose of three or four Grains It causeth gentle Stools and purgeth without Gripings of the Belly and indeed if you have proceeded well in preparing it renders the Blood agilâ— and is a Medicine apt for those who desire Gentle Purgations Here perhaps some Physician may wonder how 't is possible that this Medicine should cause moderate and easie Purgations when as Antimony is a Matter vehement and forcible and to it is joyned Rubarb which of it self also hath a Purging Property But let him cease his admiration and know that the venomous purging power of Antimony is by this Preparation so mortified as it can apprehend or expel nothing but as soon as some purging Simple is adjoyned to it it then according to the powers of its own Nature performs the Office of opening and purging But Antimony prepared hath no action upon the * Note here very seriously that Galenick Catharticks have power of expelling but not of Correcting Humors but Chymical Purgers are endued with either Faculty and certainly it should not be minded how much is expelled but how much is healed which the occult power of Medicaments prepared Chymically doth much better effect than that common and publick violence of purging forcibly Stomach thence to expel its impurities but by the purging Medicine its adjunct acquires a more open Field and therein can operate without Impediment any other way and discern yea search on t the way of Effecting that better to which it was ordained and prepared without hindrance I would have all men to credit these my words since I have no necessity to write other than the Truth This Elixir in such manner prepared as I have taught penetrates and purgeth the Body as Antimony purgeth Gold and frees it from all Impurity So that if I would at large commemorate all the powers and virtues thereof I must put up my Supplications to the GOD of Heaven and intreat him to vouchsafe me a longer Life that I might laud his wonderful Works and search out further and according to Verity communicate to others what I have found thac they with me excited to admiration may publickly render thanks to their Creator for his so great Blessings But to proceed in my purpose having once begun I here describe the Virtues of Antimony
same as with a great Sound through all Parts of this Inferiour Orb which will be a necessary Consequence of the Gratitude of my Disciples when they shall see with their Eyes touch with their Hands and with their Understanding comprehend that I to their great profit have declared to them the very Truth withour Deceit and made them the Heirs of a memorable Testament Therefore the first Separation of the Sulphure from its Body and the Extraction of the Tincture from its Salt is performed in this manner Take pure Glass of Antimony as I taught you to make it without the adjunction of any other Thing Grind it to subtle Powder * What I here shall advise is short but very profitable without whâ—â— what the Author appoints cannot be done nor by beating or grinding in a Motar can you ever bring the Body to a requisite fineness much less upon a Porphy Stone can you grind the same Therefore first beat it in a Mortar afterward mix it with distilled Vinegar that it may have the Consistency of a soft Pâ—like matter and so grind it upon a Porphyry Stone as Painters grind their Colours and undoubtedly you will obtain your desire impalpable as Flower Which Powder put into a Glass with a Plain 〈◊〉 bottom called a Cucurbit and there pour upon 〈◊〉 strong Vinegar well rectified then set the Vessel in a Digestive Fire or if it be Summer expose it to the Sun stirring it twice or thrice * Thou art happy if thou canst be wise my Dammage O Lover of Anâ—â—â— I exactly followed this short Adâ—â—â—ition stirring the Cucurbit twice or 〈◊〉 a Day but the Matter was always coagulated like a Stone and stuck so 〈◊〉 to the bottom â—as it could by way ree be râ—nâ—eâ—id there but afterward 〈◊〉 â—ore wary from the very first I begun to stir the Matter with a Wooden Spatula five or six times a Day or oftner you may imitate the same if you be wise not only here but also in the Superior Preparation of Antimony and in every Extraction of Tincture from Antimony a Day and so long digest it in that temperate heat as until the Vinegar contract a Yellow Colour inclining to Redness like the Colour of most clean and well purified Gold Then pour off this clear and pure Extraction and pour on fresh Vinegar and repeat the Operation as long as the Vinegar is tinged and until no more Tincture can be extracted Filter all these Extractions mix'd together and put them into a Glass Body with its Head annexed and by B. M. distil off the Vinegar until in the Bottom remain a Yellow Powder inclining to Redness Upon this Powder pour distilled rain-Rain-water often times and as often distil it off again still pouring on fresh distilled Rain-water Repeat this labour so long as until the Powder remain Sweet and * Our most sincere Author here deceives you not but conceals a certain manual Operation which if you attend to me clearly discovering the same the Work it self will never fail to Answer your desire If you have much Tincture you must have a great Cucurbit if Little a less will serve For if you take a greater Vessel than your Tincture requires the Vinegar must necessarily have a greater Fire to cause it to ascend by reason of the height it must unavoidably rise or it cannot be distilled and in sustaining so forcible a Fire there is great danger of Corrupting the Tincture it self Here also is required another Caution viz. this after two thirds are distilled off you must change your Vessel and put the remaining Matter into a less Glass Body and thence distill off the Vinegar until the Remanency acquire the just thickness of a Poultis Also take heed as Basilius seems to intimate that you distil not off the Vinegar unto dryness lest the Tincture by Adustion be wholly corrupted Notwithstanding all This my own Precaution now given I could not choose but labour a whole year to little purpose often repeating this Tincture with a vâ—in endeavour whence I was almost as often weary of Chymistry through desperation for my Tincture was of no essicacy in Medicine because a meer Caput-mortuum only unsavoury and of no value Hence consider how little any Process profits whether set down in Writing or received from a Friend by ward of mouth unlâ—â—s you set to your hand and practically learn every partiâ—â—lar of the Work sit to be observed in operaâ—ing Also see how liberally I deal with you in revealing that the ignorance of which hath put me to great trouble and chaâ—ge The manual Operation which is vequisite for edulcorating this Pap-like Matter remaining in the bottom is this Upon this Matter pour distilled Water and gently abstract the same by Balneo When you have repeated this a third time you will find the Water to come off sweet which time must be observed with very great diligence For if you be deceived in that your Work is at an end all your labour lost and you shall get nothing but a Caput Mortuum For as soon as twenty or at most thirty drops of sweet water come forth an Acidity appears again and distils forth which the unwary judging to be an Acidity of the Vinegar formerly added proceed in distilling expecting the Water to come forth sweet but this being the Acidity of Antimony which the Vinegar being extracted immediatly follows the Sweet Water that persisting to distil destroys the whole Virtue of the Antimony and leaves nothing remaining but an unsavoury Caput-mortuum Therefore be thou more wary and as soon as this Sweet Water comes forth cease to distil and take out the Pap-like Matter residing in the Bottom and putting that into another Glass permit it to dry at the Solar-Heat or else evaporate all its moysture with most gentle Fire that it may remain a dry Powder and when you have avoyded this danger then go on grateful This Powder grind upon a Marble or Glass first made hot then put it in a Glass Body and pour upon it of the best rectified Spirit of Wine so much as will stand above it three Fingers thickness then set it in a Digestive heat as above for extracting the Tincture of Antimony which will be high coloured and pleasantly red to amazement and it will deposit a certain Earth or feculency in the bottom This Extraction is sweet grateful and so very efficacious in Medicine as no man that hath not experienced the same will give credit thereunto The Feces in the bottom retain the Venenosity but the Extraction Medicine only which Experience hath taught to be a profitable Remedy for men and Beasts For if three or four Granes of this Medicine be taken it expels the Leprosie and Gallick Lues purifies the Blood drives away Melancholy and resists all Venom and whosoever labours with Shortness of Breath Difficulty of Breathing or Prickings of the Sides he may be cured by the Use of this Medicine * These Medicaments which
as far as I have experienced them yet what is hid from my knowledge I ought to pass over in silence For it becomes me not to give my Judgment of things unknown and which I have not my self experimented but I leave them commending the same to other Judges who with study and labour in this Subject have made some good progress No one man can be so expert in knowing the Virtues of Antimony as nothing shall remain unknown by him not only by reason of the shortness of his Life as I before said but also and chiefly because some new thing is dayly found in it Therefore let men know that Antimony not onle purgeth Gold cleanseth and frees it from every peregrine Matter and from all other Metals but also by a power innate in it self effects the same in Men and Beasts If a Farmer purpose in himself to keep up and fatten any of his Cattle as for Example an Hog two or three days before let him give to the Swine a convenient Dose of crude Antimany about half a dram mix'd with his Food that by it he may be purged through which Purgation he will not only acquire an Appetite to his Meat but the sooner increase and be fatned And if any Swine labour with a Disease about his Liver or other Parts or else be Leprous Antimony causeth the Leprosie to be dryed up and expelled This Example seems indeed to sound somewhat gross and rustical to the Ears of Great men especially but my purpose in proposing it only was to the end that private Men and Laicks whose Brains were not by Nature fabricated to the most subtle Philosophy of the Learned may see the Truth hereof in the very Operation it self with their own Eyes also that by this rude Proposal they might give greater credit to my other Writings in which I have spoken a little more subtely of these Things Yet I would have no man following me as his Author to give a Medicine of Crude Antimony to men for mute Animals can in their Stomach concoct much more hard Foods than the tender Complexion of Men is able to digest Wherefore he who would rightly and with profit use Antimony he must learn the Preparation thereof first and afterward know the Dose as what is convenient for the Young and what for the Old how much may be given to robust Bodies and how much to the weak in which no small Mystery of this Art consists the ignorance of which will do more hurt than an imprudent Physician can do good Should I confirm all things by Examples that would be the Cause of a very Prolix Writing therefore I will break off this Discourse and pass on to another Preparation of Antimony and describe its fixedness which acts like Wine from which its Spirit is substracted and separated from its Body This Spirit heals the Body internally and if externally applied draws to it self all the Heat of a part inflamed but on the contrary when of the Wine Vinegar is made it cools either inwardly or outwardly applied although the Wine and Vinegar have their Original from the same Root and proceed from the same Stock The Reason of this diversity is because Vinegar is made through digestion only by which Putrefaction of the Wine follows together with a Vegetable Fixation but on the contrary Spirit of Wine is made with Separation by distilling or vegetable subliming which renders the Spirit volatile By like reason Antimony is prepared and according to its divers Preparations hath divers Effects and diversly communicates its Gifts to us which are scarcely comprehensible by the humane Intellect But the Fixedness thereof touching which I here treat is thus prepared Take of Antimony as much as you will grind it to a subtle Powder which put into a Cucurbit and pour on it of Aqua fortis so much as will stand above it the breadth of six Fingers and having well and firmly closed the Vessel place it in a subtle heat for ten Days that the Matter may be extracted Decant off this Extraction pure and clear and filter it that it may be free from all feculencies and Impurities then put this Extraction into a Glass-Body and abstract all the Aqua fortis by Distillation in Ashes or Sand and in the bottom the Powder of Antimony will remain yellow and dry Upon this pour distilled rain-Rain-water and put it in a like Glass in moderate heat and you will have a Red Extraction This again filter and gently distil off the rain-Rain-water by B. M. and the Powder will remain red in the Bottom Upon this red Powder pour strong distilled Vinegar this Vinegar will in some time draw to it self the Colour red as Blood and put down Feces Afterward distil off the Vinegar and there will again remain a red Powder This Powder reverberate continually for three days together without ceasing in an open Fire This being done abstract the Tincture from it by Spirit of Wine and separate the Feces remaining from the Tincture All these Works being with so great labour performed again separate the Spirit of Wine by distillation in Balneo and a fixed * Diaphoretick Antimony is sold in Shops but what here the Author shews us by the name of Fixed Powder of Antimony is not to be bought for Silver or Gold the Virtues of which so far exceed all that of which the Common Sort are Partakers In vain with so great attention and study of which in preparing this Powder there is very great need did our Philosopher intend this Work if these Mysteries of so great Effects must come to the handling of the Vulgar or be publickly sold for Money Let him who attains to this fixed Powder use it in Chronical Diseases especially where Sweats are to be excited and he will see Effects causing him to rejoyce if he use it in himself and by which he will be glorified if he use it in others Red Powder will remain which operates wonderfully Half a dram of this being taken thrice a day viz. Morning Noon and Night or oftner hurts no man for it expels all clotted Blood out of the Body and being long taken securely opens all perillous Imposthums and expels them radically cures the French Disease causeth new Hairs to grow and notably renovates the whole man Now since I have taught to make a fixed Powder of Antimony and the Extraction thereof very commodious for Use leaving this Discourse I purpose briefly to treat of the Flowers of Antimony which may be many ways prepared But the greatest part * How much Chymistry was impeached by Calumnies in the times of Basilius is manifest by the very many Reliques of Writers with which some Theologicians imprudently judging what they understood not and Politicians not much more prudent than them have defamed their own Books and in the mean while also given occasion to Others more throughly searching into the matter of judging those very Authors with no greater circumspection to have likewise
Antimony may be extracted a Redness with Spirit of Wine which Redness is made volatile and passeth over the Helm which also may be exhibited to all without danger Nor is there any great need of that Caution of Basilius even before the Redness is volatilized that it must be given in a small Quantity For being given from thirty to forty or fifty Drops it sweats very moderately and doth not Purge or Vomit but it effects wonders in purging the Blood extirpating the Roots of a Disease and rendring the Patient vigorous by insensible Expiration and its occult Virtues This Vendible Wine needs not the Bush of Eloquence to commend it to the Sick who once having experienced its Virtues know what it can do and that it as much answers their Desires as they esteem their Money so called by many of our Ancestors who lived long before us Put this Liver dried into a Cucurbit pour thereon most pure Spirit of Wine abstract the Spirit by distilling in B. M. so that a third part only may remain But before Distillation the Spirit of Wine together with the Extraction must be filtred through Paper This Extraction may indeed be profitably used but in a small Dose and with great Caution What happens in this Operation is very admirable For the Spirit of Wine abstracted can no more be united with the red Extraction whence it was distilled but one sloats above the other as Water and Oyl which cannot be mixed But if the abstracted Spirit of Wine be poured upon other Liver of Antimony it again attracts the Colour to it self yet this although poured upon the former Extraction cannot be mixed therewith Which is a Thing so strange as it may be numbred among Wonders But who can declare all the Wonders of GOD or who will worthily esteem the Gifts of the Creator which he hath implanted in his Creatures by us scarcely perscrutable with deep Meditation I before made mention of the Extraction of Antimony from its Glass * Here our Author acts as a Teacher careful and full of Affection who not satisfied once to mention doth often inculcate the principal Precepts of his Doctrine But what it is that spâ—â—ially moves him to repeat the Virtues of the Sulphur of Antimony I see not he saith he repeats nothing in vain therefore do thou Reader if thou judgest it of Concern more attently consider whether you may not here find somewhat that is not mentioned or the Reason why it is again spoken of I who prosâ—ss my self to write to the Intelligent reiterate nothing here He that comprehends let him comprehend he that hath not there understood I fear will not here understand by Vinegar and also by Spirit of Wine but now I say when such an Extraction is made by Vinegar and the Vinegar is again abstracted by B. M. and the Powder which remains is resolved in a moist place into Oyl or Liquor of a Yellow Colour it effects such Wonders in Wounds new and old as I neither can nor dare to commit them all to writing For it represseth all Symptoms of what kind so ever suffereth none to take Root and admits no Putrefaction in fresh Wounds Also the Extraction of this Powder before Solution is made by Spirit of Wine effects the same and yields not us inferiour to other Medicaments which are administred against internal Affects I have often made mention of this Preparation in other of my Writings also in this Treatise of Antimony very largely because I know how great Benefits and how great Secrets are latent in it Therefore I hope no Disciple will be affected with tediousness by Reason of Repetitions in my Writings which I faithfully open and bring to Light For whatsoever I write is not without Reason and my words are Short but require much Consideration although often repeated To the Ignorant my Discourses contribute little understanding to Children and the unexperieneed little Profit but to my Disciples and Apostles much health and prosperity There remains another Extraction by a Caustick Water which Experience hath taught me in this manner Take of Vitriol and Common Salt equal parts from these by Retort distil a Water * Here I will teach you the Manual Operation O Lover of Chymistry which undoubtedly you will greatly esteem of when you shall find the great commodity thereof in operating Lest as it often bappens when you distil the Spirits of Metals your Vessels should be broken which being forced out by vehement fire comes forth a matter like thin Butter or the Sediment of Oyl Olive which keep apart for use Here place the Figure in the 101 Page Of your Earthen Retort A. open the upper hole B. into which put your Maâ—â—â—â— by Parts lest all together senting the heat should act too forcibly and presently Close the Hole with its proper Cover To the Spirits received in the Vessâ—l C. exit is given by the hole D. into the other opposit Receiver E. to which again is applied the other Receiver F. So the more subtle Spirits ascending through the Hole D settle in the Recipient F. But the more gross remain in the bottom G. of the Receiver C. This Instrument will be most apt for your use here not only as I said lest a most strong Spirit passing out break the Glasses but also for other Works as by an easie speculation you will hence gather Subtly grind the Caput-mortuum and in a Cellar permit it to resolve into Water this Water keep and filter it through Paper Afterward take Hungarian Antimony grind it to a sine Powder and having put it in a Cucurbit with a slat bottom pour this Water thereon and set the Vessel in Heat When it hath stood there for a due time the Matter will be like an Amethyst with a blackish Violet-Colour Then augment the Fire much and you will have a transparent Colour like unto a blew Saphyr From this Colour precipitate a white Powder by pouring on Common Water This Powder taken hath the same Operation as the Red Extraction of Glass of Antimony by Seidge and it also excites Vomiting In that Solution made from the Caput-mortuum and kept in a Cellar if thin Plates of Iron be digested Mars will be truly transmuted into Venus as Experience will teach Now further consider Take that distilled Oyl or Water as is spoken of above in this process and pour it upon Crocus Martis with Sulphur reverberated to a Redness set the Mixture in Heat and you will have an extracted Tincture of Mars red as blood Take of this Extraction one part of the Red Extraction of Antimony which is prepared with fixed Salt Nitre and Spirit of Wine three Parts of the Water of Mercury * Chymists that they may whet the Ingenuities of their Readers and more left any but the true Students of Art should penetrate into their Secrets deliver not all Things in one place but scatter their Dâ—â—ments that by the Diligent Collection of them they may judge
another Oyl Take Mercury mortified which is sublimed to clearness and Splendor and sold by Apothecaries and Antimony of each equal parts Grind them together and distil them by such a Retort as will retain the Spirits thrice and afterward rectifie this Oyl with Spirit of Wine Then the Operation is absolved and the Oyl becomes red as Blood but at first it is White and like Ice or congealed Butter This Oyl effects wonders in many Affects where Nature gave no hope of Amendment and it always mostly shews its force virtue power and efficacy in the perfect Emendation of Evil into Good By Addition may be prepared another Oyl very profitable in external Wounds Take of Antimony one part Sulphur one part Sal-Armoniack or Salt of Urine purified half a part and Calx-Vive two parts Expel the Oyl strongly whatsoever is sublimed that grind with the Caput-mortuum and thereon again pour the Oyl distilled off and thrice distil it then the Oyl is prepared When old Wounds can in no wise be healed then use this Oyl For it is strong potent and penetrative and lays a good Ground even as Oyl of Vitriol doth for future Sanation An admirable Balsom of divers Ingredients among which is Antimony very useful in old Wounds is thus prepared Take of Sulphur â„¥ iiij set it over a moderate Fire to melt and put into it half a pound of Mercury and stir the Mixture so long together as until both become one Mass This Mass grind to Powder for it is made as Cinnabar is wont to be prepared then grind with it â„¥ iiij of Antimony of red Arsenick â„¥ iiij of Crocus Martis â„¥ ij and of Powder of Tiles â„¥ viij Put all these into a Glass Cucurbit and sublime them as such things are wont to be sublimed and in this Sublimation you will have Rubies in Colour not inferiour to the Oriental but they are not fixed for they are volatile and fly from the Fire Let the Artificer separate these Rubies from the Cinnabar which ascends in the Sublimation grind them to Powder and extract them with strong Vinegar This being done let him abstract the Vinegar leasurely in B. M. and a Powder will remain this Powder grind small as before and having put it into another Glass extract its Tincture with Spirit of Wine and separate the remaining Feces This Extraction with Spirit of Wine digest in B. M. well closed for one Month. Then abstract the Spirit of Wine as you abstracted the Vinegar and put the remaining Powder of Wine into a flat Glass Dish and set that Dish in a Cellar into a Pail full of Water that it may Swim upon the Water as a Boat So doing the Powder which is in the Glass will in a few days resolve it self into a clear and perlucid Liquor This Liquor is salutary in old open Wounds and is a vulnerary Balsom in like Accidents if put into them and they covered round with a common Stiptick Plaister In diuturnal open Wounds it leaves no man destitute of help although such as in the Cure of which all other Remedies have been tried in vain Of open Ulcers which have their Original from within I speak not here for they cannot perfectly be healed without internal Remedies which drye up all Fluxions and radically extirpate the Disease although at this time few are found who bend their thoughts this way or take any Course to touch the Root it self of those Diseases of which I now treat If Men would in their Minds well consider the Calamities of Life into which the Fall of our first Parents precipited us and seriously weigh that Original Sin and the great troop of Evills thence issuing Viz of Sadness Anguish Diseases and Miseries they certainly would spend their time better and imploy more labour to search out the health of their neighbours so strictly commended to them by the Supream Ruler of Heaven and by him commanded as their proper Duty But how many with grief be it spoken shunning labour consume their time unprofitably and do not what was to be done by them but what they formerly have done and still have a lust to do being affrayd to do so much as will soyl their Fingers Ends as if they did envy the Tradesman who perhaps gets a small Gain by selling Soap which they would not willingly buy to wash their delicate hands Are not all we miserable Mortals that live here Strangers in the Earth possessing nothing that we can call ours Are not all Things we here use the Goods of our Lord lent to us whilst we live and no longer Therefore we ought so to behave our Selves in using them that supported with a good Conscience we may be able to stand in that Day in which an Account is to be given for them and be not for our Ingratitude cast into Prison and utter Darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth If this were the Meditation and this the Intention of every Man he would be like a Monster if he should think of admitting Sin in himself or of neglecting his Office and all Men would with a certain Emulation strive to pleasure their Neighbours with the Gifts received from GOD. But these things are remote from the thoughts of the World and Wordly Men Money Money is the Scope of all their Intentions this the Potent seek directly or indirectly and for this the Poor are subservient to them that they also may participate of the Mammon of Iniquity Yet take heed I advise you to take heed lest the Bones of that Flesh sticking in your Throat Suffocate you or the Back-bones of Fishes pierce your Heart But what doth Admonition help which the World little esteemes of and derides Hear I pray you an History or learn a Parable When I according to my Vow undertook a Pilgrimage to St. James to visit that holy Place as a Stranger I prayed to GOD and bound myself with a Vow that if the granted me an happy Return to my Monastery I would render him due Prayers He granted my Request and I daily return Thanks to him But I thought many more would have rejoyced with me and have given thanks to the same GOD for the famous Reliques which at that time I brought with me to our Monastery for Consolation of the Poor and many Others that it might procure to it self a Name in this perishing Valley of Tears that could not bee wiped out by any Oblivion Yet hence few were rendred either better or more grateful to GOD for so great a benefit but persevered in Derision and Contempt of that which GOD will vindicate in the last Day But of these enough at this time let us proceed in our Instruction of Antimony whence yet another Medicine may be prepared which I my self have experienced to be very salutary and effectual in every kind of Feavers and in the Pestilence Grind Antimony subtily put it into a Glass Retort and distil it with a strong fire without any Addition 3. or
multiplicity of Words or alien thoughts by an impertinent Tantolooy In the mean while the Liquor which as I above said was resolved in an Humid Place is an external Medicine and very profitable for it cleanseth the Impurities of the Skin and if a little Oyl of Tartar be mixed therewith it heals the Phagedena of the Fingers and if often anointed therewith it purisyes the Skin and cures Scrophulaes Also Sulphur of Antimony is prepared in another Manner Grind Antimony to a fine Pouder which boyl for two hours or a little longer in a sharp Lixivium made of the Ashes of Beech-wood When boyled filter the Antimony clear and poor Vinegar upon the filtred Liquor and then the Sulphur will settle to the bottom wholly red Pour off the Phlegm and gently dry the Pouder Distil this Pouder with the Vinegar of Wine extract the Tincture and do as you did with the former Sulphur To reduce the same into an Oyl by Distilling is worth your while Although the Oyl above mentioned hath greater Virtues because its Body by the Sal Armoniack in the beginning of the Sublimation was better dissolved and opened There yet remain many things to be written of Antimony and especially Three necessary to be known by the Spagyrick Physitian and Philosopher viz. the Preparation of Vinegar which is made of its Minera and then the Philosophick Signate Star which is not to be omitted and lastly the Lead of Philosophers of which we shall speak somewhat touching which Many have imagined Great Things and thought in their way of Reasoning and Speculation to prepare the true and syncere Mercury of Philosophers of it which indeed cannot be done since so great Efficacy is not from above insited in Antimony as that in it can exist that Mercury or of it be prepared That Mercury is the first Ens or first Water of Metalls which is perfect otherwise the Great Stone of the ancient Wise Men could not be made of it That first Ens I say and the Seeds thereof are found in another Mineral in which the Operation according to the Genius of Metalls is greater then in Antimony Yet this supplyes us with a certain Particular and most profitable Operation and besides in it you may find whatsoever appertains to internal and external Medicine For it is the Column of ever Shop of Apothecaries if duely prepared as I often admonish nor is any thing wanting in it provided the Artist hath learned well to distinguish the Disposition of Metalls and Mineralls and diligently observes both the Preparation and Use of Antimony because then and not before follows a perfect Judgement of it Therefore I will stand to my Promise and comfort my Disciples according to their Wish by satisfying and instructing them which way the Separation of Good from Evil may be known to them and giving Information touching the Vinegar of Philosophers which is made of Antimony Mâ—lt the Minera of Antimony and purify it grind it to a Subtile Pouder this Matter put into a Round Glass which is called a Phiall having a long Neâ—k pour upon it distilled Water that the Vessel may be half full Then having well closed the Vessel set it to putrefy in Horsedung until the Minera begin to wax hot and cast out a Froath to the Superficies then 't is time to take it out for that is a Sign the Body is opened This digested Matter put into a Cucurbit which well close and extract the Water which will have an acid Taste When all the Water is come off intend the Fire and a Sublimate will ascend this again grinde with the Feces and again pour on the same Water and a second time abstract it then it will be more Sharp This Operation must be repeated until the Water be made as Acid as any other Sharp distilled Vinegar of Wine But the Sublimate the oftner the Operation is repeated the more it is diminished When you have obtained this Acid Vinegar take fresh Minera as before and pour this Vinegar on it so as it may stand above it three Fingers put it into a Pelican and digest it two dayes in Heat then the Vinegar becomes red and much more sharp then before Cant this clean off and distil it without Addition in B. M. The Vinegar comes off white and the Redness remains in the Bottom which extracted with Spirit of Wine is an excellent Medicine Again rectify the Vinegar in B. M. that it may be freed from its Phlegm lastly dissolve in it its proper Salt viz in â„¥ iiij of it â„¥ j. of the Salt and force it strongly by Ashes then the * This Vinegar also is numbred among the chief of those things which are prepared of Antimony therefore I thought it worth while to illustrate this with some Commentaries For although it may be made in the way Basilius prescribes yet there are still some things wanting to render the Work both more easy and more perfect which I here subjoyn For six pounds of Antimony are required sixteen pounds of Distilled Water and when after Digestion we would distil it a certain manual Operation must be observed on which depends the Success of the whole Work almost For the Alembeck must be so placed as his Pipe or Beak may be covered with Water which either must be put into the Recipient or pass out by distilling into the same otherwise the Spirit 's of the Antimony will be lost and more then half part of the same perish or the Work require much more time for its perfection I have expressed this by a Figure here placed that if any by hearing do not sufficiently perceive this they may by seeing understand When the whole Water hath passed over by Alembeck the Fire as the Author admonisheth is to be incresed and three Dayes and as many Nights continued without intermission Then let all cool and the Sublimate as he teaches must again be mixed with the Antimony this Labour for three Dayes and Nights must be re-assumed and afterward repeated to the third time Then your Water will be acid as common Vinggar If you tinge this Vinegar with now Minera of Antimony you will have a Tincture which Basilius names this Balsome of Life so often described but never sufficiently commended O did Mortals know what Mysteries lye absconded in this Tincture I question whether they would be desirous to set about any other Preparation of Antimony All things are in this One I have spoken O Lover of Chymistry do thou act Vinegar becomes more sharp and acquires greater Strength and virtue Here place the Figure in the 133. Page This Vinegar Cools vehemently not as common Vinegar but with great Admiration and certain Experience especially for asswaging the Gangraene produced from Gunpouder also it heals other enraged Wounds and Members when joyned with the Soul of Saturn wrought up into an Unguent and applyed outwardly And mixt with Water of Endive to which Salt prunella is added it consumes the Squinancy and extinguiseth its great Heat
all Things both of those which fall under our Sense and of those that are remote from our Senses will benignly hear our Prayers that if not whilst I and my Brethren live yet after our Death such a Conversion of Things and Men GOD answer these Desires may follow as that thick and obscure Veil may be taken away from the Eyes of our Enemies and they by true and infallible Illumination obtain a clear sight that they may find their lost Groat which GOD the eternal Governour of Times and Things of his Grace and Mercy grant But it is sit that I who intended to publish a certain Discourse of Antimony in all its Numbers absolute should begin with the * Poets do often posit in the midst of their Poems Histories or Fables of Princes that by a continued Series of Things they may the more easily attain their End which is to delight their Readers Chymists for another end use the same Medium For since their purpose is to teach the Readers so as they may only be understood by those who wholly devote themselves with a servent desire to the Study of that Science they keep not that Order which proceeds from the beginning to the End by Mediums Therefore our Author at length coming to treat of the Name of Antimony whence it took beginning acts as another Man addicted to some Scholastick Order but by and by turning from this Distourse he answers an Objection before it is made by Interiogation viz. whether from Antimony all its Venome may be taken away the possibility of which he proâ—es by very profitable and significant Examples Name it self The Arabians to whom in times past this Mineral was known did in their Language call it Asinat but the Chaldeans called it Stibium among the Latines at this day the Name of Antimony is used by which name they first of all signified it We Germans in our Language have given it a Name which seems to express a certain property of its Nature for since it is seen to consist of a certain streiked Matter and of it may easily be made Glass endued with various Colours which proceed there from we have called it Spies-glass as if we should say streiked Glass From which Variety of the Name by a prudent Judgment a singular Collection may be made viz. that Antimony was known and greatly esteemed and its virtue and Utility observed and brought into use by the Arabians Chaldeans Latins and our Germans but afterward the Heresies of various Opinions arising the use was vitiated and its Virtue and Glory first obscured and afterward wholly extinguished Of which there is no Reason to Doubt for nothing is more probable than that Truth should suffer Dammage and Shipwrack by the Oppression of Enemies For who knows not the Malice of the Devil which by Reason of our Sins and Blindness is very often permitted by GOD. The Devil is the perpetual Enemy of Mankind who imploys all his Strength and all his Deceits and omits nothing which in himself is to prevent the Knowledge of the profit of true Medecine and to exterminate its use knowing well enough that by that means the power and glory of GOD is obscured and those Sacrifices of the praises of men are impeded by which they gave thanks to GOD because he hath insited as it were the Rayes of his Goodness in the Creatures whence they may obtain Health by a natural auxiliary But since to discourse of the Name of Antimony is not to our purpose we will desist from this Matter For all the Praise of Antimony consists in the Preparation thereof which is made for perfecting the Virtues infused in it from Nature by the Author of Nature Therefore my discourse shall be of this handling it and its known Virtue and I will endeavour to make my Name immortal Yet before I come to declare the Virtue of Antimony since I above confessed that it is meer Venom I would have you know and diligently note that Venom is able to draw Venom to it self because like it self much sooner and much more than any other Thing of another Nature Now let any Reader consider and observe it as a Thing worthy of Note that the true Vnicorns-horn sophisticated by no fallacy repels all Venom from it self nor can it assume or draw to it self any thing of Venom as is manifest by Experience Let a living Spider be put in a Circle made of Vnicorns-horn and out of this Circle it cannot go or pass over the Vnicorns-horn for it shuns whatsoever is adverse to Venom But if the Circle be made of venemous Matter it is not to be doubted but that the Spider will go out of it and pass over that Venom like it self Note this Experiment make a piece of Silver hollow and put it in Water that it may float like a Boat and put Venom to it then hold a piece of true Unicorns-Horn as nigh to it as you can but so as you may not touch it that Unicorns-Horn by its spiritual Virtue will drive the Silver from it so that it will flie away like a Duck which swimming on the Water flies when it perceives the Snares of the Fowler ready to entangle it But on the contrary Nature in a wonderful manner loves and follows its own like as appears by this Example Put a little piece of pure and fine Bread in a dish full of Water so as the Bread may swim upon the Water hold a piece of true Unicorns-Horn close to it yet so as it touch it not and if you leisurely move the Unicorns-Horn the little piece of Bread will follow it Nature so much loves its own like and so much hates what is unlike it self as this flies and that follows Therefore let our Doctors consider that Venom by a certain Magnetick Power Attracts Venom and those things which are void of Venom do in like manner draw to themselves things pure and wanting a Venomous quality Therefore Venom may be taken away two ways first by its Contrary which resists Venom as already is related of the Unicorns-Horn Secondly by Like when Venom by a certain Magnetick power draws Venom to it self But the Venom which must heal Venom like it self ought first to be so prepared as its Venom may pass into Medicine and by its own attractive virtue assume the other to and expel it with it self Of which thing you have a most clear Example in Soap That is compounded of Oyl and other fat ingredient Matters which seem to be and in very deed are more apt to foul than cleanse Linen but because in the Boyling of the Soap especially by the help of Salt a certain Separation and Preparation is made the Soap is rendred most apt to draw to it self and wash out all foulness and filths from Linen and other things so indeed may Venom in a certain manner by Antecedent Preparation be accommodated so as to be no more Venom but a Medicament it draws to it self all other
to the World and which have been little regarded since the Egyptians Arabians and Chaldeans dyed who professed these Arts of which notwithstanding the use is very great for searching out the very Fountain of true Medicine and all other Works pertinent thereunto Now diligently mind and with profound Meditation consider all the following Preparations one succeeding another as I shall reveal them For there is no One inserted which hath not its singular Utility but every of them is useful according as ordained in its State A fixed Medicine of Antimony expels fixed Diseases and eradicates them but Antimony not fixed as when it is crude and not prepared opens and purgeth the Stomach only but toucheth not the Root of the Disease Therefore I will set about the Preparation of all that appertains to Antimony and discover all the Keys of its Preparation which now as by a new Nativity are brought to Light and revealed by Fire in the same state to which they were ordained by GOD their Creator This unlocking and preparing of Mineral Antimony is performed by divers Methods and Ways by the disposure and governance of the Fire with manifold labour of the Hands whence proceeds the Operation Virtue Power and Colour of the Medicine it self And since Antimony to the Aspect presents a crude black Colour mixed with a little whiteness I will first speak of its destructive alteration which consists in Calcination and Incineration and that is thus made Take Hungarian or other Antimony the best you can get grind it if possible to an Impalpable Powder this Powder spread Thin all over the Bottom of a Calcining Pan round or square which hath a Rim round about the height of two Fingers thickness set this Pan into a Calcining Fornace and administer to it at first a very moderate Fire of Coals which afterward increase gradually when you see a Fume beginning to arise from the Antimony stir it continually with an Iron Spatula without ceasing as long as it wall give forth from it self any Fume If in Calcining the Antimony melt or concrete into Clots then remove it from the Fire and when cold again reduce it to a subtle Powder and as before calcine it continually stirring as we said until no more Fume will ascend If need be repeat this Operation so often and so long as until that Antimony put into the Fire will neither fume nor concrete into Clots but in Colour resemble White and pure Ashes Then is the Calcination of Antimony rightly made Put this Antimony thus calcined into a Goldsmiths Crucible set in a Fornace and urge the Fire with Bellows or put it into a Wind-Fornace administring such Fire as the Antimony may flow like clear and pure Water Then that you may certainly and infallibly prove whether the Glass made thereof be sufficiently cocted and hath acquired a transparent Colour put a long rod of Iron cold into the Crucible and part of the Glass will stick to the Iron which with an Hammer strike off and hold up against the Light to see whether it be clear clean and transparent if so it is well and perfectly mature Here let my Reader unlearned and but a Beginner in Art know for I write not to men skilled in this Art who have often experienced the powers of the Fire but to Candidates Tyro's * Rightly doth Basilius say he writes to the Tyro's of this Art because he begins with the Glass of Antimony that is from the very Rudiments of Chymistry and so accurately teacheth to make that as no man how ignorant soever can be deceived therein yet the Ancients have not seldom experienced how often they have erred in the Praxis for such I have written these Commentaries For me let every One please himself in his own Writings surely I think I have offered somewhat which Posterity will always thankfully accept For although I did for several years most diligently read Basilius and other Masters of the Art of Arts and in Labouring followed them as exactly as possibly I could yet I committed so many Errors the remembrance of which fills me with Horror lost so much Money and was so often constrained to amend those Errors with labour as I have compassion of all Those who would enter into this way incited thereunto by their earnest desire to help their Neighbours for I have no respect to Others who aim at nothing but Riches and would make so noble an Art subservient to Avarice the worst of all Vices let them sustain the dammage they deserve to suffer But do you who are endued with a more noble Spirit First seek the Kingdom of GOD which is either constituted or propagated by Charity to your Neighbour and all other Things which other men so impiously seek shall spontaneously which is the Bouâ—ty of GOD be added to you I need to use no great Arguments to perswade any man to read those Commentaries for every One's own Business will sufficiently admoniâ—h him when he shall see me often with one word and a most simple Animadversion to save him so great Charges which he hath too frequently bâ—stowed in labouring without success I do here candidly profess to thee studious Reader had the Manual Operations been as sincerâ—ly shewed to mâ— as I â—â—re open them I should have saved a great Sum of Money for I very often erred when I would over eagerly prosecute certain Processes of otâ—â—rs and by that vain endeavour lost some Thousands of Florens Yet I seldome twice repeated any of these Operations which our Author most sincerely and openly of all that I know hath in this Book inserted I shall not here institute a Tyrocinium of Chymistry as other Authors well known to young Bâ—ginnâ—rs have already done but I am willing by Admonition to help those who long since could loose this Subject from its Bonds and with most fervent desire design to arive to the Goal exposed to their Eyes and Mind least either slippery Blood in the Way or Entellus now lying prostrate should hinder them from gaining the proposed Reward which is Riches and Health and the studious Disciples of the Spagyrick Science because to make Glass of Antimony is a thing common and well known to many know I say that every Glass whether made of Metals Minerals or any other Matter must be throughly cocted in Fire to due Maturity that it may have a clear and transparent Colour and be apt for further Preparation to Medicinal use which translucid and pure Maturity Vulcan only effects in his secret and hidden Nature Therefore let every man know consider and retain this When in the Method we have taught your Antimony is converted into Glass take a Platter or Dish made of Copper which is smooth and broad heat it hot at the Fire otherwise your Matter will flie out then pour in the fluid Matter as thin as you can and you will have pure yellow transparent Glass of Antimony This is the best way of preparing Glass of Antimony
The difficulty of the Aenigma consists in this viz. that all Menstruums with which Tinctures are extracted must necessarily be void of Colour otherwise how can you know whether you obtain the Tincture you would extract or only retract the same you poured on I will not detain you with a tedious Discourse full of ambiguities but lead you as it were by the hand shewing you how I instituted this Process in the Year 1665. If you thence by your attention and comparing the precedent with the present and these with those that follow reap any profit open the Bosom of your Heart that no part of this may fall to the Earth I took that Red Oyl thus far prepared as is already shewed and rectified it by Retort and then acquired a white Oyl of an acid but grateful Taste Upon this I powred half so much Spirit of Salt the Mixture I digested in 〈◊〉 Phial for a full Month that these two Spirits might be mell conjoyned afterward for the better conjunction of them I distilled them thrice by Retort Then I poured them upon the Calx of Gold the Method of preparing which you will find in other Writings of Basilius and set them together in Digestion for a Month which being elapsed the Menstruum was tinged with a dâ—â—y Yellow Colour inclining to redness I leisurely poured off the Tincture and having put it into a Retort with gentle Fire abstracted the Humidity that a red Pouder might remain in the Bottom This Powder I edulcorated with distilled Water and again extracted the Tincture with Spirit of Wine then I rendred this Dragon volatile and gave him his own Tayl to be devoured for six whole Months and obtained a Tincture most pleasant and grateful ten or twelve Grains of which given to the Sick provoke Sweat comfort the Natural Powers and not to amuse the Intelligent with words iâ— all Diseases both of Humane and other Bodies it is an Universal Medicine Since it hath happened to me here to make mention of the most excellent of all Tinctures I will once teach the Chymist what will be of use to him for the future That is to say it is of great concern to know with what Menstruum every Tincture should be extracted For it is not sufficient according to the erreneous Opinion of many that Menstruums be sweet and void of Corosion but it is also behooful that there be in them a peculiar Amity and Conveniency with the Mercury of the Body on which they are poured that from the same they may extract its true and sincere Sulphur By Example I shall teach you somewhat more clearly Distilled Water extracts the Tincture from Sulphur made of the Glass of Antimony by distilled Vinegar But if in this Operation you perswade your self you have separated the Pure from the Impure you will be deceived for this Water imbibes a certain Salt which infects the Tincture but Spirit of Wine rectified is its proper Menstruum because â—hat only assumes 〈◊〉 volatile Sulphur thereof and hath no Commerce with the Salt The same happens in Tincture of Corals which is extracted with Spirit of Wine distilled upon Grange Pills for here you obtain not the sincere Tincture of Corals because by this Menstruum the pure Sulphur is not separated froâ— the Body of the Corals The like Error to be committed in many other Things I have observed by Experience which should be esteemed the best Mistress unlâ—â—s we take it for granted that chargeable and fruitless Processes are necessarily required in this Art But that I may conclude with the Tincture whence all this Discourse hath proceeded I would have no man to think this to be the Aurum potabile of Philosophers for this would be a very great Error in Philosophy and give occasion to Sophisters as their manner is to prefer their Sophisms before the Truth it self Although this Tincture is most precious and a Tincture of Gold yet it hath only assâ—med the Colour of Gold but the weight thereof which is proper to Aurum potabile adheres not thereunto Touching the potable Medicine here is not place of speaking unless I would transgress the limits which I have at this time prescribed my self of Commenting upon the Triumphant Chariot of Antimony which our Basil Valentine hath made for it so truly magnificent Otherwise I should declare how Sol might be prepared by Venus and Vulcan so as in the space of two hours to resolve it self into Mercury united with Bacchus leaving very few feces which Mercurial Menstruum may again be separated from the resolved Gold and so you might acquire a most grateful Liquor very ponderous which can never afterward be reduced to its former Consistence This very Operation I have shewed to some Curious Lovers of Chymistry But of these elsewhere another Occasion of Writing will be given of Gold only and leaves the Body untouched When the Fermentation is made I shall have need of a vast Quantity of Paper to declare all the Arcanum's of Nature which by this Medicine are effected beyond the Opinion of all men I urge this so much the more earnestly to the Physician that he may consider those things which I propose Philosophically betake himself to labour perform this Preparation of Antimony and deduce it to Use then he himself will dayly find more Praise and learn from it more Operations than any of the other Physicians could have prescribed him When you shall have brought Antimony so far and duely perfected your Work in which you are to act prudently and the matter is to be largely and profoundly weighed that by Labour you may acquire Experience then may you boast that you have obtained the Magistery which is known or communicated to few This Magistery mix'd with a Solution or Tincture of Corals and exhibited with Cordial Water effects Wonders in Diseases that are to be cured by purifying the Blood And whatsoever Distemper is offered to you in which the Blood is corrupted by any Accident this Magistery heals it exhilarates the Heart promotes Chastity and Honesty and renders man apt and â—it for every thing he takes in hand For all these Benefits to the Creator and Conserver of all Things thanks is always to be given from the bottom of our Heart because he hath with so great Compassion respected his Creatures Infirm both in Body and Mind and supplied us with Means by which the Diseases of either may be healed and we in every necessity obtain solace assistance and perfect Help Now my Intention is to proceed and speak somewhat of the Arcanum of Antimony but with very great Brevity Take of Antimony most subtiely pulverized 1. Part of Sal-Armoniack * Of Antimony and Sal-Armoniack equal parts are to be taken which Basilius seems to intend but I know not how he forgot to mention it so called which is brought from Armenia also pulverized mix these and putting them into a Retort distil them together * That with one and the same labour the
may understand you have not in vain spent your Money in buying or time in reading these Commentaries I will clearly and nakedly discover to you how I my self have oftentimes performed this very Work do you give good heed to all Things that you may not at all be deficient for the Operations are so concatinated or co-linked together as one being omitted or negligently performed all the other are spoyled and your labour cannot answer your Desires Take of the best Minera of Antimony which is friable for if you take crude Antimony as Basilius seems to indicate you can effect nothing because it hath already lost its most subtle Sulphur in the first Distillation grind it to so subtle a Powder as it may pass through a Tiffany Seive put it into a Cucurbit and pour upon it Vinegar which according to Art is distilled from its proper Minera Set it in Digestion for forty Days and if you have exactly observed all things which are hereunto required your Vinegar will be tinged with a Colour red as Blood This red Tincture poured off by Inclination put into a Retort and gently abstract the Vinegar The Powder remaining extract with spirit of Wine that it also may contract a blood-like Colour Put this Extraction into a Circulatory Vessel like to this the Figure of which I here expose because I never found any more apt to render the Spirits volatile Then place this double Vessel in B. M. to be digested so long as until you see the Tincture raise it self upwards and passover volatile by Alembeck seeing this cool your Vessel and put all the Matter into a Cucurbit and distil the Spirit according to Art which will passover the Helm as red as Blood Then again abstract the Spirit and you will have a most ponderous thick Oyl How this Oyl should after this be joyned with its own Salt and united we elsewhere speak the use of which in amending Metals is very great Here we have described it and brought it so far as it becomes a most excellent Medicine in grievous Diseases which are in all places accounted uncurable It performs its whole Operation by Sweats And since there is no Disease which it helps not what need is there to name any It is better to be altogether Silent then to detract from its praises by reciting a few There is no man who hath made any Progress in Chymistry that knows not what the Quintessence of Antimony is at length becomes Red as Blood and leaves many Feces and prevails against many Infirmities for its singular Virtue and Use is commanded in the Leprosie the New Disease lately risen amongst the Souldiers is by it consumed and dried up and indeed it effects Wonders Here place the Figure in the 96 Page The Physician before all Things should diligently contemplate its use according to his own Experience and Knowledge but especially compleating its Preparation in a due manner without being weary of his labour or forgetting any of those Things which are prescribed to be performed Again another Extraction of Antimony is thus instituted Take in the Name of the Lord of Antimony and crude Tartar of each equal parts put these well mixed together in Powders into a strong Crucible which will not suffer the Spirits to penetrate it and burn this Matter in the Fire until the Tartar be wholy combust this work must be done in a Wind-Fornace Grind this burnt Matter to a subtle Powder and pour on that Common Water first made hot and so edulcorate the Matter by Lixiviating And so it becomes a Liver * The Liver is a Cause of much Discourse in Banquets and the Liver of Anttimony will be to us no small Occasion of the like in Chymical Operations But in the first place consider than instead of Crude Tartar it is better to take Salt of Tartar not only for decelerating the Operation for otherwise it must be melted so long as until the Tartar be changed into Salt but chiefly that you may have Glass of a far better Colour Also Basilius forgot or for some Reasons did omit to appoint the Glass first to be poured into a Platter made hot and then beaten to powder in an hot Mortar otherwise the Glass by reason of the Salt of Tartar as soon as it takes the cold Air is changed into a certain Pulse or Pap. Besides he omitted to determine the Quanticy of Water in which this Powder should be dissolved that we may have a more fair and deep Colour in which Exaltation of Colour very much is sited Also the Precipitation of the Liver from the Water which must be made with Vinegar he involved in Silence although this and the above mentioned are necessary in this Operation Here I am unwilling to forbear to admonish that not only in this but in every Melting of Antimony the Artist ought to observe the Face of Heaven and begin his Work when the same is clear and serene If you do otherwise you will in vain deplore the Obscurity of the Colour in your Liver of Antimony For if you laugh at me attributing much Virtue to the Influences of the Stars I shall deride you deploring the unluckie Success of many Processes But I would not digress so far as to take on me to prove the Virtues of Celestial Influences against men either knowing so little as they canot understand or having experienced somewhat do not discern but in the mean while are so obstinate as they will not believe those things which they see have tried and in very deed found to be so I would no more urge Reasons against these men then against these who deny even the Mutation of Metals by the Stone of Philosophers We judge such men more worthy of Contempt than Refutation who say that is not possible which they have beheld with their Eyes and done with their hands for it is very rude to say I deny I deny who proves These perverse men by their thus acting do sometimes-provoke the patience of good ingenious Artists judging that they with a certain Zeal of confirming what they assert will proceed so far as to discover to them their Experiment of so excellent an Art But I do not think that any of them who have obtained the Mystery will be so imprudent as unadvisedly to cast Pearls before Swine and to discover to the unworthy what GOD hath revealed to him or give them of the Bread he Eats which is not to be cast to Dogs Therefore returning to the Matter from whence I digressed I affirm that there are some times of the year in which if Liver if Antimony be made and precipitated with a due Menstruum it will be imbibed with altogether another Colour and be endued with other Virtues than that which is made at another time and that both for Metals and for healing the Infirmities of men as I my self have experienced in many grievous Diseases and Symptoms of Diseases I will also add this from the Liver of
a Cucurbit or Circulatory diligently nine or ten times so often pouring on fresh Spirit This being done dry the Powder with gentle heat and for one whole Day keep it red-hot in a Crucible such as Goldsmiths use to melt their Metals in Afterward resolve this Powder in a moyst Place upon a Stone or Glass Table or in Eggs boyled to an hardness into a Liquor which set in heat again dry and reduce to Powder This Powder effects many egregious and wonderful Things which cannot easily be believed by Those who have not proved the same * If you have believed or experienced the Virtues of this Powder once detonated you will not be a Thomas in this third Detonation Set to your hand touch and use this and it will perform the same which true Diaphoretick Antimony can but with greater Security aod Efficacy But it operates not suddenly it must have time to exercise its Powers and shew its own Vertue by the Testimony of Experience very admirable Whosoever labours with internal Imposthumes let him take of this white fixed Powder of Antimony in the Spirit of Wine or any other rich Wine the fourth part of a Dram five or six times a Day and he will find his internal Imposthume opened and all the Coagulated Blood to be expelled by degrees without any peril of Life or Health He who is afflicted in his Body with the New Disease of Souldiers if he use this Powder in the aforesaid manner will also find this Evil consumed throughout the whole Body and by the same expelled Moreover it produceth new Hairs and renovates a man to the admiration of all men it gives new sound and pure Blood and is the Effecter of so much Good as even the least part of it although Equity seems to require this cannot by me be described or declared It is not fit I should here manifest all things clearly and in such manner as any man without Labour and Toyl by reading my Writings may become a perfect Doctor no more than it is fit that a Young Country Man * Valentine hath so clearly detected all Things as no man either before or after him hath done it more clearly All that came after him seem to have conspired and agreed together to spread Clouds over that Light which he brought into the World Hence it is that they do not Publickly extol his Prayses according to the high Esteem every man Privately hath of him nor have they translated his Books into other Tongues although He of all Authors is the most worthy Who speaks in the Languages of all Nations that he may be a comfort to the Lovers of Chymistry erring in the Labyrinths of others and always produce a new Off-spring of Philosophers But no man should think that he could so clearly speak as every man handling Chymistry according to the Saying with unwashed Hands might presently understand him that is as himself saith not possible to be done nor is it expedient that the Son of a vile Clown should eat of the finest Flower in preparing which he took no Pains yet as below he confesseth our Author hath used plain simple and clear Words should be fed with the whitest and best baked Bread which he hath not prepared with his own Labour or the Corn of which himself thrashed not out But I make too large a Progress in this open Field of Doctrine in which the Ancient Hunters take their Larks and the Young Ones presently follow them with their Nets For my Style as all my Writings witness hath a certain singular purposed Method like that of all Philosopers before me If any one think it strange that I here propose certain singular Processes in which my Philosophy dissers from other let him be answered with this rhat Philosophick Speech much differs from the Method of other mens Discourses who nakedly and sincerely declare some Process without any Ambiguities or Cloudings of Aenigma's Therefore consider the difference and accuse not me as if I had deviated from Order in my Style of Philosophy and of Preparations and Processes For in a Philosophick Discourse it is behooful to learn and judge of what appertains to the Theory but the Practice teacheth you the Instruction of Processes therefore in them true simple clear and well grounded Words are to be used Also of Antimony is made a Balsom against grievous Diseases very profitable yet not of Crude Antimony but of the Regulus thereof whence may be made living Mercury in the following manner Take of the best Hungarian Antimony and crude * What I advised to in the Preparation of Liver of Antimony is here to be repeated instead of Crude Tartar take Salt of Tartar by which the Operation will sooner and better proceed Salnitre here is unprofitable Therefore take of Antimony and Salt of Tartar of each equal parts melt them and make a Regulus according to the Rule here given by Basilius If you cast away the Glass as all men for the most part do you will do ill For I of that prepare a very profitable Medicament in this manner I grind this Glass in an hot Mortar taking heed it contract no Humidity from the Air which may easily be prevented and having put it in a Phial pour Alcohol of Wine thereon and thence extract a most beautiful Tincture in Colour red like Blood This Tincture is a most excellent Cordial if thirty forty or fifty Drops of it be taken in convenient Liquor and that if you will twice or thrice a day for it is taken with safety and recreates the whole Man Tartar equal parts and of Salnitre half a part grind them well together and afterward flux them in a Wind-Fornace pour out the flowing Matter into a Cone and there let it cool then you will find the Regulus which thrice or oftner purge by Fire with Tartar and Nitre and it will be bright and white shining like Cupellate Silver which hath fulminated and overcome all its Lead Grind this Regulus to a subtle Powder and having put it into a Glass pour it on Oyl of Juniper or Spirit of Turpentine which comes forth in the first Distillation and is pure as Fountain Water keep the Vessel well closed in a subtle heat of B. M. and the Oyl of Juniper or Spirit of Turpentine will become red as Blood which pour off and rectifie with Spirit of Wine This is endued with the same Virtues as Balsom of Sulphur as I shall then shew when I write of Sulphur because they require one and the same Preparation Of this Balsom only three or four Drops taken thrice in a Week with hot Wine heal the Diseases of the Lungs cure the frequent Cough and Asthma also they are conducent in the Vertigo prickings of the Sides and in diuturnal Coughs Also many Oyls may be prepared of Antimony some per se and without Addition and many others by Addition Yet they are not endued with the same Virtues but each enjoys its own
according to the Diversity of its Preparation Of which I now give you this Similitude There are many kinds of Animals which live only in the Earth as are many Creeping Things Worms and Serpents also others some of which are new kinds which before were not and these also proceed from Putrefaction of the Earth Some inhabit the Waters as all kinds of Fishes others slie through the Air as every kind of Flying Things and Birds some also are nourished in the Fire as the Salamander And besides these in the more hot Regions and Islands are found many other Animals which to these Nations are unknown which prolong their Life by the Solar Heat and which die so soon as brought into another Air. So Antimony when prepared by the Addition of Water assumes another Nature and Complexion for operating then when prepared by Fire only And although every Preparation of it ought to be made by Fire without which the Virtue of it cannot not be manifested yet consider that the Addition of Earth gives it wholly another Nature than the Addition of Water So also when Antimony is sublimed in Fire through the Air and further prepared another Virtue other Powers and another Operation follow than in the Preparations already described Therefore the Oyl of Antimony per se without addition and the true Sulphur thereof are prepared after this Method Take crude Hungarian Antimony put that ground to a subtle Powder into a Glass Cucurbit with a flat bottom and pour thereon the true Vinegar of Philosophers rendred more acid with its own Salt Then set the Cucurbit firmly closed in Horse-dung or B. M. to putrefie the matter for forty Days in which time the Body resolves it self and the Vinegar contracts a Colour red as Blood Pour off the Vinegar and pour on fresh and do this so often as until the Vinegar can no more be tinged This being done filtre all the Vinegar through Paper and again set it put into a clean Glass firmly closed again in Horse-dung or B. M. as before that it may putrefie for forty Days in which time the Body again resolves it self and the Matter in the Glass becomes as black as Calcanthum or Shoomakers Ink. When you have this Sign then true Solution is made by which the further Separation of Elements is procured Put this black matter into another Cucurbit to which apply an Alembick and distil off the Vinegar with moderate Fire then the Vinegar passeth out clear and in the bottom a sordid matter remains grind that to a subtle Powder and edulcorate it with distilled Rain Water then dry it with gentle heat and put it a Circulatory with a long Neck the Circulatory must have three Cavities or Bellies as if three Globes were set one above another yet distinct or apart each from other as Sublimatories with their Aludel or Head are wont to be made and it must have a long Neck like a Phial or Bolthead and pour on it Spirit of Wine highly rectified till it riseth three Fingers above the Matter and having well closed the Vessel set it in a moderate heat for two Months Then follows another new Extraction and the Spirit of Wine becomes transparently red as a Ruby or as was the first Extraction of the Vinegar yea more fair Pour off the Spirit of Wine thus tinged filtre it through Paper and put it into a Cucurbit the black Matter which remains set aside and separate from this Work for it is not profitable therein to which apply an Head and Receiver and having firmly closed all Junctures begin to distil in Ashes with moderate Fire then the Spirit of wine carries over the Tincture of Antimony with it self the Elements separate themselves each from other and the Alembeck and Recipient seem to resemble the form of pure Gold transparent in Aspect In the end some few Feces remain and the Golden Colour in the Glass altogether fayls The red Matter which in distilling passed over into the Receiver put into a Circulatory for ten Days and as many Nights By that Circulation Separation is made for the Oyl thereby acquires Gravity and separates it self to the bottom from the Spirit of Wine and the Spirit of Wine is again Clear as it was at first and swims upon the Oyl Which admirable Separation is like a Miracle in Nature Separate this Oyl * Here you have not only whatsoever can be made of Antimony but also almost all that can be promised by a Chymist This is that with which all the Books of all Chymists are filled which is involved in so many Fables complicated in so many Riddles and explicated with so many obscure Commentaries that is which in all the World is desired by Fools sought by the Sons of Art and sound by the Wise This Basilius reveals this he repeats this he inculcates this is his Triumphant Chariot which he as it were carries about and often shews in the various Parts of his Writings Before in this Treatise he presents it under the Name of an Extraction of Crude Antimony here it is Oyl of Antimony soon after it is converted into a Stone which is called the Stone of Fire Thus this Proteus often offers it self always various yet always the same in Substance Compare all these Processes which are so often diversly propounded with these my Commentaries made upon the Extraction of Crude Antimony and you will have the Work compleat in all its Numbers you will have a Treasure in which if you know not what you have I remit you to Aesop's Dunghil-Cock who found a Gem in the Dunghil but knew not what he had Consider diligently O Lover of Chymistry and you will find that no man hath dealt more clearly and sincerely with Thee than Basilius and me after him who shew thee where the Hareâ—lies which so many Others have hunted in vain If now you be not here wise you will not be healed with three Anticyra's Therefore I will add nothing lest I make Fools maâ— who now indeed are wise from the Spirit of Wine by a Separatory This Oyl is of a singular and incredible Sweetness with which no other thing may be compared it is grateful in the Use and all Corrosiveness is separated from it No man can by Cogitation judge by Understanding comprehend what incredible Effects potent Powers and profitable Virtues are in this Royal Oyl Therefore to this Sulphur of Antimony I have given no other Name than my Balsom of Life because it effects very much by the Grace of GOD in those in whom was no help to be hoped for but by the Mercy of GOD and nothing remained but a most certain expectation of changing Life with Death as my Brethren can witness hath been often done It refresheth a man so as if he were new born it purifies the Blood mixt and exhibited with the Tincture of Corals it cleanseth the Leprosie and expels every Scab which through impurity of the Blood takes Root in man It drives away