In which are treated the main foundations of medicine, the origin & cause of all diseases, & what are the medicines best suited to their cure, & to the conservation of human health: Compound by Sieur de la Tourrete, formerly President of the general masters of the coins of France.
Dedicated to the Most Christian King, WITH AN APOLOGY OF THE very useful science of Alchemy, both against those who blame it, and also against the forgers, thieves & deceivers who abuse it, by the same Author.
Dedicated to Monseigneur the Duke of Nemours & de Genevois.
A LION
Printed by Pierre Roussin, for the said Sieur de la Tourrete.
1575
With privilege of the King.
IN the very HIGH, very POWERFUL AND Very magnanimous Prince Henry Third, by the grace of God King of France & Poland.
Sire, after having served for twenty years three of your predecessors Kings in the office of president of the court of generals of your currencies, I did not have great difficulty in stripping myself of such dignity, together with all other public offices, however honorable they think they are, to return to my little country place, as a private man to spend the rest of my days, if it please God to preserve for me the rest such as I desire, according to his goodness will, & under the protection of your royal Majesty: having brought before my eyes the fact of this great Roman captain Marcus Curius, who was found in his barn peeling turnips to put in his pot, by the ambassadors of the Samnites, who he had shortly before been subjugated by arms, & submitted to the Roman Empire. Thus living in my solitude I resumed the wanderings of my former studies, and mainly on Philosophy, which teaches to know nature, with its order in all things composed by it, the virtues & properties of them, the sympathy & antipathy of one with the other, & & finally in what way man (for whom God created them all) must use them, both for his preservation and also for restoration, so that he lives healthily and for a long time in this world, which is the greatest treasure we could ever acquire. Because although everyone works it as much as they want, mind and body together, with all the perils and chances of the world to amass some earthly goods, all this is only for their life and food.
But here is the misfortune, Sire, especially since he who has never studied except to amass gold, silver, or grand chevance, commonly has the least pleasure from it, either because he does not know how to use it well, or because God punishes him for his avarice by shortening the term of his life, or else afflicting him with serious illnesses however he lives in this world, and he makes a God of his treasure.
Of such people spoke that great Roman Caro, saying, That a rich man has great crowns planted, but he has not himself. And in truth, he is poor who has no health: even if he has a hundred thousand crowns in his coffers, and as much income, it is nothing if his body is infected, tormented by drerya, dropsy, paralysis. , epilepsy, or gouts & gout with extreme pain, which will cause him to deny & annoy God & the entire celestial court, more than a hundred times a day, and as many times at night. Such characters are in even worse condition than was on Tantalus: because having the good meat hanging up to the nose, they cannot reach it to eat it, and likewise the delicious beverage abundant up to the chin, they cannot lower themselves to drink it: and thus die miserably of all the rage of hunger and thirst alongside their great treasures and fortunes.
I bring these things forward , Sire, not to reproach riches: for they are only good to the good, who know how to use them well: nor also to praise poverty; Codrus, Liberides, Bias, Diogenes, & some other Philosophers have makes a great virtue: because I know very well how the greatest temptation, which can happen to humans to make them stumble into any kind of vice, comes from indigence. And whatever it may be, the most constant and sublime spirits which could flutter up to the highest heaven in honest and virtuous speculations, undertake and carry out great things to a successful conclusion, while remaining humbled and as if completely suppressed: But only I say, in order to awaken the stupidity of those who do not know and do not want to learn the right use of their said riches, firstly for themselves, and secondly for their neighbors according to the commandment of God, who gives them only for this purpose only to whom he pleases.
Now having considered all these things Sire, and since my retirement combined with my studies manual practice, with several beautiful experiences of what God by his immense goodness wanted to put in nature for the service of man, I found among other things the way to make the true potable Gold of the ancients, with preservation of its pure essence, & natural virtue, without introducing any corrosive which is harmful to the human body. And I dare to assure you, Sir, that it is the sovereign medicine, not only able to cure all illnesses: bodily, but also to preserve health, strength & youth for many years, until the last period of human life: & therefore I can truly say, and without hiding such a benefit that it pleased God to part with me, that making an offer to your Majesty of my said potable gold, I give him the most excellent thing that is on earth, as also you are the most excellent earthly King, & worthy of such a present. With this I present to him in all humility a brief speech on the admirable virtues of this potable gold, which I composed while treating the subject: & have voluntarily brought it to light, to try if during your reign & under your flavor Sire, the use of this precious drinking gold liquor can be put back on for the benefit of humans.
I am very assured, that as several learned and virtuous men will find it singularly good, so will there be others, who without judgment, or through some bad intention will refute or condemn it: to whom I also reserve a very ample reply on all the points of philosophy & medicine, which I deduced from my speech, even though I have not made it my main profession until now. And if they want to reprimand me for having placed my sickle in the harvest of others, I answer them now, that everyone must know and know what affects them so closely, such as their life and their death, without colloquiating so much his confidence in those who do not practice medicine except for profit: and under the color of a doctor's title carry out so many experiments with their uncertain science at the risk of men's lives. Reserving, however, the honor of the good who exercise it cordially, with such care as is required to restore health to their sick: for to these I bear and will carry along my life respect and honor, as God has commanded.
by express: knowing very well that medicine together the doctor are created & order from him to provide for the needs of humans. I therefore very humbly beg your Royal Majesty Sire, may it be your good pleasure to receive this mine present with as much affection as I give it as a testimony of my very humble servitude & obedience, praying to God that he preserves her in very perfect health, very happy and very long life, with every increase in honor and greatness. In Lyon this January 15, 1575.
From your Majesty the very humble & very obedient servant & subject Alexandre de la Tourrete.
compound by the Sieur de la Tourrete, formerly President of the General Masters of the Coins of France.
THE SOVEREIGN Eternal & Almighty GOD, who with his single word created the sky, the earth, & the waters, with all animals, plants & minerals, being in them, for the last created man in his image & likeness , as his perfect masterpiece in all sapience, & true knowledge of all that was in nature: furthermore giving him full power & lordship over all creatures, so that he used it for understanding & preservation of its health & long life, until its last period. By means of which the first man thus created, and several of his successors in the first centuries lived healthy and robust for the space of nine hundred, and up to a thousand years. I speak without any sophistry of years as long as ours, which are composed of twelve months, or whatever twelve moons, each moon of thirty days, and each natural day of twenty-four hours: as is proven by the text of holy scripture in several passages from Genesis, & other books both sacred and profane.
These first men, by means of the wisdom they had received from God, knew very well the special virtues & properties of each simple one of the said animals, plants & minerals, which virtues being enclosed deep within their body mass between phlegmatic water and sulphurous earth they found, and very dexterously extracted by chemical art, separating the gross from the subtle, and the pure from the impure: and then used it as things that God had put into their power for the preservation of their health and long life.
This teaches us that to find & extract the virtue of all the simples of the world, being composed of three things in their first matter, as we will say below, they must first decompose, corrupt, & totally deprive of the form that nature gave them: after separating the elements, rectifying them, and again conjoining into a body more perfect and better tempered than it was, and in doing so considering the predominant element, in order to know perfectly the virtue of the thing we want to have, and therefore what use it should be used for.
Because experience clearly shows us that this large mass of the body, which hides in itself, and in its center the vigorous spirit of the thing as said is, prevents it from actually producing its virtue: or at least its own. diminishes so much, that he can only do his very small action, respecting what he does when he is taken out of his prison: and what is worse, the stomach of man works greatly, and in working becomes so debilitated, that it cannot properly digest such a mass of the medicine administered without said chemical separation, being this poor stomach, forced to make up for the negligence of the doctor & the apothecary, who did not know how, or did not want to take the trouble of making said separation by good art. From which it certainly happens, that such medicines as they are commonly administered with their mark without any separation or purification benefit little: and most often harm the sick, by increasing their illnesses, or by generating new ones, after having subtracts natural heat from the stomach, so that they can no longer digest regular meat as well as they should. And consequently if the first digestion of the stomach is not good, the liver, which does the second digestion, cannot find there enough to make good blood, to send and distribute it through the veins to all the other members. from the body. Afterwards, also the kidneys, where the third digestion takes place, do not find the substance necessary for their maintenance to retain it, and thus let everything flow through the urine pipes, which afterwards appears all raw and indigestible, without however considering the real cause of all these bad accidents, which is the one above.
Now to carry out said separation & purification by chemical art, it is required first of all to understand the order that nature has held in the composition of each body, & of what material it is composed: I call body in general any thing which can be seen & touched. The common opinion is that all bodies are composed of the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, but this is not said enough: for who is he who will dare to boast of having ever seen or touched one? of ice pure in its essence?
certainly there is no earth that does not contain fire, nor any fire without air, nor air without water, and then again from the pregnancy of water earth is generated: in such a way that the art of separation cannot bring back each element by itself in its simplicity: but are & always remain in corporeal form, visible & palpable elemental elements, & participants of one another: as long as in each simple one, be it animal, vegetable or mineral, there is a predominant element, which makes its virtue & power known.
So we must go further, and show with the finger and the eye that it is the matter of each body, whether sensitive or insensitive: of what it is composed, how it is preserved in its entirety: and finally as it can be decomposed & corrupted by retrograding the order of nature, to come to said separation. From there also we will not understand what means maintain human life, and the preservation of health: together the restoration after the accidents of all kinds of illnesses, which assail us daily.
Therefore I say for my main maxim, that all bodies are generally exposed to three diverse things, and having their distinct and separate faculties or virtues: which three things being well conjoined and united in right proportion are a temperate body. These three first born things without sulfur, mercury & salt. Sulfur is the oil or resin of the body, which contains within itself the fire of a nourishing & preserving nature of life. Mercury is a simple and pure liquor diffused throughout the body, and the efficient cause of its continuity, which contains in itself the spirit of life. Salt is like the soul, & means of joining together the two extremes of the spirit & the body, namely mercury & sulfur, before still natural properties of coagulating, purging, mondifying, & consequently of preserving the body in incorruptibility: because of which Physicists also call the true balm of nature.
These three, sulfur, mercury, and salt in all bodies are very separable, and after their separation can be touched, seen with the finger and the eye, each distinctly in its essence. A crude example is that we take any animal whatsoever, even one of the plants, such as herbs and trees, putting them in the fire they are soon inflamed: which could not be if they did not contain sulfur of the same igneous quality.
igniting in this way, the mercury escapes and flies away through the air, otherwise it is sometimes retained and collected by artifice. And after the separation of said mercury the body remains destroyed in ash, which is the feces of sulfur, from which ash the salt is drawn by lye, filtration, & evaporation of water until perfect coagulation on the fire, or in the sun , as common salt is made.
The similar, but with greater industry, can be done with all more solid bodies, such as metals and minerals, according to the spagyric art of course, and practiced in the same way.
Holding therefore as constant this principle that all bodies are composed of sulfur, mercury & salt in right proportion, & joined in perfect unity, it follows that health & human life are preserved without any dissolution or alteration for so long and for so long, than these three things. y can remain in such union & temperature. On the contrary, if by some bad accident one of them disbands him, as usually happens by feeding bad meats and bad drinks, or by drinking too much, eating too much, haunting women, and working the body: or by few, as are those who remain, idle, or who lead a sedentary life, working only with the mind without physical exercise: or who endure hunger, cold fears, & other various accidents: In these cases, I say, it follows deterioration of health, and generation of all diseases for the disruption of one of the three, or two, and never of all three together, which are the sulfur, mercury, and salt mentioned above.
Now to know which of these three is altered, consequently the cause of the disease, and this disease itself as it is in its anatomy, it is necessary to presuppose that the sulfur being excessively inflamed goes straight to assault and heat further measures the main interior members, namely the heart, the liver, the kidneys, and the hoop, from which all hot and acute illnesses are generated, such as fevers, pleurisy, plagues, epilepsy, mania, frenzy, etc. which should properly be called sulfur diseases.
The salt coming to dissolve by one of the said accidents generates all the diseases, which are by destruction, such as catharsis, apoplexy, esquinancia, dropsy, stomach flow, dysentery, linteria, diarrhea, etc. In doing so it flows from the body little by little, until in the end all the human blood, and the flesh itself, finding themselves deprived of this salt, which is their natural balm, come to corruption. And from there also arise all the malignant ulcers, both internal and external, polyps, noli me tangere, chancres, wolves, fistulas, together all the six species of leprosy, which lead the whole human body to rot little by little, according to and as the said salt comes to diminish, & fade: by which all these diseases must properly be called salty.
Concerning mercury, it never alters, of its own accord, but when salt or sulfur are altered & corrupted, as is said, they generate poisonous excrement, which nature debilitated by excess cannot expel, & then this mercury receives them inside itself, and is infected by them, then after carrying them throughout the body it discharges them in concave parts, where it makes some stay, such as in the joints, ligaments, artoli, veins, arteries, and bones up to 'to the marrow, from which serious and painful diseases follow, such as smallpox, which I name the first, especially since the nations have given it the name of French disease. Afterwards, all kinds of stones, or stones, gravels and salons both in the kidneys, and in the bladder, and in several other parts of the body: and this with the help of the coagulative spirit which comes from the salt. Likewise all species of tartarous tastes, such as podatgra, gonagris, chiragra, sciatica, and arrethics. And when this venom has taken such possession of said parts, it deprives them of their vital spirits, which are consumed little by little: from which further aridity of the limbs, cooling and freezing of the nerves, with contraction of the limbs in various parts occurs. of the body: all of which diseases are properly called mercurial.
This is what, and how are generated by the kinds of illnesses, which alter health, and prevent men from reaching the right period of their life, accelerating their death through failure to govern themselves well, or to protect themselves from the remedies that God has put into nature both for conservation and also for restoration.
Now if anyone asks, why are such names given to all diseases, namely, sulphurous, salty, and mercurial, according to the distinctions above mentioned: I answer, that it is not only to know them in their true anatomy, with their origin & cause, but also to indicate what the remedies should be, & the nature of the medicines necessary for their cure. In doing so I want to say first of all, that common opinion does not please me in that it is said that all diseases must be cured by their opposite. Namely hot illnesses with cold medications, and cold ones with hot ones, either in this or that degree as you wish: which does not seem at all significant to me: but it is necessary above all to take into account the specific virtues of simple countermeasures. everyone hurts, without regard to whether it is hot or cold, nor in what degree of heat or coldness.
Well, I am of the opinion, and want to affirm, that the good doctor must know not only the quality, but also the degree of the disease: in order to prescribe the appropriate medicine, and which is in the same degree of virtue and power for conquer, or at the very least equal the evil, and strive the offended nature, which afterwards will very well do its duty to expel its opposite: and always try to invigorate and preserve itself without any fault. Such virtuous medicines which are neither hot nor cold, but temperate and friendly to nature are found in quint essences very dexterously drawn from each simple one, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral according to the specific virtues, which nature has given to each one particularly.
Moreover, we see every day the unfortunate success of this common way of medicating hot illnesses with cold medicines, and cold ones with hot ones, both being contrary to human nature: what, however, it is not necessary to give great wonder: because by means of such contrariety which entered the disease and the medicine, when it is taken in the body, and the two come to join in the combat like two strong and powerful enemies, it does not can do otherwise, so that the body does not suffer greatly: and so that most often it cannot sustain such a hard fight, and does not know which one to join, it being both, namely the disease and the medicine, opposites & completely enemies. Thus victory remains for evil most often. And if sometimes a medicine helps against the disease, yes, it leaves the body so debilitated and exhausted from this fight, that for a long time afterwards it cannot be used: as daily experience shows. demonstrates to us.
It therefore seems to be the best, and much more expedient, that we must administer medicines to each species of disease by its specific or appropriate counterpart: as sulfur is for sulphurous diseases: salts for salty diseases, and mercury for mercurial diseases. I hear of the sulfurs, salts & mercuries of nature extracted from their bodies, & well rectified by the spagyric art: although the common sulfurs, salt & mercury being duly prepared can also be used there: because in doing so such medicines, which are contrary only to the said diseases, & friendly to human bodies for the similarity & convenience they have with the things of which the said bodies are composed, having to fight only evil, and favored by the body their friend, will be able to promise an easier and happy victory against evil, which once being hot outside, such medicines will remain there united with their sulfur counterparts, bodily salt & mercury, having previously purged them of all their poisonous excrement, & put them back together in good agreement. And in doing so will also restore to them their first virtues & natural powers.
The question is to find such drugs so perfect and excellent, to carry out the operations mentioned above. Whereupon I boldly affirm, that they can be found, and drawn with industry from each body, whether animal, vegetable or mineral, since thus it is, that they are all composed according to our first very certain maxim & true: however more quickly of some than of others, & of greater efficiency, & more prompt operation of some than not of others, according to the degree of their excellence: for it must be noted, that so much more is a body of nature solid, fixed, & difficult to corrupt, all the more it is of long duration, & thus more perfect excels above all others, which are of less duration. The proof of this is notorious to those who recognize nature, and the different degrees of metallic things, and animal and vegetable things, which are the least in solidity, fixation and date, consequently also in virtues and powers.
By this we can understand the excellence of this very noble & very precious metal King of all others, which is gold in its purity, son of the sun, composed in its first material of sulfur, mercury, & pure salt, & clean, so well united in its parts, & so fixed, that it fears neither fire nor water, nor any other enemy which could destroy it, or cut off its course of life as long as this world can last: & being so temperate, that it can rightly be called a most excellent masterpiece of all nature, which is under the firmament.
We could therefore not choose better than this precious solar metal to obtain from it the very powerful medicines, not only to preserve the person in very perfect health and long life, but also to restore it when it is impaired . of diseases by various accidents, as I have deduced above.
What very well known were the wise men not only of the first century, who preserved their lives in good health for several hundred, and up to a thousand years, but also many of those who lived since the flood, like Hermes the great called Trismegistus, that is to say three times wise, because he was the first in this renewed world to have true knowledge of all animal, vegetable and mineral nature: Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle among the most excellent philosophers of their time: Solomon King of the Hebrews: Calid King of the Egyptians, & Geber King of the Arabs: Roman Morien: Albat the great Eueque of Ratisponne, with several other ancient wise men, & among the moderns who have lived for one hundred or six twenty years , Raimond Lulle Majorican: master Arnaud de Villeneuve very excellent Neapolitan doctor: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, & Gorge Ripley all three English religious Bernard Count of Trier: Hulderic Estinger German knight, who preserved his health for more than a hundred years to the Emperor Frederick, father of Maximilian: & for the last this great Philosopher Theophrastus Paracelsus Helvetian, who deserved to be placed in the first row, as being true Monarch of all philosophy & medicine, both this true theoretical one, as well as in good practice, & very certain experiences, having cured in his time all the diseases, which academic doctors still consider today to be incurable, such as rot, caduc, dropsy, all kinds of gouts, podagra, & other deplored diseases: from which are ample for the Lords of Nuremberg, at whose requisition he cured twelve ladres presented to him publicly, when the doctors of the said city by study wanted to have him expelled. And likewise the Lords of Salzburg, who had an epitaph erected for him after his death written and engraved in a stone against the wall of the church of S. Sébastien, the content of which I wanted to insert here to refresh the memory of this great virtuous character.
Conditur hic Philippus Theophrastus insignis medicineae doctor: who will say illa vulnera, lepram, podagram, hydropisim, aliag, insanablia corporis contagiia mirisica arte sustulit: ac bona sua in pauperes distribuenda callocandag, ordinavit. Anno MD XL I. Die xxiiij Septembris vitam, cum morte commutavit.
But returning to our subject concerning the excellent virtues of gold, I do not want to deny that other metals are also endowed with admirable virtues both for conservation and for restoration: knowing very well that everyone has their own specific virtue to serve the seven principal interior members of the human body: namely gold in the heart, silver in the brain, mercury in the liver, tin in the lungs, lead in the spleen, copper in the kidneys, & iron to gall. No less virtue is found in several other metals, such as all kinds of marcasites, salts, vitriol, sulfur. Several precious stones, such as rubies, emeralds, sapphires & others also approach these virtues: such as pearls, coral, celestial manna, together several animals & plants, without forgetting the precious antimony, which although it is included under the genus of Marcassites, this nevertheless deserves to be commemorated particularly because nature has endowed him with so many excellent and admirable virtues, that he almost deserves to be held in the rank of the now, for the view of medicine, being prepared as it belongs: for then its pure essence has virtue & power of its predestination or natural property to refine the gold of man, which is the heart, by separating & expelling from it all impurities, neither more nor less than we see by this same antimony refining the gold ore by separating from its essence all the impure mixtures which it held from other imperfect metals. However, I say that gold alone is the universal medicine to be used for everything, that the other metals & minerals, together animals & plants are each particularly appropriate for its specific virtue.
The ancient Philosophers, who we call Poets, knew this very well, when they wrote Apollo to be the god of medicine, that is to say the help of the sick, and the medicine itself to cure humans of all kinds. their illnesses. His son Aesculapius was also considered the first and most excellent physician in the world. This same god Apollo is still called Phoebus, and the clear sun illuminating all this great world.
Now I ask, what did they want to signify to us under their poetic figures, other than that gold (which is Apollo, & clear Phoebus) contains in itself the universal medicine to cure all illnesses, & illuminate all the world? inside the small world, who is the human body? And by Aesculapius his son have signified to us the good doctor, who has this gold prepared in such a way, that it can communicate and incorporate with the said human body, in order to illuminate it with clear rays, and produce its effects in it. so virtuous, salutary & helpful against all illnesses.
On this subject the Philosophers are still in agreement, that there is nothing begotten in the earth, which does not have its begetting father in heaven, as it is so, that God the creator of all has first created the sky, with all its beautiful exercise of the stars and planets, producing their influences on all terrestrial bodies according to and as it pleased the divine majesty to order: by which let us say, that gold being the most important thing perfect who finds it among all the insensible bodies of the earth, is the true and legitimate son begotten of the celestial sun, which is also the most perfect creature of the sky.
Concerning human bodies, it is approved by all, without doubt, that the Stars and man generate man: for which reason man, without a doubt, is subject to the influences of the good or bad stars, considering him as a physical body only. what I say for good reason, so that no one excuses himself from his sin, casting the guilt on his Star, if he is a thief, a murderer, a scoundrel, or some other tainted vice: for it is written, that the a wise man will have dominion over the stars, so as not to make himself subject to their malignant influences. By the wise man I mean the one who is regenerated by the spirit of God into new life keeping his commandments, with perfect faith, & confidence of achieving eternal life under the sign of Jesus Christ our Lord & captain.
Therefore considering man as a physical body generated in part from the stars, it is not without cause that he is called microcosm, or small world, containing in itself by similarity everything that is contained in the big world: even the seven planets, which are the seven main interior members: namely the heart, the brain, the liver, the lung, the spleen, the cute ones, & the gall: which have dominion over the whole body in this little world: all so as the seven planets Sol, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, & Mars have dominion over all the creatures of the great world.
These seven celestial planets have also left their names as if by a right of inheritance to the seven metals of the earth their true and legitimate children: namely the Sun to gold: the Moon to silver: Mercury to Quicksilver: Jupiter in pewter: Saturn in lead: Venus in copper: & Mars in iron: & with the names have printed their virtues & powers.
From these things we learn firstly to know the metallic diseases, with their origin, when none of the interior members of man is sick: & secondly from which we must draw their specific medicines more soon, & of greater virtue: which is without any doubt of the seven metals mentioned above, and of each of them being appropriate to its illness: as for heart disease one must take the medicine of gold: for diseases of the brain the medicine of silver: for those of the liver the medicine of quicksilver: to those of the lungs the medicine of tin: to those of the spleen the medicine of lead: to those of the kidneys the medicine of copper: & to those of gall the medicine of iron. However, given that gold is the only perfect containing in itself the virtues of all the others, it is to it alone that we can surely resort to, to find more rapid and virtuous help against all said illnesses. And this is the main purpose for which God created & gave to humans this very noble & precious metal: & not to serve their avarice through usury & plunder, nor to pride & vain glory through too curious adornments of their persons.
Now is the difficulty in preparing this gold to extract from it the virtuous universal medicine. For those err greatly, who with all the bodily mass as it is, boil it in their soups or beverages: because they cannot draw any substance from it, being its body of such compact & fixed nature, that fire, even as violent as it may be, cannot diminish it, or subtract anything from what it has received from the benefit of nature: less therefore can all the waters, nor other things with which it is boiled. or soak. And as for those who administer it in powder, filings, and subtle leaves in restaurens, pills, and cerops, as is their so esteemed preparation of alkermes, they err doubly, not thinking of that, that the natural heat of the man is less than sufficient to digest it: because it cannot corrupt what the external fire can in no way destroy: so much so that this gold thus taken in powder, or in sheet not being able to communicate to the human body is expelled outside, and is found in the commode just such that it was taken by the mouth, without any reduction in its weight or its substance, and consequently benefits nothing from it: but on the contrary, if the expulsive faculty of man is found stupid, this gold thus swallowed remains piled up in the stomach, which is greatly burdened and aggravated. Or else, in the event that nature finds itself so lively, that it can do it, I do not say resolution, but only some weakening of its parts, however this is less than sufficient to make it communicable to the heart and the blood: by thus it always leaves with the excrement: and what's worse, passing through the intestines it encrusted them and browned them from within: by means of which the pores were choked, and the natural functions of both the stomach and of the said intestines: from which certainly arise more diseases, than have ever thought by all those who administer it, nor those who take it thus crudely.
It is therefore necessary, by necessity, that the said gold be prepared & enhanced with another kind, namely by reduction into its first material: which is mercury, sulfur & salt; in such a way that, being taken by the mouth, it can easily, and without giving any work to the stomach, communicate, unite and incorporate with the similar mercury, sulfur and salt of man: which are the true matter of its composition, as well as all other sensitive insensitive bodies.
However, we must be careful that in this preparation no corrosive venom enters, which could advance rather than prolong the days of man: but we must only help with cordial and friendly things, nature. What we have found by a special grace of God are the spirits of certain animals and plants, which are the most familiar to the nature of man: such as those which can be extracted by chemical art from the Janus plant , & the manna of flowers (admirable secret of nature) by means of which such excellent minds have brought this gold (otherwise deemed indomitable) back to its first material of mercury, sulfur & salt distinct & separated, visible & palpable. In doing so we also found the three ways of drinking gold adjoining what the above named Paracelsus left us in writing in his book of cure & healing: contracted members, with few words: but in great mysteries, which it is not possible to understand except through experiences.
He therefore says that we call gold potable, when with other spirits and liqueurs it is reduced to a substance that can be drunk: and that the dose of it is of a scruple each time.
The second way is, when after its separated solvents it is reduced in the form of aureus oil in its sole substance without addition of anything whatsoever: & of this the dose must not exceed the pitch of ten grains of barley for the , more.
The third is called the fifth essence of gold, when its red tincture is extracted from it, and separated from its body: in which tincture it is said to consist the principal virtue and active vigor of it: by which the dose is ordered, only three grains at a time.
There is another and fourth way much more excellent than all these three, of which he does not speak in said book of contractures, but in several of his other books: namely in his book of Tinctura Phisicorum, in his Pyrophilia, to the book De spiritibus planetarun, second & third books De vira longa: in which fourth way a single small grain can cause sudden transmutation, not only of imperfect metals, but also of human bodies altered by any disease whatsoever, by purging the 'one & the other of all their garbage & impurities. He who can find it can well be assured of the favor and grace of God, who does not give it at all times, nor to all those who seek it: but only to whom, and when he pleases: in order to use it well & wisely to his honor, & for the benefit of his neighbor in true charity.
Concerning this, that Paracelsus in his said book of contractures orders to take this potable Gold according to the said doses three times a day: in the morning, at noon & in the evening: he means, for those who are sick, and even for the healing of the said contractures: not for healthy people who only want to preserve: & protect against bad accidents to come: because for these it will be enough to take it only once a day in the morning, whether they were already well advance on the age: & to the youngest only once in the week: or in the month who wants to tend to savings: although it can only make very great profit to the one, who has the means to use it every day: & this without any distinction of time, nor of people because of sexes, ages & complexions: whatever difference there may be from one to the other: for the reasons that we can collect approved testimonies, which I would like to bring here by declaring more fully the very powerful virtues & properties of this holy gold drink.
Among the most excellent ancient philosophers, Geber King of Arabia, dealing with the excellence of gold, wrote, he offers a soothing medicine, preserving the human body in a long and vigorous youth. The reason is very natural: because all things rejoice with their fellows. But it is true that gold, being the true son of the sun which illuminates this whole great world, does not recognize anything similar to it, such as the human heart, which is our interior sun, and inks the seven principal members of the microcosm the most excellent, just as is the sun among the seven planets of this great world. We also see how this excellent gold by its natural property attracts the heart of everyone who sees it, and desires it, even to small children who do not yet have knowledge or use of reason. And I remember seeing some of them still at the breast, who knew very well how to discern and choose a gold coin between several new brass tokens, shiny like gold itself.
By which we should not be amazed that gold naturally withdraws straight to the heart of man to rejoice him like his fellow man, and by rejoicing him chases behind him all sadness: which clouds the air of our body, just as the air of this great world is often sometimes obsessed with black clouds and vapors emerging from the melancholy earth, which prevent us from the luminous and pleasant irradiation of the great celestial sun. And consequently the sadness expelled, and the joy introduced into the heart of man, which communicates it to all the other interior members, just as the great sun communicates its clarity to all the other planets of the sky, it well escape, that this joy rejoicing everywhere the body of man, even on the outside (as it knows itself in the face of each one) cannot fail, that it does not represent the most beautiful person, younger, & in every way better disposed, than she would be without such joy: And thus prevents, or at least delays for a long time the coming of this wrinkled & deformed old age.
Master Arnauld de Villeneuve also a great philosopher & very excellent doctor of his time, in his book De conservanda iuventute, & retardanda senectute, after having in the first chapter extolled on all the things of this world the well-prepared gold, then later in the second he says thus: And it is to be known, that the renovation & comfort of the skin of man is done by using potable gold properly: because it is the one, which cures all leprosy, transmutes the human body, purifies & renews it . There are several other things whose virtue approaches this operation: but it is the said potable gold, which performs these miracles without being corrupted: and which is suitable for the human complexion: because it neither heats nor cools: it neither moistens nor dries up: but is tempered by all temperament, & exceeding anything else in the temperance & perenniality it has. Also it gives help to the cold stomach: makes the timid bold: comforts the hearty, is good against melancholy, comforts & tempers the natural heat: which things there is nothing that can hold its place: Its virtue is manifest in its substance.
And because there is clarity in him, he clarifies: also because there is great temperance, he makes a great temper on everything: and especially since in him there is great perpetuity, he preserves the human body : also because there is similarity to the human complexion, it is incorporated being prepared as it belongs: but in its preparation lies all the secret, which has been hidden from it for fear of envy.
Moreover, it confirms & rectifies the substance of the heart: & by the impression of its purity drives out all impurity from it, & guarantees it: it clarifies the substance of the spirits: & moves the blood down to the skin, inducing youthful beauty : & cleans very gently. More in the third chapter of the same book is thus written: And as for other things which with a single equal temperament heat and moisten, there is wine, which is of temperate complexion. The pearl is likewise temperate, tempering & comforting the natural heat: it benefits the hearty, & the timid: & cleanly clarifies the blood of the heart: from which I have seen some liquefy: & from these several illnesses have been cured: but what has no equal is the salt of the sun's mine: which being prepared, the wise have compared it to the heat of a healthy adolescence: and for such similarity they have used it, calling it animal stone . Others called it mineral cipher: and some perpetual medicine, and the water of life. And the whole industry of its preparation is, that it is reduced into very pure & drinkable water with things, which cannot foreign its natural property.
Here are the own words of this great doctor from Villeneuve faithfully translated from his Latin into our French. Whoever wants to know more particularly the infinite virtues of this precious liquor & substance of gold, let him read the books of good ancient & modern authors: & above all, those of this great monarch of all philosophy & medicine Theophrastus Paracelsus, who has cured a thousand and a thousand people of all the most desperate illnesses that can be named: & from whom I ingenuously confess having learned the most of what I know in the philosophy & medicine: having devoted myself at all and for a long time to reading his books: because I found his theory that in everything & everywhere so well founded on reason, & on the light of nature, joined several beautiful experiences that I have made of it, and seen certain excellent people do it by following its practice, that I was forced to adhere to it: without however derogating from the honor and authority of these other great and learned doctors who are read & taught in academies: like Hypocras, Dioscorides, Galen, Avicenna, Mesué, Rasis & others, most of whom I also read & reread quite attentively: & on the whole making a resolution I am convinced, that 'being true medicine first derived from heaven, God makes it known not to all those who bear the name and title of doctor, but only to those who please him: and blesses the labors of those who want to exercise it for the salvation of his neighbor in true charity: & not for ambition, or for avarice. To the King of Kings, immortal, invisible, and one God, be honor and glory to all forever. Amen.
FINISHED A VERY ILLUSTRATED AND VERY EXCELLENT Prince Monseigneur Jaques de Savoie, Duke of Nemours & de Genevois salute, with every increase in honor & greatness.
MONSIEUR, having spent the past few days composing a brief speech on the excellent and admirable virtues of potable Gold, to which I have occasionally treated the principal foundations of medicine, the origin of all diseases, and of which we must take the medicines best suited to their cure: with a dedicatory epistle to the King our Lord, I could not restrain the ardor half pen, that she did not want to draw another small treatise entitled, Apology of the noble & very useful science of Alchemy, both against those who blame or condemn it, as well as against the forgers, deceivers & thieves who abuse it.
The subject that I have taken in both treatises seems to me so nice, and with that of such great importance, that it would well deserve to be better dilated: and covered with other flowers more beautiful, that they could not grow for yet in my garden. However, having neither seen nor heard, that any other of our time has come forward to write about it: & having convinced myself, that it was great need now without further delay, to make known to the good and virtuous the pipery & deception of the evil ones, & profaners of holy things, I did not want to keep hidden any longer this little talent, that it pleased the Sovereign God to deprive me of his benign grace: being my main intention in all my writings, to help restore true medicine to its ancient splendor: especially since it was first given to us from heaven, both for the preservation and also for the restoration of our health.
It is very true that it has not been my main profession in the past: but I cannot deny that from my youth I have always loved it: & curiously sought out all the best books, to study there in my solitude: and with this try by all honest means to approach the most learned people, that I have been able to know, to communicate familiarly with them, both about medicine, and about other parts of philosophy: in order to learn always something from them: or to confirm my judgment on what I had learned by reading books. I also spare no effort or expense in carrying out several and various manual experiments. And how many times I have failed in many things (not, however, at the cost or damage of others) if that is what I have no occasion to repent of it: because my recognized errors have taught me more than all the books: and have opened the way for me in this race, where I have given career to my mind to reach until the end, through the help & favor of God, from whom Peul comes every good & perfect gift.
Now Monseigneur, especially since it has sometimes pleased you to communicate with me on any particularities of this science of Alchemy: which you love, like all other kind and virtuous things, without stopping at the judgment of the vulgar ignorant, who despise, just as the swine condemns the beautiful and precious daisies, I thought that your excellency would not take with disdain this little present, which I make to him of my Apology above-mentioned, which immediately follows my speech on Potable Gold. And this as a testimony of the good will, which I have to do you another better, & more useful service to the place, that your excellency, will judge me to be suitable, & worthy to receive your commands. In Lyon this January 15, 1575.
From your excellency the very humble & very obedient servant Alexandre de la Tourrete.
APOLOGY OF THE NOBLE AND VERY USEFUL science of Alchemy, both against those who blame and condemn it, as well as against the forgers, thieves, and deceivers who abuse it: composed by the Sieur de la Tourrete, formerly President in the Court of Generals coins of France.
It is always the characteristic of the ignorant not only to condemn, but also to openly blame things they do not know. And the greatest misfortune is when men reputed to be learned adhere to the judgment of the vulgar, customarily false and reckless: without wanting to take the trouble to examine things more closely, in order to be able to discern good from bad, and the truth from with lying: what to do all good and virtuous minds must continually exercise. The noble science of Alchemy serves as a good example in this: because among all the sciences formerly invented, and which are in use for the good and service of man, there is not one so useful , like that of Alchemy, nevertheless everyone blames it, and mocks it as the greatest madness in the world. And I, on the contrary, holding it for a divine science, firmly believe that it is one of the greatest benefits after the immortality of the soul, that God has conferred on humans: because by means of this science (which does not does not work without the company of my very honored lady Philosophy) we can know the admirable virtues, which God has placed in all the sensitive & insensitive bodies of the earth, animals, plants & minerals: of what they can be of use to man both for the conservation, as well as for the restoration of one's health: the proper place in which these virtues are enclosed in each body: & the means of extracting them, to have them in their pure & clear essences: for the purpose that their actions & operations cannot be prevented by phlegm and earth, between which these virtues are enclosed as in a dark prison: so much so that we can rightly consider someone totally unworthy of the name and title of doctor who does not have the complete & perfect knowledge of this noble science of Alchemy, to serve the effects mentioned above.
Some call it chemical art, others spagyric: & the operators of this spagyric: name invented by Theophrastus Paracelsus, who created the most excellent spagyrist, or alchemist, who was every one since Hermes Trismegistus until our time: as well as his newly found & brought to light books demonstrate this. As for me, I am happy to name this science by the name more common to everyone, namely alchemy: & to make the ignorant understand what beast it is, I will begin with its definition.
Alchemy therefore is a science, which teaches to separate the elements of each compost produced by nature: & to collect them dexterously each in its own vessel. Otherwise, Alchemy is an art, which shows the means of separating the subtle from the gross, the pure from the impure: & of extracting from each natural compost its pure & clear essence, in which lies all the virtue of this compost. Or it can be defined as follows: Alchemy is a science, by which we learn to know the first matter of all the bodies of the world, whether animal, vegetable or mineral: & how nature proceeded in procreating & perfecting them until their last matter: & also how we must proceed to undo them by retrograding the order of this nature, if we want to see their first matter ocularly: in what doing we truly find, that it is three things without more or less: namely, sulfur, mercury, & salt visible & palpable each in its corporeal essence, after they are separated from the compost by means of this science.
O that these three beautiful definitions, all tending to a single goal, should suffice for all learned and most excellent minds, who have never heard of, nor seen the books of this science, to move them to love and honor it, if they want to think a little deeply about the consequence, & the great profit & utility, that they could well bring back by practicing it.
The operations of this science are multiple: & different from each other: & nevertheless all tending towards the same goal, & at the point of its definition: which I reduce & understand to the number of seven namely calcination, putrefaction, dissolution, distillation , coagulation, sublimation, & fixation.
The main instrument of all these operations is fire, which is also multiple, and of various degrees: which I similarly reduce into four main ones: the first of which is the fire of dung, or of the bain-marie, suitable for putrefaction, & dissolutions : as also in the distillations of mercurial liqueurs. The second is the ash fire hotter than the first, suitable for coagulations: as well as for the distillations of any fatty and oily liquors. The third is the fire of sand even hotter than the second: & suitable for sublimations, & fixations, as also for the distillations of any more tenacious liquors, & adhering with the other parts of the compost: as are the minerals, especially the metallic. And the quarter is the fire of flame with clean wood, or of calidissime live coal, on which being placed the vessel the reverberations, calcinations, & incinerations of each compost take place.
And it must be understood that each of these four fires must be reduced by other successive degrees according to the requirements of the compost, and of the thing that we want to remove from it: like the fire of the bain-marie has three degrees. The first is, when the vessel containing the compost is exposed to the smoke of heated water: the second, when said vessel is immersed in said bath of hot water without boiling: & the third, when with greater fire the We boil the water in the said bath. Thus the other three fires can be graduated: namely ash, sand, and coal: both by the vents and dampers of the skillfully made furnaces, and also by the quantity of coal, and wood that is put in by the right people. measurements: or by the number of wicks by making lamp lights according to the requirement of the compost, which we want to treat.
He who understands well all these external fires, and with this will not ignore the fire of nature as it is inside the compost, and how one can excite, invigorate, and address the other, will truly deserve the name of philosopher: & will be able to bring to a successful end the most excellent things in the world.
Now to understand more particularly the said alchemical operations, I come to the first, which is calcination: especially since we must start there, which wants to achieve good separation of the parts in all solid & fixed composts, such as the metallic: & say that calcination was found for two causes: the first is, in order to deprive the compost of its accidental humidity, or superfluous phlegm, & dispose it for other operations: same solution: after which (& not otherwise ) the separation of the elementary parts of said compost can be done. The second cause is to remove & consume the impure & corrupting combustible sulfur, which is said compost, not yet being brought to its perfection by nature.
This might seem strange to many, who have no knowledge of the art: when I say, that solid and fixed bodies must be calcined, and in doing so strip them of their accidental humor to prepare them for solution: because at the same time On the contrary (they will say) it is humor that should be the cause and means of the said solution: and therefore it would be better to keep it. But to clarify this doubt, I say with all our masters in philosophy, that there are two humidities in each body, one is accidental, which we reject as useless phlegm: and the other internal & radical containing in itself the spirit of life, & giving said body its form & essence: which second humidity is not separated by the calcination of the body, such is their strong union: but does open the pores of said body to receive another external humidity, which will make the said solution according to the intelligence of the good operator.
It is true that after this solution is made we can still deprive this body of its radical humor by the work of separation of the elements: in such a way that the said body will then remain afterwards as ashes, or dead earth, which we let's properly call the work of incineration. And therefore it is necessary to note here the difference, which is very great between calcination & incineration: because in calcination the compost does not lose any part of its form, as we have already said: so that it can always be reduced to its continued body: even purer than it was before: but upon incineration the compost is entirely destroyed, & deprived of its form, having lost its radical humor, or mercurial liquor, which was the cause of its continuity, & conservation of his said form: so much so that after this incineration he can never again be reduced to a body, thus as he was before. Several operators have failed not to have heard this difference, which is of great importance and very remarkable.
The second operation, which is putrefaction, the main key to all science, has been taught to us by nature: for already, let all its desire, work & diligence be, only to preserve the routes of your species through new generations & multiplications, however it cannot do anything without the previous putrefaction. What is likewise taught to us by this great philosopher Jesus Christ our savior saying, that if the grain of wheat thrown on the earth comes to die and rot, therefore (and not otherwise) it will bring fruit in abundance. Thus all good alchemists must work well after this putrefaction on all things, and first than to proceed further in their undertakings of something other than this: otherwise they will never make a good separation of the elemental parts of their compost: and consequently never will find the virtue of it: even fewer will make it capable of making new generation, or multiplication either in quantity, or in virtue, by any other means that they can treat it.
The third operation, which is dissolution, follows the previous one: and is carried out in two diametrically opposed kinds. One in the heat, and the other in the cold: each of them nevertheless being accompanied by external humidity. Hot & humid dissolution is done in a water bath, or in manure, as we deduced above. And that which is cold and humid, is done in wells, or fountains, and in cellars, or other underground places, according to the requirements of each compost.
The fourth operation, which is distillation, is similarly carried out in two contrary kinds. As for that which is done in the heat, we have already said enough speaking of the degrees of the external fire. And as for the other which is done in the cold, that is to say without fire, the way of making hypocras distilling with a sheet of cloth is known to everyone. But there is another more subtle and better method, which is, by putting pieces of cloth cut in the shape of tongues by screw end in the vessel, which contains the solution: & the other end hanging from the vessel prepared to receive the distillation , which is called filtration: & must be repeated until we have our liquor very clear, pure, & cleaned of all feces & garbage: which is the main cause why we invented this work of distillation: how much that there is another cause for the view of the distillations which are made by the hot fire, which as the more times are reiterated, the stronger are the liquors thus rectified. Being a notorious thing, that external fire not only excites, but also increases & multiplies the natural fire enclosed in the compost of anything whatsoever. After having separated and expelled from him all his superfluous and useless phlegm.
The fifth operation, called coagulation, is done by dry fire, not however violent: but very graceful & gentle, which is invigorated by degrees according to the requirements of the compost, with conservation of the radical humid one: which otherwise could be exhaled being excited & chased by intemperate fire, & administered without measure or means: thus his body would remain burned & spoiled. All in all, whoever wants to eat good bread and good meat must have patience for it to be cooked by a measured fire, as it belongs.
The sixth operation, which is sublimation, must also be done by dry fire, graduated from six to six hours: initially small, in order to evaporate the superfluous humidity from the compost: & finally very large & violent, to extract the essence out of its feces, and it rises separately and above said feces: which sublimation must be reiterated so many times, that it is pure, clear & transparent. This is why we invented this operation of sublimation which is not properly suited except for spiritual bodies: like quicksilver, sulfur, arsenic, armonia salt, & the like: in order to remove from them on the one hand their superfluous phlegm, together with their impure sulfurs & combustibles, which evaporate & consume by this sublimation being well done & reiterated several times; on the other hand their starchy soils remain at the bottom with the feces: and the medium substance, which is sublimated in the vessel, is the pure and true essence of the compost.
The seventh and last operation, which is fixation, in which I understand the work of reverberation, requires fire of the last and extreme degree: and was invented to make true consolidation of the parts of the compost: in order to make it firm and constant at the battle of fire, which is the whole test of the perfection of bodies: and even of metallic ones: as also to give them weight, & fixed color: first in naive whiteness, & finally in perfect redness: which is the last color, to which this fire tries to bring all things which resist it, and remain enduring with it. Therefore I understand in this operation of fixation the two operations of dealbation & rubification, of which several Philosophers have made other distinct and separate chapters, to achieve the perfection of the physical tincture.
Besides this, they have made another chapter for the last of their work, which is called the operation of ceration, or indeed cibation & fermentation: which has been found for two principal purposes. One is to give their medicine good liquation or fusion: so that it can enter & penetrate into impure & diseased bodies, to heal them, purify & cleanse them of all their filth: this is the true transmutation & improvement not only imperfect metallic bodies, but also human bodies altered by illness, to bring them back to perfection & health. the other end of ceration & cibation is, to multiply said medicine in quantity: & similarly in virtue, according to whether the operator knows how to properly dispose & conduct his work: wishing to warn him well, that this ceration cannot be done without adding humidity to his compost, after he has dried it well by the work of fixation: and that this humidity must be taken from the root itself, and not from any strange thing in said compost: this little word said as if in passing is enough. to all good listeners.
I know well, that no one is very learned; & who think of approaching the white of this science of Alchemy, will say, that all these operations recited by me & declared above are not necessary for the composition of the physical tincture, which is commonly called the philosopher's stone: or whatever it is, that they must not be manual: by this (they say) that there is only one material, a single vessel, & a single furnace: & which after having housed the said material in its vessel own well closed, and this one collocated on a suitable fire, it must no longer be touched: but leave it to nature: just like the virile semen once enclosed in the womb of the woman requires no other artifice or help, than the natural heat of the maternal womb, for the procreation of a child until its birth.
Because all the ancient philosophers affirmed the true composition of this stone, or physical tincture, must resemble in every way the procreation of man. As for me, especially since I have not yet attempted such a lofty thing, I will refrain from talking about it further for this hour: except that it seems to me, and I am certain, that art can greatly help to nature, both to complete its intentions and desires in all things, as also to shorten the long time, which this working nature alone requires, to bring them to an end. What several of the said philosophers, both ancient and modern, have heard and practiced very well: and in particular the great Theophrastus Paracelsus, as he very intelligibly teaches to children of philosophy in his Apocalypse of Hermes:
Also my main intention only tends to show how useful and necessary the noble science of Alchemy is for medicine serving the restoration and conservation of human health: since by this science we are instructed, the means how it We must prepare all the simple ones, which we want to use, by purifying them and stripping them of their superfluous phlegm, together with their starchy soils, which prevent them from producing their vigorous actions.
Although many bearing the name & title of doctors think they do not have to do all this: because metallic minerals, & others are not used by them: but only plants: & even more so the overseas ones, only those, who are growing in our regions beyond. I will gladly ask them why they are so affectionate with these ultramarines: seeing that we find similar specific virtues, and of such a high degree in several of our well-chosen simple ones on this side: and that we can recover them all recent, and pure without no sophistication: instead of the ultramarines, or the majority of them coming from so far away, after they have reached us, they find themselves old, moldy, rotten and worn out from the navy, & from the cart: or otherwise confused & sophisticated by the avarice of merchants, who sell them to our ignorant grocers & apothecaries.
Of which all the most excellent doctors, who have treated the matter of the simple, have complained: like Dioscorides, Pliny, Theophrastus, Galen, Oribasius, Ruellius, Marcellus: and among the moderns Fuchsius, Brasavolus, Manardus, & Mathioly, who are greatly formalized. However, as it is difficult to abolish an old custom, or to applaud the vulgar who take nothing so much as what comes from far away, and is very expensive, our doctors for the most part are bound to the so-called simple ultramarines such which, I hardly say unknown: by neglecting ours on this side, which are not endowed with lesser virtues is all things: as I could easily make appear by particular experiences.
I know well that for any answer they will cite to me the authorities of ancient doctors of medicine: and I will reply to them that these doctors, who were almost all Greeks or Arabs, had no knowledge of our regions, nor of several simple ones who grow there: & even fewer unschoolers, or their complexions: neither diseases reigning in our said regions: and that consequently their rules & canons, medicines & recipes do not suit us, just as by chance they could then suit men, & the diseases of their regions good with what God was so good & pitiful towards all humans, that sending them to each region its particular illnesses, he has provided its own remedies: & given virtues to its simple or growing animals, plants & minerals, to cure them perfectly.
In addition, these ancient Greek and Arab doctors, who based a large part of their medicine on simple plants from their regions, considered their virtues and properties according to whether they found them in those that were fresh and recently picked. But we cannot have such ones on this side, which are not at all dry: otherwise rotten and spoiled. Now is it very true that a good part of the said plants somewhere that they can grow both here and beyond the sea being dry do not have such virtues as the recent ones: but all contrary: as if the recent ones are laxative, on the contrary the dry ones are restrictive: as is well known to good physicists, who have experienced their virtues in both ways.
And if all these reasons are not enough for those, who are thus at all attached to overseas drugs and medicines: I would still like to ask them, how they let so many sick people die, who have put themselves between their hands? It is clear why they cannot cure ladreries, dropsy, apoplexy, paralysis, contractions of limbs, deciduous disease, quartan fevers, hectics, podagra, gonagra, chiragra, arthritic, sciatica, & other illnesses, which they repute to be perpetual & incurable: They will be able to respond to this with the good man Accurse glossator of Roman laws: Graecum est, ideo non legitur.
And I say that our sovereign God by his goodness has given to humans the very certain, clean and suitable means & remedies against all kinds of diseases, which can assail them, in whatever region: but their ignorance on the one hand, with their incredulity on the other hand is the cause, that they know nothing about these diseases, nor about the medicines necessary to cure them: in which the uncertainty of their science is clearly revealed, being based only on the simple dead letter: & not about natural light, which has its physical reasons, & ocular demonstrations by true & certain experiences. At the very least they should have thought, since the diseases named above are of such a high degree, that they cannot be cured by ultramarine plants, nor others, nor by roots, seeds, fruits, gums, & terms proceeding from these, that we must therefore look elsewhere for medicines of a higher degree: & such that they can overcome, or at least equal, the degree of the said diseases deemed by them to be incurable.
So I want to teach those; who do not know it, what the human body is called (as it really is) seen as a small world containing the four elements: & that each of them does its office in it, just as they do in this great world. Because the earth produces its animal, vegetable & mineral crescents: pure & clear water from its source by an infinite number of rivers & streams flowing to the end of each member of the body waters them, nourishes & makes them grow . The serene and beautiful air strengthens them and maintains them in all joy. And the friendly fire digests them and ripens into a sweet and tasty substance. But if the land is not properly cultivated, if the rivers and streams dry up due to drought, or overflow due to floods, if the air thickens into black clouds and fetid vapors: likewise if the fire comes to debilitate, or increase too much: as all these excesses ordinarily occur through our fault, & bad behavior: then I say, it is necessarily necessary, that all the croissants enclosed in this little world suffer from it: & each one corrupts itself according to what it has been affected, & infected by the bad weather & malice of his element.
In addition, we must understand how the sky has seven main planets dominating the others: & the earth has seven metals more solid than all its other minerals: similarly to the human body there are seven main members dominating over the whole body: namely the heart symbolizing with the sun of the sky, & the metal of the gold of the earth: the brain with the moon of the sky, the silver of the earth: the liver with the mercury of the sky, & the quick silver of the earth , the lung with the Jupiter of the sky, & the tin of the earth: the spleen with the Saturn of the sky, & the lead of the earth: the kidneys with Venus of the sky, & the copper of the earth: & the gall with Mars of the sky, & iron of the earth.
Which symbolization, or natural relationship does not come from anything else, except that the said metals of both man and earth are derived, generated, governed & conducted by these celestial planets respectively. Which is the cause why all philosophers have agreed to this opinion, that the stars & man generate man: & that this low earth, like a fertile mother, conceives & produces only the cherries, that it pleases the heaven the father of generating everything in it: and those produced on earth, this father has the care of nourishing and maintaining them, as he does, of his own substance.
It follows therefore, that the said principal interior members of man can be properly called metallic: as also their diseases are called metallic in general, and each of them in particular by the name of the corporeal metal, which is affected & sick. By which we can also understand, that the most immediate and suitable remedy must be sought, and extracted from its similar earthly metal, and this by means of this noble science of alchemy. This is why I wanted to touch on the points of the main operations of this technique, as very necessary for all those who want to practice medicine with dignity, both for the interior and also for the exterior of human bodies: not wanting to however, deny, but on the contrary affirm, that these great virtues are not confined only to metals, but also that several other minerals equal them, or at least approach them very closely: such as the essences of antimony, pearls , corals, robins, emeralds, hyacinths, sapphires, garnets, crystal & others, which each have its specific property, to help not only the said seven main interior members, but also all the rest of the human bodies, more than the will not know how to say or write.
But, say many, such medicines made from metallic and mineral essences are very violent, because of their hot qualities: however, they are greatly mistaken in this, making no difference from medicines, which are taken by mouth, and those which are taken by mouth. apply externally: for these truly require medications graded according to the degree of the illnesses: & do not persuade yourself, that with a sprig of parsley we can cure these old malignant ulcers, fistulas, wolves, cankers , polyps, noli metangere, or others similar. And as for internal medicines, because I do not approve of anything so much as the pure essences of minerals, I want to say, and it is a true thing, that their quintessential essences, very dexterously drawn, are sweet and benign, not being hot nor cold, but tempered by all good and just temperament: because of which also their natural virtue they bring to the right temperature everything that they find out of order in the first three of the composition of man: which are mercury, sulfur, & salt: after having separated and driven out all their impurities, & poisonous excrement, which we call peccant matter.
It is true that the wise doctor must administer them in measured doses taking into account the complexion of the patient: the quality and the degree of his illness: because the weight of three or four small grains of a good straight metallic essence, will do too much better operation, than three cartloads of ultramarine plants, nor others, could do: and without working the stomach in any way, nor doing violence to any of the interior members: but rather will be able to comfort them, and invigorate in all points the nature of the man: I speak of what I know: & bear certain testimony to what I have seen through several beautiful experiences. And whoever wants to study in this noble science, when and how to put his hand to the dough, if he is called to do so by God, will not be able to fail to find the truth of it: & more before than I have said for the present .
Now returning to the subject of our science of Alchemy, several philosophers have tormented themselves to find out who was the first inventor & operator of it.
Some have said that it was a Philosopher named Alchimus, from whom the name Alchemy came. Others say with very apparent reasons, that it was Adam the first man created by God on the sixth and last day of his operation, and in his image and likeness: to whom man God the creator gave from then on true and perfect knowledge of all things of the world, which he had created five days previously: with full power and lordship over them, to use them for the preservation of his being, and his posterity. They also say that after the universal flood Noah found this science among the other liberal arts, which the wisest elders of the first century had inlaid into two pillars, one of wood, the other of stone: & those planted in the valley of Hebron, to serve those of the other future century: which is the one in which we still live now by the grace of God.
As for my opinion, taking from above the origin of this noble science: I believe that this same great God creator of the universe was the first, and the most excellent Alchemist, who was, nor ever will be. For as we read in the books of holy writing, having entered from the beginning only a confused matter, which we call chaos, he drew from it the four elements, and these separated from each other. : collocating each in its own vessel by its divine Alchemy. The first is the sky, which contains fire in the highest place, as the most excellent: & at the concave of it is the air: then the water: & finally the earth, which makes the center of the three surrounding it , each in its order neither more nor less than the yolk of an egg makes the earth & the center: being surrounded by mucus, which is water: & this mucus surrounded by a skin, which represents air: & for the last it is the shell of the egg, which represents the surrounding sky & containing in its concave the other three distinctly separated, & collocated each in its place, & its own vessel: & this in such a way, that they no longer think of themselves as intermingling, nor putting them back into this confused mass, where they were from the beginning: just as they cannot undertake one on the dignity of the other: being divided, & forced to remain separated each in its own place, thus which we have shown by the example of the egg: which even if it is turned & rolled on whatever side we want, if it is true, that the yolk always remains in the center: & does not in any way intermingle with the mucus: nor the said mucus with the skin: which is still separately covered with a shell containing the whole, so as said is. This is how this very excellent Alchemist, God the creator, treated this gross bodily mass, separating the subtle from the gross, the pure from the impure:
Besides this, did he not perform another beautiful operation of Alchemy by separating day from night, and light from darkness? Do we not see his other alchemical operations on a daily basis? as are the putrefactions & dissolutions of all seeds after they are thrown into the earth to make new generation of their species. And likewise the beautiful distillations by rain and dew, which make the said seeds emerge and grow. Sublimations by attraction of fetid vapors, and never so abundant, that they could submerge, or otherwise spoil the crescents of this earth. The decoctions, coagulations, & fixations which are made by several & different degrees of its alchemical fire, until all the raw fruits in said earth are reduced to perfect maturity ready to collect: & then also we find there the true multiplication of all these fruits greatly sufficient for our sustenance; Otherwise, it only passes on that we wish to make good use of everything, with thanksgiving to his divine majesty.
I will say further, that God ordinarily does in us (who are his little world) several other operations of Alchemy no less excellent & admirable than those he does in this big world. Because first of all, so soon as the virile seed in the form of clear & white water is enclosed in its own vessel, which is the feminine womb, it begins to work there with the work of putrefaction: from which follows the dissolution, which disposes the compost to the separation of its elements: & after separation made both of useless phlegm and of terrestrial feces by the distillation work, it comes to the coagulation of the pure parts of said compost. In which we see an admirable beginning of transmutation.
For what was at the beginning in the form of clear & white water, finds itself transmuted into a mass of solid & rubicund flesh, which the Latins call Embrionem: & then on this mass of flesh another marvelous work of alchemy is made: because it divides and separates into several parts that maintain themselves in a whole: like the head, the arms, the legs with all the rest of the body: and in this one several other members distinct from each other, each having its own particular office, & collocated each in its own place without any confusion. After that, through the work of conjunction this great operator joins blade & the spirit with this body: & then passes it through the work of fixation: so that the union of these three becomes stronger & indissoluble. Afterwards there follows cation, by which this body animated & vivified by the spirit increases & multiplies in quantity, & in virtue from day to day, until, being the first compost brought to the end claimed by various operations of this great Alchemist our God, finally he comes to draw out of his maternal vessel in the form of a beautiful and perfect child. We see more clearly the excellent transmutation that he makes, converting the pure milk into flesh, bone and blood, with which this child is nourished for a long time: and in the same way he makes bread in us, which we eat, and wine that we drink every day.
Do we not yet see how he continually exercises within us all these beautiful operations of Alchemy, always beginning at putrefaction to come to the other works of solution, distillation, & separation: and all in the same furnace: not in one single vessel, but in several, & by varying degrees of fire: because in the stomach takes place the first putrefaction of the meats, which we take for our nourishment, with separation of the gross & the subtle, the pure & the impure: in doing so the large impure, which is the sulfurous excrement, is returned to the intestines, which take their necessary nourishment from it, and reject the surplus, and expel it outside: but the pure and subtle of the universal nutrient, which is a juice called hylos by the Greeks, or chilus by the Latins, from the stomach goes to the liver, which makes another digestion, and separation to better refine it: and from the finest and subtlest it makes the blood pure and clean, from which it nourishes itself: and similarly nourishes its companions all the other members of the body, sending to each its congruous portion through the veins of the said body, which make its messengers and diligent posts: the rest is sent back to the kidneys, which make a third putrefaction & separation, retaining the best for themselves: and moreover, which is urine & the excrement of gall, they give leave to go to the bladder through its own channels, until the expulsive virtue meets there to expel him outside.
We also see, as this very excellent alchemist our good God built his oven (which is the body of man) with such a beautiful and clean structure, that there is nothing to complain about: with its vents and necessary registers: such as the mouth, nose, ears, eyes; in order to maintain a moderate heat in this oven, and its continuous fire, airy, clear, and well regulated to carry out all its alchemical operations. And as for this purpose he collocated in this oven three beautiful distinct vessels and separated by a very beautiful arrangement. The first of which is the head: which contains the brain, & in it all the senses of man: from which brain also come the nerves, which bind & maintain all the members of the body: & administer to it the faculties of movement & feeling .
The second vessel is the stomach, which contains the very first and principal member of the whole body: and from this heart proceed the arteries, which have it as small pipes in which the vital spirits are carried, as if by way of distillation. in & by all parts of said body. This second vessel also contains the air needed to maintain the alchemistic fire: with its bellows, which are the lungs on both sides of the heart, to preserve its heat, and nevertheless refrigerate it very gently, preserving it from combustion when said fire would be out of control by some excess. The third vessel is the stomach: which contains the liver, the progenitor of all human blood: & from which the liver proceeds the veins, which are other pipes through which this blood is distilled & conducted to the extremities of all the members of the body, to nourish & substantiate each of them: & in doing so administer natural forces to them. And although in these three main vessels various operations are carried out, nevertheless the whole tends only to one end: which is to bring and maintain this body in perfection of health, and long life: with virtue and power to multiply its species infinitely until the consumption of the world.
We can also see that these three vessels communicate in good harmony, serving each other the best things that are contained in them. For the liver contained in the belly, and which is the butler, or dispenser of the whole body, sends through certain proper channels the nutrient, which is necessary to the brain: as also it makes the nutrient necessary to the heart through the great vein, which carries the blood to the right side of it: & from there pierces to the middle of the said heart, where this blood becomes more refined: & so much so that the more subtle pierces further, & having reached the left side is converted into vital spirits: with which the arteries are filled, which take their source & birth from the same left side of said heart: & from there crawl through all parts of the body, as we have already said above, It comes out another vein, which we call arterial in the right side of this heart: which carries to the lung the blood necessary for its nourishment. And from the left side strong the venal artery: by which this heart receives the air from the lungs, which is necessary for it both to refrigerate its heat, as also to attract the useless vapors, which are born with the vital spirits: in order to elevate them , & taken out of the body through the vein, or guttural cane.
By this harmony of such body members, and by means of the good help that one gives to the other, the body remains healthy and perfect, endowed with four varnishes or main faculties: knowledge is the attractive, retentive, immutative , & expulsive: by which each member attracts to itself the nutrient it needs: having attracted it retains it: retaining it it converts & mutates it into its substance: & what is superfluous, it expels it outside.
Furthermore, we see how the entire human body contains the shape and figure of a very beautiful still, and suitable for all alchemical operations. Because the rest serves as a chapel: & the surplus of the said body is like a cucurbit containing the matter, from which this sovereign alchemist carries out his operations. And between the cucurbit and the chapel there is the neck so well joined to both, that nothing can exhale out of the vessel and get lost. Same especially since in this pass there are two distinct and separate passages: one is the throat cane for the passage of spirits, and air coming from the lungs. And the other is the mouth for the passage of eating and drinking, which goes down to the ventricle for the body's nutrients: all by a very beautiful order.
In short, whoever would like to discuss in detail all the beautiful alchemical operations, which our God ordinarily carries out in his large and small worlds, he could make a very large book of great doctrine:
It is very true that when all these beautiful alchemistic operations are carried out in human bodies, of which we have spoken above, there often occur grau of faults and errors: not through the fault of the rad operator, who had singularly well-disposed all things necessary for its work: but the fault never comes from the poorly built or poorly maintained oven: formerly sealed vessels, or poorly marked: & most often from poorly administered fire without order or measure, to sometimes be too big, sometimes too small: all through the guilt of the valet, under whose charge these things were committed and neglected. This is where the illnesses that occur to us daily come from.
And in conclusion I say again this time, that there is no science in the world (after holy theology) which is so necessary, nor so useful to humans, as is this noble science of Alchemy: to which I invite all kind and virtuous spirits, who have before their eyes the fear of God, the love of their neighbor, and their honor as a good recommendation to everyone. On condition however, that they will reject far away all procedures and sophistic recipes, invented in addition, and against the order of nature: and that they will no longer allow themselves to be abused or deceived by a bunch of ignorant and seducers, who will circulate the world to sell their false recipes for white & red: either by freezing & fixing amalgams of mercury: fixings & tinctures of the moon: dealbations of Venus: mining or perfect works that some say they have on Jupiter, others on Saturn, & several on antimony, or on other marcasites: with all their multiplications of a third, or a half, which do nothing, only all abuses, falsehoods & deceptions: because everywhere these means never exist there will be no true transmutation or improvement of metals imperfect in substance: nor likewise in color, which is permanent on fire in the tests of gold or silver: as with the cup, or with strong water, with cement , or antimony.
And although some alteration may be made to the metallic bodies to withstand the first test: however, at the second or third everything will go up in smoke through the air. Because for all truth, there is no dye which is fixed & permanent, nor which is sufficient to remove & confirm the impurities of metals, except that of stone, or physical dye: which must be composed of homogeneous matter : & from the own seed of nature, without the addition of any strange thing: as the good philosophers testify: who all unanimously agree on the maxim, that all individuals of base nature, without anyone except, each have their own own seed to preserve, propagate & multiply their species in infinite number until the consumption of the world. So much so that to make gold one must not look for the seed elsewhere than in the gold itself. What Augurel said in his Chrysopée very elegantly in few words: In gold (he said) are the seeds of gold. And soon after. This seed is a spirit enclosed & bound in a large mass of bodies, like in a prison: which only requires the hand of the good artist to untie it, & set it free: in order to be able to show its royal virtues & strengths, that nature has bestowed on him above all the other metals of the earth his brothers Puisnais: to whom he desires to do good:
And therefore wise & well-advised men will now be able to discover by means of our present instruction & warning all the abuses of these deceivers: & know clearly their error & ignorance: firstly in that they do not operate from due matter: & know that it is from this seed: nor from the first matter of which nature has composed, and daily composes each of the species, to make new generations and multiplications.
Secondly because they do not follow the true operations of this science, such as we have declared them above, with their order: which must not be omitted, perverted or prepotent in any way: for in this order lies all the secret: and who will have ears to hear, if he hears it.
With this we must always constantly adhere to this other maxim dependent on the previous one: namely that art is not otherwise the chambermaid, & the help of nature, to shorten time by fulfilling its desires: which always tend to perfection & propagation of its composts. For this reason those who undertake to make this stone, or physical tincture, must diligently observe this principle, which we have here wanted to reveal: so that no one is deceived, or allows themselves to be deceived from now on: which is not to put there any heterogeneous or strange thing of nature: otherwise they will find themselves deceived.
And don't believe me who doesn't want to: but whoever gets started indiscreetly, will only bring back all the trouble and damage: I assure you, as well experienced for thirty years, that I first knew of these circulators: used time, & spent a lot of money to experiment with their recipes: where I did not find a single truth as to the true metallic transmutation: nor of their multiplications: except for the few times, which I saw, as with my gold & my silver they had very well known how to multiply theirs by finesse & deception: of which I no longer want to indict anyone other than myself, & my reckless credulity: which was then based on their beautiful, ample words promises, & affirmations by large & narrow ferments. Also the end of such seducers is the gallows: as if by a righteous judgment of God.
Because after they have blown and formed false coins, not finding a master of money, nor a goldsmith who will give them money, they use them to forge false money. And this is why on the occasion of the wicked such a noble science has been vilified. But as we must not take a strong example of evil in order to follow it, so we must not condemn the abuses of evil people, and even less condemn good and holy things. Now blessed be the name of this great immortal God, who gives knowledge of the truth not only of this beautiful science of Alchemy, but also of all others to those he pleases. Amen.
Omnia probate, quod bonum fuerit tenete. Paulus I. ad Thessal. cap. ultimo.
END
Quote of the Day
“unlesse you change the bodies into no bodies, and the nobodies againe into bodies, you are not come yet to the right art, for the body becomes first an aqua Mercury incorporal and afterwards the Water and the Spirit in the changing and so both become one body; some also say change the natures quite and cleane and you will finde what you seeke; and that's true, for we make of that which is grosse a subtle and quick thing, and of a body we make water, and of that which is moist we make a dry thing, of the water we make the earth, and thus wee change the true natures and make of that which is corporall a spirituall thing and of a Spirituall a corporall thing, and wee make that which is above like that which is below, and that which is below like that which is above, the Spirit is turned to a body, and the body to a Spirit; and therefore its said in the beginning, the Word was a Spirit, and that word the Spirit was with God, that is with himselfe, and God was that word, he himself was the Spirit, and the word the Spirit was made flesh, the Spirit has assumed the true body, and so that above became true as that below, the Spirit has become a mettallick in the body, and that which was below, that is, the body, is become mettallicke with the Spirit”
Arnold de Villa Nova
Chymicall treatise of the Ancient and highly illuminated Philosopher
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