broken and let them be digested together with the following Spices upon Ashes for three days of which take five grains every day The Spices are these Take of Cinamon Cloves Mace of each two ounces of Cheirus Anthos of each half an ounce of Amber two drachms of Musk five grains of Zibeth half a drachm of Ginger Cubebs Nutmegs of each one ounce and half of Amomus two drachms of Zedoary two ounces and half of Grains of Paradise one ounce and half After Digestion of them all separate and keep the Matter in Glass Vessels very close stopp'd From the Dose it self of this Prescription it is manifest that the operation is meerly Philosophical for if by Aqua vitae he would have understood the Common Spirit of Wine it would be altogether ridiculous to give only five grains for a Dose We meet with many more Menstruums of this kind which little differing from the pristine Nature of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine were less observed by some Adepts wherefore Christophorus Parisinus a Noble Sicilian doth not very much commend this acuation of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine Some saith he have made the aforesaid Spirit acute with Vitriol which way is very good some with Nitre some with Cinnabar some with these two some with all three some with their Earth which way displeaseth me because a thick Unctuosity and ponderosity was hereby introduced some use Vegetables as Herbs Roots Flowers and Seeds known to you which have strong Vegetable Mercuries in them wherefore they that handled it after this manner augmented rather its Vegetable Form Vnctuosity than that they made it more soluble Parisinus in Elucidario pag. 231. Vol. 6. Theat Chym. For this reason Ripley following the same Master as Parisinus believed these things to be covered with a Mantle of Philosophy for so he writes in his Medulla Philosophioe Raymund saith it ought to be drawn out from the Death and Faeces of Wine for the space of one hundred and twenty days by continual rotation in a Balneo of of the hottest Dung and that it must be acuated with hot Vegetable things as Piper nigrum Euphorbium Pyrethrum Anacardus Squilla Solatrum Apium Sylvestre and such like for without the virtue of these things as he saith it is not sufficient to dissolve Metals except in a long time but that nothing of doubt or ambiguity may appear I say that all these things are covered and shrowded with a Philosophical Mantle For his meaning is that in this Spirit may be had another resoluble Menstruum because without such a resolutive Menstruum Solution can never be made And that resoluble Menstruum is generated only from the Metallick kind and is by our resolutive Menstruum produced into act Ripley pag. 168. Medul Philos Ripley did by the resoluble Menstruum produced into act by the Menstruum resolutive that is the Spirit of Philosophical Wine mean a certain Mercurial Water of the Preparation of which lower where likewise it will appear that by the aforesaid Vegetables Ripley thought Lully intended running Mercury yet nevertheless his following Menstruum proves that these Vegetables have been sometimes also taken by him literally 8. The Aqua Vitae of Ripley Pag. 338. Viatici THE Menstruum being distilled from the first Faeces circulate it with the hottest Species such as are Black Pepper Euphorbium Pyrethrum Anacardus Grains of Paradise and the like for the space of 100 days in Balneo and after that distil only half of it and make your putrefaction with it c. It is here manifest that Ripley took these Vegetables Not Argent vive because Circulation being finished he distilled only one half of the Spirit as the most subtil part of the Vegetables in which case that Metal Mercury though dissolved would remain in the bottom But whereas Lully acuates the Spirit by distilling and then circulates Ripley does this by circulating and after that distils To this Aqua Vitae he sometimes adds Oyls or Essences either of Metals or Vegetables as followeth 9. The Compounded Aqua Vitae of Ripley Pag. 343. Viatici CIrculate the strongest red Wine with known Vegetables for the space of 120 days with continual Rotation in Balneo and then draw only the purest Spirit by distillation to which put the Oyl of the purest Luna made without a Corrosive and let them be circulated together 100 days more and then is the Water of the nature of the Basilisk because as a Basilisk kills a man at an instant by the Aspect alone so this Water being put upon Argent vive does without any other Fire suddenly in a manner congeal it into the purest Silver And note if the Fire Oyl or Essence of Celandine be put in or the Fire of the Flowers of Thyme after the first Circulation and they circulated together without the Oyl of Luna the Argent vive will be much better congealed c. But that which begets the greater scruple is the Paraphrase of Lully himself upon this place We saith he would not have you ignorant of that you may extract our Argent vive Veget. from it s Myne another way The way my Son is to take the Herb which is called Portulaca marina Apium Squilla c. distil the Faeces which remain calcine draw off the Salt with the distilled water and abstract the water from it purifie the Salt by often dissolving and coagulating and you will have the Salt of the acuating Vegetable Herbs These saith he I meant when I said acuate with acuating Vegetables that is the Salts not the simple Herbs Wherefore you might say it follows that this Receipt of the Metallick Soul hath not at all been described so as to be understood according to the Literal Sense but I have my Answer ready namely that Lully acuated the Spirit of Wine with crude Vegetables also it is easily proved by the third Distinction of his Book of Essence in Figura individuorum alledged by him where he rehearseth the nearest Individuals acuating the Spirit of Philosophical Wine as are red Wine new Honey Celandine Flowers of Rosemary Herb Mercury red Lilly Tartar Mans Blood and white Wine Why he chose these not others and these only it is not my business to answer that which we learn from thence is that he commended two of those Individuals to us before the rest Tartar and Honey of which thus There are some Individuals in which Mercury Vegetable hath a free Act in some respect in Tartar it hath one free operation only and in Honey two and this an Artist ought to know that he may be certified in this Art and the first Truth thereof He prefers Tartar not for the sake of the Tartar but the Alkali made from thence and that he resolves as the best of Alkalies per deliquium and circulates it being purified with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine according to the Doctrine prescribed in prima Tabula individuorum in the second Experiment and in other places The Alkali of Tartar
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
Salt of Tartar till it ascend by distillation in the Form of a Milky Liquor It is thus done 22. The Tartarised Spirit of Wine of Basilius In manal Operation THe first thing to be known is that the Philosophers Tartar wherewith the Lock is opened is not like common Tartar as most Men imagine but is another Salt though springing from the same Fountain This Salt is the only Key to open and dissolve Metals if prepared as followeth Take the Ashes of a fruitful Wine and draw a Lee or Lixivium as strong as may be out of them with hot Water which evaporate by boyling it to a driness that the matter may remain reddish which reverberate in a reverberating Furnace three days or thereabouts with an open Fire till it become white then dissolve it in spring-Spring-Water suffer it to settle decant the clear filter to separate the Faeces being filtred coagulate and you will have the white Salt of Tartar from which the true Spirit is distilled after this manner Take Spirit of Wine rectifi'd to the highest degree and altogether void of Phlegm described in Numb 19. and pour it to the Salt of Tartar in a Phial with a long Neck so as to be three Fingers above it lute an Alembick to the Phial fit a Receiver to it and digest with a gentle heat then draw off the Phlegm most softly and the Spirit of Tartar is opened by Virtue of the Spirit of Wine and by reason of reciprocal and admirable love they both ascend together the Faeces remaining if any be as also the Phlegm must be cast away thus will you have the true Spirit of Wine wherewith Aurum potabile is made This truly is a most Noble Menstruum so as for its excellency to deserve a higher Place than this among the Simple Vegetable Menstruums whereas it ought to have been more rightly transferred to the seventh Kind of Menstruums but it very much at present Illustrating the Menstruums of Basilius and so of greater utility here than there we will not remove it from hence yet will we add some examples more clear of such sort of Menstuums Thus it is done 23. The Vegetable Acetum acerrimum or Ignis Adepti of Ripley made of Tartar calcined Pag. 331. Concord Raym. Guid. TAke the Tartar of Wine and calcine it to whiteness Take of this calcined Tartar one Pound and being pulverized put it in a great Glass Cucurbit and pour to it half a Cup or a little more of the strongest Spirit of Philosophical Wine stop the Mouth very close and let them stand in cold Water twenty four Hours then put a Receiver to it and distil in Balneo with an easie Fire yet so as to be distilled which easie distillation must be continued till the Phlegm ascend which must be known by the taste then let it cool and again put new Spirit of Wine to the aforesaid Tartar the same quantity as before doing all things as before which work you must repeat fifteen times but when the Vessel is opened in every Imbibition above all things have a care of the suddain fume of this Ignis Adepti This work being in fifteen times compleat lay aside three ounces of this fiered Tartar for a part to multiply the Mercurial Oyl as lower will appear Take the other part of this fiered Tartar and distil it in Sand with a most strong Fire which Fire being so distilled hath a white Colour and is our Natura ignita our Mercury our Aqua Vitoe lastly the Key of our Science This Menstruum is the same as to the Ingredients and Virtue with the Vegetable Heaven of Lully but it must be Circulated like that Heaven in order to lose its milky and duskish Colour and acquire the diaphaneity and clearness of this This Receipt hath also Johannes de Rupescissa which it is convenient to compare with this especially he varying somewhat in Circumstances by dissolving per deliquium Tartar impregnated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine before the distillation of it 24. The Aqua Fortissima and Vertuosa of Johannes de Rupescissa Cap. 43. Lib. Essentiae THe most Blessed God the Creator of Secrets hath made so many wonderful things in Nature that neither can our Understanding perceive some few excepted nor Tongue express the wonderful things of God without stammering and among the Secrets I will reveal to you a Water of Divine Action and the Magistery of it is to take the best white Tartar calcined and put it in an Earthen or Glass Vessel and pour to it the best Philosophical Aqua Ardens you can get put on an Alembick and distil the Aqua Ardens very weak then take it away being little or nothing worth except for washing of the Eyes or other parts Then take you Tartar and you will find it twice as strong and this you may prove each time by your Tongue put other Aqua Ardens to it again many times more because it will be every time strengthned above measure and you may bring it to so great a degree of strength that no created action can be compared to it But if you would make it a hundred times stronger grind it and put it upon a Porphyry or Marble to be converted into Water which then must be distilled through an Alembick There is yet another way of preparing this Vegetable Heaven not by sublimation of the Alcali nor cohobation but simple Circulation namely by digesting the Alcali of Tartar in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine till it swims upon the Spirit of Wine like an Ovl. It is thus done 25. Vegetable Mercury acuated with the Salt of Tartar of Lully In Prima Camera Individuorum dist 3. Lib. Essen IN the first Chamber is signified that our Mercury is in the power of H crude Tartar and in order to draw it out the Artist must put the said H into E that is in a Glass-Makers Furnace three Natural Days and there must be a great quantity of it because but little will be made from thence which H Tartar now calcined you must grind subtilly and put it into H of Arboris Philosophical into dissolution per deliquium upon a Marble in a very cold place and covered because of dust and H will be converted into T oleum per deliquium which T must the Artist distil through a Filtre in a Glass Vessel and the Artist having separated T from H will be able to extract our Mercury out of the said T two ways First by the Magistery of the Chapter beginning Non reputes me c. by Circulation like the Essence or Spirit of Wine of Lully Secondly by the Magistery of the Chapter Non proetermittam by the separation of the Elements of which not in this place Lully sometimes used the Salt of Tartar depurated instead of the Oyl of Tartar per deliquium as in the First Experiment You have saith be another sign more certain of the purification of this Individual the Salt of Tartar namely when this most precious Salt
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
and do appertain not to this but to another Kind 3. That these Menstruums are by further digestion or cohobation made sweet and transmuted into volatile Arcanums less Circulatums or Simple Vegetable Menstruums of the Fifth Kind 4. That these Menstruums do dissolve Metals into Powder for the extraction of the Crocus or Sulphur of Metals and Minerals The way we will borrow from Ripley in the Vse of Stinking Menstruums Let us saith he proceed Pag. 145. Medul Phil. Chym. to practise upon the Calx of a Metallick Body duly calcined The Body therefore being prepared pour upon it so much of this compounded water in Numb 70. as to cover it half an inch and it will presently boil upon the Calxes of the Body without any external heat dissolving the Body and elevating it in the form of Ice together with the exficcation of it self which must be taken away by the hand of the Operator And the remaining Calxes being well dried again by Fire put so much water to them as before and proceed in all things as before continuing the same way of operating till all the Calxes be well dissolved which substance being well dissolved neatly separated and pulverized must be put into a good quantity of the rectify'd water of the Fire of Nature Spirit of Philosophical Wine that in that Vessel well stopp'd it may by the administration of external heat together with the excitation of internal heat be dissolved into an Oyl which will soon be done c. When the Menstruum of Sericon in Numb 63. is poured upon the aforesaid Calxes of Metals it begins to boyl up and if the Vessel be well stopp'd it will not leave working though no external Fire be administred to it till it be dried into the Calx wherefore you must not put a greater quantity of it than just to cover the Calxes In the same place pag. 171. For in this Operation the less of the Spirit and the more of the Body is put the better and sooner will be the dissolution which is made by the congelation of the Water You must have a care therefore as it is said in the Rosary that the Belly be not too moist because then the Matter would not receive driness And this way must be observed till all the water be dried up The same Place pag. 161. 5. That all the sharpness of this Metallick Powder may be wash'd away with sweet water That the Menstruums of the Adepts are permanent is manifest by the ways of making them but more clearly by the Vse of them in the Receipts of the following Books However Paracelsus seeming to have appointed the contrary by the present ablution of the Menstruum lest therefore you should fall into the greatest and most dangerous Errour of all the Adeptical Chymy we thought good to communicate to you an Observation or two about the permanence of Menstruums First That Aqua ardens the Philosophical that is is by digestion or circulation divided into Phlegm and Oyl swimming upon it as you observed in making the Essence or Spirit of Philosophical Wine You have taken also notice that the same Aqua ardens or same Oyl made of it is further concentrated and rejects the remaining Phlegm but that it self as a meer Oleosum remains with the inanimated Earths so called in the Preparations as well of Vegetable as Mineral Sal-Harmoniacks For it is impossible for the said Phlegm being the vehicle of the unctuous Spirit to abide with things dissolved much less be fixed with them they being so contrary to it wherefore the permanence of Menstruums but rather of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is easie to be understood namely as these Menstruums are unctuous mixed with dry things not in the least diluted in their aquosities which do all separate themselves as useless in fixation Examples you will have in Lib. 2. De Astris Arcanis and often in Lib. 3. of Philosophical Tinctures Secondly These Menstruums do not presently or at the first time abide with their dissolutions For sometimes nay more than often we are forced to pour on and cohabate before any part of it will continue with the dissolved Body whereas in the mean time the rest ascends unaltered Thirdly Nor do the Menstruums persist with all things promiscuously but are united only to things homogeneous to them which in reason they should remain with Thus the Simple Vegetable Menstruums do continue with Essences but not with their relinquished white Bodies whereas the Compounded Vegetable Menstruums being sutable to these Bodies do dissolve them wholly in the making of Magisteries Fourthly Yea though every Menstruum is either an Essence or a Magistery and one Essence prepares another easily entring and mixing themselves radically one with another yet so long as they are of different kinds or degrees are they both separable again nor do they continue till one being newly extracted is raised to the same degree as the other then do they flow together at length into a mixture not to be separated by Art or Nature Fifthly As to these Mineral Menstruums you have observed that the Acidity of them admits of the same reason with the Phlegm or Aquofity of the Vegetable Menstruums so far as it is moist and therefore to be separated in the fixations of things But as it consists of the dry Particles of Mineral Salts but Salts they are dry things dissolved in Acids it will fall under two several Considerations In the first the Acidity of the Menstruum being perhaps in greater plenty than is necessary or sticking about the superficies of the thing dissolved is easily washed away with common Water But in the second the same Acidity being more artificially mixt and absorbed by the Aridity of the thing dissolved is made the cause of venenosity and now cannot be altered but by Vegetable Menstruums transmuting it Paracelsus commands the washing not of the Oyl of Salt but the sharpness of the Salt which penetrates not into the substance of the Metal and is easily washed away but the Vnctuosity of the Salt being throughly mixed with the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine and now united to the Vnctuosity of the Metal common Water cannot touch nor separate But an Acid received into the bowels of an Arid he corrects again with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine that it may not become the cause of venenosity Yet there is a place in Paracelsus where he seems to have established a particular Decree against the permanence of Menstruums Many several ways saith he Lib. 4. Archid. de Essentia pag. 12. are found whereby the Quintessence may be extracted viz. by Sublimation Calcination by Aqua fortisses by Corrosives by Sweet by Sowr c. It may be done which way you please Where this is withal to be observed that every thing added by way of mixture to the Quintessence for the necessity of extraction must be again taken away and so the Quintessence remain alone not mix'd or polluted with any other Matters For
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
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
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
Bath Dung Vapor c. become thick pitchy yea at length dry insipid black as a Coal and sometimes like a Tyle capable of being made red hot which is a manifest sign that they want rather a Dissolvent than are themselves Dissolvents 3. It is necessary to observe that the Spirit of Philosophical Wine appears in two forms either like an Oyl swimming upon all Liquors or like the Spirit of Common Wine to the Nature of which it comes sometimes nearer and therefore doth from the Analogy borrow its Name not swimming upon watry Liquors but mixible with them and its own Phlegm yet separable by simple Distillation it easily by this means leaving its Phlegms behind it but if being rectified and kindled it burns wholly away it affords us the common sign of perfect rectification of the common Spirit but however they are not two but one only Spirit differing in degree of purity and subtilty Which to prove is not necessary examples being obvious to us in almost every Description of the Vegetable Menstruums 4. Lastly Distinction must be made between the first and second Spirit of Philosophical Wine Father and Son The first doth in its preparation require Laborem Sophiae the most secret difficult and dangerous work of all true Chymistry The second is easily made with the former Spirit according to the Rule of perfect Chymistry An Essence makes an Essence a Magistery a Magistery Differ they do in Order not in Nature they are both of one Virtue though of different preparation for this as hath been lately said is of a more easie that of a mor difficult preparation Essences they are both the former artificial the other natural in Medecines therefore unequal though alike in Chymistry as Menstruums but they are easily distinguished one from the other by their Epithets The first hath these more general Names in the Latine Tongue Essentia Vini Alcool Vini Mercurius Vini Vinum Vitae Vinum Salutis Aqua Vitae Aqua ardens Vinum adustum Vinum sublimatum c. Examples of which you will have in these and the like Receipts Take beaten Gold and let it be resolved into Liquor by the Essence of Wine Paracels in Descript Auri Diaphoret Lib. 3. de male curatis Take Flints and dissolve them in the Essence of Wine as Salt in Water c. Paracels in Descript Essentioe silicum cap. 18. de Morbis Tartar pag. 327. Take the Crocus of Sol and the Alcool of Wine corrected c. Paracels in Tinct Croci Solis lib. de proeparat pag 81. The Alcool of Wine exiccated or corrected is saith Paracelsus when the superfluity of the Wine is taken away and the Vinum ardens remains dry and dephlegmed without fatness leaving no Faeces in the Vessel pag. 507. But as to this you will have many more Examples especially in the following Book of Medecines The Second Spirit of Philosophical Wine hath its Sirnames annexed to these more general Names indicating the radix of its Original of which the following Receipts may be for Examples Take the Leaves of Sol four scruples of the Alcool of Wine drawn from a Pine from Balm ana c. Paracels in descript Balsami Solis pag. 90. Chyr major The Extraction of Mummy is made by mixing it with the Essence of Wine drawn from Celandine c. Parac in descript Tincturoe Mumioe cap. 10. Lib. 3. de Vita long pag. 65. Take the Essence of Wine drawn from Celandine Mercury of Saturn c. Paracels Lib. 8. cap. 10. de Tumoribus Pustulis c. pag. 138. Chyr major In these and the like Receipts he does by the Alcool of Wine drawn from the Pine Balm Celandine c. mean the second Spirit of Philosophical Wine or the Essence of those things made with the former Spirit which also is proved out of the fifth Chapter of the third Book of long Life pag. 63. Where Paracelsus calls the Essences of Herbs the Elixir of Life or the Wine of Health made from this or that Herb which he saith will be manifested in the example of Balm Digest Balm with the first Spirit of Philosophical Wine a Philosophical Month in an Athanar then separate so as that the duplicated Elements may appear apart and the Quintessence which is the Elixir of Life will presently shew it self in Nepitha sharp in Lolium yellow in Tincium blackish in Lupulus thin and white in Cuscuta harsh in others likewise to be judg'd according to the Prescript of Experience Moreover that Spirit being extracted and separated from the other behold the Wine of Health Essence of Balm in which the Pseudo-Philosophers have earnestly laboured some Ages yet never acquired any thing And a good part of them that followed Raymund intending to follow him according to the Letter understanding Wine red or white emptied some Butts of Wine in extracting the Quintessence of Wine but found nothing at all but burnt Wine which they unhappily used for the Spirit of Wine sufficient it is to have thus admonished the Spagyrist which way the Quintessence may be had in Herbs This twofold the first as well as second Spirit of Wine may be made not only out of the Vegetable but the Animal Kingdom also So is it read of the Aqua Vitae and Phlegm of the Wine of Vrine in the 16th Experiment of Lully and in Paramiro Paracelsi pag. 57. Many have diligently laboured to find in man his own Health Aqua vitoe Lapis Philosophorum Arcanum Balsamum Aurum potabile and the like Which they did rightly for all those things are in him as also in the external world So also hath he a description of the Liquor of Flesh pag. 505. Take of the Liquor of Flesh six ounces of Mummy c. Here by Liquor he means the Wine of Flesh which is proved by Paracelsus himself saying Where and according to this it is to be noted that the Wine of Balm is a Secret in an Asthma Here also it is to be observed that by Pulmonaria not the Herb but the Liquor that is the Wine of it hath place in this Cure In which words the Liquor and Wine of Pulmonaria are synonimous So in Lib. 8. de Tumoribus cap. 3. By the Liquor of Hermodactils And cap. 9. By the Liquor of Balm and lib. 9. cap. 4. By the Liquor Parthenion And cap. 5. By the Liquor of Bdellium c. The Wines or Essences of them all ought to be understood Though neither the first nor second Spirit can be produced out of the dry Kingdom of Minerals there are indeed some purely Oyly as Oleum Petrae Naphthae Carbonum fossilium Succini Agathis c. which are reputed Members of this Kingdom the Oleosity of which notwithstanding differs so little from the Vnctuosity of Vegetables and Animals that scarce deserve to be called Subjects thereof yet for the same reason that the Essences and Liquors of Vegetables are called Wines is an Essence of the Mineral Kingdom sometimes also called the Liquor and Wine of Minerals
a Filter and remove the Water by Balneo and the Salt will remain coagulated and white dissolve again with the Phlegm and Distil it away by Balneo Then take such a quantity of Aqua Vitoe Spirit of Philosophical Wine as you have of Phlegm and pour them together upon the same Salt and the Vessel being covered with its Antenotorium Blind Alembick set it in Balneo twenty four Hours the Antenotorium being taken away and an Alembick put on Distill by Balneo with a most gentle Fire when the Salt is coagulated congeal it again repeat the same Magistery dissolving by turns after this manner and congealing three times and so have you reduced the said Salt into a Vegetable Virtue by the help of the Vegetative Spirit by which you dissolved and congealed it Lully in Exp. 16. Sal Almoniack is easily dissolved in the Phlegm of Philosophical Wine and so is by this means sooner joyned with the Vnctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine than if it were immediately cast into this Spirit That Trismosinus knew also this Method and sometimes made use of it appears by the following Menstruum 15. Another Water of Sal Armoniack of Trismosinus In Tinctura Gereton pag. 98. Aur. Vel. German TAke of Sal Armoniack Crude two Pounds let it be dissolved in Wine Philosophical Cristallize it let the Cristals be dissolved per deliquium the solution divide into two parts one of which distil into the other with a Fire sufficiently strong rectify the parts being joyn'd together into a strong Water of Sal Armoniack The Sal Armoniack therefore being dissolved either in the Phlegm of Philosophical Wine that is Aqua ardens not rectify'd or Philosophical Wine it self Cristallized and resolved per deliquium is either by it self or with the addition of new Spirit of Wine Distilled into a Water of Sal Armoniack This Kind of Menstruums is made not of Sal Armoniack only but also of the rest of the Volatile Salts thus 16. The Gelative Sulphur of Lully In Exp. 8. TAke of the aforesaid animated Spirit of Vrine one part and of Aqua Vitoe perfectly rectify'd four parts which pour upon the animated Spirit and forthwith stop the Vessel that it may not respire which Vessel must be a large Bottle which shake and move with your Hands so in the twinkling of an Eye or Moment you will see all the Water converted into Salt but if any part of Phlegm be in the Philosophical Aqua Vitoe it will be immediately separated from the Salt in the Form of Water the Aqua Vitoe therefore ought to be very well purged from all Phlegm that when the work is done no Matter may remain with the Salt but be wholly converted which will be better and more useful and by this means you will have the Animal and Vegetable Salt which we will call Coagulative and Gelative Sulphur because it hath the property and virtue of dissolving the two Luminaries and reducing them from power to act their Vegetative and Germinative Form being preserved Lully sometimes sublimed this Offa or Pap of Vrine in the Ninth Experiment following thus There is saith he besides another way of Copulating the aforesaid Animal Spirit with the Vegetable Spirit namely thus Take of the Animated Spirit rectifi'd as above what quantity you will and pour it upon three parts of our Philosophical Aqua Vitoe perfectly rectifi'd which Copulation ought to be made in a Body large and high to which an Alembick may be suddenly fitted the said Copulation therefore being made you must have presently ready some Cotton-Wooll dipped in Oyl and very well squeezed wherewith the Mouth of the Distilling Vessel must be forthwith stopped and it must be let in within the Neck downward a hands breath fastened with a strong Flanel thread that upon occasion you may draw out the said Cotton-Wooll â—hen put to it an Alembick with a Receiver very close stopped and set it in a Furnace of Ashes giving it at first a gentle heat but then by degrees increasing the Fire till it be sublimed which sublimation you must keep in a Vessel firmly stopped because with this Salt and other Means you will be able to do Wonders Parisinus in his Apertorium pag. 15. M. S. S. mei doth by this Salt of Vrine acuate his C. or Spirit of Philosophical Wine which being acuated he then Circulates by the way used and before described in the Circulation of his Coelum melleum Lully hath also sometimes used the Volatile Salt of Blood for the making of these Menstruums as in his twelfth experiment Take Blood ground Blood drawn from sound and cholerick Men dryed on a clean Table that the Phlegm may be separated from it and then pulverized Exp. 11. put it in a Glass Body with a long Neck and having fitted an Alembick to it with a Receiver Distil first with a gentle Fire till the moisture exhale then encrease the Fire till the Salt be sublimed which will be very white gather it warily and keep it for it is of very great Virtue and Efficacy You have my dearest Son all the Medicines Salts which have properties with the two Luminaries as also with the other imperfect Metals without which this Art of Transmutation cannot obtain its desired end The Things which I observe from the Receipts are 1. That by Wine Spirit of Wine and Aqua Vitae common is not meant Aqua Ardens with which it is impossible to reduce or distil common Sal Armoniack into a liquid substance and though it might yet that Menstruum would be Common not Philosophical being made without the Spirit of Philosophical Wine 2. That these Menstruums are made of all Volatile Salts 3. That the Menstruums of this Kind are the Magisteries of Volatile Salts Mix the Essence of Philosophical Wine with the Magistery of any Volatile Salt and you will in a moment make a Menstruum of this fourth Kind 4. That these Menstruums may be also made by Parisinus his way of Coelum melleum namely by Circulation and therefore called Circulatums common Sal Armoniack Circulated Salt of Vrine Blood Harts-horn c. Circulated or the Water of Sal Armoniack Circulated the Water of the Salt of Blood Circulated c. 5. That it is very uncertain what Philosophical Menstruum Trismosinus meant by Spirit of Wine For divers Menstruums have been by the Adepts signified by the same Name of Spirit of Wine for the most part they meant the simple Spirit of Philosophical Wine sometimes the same acuated after a different manner that is the simple Vegetable Menstruum So Basil in his Book of Conclusions prepares the Oyls of Metals with Spirit of Wine by which he declares himself to have meant not the simple Spirit but a simple Vegetable Menstruum in the preparation of the Oyl of Mercury he commanding this open Metal to be by the Spirit of Wine rectify'd first with Salt of Tartar which Menstruum we shall have in the following Kinds reduced into an Oyl with the rest of 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
will remain in the Vessel upon Fire in the Form of an Oyl but being removed from the Fire will suddenly be congealed But dearest Son Let not the Prolixity of time be irksome to you in dissolving and congealing this Matter so often to take away Corruption which remaining it can never be joyned with its Spirit extracted from the most precious and its nearest Individual which is the best Wine freed from all manner of Humidity and Corruption Then Circulate it in a Circulating Vessel and so reduce it into a Quintessence and it will forthwith embrace its Spirit this Circulation we perform'd at first in thirty days but afterwards compleated the same in forty days which Circulation was much better than the the first because the longer it is circulated the more is it purify'd and adepted for any of our Physical Operations which order when need requires you also must observe Menstruums of this kind may be divers ways made not only out of the Alcali of Tartar but other fix'd Alcalies may be also taken instead of that as proves the following Menstruum 26. The Simple Vegetable Menstruum produced from the three Individuals of Lully In Experim 25. TAke Aqua Vitoe so acute as to burn a Linnen Cloth which transmit again through an Alembick that it may be perfectly rectify'd Then take the Salt of Celandine Salt of Mans Blood Salt extracted from Honey as you have them above in their Experiments all which Salts put together in an Urinal Cucurbit and upon every Ounce of those Salts pour four Ounces of the aforesaid Aqua Vitoe cover it with its Antenotorium blind Head then having a little time digested put on an Alembick with a Receiver annexed lute the joynts well and distil in Ashes suffering the Salts to go over together with the Water If any thing remain pour to it again its distilled Water and when all is come over pour in new Salt again to wit one Ounce and pass it through the Alembick as before Thirdly add again another Ounce of Salt as above and distil repeating this Magistery three times every time adding new Salt These things being done Circulate this Water in a Vessel deep and narrow the space of fifty Natural Days but observe that the Vessel respire not Circulation being finished you will in the bottom of the Vessel see a Sediment like the Urine of a sound Man which will be white empty the Water warily into another clean Vessel and be careful that the Sediment pass not over with the Water but remain in the bottom of the Vessel stop the Vessel of the Circulated Water so as not to respire and keep it in Balneo The preparation of the Salt of Celandine is in the Fourth Experiment Then take the Ashes of Celandine gathered in the Month of May at full Moon with its Roots and Flowers and put them in a Glass Vessel and thereto pour the water of Celandine distill'd in Balneo that you may from thence extract a Salt and let the matter boyl two hours in a most soft Fire of Ashes empty the dissolution into another Vessel but dry the undissolved Earth and when the Vessel is cold grind it pouring again new water upon the Ashes as before make it boyl and decant the dissolution as before This Magistery repeat till you have extracted all the Salt which is the Mercurial part of that Individual then take all those dissolutions and filtre them that they may be purged from Terrestreity then distilling by Balneo congeal for the Liquor being gone over in the bottom of the Vessel will remain a Mercury or Salt of a white colour which Salt you must dissolve and by turns congeal three times and by this means you will have extracted the Mercury out of this matter which hath virtues almost innumerable in acuating the Vegetable Spirit drawn from Wine and hath the power of dissolving all Metals with the preservation of their Vegetative and Germenative Form The fixed Salt of Man's Blood is thus prepared in the Eleventh Experiment Take Blood drawn from found and cholerick men and put it on a clean Table and so let it dry that the Phlegm may be separated from it then take the Blood grind it very well and put it into a Glass Body and with a slow Fire distil the water which being distilled keep apart and having augmented the Fire a little but not too intensely lest the Salt perhaps should sublime let only the moisture and superfluous Oyl exhale till it will distil no more then the Vessel being cold take the burned Earth put it into a Vessel stopp'd close to keep it from respiring for in respiring it would vanish away into Smoak set the Vessel in a reverberating Furnace but the heat must be exceeding temperate that the Salt of the Matter which is volatile and not fix'd may not exhale and that the Vessel may not by the violence of the Fire be broken as hath hapned to us and let the matter stand in that degree of heat the space of two days and it will be calcin'd which done let the Vessel cool and being cold open it and upon the calcined matter pour its own Phlegm that is the water which you distill'd at first let it boyl upon ashes two hours that some part may be dissolved and that which is dissolved decant into another Vessel and again with new water do as before and thus repeat till you have extracted all the Salt then draw off the water by distillation in Balneo and in the Vessel will remain the Salt as white as Snow of a great many virtues and if you acuare the Vegetable Fire with it it will without doubt dissolve the two Luminaries with the conservation of their Vegetative Form And with it may be made a most excellent Aurum potabile to preserve the radical moisture in men and expel many diseases The Third Experiment teacheth the preparation of the Salt of Honey after this manner Take new white Honey together with the Comb put it in a Glass Vessel to putrifie the space of sixty days then distil c. Then take the Earth Caput mortuum which remained in the Urinal and being perfectly ground put it in an Earthen Vessel made of Valentinian Chalk or of that which Crucibles are made of or if you cannot have this Vessel put the same Earth between two Crucibles one joyned to the other and very well luted then set them in a reverberating or Glass-makers Furnace and there let them stay four or five days so will the Earth be white but if you do this work in a reverberating Furnace have a care that the Fire be not too violent for so would the Earth evaporate and if the Fire be too weak it will never be calcined a moderate heat therefore is requisite thus no such error can happen as we have met with for when we began this work we lost all the Earth by the violence of Fire but to the purpose this Earth being calcined as
aforesaid and the Vessel cold take it out and grind it then pour the water which you distilled by Balneo to it and let the matter boyl two hours upon ashes and empty the water into another Vessel from the Earth which Earth you must dry with a gentle Fire Upon the same ashes pour new Phlegm and let it boyl as before decant by emptying and keeping as before the dissolution of the Body and thus repeat the Magistery till you have evacuated all the most precious Salt out of it and converted it into water Then take all those dissolutions and filtre them through a clean Linnen-Cloth which water you must distil by Balneo at length in the bottom of the Vessel will you have a most Precious Salt or Vegetable Mercury Which done know the weight of the said Congelation or Salt and pour to it a third part of the Water which you kept before and which you rectify'd seven times in Ashes the acid Water of Honey and stop the Vessel with its Antenotorium and set it in Balneo five Days then having taken away the Antenotorium and put on an Alembick you must with a temperate Fire by distillation exhale all the moisture that will distil and that will be insipid for the Earth hath received and in it self retained the Virtue and Acetosity of the Water Then again imbibe the Earth with new Water as before and repeat the Magistery by imbibing digesting and distilling so oft as before till the Earth hath attracted and imbibed all its Water And so by the help of the living God will you truly have the Vegetable Salt drawn from this individual which Salt is most precious and hath the power of acuating the Vegetable Mercury and dissolving the two Luminaries and all the other imperfect Metals And with this may Metals be reduced into their first Matter To these Salts requisite for this Menstruum of Lully I will add the fifth Experiment which teacheth to prepare Alkalies from Portulaca Marina Apium Sylvestre Squilla Euphorbium Pyrethrum Rosmarinus Herb Mercury Solatrum Oliandrum c. with all which you may acuate the Vegetable Mercury drawn from Wine either joyntly or severally This sort of Menstruums is made not only out of the Alkalies of Vegetables but also out of Mineral Salts such as common Salt Sal Gemmae Alum c. Thus it is made 27. The Circulatum Minus or Water of Salt Circulated of Paracelsus Lib. 10. Archidox TAKE the true Element of Water or instead thereof another Salt which hath not been as yet boyl'd to plain Driness or also Sal Gemmoe putrified pour two parts of the water mix'd with a little Juice of Raphanus to it putrefie in acurate digestion the longer the better let it afterward congeal and putresie again for a Month then distil in a Retort the remainder urge with a strong Fire that it may melt reverberate in a Retort with a continual Fire dissolve upon a Marble the water slowing from hence pour to it and putrefie again distil again even to an Oleosity joyn it with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and that which is impure will fall down which separate but let the pure be cristalized in a cold place pour on again that which is distilled and cohobate so oft till a fixed Oyl remains in the bottom and nothing sweet goes over Digest moreover for a Month then distil till the Arcanum of Salt pass over through the Alembeck Nor let long labour grieve you for this is the third part of all the Arcanums which are hidden in Metals and Minerals and without which nothing can be made useful or perfect The same Circulatum hath Paracelsus described in his Treatise of reducing Metals into their first matter or running Mercury which is the fourth Treatise in Rosario novo Olimpico Benedicti Figuli which Description we thought good to compare with this that they may illustrate one another Take saith he Sal Gemmoe most finely pulverized put it in a strong Crucible and increasing the Fire by degrees melt the Salt being melted keep it so for the space of three Hours the Salt being cold pulverize it again and melt it in a new Crucible according to the aforesaid method and so proceed five or six times then to the pulverized Salt pour so much of the hot Juice of Raphanus that it may be dissolved mix the Salt and squeeze it with a little of the Juice with a wooden spoon in a wooden Vessel being dissolved strain it through a sleeve and set it apart add again a little of the Juice and repeat till all the Salt be dissolved coagulate or draw off the water by an Alembick reduce the Salt into Powder putrefie in Balneo six days then distil with an open Fire like Aqua Regis observing the degrees of Fire till nothing more ascends force it with a most strong Fire for an hour that it may be throughly calcined pulverize the Salt being yet hot very small on a Marble and let it be dissolved by it self in a moist place putrefie all that is dissolved in Balneo three days then distil gradually by the Rule of Art all the Liquor through an Alembick in Sand the remaining Body being well pulverized dissolve on a Marble putrefie and distil as before repeat this three times the remainder reduce into Powder and put in a Cucurbit to which pour these three distilled waters putrefie five days and again distil in Sand thus putrefying and distilling all the Salt will at length ascend through the Alembick except a little Caput mortuum to be cast away but the water distilled from the substance of the Salt putrefie for a Day and a Night and rectifie twice or thrice and you will have the water of Salt This Menstruum made of Sea-salt or Sal Gemmae Paracelsus made choice of before the rest of the simple Vegetable Menstruums as the best because according to his Doctrine it is the Matrix or Center of Metals and Minerals Because saith he being instructed by Experiments and having in other Books also made mention that the primum Ens or fifth Essence of the Element of Water is the Center of Metals and Minerals and having elsewhere also added that every product ought to dye in that in which it received life In a German Manuscript these Words are thus read Das ein iegelich frucht in seiner Mutter darinnen es das leben uberkommen sterben muss That is every Fruit ought to dye in the same Matrix in which it obtains its Life that afterwards it may receive a new Life better and so by the deposition of the old Body be reduced into the primum Ens or first Being The way therefore of extracting the Center of Water in which Metals ought to depose their Body will I here add This Menstruum we will explain by its Branches whereof the First is Oyl of Salt dissolved per deliquium In the first process he dissolves Sea-salt or Sal Gemmae in water mix'd with the Juice of
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
matter in the luted Vessel now and then as is convenient that the saline parts may the better be dissolv'd then take away the blind Head and put on a common Alembick but have a care in this changing lest the sharpness of the Salts offend your Eyes then distil gently in Ashes and when you have by such a heat extracted all the Water increase the Fire that the Oyl or Soul of it may ascend also together with the distill'd Water whereof one part will be sublimed the other part will stick to the superficies of the Earth in the form of a white powder let the Vessel cool gather the sublimation being gather'd put it in its Water make the Vessel very close because it contains the animated Flower Spirit then take out the dry Earth remaining reduce it into powder upon a Porphyry Stone pour to it the Flower or Spirit the breadth of three Fingers putrefy three days distil in Ashes increasing the Fire with Wood as above repeat the Magistery till the Earth remains of an Ash Colour then calcine it in a Reverberatory as we taught you in the Mineral Work in Chap. 2. And so you will have the animal Earth prepared abounding with so great Virtue as not to be expressed O absolute power upon which all other powers depend into what thing hast thou infused such Virtue No Man will comprehend so great a secret none will believe unless he himself hath seen by Experience as we have seen Take the animated Flower rectify it three times in Ashes always casting away the Earths Terrestial Foeces then distil in Balneo three parts from four the remainder throw away this repeat yet once then distil the whole so will you have the animated Flower rectifyed Take now a large Vessel a Cucurbit and put in the rectifyed Flower stop the Mouth of the Vessel with Cotton put on an Alembick with a Receiver and with a gentle heat of Ashes all or the greatest part will be sublimed in the Form of a most precious Salt with which if you will you may acuate our C which then you must circulate according to the Chap. D. D. wherewith you may perfect all your operations which we taught in the precedent Chapters which you will sooner compleat by this Menstruum But if you desire the animal Sulphur of Nature it is necessary for you to sublime presently after you have rectify'd the desired Flower namely by imbibing the Earth according to the method and order which we declared in the Vegetable Work that is with an eighth seventh sixth fifth and fourth part sublime and use to do as in the Vegetable Work to wit by acuating the animated Flower with its animal Sulphur sublimed circulating and doing all things as in the Vegetable Work Now Son you see how I love you having repeated such things over and over and with such pains lest you should have occasion to complain of me and that you should be expert in every thing in which I perswaded my self you might err therefore have we in this Chapter repeated and described that which no Philosopher ever did in his great Volume and I may easily believe that no Philosopher has presumed to describe so long and ample a practice as this of ours all which proceeds from my paternal affection towards you by which I would oblige you under the pain of God's wrath not to reveal it to any one but rather burn it as soon as you have reduc'd it into use as you have more than often promised us My farther advice is That you would strenuously endeavour to live according to the triumphant Gospel of Grace and Peace reject and avoid Evil Societies and Actions as we have often admonished you but if you do otherwise you will not please him who is the Donor of this Famous Knowledge of every good Thing and Grace it self From the Receipts we Note 1. That those things which were noted in the fifth precedent Kind may hitherto also be referred the Menstruums of this Kind differing only in matter from the antecedent these were made of Philosophical Wine only those of the fixed Salts of divers things but as to the way of subliming or the way of making Vegetable Sal Armoniacks they both agree in all things 2. That these Sal Armoniacks are called Sulphurs of Nature In the preparation of Philosophical Wine there is an Earth found which is called Sulphur existent in the Vegetable Mercury coagulating its own Mercury for the sake of which Earth they called every other exanimated and fixed Earth Sulphur but the animated Spirit Essence Tincture c. they termed Mercury to be coagulated by this Sulphur but both of them being reduced into one Body and sublimed they call'd Sulphur of Nature not more fixed but sublimed 3. These Salts are call'd Sulphurs of Nature to distinguish them from Sulphur against Nature that is of every Acid. Fire saith Ripley differs many ways for one is a natural Fire another unnatural another elemental and another contra naturam Natural Fire is that which proceeds from the Influence of the Sun Moon and Stars from which are produced the Spirits of burning Waters the essential vapours of Minerals as also the Natural Virtues of living things the unnatural is an occasional Fire which is called a moist Fire made artificially by Philosophers it is also called a Fire of the first degree which is for the meer temperance of heat called Balneo Stove or Dunghill in this Fire is made the Putrefaction of our Stone elemental Fire is that which fixeth calcines and burneth and is nourished by things combustible Fire against or contrary to Nature dissolves violently breaks kills and destroys the governing power of the Form of the Stone for it dissolves the Stone into the Water of a Cloud with the destruction of the specifick Form but it is termed Fire contrary to Nature because the operation of it is contrary to all natural operations as Raymond asserts for all things that Nature hath made this Fire destroys and brings to Corruption unless the Fire of Nature be added to it c. Med. Phil. pag. 135. Wherefore also there are four Fires in our art namely the Natural which is the Menstruum Sericonis the unnatural that is Horse Dung or Vindemia and the like the elemental viz. maintained by Wood and other combustible things and the Fire contrary to Nature that is all corrosive Waters made of Vitriol Salt and such like things Viatic pag. 342. but of these in another place namely the fifth Book 4. That these Salts are to be used presently after the sublimation of them 5. That Philosophical Aqua Vitae though never better rectify'd yet contains in it some certain superfluous moisture which it expells either by being circulated by it self as in the preparation of Lully's Heaven or imbibed in things fixed as in the ways of making the said Salts 6. That a Menstruum made of Lully's Heaven with the Essence or Oyl of Philosophical Wine is no
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
new Arcanum of Salt Circulatum minus that the impure may be precipitated to the bottom but the pure turn'd into Cristals sublime the same in a close Reverberatory being sublimed turn it up continually till it comes to a redness this sublimation extract with the Spirit of Wine rectifyed to the highest Philosophical Wine seperate the Spirit of Wine by distillation the remainder the dry Tincture or Crocus of Mercury dissolve upon a Marble per deliquium and digest for a Month pour new Spirit of Wine to it digest for a time and distil Then will the Arcanum of the primum Ens or first being of Mercury rise over in a liquid substance which is by the Philosophers called Metallick Acetum acerrimum and in our Archidoxyes Circulatum majus And the same is to be understood of Antimony Gemms and all other Metals Annotations THere is a great difference between this and the precedent Kind though they both treat of Mercurial Waters The antecedent were made of crude Mercury This Circulatum of Paracelsus is indeed made of Mercury but first fixed The precedent were most clear these greater Circulatums are indeed most clear but also most red and so much better in their Tinctures than the precedent The Receipt we will consider as divided into its parts in the first of which Paracelsus sublimes Argent vive so often till it be made like fixed Cristal that is like mineral or common Cristal clear and transparent As this part is common so it less needs explaining In his Book De Renovat Restaur he takes only Mineral Gold or Antimony for the same Work which Bodies notwithstanding are more bound up than the open Metal Mercury and for this reason it may seem to be fit enough for dissolution in Circulated Salt without sublimation For the illustration of the Receipt we will add the Description of the said Book Take of mineral Gold or Antimony most finely ground one Pound of Salt Circulated four Pounds being mixed digest them together in Horse-Dung for a Month from thence will spring a Water wherefore the pure must be separated from the impure coagulate it into a Stone which calcine with Wine cenificated lenificated and separate again and dissolve upon a Marble Let this Water be putrified for a Month from it will be produced a Liquor wherein are all such Signs as in the primum Ens of Gold or Antimony wherefore we deservedly call it the primum Ens of those things It is no otherwise to be understood of Mercury and other things also In the second part he dissolves Mercury being so sublimed in Salt Circulated the primum Ens of Salt the Arcanum of Salt the Water of Salt Circulated Synonima's of Paracelsus his Circulatum minus putrifies or digests precipitates with new Circulated Salt filters and lastly reduceth it into Cristals or Philosophical Vitriol In the Receipt of Lib. de Renov he adds the weights of things Take saith he of mineral Gold or Antimony one Pound of Salt Circulated four Pounds and then digests and separates the impure from the pure and coagulates into Cristals Sometimes he dissolves Bodies by some mineral Menstruum which he draws off two or three times from them and sweetens them again by taking away all the acidity so far as he is able with common Water Thus he dissolves common Sulphur in the strongest Aqua fortis Paracelsus his Aqua regis to be described in the eighteenth Kind cohobates three times into a black Matter which he sweetens with distilled Water Libro de morte rerum For it is much at one whether Gold or Antimony be dissolved by the Circulatum minus only and reduced into a Philosophical Vitriol or whether Argent vive for the abbreviation of time be in the sublimation of it first impregnated with the acidity of Salts and so made more open for the Work and then mixed with the Circulatum minus purified by digestion and precipitation and lastly reduced into a Philosophical Vitriol or whether to make the time yet shorter Sulphur be mixed with a mineral Menstruum that is an acid and the Circulatum minus mixed together and then freed from the acid so as with the Circulatum minus to be made the same Philosophical Vitriol for which way soever Philosophical Vitriol is made it comes to one and the same effect but of these Vitriols hereafter in the Receipts of mineral Menstruums In the third part he sublimes the Stones or Cristals of the Mercury in a close Reverberatory that is a Philosophical Egg always turning it up till the Vitriol of the Mercury is at length fixed into a most red Precipitate This part the Sublimations of Sulphur and Antimony in a close Reverberatory will illustrate The strongest Aqua fortis being often drawn off from the Sulphur the remaining matter being made thereby black and then sweetned he reverberates that is sublimes in a close Reverberatory and being sublimed turns up the close Reverberatory or Philosophical Egg so oft and continually till it comes to a redness as Antimony saith he which will become first white sublimate then yellow thirdly red precipitate as Cinnabar which being obtained you ought to rejoyce for it is the beginning of your Riches This reverberated Sulphur gives a most deep tincture to any Luna reducing it into most excellent Gold and preserves a Man's Body in most perfect Health This reverberated fixed Sulphur observe is of so great Virtue as is not fitting to declare Libro de morte rerum pag. 95. The Reverberation of Antimony is in pag. 67. Chyr majoris hus Take of Antimony reduced into a most fine Alcool into Philosophical Vitriol with the Circulatum minus by the way of Mercury in the Circulatum majus or again into a black and sweetned matter by the way of Sulphur what quantity you will let it be reverberated in a close Reverberatory for the space of one Month continually turning up the Reverberatory till the matter will be no more sublimed and it will be Volatile and Light first White then Yellow then Red lastly of a Purple or Violet Colour The Antimony being thus fixed by sublimation he extracts the tincture by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which tincture he calls the most Noble most Precious and only not Divine Essence of Lily In the fourth part he dissolves Mercury being precipitated and extracted by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine per deliquium and digests with new Spirit of Philosophical Wine and cohobates till it ascends through the Alembick into the primum Ens or Essence of Mercury Mercury Circulated the Circulatum majus prepared from Mercury c. In the Receipt we observe 1. That Argent vive Antimony Sulphur yea Gold Silver and all the other Metals being dissolved in some simple Vegetable Menstruum then reverberated or by sublimation fixed dissolved per deliquium and distill'd into a liquid substance are Argent vive Antimony Sulphur Gold Silver c. Circulated or the Circulatum majus made of Mercury Antimony Sulphur
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
that Water Son you must dissolve one half Ounce of the purest Luna after the filtred dissolution separate the Water from the Faeces distil the Menstruum from the Silver through an Alembick in which the limosity of the Silver will ascend This Water Son resolves all other Bodies and Argent vive it self by Virtue of which Son Pearls are reformed by the way which I told you in our Testamentum and in the Compendium super Testamentum Codicillum missum Regi Roberto The second Water is thus made Take half an Ounce of Lead and of the aforesaid Water as much as sufficeth when you see the Lead dissolved separate the Water by filtred distillation filtre the dissolution of the Lead and throw out the Faeces as nothing worth then distil the Water by Balneo draw off the Menstruum in Balneo and keep the Faeces the dissolved Lead for occasion The third Water is thus made Take of Copper one Ounce and dissolve it in as much of the first Water as you please and let it rest in its Vessel in a cold place for a Natural Day then separate the Green Water through a Filtre and pour out the first Faeces that which remains in the Filtre must be cast away then distil the Water through an Alembick and keep the second Faeces The fourth Water is thus made Take one Ounce of the purest Tin of Cornwall which is purer than any other and dissolve it in a quantity of the first Water and distil through a Filtre that Water dissolution with its limosity and the Faeces which remain cast away then distil the Water through an Alembick and keep the residue or Tin dissolved the second Faeces The fifth Water is thus made Take of the purest Iron one Ounce and dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of the first Water then distil through a Filtre and cast away the Faeces distil the Water through an Alembick and keep the second Faeces The sixth Water is thus made Take of the purest Gold one Ounce and dissolve it as I told you in my Testamentum that is with pure Lunaria the simple Vegetable Menstruum without Argent vive and Silver mix'd with such a weight of the fifth Water now prepared from Iron and do as you did with the other You may also Son dissolve all those Metals in this order Having made the first Water in it dissolve the Metal which we commanded you to dissolve after the second way to wit Lead then do with it as we told you before In this second Water dissolve the third Metal Copper and in the Water of the third Metal dissolve the fourth Metal Tin and in the Water of the fourth Metal dissolve the fifth Metal Iron and in the Water of the fifth Metal dissolve the sixth Metal Gold Take which of those Waters you like best to dissolve a Metal Son these limosities of Metals are called Quintessences or Mineral Mercury which the Philosophers esteemed in the Alchymical work in Alchymical Tinctures and the lapidifick in the making of Pretious Stones and in the Medicinal Work in the preparing of Medicines But Son in the Alchymical Work those Quintessences ought to be more subtil and to be done by dividing the Elements as we in the third Book of this Volume shall declare but in making Pretious Stones the Quintessence aforesaid are not so in such a subtil Matter but in Medicine either of them this two-fold way of preparing may be used Having spoken of the Quintessences of Minerals of Metallick Waters how we are to make them it is now convenient to speak of the division of them in general And my Son do thus When your Metals are dissolved you must divide every Water being first filtred and distilled from its remainder and every divided Water now distilled into two parts and one part of every part you must put with its own Faeces the remaining Metal which the Water had left in distillation into a Glass Alembick and distil a Limus deserti which is Air made out of two Bodies or Metals in the Furnace which we design'd you first with a gentle Fire shining with great Mineral Lustre and with great limosity appropriated to receive Celestial Virtues And put every one of those Waters into a Glass Vessel with a long Neck and round and then stop the Mouth of it with common Wax and after that with Mastick and every of those Vessels put in the open Air so as that neither Stone nor any other hurtful thing may touch the Glass Son Take the material Faeces from which you resolved the Limus which are the second Faeces left in the distillation of the Waters which you put in the Air. Take the Caput mortuum from the distillation of every Limus desertus or the third Foeces for the first remaining in the Filtre were cast away from the second the Limus desertus was distilled now the Foeces of the Limus desertus are those which he here calls the second and put them in a Glass Vessel with a long Neck which may contain two hands breadth and put in part of its own Water which was reserved from that aforesaid limous substance and stop the Vessels with a Stopple of Wax and with Leather and Mastick as you did to the other and Bury them Waters of Metals in a Garden in an Earth half a Yard deep and put also something about the Neck of the Vessels which may appear above ground for the preservation of them and let them be there for one whole Year Son the Waters which are put into the Earth are of one Nature and those which are put in the Air of another for Son those which are put into the Earth have a hardning coagulating and fixing Virtue and Quality and those which are in the Air have the Virtue and Property of being hardened coagulated and fixed The Year being ended you will have all that is desired in the World for this Work c. Annotations YOu will perhaps wonder that we have assigned this so high a place to these Menstruums they being inferior to many Menstruums of the antecedent Kinds as to Ingredients as well as to the method of preparation but though it be so nevertheless these Menstruums are by being exposed to the Air for a Year or for so long a time committed to the Earth made better and more excellent than the aforesaid Menstruums as will appear hereafter by the use of them We will at present explain the methods of making these Waters The Waters of the first method he makes thus He dissolves Lead Copper Tin Iron and Gold in the Glorious Water of Argent vive acuated moreover with Luna filtres every dissolution casting away the Foeces draws off the filtred dissolutions in Balneo to dryness divides the distilled Waters into two parts in one of which he dissolves its own Metal left in the drawing off of the dissolution which he then distills into a Liquor which he calls Limus desertus Quintessence or
sublimation which you must sublime with a Fire of the fourth degree And observe that all those preparations and distillations of the Earths are to be done in Balneo And thus Son have you our Sulphur or Matter or Vegetable and Metallick Earth in one Kind united for the making of the Glorious High and Virtuous Stone which will transform common Argent vive into perfect Sol or Luna without the help of Fire but as the Eye of a Basilisk which kills Animals by sight alone But it is your interest Son to use great diligence and exquisite Ingenuity in making the Roots of this high and lofty Tree which Roots we call desert Limes in which the whole Virtue of Heaven and Earth relating to this Magistery will be infused And the way is this Take of the Vegetable and Mineral Earth or Sulphur which you united in one Kind by sublimation which is that which you call'd the Earth of Sulphur in one Kind united put it in a Glass Vessel and pour so much as it weighs of the Menstruum with which you separated the Elements of the Sulphur of Luna and prepared the said kind of Earth and put it in a Philosophical Balneo three Natural Days and in that time it will be all dissolved which being thus dissolved put in a common Balneo and distil the Menstruum and the Earth united to its kind will by sublimation remain as an Oyl which we call the Philosophers Oyntment and it is one of the Secrets which we take care to have concealed Then Take of that Oyl or Oyntment aforesaid ten Drachms and of the rectify'd Air of the Sulphur of Luna one Drachm not one Ounce And of the Air of the Sulphur of Sol one Drachm and distil in a Fire of Ashes and that which is distilled which is almost all is called the Terrestrial desert Limes keep it Take of the Element of the Fire Sulphur of Gold already prepared and congealed ten Drachms not twenty and of the Element of the Air Sulphur of Luna one Drachm and of the Element of the Air of the Sulphur of Gold another Drachm and put all in Ashes and distil that which is distilled from it which is almost all is called the Etherial desert Limes keep it for occasion Take of the Element of the Fire of the Sulphur of Gold one Drachm or two and rectifie it again thus pouring upon it fiVe parts of its own Menstruum which is that with which you separated the Elements of the same Sulphur of Gold and put it to digest in Balneo for one Natural Day then distil in Ashes what you can And again pour the said Menstruum upon it digest and distil by Ashes and repeat till it be all pass'd over by a Fire of Ashes Then take its weight of the said Vegetable Earth united and sublimed together prepared above and you must unite them together with the distilled Element of Fire and not distil but so lay it aside and it is called the Terrestrial desert Limes of Gold not vaporized Take of the said Earth in one kind united one Drachm and of the Oyl of the Air of the Sulphur of Luna one Drachm mix them together and you will make the same Magistery as you did with the precedent Gold and it is called the Terrestrial desert Limes lunificated not vaporized We do now think good to shew the way of celificating and preparing those Limes in order to receive the Virtues of Heaven and Earth and the way is this Take Brass or Iron Cages and let them be like those wherein Parrots whistle but the twiggs must be closer so that no Earth neither Celestial nor Terrestrial can enter but only the vapour of Heaven and Earth which you will have by Influence Take the Limes above mentioned Terrestrial desert made of ten drachms of the Earth or Sulphur united which is that which you united with the Earth of the Sulphur of Silver and reduced into an Oyl or Oyntment and of one Drachm of the Air of the Sulphur of Luna and one Drachm of the Air of Sol mix'd and that Limes put in a Glass Vessel with a long Neck exactly Sealed with the Seal of Hermes and put it in the Cage and set it one Arm or two deep and let it stand a Year and half or at least a Year covering it well with Earth and keeping it from all dangers and in that time will it be made a powerful Water with wonderful fixative Virtues of the Stone and it hath admirable Virtues acquired from Heaven which it attracted from the Vapours of the Earth Son depend upon this Take the Limes above declared Etherial desert which you made of ten Drachms of the Fire of the Sulphur of Gold and of one Drachm of the Air of the Sulphur of Luna and one Drachm of the Air of the Sulphur of Sol and put it in another Glass Vessel with a long Neck Hermetically Sealed and put it in another Cage and hang it in the Air on a Tree or any private place free from all Wind Dust and Danger leave it a Year and half or a whole Year at least as we said of the other and so will be made a clear Water endowed with the Virtue of hardning fixing congealing penetrating and making the Stone Volatile and is called the Mercury of Air of most acute penetration Take the Terrestrial desert Limes of Gold not vaporized nor celificated neither distilled through an Alembick nor circulated which is that that you made by meerly mixing of one Drachm of the Element of the Fire of the Sulphur of Sol and of one Drachm of the Earth united in its Kind and that take also the Terrestrial desert Limes lunificated not vaporized which you made out of one Drachm of the Earth of Sulphur united and one Drachm of the Air of the Sulphur of Luna and put those Limes every one by it self in a Glass Vessel Sealed as was said of the other and put it in the Earth the depth of one Arm for a whole Year in a Cage and in that time will be made a Water of wonderful Virtue in joyning Bodies and content your self with this Take the Limes which you made out of ten Drachms of the Fire or Air and one of the Earth and take that which remains of the Air of the Sulphur of Luna because you took but three Drachms of it when you made the Limes and let it hang in the Air in a Glass Vessel Sealed and in a Cage as you did with the other and there will it receive the Celestial Virtues which are the means of Conjunction between the Limes of the Earth and the Limes of the Fire and other Limes also Take the second Air the Menstruum Elemented in which were dissolved the Air and Fire of the Sulphur of Gold and gently drawn off that is three parts only from five of it which is that which you drew from the Fire congeled which we call'd Philosophical Oyl and Philosophical Treasure not
many Men err in Saturn Hear what Avicenn saith Saturn will be always Saturn yea operate not with the Earth of Philosoph Saturn which the Spirit of it has despised and relinquished for the worst Sulphur Operate only with the fume of it to congeal Mercury yet not as Fools but as the Philosophers do and you will have a very good Work Phil. Cap. 2. Pag. 188. The whole composition we call our Lead the quality of the splendor proceeds from Sol and Luna and in short these are our Menstruums wherewith we calcine perfect Bodies naturally but no unclean Body is an Ingredient one excepted which is by the Philosophers commonly called Green Lyon which is the means of joyning the Tinctures between Sol and Luna with perfection as Geber himself attesteth Libro 42. portar Pag. 12. To manifest this thing to you you must know that it is one of those which are of the seven Days Planets and the meanest of the same out of whose Body is artificially extracted Blood and a vaporous Humor which is called the Blood of the Green Lyon from which is produced a Water called White of an Egg and Aqua Vitoe May-Dew and by many other Names which to avoid prolixity we now omit Phil. Cap. 3. Pag. 190. The method of extracting the Blood of the Green Lyon out of calcined Lead or Philosophical Minium is this that followeth 61. A Menstruum made of the red Lead of Ripley In pupilla Alchym pag. 303. TAke of Lead calcined or rubifyed or the best Minium that is Mineral Antimony prepared what quantity you please yet with this consideration that you must have so many quarts of distill'd Vinegar as you have pounds of the aforesaid calcined Lead To this Vinegar pour the aforesaid Lead in a large Earthen Vessel well glazed then for the space of three Days stir the Matter strongly with a Wooden Spatula six or seven times a Day cover it well from Dust and let it not be put to the Fire by any means during all this time after which separate all that is clear and cristalline by a Filtre into another Vessel then put it into a Brass Skillet to a gentle Fire that all the Phlegmatick Water may evaporate till a very thick Oyl is left in the bottom of the Vessel which suffer to cool which being done the Matter will become like Gum so as to be cut with a Knife hereof put four Pounds into a Glass Cucurbit with an Alembick the Joynt being well luted with a Paste made of the Scales of Iron Flower and the whites of Eggs well beaten together put the Vessel in a Furnace of Sand and not in Ashes and let the Vessel be buried in the Sand even to the middle of it and let the Sand be two Fingers thick under the bottom of the Vessel then put a Receiver to it but not luted till you have drawn out all the Phlegmatick Water with a most gentle Fire which Water throw away When you see a white fume appear then lute the Receiver which must be two foot long which being drawn out strengthen the Fire as much as you can and continue it till you have distilled all that can be extracted in twelve Hours and so will you have the Blood of the Red Lyon most red as Blood which is our Mercury and our Tincture now prepared to be poured upon its ferment that is upon the Calxes of most pure Gold c. But if you would use it for the white Work you must distil your Mercury three times with a slow Fire always reserving the Faeces apart in every distillation and then will you have your Mercury most white as Milk And this is our Virgins Milk whitened Menstruum and our Argent vive Philosophically exuberated with which by Circulation make an Oyl out of the Calxes of Luna and proceed in all things as you did with the red Mercury upon the Calxes of Gold and you will have a white Elixir which will convert any Metal into perfect Luna But the Golden Oyl ought to be perfected and tempered and well united with artifical Balsom by the way of Circulation till out of them is made a most clear and resplendent Golden Liquor which is the true Aurum potabile and Elixir of Life more pretious for Mens Bodies then any other Medicine of the World The like Menstruum Ripley hath in his Medulla Philosophiae Chymicae 62. The Simple stinking Menstruum of Ripley Medulla Phil. Chym. pag. 170. TAke the sharpest Juice of Grapes and being distilled dissolve into a clear Cristalline Water the Body being well Calcined to a Redness which is by the Philosophers called Sericon of which make a Gum which is like Allum in taste and is by Raymund called Azoquean Vitriol Out of this Gum with a slow Fire is drawn first a weak Water which hath its taste no sharpness no more than Spring-water And when a white Fume begins to appear then change the Receiver and Lute strongly that it may no way expire and so you will have your Aqua ardens Aqua vitoe and a resolvitive Menstruum which before was resolvible This is the Potential Vapour able to dissolve putrifie and also purifie Bodies divide the Elements and by its attractive Virtue exalt its own Earth into a wonderful Salt And they that think there is any other Water besides this which we speak of are mistaken in this Work this Water hath a most sharp taste and partly also a stinking smell and therefore is called stinking Menstruum and it being a very Airy Water it therefore ought to be put upon its Calxes in less then an Hour after it is distilled or rectified but when it is poured upon the aforesaid Calxes it begins to boyl up and then if the Vessel be well stopp'd it will not leave working though no Fire be administred to it from without till it be dryed up in the Calx wherefore you must apply no greater quantity of it than scarce to cover the Calxes then proceed to the full compleating of it as in the work of the compounded Water And when the Elixir is reduced to a purple Colour let it be dissolved in the same Menstruum being first rectified into a thin Oyl upon which fix the Spirit of our Water by Circulation and then hath it the Power of converting all Bodies into most pure Gold and to heal all Infirmities of man's Body more than all the Potions of Hippocrates and Galen for this is the true Aurum Potabile and no other which is made of Artificial Gold Elemented turned about by the Wheel of Philosophy c The same Menstruum is had in the Vade Mecum of Ripley 63. The Menstruum of Sericon of Ripley In Vade Mecum commonly called the Bosom-Book TAke of Sericon or Antimony thirty Pounds out of which you will have twenty Pounds or thereabout of Gum if the Vinegar be good dissolve each pound of that Sericon in two measures a Gallon of Vinegar twice distilled and
having stood a little while in digestion stir the matter often every day the oftner the better with a clean stick filtre the Liquor three times throw away the Faeces to be taken away as superfluous being no Ingredient to the Magistery for it is the damned Earth Then evaporate the filtred Liquors in Balneo Marioe with a temperate heat and our Sericon will be coagulated into a Green Gum call'd our Green Lyon dry that Gum well yet with care lest you burn the Flowers or destroy the Greens of it Then take the said Gum put it in a strong Glass Retort well luted and with a moderate Fire distil a weak Water to be cast away But when first you perceive a white fume ascending put to it a Glass Receiver large and of sufficient capacity whose Mouth is exactly joyned to the Neck of the Retort which must be very well luted lest any of the fume be lost or evaporate out of the Receiver Then increase the Fire by degrees till a red fume ascends and continue a stronger Fire till bloody drops come or no more fume appears Then abate the Fire by degrees and all being cold take away the Receiver and forthwith stop it that the Spirits may not exhale because this Liquor is called our blessed Liquor to be kept in a Glass Vessel very close stopped Then examine the Neck of the Retort where you will find a white and hard Ice in the form of a congealed Vapour or Mercury sublimate which gather carefully and keep because it contains great Secrets of which lower Then take the Faeces out of the Retort being black as Soot which are called our Dragon whereof calcine one Pound or more if you please in a Potters Glass-makers or Philosophical Furnace into a white Snowy Calx which keep pure by it self it being called the Basis and Foundation of the Work Mars our white fixed Earth or Philosophers Iron Now take the residue of the Faeces or black Dragon and sift it on a Marble or any other Stone and at one of the ends light it with a live Coal and in the space of half an Hour the Fire will run over all the Faeces which it will calcine into a very Glorious citrine Colour these citrine Faeces dissolve with distilled Vinegar after the aforesaid manner filtre also three times as before then evaporate the dissolution into a Gum and distil the Menstruum which is now called Sanguis Draconis or Dragons Blood and repeat this Work in all things as before till you have reduced all or the greater part of the Faeces into our Natural or Blessed Liquor all which Liquors pour to the first Liquor or Menstruum called the Blood of the Green Lyon the Liquor being thus mix'd putrefie it in a Glass Vessel the space of fourteen Days Then proceed to the separation of the Elements because in this Blessed Liquor you have now all the Fire of the Stone hidden before in the Faeces which Secret has been hitherto kept wonderfully close by the Philosophers Now take all the Menstruum being putrifyed put it in a Venice Glass of a fit size put an Alembick to it and lute with Linnen Rags dipp'd in the white of Eggs the Receiver must be very spacious to keep in the respiring Spirit and with a temperate heat separate the Elements one from another and the Element of Air which is the Oyl ardent Spirit containing a little white Oyl at the top will first ascend The first Element being distilled rectifie it in another Vessel fit for it that is distil seven times till it burns a Linnen Cloath being dipp'd in it and kindled then is it called our rectify'd Aqua ardens which keep very well stopp'd for otherwise the most subtil Spirit of it will vanish away In the rectifications of the Aqua ardens the Air will ascend in the form of a white Oyl swimming upon the Aqua ardens and a citrine Oyl will remain which is distilled with a stronger Fire Mercury being sublimed and reduced into Powder dissolv'd per deliquium upon Iron Plates in a cold place pour a little of the Aqua ardens to the Liquor being filtred and it will extract the Mercury in the form of a Green Oyl swimming a-top which separate and distil by a Retort and there will ascend first a Water and then a thick Oyl which is the Oyl of Mercury Then distil the Flood or Water of the Stone into another Receiver the Liquor will be whitish which draw off in Balneo with a moderate heat till there remains in the bottom of the Cucurbit a thick Oyly substance like melted Pitch keep this Water by it self in a Glass well stopp'd Take notice when first the Liquor riseth white another Receiver must be put to because that Element is wholly distilled Two or three drops of that black liquid Oyl being given in the Spirit of Wine do Cure any Poyson Now to this black and liquid Matter pour our Aqua ardens mix them well together and let the mixture settle three Hours then decant and filtre the Liquor pour on new Aqua ardens and repeat the operation three times then distil again in Balneo with a gentle heat and this reiterate thrice and it will come under the denomination of the rectify'd Blood of Man which Operators search for in the Secrets of Nature Thus have you exalted the two Elements Water and Air to the Virtue of a Quintessence keep this Blood for occasion Now to the black and liquid Matter or Earth pour the Flood or Water of the Stone mix them well together and distil the whole till the Earth remains very dry and black which is the Earth of the Stone keep the Oyl with the Water for occasion Reduce the black Earth to a Powder to which pour the aforesaid Man's Blood digest three Hours then distil in Ashes with a Fire sufficiently strong repeat this Work three times and it will be call'd the rectify'd Water of Fire and so have you exalted the three Elements namely Water Air and Fire into the Virtue of a Quintessence Then calcine the Earth being black and dry in the bottom of the Reverberatory into a most white Calx with which mix the Fiery Water and distil with a strong Fire as before the remaining Earth calcine again and distil and that seven times or till the whole substance of the Calx be pass'd through the Alembick and then have you the rectify'd and truly Spiritual Water of Life and the four Elements exalted to the Virtue of a Quintessence this Water will dissolve all Bodies putrefie and purge them This is our Mercury our Lunary but whosoever thinks of any other Water besides this is ignorant and foolish never attaining to the desired effects This Menstruum is made of the same Matter as the precedent Menstruums For Green Lyon Adrop Philosophical Lead Mineral Antimony Airy Gold Mercury c. are Synonima's of one and the same Matter This Matter being dissolved in distill'd Vinegar and again
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
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
stopp'd the Spirits will pass through and the Receiver will grow white and drops fall When the Spirits are setled put in three ounces more stopping the Pipe immediately proceed as before changing very often with wet Linnen Continue this Operation till you have water enough which stop very well that it may not evaporate it is the true Water and Mineral Bath for the King That Basilius as well as Isaacus used the Sal Harmoniac not common Sal Armoniac for his Bath the Vse of the same doth also prove Take of this Water three parts of the Calx of Gold one part mix them in a Cucurbit put it with an Alembick upon hot Ashes to be dissolved if it be not wholly dissolved pour out the Water and pour on new and that till all the Calx is dissolved in the water being cold white Faeces settle in the bottom which separate put all the water together and digest for a day and a night in Balneo then removing the Faeces digest the space of nine Days continually distil the Water that the Water may remain in the bottom like Oyl c. distil so often till all the Gold has pass'd through the Alembick In the same place This unctious Bath reduceth Gold and all other Metals into Oyls because it is made of the Oyly Spirit of Philosophical Wine concentrated and dryed in some Vegetable Alcali and Spirit of Nitre whereas on the contrary Sal Armoniack or common Aqua Regis cannot transmute Metals beyond its saline Nature for that Oleity which it hath not it cannot give Isaacus for want of a Retort with a Pipe perhaps not being at that time known sustained no small loss of Spirits in distilling this Menstruum which Basilius did by help of the said Retort endeavour to repair though that also not without some difficulty The later Adepts Crinot Trismosinus and Paracelsus observing the difficulty of distilling and the loss of Spirits made it better who by a plain but better method dissolved the Vegetable Sal Harmoniack in Spirit of Nitre or Aqua fortis without any loss danger or delay 91. The most strong Aqua fortis of Paracelsus Lib. 3. Arch. de separ Elem. pag. 7. TAke Sal Nitre Vitriol and Alume in equal parts which distil into Aqua fortis this again pour to its Faeces and repeat distil in a Glass which Aqua fortis clarify with Silver and dissolve Sal Armoniack in it That Paracelsus neither by Sal Armoniack meant the common is also demonstrated by the use of the Menstruum which he thus describes These things being done take a Metal reduced into Plates and there resolve it into Water in the same Water then separate by Balneo and pour on again this repeating till you find an Oyl in the bottom of Sol or Gold a purple of Luna a lazurine of Mars red and very dark of Mercury white of Saturn livid and lead Coloured of Venus altogether green of Jupiter yellow in the same place Whoever dissolved Metals promiscuously with common Aqua regis both Silver and Gold into an Oyl either purple or lazurine Not to say any thing of the reduction of all Metals into two Fat 's red and white the Essence thereof and the Dead Body It is therefore clear from the effect that Paracelsus dissolved Sal Harmoniack in Aqua fortis for his most strong Aqua fortis In making this Menstruum Guido adds the weight of the Sal Harmoniack which Paracelsus omits 92. The Aqua Regis of Guido Pag. 22. Thesauri Chym. TAke Vitriol common Salt and Nitre distil into Aqua fortis take one Pound of this four Ounces of Philosophical Sal Harmoniack and distil yet once Solomon Trismosinus sometimes dissolved Metals in commâ—â— Aqua fortis and to the solution added Sal Harmoniack Thus he volatalized Silver being dissolved in Aqua fortis with the aforesaid Salt Lib. 8. Tinct quinta pag. 81. Aurei velleris German Take of pure Luna four Ounces dissolve it in common Aqua fortis draw off the Phlegm to the remainder add six Drachms of Sal Harmoniack and pour on new Aqua fortis draw off again in Ashes to an oleity this repeat four times with new Aqua fortis then urge it strongly and the Luna will ascend together with the Aqua fortis Sometimes he volatilized Gold and Silver together with this Menstruum In Tinctura Regis Julaton pag. 16. Aurei veller Take of the filings of Gold of Sal Harmoniack each two Ounces to which put four Ounces of the best Silver dissolved in eight Ounces of Aqua fortis draw off to an Oleity pour on new Aqua fortis and repeat three times with new Aqua fortis and the Gold will ascend with the Silver through the Alembick Lully made his Aqua Regis by dissolving Vegetable Sal Harmoniack in the acid Water of Mercury sublimate 93. The Aqua Regis of Lully In Exp. 17. TAke Mercury being twice sublimed with Vitriol and common Salt prepared each time with new materials grind and if there be one Pound of sublimate take the whites of nine new laid Eggs which whites beat so long that it seems to be Water then mix the white with that sublimate and put it in a Retort with a long Neck joyn a Receiver to it very close giving it a Fire of Ashes at the beginning most gentle till it distils by that degree The distillation ceasing increase the Fire and at last give a most violent Fire and by this means part of the Mercury will turn into Water and part into running Mercury which running Mercury being gone over sublime again then grind and joyn it with the distilled Water and distil again as before repeating the Magistery till all the sublimate is gone over and converted into Water Wherefore you may the same way multiply it as often as you please always putting new sublimate to the Water and distilling till it be converted into Water Now take this Water put it in a small Urinal Cucurbit joyning a Head to it with a Receiver then distil by Balneo till the white seems to be gone over mixt with it which you will thus know take an Iron or Copper Plate upon which let one drop of the distillation fall if it boyls and seems to dissolve take away the Receiver joyning another very well luted and distil by Ashes and again by Ashes repeat this Magistery seven times And thus you will have a Mercurial Water which will serve you in many operations Take now one Ounce of the Salt of the second Experiment Volatile Salt of Tartar declared in Numb 17. and four Ounces of this Water the acid Water now distilled from Mercury sublimate mix them together and the mixture will presently be dissolved being dissolved distil by Ashes with a gentle Fire luting the Joynts well in the last place increase the Fire that all the Salt may with the Water pass through the Alembick then again put one other Ounce of the Salt into the same Water and by distillation
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
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
in Water upon the Receiver again and again oftentimes thus the Receiver may not be broken by the violence of the Spirits all which particulars mark well The Distillation being ended let the Vessels cool and keep the Receiver with the Water very close stopped Then take the same Mineral dried and prepared as before in the same order and measure which grind together and put into a Retort as before and pour the Water a little before Distilled upon it fit a Receiver to it the Joynts being very well Luted as before and having dried the Luting put Fire under the Distillation being compleated take again New Materials of the same Weight and put them again into a Retort with their own Water and Distil as before with the same Degrees of Fire which being done and the Vessel cold take away the Receiver and keep it carefully with its Distilled Water firmly stopped For you will have a Physical Mineral Water or Stinking Menstruum with its Form This Water hath the power of Calcining and at the same time dissolving all Metals with the preservation of their Vegetative Form Many Experiments we have herewith both seen and done Isaacus Hollandus to augment the strength of these Menstruums did rather add some tinging Minerals to the Vitriol than the Acidity of Niter and Alume Thus he prepared a Menstruum called 105. The Dissolving Water for the Red of the first Description of Isaacus Cap. 103. Oper. Min. TAke of Roman Vitriol six parts of Lapis Haematites Crocus Martis Cinabar Aes ustum Mineral Antimony of each one part being well dried mix and putting them into a Retort pour four Pounds of Rectify'd Aqua Vitae to them Distill and Cohobate three times upon the Caput Mortuum pulverized The following Menstruum being like this proves it to be of a sanguine colour 106. The Dissolving Water for the Red of the second Description of Isaacus Cap. 45.3 Oper. Miner TAke of Mineral Antimony Aes ustum Crocus Martis Cinabar of each two parts of Vitriol the weight of all being all dried and mix'd together pour to them of Aqua Vitae most purely rectified the height of two hands the Vessel being close luted digest in Balneo the space of ten days stirring the Matter three or four times every day that it may be the better incorporated with the Aqua Vitae these ten days being ended and an Alembick put on Distill with a gentle Fire but at last with a most strong Fire twelve hours together that all the tinged Spirits may ascend with the Aqua Vitae This process repeat always Distilling the Water with new Matters till it becomes Red as Blood To these two we will add also a third Menstruum of this sort 107. A Dissolving Water for the Red of the third Description of Isaacus Cap. 61.3 Oper. Min. TAke of Roman Vitriol Cinabar of each one part of Crocus Martis Lapis Haematites Aes ustum Verdegreece of each half a part calcine the Vitriol first If you have a mind you may extract the Tincture out of Mineral Antimony with Philosophical Vinegar and being separated from the Vinegar add it to the former Species as also as much Aqua Vitae twelve times rectify'd as sufficeth the Vessel being well luted digest in Balneo seven or eight times then having put on an Alembick and luted the Joynts well Distill with a gentle Fire two days then a stronger two days more then the space of three days that the Glass may be hot the Glasses being cold take out the Caput Mortuum which being well pulverized digest with the Distilled Water for the space of eight days then Distill the first day gently the second more strongly the third most strongly for the space of twenty four hours that the Glass may be red hot then let it cool the Distilled Water digest with new Matters and Distill as before and that to be three times repeated And as these Menstruums were for Red Tinctures so also he made some for White Tinctures thus 108. A Dissolving Water of Isaacus for the White Cap. 76.3 Oper. Min. TAke of Roch Alume Lapis Calaminaris of the Calx of Eggs an equal quantity pour to them as much Aqua vitae rectify'd from all Phlegme as sufficeth and distil as the Dissolving Water for the Red. 109 Another Dissolving Water of Isaacus for the White Cap. 48.3 Oper. Min. TAke of Roach Alume Lapis Calaminaris Calx of Eggs common Arsenick an equal quantity being all pulverized mix and to the Powder pour as much Aqua Vitae well rectify'd as to be the space of three hands above the Matter distil with a gentle Fire then a stronger lastly for twenty four hours so as to be red hot cohobate the distillation yet four times upon the Caput Mortuum reduced into Powder Many such Menstruums as these we meet with in several places of Isaacus in the Descriptions of which tho the Addition of Philosophical Aqua Vitae or Spirit of Wine be not always express'd yet that it is to be understood in all of them is evident by the former Receipts of Dissolving Waters The Menstruums following may be Examples in the first place that which is called 110. A Red Water Shining Day and Night of the First Description of Isaacus Cap. 153. Lib. 2. Oper. Min. Pag. 528. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. TAke the Crocus of Mars Antimony as it is dugge out of the Mines Red Arsenick of each one Pound of Auripigment one Pound of Roman Vitriol three Pounds of Sal Niter as much as the weight of all the rest Grind all together into an impalpable Powder mix one bound of Sal Armoniack with them and being well mix'd put the Matter in an Earthen Vessel not glazed within such as can well endure the Fire and having put on an Alembick with a Receiver strongly luted distil Aqua Fortis as it should be first with a small Fire then increasing the Fire by degrees and a White Water will distil which being distilled the Alembick will begin to be Red or Yellow then presently take away the Receiver and add another soundly luted and increase your â—ire till a White Spirit goes over it is the Sal Armoniack which goes over last of all and strengthen the Fire so long till the Alembick be altogether clear When now the Red Spirit goes over nothing of Sal Armoniack goes with it and so soon as it is gone over the White Water the Spirit and dry Water or Sal Armoniack go over together then the Alembick becomes White within as if it was full of Snow and then increase the Fire till the Spirit and Water are driven through the Beak by Exhalation as a Man casts forth his Breath by force so the Spirit and dry Water do breath through the Pipe of the Alembick into the Receiver and increase the Fire and the Spirit and dry Water being gone over the Alembick becomes clean clear white and transparent then let it cool and take it from the Fire put the Water into a
which all Fixed Stones may be resolved and the Stone made perfect This Water of Paradise the Ancients call'd their sharp clear Vinegar c. Metals sometimes are not reduced into graduated Vitriols but by repeated Cohobation made Menstruums of this Kind Thus 115. The Mercurial Vinegar of Trismosinus Libro Moratosan sive Octo Tincturarum in Secunda Tinctura Pag. 79. Aur. Vell. Germ. TAke Argent Vive purged the common way put it in an Alembick whereto pour very sharp Vinegar Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine described before in Numb 72. three Ounces of Vinegar to one Ounce of Mercury draw off six times in Balneo then force it to ascend into the Receiver being distilled rectifie it and it will be prepared Sometimes instead of Philosophical Vinegar he used the strongest Aqua Fortis described in Numb 73. 116. The Mercurial Water of Trismosinus Libr. Octo Tincturar in Tinct quarta Pag. 80. Aurei Vell. Germ. TAke of Roman Vitriol Sal Niter of each one Pound and a half of Vegetable Sal armoniack four Ounces of Tiles pulverized one Pound out of which distil Aqua fortis by the Rule of Art Take of Venetian Mercury sublimed you must have a care of its Venemous Fume four Ounces put it in a Cucurbit pour the said Aqua fortis to it draw off strongly that the Mercury may be well mixed with the Aqua fortis and it will be prepared Albertus Magnus prepared the same Mercurial Water thus 117. The Mercurial Water of Albertus Magnus Libro Compositum de Compositis Cap. 5. Pag. 937. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. TAke of Roman Vitriol two Pounds of Sal Niter two Pounds of Alume calcined one Pound being well ground and mix'd together put the Matter in a fit Glass Phial and having luted the Joynts very close that the Spirits may not evaporate distill Aqua fortis after the common way first with a weak Fire secondly a stronger thirdly with Wood that all the Spirits may go over and the Alembick turn white then put out the Fire let the Fornace cool and keep the Water carefully because it is the Dissolvitive of Luna keep it therefore for the finishing of the Work because that Water dissolves Luna separates Gold from Silver calcines Mercury and the Crocus of Mars c. This is the first Philosophical Water Common Aqua fortis and hath one Degree of Perfection in it Take of the first Water one pound dissolve in it two Ounces of Vegetable Sal armoniack pure and clear which being dissolved the Water is presently otherwise qualified and otherwise coloured because the first was of a Green Colour and the Dissolvitive of Luna and not of Sol and presently after the putting in of the Sal armoniack the Colour of it is turned to a Citrine and dissolveth Gold Mercury and Sulphur sublimed and tingeth a Mans Skin of a most Citrine Colour keep that Water Philosophical Aqua Regis apart Take of the second Water one Pound and of Mercury sublimed with Roman Vitriol and common Salt five Ounces and a half put it to the second Water by little and little gradually seal the Mouth of the Glass well that the Virtue of the Mercury put in may not suddenly exhale put the Glass in Ashes temperately hot and the Water will presently begin to work upon the Mercury dissolving it and incorporating and let the Glass stand thus in hot Ashes and in the dissolution of the Water till the Water appears no more but has wholly dissolved the Sublimed Mercury Now the Water acts always upon Mercury by the way of imbibition till it dissolves it totally But take notice if the Water cannot wholly dissolve the Mercury put in then lay aside the Mercury that is dissolved by that Water and that which is not dissolved at the bottom dry with a gentle Fire grind and dissolve it with new Water as before and thus repeat this Order till all the Sublimed Mercury is dissolved into Water And then joyn all the solutions of that third Water into one in a clean Glass and stop the Mouth of it well with Wax and keep it carefully This is the third Philosophical thick qualified Water in the third degree of Perfection and is the Mother of Aqua Vitae which dissolves all Bodies into their first Matter Take the third clarifi'd Mercurial Water qualifi'd in the third Degree of Perfection putrefie it in the Belly of a Horse to be well digested in a clear Glass with a long Neck well sealed the space of 14 days make it putrefie and the Feces settle at the bottom then will this Water be transmuted from a Citrine to a Yellow Colour which done take out the Glass put it in Ashes with a most gentle heat put on an Alembick with its Receiver and begin to distil by little and little a most clear clean ponderous Aqua Vitae Virgins Milk most sharp Vinegar drop by drop continuing constantly a slow Fire till you have distilled all the Aqua Vitae gently then put out the Fire let the Fornace cool and keep it diligently apart Behold this is Aqua Vitae the Philosophers Vinegar Virgins Milk by which Bodies are resolved into their first Matter which is called by infinite Names The Signs of this Water are these if a Drop be cast upon a Copper Plate red hot it will presently penetrate and leave a White Impression it smoaks upon Fire is coagulated in the Air after the manner of Ice and when this Water is distilled the Drops of it do not enter continually as other Drops but one is distilled one way another another way this Water acts not upon Metallick Bodies as another strong Corrosive Water which dissolves Bodies into Water but if Bodies be put into this Water it reduceth and resolves them all into Mercury as you shall hear hereafter Paracelsus made this Water by the following Method 118. The Mecurial Water of Paracelsus In Appendice Manualis de Lap. Phil. Pag. 139. TAke of Mercury seven times sublimed with Vitriol Sal Niter and Alume three pounds of Vegetable Sal armoniack sublimed three times with Salt clear and white one Pound and a half being ground together and alcolized sublime them in a Sublimatory nine hours in Sand Being cold draw off the Sublimate with a Feather and with the rest sublime as before This Operation repeat four times till no more sublimes and a Black Mass remains in the bottom flowing like Wax being cold take it out and being ground again imbibe it often in the Water of Sal armoniack prepared according to Art the Menstruum described in Numb 91. in a Glass Dish and being coagulated of it self imbibe it again and dry nine or ten times over till it will scarce any more be coagulated Being ground finely upon a Marble dissolve it in a moist place to a clear Oil which you must rectifie by Distillation in Ashes from all Feces and Sediment This Water keep diligently as the best of all Lully made his Mercurial Water
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
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
thus continue till the Matter be altogether red as a Ruby then increase the Fire yet ten days and the hidden part of the Vitriol is now manifest and prepared in its redness as a volatile Matter The redness thus remaining take the Glass out of the Ashes and the Matter out of the Glass and put it in a stronger Glass to which pour the best Vinegar well rectify'd stop it well set it in Balneo so let it stand four days yet stirring the Matter with a Spatula made of Haslewood three or four times a day let it cool decant the Vinegar into another Glass pour new upon the Matter digest in Balneo as before this repeat with new Vinegar three times the decanted Vinegar gently draw off till the Matter remains in the form of a Salt at the bottom to which pour new sharp Vinegar put it four days in Balneo as before to dissolve and let that be repeated till it be free from any sediment Then coagulate the Matter into a dry Powder and put it in a Glass Cucurbit with a wide mouth and a large Alembick day the Receiver in a Vessel full of Water lute the Joynts firm and distil with an open Fire but very gently the space of four hours after that strongly and the Spirits will ascend yellow which are called Air continue the Fire in the same degree till the Alembick begins to be red then slow the Fire that the Alembick may be of a blood colour then increase the Fire still that the Glass may be burning hot as a red hot Iron which keep in that heat till the Alembick be made of a Snow Colour then strengthen the Fire yet more that the Alembick may again be clear and transparent then let it cool remove the Receiver and pour the Oyl into a pure Glass which stop well and you will have the true Oyl of Vitriol shining night and day in dark places which keep well for your occasion But you must know there is a White and Beautiful Oyl found in the bottom which to its red Oyl c. This Receipt of Trismosinus agrees almost in all things with Isaacus his Description of the Menstruum made of Vitriol so that it seems to me to be borrowed of Isaacus especially because the same phrase of Isaacus of the volatile redness of Calcined Vitriol is retained Those things therefore which were observed before upon the Menstruum of Isaacus do also hereto relate but we added this because Trismosinus does more assure us that this Oyl shines in darkness concerning which quality of his Menstruum Isaacus was silent Ripley made Menstruums of this Kind this way 128. The Circulatum Majus of Ripley Pag. 395. Accurtationum THe time of true Putrefaction and Alteration is compleated in the space of Six Weeks but it may be done in a shorter time by half and that by the acuition of our Mercurial Waters that is the white and red Water the milk and blood of the Green-Lyon in Numb 59. with common Mercury sublimate which thus do Fix and Calcine the Mercury sublimate and dissolve it in our white or red Mercury of the said Menstruum so as to be all one true Water which Water being thus acuated hath the Power of putrifying and altering any Calx of Metals in the space of three Weeks and that because the two Fires namely of Nature and against Nature are then joyn'd together in that Water Common Mercury being dissolved in Philosophical Vinegar or any Mineral Menstruum and fixed either by Sublimation as the Circulatum majus of Paracelsus or Calcination as the Vitriol of Isaacus calcined to redness is then dissolved in a stinking Menstruum and distilled through an Alembick He reduced all other Metals and Minerals the same way as he did Mercury into the greater Circulatums thus 129. The Metallick Acetum acerrimum of Ripley Pag. 266. Clavis aureae Portae HAving therefore these two Mercuries the white and red of the Stinking Menstruum practice with them either upon their own Earth or Caput Mortuum of the said Menstruum or upon the Calx of Metals prepared for you need not trouble your self about the Earth provided the substance of it be fixed Take therefore any of them being white and ferment it thus For the White Work take the Calx of Luna and the altered Earth a Philosophical Calx made of the Mineral Menstruum of Luna in equal quantity grind them together and temper them with the White Mercury which we call Lac Virginis in the Description of the Green Lyon and sublime them very well keep and gather that which is not fixed that is so much as ascends white and sticking to the parts of the Glass as Mercury sublimate for this is that our Mercury made by sublimation out of the white altered Earth then grind it upon its own Calxes tempering distilling and subliming it with Lac Virginis till it be wholly fixed so as to be immovable by Fire This is the sublimed and fixed Mercury for which fools take that common Mercury sublimed with common Vitriol and Salt wherein they very much err put it into a Circulatory and pour Lac Virginis upon it till it be covered then let it be circulated and distilled through an Alembick An Example of making the altered Earth of Metals and the way of fixing the said Earth he hath given in Vitriol Take Vitriol calcined to Ashes common Colcothar grind it to a most fine Powder put it in an Vrinal pour Lac Virginis the White fume of the Stinking Menstruum to it till it be covered with it stop the Vrinal with a Linnen Cloth and let it stand eight days then add the same quantity of the former Milk repeating it from eight days to eight but when it will drink up no more let it stand in the cold well stopp'd till a Cristalline Earth appears in the superficies of it like Eyes of Fish Seperate this Earth from the thicker parts resided in the bottom and put it this graduated Vitriol made not indeed of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine nor Philosophical Vinegar but the Stinking Menstruum in a Philosophical Egg to digest calcine discreetly till it be perfectly fixed then increase the Fire till it be perfectly citrinated and still increase it that it may be Rubified in the form and colour of Sanguis Draconis Lastly For a conclusion we will add the Circulatum Majus of Isaacus made of Sulphurs which being most clear in the graduation fixation and volatilization of it will help to illustrate those things which have perhaps remained more obscure in the antecedent and make the Receipts in this Kind more clear 130. The Circulatum majus of Isaacus made of Sulphur Cap. 88.3 Oper. Min. TAke Hungarian or Spanish Sulphur ten or twelve pounds prepare it upon a Stone with Philosophical Vinegar distilled as Painters do their Colours pour a good quantity of the aforesaid Vinegar upon it put it in Balneo stir it well with a Woodden Spatula decoct it in a
one of the wonderful things of this World Sometimes they mixed Vegetable Salharmoniack instead of Vegetable Menstruum with Mineral Menstruums Thus 147. The Stinking Menstruum acuated with the Salharmoniack of Lully TAke of the vegetable G. Vegetable Mercury or Salharmoniack one Ounce put it in the Phial with a long neck wherein you put three Ounces of E before the Stinking Menstrumm in Numb 67. and presently stop it with its stopple sealed with common Wax that nothing may respire then distil in a hot Balneo the space of three Natural days into a clear dissolved Water As they added Salharmoniack to simple Mineral Menstruums so also to the same compounded 148. The Stinking Lunar Menstruum acuated with Vegetable Salharmoniack of Lully Cap. 14. Practicae Test Major Pag. 163. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. IN the power of A God take one Ounce of the Compounded Water of Silver described in Numb 141. distilled through an Alembick and put to it one Ounce of the vegetable G. Mercury or Salharmoniack dissolve c. Basilius mixed these Menstruums thus 149. The Spirit of Mercury mixed with Vitriol and the Fiery Spirit of Wine of Basilius Labore 3. Libri Revelat. TAke off this Oyl the first Matter of Metals made out of Venus and Mars or Spirit of Universal Mercury described in Numb 132. eight Ounces of the Spirit of Wine rectified to the highest the Menstruum described in Numb 19. five Ounces distil by a Glass Retort and that three times always with New Spirit so as that fifteen Ounces of the fiery Spirit of Wine may be joyned to the eight Ounces of Oyl Paracelsus made the following mix'd Menstruum for the Arcanum Lapidis or Antimony 150. The mix'd Menstruum of Paracelsus Cap. 6. Lib. 10. Archidon Pag. 39. WHoever desires to graduate his Metallick Heaven Antimony to the highest and reduce it to an Action must first extract the liquid primum Ens Coelestial Fire Quintessence of Mercury not of Sol as it is ill read in the Latine and the Metallick Acetum acerrimum the Circulatum majus of Paracelsus described in Numb 51. out of its life that is common Mercury by dissolving it with its Mother that is the Arcanum of Salt Salt circulated in Numb 27. and mix it with the Stomack of Anthion that is the Spirit of Viâ—riol the Menstruum described in Numb 98. and in it the mix'd Menstuum dissolve digest c. the coagulated Mercury of Antimony the Regulus of Antimony From the Receipts we observe 1. THat these Menstruums are the mixtures of divers Menstruums 2. And that they may be made of all Vegetable and Mineral Menstruums being mix'd together at the Artists pleasure 3. Yet that they are made the better the more tinging the Menstruums were 4. That these Menstruums do by Digestion become sweet and pure Vegetable Menstruums EPILOGUE THese are the things My Friends which I promised you the Menstruums of Diana hitherto by none but the Adepts described declared and rightly applied to Vse and are now by me so manifestly explained and distributed into their Kinds that they may be distinctly apprehended even by the meanest Chymists There are indeed many more Menstruums remaining for Diana has superfluity of Menstruums which I have not shewed you but I thought these sufficient as Examples to you You if you please may collect more and appropriate them to their Kinds But if it be our duty to respect the common Good I could wish you would communicate to me some of the more rare Manuscripts or Impressions of the Adepts if you have any in your Studies or Libraries that they may be of service not only to you but to all Mankind or at least signifie their Names to me that I may either buy or by entreaty borrow them of you or others especially you being already well assured that in Practical Books all Secrets depend upon the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but that in the Theoretick they are all most obscure being figurative and not in the least to be understood according to the Letter which if you keep longer in your Libraries will be dayly exposed to a thousand dangers and at length as nothing worth being mouldy and rotten become the Aliment of Time the Consumer of all things In the mean time despise not these Receipts of Menstruums offered to you but rather read and peruse them and every where endeavour to find out the Chymical Truth but those which you do not either understand or not esteem cast away as trivial for if one only Kind or any one Receipt of a Kind out of four and twenty please you it is sufficient for we will easily prove that by that one all the Secrets of the more Secret Chymy may be prepared If also you are pleased to object against the Authority yea Honesty and Sincerity of this or that Adept as Paracelâ—us Lully c. you may leave him and reject his Receipts making choice of any other in whom you may have greater confidence and we will prove all the rest by his Receipt Learn therefore the ways of making these Menstruums observe their Orders Degrees Matters Methods of Making the Virtues of Dissolving Tinging Multiplying themselves c. and you will acknowledge them to be the best Instruments of all the more Secret Chymy as Keys without which nothing and with which all the Secrets of this Art are opened and unlocked To make these Things which we have declared in the former Discourse of the Excellencies of the Menstruums more easie to you I will here contract into a Breviary and reduce them into twelve subsequent and infallible Conclusions I. That the Descriptions of these Menstruums are understood according to the Sound of the Letter THat the Receipts of this Book contain nothing occult but the Spirit of Philosophical Wine the Use only of which we promised to define you will easily vouchsafe us your Assent Nor yet is it too obscure but that it may be properly called an unctuous Spirit proceeding from the White and Red Wine of Lully the Constitutives of the Menstruum foetens The rest which seem more obscure are Terms of Art for the most part explained in the very Descriptions of the Receipts of things made and produced from this Spirit But the obscurity which a shorter or longer description of a Receipt causeth is by accident to be easily overcome and removed by any diligent Disciple of this Art II. That no one of the aforesaid Menstruums is prepared without the Spirit of Philosophical Wine AMong all these Menstruums of the Adepts imparted to you there is not one which has not the Spirit of Philosophical Wine for its Basis There are indeed Menstruums in the Receipts of which we meet not with the Name of this Spirit yet there it is lurking under the name of this or that Menstruum Other Receipts of Menstruums there are which do not take the Spirit of Philosophical Wine free but as it were settered that is any Common Oyl but when in the making of these
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
which are of a muddy colour Circulation being continued many days together in a circulating Vessel or in the Vessel of Hermes the Hole which you stopp'd with the said Matter must be opened and if a wonderful Scent go out so as that no fragrancy of the world can be compared to it insomuch as putting the Vessel to a corner of the House it can by an invisible Miracle draw all that pass in to it or the Vessel being put upon a Tower draws all Birds within the reach of its Scent so as to cause them to stand about it Then will you have my Son our Quintessence which is otherwise call'd Vegetable Mercury at your will to apply in the Magistery of the transmutation of Metals But if you find not the influx of Attraction stop the Vessel again as before and put it in the place before appointed and there let it stand till you attain to the aforesaid Sign But this Quintessence thus glorified will not have that Scent except a Body be dissolved in it nor have that heat in your mouth as Aqua ardens This is indeed by the Philosophers call'd the Key of the whole Art of Philosophy and as well Heaven as our Quintessence which arrives to so great a sublimity that either with it by it self alone or with the earthly Stars Metals the Operator of this work may do miracles upon the Earth Annotations THE twenty four following Kinds of Menstruums will prove that amongst the Dissolvents of the Adepts no one is made without the Vegetable Mercury or Spirit of Philosophical Wine for it is the foundation beginning and end of them all Yea it is according to the various and distinct degrees of its strength sometimes the least sometimes the greatest of all the Menstruums It is the least and weakest when it doth by its simple Vnctuosity dissolve only the unctuous or oyly parts of Vegetables but either reject or leave untouched the Remainder being less oyly and heterogeneous to it self it becomes the strongest when we temper its Vnctuosity with Arids that is dry things not Oyly for so it is made homogeneous to things dry-oyly and to things meerly dry In respect of which Homogeneity the Menstruums of the Adepts differ from the common because they do by reason of the said Homogeneity remain with the things dissolved inseparably yea are augmented by them but not with the least saturation transmuted and melted into a third substance and so cannot part without the diminution or destruction of their former Virtues The permanent Homogeneity of Menstruums with things to be dissolved is the reason why Essences are made with simple Vegetable Menstruums but Magisteries with the same compounded and so these operate more strongly those more weakly This is it to comprehend all in a word which shews us the various kinds of Menstruums distinct one from another in so many several degrees now to be described and illustrated by our Annotations But that you may more easily understand the following Receipts and me also I thought it necessary to preadmonish some certain things concerning the Nature and Property of this Spirit of Wine lest you should judge amiss of a thing not sufficiently understood First You are not to take the Spirit of common Wine though never so much rectified for the Philosophical Spirit of Wine for so the following Receipts of all Menstruums would be erroneous and seducing Having occasion saith Zacharias for a most excellent Aqua-Vitoe for the dissolving of a mark or half a pound of Gold we bought a large Vessel of the best Wine out of which we did by a Pellican obtain great plenty of Aqua vitoe which was often rectified in many Glass-Vessels bought for that end then we put one Mark of our Gold being before calcin'd a whole month and four Marks of Aqua vitoe into two Glass-Vessels one Retort entring into the other being sealed and both placed in two great round Furnaces we bought also Coals to the value of thirty Crowns at one time to continue Fire under it for the space indeed of a whole Year We might have kept Fire for ever before any congelation would have been made in the bottom of the Vessels as the Receipt promised no solution preceding for we did not operate upon a due matter nor was that the true water of Solution which ought to dissolve our Gold as appeared by experience pag. 783. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. Ripley admonisheth us of the same thing who saith Some think that this Fire this Fiery Spirit of Philosophical Wine is drawn from Wine according to the common way and that it is rectified by distillations often repeated till its watry Phlegm which impedes the power of its Igneity be wholly taken from it But when such a sort of Water which Fools call Pure Spirit though a hundred times rectified be cast upon the Calxes of any Body be it never so well prepared we do nevertheless see that it is found weak and insufficient as to the act of dissolving a Body with the preservation of its Form and Species Cap. 2. suoe Medul Phil. Common Wine saith he a little lower is hot but there is another sort much hotter whose whole substance is by reason of its aerity most easily kindled by Fire and the Tartar of this unctuous Humor is thick for so saith Raymund That Tartar is blacker than the Tartar from the black Grapes of Catalonia whereupon it is called Nigrum nigrius Nigro that is Black blacker than Black and this humidity being unctuous doth therefore better agree with the Unctuosity of Metals than the Spirit extracted from common Wine because by its liquefactive virtue Metals are dissolved into Water which operation the Spirit of Common Wine cannot perform which how strong soever is nothing else but clear water mix'd with a kind of Phlegmatick Water where on the contrary in this our Unctuous Spirit distilled there is no Phlegmatick aquosity found at all But this thing being rare in our Parts as well as other Countries Guido Montanor therefore the Grecian Philosopher found out another unctuous humidity which swims upon other Liquors which humidity proceeds from Wine to the knowledge hereof attain'd Raymund Arnold and some other Philosophers but how it might be obtained said not O tortas adeo mentes assuetaque falli Artificum vario rerum per inania ductu Pectora cum duris quid mollia vina metallis Apta epulis atque apta bibi suavissima vina Hic tamen expressam proelis torquentibus uvam Accipit phialae postrema in parte reponit Cujus in extremo rostrum connectitur ore c. Thus facetiously sings the Poet and Adept Augurellus Lib. 2. Chrys pag. 206. Vol. 3. Th. Chym. 2. That you take not any Oyl though an hundred times rectified instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine for all oyly matters whether distilled or expressed natural or artificial alone but much more mixt with other things as Alkalies Acids c. do by distilling digesting c. in
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
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
Raphanus putrefies and with a stronger Fire distils but the Caput mortuum the remaining Salt rather he dissolves on a Marble per deliquium In the second Receipt he dissolves Sal Gemmae being first five or six times melted in an equal quantity of the Juice of Raphanus made hot then coagulates putrefies and distils like common Aqua fortis the remaining Salt reduced into Powder being as yet hot he dissolves per deliquium in a moist place Sometimes he does without this stinking Juice of Raphanus more compendiously prepare that Oyl of Salt per deliquium and that is from Salt calcined with Nitre The Receipt is to take of common Salt and the Salt of Urine equal parts to be by the Rule of Alchymy calcined two hours then resolved in a Cellar after the usual manner c. From this calcined Salt is distilled a Spirit which resolveth Gold into Oyl but if it be again extracted and to the highest degree prepared a most excellent Aurum potabile will be had but without that extraction Distillation the Gold is only resolved then is it a most pure Art for Goldsmiths in guilding and for Iron-smiths a constant and precious Treasure to guild with yet they that prepare it ought to be skilful Alchymists Libro de rebus Nat. Cap. 4. de Sale pag. 190. That Paracelsus by the Salt of Vrine intended Nitre is easily proved by what follows In what place soever saith he the Urine of Man or Beast is poured forth at the same succeeding time is Sal Nitre produced for Urine gathered and prepared into another Salt is called Sal Niter ibidem But the same Receipt Tract de Sale pag. 171. Puts it out of all doubt being thus described Take Salt and Sal Nitre in equal proportion let them be calcined by themselves till they melt then resolve them into a Liquor The Second is The Oyl or Essence of Salt In the first process he takes the Oyl of Salt per deliquium and cohobates it so oft with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine till the Salt remains at the bottom in a form of an Oyl and no Phlegm ascends but if instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine any Vegetable Menstruum be taken as for example the Menstruum which we treat now of being already prepared or Salt circulated there is no necessity for the Salt to be dissolved per deliquium but is with less pains reduced into an Oyl or natural Essence Though saith he there are more ways to extract the Ens primum of Salt yet this is most commodious and most expeditious and after this there is that other way which we mention'd speaking of the Elixir of Salt namely that new Salt mix'd well with the dissolving water which is the distill'd Spirit of Salt the Circulatum minus made of Salt the water of Salt circulated the Arcanum of Salt the Menstruum which is now in hand must be putrify'd and distill'd so long till the substance of the Salt be dissolved and reduced into a perpetual Oleosity the Body in the Form of Phlegm being abstracted from it The place alleadged is in Lib. 8. Archid. de Elixeriis pag. 31. Take Salt well prepared most white and pure put it into a Pellican with six times the weight of the dissolving water by the dissolving water is our water of Salt circulated to be understood Lib. 10. Archid. pag. 38. Digest them a month together in Horse-dung then separate the dissolving water by Distillation and pour it on again and separate as before and that so oft till the Salt be converted into Oyl This way of making the Essence of Salt with the Circulatum minus is much better and more exquisite than that former preparation performed by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine though Paracelsus affirms the former method to be more useful and more expeditious than the latter which is to be understood of the use of both not the preparation For the Essence of Salt is both sooner and better prepared with some Circulatum minus than with the simple Spirit of Philosophical Wine from which Essence of Salt which way soever made is prepared the Arcanum of Salt which reason will have more commodious and more expeditious in extracting the Essences of things than the Oyl of Salt not yet so graduated In the second Process Paracelsus commands indeed the Oyl of Salt made per deliquium to be putrefy'd but as to the means of putrefaction whether with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or some simple Vegetable Menstruum makes no mention without which notwithstanding the Salt would not ascend in the Alembick and if it were distilled yet would it be of no use in extracting Essences He putrify'd therefore the Oyl of Salt per deliquium for some time with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine then being putrifyed distil 〈◊〉 with a stronger Fire the residue of the Salt he again dissolv'd on a Marble and being dissolved putrify'd and distill'd it with new Spirit of Philosophical Wine or some Simple Vegetable Menstruum so often till he had distill'd the whole into Spiritual Water of Salt The third Branch consists in the Reduction of the Essence of Salt into the Arcanum of the same for the Natural that is Saline Essence of Salt doth by being cohobated sometimes with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine ascend together with it becomes sweet and is transmuted into the Arcanum of Salt or Artificial Essence of which Arcanums more in the second Book of Medecines Common Salt therefore distilled with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine through an Alembick is the Circulatum minus of Paracelsus the Aqua salis circulati the Primum ens salis the Arcanum salis the Aqua solvens the Spiritus salis distillatus the Matrix and Center of Metals and Minerals c. It is called Circulatum by reason of the Circulation or Digestion of the Essence of Salt for a Month with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine or which is more probable because of the common Circulation of all the Vegetable Menstruums for the space of 30 40 or 60 Days after the Menstruum was already made so that this Circulation though omitted in our Receipt must be understood in these Circulatums of Paracelsus It is not therefore called Circulatum minus as if common Salt had less Virtues in dissolving than the other Salts but because it hath those only and not the quality of tinging superadded as the greater Circulatums after the same manner as Salt is made a Circulatum may also Vitriol be made a Circulatum Alum a Circulatum Tartar a Circulatum c. This way also saith Paracelsus is the Arcanum or Magistery to be made of Vitriol as also of all other Salts Lib. 10. Arch. Cap. 3. Pag. 38. Lastly As the saline Essence of Salt loseth its saltness and becomes sweet by being digested and cohobated in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine so the Common Spirit of Salt well mixed and digested with the Spirit of Wine becomes a sweet Menstruum It is
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
Spirit ascends without diminution of its Virtue and then will you have the fixed Salt acuated which put in an Alembick and pour to it the Vegetable Oyl three Fingers high digest in Ashes for a day increase the Fire and distil whatsoever can ascend the distillation keep warily because it is the Vegetable Mercury But if any of the Salt remains in the Alembick you must repeat the same operations till at length all the Vegetable Mercury passeth through the Alembick which will extract the Tincture of Gold being calcined with common Mercury and Salt and lastly with Sulphur which is an excellent Aurum potabile Sometimes they prepared these Menstruums by cohobation alone without any imbibition For Example 35. The rectified Aqua Vitae of Lully In potestate Divitiarum TAke Wine separate the Spirit warily as soon and as purely as you can because you will never separate it so warily but that it will contain in it some of the purest part of this Phlegmatick Substance or Water this Spirit being once separated is called Mercury that is Aqua ardens the sign of which is that if you dip a Linnen Cloth in it it will turn into a flame if first kindled and not be burned but if you separate often times rectify it is called Lunaria rectify'd that is Aqua ardens rectify'd whereof the sign is that a Linnen Cloth dipp'd in it burns all away Separate now all the superfluous Phlegm till none at all remains and at the bottom will reside a Pitch then mix the Lunaria that is the Aqua ardens rectify'd with that substance made like soft Pitch shaking it well till it be incorporated and set it to distil and that which goes over is called Man's Blood rectify'd which Alchymists seek for That Blood is also called Air or Wind and of this thing spake the Philosopher when he said Wind carryed him in its Belly from the remainder separate the superfluous Oyl called above Vegetable by distilling it through a Glass Alembick till nothing remains which Oyl keep a part till I shall tell you but the residue will be a substance black and dry which reduce to a fine powder and mix by little and little with the rectify'd Man's Blood and let them stand together for the space of three Hours and then distil and then this Water is called Aqua ignea rectificata or Fiery Water rectify'd then calcine the Caput mortuum in a Furnace of Reverberation till it be made like Lime and this Calx or Lime mix with the Fiery Water rectify'd and distil seven times and then is it called Aqua Vitoe rectify'd The same Menstruum hath Paracelsus in his Book de Elixire Vitae and the Author of the Appendix of the third Volume of Theatrum Chymicum These Menstruums differ not from the aforesaid made of Sal Armoniack but only in preparation in those the whole Earth of the Philosophical Wine is by its own Spirit reduced into a liquid substance with which is performed the same Work but after another manner Hitherto ought to be referred the Menstruum of Guido made thus 36. The Circulatum minus of Guido In Thesauro Chymiatrico TAke of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine one pound of the Salt of the same Wine four ounces mix the Joynts being well luted distil through an Alembick in Balneo pour back the distillation and cohobate four times and it will be prepared Lully reduceth his Sal Armoniacks with some difficulty into a liquid substance but Guido distils the Salt of Philosophical Wine by four cohobations into the same Menstruum the cause of abbreviation is to be sought in the preparation of that Salt which is two-fold common or secret of the common saith Guido thus The ardent Spirit of Wine being distill'd draw off the Phlegm till the matter remains in the substance of the thinner sort of Honey which will in a cold Cellar yield Cristals like Nitre which are called the Salt of Wine which take out and keep the remainder evaporate a little while and take more c. Of the secret way of making this Salt saith Guido also pag. 8. Thes Take of the Salt of Wine and Spirit of Wine of each four ounces digest the space of eight or ten days draw off gently in Balneo and the Phlegm only will ascend and you will have six ounces of the Salt of Wine to which Salt add again an equal quantity of its Spirit and digest again ten days and draw off the Phlegm pour new Spirit to the remaining Salt and proceed as above and thus may you increase the Salt of Wine as you please This latter way of making the Salt of Wine is not only the multiplication and addition as well of the quantity as quality of it but moreover is also the volatilization of it It is no wonder therefore that the Salt whose half part was Spirit of Philosophical Wine should so easily ascend with the same Spirit yet is it to be well observ'd lest we temper the aridity of the Salt of Wine too much with too great an addition of Vnctuosity and instead of a Menstruum of this Kind make a weaker of the second Kind What has been declared of Vegetable Menstruums is also to be understood of animal Menstruums for an Example we will instance 37. The animal Heaven of Parisinus In Apertorio TAke the Urine of Children between eight and twelve Years of Age of good disposition and health get that which is good and a good quantity and put it in many Glass Vessels which you must not fill above two thirds that it may the better circulate To every ten measures of Urine mix of our C. Philosophical Aqua ardens half a measure which must be without any Phlegm the Vessels being very well sealed with Wax let them putrefy fifteen days and then you will find the matter black and separated from its Terrestreity And you must know the longer it remains in putrefaction the more perfect will be the work every five days the Dung must be changed then pour it out into the Vessel which we described in the Vegetable Work and the Joynts being well luted distil till you see the sign which we spoke of in Chap. B. but for a more certain sign distil only two parts then take away the Receiver and put another to continuing the distillation till it remains like Syrup or melted Pitch then take these two parts reserved and distil by the same Balneo receiving three parts of four the remaining fourth cast away but distil half of these three and again distil three parts of four parts of this half which distil twice by themselves and thus will you have your Flower rectify'd with which we extract Acetum acerrimum out of its own Earth Take therefore this Earth being in the form of Syrup to which pour the Flower Spirit the height of three Fingers cover the Vessel with a blind Head and lute the Joynts with gumm'd Wax put it in putrefaction three natural Days and shake the
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
a Retort and administer Fire till Mercury vive is gone over into the Receiver sublime again as before with the same new Matters then as before vivify by a Retort thus repeat the Magistery four times Then take this Mercury thus prepared and make it boyl with Philosophical Aqua Vitoe being dryed press it through a Goats Skin Then take this Mercury and put it in Vessels three Aludells which must be firmly and strongly joyned together and covered on all sides with strong lutum sapientioe then prepare a Furnace in which these Vessels may be fitly placed so as that they may all have equal heat but the Receiver must by no means feel the Fire so also the Beak of the first Vessel through which the Mercury is to pass must be out of the Furnace Then give Fire to the said Vessels so as to be red hot both within and without then put in the Mercury through the Pipe on the outside of the Furnace and presently stop the Mouth of the Pipe with Cotton and by the sharpness of the Fire part of the Mercury will in a short time distil into the Receiver but one part in the likeness of Water separate the Water from the Mercury and keep it but that which remains quick cast again into the said Vessel as before so oft till it be through the sharpness of the Fire all converted into Water empty the Receiver every time into another Vessel and keep it well stopp'd Then take of this Water four Ounces and of the Oyl or Salt of the first Experiment Salt of Tartar impregnated with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine one Ounce make it go over together with the said Salt distilling that Water in Ashes with a most gentle heat at first then in the end increasing the Fire till more will not distil Then take new Salt or Oyl of the same first Experiment and joyn it with that Water a little before distilled and make it go over again distilling by Ashes as before but this Magistery you must repeat five times mixing one Ounce of the said Salt or Oyl of the first Experiment every time with three Ounces of the said Water distilling as before in Ashes with the same degree of Fire and the same weight as before as well of the Water as of the Salt or Oyl And by this means will you by the help of God have a Mineral and Vegetable Water united together which hath the power of dissolving Mercury and all Metals especially the two Luminaries For the multiplication of this Water you must proceed thus Take one Ounce of Mercury purged and five Ounces of the said sharp Water now prepared joyn these two together in a small Cucurbit lute it well then will the Mercury be forthwith dissolved which dissolution put in a little Urinal with an Alembick and Receiver the Joynts well luted distilling in Ashes and it will all come over into a Water some Terrestreity of no moment being left in the bottom of the Vessel Then may you this way multiply the saâ—d Water as much as you will viz. by taking five parts oâ— it and one of Mercury purged dissolving first and distilling through an Alembick as before He revivisies Mercury sublimate to be purged after the common way by the Oyl of Tartar and quick Lime being now purged to digests it in Aqua Vitae that is Philosophical for common Spirit of Wine would be here of no effect wherein this digestion with Philosâ—phical Aqua Vitae much of the permanent unctuâ—sity sticks to the Aâ—gent vive altering it exceedingly then he puts it into divers Aludels joyned together and to the Receiver and made red hot in order to be converted into a Mercurial Water The way of distilling by Vessels red hot I find in many places to have been much in use among the Adepts but whether they contrived this way for the abbreviating or more exquisite way of operating or for what other cause I know not Basilius Lib. particularium in particul Solis distils not Mercury but Gold often extinguished in the Philosophical Aqua Vitae through a hot Vessel into a red Liquor Take of Aurum fulminans saith he one part of the Flowers of Sulphur three parts calcine with a gentle Fire till the Sulphur be consumed the red hot matter extinguish in the Spirit of Wine acuated with some drops of the Spirit of Tartar the Vegetable Menstruum made of the Salt of Tartar decant the Spirit and the powder dry at the Fire to which being dryed add again three parts of the Flowers of Sulphur calcine and quench as before This Work repeat six times that the powder of the Gold may be made like Butter soft and fat which must be carefully dryed because it melts with a little Fire this powder being a little heated put into a Retort with a Pipe and made red hot and the Pipe being presently stopp'd distil the red drops falling into good Spirit of Wine put before into the Receiver If the Gold being divers times extinguished in the Spirit of Philosophical Wine is made soft and fat why might not this be also done in common Mercury digested according to the Receipt in the same Spirit of Wine But suppose Lully propos'd it only to himself to reduce Argent vive into a common acid Liquor yet does he out of this with the addition of the Salt of Tartar of the first Experiment make a Vegetable Menstruum of the Fifth Kind with which he dissolves common Argent vive and reduceth it into a Mercurial Water then he dissolves common Mercury by this Mercurial Water and draws it off so as to remain in the Form of an Oyl which Oyl of Mercury being dissolved in the Vegetable Heaven he circulates and being circulated calls it the incalcinated Menstruum If instead of the Oyl of Mercury you take crude Mercury reduced into the true first matter of Mercury and acuate the Vegetable Heaven with this Mercurial Sal Armoniack you will make the same yea a much better incalcinated Menstruum The way of making the Sulphur of Nature of common Argent vive is this following The Mercurial Sal Armoniack or Mercury of the Mercury of Lully In Experim 18. TAke Mercury being twice sublimed with Vitriol and Salt put the sublimate upon an Iron Plate being first very well pulverized add to it two Ounces of Tin calcined then set it in a moist place and it will be dissolved sublime again and lay it upon an Iron Plate as before and it will be all dissolved and thus may you dissolve as much Mercury as you please then take this Water and rectify it seven times in Ashes or till it will yield no more Terrestreity then distil it in Balneo with an easie heat and distil one part of ten which is of no use being Phlegm which it contracted in the moist place then know the weight of the Water remaining in the bottom and to every four Ounces put one Ounce of the Vegetable Salt of the first
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 present Secret The Adepts have indeed in their Practicks described the use of Philosophical Wine without any veyl of Philosophy and amongst them Raymond and Arnold with some others have attained to the knowledge of the same but to use Ripley's expression in Medulla how it might be obtained they said not Wherefore they being silent Ripley the first and indeed the only man of all declares to us that the Key of all the more secret Chymy lyes in the Milk and Blood of the Green Lyon that is that the stinking Menstruum or the parts of it Mercury and Sulphur Virgins Milk and the Lyons Blood white and red Mercury being fourteen Days digested gently is the white and red Wine of Lully and other Adepts Nor was he satisfied in declaring this freely to us but adds Strength and Light to his Words in making a Vegetable Menstruum the Rectify'd Aqua vitae described by Lully in Potestate Divitiarum and by us in Numb 31. of the said stinking and corrosive Menstruum by which one only example he was pleased to teach us that all Vegetable Menstruums may be made of the said stinking Menstruum Lully's rectify'd Aqua vitae is made by divers Cohobations upon its own Caput Mortuum We may if we please proceed by another way or method Distil the Menstruum Foetens being fourteen Days digested and first will ascend the Aqua ardens then the Phlegm and in the bottom will remain a Matter thick as melted Pitch which are the Constitutive Principles of all Vegetable Menstruums Let us therefore desist from further pursuit of the said Green Lyon which we have pursued through the Meads and Forrest of Diana through the way of Philosophical Saturn even to the Vineyards of Philosophy This most pleasant place is allowed the Disciples of this Art to recreate themselves here after so much Pains and Sweat dangers of Fortune and Life excercising the work of Women and the sports of Children being content with the most red Blood of the Lyon and eating the white or red Grapes of Diana the VVine of which being purified is the most secret Secret of all the more secret Chymy as being the white or red Wine of Lully the Nectar of the Ancients and their only desire the peculiar refreshment of the Adopted Sons but the Heart-breaking and Stumbling-block of the Scornful and Ignorant But before we depart hence I will present you Paracelsians with another Dish and that not unsavory which is that the Virgins-milk or white Mercury otherwise the white Wine of Lully extracted out of the Green Lyon is by Paracelsus that Glue of the Eagle or Green Lyon so carefully sought for For Eagle and Green Lyon are to the Adepts Synonyma's of the same thing For thus Ripley before You will obtain the white Water which is our white Tincture our Eagle our Mercury and Virgins-milk Consequently therefore red Mercury or the red Wine of Lully is the Blood of the Red or Green Lyon For the same Lyon is called sometimes Green in his Youthful Estate sometimes red in his more grown Estate and therefore the Blood is sometimes said to be of the Green Lyon sometimes of the Red So Ripley in the Menstruum described in Numb 61. saith Take the Blood of the Red Lyon being most Red as Blood which is our Mercury and our Tincture now prepared to be poured upon its Ferment that is upon the Calxes of the purest Gold also elsewhere The Blood of the Lyon of a Rosey Colour But let us hear Paracelsus himself 65. The Green Lyon of Paracelsus Aurei Velleris Germ. p. 41. TAke distill'd Vinegar wherein dissolve the Green Lyon putrefie filtre the Solution draw off the Liquor in Balneo to an Oyliness this Oyl or Residue put in a Retort distil away the moisture in Sand with a gentle Fire Then increase the Fire and the Green Lyon being compelled by the strength of the Fire will yield his Glue or Air To the Caput mortuum pour its Phlegm the moisture drawn off putrefie in Dung or Balneo and distil as before and again will ascend the Spirits force it strongly and there will come a tenacious Oyl of a Citrine Colour Upon the Caput mortuum pour again the first distill'd VVater putrefie filtre and distil as before Lastly with a most strong open Fire and there will come over a Bloody Oyl which is otherwise called Fire The remaining Earth reverberate into whiteness c. Hitherto we have had the stinking Menstruums made of Azoquean Vitriol only yet sometimes the Adepts have added common Vitriol to it thus 66. The stinking Menstruum made of the Gum Adrop and Common Vitriol of Ripley Pag. 357. Viatici TAke and Grind the Gum made of Sericon with distill'd Vinegar and as much of Vitriol evaporated and first distil the VVater with a gentle Fire then with a strong receive the Oyl blood of the Lyon which separate from the VVater till you have the pure Oyl by it self Sometimes instead of common Vitriol they added common Nitre to the Azoquean Vitriol thus Lully in Practica Testamenti made his stinking Menstruum 67. The stinking Menstruum made of Azoquean Vitriol and Nitre of Lully Cap. 9. Pract. Testam p. 159. Vol. 4. The. Chym. TAke one part of D D signifies Azoquean Vitriol which destroys and confounds all that is of the Nature and Being of common Argent vive pag. 154. and half a part of C C signifies Salt Peter or Nitre pag. 154. of the same Volume which being very well ground fifted and mixed together put in a Glass Cucurbit in a Furnace and putting on an Alembick in which the Spirits are by resolution distilled and condensed lute the joynts of the Vessels with linnen Cloath impasted and steeped in luting made of VVheat-flower and the whites of Eggs that the united properties of the three Mercuries namely Saltish Vitriolick and VVatry being joyn'd and united together may be preserved And observe that the said Powders put into the Cucurbit exceed not the weight of eight Ounces and to abbreviate the time put of the like Powder into two other Cucurbits according to the weight of eight Ounces in every Cucurbit and place them upon little long Furnaces so as I shall declare in the Chapter of Furnaces put not above three Cucurbits upon one Furnace for the Fire cannot administer equal heat to more as the mixtion of Nature requires and let the said Cucurbits be placed the distance of five or six Fingers one from another and let the bottoms of the Cucurbits be luted with Potters Clay mix'd well with hair put fine Ashes well sifted and pressed the thickness of five Fingers under them and to the Beak of every Alembick put a Glass Phial with a long Neck at the end because the Receiver of those Phials must not feel the heat of the Furnace nor the Water of the Phials flow back nor the Spirits recede or fly away Then must you provide a good quantity of Saw-dust whereof take two
against Nature without which our Natural Fire could not subsist whereof we will say more in its proper place And these namely the Mineral and Vegetable Water being mix'd together and made one Water do operate contraries which is a thing to be admired for this one dissolves and congeals moisteneth and dryeth putrefies and purifies dissipates and joyns separates and compounds mortifies and vivifies destroyeth and restoreth attenuates and inspissates makes black and white burneth and cooleth begins and ends These are the two Dragons fighting in the Gulf of Sathalia this is the white and red Fume whereof one will devour the other And here the dissolving Vessels are not to be luted but onely stopp'd slightly with a Linnen Cloth and Mastick or common Wax For this Water is a Fire and a Bath within the Vessel and not without which if it feels any other strong Fire will be presently elevated to the top of the Vessel and if it finds no rest there the Vessel will be broken and so the composition will be left frustrated So much as this compounded Water dissolves so much it congeals and elevates is congealed and elevated into a glorious Earth And so it is the secret dissolution of our Stone which is alwayes done with the congelation of its own Water And because this Fire of Nature is added to the Water against Nature so much therefore as it lost of its Form by the Fire against Nature so much it recovers by the Water of Nature that our work by the Fire against Nature may not be destroyed or annihilated From the Receipts we observe 1. That the Menstruums of this kind being made of the very matter of Philosophical Wine or Philosophical Grapes are the first of all other Menstruums either Mineral or Vegetable 2. That the milky Liquor or Spirit Virgins Milk white Mercury the White Wine of Lully and the Glew of the Green Lyon called by Paracelsus the Glew of the Eagle are terms synonymous and that the Red Liquor Blood of the Green Lyon Red Mercury the Philosophers Sulphur and the Red Wine of Lully otherwise by Paracelsus the Blood of the Red Lyon are likewise Synonyma's 3. That the acid Mineral Menstruums are by digestion or further elaboration transmuted either into a simple Vegetable Menstruum or into the Heaven or Spirit of Philosophical Wine 4. That these acid Menstruums are to be distilled with very great caution by reason of the excessive effervescence of the Azoquean Vitriol or rather Spirit of Philosophical Wine which is in this Vitriol caused by the Acids 5. That Mineral Menstruums are the Heaven or Essence of Philosophical Wine dissolved in an Acid so that having acquired this Spirit you may make them ex tempore by simple dissolution 6. That the Menstruums even now prepared are presently to be used lest they perish 7. That Menstruums are by dissolving Bodies coagulated 8. That Metallick Bodies are by these Menstruums reduced into running Mercury 9. That these are called Stinking Menstruums because of their stinking smell By the smell alone we easily distinguish these from those fragrant Menstruums called Vegetable Thus the unsavoury smell of the Menstruum it self proves that Morienus used the Stinking Menstruum What is the smell of it saith King Calid by way of Question before and after the making of it Morienus answereth Before it is made the sent of it is strong and unsavoury but after the preparation of it it has a good sent according to that which the wise man saith This Water resembles the unpleasant smell of a Body dead and void of life for the smell of it is ill and not unlike to the smell of Graves He that can whiten the Soul and cause it to ascend again and keep the Body well and take away all obscurity from it and extract the ill savour out of it will be able to infuse it into the Body and in the hour of conjunction exceeding Miracles will appear Morien de Trans Metal p. 33. Geber also acknowledgeth himself to have operated with a mineral Menstruum Cap. 25. Summoe perfect The first natural Principles saith he out of which Metals are procreated are the Stinking Spirit that is Sulphur and Water Vive which also we allow to be called dry Water And in another Place at the end of his Book de Investigat he goes on We do by plain and open proof conclude our Stone to be nothing else but a Stinking Spirit and living Water which we also call dry Water being cleansed by natural decoction and true proportion with such an Union that nothing can be added or taken from it to which a third thing ought to be added for the abbreviation of the Work that is a perfect Body attenuated 10. That Adrop the Name of the Matter of these Menstruums signifies the Philosophers Saturn or Lead The first Matter of this leprous Body saith Ripley is a viscous Water inspissated in the Bowels of the Earth The great Elixir for the Red and for the White saith Vincentius is made of this Body whose Name is Adrop otherwise called Philosophical Lead pag. 132. Medul Phil. Chym. Our Stone saith Arnold in Speculo Alchym is called Adrop which is in Latine Saturnus in English Lead and according to the Trojans Dragon or Topum that is Poyson Septima Dispos Speculi pag. 596. Vol. 4. Theatr. Chym. I have shewed that the Philosophers gave it divers Names because of the diversity of Colours but as to their Intention they had one peculiar Name that is Roman Gold or Adrop or Stone above all the Stones of this world Quarta dispositio Speculi pag. 594. of the same Volume Laton and Azoth are together and never asunder but remain always joyned together but because of the diversity of Colours the Philosophers call'd them by many Names and as the Colours are varied and changed they imposed so many Names because Azoth among the Indians is Gold among the Hermians Silver among the Alexandrians and Macedonians Iron with the Greeks Mercury with the Hebrews Tin with the Tartars Brass with the Arabians Saturn and among the Latines and especially among the Romans Ognividon by an Anagram Dono G vini G signifying Philosophical Mercury or Sulphur aqueum But that none may err I say it hath one proper Name and is commonly called by men and every one knows the Stone Tertia dispos Specul p. 593. of the same Volume Some of the Adepts write not Adrop but Atrop by which Name they have been pleas'd to signifie the Matter of these Menstruums to be as it were the Gate of all the most secret Chymy for Atrop by the inversion of the Letters is read Porta a Gate Thus Robertus Valensis in Gloria Mundi pag. 305. That you may attain saith he to the true foundation I will once again repeat it to you and call it the first Hyle that is the beginning of all things it is also called the only Holy apprehend what Elements are in it by those which are repugnant the
sense of the Receipt but never from Chymical Truth so long as you are guided by the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but here you must have a great care that you do not transmute as sometimes through inadvertence you may the false Receipts of deceitful Distillers into true ones an impossible into a possible a lye into truth and a wicked Man into a Philosopher Sometimes they impregnated common Sal Armoniack with a Tincture to make a Menstruum higher thus 81. The Water of Sal Armoniack of Isaacus Cap. 47.2 Oper min. pag. 460. Vol. 3. Theat Chym. TAke Sal Armoniack sublime it with Roman Vitriol one Pound of Sal Armoniack to two Pounds of Vitriol then grind upon a Stone the Faeces and sublime again then throw away the Faeces and sublime again with two Pounds of new Vitriol do as before repeating nine times pulverize the Sal Armoniack and put the Powder into a Glass pour upon it distilled Vinegar Philosophical or some Menstruum of the Fifteenth Kind so as only to be dissolved and no more than that the Sal Armoniack may be turned only into Water as yellow as Sol because the Sal Armoniack was sublimed by Vitriol and that produced the Tincture And this is that Water of Sal Armoniack which I promised before to teach you how to make From the Receipts we observe 1. That the Oyl or Essence of Salt becomes a stronger Menstruum by the addition of Volatile Salts 2. That this ought to be understood also of the Menstruums of the fifteenth precedent Kind 3. That these Menstruums are the same with the Vegetable Menstruums of the fourth Kind excepting only that they have an Acid added over and above 4. That these Menstruums are of most easy preparation being made by three cohobations only 5. That it is very difficult for a Man to err being experienced in the more secret Chymy for he that understands the practice of this Art will easily explain the Receipt of every Adept be it never so obscure either by the use or title or way of preparing for it is in a manner impossible not to draw some Light from one or other of the said three or direction enough to find the same Receipt more clear in the Writings either of the same or some other Adept And indeed though we sometimes meet with Receipts which in title way of preparation and use seem to be like the Receipts of vulgar Chymistry yet a Desciple of our Art will easily determine either for the approbation or reprobation of these Receipts For there are infallible Signs to distinguish a true from a false Menstruum this one following shall here suffice The quality of a good Menstruum is to dissolve Bodies either gently or violently and make them not only Volatile but fat also yea reduce them into a true Oyl either swimming upon or sinking under watery Liquors This Attribute of a Menstruum is inconsistent to any common dissolvent but proper to the Philosophical and to them alone being made of the unctuous Spirit of Philosophical Wine which Spirit alone doth by its permanence make the dry Sulphur of a Metal both thinner and fatter That Menstruum therefore in the use of which are promised such things as cannot be performed by common Menstruums may be truly called Philosophical with a caution or two to be observed 1. That the Receipt must be of some known and not suspected Author not of every smoak-seller promising great and many things without a Foundation wherefore every Receipt wanting its Authority though it may seem like a true one yet we think ought to be rejected as suspicious 2. That the Receipt must not be alone described not in one but divers places by the same Author or at least most clear in its ingredients For the same Names have one signification with one but another with another Adept so long therefore as it is not known by collateral places what an Author means by his Matters such a Man's Receipts we declare uncertain 3. That the Receipt must import a competent Rule in operating that is declare whether Matters are to be volatilized in part or in the whole but whatsoever are more obscure and concise we lay aside as imperfect The Seventeenth KIND Simple Mineral Menstruums made of Philosophical Vinegar and fixed Salts not tinging as well Vegetable as Mineral 82. The Aqua Comedens of Paracelsus Lib. 10. Arch. pag. 37. BY Aqua Comedens Eating or Corroding Water we mean Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which must be drawn from common Salt so often till it is dissolved and comes over by distillation in the Vinegar Annotations THe Philosophical Vinegar or Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine which you acuated with Volatile Salts in the precedent Kind is made stronger by the mixing of fixed Salts so called We have described several Vegetable Menstruums made with Alcali Salts in their fifth Kind which if prepared with Philosophical Vinegar instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine will produce Mineral Menstruums of this Kind though prepared another way with this only difference that they are made more slowly with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but with Philosophical Vinegar much sooner yea immediately if either Common or Philosophical Vinegar be joyned to the Vegetable Menstruums Aqua comendens or Eating Water is the third Menstruum that we have observed to be made of common Salt The first is in the fifth Kind of Vegetable Menstruums where common Salt being fused and resolved per deliquium is by Virtue of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine reduced into the Oyl or Essence of Salt which by being sometimes cohobated with the same Spirit becomes sweet and is transmuted into the Arcanum of Salt or Circulatum minus made of common Salt The second is in the fourteenth Kind where the aforesaid Oyl of Salt is left in its acid rather saline Essence The third which is taught in the present Kind agrees with the first except only that it is prepared not with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine but Philosophical Vinegar and so sooner than that and in use is stronger as a Mineral Menstruum Dissolve the Arcanum of Salt or Salt circulated in any Acid not tinging for example common Vinegar distill'd Spirit of Niter Sulphur Salt c. and it will produce the Eating Water by simple mixtion on the contrary if you weaken or take away the Acid of the Eating Water either by precipitating it with common Spirit of Wine common Water c. or digesting it by it self you will have the Arcanum of Salt or Water of Salt circulated That which has been said of common Salt is also to be understood of Niter Alume and all other Salts not tinging The Receipt of the Eating Water is clear of it self except that in the Latin Translation a Salis Nitri Spiritu is read amiss the German Authors own Writing having it a Sale communi Von gemeinen Saltz The Error it is requisite you should correct Menstruums of
this Kind are made not only of Mineral Salts not tinging but also of Vegetable Alcalies thus 83. The fixative Water of Trithemius Pag. 37. Aurei Veller Germ. TAke Aqua fortis mix'd with the Spirit of Wine described above in Numb 74. whereto add of the Oyl of Tartar per deliquium half a Pound distil the Spirit throw away the Phlegm and dissolve the remaining Earth or Salt in the Spirit Keep the solution for the fixing of things but for volatilization the Salt of Tartar must be cohobated so oft till it ascends as the common Salt in the Eating Water Hereto is referred the Menstruum called 84. The Aqua Mirabilis of Isaacus Cap. 29. 2 Oper. Min. pag. 91. Manus Phil. TAke old Urine distil with a weak Fire then a stronger that whatsoever can may ascend rectifie the destillation taking away all the Fatness or Oyl till it leaves no Faeces behind it The Caput Mortuum left in the bottom calcine the space of two hours but without fusion of the Salt draw all the saltness from the calcined Matter with common Water evaporate the Liquor to a thin skin that the Salt may be Cristalized repeat sometimes that the Salt may be made most pure which dissolve in the distilled Urine Then take of this regenerated Urine six pounds of distilled Vinegar and Spirit of Philosophical Wine of each three measures of Common Salt two pounds of Sal Armoniack and calcined Tartar of each half a pound dissolve them all together into an Aqua Mirabilis The like Water almost hath Basilius but that he distils his through an Alembick the Description of which followeth 85. The Resuscitative Water of Basilius Pag. 81. Currus Triumphalis Antim TAke of the Salt of Mans Urine clarified and sublimed of Sal Armoniack and Salt of Tartar of each one part mix the Salts pour strong Philosophical Vinegar to them lute with lutum sapientioe digest the Salts for a Month in a continual heat then distil the Vinegar by Ashes till the Salts remain dry then mix them with three parts of Venetian Earth force them with a strong Fire through the Retort and you will have a wonderful Spirit for the making of Running Mercury out of Antimony The same Water we find also pag. 39. of his Manual Operations The Adepts have sometimes used some crude Oyley Matter instead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine in making these Menstruums thus Paracelsus volatilized four Salts into a Menstruum of this Kind with Wax dissolved in Aqua fortis 86. The Water of Sallabrum of Paracels Libro de reductione Metallorum in Argentum vivum sive Tractatu 4. Rosarii novi Olympici Bened Figuli pag. 24. TAke notice there is no shorter Method of reducing Metals into Mercury known to us than that which we used in our Book de putrefactione quatuor Salium which we there called Sallabrum as thus each of those Salts as lower must be converted into a pure Water or Oyl per deliquium which being mixed in equal weight are called Lac Veterum or Milk of the Ancients Which Philosophical Milk put into a strong Receiver and distil the Spirits of calcined Vitriol calcined Alume and the best Niter ana five times upon it and the mixture will be called Flying Eagle carrying Metals in its Talons aloft such a Metal being sublim'd grind to powder from which draw the Spirit of strong Wine being poured to it the height of a Finger three or four times gently in Balneo and you will have a quick or running Metal as common Mercury Now the Eagle is made volatile thus To the Philosophers Milk acuated with the said Spirits or Eagle pour Wax being very well liquefied and purged about the thickness of a Finger distil the Phlegms together with the Spirits by a Cucurbit in Balneo which Matter must be cohobated so often till they are all coagulated or well mixed and you will have the Philosophers Borax which we wrote of in our Book de virtute Vitrioli wherein the Volatile Eagle absconded it self with its Feathers namely Spirits Now take the Calx of what Metal you please made of Aqua fortis one part of the Flying Eagle half a part mix putrefie nine days the longer the better then sublime the Matter upon Sand in a Cucurbit well luted and all the Metal you took will ascend wherewith proceed as before Sallabrum described in the Book mentioned de putrefactione quatuor Salium Take Sal Niter Sal Gemmoe common Salt Pot-Ashes an equal quantity of each dissolve every one by it self and purge it from all Terrestreity out of all being mixed together make a clear and transparent Water which again coagulate in a clean Vessel and you will find the Salt of another colour namely yellow penetrating and sweetning dissolving and fixing Love and esteem this Salt because there are many Secrets in it for it fixeth the Volatile and vivifieth the Spirit being dead and mollifieth the hard and friable and freeth from any Leprosie and Poyson sixeth Arsenick and moreover is the promoter of many famous works to a happy and desired End In the first place let us admonish you to beware of this and such like Menstruums for a Mystery lies in these Receipts which to observe is necessary lest you begin to doubt the Truth of them after many most dangerous Experiments tried in vain for you Beginners let this suffice that it is impossible for Wax or any other oyley Matter to supply the place of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine There would be no need of this Spirit in the whole Art if crude oyley things could perform the same as this most pure and most unctuous Liquor No man but he that is expert in the Method of preparing the Spirit of Philosophical Wine can make these Menstruums whereas all the rest may be made by any Ideot if he hath but the Spirit of this Wine given him The Adepts do in these Receipts both prepare and acuate this Spirit of Wine no wonder therefore that they either wholly omitted the Mystery or not sufficiently express'd it in their Compositions for which reason also these Menstruums do appertain to the preparation of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine rather than as all the rest to the Vse of this Spirit or compositions of these Menstruums nor should I have remembred them here had they not been detrimental to many men and that to my own knowledge The Name Sallabrum is given quasi Salis labrum or Salt-Cellar not that Salt is to be contained in this Vessel as Candelabrum or Candlestick is so called because Candles are set in it but rather because the Essence or Fire of some Metals or some Chymcial Light is either to be reserved or made in this Sallabrum as Alume is by Isaacus in Man Philosophor pag. 28. called Lucerna signifying a Lanthorn Concerning this Sallabrum Thomas Aquinas in Lilio Benedicto pag. 1085. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. Thus Adde labrum Salis quanta sit sexta duorum Conjunge poneque
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
pass it all over as before and thus repeat this Work of distillation four times in every distillation adding an Ounce of the said Salt to that Water Then will you have at length a Mineral Water vegetated and acuated with the augmentation of Virtue and Power proceeding from the said most precious Vegetable Salt without which is nothing done Our Annotations upon the Receipts are 1. That the Menstruums of this Kind are simple Vegetable Menstruums of the sixth Kind dissolved in Acids Take away the Acidity and it will be a Menstruum again of the sixth Kind 2. That these Menstruums are better made of Aqua fortis it being an Acid stronger than the rest yet that they may be also made of any other Acid less strong as distill'd Vinegar Spirit of Salt Sulphur c. 3. That these are the best of all the simple Mineral Menstruums both in the facility of making and excellency of Virtue 4. That it is much at one whether the Metal be first dissolved in common Aqua fortis and then the Vegetable Sal Harmoniack added or the said Salt first and then the Metal 5. That these Aqua regisses differ from the common in that they dissolve all Metals promiscuously Silver as well as Gold and reduce the same not into a Calx but Oyl which cannot be said of common Aqua regis 6. That Metals dissolved in these Menstruums and sublimed become the greatest Poysons belonging to this Art The Nineteenth KIND Mineral Menstruums compounded of the Philosophers Spirit of Wine and Acid Spirits tinging Spirit of Vitriol Butter of Antimony c. 94. Spirit of Vitriol mixt with the Spirit of Wine of Lully Epist accurtatoria pag. 327. THE Spirit of Vitriol is more dry and thick than the Spirit of the Quintessence of Aqua ardens and great affinity there is between the Spirit of Vitriol and the Nature of Gold because they are both derived from the same Principles with Minerals The Spirit therefore of Vitriol being joyned with the Spirit of Aqua ardens inspissates it and makes it suddenly adhere to Gold so as to be fixed with it and believe me this is a very excellent way of Abbreviation Annotations THis Difference you may observe between the Simple and Compounded Mineral Menstruums The Simple dissolve only but the Compounded do both dissolve and tinge things dissolved for they are in a wonderful manner exalted by things tinging and made many degrees better so as to have enough to serve themselves and others also and therefore may deservedly be called graduated as well as graduatory Waters Hitherto we have treated of the Simple In 〈…〉 Nineteenth Kind we are to consider them as Compounded of two Spirits Oyley and Acid tinging as in the prescribed Receipt of the Spirits of Philosophical Wine and Vitriol mix'd together and intimately joyned by two or three distillations The Preparation is most easie in which notwithstanding it will not be impertinent to take notice of this one thing that both Spirits must be without Phlegm and exquisitely rectified according to the Advice of the following Anonymus A burning Oleity is made out of Wine therefore it participates with Sulphur and herein is indeed the greatest virtue of the Metallick Nature which it drew and conceived from the Earth and as this Oleity the Spirits that is are much more agil than the Spirits of other things therefore their Virtues are much more agil than the Virtues of other things but yet you must know that those Spirits as saith the Text of Alchymy and as indeed the truth is which come out of Vegetables and Animals conduce not to Alchymy as they are in a Vegetable Nature but it is requisite for them to attain to a Metallick Nature by many depurations and distillations and then they are serviceable to it Therefore is there one only stone and one foundation necessary to the Art namely the Metallick virtue though sometimes Vegetable and Animal things are taken yet they do not remain in a Vegetable or Animal Nature but are transmuted into a Metallick and Sulphureous Nature which contains a Metallick Virtue Whereupon said Ferrariensis cap. 20. suarum Quoestionum It is impossible to coagulate Argent vive without Sulphur or something that hath a sulphureous Nature because Sulphur is the coagulum of Argent vive and if there be sulphureities in Wine having a burning faculty it argues there is a Metallick Nature in it wherefore some do operate in Wine and Gold or Silver to extract out of the Wine it s most subtil Spirit strengthning the virtue of Gold with it that so the Spirits may be fixed with it by which consequently the Tincture of the Gold is dilated and multiplied and of a certain there is a very great coherence or participation between the Spirits of Wine and the Spirits of Gold they being both of a hot Nature and therefore the Spirits of Wine are inseparably fixed with Gold yet it is to be noted that the Spirits of middle Metals as Vitriol c. are of larger fixation and more nearly allied to Gold both springing as it were out of one Fountain namely out of the Mines of Metals than the Spirits of Wine which proceed from a Vegetable Nature though the Spirits of Wine are more agil and subtil Some therefore do compound the Spirits of them so as to joyn the Spirits of Vitriol with the Spirits of Wine to inspissate one with the other and to make them more easily united to Gold But he that intends to operate with these things must take the strongest Spirits and the purest Matters so that the Spirits must be exactly purified before they are fixed with Gold or Silver Anonym de Principiis Natur. Arte Alchym pag. 30. Syntagm Hermon Rhenani Not only the rectified Spirit of Vitriol but every Acid Spirit is here effectual provided it be tinging and mixed with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine thereby to be made a Menstruum of the same Kind 'T is thus made 95. The Butter of Antimony mix'd with the Spirit of Wine of Basilius Pag. 88. Currus Triumphalis Antim TAke of Common Mercury most purely sublimed of Antimony equal parts grind mix and distil by a Retort which retains the Spirits three times rectifie this Oyl with the Spirit of Philosophical Wine and it is prepared and of a Blood-colour in the beginning it was white and thickens as Ice or melted Butter This Oyl hath done many wonderful things yet the Virtue Faculty and Operation of it hath always appeared making an ill thing good This Composition though given by Basilius as a Medicine not as a Menstruum yet is by Paracelsus in Libro de Gradationibus described as such 96. The Water of the fourth Gradation of Paracelsus Libro de Gradationibus pag. 131. TAke of Antimony one pound of Mercury Sublimate half pound distil both together with a violent Fire through an Alembick and a redness willl ascend like Blood thick which tingeth and graduates any Luna into Sol and
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
of Mercury and the Stinking Menstruum thus 119. The Stinking Mercvrial Menstruum of Lully Pag. 63. Testam Novissimi TAke of the Stinking Menstruum four Pounds and put in one pound of Mercury Vive put the Matter in Balneo or Horse Dung six days and it will be all converted into Water distil by Balneo and you will have a Mercurial Water truly Mineral Ripley followed his Master in the way of making the Mercurial Water as followeth 120. The Mercurial Green Lion of Ripley Pag. 310. Pupillae Alchymicae TAke Mercury sublimed with Vitriol and common Salt to the quantity of 20 or 40 Pounds in my opinion two or four ought to be read that you may have enough Grind it well into Powder and put it in a Glass Vessel very large and strong pour to it so many Pounds of the most strong Water the Stinking Menstruum is the strongest Water in the World Pag. 138. Medullae as there are Pounds of Mercury Shake them soundly together and the Vessel will become so hot that you can scarce touch it stop it well and let it stand nine days in a cold place shaking it strongly three or four times each day Which done put the Vessel in a Fornace of Ashes and with a most gentle heat distil away all the Aqua Vitae Menstruum which keep safe by it self then immediately add another Receiver well luted kindle a most strong Fire and continue it till all the Golden Liquor is wholly distilled The same ways as the Mercurial Waters are made may also be made Menstruums of this Kind out of the other Metals thus 121. The Stinking Lunar Menstruum of Lully In Experimento 29. TAke of the aforesaid Mineral Water described in Numb 104. as you have it in the former Experiment Numb 26. six or eight Ounces dissolve in it one Ounce of Luna which dissolution put into a small Retort to be distilled by Ashes which Distillation ceasing increase the Fire as much as possible and when no more moisture will with this degree of Fire distil cool the Vessel receive the Distilled Water wherein is the Soul of Luna and secure it from respiring Thus also Lully prepares the Water of Sol. 122. The Stinking Solar Menstruum of Lully In Experim 31. TAke the Aqua Fortis or Mineral Water described in Numb 104. as above and in every Pound thereof dissolve three Ounces of the Animal Salt prepared and fixed as you have it in its Sixth Experiment Which being dissolved dissolve therein two Ounces of Gold cemented as you know after that putrefie eight days then distill by Balneo Now that which remains at the bottom will be like melted Honey upon which Matter pour again some of its own Water distilled by Balneo so as to swim two fingers above it putrefie for a natural day then taking away the Antenotorium put on an Alembick with a Receiver so close as not to respire Distil by Ashes till no more will distil then increase the Fire a little that part of the Air may pass into the Water and lastly increase the Fire that also the Element of Fire may pass through the Alembick and when nothing will distil with this last degree of Fire cool the Vessel take away the Receiver with its Distilled Water and keep it well stopp'd Isaacus Hollandus made a Mercurial Water sometimes with the Mercury of Luna thus 123. Philosophers Vinegar made of the Mercury of Silver of Isaacus Cap. 99. 2. Oper. Min. Pag. 492. Vol. 3. Th. Cym. TAke of the Calx of Luna one Pound of Sal armoniack which must be clear and transparent as Cristal without moisture a fourth part being ground put them in a Stone Jugge then take Philosophical Vinegar distilled five or six times from its Phlegme so as to leave no Feces empty the Vinegar into another Stone Jugge and having put on an Alembick place it in Balneo The Jugge which the ground Calx is in lute well to the beak of the Alembick and let the Luting be throughly dried Then make Fire under the Balneo and distil the Vinegar leasurely upon the Calx of Luna and so many Pounds as you have of the Calx of Luna so many four Pounds of Vinegar distil upon it and when all the Vinegar is distilled let it cool gently the space of three days before you remove the Jugge for if you remove it sooner the Vinegar Luna and Sal armoniack will run over and you will retain nothing so vehement is that Matter for Cold and Hot do come together and when you would remove it have a Glass Stopple ready fitted to the mouth of the Jugge or Receiver which you must presently lute to it that the Virtue may not evaporate Then set the Jugge in Balneo let the Fire be no hotter than your hand can well endure in the Water up to the Knuckles or then may be drunk without burning and thus keep it the space of six weeks Then let it be cold break it and presently lute an Alembick to the Jugge very firmly and put a Receiver to the Beak distil in a temperate Balneo whatsoever will distil and when now no more distils take it out and put it in Ashes lute the Receiver again to the Beak and first apply a gentle heat then sometimes a stronger till your Mercury begins to sublime with the Sal armoniack as white as Snow and hanging to the White Matter with clear Fibers then keep it thus till you see it sublimes not in the same heat to extract the Mercury purely out of the Earth Then let it cool take away the Alembick take out the Mercury being sublimed with the Sal armoniack which are sublimed into a Mass together which weigh that you may know how much Mercury you sublimed out of the Calxes of Luna for you knew how much Sal armoniack you put into the Jugge Then put the Sublimate again into a Glass and again sublime that you may see whether any Feces remain for you must repeat the Sublimation till no Feces remain Keep this Mercury till I teach you what to do with it You must know that in that Vessel wherein you sublimed the Mercury with the Sal armoniack is the Body commonly called Caput Mortuum or Element of Earth with its Oyl or Fire this take out and weigh that so you may the better know how much Mercury you sublimed also out of it for you knew how much of the Calx of Luna you had in the Jugge so you may certainly know how much you have out of it Then put your Salt or Earth into a Glass and pour Distill'd Vinegar upon it and dissolve it into a pure Water if it yields any Feces pour off the top gradually and congeal again till it leaves no more Feces then congeal again Then have you your Salt prepared with your Earth clear as Cristal Now take your Sublimed Mercury and Sal armoniack and your clear Salt and grind them together upon a Marble dry being ground put all the
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
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
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
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. 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before and that seven times continually distilling with a gentle Fire till nothing more will distil but the Matter remains like an Oyl in the bottom From the Receipts we observe these remarkable Things 1. That the Spirit of Philosophical Wine dissolved in an acid Spirit is a mineral Menstruum Our Aqua fortis our Vinegar distilled Vinegar Vinegar mixed with the Spirit of Wine our Spirit of Salt Sulphur c. 2. That the Spirit of the same Wine is with very great ebullition dissolved in an Acid and therefore you ought to be exceeding careful lest you pour too much of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine upon the Aqua fortis and vice versa For it would be more safe to distil the Aqua fortis upon the Spirit of Philosophical Wine as Paracelsus adviseth 3. That Aqua fortis mix'd with the Spirit of Wine may be taken instead of Vinegar mix'd with the Spirit of Wine or Spirit of Salt mix'd with the Spirit of Wine c. in Chymical Works especially 4. That the more these Menstruums are abstracted from the Acid debilitated in dissolution the stronger they are made 5. That the Adepts used also corrosive Menstruums or Aqua fortis There are some not only common ignorant Operators but Adepts also who not knowing the Preparation and Vse of these Menstruums have written against these corrosive Menstruums Fools saith Bernhard do out of the less Minerals make and extract corrosive waters into which they cast the Species of Metals and corrode them for they think them to be dissolved by a natural solution which solution doth indeed require permanence together that is of the dissolvent and the dissolved that from both as the Masculine and Feminine Seed a new Species may result Verily I tell you no water dissolves a Metallick Species by a natural reduction but that which continues in matter and form and which the Metals themselves being dissolved are able to re-congeal Which Quality is not in Aqua fortisses but is rather injurious to the Composition that is of the Body dissolved c. Yet thus they think they dissolve mistaking Nature but they dissolve not because the Aqua fortisses being abstracted the Body melts as before nor will that water be permanent to it nor is it to that Body as radical Moisture The Bodies are indeed corroded but not dissolved and so much the more alienated from a Metallick Species Wherefore such solutions as these are not the foundation of the transmutative Art but rather Impostures of Sophistical Alchymists who think this sacred Art lies in these things c. Epist ad Thom. de Bononia pag. 60. Artis Aurifer So in the Regeneration of Metals saith Sendivogius Vulgar Chymists proceed amiss they dissolve Metallick Bodies either Mercury or Gold or Saturn or Luna and corrode them with Aqua fortisses and other heterogeneous things not requisite to true Art then they joyn and force them together not knowing that man is not generated from the Body of a man dissected c. Tract 6. pag. 488. Vol. 4. Th. Chym. Some do by Art corroding Waters make In which Metalline Species they calcine But then the Liquor doth the Earth forsake Nor by mans Skill together they will combine This way to Fools we leave for nothing fit But for to wast ones Thrist beware of it Page 41. of the second Part of the Marrow of Alchymy These and the like Expressions they reflect against our Mineral or Acid Menstruums whereas they were written by the Philosophers against Common not Philosophical Aqua fortisses In that Point saith Lully they ignorantly err imagining the Bodies of Metals to be dissolved and as I said before reduced to their first Matter or Nature with Common Aqua fortisses but if they had read our Books they would certainly know that these Liquors are repugnant to the intention of the Philosophers c. Comp. Anim. Transm pag. 19â— Vol. 4. Th. Chym. Parisinus a faithful Disciple of Lully explains his Meaning thus Those things that are objected by us against Aqua fortisses namely that they are of no efficacy in the Art and nevertheless are taught by Lully are to be otherwise understood For he this way puts a difference between the Vulgar and Philosophical Aqua fortisses c. And therefore Raymund rejecting sharp Waters means the Aqua fortisses of separation but not those of the Philosophers Cap. 6. Lib. â— Elucid pag. 206. Vol. 6. Th. Chym. But it would be meerly superfluous for us either by Authorities or Arguments to illustrate that which the Menstruums themselves will demonstrate The Sixteenth KIND Simple Mineral Menstruums made of Philosophical Vinegar and Volatile Salts as Common Sal Armoniack Urine c. 80. The Oyl of Sal Armoniack of Guido Pag. 11. Thesaur Chymiatr TAke of the Oyl of Salt the Menstruum described in Numb 71. half a pound of Common Sal Armoniack four ounces Dissolve the Salt in the Oyl cohobate the Dissolution three times through an Alembick Annotations IN the attecedent Kind the Spirit of Philosophical Wine was dissolved in Acids Now to make these Oyley-acid Menstruums stronger the Adepts added to them Salts that is Arids dissolved in Acids and Cristallized In this present Kind they took Volatile Salts as being of easier preparation in the following fixed Salts because of stronger virtue In the Receipt of Guido there is nothing either difficult or dark unless you will object against the Ingredients which cannot be both common because Guido sublimes Gold Philosophically with this Menstruum Whatsoever also you read in the Books of Practical Chymy understand always according to the Letter we need not admonish you to except the Terms of Art if so that which is promised in the Preparation and use may be performed if not seek an Analogical sense not in the method and use of preparation but in the ingredients according to which Rule either the Oyl of Salt or Sal Armoniack or both ought to be Philosophical because Gold cannot be Philosophically sublimed with Common Menstruums The Oyl of Salt of Paracelsus as also the Spirit or Oyl of Salt of Basilius wherewith he extracts the Sulphur of Sol do prove the Oyl of Salt to be a Philosophical Menstruum Cap. 6. de Rebus nat supernat Probable it is that Guido meant the same Oyl for otherwise the Name of Oyl had been improperly attributed by a Philosopher to the thin and common Spirit of Salt But if you think rather that Guido meant the common Spirit of Salt by the Oyl of Salt you must by Sal Armoniack understand not the common but Vegetable Sal Harmoniack the Spirit of Philosophical Wine dryed with some Salt and then sublimed for so you might also make a Menstruum of the same if not of stronger Virtue a species of the following Eighteenth Kind But if both the Oyl of Salt and Sal Armoniack be Philosophical a Menstruum will be from thence produced yet stronger than both the precedent Here you may deviate from the true and genuine