COLLECTION OF WORKS RELATING
TO
HERMETIC SCIENCES

FIVE TREATIES ON ALCHEMY BY THE GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS PARACELSUS, ALBERT THE GREAT, ROGER BACON, RAYMOND LULLE, ARNOLD, DE VILLENEUVE

TRANSLATED FROM LATIN INTO FRENCH By ALBERT POISSON PRECEDED BY THE EMERALD TABLE,
FOLLOWED BY A GLOSSARY

CHACORNAC LIBRARY
11 Quai Saint-Michel, Paris
1890

PREFACE

Current sciences are the daughters of mysterious sciences whose origins are lost in the mists of time, alchemy is the mother of chemistry, astrology preceded astronomy, at the base of mathematics we find the cabala and qualitative geometry, in principle history merges with mythology, medicine was taught to men by a god.

We only know a science well when we know its history. From the mother idea which founded science to the present day, what incessant efforts, what gropings! We profit from the work of our predecessors, carelessly, without thinking of the enormous amount of physical and intellectual labor that they expended to pave this path for us. Many have worn out their lives, spent their fortune, renounced pleasures and honors for the love of science. How many died martyrs affirming until the last breath the eternal truth!

It is Roger Bacon, persecuted all his life by ignorant monks, it is the learned Hypatia stoned by the populace of Akxandria, it is Averroës thrown into prison, then exiled, for having put forward ideas contrary to the Koran, it is it is Bernard the Trévisan reviled and tormented by his parents furious at seeing him spend his fortune on alchemical research, it is Denis Zachaire murdered by his cousin to whom he had refused to reveal the secret of the philosopher's stone, it is Cardan, poor all his life and dying of grief, they are Perrot and Paracelsus, ending their careers on a hospital bed, they are Bernard Palissy and Borri who died in prison.

Doing justice to these great men by bringing their work back to light, by bringing them to life in their works, this has been our goal. However, their works have become rare, only large libraries could provide researchers with sufficient documents, but we know how difficult it is to obtain permission to work in a public library. On the other hand, forming a private collection is very expensive and requires time and patience; we often only find the work we want after several years of research; finally, most of these treatises are written in barbaric Latin, in an obscure style that is very tiring to read. All these reasons prompted us to publish these translations.

We took the most important treatises, four out of five are translated for the first time into French.

As for the translation, it is as exact as possible, obscure passages are rendered word for word; we endeavored to give the sentence the turn it has in the text. Finally, the treatises are preceded by a biographical notice and a bibliographic index.

We end with a piece of advice: to read this book without being prepared for it is to risk not understanding it, so we would do well first to read: “Alchemy and the Alchemists” by Mr. Louis Figuier or : “the Origins of Alchemy” by M. Berthelot. For people who do not have the time to read these two works, here is in a few months what Alchemy is: “It is,” says Pernety, “the art of working with nature on bodies to perfect them. » The main goal of this science is the preparation of a compound: the philosopher's stone, having the property of transmuting metals, molten into gold or silver. The raw material of the philosopher's stone is the Mercury of the philosophers. It is given the property of transmuting by making it undergo various operations, during which it changes color three times: from black, it becomes white, then red. White, it constitutes the white elixir or small stone, which changes metals into silver. Red, it constitutes medicine or red elixir or large stone which changes metals into gold.

Albert Poisson

---

1. Emerald Table - Hermes Trismegistus
2. Semita Semite, The Path of the Path - Arnold de Villa Nova
3. The Clavicle - Raymond Lulle
4. Mirror of Alchemy - Roger Bacon
5. Thesaurus Thesaururum Alchimistorum, The Treasure of the Treasures of the Alchemists - Paracelsus
6. The Compound of Compounds - Albert the Great
7. Glossary

---

FIVE TREATIES ON ALGIIIMIA
BY THE GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS
PARACELSUS, ALBERT THE GREAT, ROGER BACON. R. LULLE, ARN. DE VILLENEUVE
NOTICE ON THE EMERALD TABLE OF HERMÈS

The Emerald Table of Hermes Trismegistus, the Egyptian Thaut, is the cornerstone of alchemy. Philosophers cite it all the time, so it is important to know this document.

It is found in all the important collections of Hermetic treatises: theatrum chimicum, Bibliotheca chemica mangeli, Bibliotheca contracta Albinei, Salmon's Library of Alchemical Philosophers, etc. The following translation is that of Salmon's Library of Alchemical Philosophers revised and corrected according to the Latin text which is at the head of the Bibliotheca chemica contracta Albinei.

---

EMERALD TABLE

It is true, without falsehood, certain and very true. What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, to perform the miracles of one thing. And just as all things came out of one thing by the thought of One, so all things came into being from this thing by adaptation.

His father is the Sun, his mother is the Moon, the wind carried him in her womb; the earth is its nurse. This is the father of all the Thelema of the Universe. His power is boundless on earth.

You will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the thick, gently, with great industry. He ascends from earth to heaven, and immediately descends to earth, and he gathers the force of higher and lower things.

Thus you will have all the glory of the world, therefore all darkness will depart from you. It is the strong force of all force, for it will overcome every subtle thing and penetrate every solid thing. This is how the world was created. This is the source of admirable adaptations indicated here. This is why I was called Hermes Trismegistus,

What I have said about the operation of the sun is complete.

---

ARNOLDI DE VILLANOVA SEMITA SEMITE
THE PATH OF ARNAULD DE VILLENEUVE'S

WAY BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE ON ARNAULD-DE VILLENEUVE

Arnauld de Villeneuve was born around 1245 in France, as attested by Symphorianus Campegius and Joseph de Haitze. As for the precise place of his birth, it is uncertain. He studied dead languages ​​in Aix, medicine in Montpellier. He came to Paris to improve his skills; popular rumor accusing him of necromancy and alchemy, he fled to Montpellier, where he was soon named professor, then regent. In 1755, his house was still shown in Montpellier with a lion and a snake biting its tail carved on the facade. The thirst for learning took him to Spain, he taught alchemy for a time in Barcelona (1286) and learned Arabic. He then visited the famous universities of Italy: Bologna, Palermo, Florence. He returns to Paris, but his heretical proposals, having aroused the theologians against him, he prudently fled to Sicily, where Frederick II took him under his protection. Pope Clement V reached the stone, summoned Arnauld de Villeneuve to him, with the promise of forgiveness. Arnauld embarked for France (the popes were then sitting in Avignon).

But in sight of Genoa he died, his body was buried in this city (1313). His friends and disciples were Raymond Llle and Pierre d'Apono. Main works: Rosariam philosophorum, de Lapide philosophorum, Novum lumen, Flos florum, Semita semitœ. Speculum alchemy, from Sublimatione Mercurii, Epislola ad Roberlum Regern, Testamentum novum. All these treatises can be found in the editions of his complete works: Opera Omnia Arnoldi by Villanova, vol. folio. Lyons (1520). Idem (1532). Basel (1595). Argentinoe (1613).

Notice on the Semita semitœ: the Path of the Path. This treatise is, with few passages, identical to: Flos florum. It is found in: 1° the Complete Works of Arnauld de Villeneuve; 2° De Alchimia Opuscula complura veterum philosophorum. Francofurti (1550, in.4°).

It is on this text that the present translation was made. 3° Bibliotheca chemica Mangeti, Coloniœ Allobrogum, 2 vols. in-folio, 1702. Volume 1, page 702. This treatise is translated for the first time into French.

SEMITA SEMITE THE PATH OF THE PATH

Here begins the Path, of the Path, a short, brief, succinct treatise, useful to those who understand it. Skilled researchers will find there a part of the Plant Stone that the other Philosophers have carefully hidden.

Venerable Father, piously lend me your ear. Learn that Mercury (1) is the cooked sperm of all metals; imperfect sperm when it comes out of the earth, because of a certain sulphurous heat. Depending on its degree of sulfurization, it generates the various metals in the heart of the earth. There is therefore only one raw material of metals, depending on a more or less strong natural action, depending on the degree of cooking, it takes different forms. All Philosophers agree on this point. Here is the demonstration: Each thing is made up of the elements into which it can be broken down. Let us cite an example that is impossible to deny and easy to understand: ice, with the help of heat, resolves into water, so it is water. Now all metals resolve into Mercury; therefore this Mercury is the raw material of all metals. I will further teach how to effect this transmutation, thus destroying the opinion of those who claim that the form of metals cannot be changed. They would be right if we could not reduce metals to their raw material, but I will show that this reduction into raw material is easy and that transmutation is possible and feasible. For everything that is born, everything that grows, multiplies according to its kind, including trees, people, and herbs. One seed can produce a thousand other seeds. So it is possible to multiply things infinitely. From the above, anyone who analyzes things will see that if the Philosophers bet in an obscure way, they at least told the truth. They said in fact that our Stone has a soul, a body and a spirit, which is true. They compared his imperfect body to the body, because it is without power of itself; They called Water a vital spirit, because it gives to the body, imperfect in itself and inert, the life which it did not have before and because it perfects its form. They called the ferment soul, because as we will see later, it also gave life to the imperfect body, it perfects it and changes it into its own nature. the life he didn't have before and perfecting his form. They called the ferment soul, because as we will see later, it also gave life to the imperfect body, it perfects it and changes it into its own nature. the life he didn't have before and perfecting his form. They called the ferment soul, because as we will see later, it also gave life to the imperfect body, it perfects it and changes it into its own nature.

The philosopher says: “Change natures and you will find what you are looking for. " This is true. For in our magisterium we first draw the subtle from the thick, the spirit from the body, and finally the dry from the humid, that is to say the earth from the Water, this is how we change natures; what was below we put above, so that the spirit becomes body, then the body becomes spirit. Philosophers still say that we make our Stone from a single thing and with a single vessel; And they are right. All our teaching is drawn from our Water and is done with it. It dissolves the metals themselves, but it is not by changing into the water of the cloud, as the ignorant believe. It calcines and reduces to earth. She transforms bodies into ashes, she cremates, whitens and cleans, according to what Morien says: “Azoth and fire cleanse Brass, that is to say, wash it and completely remove its blackness. » Brass is an impure body, azoth is quicksilver.

Our Water unites different bodies together, if they have been prepared as just said; this union is such that neither fire nor any other force can separate them by the combustion of their igneous principle. This transmutation subtilizes the bodies, but this is not the vulgar sublimation of the simple-minded, of people without experience, for whom to sublimate is to elevate. These people take calcined bodies, mix them with sublimable spirits, that is to say mercury, arsenic, sulfur etc., and they sublimate everything using strong heat.

The charred bodies are carried away by the spirits and they say they are sublimated. But what is their disappointment when they find impure bodies with their spirits more impure than before! Our sublimation does not consist of elevating; the sublimation of the Philosophers is an operation which makes something vile and corrupted (by the earth) into something purer. Likewise when we commonly say: So-and-so has been elevated to the Episcopate... by “elevated” we mean that he has been exalted and placed in a more honorable position. Likewise we say that bodies have changed their nature, that is to say that they have been exalted, that their essence is devalued and purer; we therefore see that sublimating is the same thing as purifying; This is what our Water does.

This is how we should understand our philosophical sublimation about which many have been mistaken. Now, our Water mortifies, illuminates, cleanses and vivifies; it first causes black colors to appear during the mortification of the body, then come numerous and varied colors, and finally whiteness. In the mixture of Water and the ferment of the body, that is to say of the prepared body, an infinity of colors appear.

This is how our Magisterium is drawn from one, is made with one, and it is composed of four and three are in one.

Learn again, Venerable Father, that philosophers have multiplied the names of the Mixed Stone to better hide it. They said that it is corporeal and spiritual, and they did not lie, the Sages will understand. For it has a spirit and a body; the body is spiritual only in the solution and the spirit has become corporeal through its union with the body. Some call it ferment, others Brass.

Morien says: “The science of our Magisterium is comparable in every way to the procreation of man. First, coitus. Second, the design. Third, imbibition. Fourth, birth. Fifth, nutrition or diet.” I will explain these words to you. Our sperm which is Mercury, unites with the earth, that is to say with the imperfect body, also called Mother Earth (the earth being the mother of all elements). This is what we mean by coitus.

Then when the earth has retained a little Mercury within itself, we say that there is conception. When we say that the male acts on the female, we must mean that Mercury acts on the earth.

After the addition of Water, that is to say Mercury, the earth grows and increases by whitening, we then say that there is imbibition. Then the ferment coagulates, that is to say it joins the imperfect body, prepared as has been said, until its color and appearance are uniform, this is birth, because 'at this moment our Stone appears that the Philosophers have called: the King, as it is said in the Peat “Honor our King coming out of the fire, crowned with a golden diadem; obey him until he reaches the age of perfection, nourish him until he is grown up. His father is the Sun, his mother is the Moon; the Moon is the imperfect body. The Sun is the perfect body. »

Fifth and last comes nutrition, the more it is fed, the more it grows. Now, he feeds on his milk, that is to say, on the sperm which engendered him in the beginning. It is therefore necessary to imbibe with Mercury, until he has drunk two parts, or more if necessary.

NOW FOLLOWS PRACTICE.

Now let's move on to practice, as I announced above. And first all bodies must be brought back to raw matter to make transmutation possible. Here I will demonstrate to you everything that was said above. I therefore beg you, O my son, not to disdain my Practice, because in it our entire Magisterium is hidden, as I saw it there in my occult faith.

Take a pound of Gold, reduce it to very bright filings, mix it with four parts of our purified Water, grinding it and incorporating it with a little salt and vinegar, until the whole be amalgamated. The gold having therefore been well amalgamated, put it in a large quantity of Water of Life, that is to say Mercury and put it all in the Urinal on our purified center; keep a very slow fire underneath for a whole day; then let it cool, and when it is cold, take the water and everything that is with it, filter through a linen cloth, until the liquid part has passed through the cloth. Put aside what will remain on the linen, collect it and having put it in a new quantity of Holy Water in the same vase as above, heat it for a whole day, then filter as before. Repeat in this way until the whole body is converted into Water, that is to say into the raw material which is our Water.

This done, take all this Water, put it in a glass vase and cook over a slow fire until you see blackness appearing on its surface; you will remove the black particles skillfully. Continue until the whole body is changed into pure land. The more times you repeat this operation, the better it will be. Bake then, removing the darkness, until the darkness has disappeared, and the Water, that is to say our Mercury, appears bright. Then you will have Earth and Water.

Then take all this earth, that is to say, the darkness that you have collected; put it in a glass vessel, pour Holy Water over it, so that nothing exceeds the surface of the water, nothing floats; and heat over low heat for ten days; then crushed and put in new water; anneal the soil thus coagulated and thickened without adding water. Finally, cook over high heat, always in the same vessel, until the earth becomes white and shiny. Having therefore whitened and coagulated our earth, take the Water of Life which has been thickened with the help of a slight heat by the coagulated earth, cook it over a violent fire in a good cucurbit equipped with its capital, until all the water in the mixture has passed into the container and the calcined earth remains in the cucurbit. Then take three parts for four of a ferment, that is to say, if you took a pound of the imperfect body or of gold, you will take three pounds of ferment, that is to say of Sun or moon.

You will first have to dissolve this ferment, reduce it to earth and repeat, in a word, the same operations as for the imperfect body. Then only you will unite them, you will soak them with the Water which has passed into the container, and you will cook for three days or more. Soak again, anneal and repeat this operation until these two bodies remain united, that is to say become one. You will weigh. Their color will not have changed. Then you will pour on them the Water already named, little by little, until they absorb no more. In this union of bodies, the Spirit is incorporated into them and as they have been purified, it changes into their own nature. This is how the germ is transformed in purified bodies, which would not have happened before because of their grossness and impurities. The spirit grows in them, it increases and multiplies.

RECAPITULATION.

Now, venerable Father, I will return to what I have said by applying it to the preparations of the ancient Philosophers and to their teachings which are so obscure, so incomprehensible. However, weigh the words of the Philosophers, you will understand and you will admit that they spoke the truth.

The first word of our Magisterium or of the Work is the reduction of Mercury (the body), that is to say the reduction of copper or another metal into Mercury. This is what Philosophers call the solution, which is the foundation of Art, as Franciscus said: "If you do not dissolve bodies, you work in vain." It is this solution of which Parmenides speaks in the Philosophers' Peat. Hearing the word solution, the ignorant immediately think of the Water of the clouds. But if they had read our books, if they had understood them, they would know that our Water is permanent, and that separated from its body it therefore becomes immutable. Therefore the solution of the Philosophers is not the Water of the cloud, but it is the conversion of bodies into Water from which they were first procreated, that is to say, into Mercury. Likewise the ice changes into the water which first gave birth to it.

Behold, therefore, by the grace of God you know the first element which is Water and the reduction of this same body into first matter.

The second word is “What is done with the earth”. This is what the Philosophers said. “Water comes out of the earth. » You will thus have the second element which is earth.

The third word of the Philosophers is the purification of the Stone. Morien says on this subject:

“This Water putrefies and purifies itself with the earth, etc. » The Philosopher says: “Unite the dry with the humid; Now, the dry is the earth, the wet is the Water.” You will already have the Water and the earth in itself and the earth whitened with the Water. The fourth saying is that Water can evaporate through sublimation or ascension. It becomes aerial again by separating from the earth with which it was previously coagulated and joined; and thus you will have Earth, Air and Water. This is what the Philosopher says in the Peat: “Whiten it and sublimate it with a high heat until a spirit escapes which is Mercury. This is why it is called the bird of Hermes and the chicken of Hermogenes. » You will find at the bottom a charred earth, it is an igneous force, that is to say of an igneous nature.

You will therefore have the four elements, earth, fire and this calcined earth which is the powder of which Morien speaks: “Do not despise the powder which is at the bottom because it is in a low place. It is the earth of the body, it is your sperm and in it is the crowning of the Work." Then with the above-mentioned earth put the ferment, this ferment that the Philosophers call the soul: and here is why: likewise that the body of man is nothing without its soul, in the same way the dead earth or filthy body is nothing without ferment, that is to say without its soul.

For the ferment prepares the imperfect body, changes it into its own nature as has been said. There are no other ferments than the Sun and the Moon, these two neighboring planets being similar in their natural properties. This is what made Morien say: “If you do not wash, if you do not whiten the filthy body and if you do not give it a soul, you will have done nothing for the Magisterium. The spirit is then united with the soul and the body, it rejoices with them and becomes fixed. The water changes, and what was thick becomes subtle. »

Here is what Astanus says in the Philosophers' Peat: "The spirit only joins the bodies when the latter have been perfectly purified of their impurities... In this union the greatest miracles appear" because all imaginable colors are shown then and the imperfect body takes, according to Barsen, the color of the ferment, while the ferment itself remains unaltered.

O Father full of piety, may God increase in you the spirit of intelligence so that you weigh well what I am about to say: the elements can only be generated by their own sperm. Now this sperm is Mercury. Consider man who can only be generated by sperm, plants which can only be born from seed, as many as are necessary for generation and growth.

There are some who, believing they are doing the best, sublimate Mercury, fix it, unite it with other bodies, and yet they find nothing. Here's why: a sperm cannot change, it remains as it was; and it only produces its effect when it is carried into the woman's womb. This is why the Philosopher Mechardus says:

“If our Stone is not placed in the womb of the female, in order to be nourished there, it will not increase.

O my Father, here you are, according to your desire, in possession of the Philosophers' Stone. Glory to God.

Here ends the little treatise by Arnauld de Villeneuve, given to my Pope, Benedict XI, in the year 1303.

1. Mercury with a capital letter will always indicate the Mercury of the philosophers.

---

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON RAYMOND LULLE

Raymond Lulle was born in Palma on the island of Majorca in 1235. His father, seneschal of James I of Aragon, intended him for a career in arms. R. Lulle's youth was turbulent and licentious, marriage did not modify his behavior, but following a violent love affair which ended in an unfortunate manner, he renounced the world and afterwards; having divided his possessions between his children, he retired into solitude. It was then that he formed the project of converting the infidels, this would be the great idea to which he would devote his entire life. To learn Arabic, he buys a Muslim slave, but the latter, having guessed his master's goal, tries to assassinate him. Barely recovered, Raymond Lulle founded a monastery where Arabic was taught and missionaries were trained. Then he traveled across Europe, addressing popes, kings and emperors, asking some for their moral authority and others for financial assistance to make his work bear fruit. It was during these wanderings that he came into contact in Paris with Arnauld de Villeneuve and Duns Scotus. He visits Spain, Italy, France, Austria. Putting his example to his word, he went twice to Africa, was condemned to death in Tunis, and only escaped thanks to the protection of an Arab scholar who had taken a liking to him. France, Austria. Putting his example to his word, he went twice to Africa, was condemned to death in Tunis, and only escaped thanks to the protection of an Arab scholar who had taken a liking to him. France, Austria. Putting his example to his word, he went twice to Africa, was condemned to death in Tunis, and only escaped thanks to the protection of an Arab scholar who had taken a liking to him.

In 1311 we find him at the council becoming. It was there that he received a letter from Edward II. This prince, showing himself favorable to his projects, R. Lulle went to England. The king had him locked up in the Tower of London and forced him to do the great work. Raymond Lulle changes considerable masses of mercury and tin into gold, fifty thousand pounds, says Lenglet Dufresnoy. From this gold we made the nobles of the rose or Raymondines Fearing for his life, R. Lulle escapes from London and returns to Africa. As soon as he disembarked, he began to preach, the populace, outraged at his audacity, stoned him. The following night the Genoese took him, still breathing, from under a pile of stones and carried him on board their ship, but he died within sight of Palma; he was buried in the Franciscan convent of this city (1313).

Main works: Codicillus seu vade mecum, Testamentum, Mercuriorum liber, Clavicula, Expérimenta, Potestas divitiarum, Theoria et practica, Lapidarium, Testamenlum novissimum, etc.

The present treatise: Clavicula seu Apertoriam is found in the Theatrum chimicum and in the Bibliotheca chemica Mangeti. As its name suggests, it is the key to all the other works of Raymond Lulle.

THE CLAVICLE OF RAYMOND LULLÈ OF MALLORCA

Treatise also known as the Universal Key, in which we will find clearly indicated everything necessary to perfect the Great Work.

We have called this work Clavicle, because without it, it is impossible to understand our other books, the whole of which embraces the entire Art,

I have written many treatises, very extensive, but divided and obscure, as can be seen by the Testament, where I speak of the principles of nature and everything relating to art, but the text has been subjected to the hammer of Philosophy. The same goes for my book on Mercury of the Philosophers, in the second chapter: on the fertility of physical minerals, the same for my book on the Quintessence of Gold and Silver, and finally for all my other works where the art is treated in a complete manner, except that I have always hidden the main secret. Now, without this secret no one can enter into the mines of philosophers and do something useful, which is why with the help and permission of the Most High to whom it was pleased to reveal the Great Work to me, I will deal here with Art without any fiction. But beware of revealing this secret to the wicked; Communicate it only to your close friends, although you should not reveal it to anyone, because it is a gift from God who gives it to whomever he sees fit. Whoever owns it will have one. eternal treasure.

Learn to purify the perfect with the imperfect. The Sun is the father of all metals and the Moon is their mother, although the Moon receives its light from the Sun. The entire magisterium depends on these two planets.

According to Avicenna, metals can only be transmuted after being returned to their raw material, which is true. You will therefore have to first reduce the metals to Mercury; but I do not mean here the vulgar, volatile Mercury, I speak of fixed Mercury; because common mercury is volatile, full of phlegmatic coldness, it is essential that it be reduced by fixed Mercury, hotter, drier, endowed with qualities contrary to those of common mercury.

This is why I advise you, oh my friends, to only operate on the Sun and the Moon after having brought them back to their raw material which is the sulfur and Mercury of the philosophers.

O my children, learn to use this venerable material, for I warn you under the faith of oath, if you do not draw Mercury from these two metals, you will work like blind people, in darkness and in doubt. Therefore, O my sons, I beseech you to walk towards the light with open eyes and not to fall blind into the abyss of perdition.

CHAPTER l
DIFFERENCES OF VULGAR MERCURY AND PHYSICAL MERCURY.

We say: vulgar mercury cannot be the Mercury of the Philosophers, by whatever artifice it may have been prepared; because common mercury can only hold on to fire with the help of a foreign corporeal Mercury which is hot, dry, and more digested than it. This is why I say that our physical Mercury is of a warmer and more fixed nature than common Mercury. Our bodily Mercury is converted into flowing mercury, not wetting the fingers; when it is joined to common mercury, they unite and join so well with the help of a bond of love, that it is impossible to separate them one from the other, likewise from the water mixed with water. This is the law of nature. Our Mercury penetrates common mercury and mixes with it by drying out its phlegmatic humidity,

Please note that common mercury cannot be used in place of our physical Mercury, which has natural heat to the desired degree; this is even why our Mercury communicates its own nature to common Mercury.

Moreover, our Mercury, after its transmutation, changes the metals into pure metal, that is to say into Sun and Moon, as we demonstrated in the second part of our Practice. But he does something even more remarkable, he changes common mercury into Medicine capable of transmuting imperfect metals into perfect ones. He changes common mercury into true Sun and true Moon, better than those which come out of the mine. Note also that our physical Mercury can transmute a hundred marks and more, to infinity, all that we have of ordinary mercury, unless it runs out.

I also want you to know something else, Mercury does not mix easily and never perfectly with other bodies, unless these have previously been reduced to its natural species. This is why when you want to unite Mercury with the Sun or the Moon of the vulgar, you will first have to bring these metals back to their natural species which is ordinary mercury, this with the help of the natural love bond; then the male unites with the female. Also our Mercury is active, hot and dry, while the common Mercury is cold, humid, passive like the female who is kept at home in a temperate heat until the clouding. Then these two mercuries become black as coal; this is the secret of true dissolution. Then they join together in such a way that it becomes impossible to ever separate them. They then appear in the form of a very white powder, and they generate male and female children through true love. These children will multiply infinitely according to their species; because from an ounce of this powder, projection powder, white or red elixir, you will make Suns in infinite number and you will transmute into Moon any kind of metal coming out of a mine.

CHAPTER II
EXTRACTION OF MERCURY FROM THE PERFECT BODY.

Take an ounce of cupelled Moon lime, calcine it according to the way described at the end of our work on the Magisterium. This lime will then be reduced to a fine powder on a porphyry plate. You will soak this powder, two, three, four times a day with good tartar oil prepared in the manner described at the end of this work; then you will dry it in the sun. You will continue in this way until the said lime has absorbed four or five parts of oil, the quantity of lime being taken as unit; you will spray the powder on the porphyry as has been said, after having dried it, because then it is reduced more easily to powder. When it has been well porphyrized, it will be introduced into a long-necked mattress. You will add our stinking menstruum made with two parts red vitriol and one part saltpeter; you will have previously distilled this menstruation seven times and you will have rectified it well by separating it from its earthy impurities, so that in the end this menstruation will be completely essential.

Then we will lite the matras perfectly, we will put it on the fire of ashes, with a few coals, until we see the material boil and dissolve. Finally we will distil on the ashes until all the menstruation has passed and we will wait until the material is cold. When the vase has completely cooled, it will be opened, and the material will be placed in another very clean vase equipped with its perfectly lute capital. We will place everything on ashes in a furnace. The lut being dry, we will first heat gently until all the water from the material on which we are operating has passed into the container. Then we increase the fire to completely dry out the material and exalt the stinking spirits which will pass into the capital and from there into the container. When you see the operation has reached this point, you will let the vessel cool down by gradually reducing the fire. The vase being cold, you will remove the material which you will reduce to a subtle powder on the porphyry. You will put the impalpable powder thus obtained in a well-fired and well-glazed earthenware vase. Then pour plain boiling water over it, stirring with a clean stick, until the mixture is thick like mustard. Stir well with the chopstick until you see a few globules of mercury appear in the material; there will soon be a fairly large quantity depending on what perfect body you have used, that is to say, the Moon. And until you have a large quantity, pour in boiling water from time to time and stir until all the material is reduced into a body similar to common mercury. We will remove the earthy impurities with cold water, we will dry on a cloth, we will pass through a chamois leather. And then you will see admirable things.

CHAPTER III
OF THE MULTIPLICATION OF OUR MERCURY.

In the name of the Lord. Amen.

Take three large pieces of pure Moon in thin strips; make an amalgam of it with four large ones of well-washed common mercury. When the amalgam is done you will put it in a small mattress having a neck of one and a half feet.

Then take our Mercury extracted above from the lunar body, and put it on the amalgam made with the perfect body and common mercury; Luster the vase with the best lint possible and let it dry. Once this is done, shake the matras vigorously to mix the amalgam and the mercury well. Then place the vase containing the material in a small stove over a fire of only a few coals; the heat of fire should not be greater than that of the sun when in the sign of Leo. Stronger heat would destroy your material; also continue this degree of fire until the matter becomes black like coal and thick like mush. Maintain the same temperature until the material takes on a dark gray color; when gray appears, we will increase the fire by one degree and it will be twice as strong; it will be kept like this until the material begins to whiten and becomes dazzling white. We will increase the fire by one degree and we will maintain this third degree until the material becomes whiter than snow and is reduced to powder whiter and purer than ashes. You will then have the Quicklime of the Philosophers and its sulphurous mine that the Philosophers have hidden so well. We will increase the fire by one degree and we will maintain this third degree until the material becomes whiter than snow and is reduced to powder whiter and purer than ashes. You will then have the Quicklime of the Philosophers and its sulphurous mine that the Philosophers have hidden so well. We will increase the fire by one degree and we will maintain this third degree until the material becomes whiter than snow and is reduced to powder whiter and purer than ashes. You will then have the Quicklime of the Philosophers and its sulphurous mine that the Philosophers have hidden so well.

CHAPTER IV
PROPERTY OF PHILOSOPHERS’ LIME.

This Lime converts an infinite quantity of common mercury into a very white powder which can be reduced to real silver when it is united with some other body like the Moon.

CHAPTER V
MULTIPLICATION OF PHILOSOPHERS’ LIME.

Take the vessel with the material, add to it two ounces of well-washed and dry common mercury; read carefully, and put the vessel back where it was first. Regulate and govern the fire in degrees one, two and three as above, until the whole is reduced to a very white powder; you will be able to increase your Lime infinitely.

CHAPTER VI
REDUCTION OF QUICKLIME IN TRUE MOON.

Having therefore prepared a large quantity of our quicklime or mining lime, take a new crucible without its lid; put there one ounce of pure Moon and when it is melted, add four ounces of your powder agglomerated into pills. These little balls each weigh a quarter of an ounce. They are thrown one by one onto the molten Moon, while continuing a violent fire until all the pills are melted; we increase the heat even more so that everything mixes perfectly; finally we will pour into an ingot mould.

You will thus have five ounces of fine silver, purer than natural; you will be able to multiply your physical mining as you wish.

CHAPTER VII
OF OUR GREAT WORK IN WHITE AND RED.

Reduce your Quicklime taken from the Moon to Mercury, as was said above. This is our secret Mercury.

So take four ounces of our lime, extract the Mercury from the Moon as you did above. You will collect at least three ounces of Mercury which you will put in a small long-necked flask as has been said. Then make an amalgam of one ounce of true Sun with three ounces of common mercury and put it on the Mercury of the Moon. Shake vigorously to mix well. Lure the vessel carefully and put it in the furnace, regulating the fire to the first, second and third degree.

In the first degree, the matter will become black like coal; we then say that there is an eclipse of the Sun and the Moon. It is the true conjunction which produces a child, Sulfur,

After this first operation, we continue with second degree fire until the material is gray. Then we move on to the third degree until the material appears perfectly white. The heat is then increased until the material turns red like cinnabar and is reduced to red ashes. You can reduce this Lime to very pure Sun, by doing the same operations as for the Moon.

CHAPTER VIII OF THE MANNER OF CHANGE THE SUDITE STONE INTO A MEDICINE WHICH TRANSMUTES ANY SPECIES OF METAL INTO TRUE SUN AND TRUE MOON AND ESPECIALLY VULGAR MERCURY EK A PURER METAL THAN THAT WHICH COMES FROM THE MINES.

After his first resolution our Peter multiplies a hundred parts of prepared matter, and after the second, a thousand. We multiply by dissolving, coagulating, sublimating, fixing our matter which can thus increase indefinitely in quantity and quality.

So take some of our white mineral, dissolve it in our stinking menstruum, which is called white vinegar in our Testament, in the chapter where we say: “Take some very dry boa wine, put the Moon in it, that is to say, say Green Water and C, that is to say Saltpeter...." But let's not get lost; take four ounces of our Quicklime and dissolve it in our menstruum, you will see it resolve into green water. On the other hand, in thirteen ounces of this same stinking menstruum you will dissolve four ounces of well-washed common mercury, and as soon as the dissolution is complete, you will mix the two solutions; put them in a well-sealed vase, digest in horse manure for thirty days, then distill in a water bath until nothing more passes through. Redistill over a charcoal fire to extract the oil and then the material that will remain will be black. Take this and distil for two hours on the ashes in a small furnace. The vase being cold, open it and pour into it the water which was distilled above in a bain-marie. Wash the material well with this water. Then distill the menstruum in a water bath; collect all the water that passes, add it to the oil and distil over the ashes, as has been said. Repeat this operation until the material remains at the bottom of the vessel, black as coal. Wash the material well with this water. Then distill the menstruum in a water bath; collect all the water that passes, add it to the oil and distil over the ashes, as has been said. Repeat this operation until the material remains at the bottom of the vessel, black as coal. Wash the material well with this water. Then distill the menstruum in a water bath; collect all the water that passes, add it to the oil and distil over the ashes, as has been said. Repeat this operation until the material remains at the bottom of the vessel, black as coal.

Son of science, you will then have the Raven's Head that the Philosophers have searched for so much, without which the Magisterium cannot exist. Therefore, O my Son, remember the divine Supper of Our Lord Jesus Christ who died and was buried, and on the third day returned to light on the eternal earth. Know well, O my Son, that no being can live if he is not first dead. So take your black body, calcine it in the same vessel for three days, then let it cool.

Open it and you will find a spongy, dead earth, which you will keep until it is necessary to unite the body with the soul.

You will take the water that has been distilled in a bain-marie, you will distill it several times in succession,

So soak your body which is the Black Earth with its own water, watering it little by little and heating everything, until the body becomes white and resplendent. The water which invigorates and clarifies has penetrated the body. The vessel having been lute, you will heat violently for twelve hours, as if you wanted to sublimate common mercury. The vase having cooled, you will open it and you will find there your sublimated, white matter, it is our Sigillata Earth, it is our sublimated body, raised to a high dignity, it is our Sulfur, our Mercury, our Arsenic, with which you will heat our Gold, it is our ferment, our quicklime and it generates in itself I Son of fire which is the Love of the philosophers.

CHAPTER IX
MULTIPLICATION OF THE ABOVE SULFUR.

Put this material in a strong matras and pour over an amalgam made with Quicklime from the first operation, the one that we reduced to silver. This amalgam is made with three parts of common mercury and one part of our Lime; you will mix and heat on the ashes. You will see the material stirring, then increase the heat and in four hours the material will become sulphurous and very white. When it has been fixed, it will coagulate and fix Mercury; an ounce of matter will change a hundred ounces of Mercury into true Medicine; it will then operate on a thousand ounces, and so on ad infinitum.

CHAPTER X
FIXATION OF MULTIPLIED SULFUR.

We will take the multiplied sulfur, we will place it in a matra and we will pour on top the oil which had been put aside during the separation of the elements.

We will pour oil until the Sulfur is soft. Then melt on the ashes, heating to the second and third degree, until white inclusively. Then we will open the ship and we will find a crystalline, white plate. To try it, put a fragment on a hot plate, and if it flows without producing smoke it is good. So project one part in a thousand of mercury and it will be completely transmuted into Silver. But if the medicine had been infusible and had not flowed, put it in a crucible and pour oil on it, drop by drop, until the medicine flows like wax, and then it will be perfect and will transmute a thousand parts of mercury and more to infinity.

CHAPTER XI
REDUCTION OF BLAST MEDICINE INTO RED ELIXIR.

In the name of the Lord, take four ounces of the aforesaid blade and dissolve it in the Water of the Stone, which you have preserved. When the dissolution is complete, ferment in a water bath for nine days. Then take two parts by weight of our red lime and add them to the vessel, you will ferment for another nine days. Then you will distil in a water bath in a still, then on the ashes, adjusting the heat to first degree until the material becomes black. This is our second dissolution and our second eclipse of the Sun with the Moon, this is the sign of the true dissolution and conjunction of the male with the female.

Increase the heat to second degree, so that the material becomes yellow. Then we will raise the fire to the fourth degree until the material melts like wax and becomes a hyacinth color. It is then a noble material and a royal medicine which promptly cures all illnesses; it transmutes all kinds of metal into pure gold, better than natural gold.

Now let us give thanks to the glorious Savior who in the glory of heaven reigns one and three for eternity.

CHAPTER XII
SUMMARY OF THE MAGISTRY.

We have demonstrated that everything contained in this treaty is true, because we have seen with our own eyes, we have operated ourselves, we have touched with our own hands.

We therefore take the Stone that we have said, we sublimate it with the help of nature and art, we reduce it to Mercury. To this Mercury we add the White Body which is of a similar nature, and we cook until we have prepared the real mineral.

This mining will multiply as you wish. Matter will again be reduced to Mercury, which you will dissolve in our Menstruum until the Stone becomes volatile and separated from all its elements. Finally we will perfectly purify body and soul. A natural and temperate heat will then allow the successful conjunction of body and soul. La Pierre will become a mine; we continue the fire until the matter becomes white, we then call it Sulfur and Mercury of the Philosophers; it is then that through the violence of fire, the fixed becomes volatile, insofar as the volatile will have rid itself of its gross principles and will have sublimated itself whiter than snow. We will throw what remains at the bottom of the vessel, because it is good for nothing. Then take our Sulfur which is the oil that we have already spoken about and you will multiply it in the still until it is reduced to a powder whiter than snow. We will fix the powders multiplied by nature and by art, with Water, until when tested by fire, they flow without smoke like wax.

It is then necessary to add the water from the first solution; everything having dissolved, we will put something yellow there which is gold, we will unite and we will distill all the spirit. Finally we will heat to the first, second, third and fourth degree until the heat reveals the true hyacinth color, and the fixed material is meltable. You will project this matter onto a thousand parts of common mercury and it will be transmuted into fine gold.

CHAPTER XIII
CALCINATION OF THE MOON FOR THE WORK.

Take one ounce of finely diced Moon and three ounces of mercury. Amalgamate, by first heating the silver strips in a crucible and then adding the mercury; stir with a chopstick, while continuing to heat well. We will then put this amalgam in vinegar with salt; We will grind everything with a pestle in a wooden mortar, while washing and removing impurities. We will stop when the amalgamation is perfect. Then we will wash with plain warm, clear water, then pass through a very clean cloth.

What remains on the linen being the most essential part of the body, we will mix it with three parts of salt, grinding well and washing. Finally, we will calcine for twelve hours. We will start grinding again with salt, and this three times, renewing the salt each time. Then we will pulverize the material so as to obtain an impalpable powder; we will wash in hot water until all salty flavor is gone. Finally we will pass through a cotton filter, we will dry, and we will have White Lime. We'll put it in reserve to get rid of it. use it when needed, lest humidity spoil it.

CHAPTER XIV
PROCESS FOR. PREPARE THE TARTAR OIL.

Take good tartar, whose breakage is brilliant, calcine it in the reverberatory furnace for ten hours; then you will put it on a marble slab after having pulverized it and you will leave it in a humid place, it will resolve into an oily liquid. When it is completely liquefied, it will be passed through a cotton filter. You will keep it carefully, it will be used to soak your lime.

CHAPTER XV

Take two pounds of vitriol, one pound of saltpeter, and three ounces of cinnabar. We redden the vitriol, we pulverize it, then we add the saltpeter and the cinnabar, we grind all these materials together, and we put it in a well-luted distillatory apparatus.

We first distill over a slow fire, this is absolutely necessary, as those who have carried out this operation know. This water will distill, abandoning its impurities which will remain at the bottom of the cucurbit and you will thus have this excellent menstruation.

CHAPTER XVI
OTHER MENSTRUE TO SERVE AS A STONE DISSOLVER.

Take three pounds of red Roman vitriol, one pound of saltpeter, three ounces of cinnabar, grind all these materials together on the marble. Then put them in a large and solid matras, add seven times rectified brandy, then seal the vessel perfectly and put it for fifteen days in horse manure. Then we will distill gently so that all the water passes into the container. Then we will increase the fire until the capital turns white; we will then let it cool. We will remove the container which we will close perfectly with wax and we will keep it. Note that this menstruation must be rectified Seven times, each time discarding the residue. Only then will he be good for the work.

---

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON ROGER BACON

Roger Bacon was born in 1214 in Ilcester, County Sommerset. He did his first studies at Oxford, and then came to Paris to take the titles of master of arts and doctor of theology. At this time, Albert the Great was publicly professing in Paris. Returning to England, he entered the Franciscan Order around 1240. He learned Greek, Arabic, Hebrew to read the ancient authors in the text. He thus acquired prodigious erudition. He returned to Paris, which offered him more facilities for his studies. His ignorant superiors, frightened by his knowledge, began to persecute him. Clement IV, who admired him, was powerless to protect him, and Bacon had to hide from his superiors to write and send the Opus majus to the pope. Nicholas III succeeded Clement IV. It was under this pontiff that Jérôme d'Esculo, general of the Franciscans, passing through Paris, had Roger Bacon imprisoned, accusing him of magic and heresy.

Jerome d'Esculo was himself elected pope under the name of Nicholas IV, and Roger Bacon despaired of ever leaving his dungeon when Raymond Gaufredi was named general of the Franciscans. A gentle and learned man, Raymond had Roger Bacon and several other Franciscans released. Bacon returned to England, but he had suffered too much, he was too old to resume his beloved studies. He died at Oxford in 1204; on his deathbed he dropped these sad words: “I repent of having taken so much trouble in the interest of science! »

The works of R. Bacon relating to alchemy have been brought together in a collection entitled: Rogerii Baconis Thesaurus chimicus, a vol. in-8°. Francofurti, 1603 and 1620.

List of treatises by Roger Bacon: Alchimia major, Breviarium de dono Dei, De leone viridi, Secretum secretorum. Speculum alchemiæ, Epislola de secretis operibus artis et naturœ ac nuttilate magiœ..

This treatise is found in Latin in the Bibliotheca chemica mangeli, in the Thesaurus chimicus, in volume II of the Theatrum chimicum, it is from this text that the present translation was made. It is a treatise on speculative or theoretical alchemy.

SMALL TREATISE ON ALCHEMY BY ROGER BACON ENTITLED MIRROR OF ALCHEMY PREFACE.

In their writings the Philosophers expressed themselves in many different, but always enigmatic, ways. They bequeathed to us a noble science above all others, but completely veiled for us by their cloudy words, entirely hidden under an impenetrable veil. And yet they were right to do so. Also, I implore you to exercise your mind with perseverance on these seven Chapters, which contain the art of transmuting metals, without having to worry about the writings of other philosophers. Review often in your mind their beginning, their middle, their end, and you will find inventions so subtle that your soul will be filled with joy.

CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS OF ALCHEMY.

In some ancient manuscripts, we find several definitions of this art which it is important that we discuss here. Hermes says: “Alchemy is the immutable science which works on bodies with the aid of theory and experience, and which, by a natural conjunction, transforms them into a higher, more precious species. Another philosopher said: “Alchemy teaches how to transmute any kind of metal into another, with the help of a particular Medicine, as we can see from the numerous writings of Philosophers. » This is why I say: “Alchemy is the science which teaches how to prepare a certain Medicine or elixir, which being projected onto imperfect metals, gives them perfection in the very moment of projection.

CHAPTER II
NATURAL PRINCIPLES AND THERE GENERATION OF METALS.

Here I will talk about natural principles and the generation of metals. First note that the principles of the metals are Mercury and Sulfur. These two principles gave birth to all metals and all minerals, of which there exist a large number of different species. I further say that nature has always had as its goal and is constantly striving to arrive at perfection, at gold. But as a result of various accidents which hinder its progress, metallic varieties are born, as is clearly explained in several philosophers.

Depending on the purity or impurity of the two component principles, that is to say Sulfur and Mercury, perfect or imperfect metals are produced, gold, silver, tin, lead, copper, iron. Now piously collect these teachings on the nature of metals, on their purity or their impurity, their poverty or their richness in principles.

Nature of Gold: Gold is a perfect body composed of pure, fixed, brilliant, red Mercury and pure, fixed, red, non-combustible Sulfur. Gold is perfect.

Nature of Silver: it is a pure, almost perfect body, composed of pure, almost fixed, brilliant, white Mercury. Its Sulfur has the same qualities. Silver only lacks a little more fixity, color and weight.

Nature of tin: it is a pure, imperfect body, composed of pure Mercury, fixed and volatile, brilliant, white on the outside, red on the inside. Its Sulfur has the same qualities. The tin only needs to be a little more cooked and digested.

Nature of lead: it is an impure and imperfect body, composed of impure Mercury, unstable, terrestrial, powdery, slightly white on the outside, red on the inside. Its Sulfur is similar and more combustible. Lead lacks purity, fixity, color; it is not cooked enough.

Nature of copper: copper is an impure and imperfect metal, composed of impure Mercury, unstable, terrestrial, combustible, red, without luster. The same goes for its Sulfur. Copper lacks fixity, purity, weight. It contains too much impure color and incombustible earthy parts.

Nature of iron: iron is an impure, imperfect body, composed of an impure Mercury, too fixed, containing combustible earthy parts, white and red, but without luster. It lacks fusibility, purity, weight; it contains too much impure fixed sulfur and combustible earthy parts.

Every alchemist must take the above into account.

CHAPTER III
FROM WHERE GOLD MUST REMOVE THE NEXT MATTER FROM THE ELIXIR.

In the above we have sufficiently determined the genesis of perfect and imperfect metals.

Now we will work to make imperfect matter pure and perfect. It appears from the preceding chapters that all metals are composed of Mercury and Sulfur, that the impurity and imperfection of the components are found in the compound; as we can only add to metals substances drawn from themselves, it follows that no foreign matter can serve us, but that everything which is composed of the two principles is sufficient to perfect, and even transmute, the metals. metals.

It is very surprising to see people, however skilled, working on animals, which constitute a very distant material, when they have at hand a sufficiently close material in minerals. It is not impossible for a Philosopher to have placed the Work in these distant matters, but it is through allegory that he will have done so.

Two principles compose all metals and nothing can attach, unite with metals or transform them, if it is not itself composed of the two principles. This is how reasoning forces us to take Mercury and Sulfur as the Material of our Stone.

Mercury alone, Sulfur alone cannot generate metals, but through their union, they give birth to various metals and numerous minerals. So it is obvious that our Stone must be born from these two principles.

Our last secret is very precious and very hidden: on which mineral material, the next of all, should we operate directly? We are obliged to choose carefully. Let's first assume that we get our material from plants: grasses, trees and everything that comes from the earth. It will be necessary to extract the Mercury and Sulfur through a long cooking process, operations which we reject, since nature offers us ready-made Mercury and Sulfur.

If we had chosen animals, we would have to work on human blood, hair, urine, excrement, chicken eggs, in short everything that we can get from animals. Here again, we would have to extract the Mercury and the Sulfur by cooking. We reject these operations for our first reason. If we had chosen mixed minerals, such as the various species of magnesia, marcasite, tuties, rosacea or vitriol, alum, borax, salts, etc., it would also be necessary to extract the Mercury and the Sulfur by cooking, which we push back for the same reasons as above. If we chose one of the seven spirits like Mercury alone, or sulfur alone, or Mercury and one of the two sulfurs, or living sulfur, or orpiment or yellow arsenic, or red arsenic, we could not perfect them; because nature only perfects the determined mixture of the two principles. We cannot do better than nature, and we would have to extract Sulfur and Mercury from the body, which we reject as above.

Finally, if we took the two principles themselves, we would have to mix them in a certain immutable proportion, unknown to the human mind, and then cook them until they were coagulated into a solid mass.

This is why we reject the idea of ​​taking the two separate principles, that is to say Sulfur and Mercury, because we do not know their proportion and we will find bodies in which the two principles are united in different ways. correct proportions, coagulated and combined according to the rules.

Hide this secret well: Gold is a perfect and male body without superfluity or poverty. If he perfected the imperfect metals fused with him, it would be the red elixir.

Silver is also an almost perfect and female body, and if by simple fusion it made imperfect metals almost perfect, it would be the white elixir. What is not and what cannot be, because these bodies are perfect to only one degree. If their perfection were communicable to imperfect metals, the latter would not perfect themselves and it would be the perfect metals which would be soiled by contact with the imperfect. But if they were more than perfect, double, quadruple, hundredfold, etc., then they could perfect the imperfect.

Nature always operates simply, which is why perfection is simple in them, indivisible and non-transmissible. They could not enter into the composition of the Stone, as ferments, to shorten the work; they would in fact be reduced to their elements, the sum of the volatile exceeding the sum of the fixed.

And because gold is a perfect body composed of a red, brilliant Mercury and a similar Sulfur, we will not take it as the material of the Stone for the red elixir; because it is too simply perfect, without subtle perfection, it is too well cooked and digested naturally and we can hardly work it with our artificial fire; the same for money.

When nature perfects something, it does not know how to purify it, perfect it intimately, because it operates with simplicity. If we chose gold and silver, we could hardly find a fire capable of acting on them. Although we know this fire, we cannot yet achieve perfect purification because of the power of their bonds and their natural harmony; so let's reject gold for the red elixir, silver for the white elixir. We will find a certain body, composed of sufficiently pure Mercury and Sulfur, on which nature will have worked little.

We pride ourselves on perfecting such a body with our artificial fire and knowledge of the art. We will subject it to suitable cooking, purifying it, coloring it and fixing it according to the rules of the art. It is therefore necessary to choose a material which contains a pure, clear, white and red Mercury, not completely perfect, mixed also, in the desired proportions and according to the rules, with a Sulfur similar to it. This matter must be coagulated into a solid mass and such that with the help of our science and our prudence, we can manage to purify it intimately, to perfect it with our fire, and to make it such that at the end of the Work, it is thousands of thousand times purer and more perfect than ordinary bodies cooked by natural heat.

So be careful; for if you have exercised the subtlety and acuity of your mind on these chapters where I have clearly revealed to you the knowledge of Matter, you now possess this thing, ineffable and delectable, object of all the desires of Philosophers.

CHAPTER IV
ON THE MATTER OF REGULATING THE FIRE AND MAINTAINING IT.

If your head is not too hard, if your mind is not completely enveloped in the veil of ignorance and inintelligence, I can believe that in the preceding chapters you have found the true Matter of Philosophers, matter of the blessed Stone of the wise, on which Alchemy will operate with the aim of perfecting imperfect bodies with the help of more than perfect bodies. Since nature only offers us perfect or imperfect bodies, we must make the Matter named above perfect indefinitely through our work.

If we do not know how to operate, what is the cause, other than that we do not observe how nature perfects metals every day? Do we not see that in the mines, the coarse elements are so cooked and thickened so well by the constant heat existing in the mountains, that with time it is transformed into Mercury? That the same heat, the same cooking transforms the fatty parts of the earth into Sulfur? That this heat applied for a long time to these two principles, generates their purity or their impurity, all metals? Do we not see that nature produces and perfects all metals by cooking alone? 0 infinite madness, which therefore, I ask you, which therefore forces you to want to do the same thing with the help of bizarre and fantastic diets. This is why a Philosopher said: “Woe to you who want to surpass nature and make metals more than perfect by a new regime, the fruit of your insane stubbornness. God has given nature immutable laws, that is to say, it must act by continuous cooking, and you fools, you despise it or you do not know how to imitate it. » He said the same: “Fire and azoth must be enough for you. » And elsewhere: “Heat perfects everything. » And elsewhere: “You have to cook, cook, recook and not get tired of it. » And in different passages: “Let your fire be calm and sweet; let it remain like this every day, always uniform, without weakening, otherwise great damage will ensue. — Be patient and perseverant. — Crushed seven times. — Know that all our magisterium is made of one thing, the Stone, in one way, by cooking and in a single vessel. — The crushed fire — The Work is similar to the creation of man. In childhood he is fed light foods, then when his bones have strengthened, the food becomes more strengthening; similarly our magisterium is first subjected to a light fire with which we must always act during cooking. But although we constantly speak of moderate fire, we nevertheless imply that in the regime of the Work it must be increased little by little and by degree until the end. food becomes more fortifying; similarly our magisterium is first subjected to a light fire with which we must always act during cooking. But although we constantly speak of moderate fire, we nevertheless imply that in the regime of the Work it must be increased little by little and by degree until the end. food becomes more fortifying; similarly our magisterium is first subjected to a light fire with which we must always act during cooking. But although we constantly speak of moderate fire, we nevertheless imply that in the regime of the Work it must be increased little by little and by degree until the end.

CHAPTER V
OF THE VESSEL AND THE FURNACE.

We have just determined the way of operating, we will now talk about the vessel and the furnace, say how and with what they must be made. When nature cooks metals in mines using natural fire, it can only do so by using a vessel suitable for cooking. We propose to imitate nature in the regime of fire, so let us also imitate it for the vessel. Let's examine the place where metals are produced. We first see clearly in a mine, that under the mountain there is fire, producing an equal heat, the nature of which is to rise continually. As it rises, it dries and coagulates the thick and coarse water contained in the bowels of the earth, and transforms it into Mercury. The smooth mineral parts of the earth are cooked, gathered in the veins of the earth and flowing through the mountain, they generate Sulfur. As we can observe in the veins of the mines, the Sulfur born from the unctuous parts of the earth meets Mercury. Then the coagulation of the metallic water takes place. As the heat continues to act in the mountain, the different metals appear after a very long time. A constant temperature is observed in the mines; we can conclude that the mountain which contains the mines is perfectly enclosed on all sides by rocks; because, if heat could escape, metals would never be born. Then the coagulation of the metallic water takes place.

As the heat continues to act in the mountain, the different metals appear after a very long time. We observe a constant temperature in the mines, we can conclude that the mountain which contains the mines is perfectly enclosed on all sides by rocks; because, if heat could escape, metals would never be born. Then the coagulation of the metallic water takes place. As the heat continues to act in the mountain, the different metals appear after a very long time. A constant temperature is observed in the mines; we can conclude that the mountain which contains the mines is perfectly enclosed on all sides by rocks; because, if heat could escape, metals would never be born.

If we therefore want to imitate nature, it is absolutely necessary that we have a furnace similar to a mine, not by its size, but by a particular arrangement, such that the fire placed in the bottom finds no way to escape. when it rises, so that the heat is reverberated on the vase, carefully closed, which contains the material of the Stone. The vessel should be round, with a small neck. It must be made of glass or earth as strong as glass; the orifice will be hermetically sealed with a cover and bitumen. In mines, fire is not in immediate contact with the matter of Sulfur and Mercury; this is separated from it by the land of the mountain. Likewise, fire must not be applied nakedly to the vessel which contains Matter, but this vessel must be placed in another closed vessel with as much care as it, so that equal heat acts on Matter, above, below, wherever it is necessary. This is why Aristotle says in the Light of Lights, that Mercury must be cooked in a triple vessel of very hard glass, or, what is better, in earth possessing the hardness of glass.

CHAPTER VI
OF ACCIDENTAL AND ESSENTIAL COLORS WHICH APPEAR DURING THE WORK.

Having chosen the Material of the Stone, you also know the certain way of operating, you know with the help of what regime the various colors are made to appear by cooking the Stone. A Philosopher said “So many colors, so many names.” For each new color appearing in the Work, the Alchemists invented a different name. So the first operation of our Stone was given the name putrefaction, because our Stone is then black. “When you have found darkness,” says another Philosopher, “know that in this blackness whiteness is hidden, and it must be extracted.”

After putrefaction, the stone reddens and it has been said about this: "Often the stone reddens, yellows and liquefies, then coagulates before true whiteness. It dissolves, putrefies, coagulates, mortifies, vivifies, turns black, whitens, adorns itself with red and white, all of this by itself." It can also turn green, because a philosopher said: "Cook until a green child appears, that is the soul of the stone." Another said: "Know that it is the soul that dominates during greenness."

The colors of the peacock also appear before whiteness, a philosopher speaks of it in these terms: “Know that all the colors that exist in the Universe or that can be imagined appear before whiteness, only then comes true whiteness. . The body will be cooked until it becomes shiny like the eyes of fish and then the stone will coagulate around the circumference. »

“When you see whiteness appear on the surface in the vessel,” said a wise man, “be sure that beneath this whiteness lies red; you need to extract it, so cook until everything is red. » Finally, between red and white there is a certain ashy color, of which it has been said: “After whiteness, you can no longer make a mistake, because by increasing the fire, you will arrive at a grayish color. » “Do not despise ashes,” says a Philosopher, “because with the help of God, it will liquefy. » Finally the King appears crowned with the red diadem, if God allows it.

CHAPTER VII
OF THE MANNER OF PAIRING THE PROJECTION ON IMPERFECT METALS.

As I had promised, I treated our Great Work, blessed Magisterium, preparation of the white and red elixirs until the end. Now we are going to talk about how to make the projection, a complement to the Work, impatiently awaited and desired. The Red Elixir yellows infinitely and transforms all metals into pure gold. The White Elixir whitens infinitely and gives metals perfect whiteness. But you should know that there are metals further away from perfection than others and, conversely, there are some which are closer. Although all metals are equally brought to perfection by the Elixir, those which are next, become perfect more quickly, more completely, more intimately than the others. When we have found the nearest metal, we will exclude all others. I have already said which metals are near and far and which is nearest to perfection. If you are wise and intelligent enough, you will find it, in a previous chapter, indicated directly, determined with certainty. There is no doubt that he who has exercised his mind on this Mirror will find through his work the true Matter, and will know on which body it is appropriate to project the Elixir to arrive at perfection.

Our precursors who found everything in this art through their philosophy alone, show us sufficiently and without allegory, the right path, when they say: “Nature contains Nature, Nature rejoices in Nature, Nature dominates Nature and is transformed into other Natures . » Like comes closer to like, because similarity is a cause of attraction; there are philosophers who have transmitted to us a remarkable secret on this subject. Know that nature spreads rapidly in one's own body, whereas one cannot unite it with a foreign body. Thus the soul quickly penetrates the body which belongs to it, but it is in vain that you would like to make it enter another body.

The similarity is quite striking; the bodies, in the Work, become spiritual and reciprocally the spirits become corporeal; the fixed body has therefore become spiritual. Now, as the Elixir, red or white, has been taken beyond what its nature entailed, it is therefore not surprising that it is not miscible with molten metals, when we are content with it. project. It would thus be impossible to transmute a thousand parts into one. So I am going to tell you a great and rare secret: you must mix a part of the Elixir with a thousand of the nearest metal, enclose the whole in a vessel suitable for the operation, seal hermetically and put in the furnace to set. First heat slowly, gradually increase the heat for three days until perfect union. This is the work of three days.

You can then start again by projecting a part of this product onto a thousand of the next metal, and there will be transmutation. All it takes is one day, one hour, one moment. Let us therefore praise our God, always admirable, in Eternity.

---

PARACELSI
THESAURUS THESAURÜRUM ALCHIMISTORUM
PARACELSE THE TREASURE OF THE TREASURES OF THE ALCHEMISTS

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE ON PARACELSE

Aureole Philippe Théophrastus Paracelsus Bombast ab Hohenheim, was born in 1493 in Einsiedein, near Zurich, canton of Schwyz. His father Guillaume, an educated doctor, taught him Latin, medicine and alchemy. The works of Isaac the Dutchman, which he read in his youth, gave him a deep love of alchemy.

From then on he will never separate medicine from alchemy and it is the union of these two sciences which will characterize the school of the Paracelsists. His father sent him to complete his studies with Trithême; this famous occultist had a great influence on the ideas of Paracelsus, because he taught him magic and astrology. Trithemus having retired to a convent, Paracelsus began to travel, he visited Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Saxony, Tyrol, Poland, Moravia, Transylvania, Hungary and Sweden. Perhaps he was even in the Orient, as he himself insinuates. He went through the towns and villages, treating the sick, selling remedies, drawing horoscopes, evoking spirits; on the other hand he questioned the old women, the tricksters, the gypsies, the empiricists, the executioners, the sorcerers.

One told him a secret, the other told him about a wonderful cure. Paracelsus collected everything, judging, comparing, observing. This is how he acquired his prodigious knowledge which the scholars of his time did not want to recognize, because it was found neither in Galen nor in Hippocrates. He went through the towns and villages, treating the sick, selling remedies, drawing horoscopes, evoking spirits; on the other hand he questioned the old women, the tricksters, the gypsies, the empiricists, the executioners, the sorcerers. One told him a secret, the other told him about a wonderful cure. Paracelsus collected everything, judging, comparing, observing. This is how he acquired his prodigious knowledge which the scholars of his time did not want to recognize, because it was found neither in Galen nor in Hippocrates.

He went through the towns and villages, treating the sick, selling remedies, drawing horoscopes, evoking spirits; on the other hand he questioned the old women, the tricksters, the gypsies, the empiricists, the executioners, the sorcerers. One told him a secret, the other told him about a wonderful cure. Paracelsus collected everything, judging, comparing, observing. This is how he acquired his prodigious knowledge which the scholars of his time did not want to recognize, because it was found neither in Galen nor in Hippocrates. the other told him about a wonderful cure. Paracelsus collected everything, judging, comparing, observing. This is how he acquired his prodigious knowledge which the scholars of his time did not want to recognize, because it was found neither in Galen nor in Hippocrates.

the other told him about a wonderful cure. Paracelsus collected everything, judging, comparing, observing. This is how he acquired his prodigious knowledge which the scholars of his time did not want to recognize, because it was found neither in Galen nor in Hippocrates.

In Hungary he entered the service of the Fuggers, bankers, alchemists and metallurgists; he was able to work as he pleased in their vast laboratories. In 1526, Cecolampade called him to Basel to fill the chair of physics and surgery (of chemistry, says Haller). But he had to soon! leave the city, his violent teaching having attracted enemies. He begins to travel again, caring for princes and nobles, prelates and rich bourgeois. He died in 1541 in Salzburg Hospital.

Complete works: 1° Paracelsi opera, omnia medico, chemico, surgeon, 3 vols. folio. Genevae, 1648: 2° Bücher und Schriften Paracelsi, 10 vol.in4°. Basel, 1589.

Treatises on alchemy: Archidoxorum libri decem, -— De prœparationibus, — De natura rerum, — De tinctura Physicorum, — Cœlum Philosophorum, — Thésaurus thesaurorum, — De minerabilus.

This treatise, translated for the first time into French, can be found on page 126 volume II of the Latin edition.

THE TREASURE OF THE TREASURES OF THE ALCHEMISTS BY PHILIPPE THEOPHRASTE BOMBAST, THE GREAT PARACELSE.

Nature generates this mineral in the heart of the earth. There are two species that can be found in. various localities in Europe. The best that I had and which was found to be good after testing is exterior in the figure of the upper world, to the East of the solar sphere. The second is found in the southern star and also in the first flower that the mistletoe of the earth produces on the star (l).

After the first fixation it turns red; in it are hidden all the flowers and all the mineral colors.

Philosophers have written a lot about it because it has a cold and humid nature similar to that of water.

For all that is science and experience, the Philosophers who preceded me took as their target the Rock of truth, but none of their traits met the goal, they believed that Mercury and Sulfur were the principles of all Metals, and they did not mention, even in a dream, the third principle. However, if through spagyric art, we also separate Water, it seems to me that the Truth that I proclaim is sufficiently demonstrated; neither Galen nor Avicenna knew it. If I had to describe for our excellent physicists the name, the composition, the dissolution, the coagulation, if I had to say how nature acts in beings since the beginning of the world, it would barely take me a year. to explain it and skins of everything: a herd of cows to write it.

Now, I affirm that in this mineral, we find three principles, which are: Mercury, Sulfur and the metallic Water which was used to nourish it; spagyric science can extract the latter from its own juice when it is not quite ripe, in the middle of autumn, just like the pear on the tree. The tree contains the pear in potency. If the stars and nature agree, the tree first produces branches around March, then the buds grow, they open, the flower appears, and so on until autumn when the pear ripens. It's the same for metals. They are born in a similar way in the bosom of the earth. Let Alchemists who seek the Treasure of Treasures note this carefully. I will show them the path, the beginning, the middle and the end; in what follows I will describe the water, the sulfur and the special balm of the treasure. By resolution and conjunction these three things will unite into one.

SULFUR FROM CINABER.

Take some mineral cinnabar and work like this. Cook it with rain water in a stone vessel for three hours; then purifies it carefully and dissolves it in an aqua regia composed of equal parts of vitriol, nitre and ammonia salt (another formula, vitriol, saltpetre, alum and ordinary salt).

Distills in a still while cohobating. You will thus carefully separate the pure from the impure. Then ferment for a month in horse manure. Then separate the elements according to the following: when the sign appears, begin by distilling in the alembic with first degree fire. Water and air will rise, fire and earth will remain at the bottom. Cohobe and put the still on the ash fire. Water and air will rise first, then the element of fire, which skillful artists will easily recognize. The Earth will remain at the bottom of the still, you will collect it; many have sought it and few have found it. You will prepare this dead earth according to the Art in a reverberatory furnace, then you will apply fire of the first degree to it for fifteen days and fifteen nights. This done you will apply the second degree to it for as many days and as many nights (your material will have been locked in a hermetically sealed vase). You will finally find a volatile salt similar to a very light alkali, containing in itself the essence of fire and earth.

Mix this salt with the two elements you set aside, air and water. Burn on the ashes for eight days and nights, and you will find what many artists have overlooked. Separate according to the rules of spagyric art and you will collect a white earth deprived of its dye. Take the element of fire and the salt of the earth, digest it with the pelican to extract the essence. Land will be separated again and you will set it aside.

OF THE RED LION.

Then take the lion which passed first into the container as soon as you see its dye, that is to say the fire which stands above the water, the air and the earth. Separate it from its impurities by crushing. You will then have real drinkable gold. Sprinkle it with wine alcohol to wash it; then distill in a still until you can no longer taste the acidity of the aqua regia.

Then carefully enclose this sun oil in an airtight container. Heating to elevate it, so that it sublimates and doubles. Then place the vessel, still tightly closed, in a cool place. Heat again to raise, place in a cool place to condense. Repeat this maneuver three times. This will give you the perfect tint of the sun. Save it for later.

Take vitriol of Venus, prepared according to the rules of spagyric art; add to it the elements of water and air that you had put aside. Mix, putrefy for a month as has been said.

Once the putrefaction is over, you will notice the sign of the elements. Separate and you will soon see two colors, white and red. Red is above white. The red dye of vitriol is so powerful that it dyes all white bodies red, and all red bodies white, which is wonderful. Work on this dye in a retort and you will see the darkness emerge. Return the distilled retort to the retort and repeat until you obtain a white liquid. Be patient and do not despair of the Work.

Grind until you find the green lion, shiny and real, which you will recognize by its great weight. It is the tincture of Gold. You will contemplate the admirable signs of our green lion, which none of the treasures of the Roman lion could pay for. Glory to him who knew how to find it and extract the dye! It is the true natural balm of the celestial planets, it prevents the putrefaction of bodies, and does not allow leprosy, gout, dropsy to take root in the human body. When it has been fermented with the sulfur of gold, it is prescribed in the dose of one grain. Ah! Charles the German, what have you done with your scientific treasures? Where are your physicists? Where are your doctors? Where are these bandits who purge and medicate with impunity? Your firmament is upset; your stars, outside their orbits, wandering far from the marshy path that had been traced for them; so your eyes were struck blind, as by incandescent coal, when you contemplated our splendor and our superb pride. If your followers knew that their prince Galen (who is in hell) wrote me letters to acknowledge that I am right, they would make the sign of the cross with a fox's tail! And your Avicenna! he sits on the threshold of hell; I discussed with him his drinking gold, physical tincture, mithridate and theriac. O hypocrites, who despise the truths taught to you by a true physician, instructed by nature, son of God himself! Go on always, impostors, who only prevail with the help of high protections. But be patient! after my death,

Woe to your heads on the day of judgment! On the contrary, I know that my kingdom will come. I will reign in honor and glory - It is not me who praises myself, it is Nature, for she is my mother and I still obey her. She knows me and I know her. The light that is in it, I have contemplated it, I have demonstrated it in the Microcosm and I have found it in the Universe.

But I must return to my subject to satisfy the desires of my disciples, whom I willingly favor, when they are equipped with natural enlightenment, when they know astrology and especially when they are skilled in philosophy, which teaches us to know the matter of everything.

Take four parts by weight of the metallic Water which I have described, two parts of the red Earth of the Sun, one part of the Sulfur of the Sun. Put everything in a pelican, solidify and disintegrate three times. This will give you the Alchemists' Tincture. We will not bet here on its properties since they are indicated in the book of Transmutations. With one ounce of Sun Tincture you will be able to dye a thousand ounces of Sun; if you have the tincture of Mercury, you will be able to completely dye the body of common mercury. Likewise the tincture of Venus will completely transmute the body of Venus into perfect metal. All these things have been confirmed by experience. The same thing must be understood for the tinctures of the other planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Moon. For dyes are also obtained from these metals; we will say nothing about it here, having discussed it extensively in the treatise on the Nature of Things and in the Archidoxes.

I have sufficiently described for the spagyrists the raw material of metals and minerals, now they know the tincture of the alchemists. It takes no less than nine months to prepare this tincture; therefore work with ardor, without being discouraged; for forty alchemical days, fix, extract, sublime, putrefy, coagulate into stone, and you will finally obtain the Phoenix of philosophers.

But don't forget that the sulfur of the cinnabar is an Eagle, which flies without making any wind, and that it transports the body of the old Phoenix to a nest where it feeds on the element of fire. Its young tear out its eyes, which produces whiteness. This is the balm of its intestines which gives life to the heart, according to what the Kabalists taught.

1. This passage is incomprehensible. So that no one can blame us, here is the text.- Optimum quod mihi oblatum, ac in experimentando, genuinum inventum est extra in figura majoris mundi, est in oriente astra sphœrœ solis Alterum in Astro meridionaÏi, jam in primo flora est, quem Viscus terrœ per suum Astrum protrudit.

---

ALBERTI MAGNI COMPOSITUM DE COMPOSITIS
ALBERT THE GREAT THE COMPOUND OF COMPOUNDS

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON ALBERT THE GREAT

Albert the Great, from the ancient family of the counts of Bollstadt, was born in Lavingen on the Danube in Swabia (1193). In his childhood he was not very intelligent, but following a vision his mind developed suddenly, and from then on he made rapid progress in all branches of science. Around 1222, he entered the Order of Saint-Dominique. He taught theology and philosophy in the schools of the Order.

It was in Cologne that he distinguished Saint Thomas Aquinas among his students, they formed a close friendship and came together to Paris. The words of Albert the Great attracted such a crowd of listeners that he was obliged to teach in public squares; one of them has retained its name, it is Place Maubert or Place de Maître Albert. In 1248 he returned to Cologne. For ten years, he led a peaceful existence in this city favorable to study; provincial of his order, enjoying undisputed authority among his contemporaries, helped by his monks in all the work he undertook, not having to worry about money questions, how different his existence was from that of by Roger Bacon!

In 1259, Albert the Great was named bishop of Regensburg; but he was not long in renouncing the concerns of the episcopate, and having resigned from his office he returned to the cloister. He died in Cologne in 1280 aged 87.

Complete works: Beali Albzrli, Ratisbonensis epis-copi opera omnia, 21 vols. folio. Lugduni, 1651. Alchemical treatises: Libellus de Alchimia, — Concordantia philosophorum de lapide philosophico, — De rebus metallicis, — Compositum de compositis, — Brrve compendium de ortus metallorum.

This treatise, translated for the first time into French, is found in volume IV of the Theatrum chimicum, page 825. Hœffer cites in his History of Chemistry several passages from this treatise. Two of these passages are not found in the: Compositum de compositis, but in the: Libellus de Alchimia (Theat. chemistry., volume II).

Along with the treatise De Alchimia, it is the most important of Albert the Great's alchemical pamphlets.

THE COMPOUND OF COMPOUNDS OF ALBERT THE GREAT

I will not hide a knowledge that has been revealed to me by the grace of God, I will not jealously keep it for myself, for fear of attracting his curse. A science kept secret, a hidden treasure, what is their use? The science that I learned without fiction, I transmit it to you without regrets. Envy shakes everything, an envious man cannot be righteous before God. All knowledge, all wisdom comes from God; it is a simple way of speaking to say that it comes from the Holy Spirit. No one can say: Our Lord Jesus Christ without implying: son of God the Father, by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Likewise this science of truth cannot be separated from Him who communicated it to me.

I have not been sent to all, but only to those who admire the Lord in his works and whom God has judged worthy. May he who has ears to hear this divine communication collect the secrets which have been transmitted to me by the grace of God and may he never reveal them to those who are unworthy.

Nature must serve as a basis and model for science, so Art works according to Nature as much as it can. The Artist must therefore observe Nature and operate as she operates.

CHAPTER I
OF THE FORMATION OF METALS IN GENERAL BY SULFUR AND MERCURY.

It has been observed that the nature of metals, as we know it, is to be generated in a general way by Sulfur and Mercury. The difference alone in cooking and digestion produces variety in the metallic species. I myself observed that in one and the same vessel, that is to say in the same vein, nature had produced several metals and silver, scattered here and there. we have in fact clearly demonstrated in our Treatise on Minerals that the generation of metals is circular, we easily pass from one to the other following a circle, neighboring metals? have similar properties; this is why silver is more easily changed into gold than any other metal.

In fact, there is nothing more to change in silver than the color and the weight, which is easy. Because an already compact substance increases in weight more easily. And as it contains a yellowish white sulfur its color will also be easy to transform.

The same is true of other metals. Sulfur is, so to speak, their father and Mercury their mother. This is even more true if we say that in the conjunction Sulfur represents the sperm of the father and that Mercury represents a menstruum coagulated to form the substance of the e.nibryon. Sulfur alone cannot generate, so the father alone.

Just as the male generates from his own substance mixed with menstrual blood, so Sulfur generates with Mercury, but alone it produces nothing. By this comparison we want to understand that; the Alchemist must first remove from the metal the specificity given to it by Nature, then proceed as nature proceeded, with Mercury and Sulfur prepared and purified always following the example of nature.

Sulfur contains three moist principles. The first of these principles is especially aerial and igneous, it is found in the exterior parts of Sulfur, because of the great volatility of its elements, which fly away easily and consume the bodies with which they come into contact.

The second principle is phlegmatic, in other words watery, it is immediately placed under the previous one. The third is radical, fixed, adherent to the internal parts. This one alone is general, and we cannot separate it from the others without destroying the entire edifice. The first principle does not resist fire; being combustible, it is consumed in the fire and calcines the substance of the metal with which it is heated. So it is not only useless, but also harmful to the goal we have in mind. The second principle only wets bodies, it does not generate, nor can it serve us. The third is radical, it penetrates all the particles of matter which owe its essential properties to it.

Fire is nothing other than the vapor of Sulfur; the vapor of well purified and sublimated Sulfur whitens and makes it more compact. Also, skilful alchemists are in the habit of removing its two superfluous principles from Sulfur by acidic washings, such as lemon vinegar, sour milk, goat's milk, and children's urine. They purify it by leaching, digestion, sublimation. It must finally be rectified by resolution so as to have only a pure substance containing the active, perfectible and proximate force of the metal. Here we are in possession of part of our Work.

ON THE NATURE OF MERCURY.

Mercury contains two superfluous substances, earth and water. The earthy substance has something of Sulfur, the fire reddens it.

Mercury is easily removed from its aqueous and earthy impurities by sublimation and very acidic washings. Nature separates it in the dry state from Sulfur and strips it of its earth by the heat of the sun and the stars. She thus obtains a pure Mercue, completely free of its earthy substance, no longer containing foreign parts. She then unites it with pure Sulfur and finally produces pure and perfect metals in the heart of the earth. If both principles are impure the metals are imperfect. This is why in the mines we find; different metals, which is due to the purification and variable digestion of their Principles. It depends on the cooking.

OF ARSENIC.

Arsenic is of the same nature as Sulfur, both dye red and white. But there is more humidity in arsenic, and on fire it sublimes less quickly than Sulfur.

We know how quickly sulfur sublimes and how it consumes all bodies, except gold. Arsenic can unite its dry principle with that of sulfur, they temper each other, and once united they are difficult to separate; their coloring is softened by this union.

“Arsenic,” says Geber, “contains a lot of mercury, so it can be prepared like it. » Know that the spirit, hidden in sulfur, arsenic and anomalous oil, is called by philosophers White Elixir. It is unique, miscible with the igneous substance, from which we draw the red Elixir; it unites with molten metals, as we have experienced, it purifies them, not only because of the aforementioned properties, but also because there is a common proportion between its elements.

Metals differ from each other according to the purity or impurity of the raw material, that is to say Sulfur and Mercury, and also according to the degree of the fire which generated them.

According to the philosopher, the elixir is still called Medicine, because we assimilate the body of metals to the body of animals. So we say that there is a spirit hidden in Sulfur, arsenic and oil extracted from animal substances. This is the spirit we seek, with the help of which we will dye all imperfect bodies perfect. This spirit is called Water and Mercury by the Philosophers. “Mercury,” says Geber, “is a medicine composed of dry and wet, wet and dry. » You understand the succession of operations: extract the earth from the fire, the air from the earth, the water from the air, since water can resist fire. These teachings must be noted, they are universal arcana. None, of the principles which enter into the Work have no power in themselves; because they are chained in metals, they cannot perfect, they are no longer fixed. They lack two substances, one miscible with molten metals, the other fixed which can coagulate and fix. Also Rhases said: “There are four substances which change over time; each of them is composed of the four elements and takes the name of the dominant element. Their wonderful essence is fixed in a body and with the latter we can nourish other bodies. This essence is composed of water and air, combined in such a way that heat liquefies them. This is a wonderful secret. The minerals used in Alchemy must, in order to serve us, have an action on molten bodies. The stones we use There are four of them, two are dyed white, the other two are dyed red. Also white, red, Sulfur, Arsenic, Saturn have only one body. But in this one body, what obscure things! And first of all it has no action on perfect metals. »

In imperfect bodies, there is acidic, bitter, sour water, necessary for our art. Because it dissolves and mortifies the bodies, then revives and recomposes them. Rhases says in his third letter: “Those who seek our Entelechy, ask where the elemental watery bitterness comes from. We will answer them: from the impurity of metals. Because the water contained in gold and silver is gifted, it does not dissolve, on the contrary it coagulates and strengthens, because it contains neither acidity nor impurity like imperfect bodies. » This is why Geber said: “We calcine and dissolve gold and silver without use, because our Vinegar is drawn from four imperfect bodies; it is this mortifying and dissolving spirit which mixes the tinctures of all the bodies that we use in the work. We only need this water, we don't care about other spirits. »

Geber is right; we have no use for a dye that fire alters; on the contrary, fire must give it excellence and strength so that it can combine with molten metals. It must strengthen, it must fix, so that despite the fusion it remains intimately united to the metal.

I will add that we can get everything from the four imperfect bodies. As for the manner of preparing Sulfur, Arsenic and Mercury, indicated above, we can report it here.

Indeed, when in this preparation we heat the spirit of sulfur and arsenic with acidic waters or oil, to extract from it the igneous essence, the oil, the smoothness, we take away from them what 'there is superfluity in them; we still have igneous force and oil, the only things that are useful to us; but they are mixed with the acidic water which we used to purify, there is no way of separating them; but at least we are rid of the useless. We must therefore find another way to extract from these bodies the water, the oil and the very subtle spirit of sulfur which is the real, very active tincture that we are seeking to obtain. We will therefore work on these bodies by separating their natural component parts by decomposition or by distillation, and thus we will arrive at the simple parts. Some, ignoring the composition of the Magisterium, want to work on Mercury alone, claiming that it has a body, a soul, a spirit, and that it is the raw material of gold and silver. We must answer them that in truth some philosophers affirm that the Work is made of three things, the spirit, the body and the soul, drawn from one single thing. But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion.

The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work. ignoring the composition of the Magisterium, want to work on Mercury alone, claiming that it has a body, a soul, a spirit, and that it is the raw material of gold and silver. We must answer them that in truth some philosophers affirm that the Work is made of three things, the spirit, the body and the soul, drawn from one single thing. But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there.

However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work. ignoring the composition of the Magisterium, want to work on Mercury alone, claiming that it has a body, a soul, a spirit, and that it is the raw material of gold and silver.

We must answer them that in truth some philosophers affirm that the Work is made of three things, the spirit, the body and the soul, drawn from one single thing. But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work. and that it is the raw material of gold and silver. We must answer them that in truth some philosophers affirm that the Work is made of three things, the spirit, the body and the soul, drawn from one single thing.

But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work. and that it is the raw material of gold and silver. We must answer them that in truth some philosophers affirm that the Work is made of three things, the spirit, the body and the soul, drawn from one single thing. But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work. But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work.

But on the other hand we cannot find in a thing what is not there. However, Mercury does not have the red dye, so it cannot, alone, be sufficient to form the body of the Sun; it would be impossible for us with Mercury alone to bring the Work to a successful conclusion. The Moon alone cannot be enough, however this body is, so to speak, the basis of the work.

However we work and transform Mercury, it will never be able to constitute the body. They also say: “We find red sulfur in Mercury, so it contains the red dye. " Error! Sulfur is the father of metals, it is never found in mercury which is female.

Passive matter cannot fertilize itself. Mercury does contain sulfur, but, as we have already said, it is terrestrial sulfur. Finally, let us note that Sulfur cannot withstand fusion; The Elixir cannot be made from just one thing.

CHAPTER II
OF PUTREFACTION.

Fire generates death and life. A light fire dries the body. Here is the reason: fire arriving in contact with a body,

This element is natural heat. This excites the fire first extracted from the body; there is conjunction and the radical humidity of the body rises to its surface as long as the fire acts outside. As soon as the radical humidity which united the various portions of the body is gone, the body dies, dissolves, resolves; all its parts separate from each other. Fire acts here as a sharp instrument.

Although it dries up and shrinks by itself, it can only do so if there is a certain predisposition in the body, especially if the body is compact as an element is. The latter lacks a joint agglutinant, which would separate from the body after corruption. All this can be done by the Sun, because it is of a warm and humid nature compared to other bodies.

OF THE STONE REGIME.

There are four regimes of the Stone: 1° Decompose; 2° wash; 3° reduce; 4° fix. In the first regime we separate the natures, because without division, without purification, there can be no conjunction. During the second regime, the separated elements are washed, purified, and returned to a simple state. In the third we change our Sulfur into mining the Sun, the Moon and other metals. In the fourth, all the bodies previously extracted from our Stone are united, recomposed and fixed to henceforth remain conjoined.

There are some which have five degrees in the Magisterium: 1° to resolve substances into their raw material; 2° to bring our earth, that is to say black magnesia, to be close to the nature of Sulfur and Mercury; 3° make Sulfur as close as possible to the mineral matter of the Sun and the Moon; 4° compose a white elixir from several things; 5° burn the white elixir perfectly, give it the color of cinnabar, and from there, to make the red elixir.

Finally there are some who have four degrees in the Work, others three, others only two. These include: 1° implementation and purification of the elements; 2° conjunction.

Note carefully. the following: the material of the Philosophers' Stone is cheap; it is found everywhere, it is a viscous water like mercury that is extracted from the earth. Our viscous water is found everywhere, even in the Latrines, have said some philosophers, and some imbeciles taking their words from. the letter, looked for it in the excrement.

Nature operates on this matter by removing something from it, its earthy principle, and adding something to it, the Sulfur of the Philosophers, which is not the sulfur of the vulgar, but an invisible Sulfur, a tincture of red. To tell the truth, it is the spirit of Roman vitriol. Prepare it thus: Take saltpeter and Roman vitriol, 2 pounds of each; subtly grinds. Aristotle is therefore right when he says in his fourth book about meteors. “All Alchemists know that you cannot change it in any way. forms metals, if they are not first reduced to their raw material. » Which is easy as we will soon see. The Philosopher says that you cannot go from one end to the other without passing through the middle. At one end of our philosopher's stone are two luminaries, gold and silver, at the other end the perfect elixir or tincture. In the middle the philosophical brandy, naturally purified, cooked and digested. All these things are close to perfection and preferable to bodies of a more remote nature. Just as by means of heat, ice is resolved into water, having once been water, so metals are resolved into their first material which is our Brandy. The preparation is indicated in the following chapters. It alone can reduce all metallic bodies into their raw material. Just as by means of heat, ice is resolved into water, having once been water, so metals are resolved into their first material which is our Brandy. The preparation is indicated in the following chapters. It alone can reduce all metallic bodies into their raw material.

Just as by means of heat, ice is resolved into water, having once been water, so metals are resolved into their first material which is our Brandy. The preparation is indicated in the following chapters. It alone can reduce all metallic bodies into their raw material.

CHAPTER IV
OF THE SUBLIMATION OF MERCURY.

In the name of the Lord, get yourself a pound of pure mercury from the mine. On the other hand, take Roman vitriol and calcined, crushed common salt and mix thoroughly. Place these last two materials in a large glazed earthenware vessel over a low heat, until the material begins to melt and flow. So take your mineral mercury, put it in a long-necked vase and pour it drop by drop onto the molten vitriol and salt.

Stir with a wooden spatula until the mercury is completely devoured and no trace remains. When it has completely disappeared, dry the material over low heat overnight. The next morning, take the dried material and grind it finely on a stone. You will put the pulverized material in the sublimatory vase called aludel to sublimate it according to art. You will put up the capital and you will coat the joints with philosophical oil, so that the mercury cannot escape. You will place the aludel on its stove and you will lute it there so that it cannot tilt and that it stands up straight; then you will make a small fire for four hours to drive away the humidity of the mercury and the vitriol; after the humidity has evaporated, increase the heat so that the pure white matter of mercury separates from its impurities, for four hours; you will see if this is enough by introducing a wooden stick into the sublimations vase through the upper opening, you will go down to the material and you will feel if the white matter of mercury is superimposed on the mixture. If this is the case, remove the stick, close the opening of the capital with a lut so that the mercury cannot escape and increase the fire so that the white matter of the mercury rises above the faeces, into the the aludel, this for four hours.

Finally heat with wood so as to obtain flames, the bottom of the vase and the residue must become red; continue in this way as long as there remains a little white mercury substance adhering to the feces. The force and violence of the fire will eventually separate him. Then stop the fire, let the stove and the material cool overnight. The next morning remove the vase from the stove, remove the lutes carefully so as not to dirty the Mercury, opens the device; if you find a white, sublimated, pure, compact, heavy material, you have succeeded. But if your sublimation was spongy, light, porous, pick it up, start the sublimation again on the residue by adding pulverized common salt again; operates in the same vessel on its stove, in the same way, with the same degree of fire as above. Then open the vase, see if the sublimate is white, compact, dense, collect it and carefully put it aside to use it when you need it to complete the Work.

But if it is not yet as it should be, you will have to sublimate it a third time until you obtain it pure, compact, white, heavy. But if your sublimation was spongy, light, porous, pick it up, start the sublimation again on the residue by adding pulverized common salt again; operates in the same vessel on its stove, in the same way, with the same degree of fire as above. Then open the vase, see if the sublimate is white, compact, dense, collect it and carefully put it aside to use it when you need it to complete the Work. But if it is not yet as it should be, you will have to sublimate it a third time until you obtain it pure, compact, white, heavy. But if your sublimation was spongy, light, porous, pick it up, start the sublimation again on the residue by adding pulverized common salt again; operates in the same vessel on its stove, in the same way, with the same degree of fire as above. Then open the vase, see if the sublimate is white, compact, dense, collect it and carefully put it aside to use it when you need it to complete the Work.

But if it is not yet as it should be, you will have to sublimate it a third time until you obtain it pure, compact, white, heavy. Then open the vase, see if the sublimate is white, compact, dense, collect it and carefully put it aside to use it when you need it to complete the Work. But if it is not yet as it should be, you will have to sublimate it a third time until you obtain it pure, compact, white, heavy. Then open the vase, see if the sublimate is white, compact, dense, collect it and carefully put it aside to use it when you need it to complete the Work. But if it is not yet as it should be, you will have to sublimate it a third time until you obtain it pure, compact, white, heavy.

Note that by this operation you have removed two impurities from Mercury. First you took away all its superfluous moisture; secondly you freed it of its impure earthy parts which remained in the feces; you have thus sublimated it into a clear, semi-fixed substance. Put it aside as recommended.

CHAPTER V
OF THE PREPARATION OF THE WATERS FROM WHICH YOU WILL DRAW THE WATER OF LIFE.

Take two pounds of Roman vitriol, two pounds of saltpeter, one pound of calcined alum. Crush well, mix perfectly, put in a glass still, distill the water according to the ordinary rules, closing the joints well, lest the spirits escape. Start with a low heat, then heat more strongly; then heat with wood until the apparatus turns white, so that all the spirits distil. Then stop the fire, let the stove cool; carefully put this water aside, because it is the solvent of the Moon; keep it for the Work, it dissolves silver and separates it from gold. It calcines Mercury and the crocus of Mars; it imparted a brown color to the man's skin which is difficult to remove. It is the prime water of philosophers, it is perfect to the first degree. You will prepare three pounds of this water.

Second water prepared by ammonia salt.
In the name of the Lord, take a pound of prime water and dissolve in it four lots of pure and colorless ammonia salt; Once dissolved, the water changed color and acquired other properties. The prime water was greenish, it dissolved the Moon, had no action on the Sun; but as soon as ammonia salt is added to it, it takes on a yellow color, it dissolves gold, mercury, sublimated sulfur and imparts a strong yellow color to the human skin. Keep this water carefully, because it will be useful to us later.

Third-party water prepared using. Mercury sublimated.
Take a pound of second water and eleven lots of sublimated Mercury (by Roman vitriol and salt) well prepared and very pure. You will gradually pour the Mercury into the second water. Then you will seal the orifice of the vial, lest the spirit of Mercury escape. You will place the vial on warm ashes, the water will immediately begin to act on the Mercury, dissolving it and incorporating it. You will leave the vial on the hot ashes, there must not be excess water remaining and the sublimated Mercury must dissolve completely. Water acts by imbibition on Mercury until it has dissolved it.

If the water has not been able to dissolve all the mercury, you will take what remains at the bottom of the flask, you will dry it over a slow fire, you will pulverize and you will dissolve it in a new quantity of second water. You will repeat this operation until all the sublimated mercury has dissolved in the water. You will combine all these solutions into one, in a very clean glass vase, the opening of which you will close perfectly with wax. Carefully set aside. Because this is our third water, philosophical, thick, perfect to the third degree. It is the mother of the Water of Life which reduces all bodies to their raw material.

Quart water which reduces the charred bodies to their raw material.
Take third-party mercuric water, perfect to the third degree, clear, and put it to putrefy in the horse's belly in a long-necked vial, clean, well closed, for fourteen days.

Leave to ferment, the impurities fall to the bottom and the water turns from yellow to red. At this time you will remove the flask and place it on ashes over a very low heat; fit an alembic capital with its container. Start the distillation slowly. What passes drop by drop is our very clear, pure, heavy brandy, virginal milk, very sour vinegar. Continue the fire gently until all the brandy has quietly distilled; then stop the fire, let the stove cool and carefully store your distilled water. This is our Brandy, Vinegar of the Philosophers, Virginal Milk which reduces bodies to their raw material. It has been given an infinite number of names.

Here are the properties of this water: a drop placed on a hot copper blade penetrates it immediately and leaves a white stain. Thrown on coals, it emits smoke; in the air it freezes and (looks like ice. When this water is distilled, the drops do not pass all following the same path, but some pass here, others there. It does not act on the metals like strong, corrosive water, which dissolves them, but it reduces to Mercury all the bodies it bathes, as you will see later.

After putrefaction, distillation, clarification, it is pure and more perfect, freed from all igneous and corrosive sulphurous principles. It is not water that corrodes, it does not dissolve bodies, it reduces them to Mercury. It owes this property to Mercury originally dissolved and putrefied in the third degree of perfection. It no longer contains any feces or earthy impurities. The last distillation separated them, the black impurities remained at the bottom of the still. The color of this water is blue, limpid, red; put it aside. For it reduces all charred and rotten bodies to their radical or mercurial raw material.

When you want to reduce the charred bodies with this water, prepare the bodies in this way.

Take a piece of whatever body you want, Sun or Moon; file it gently. Spray these filings well on a stone with prepared common salt. Separate the salt by dissolving it in hot water; the pulverized lime will fall to the bottom of the liquid; decant. Dry the lime, soak it three times with oil of tartar, each time letting the lime absorb all the oil; then put the lime in a small vial; pour the oil of tartar over it, so that the liquid is two fingers thick, then close the vial, put it to putrefy in the horse's stomach for eight days; then take the flask, decant the oil and dry out the lime. This done, put the lime in an equal weight of our Brandy; close the flask and let it digest over a very low heat until all the lime is converted into Mercury. Then decant the water carefully, collect the bodily Mercury, put it in a glass vase; purify it with water and common salt, dry it according to the rules, put it on a fine cloth and express it in droplets. If it all passes, that's good. If any portion of the amalgamated body remains, due to the dissolution not being complete, put this residue with a new quantity of holy water.

Know that the distillation of water must be done in a water bath; for air and fire, we will distil on the hot ashes. The water must be drawn from the wet substance and not from elsewhere; air and fire must be extracted from the dry substance and not from another. put it in a glass vase; purify it with water and common salt, dry it according to the rules, put it on a fine cloth and express it in droplets. If it all passes, that's good. If any portion of the amalgamated body remains, due to the dissolution not being complete, put this residue with a new quantity of holy water. Know that the distillation of water must be done in a water bath; for air and fire, we will distil on the hot ashes. The water must be drawn from the wet substance and not from elsewhere; air and fire must be extracted from the dry substance and not from another. put it in a glass vase; purify it with water and common salt, dry it according to the rules, put it on a fine cloth and express it in droplets. If it all passes, that's good. If any portion of the amalgamated body remains, due to the dissolution not being complete, put this residue with a new quantity of holy water. Know that the distillation of water must be done in a water bath; for air and fire, we will distil on the hot ashes. The water must be drawn from the wet substance and not from elsewhere; air and fire must be extracted from the dry substance and not from another. Since the dissolution was not complete, put this residue with a new quantity of holy water. Know that the distillation of water must be done in a water bath; for air and fire, we will distil on the hot ashes. The water must be drawn from the wet substance and not from elsewhere; air and fire must be extracted from the dry substance and not from another. Since the dissolution was not complete, put this residue with a new quantity of holy water. Know that the distillation of water must be done in a water bath; for air and fire, we will distil on the hot ashes. The water must be drawn from the wet substance and not from elsewhere; air and fire must be extracted from the dry substance and not from another.

Properties of this Mercury.

He is less mobile, he runs less quickly than the other mercury; he leaves traces of his body fixed in the fire; a drop placed on a red-hot slide leaves a residue.

Multiplication of philosophical Mercury.
When you have your philosophical Mercury, take two parts of it and one part of the filings mentioned above; make an amalgam by grinding everything together until perfect union. Put this amalgam in a vial, close the opening well and place over the ashes over a moderate fire. Everything will be resolved in Mercury. You will thus be able to increase it to infinity, because the amount of volatile always exceeding the amount of fixed, increases it indefinitely by communicating to it its own nature and there will always be enough.

Now you know how to prepare brandy, you know its degrees and properties, you know the putrefaction of metallic bodies, their reduction to raw material, the multiplication of matter to infinity. I have explained to you clearly what all philosophers have carefully hidden.

Practice of the Mercury of the wise.
It is not the mercury of the vulgar, it is the raw material of philosophers. It is an aqueous element, cold, humid, it is a permanent water, it is the spirit of the body, fatty vapor, Holy water, Strong water, Water of the wise, Vinegar of the philosophers. Mineral water, Dew of heavenly grace; it has many other names, and although they are different, they all designate one and the same thing which is the Mercury of the philosophers; he is the force of alchemy; only it can be used to make white and red dye, etc.

Take therefore in the name of Jesus Christ, our venerable Mr...., Water of the philosophers, primitive Hyle of the wise; it is the stone that we discovered for you in this treatise, it is the raw material of the perfect body, as you guessed. Put your material in a furnace, in a clean, clear, transparent, round vessel, the opening of which you will hermetically seal, so that nothing can escape. Your material will be placed on a well flattened, slightly warm bed; you will leave him there for a philosophical month; you will maintain the heat equal, as long as the sweat of matter sublimates, until it no longer sweats, until nothing rises, nothing falls, until it begins to rot, to suffocate, to coagulate and to settle, as a result of the constancy of the fire.

No more smoky aerial substance will rise and our Mercury will remain at the bottom, dry, stripped of its moisture, rotten, coagulated, changed into a black earth, which we call the black head of the raven, a dry earthy element.

When you have done this, you will have accomplished the true sublimation of the Philosophers, during which you have gone through all the aforementioned degrees: sublimation of Mercury, distillation, coagulation, putrefaction, calcination, fixation, in a single vessel and a single furnace as he been said.

Indeed, when our stone is in its vessel, and it rises, we say that there is sublimation or ascension. But when it then falls to the bottom, we say that there is distillation or precipitation. Then when after sublimation and distillation, our Stone begins to rot and coagulate, it is putrefaction and coagulation; finally when it is calcined and fixed by deprivation of its radical aqueous humidity, it is calcination and fixation; all this is done by the simple act of heating, in a single furnace, in a single vessel, as has been said.

This sublimation constitutes a true separation of the elements, according to the philosophers: “The work of our stone consists only of the separation and conjunction of the elements; because in our sublimation the cold and humid aqueous element changes into a dry and warm earthy element. It follows that the separation of the elements of our stone is not vulgar, but philosophical; our very perfect sublimation alone is sufficient in fact to separate the elements; in our stone there is only the form of two elements, water and earth, which virtually contain the other two. The Earth virtually contains Fire, because of its dryness; Water virtually encloses Air because of its humidity.

Also a Philosopher said: “There is no separation of the four elements in our Stone as the fools think. Our nature contains a very hidden arcana whose strength and power we see, earth and water. It contains two other elements, air and fire, but they are neither visible nor tangible, we cannot represent them, nothing detects them, we ignore their power, which is only manifested in the two other elements, earth and water, when the fire changes colors during cooking.

Behold, by the grace of God, you have the second component of the philosopher's stone, which is the Black Earth, Raven head, mother, heart, root of other colors. From this earth as from a trunk, everything else takes birth. This earthy, dry element has received a large number of names in the books of philosophers; it is still called filthy Laton, black residue, bronze of the philosophers, Nummus, black sulfur, male, husband, etc. Despite this infinite variety of names, it is never just one and the same thing, taken from a single material.

As a result of this deprivation of humidity, caused by philosophical sublimation, the volatile became fixed, the soft hard, the aqueous became earthy, according to Geber. It is the metamorphosis of nature, the change of water into fire, according to Peat. It is again the change of cold and humid constitutions into bilious, dry constitutions, according to doctors. Aristotle says that the spirit took on a body, and Alphidius that the liquid became viscous. The occult has become manifest, says Rudianus in the Book of Three Words. We now understand the philosophers when they say: “Our Great Work is none other than a permutation of natures, an evolution of the elements. » It is quite obvious that by this deprivation of humidity we make the stone dry, the volatile becomes fixed, the spirit becomes corporeal, the liquid becomes solid, the fire changes into water, the air into earth. We have thus changed the true natures according to a certain order, we have made the four elements rotate in a circle, we have permuted their natures. May God be eternally blessed! Amen.

Let us now move on with God's permission to the second operation which is the whitening of our pure land. So take two parts of fixed earth or Raven's head; grind it subtly and carefully into an extremely clean mortar, add to it some of the Philosophical Water that you know (this is the water that you put aside). Focus on uniting them, by imbibing the dry earth little by little with water, until it has quenched its thirst; crushed and mixed so well, that the union of body, soul and water is perfect and intimate. This done, you will put everything in a hermetically sealed mattress so that nothing escapes, and you will place it on its small plain bed, warm, always warm so that by sweating it rids its insides of the liquid it has drunk. . You will leave it there for eight days, until the earth partly whitens. You will then take the Stone, you will pulverize it, you will soak it again with Virginal Milk, stirring, until it has quenched its thirst; you will put it back in the vial on its little warm bed so that it dries out by sweating, as above. You will repeat this operation four times following the same order: imbibition of the earth with water until perfect union, desiccation, calcination. You will have thus sufficiently cooked the earth of our very precious stone. By following this order: cooking, pulverization, imbibition with water, desiccation, calcination, you have sufficiently purified the Crow's Head, the black and fetid earth, you have led it to whiteness by the power of fire, of heat and whitening water. Collect the white earth and put it carefully aside, for it is a precious possession, it is your White Leafy Earth, White Sulfur, White Magnesia, etc. Morien speaks of her when he says... “Let this earth rot with its water, so that it purifies itself and with the help of God you will complete the Magisterium. » Hermes says in the same way that Azoth washes Laton and removes all its impurities.

In this last operation we have reproduced the true conjunction of the elements, because water has united with earth, air with fire. It is the union of man and woman, male and female, gold and silver, dry sulfur and impure celestial water. There was also resurrection of dead bodies. This is why the philosopher said: "Let those who do not know how to kill and resurrect abandon art" and elsewhere: "Those who know how to kill and resurrect will benefit in our science." He will be the Prince of Art who will know how to do these two things.” Another philosopher said: “Our dry Earth will bear no fruit, unless it is deeply soaked with its Rainwater. Our dry Earth has a great thirst, when it begins to drink, it drinks to the dregs. » Another said: “Our Earth drinks the fertilizing water it was waiting for, it quenches its thirst, then it produces hundreds of fruits. » There are many other similar passages in the books of philosophers, but they are in the form of parables, so that the wicked cannot hear them.

By the grace of God, you now have our white leafy Earth ready to undergo fermentation, which will give it breath. Also the Philosopher said: “Whiten the black earth before adding the ferment to it. » Another said: “Sow your gold in the White Leafy Earth.... and it will give you fruit a hundredfold. Glory to God. Amen. » There are many other similar passages in the books of philosophers, but they are in the form of parables, so that the wicked cannot hear them. By the grace of God, you now have our white leafy Earth ready to undergo fermentation, which will give it breath. Also the Philosopher said: “Whiten the black earth before adding the ferment to it. » Another said: “Sow your gold in the White Leafy Earth.... and it will give you fruit a hundredfold. Glory to God. Amen. » There are many other similar passages in the books of philosophers, but they are in the form of parables, so that the wicked cannot hear them. By the grace of God, you now have our white leafy Earth ready to undergo fermentation, which will give it breath. Also the Philosopher said: “Whiten the black earth before adding the ferment to it. » Another said: “Sow your gold in the White Leafy Earth.... and it will give you fruit a hundredfold. Glory to God. Amen. “Whiten the black earth before adding the ferment. » Another said: “Sow your gold in the White Leafy Earth.... and it will give you fruit a hundredfold. Glory to God. Amen. “Whiten the black earth before adding the ferment. » Another said: “Sow your gold in the White Leafy Earth.... and it will give you fruit a hundredfold. Glory to God. Amen.

Let's move on to the third operation which is the fermentation of the white earth. We must animate the dead body and resuscitate it, to multiply its power infinitely, and make it pass to the state of perfect white Elixir which changes Mercury into perfect and true Moon. Note that the ferment can only penetrate the dead body through the intermediary of water which makes the marriage and serves as a link between the white earth and the ferment. This is why in any fermentation, it is necessary to note the weight of each thing. So if you want to ferment the white foliated earth to change it into a white elixir containing an excess of tincture, you need to take three parts of white earth or foliated dead body, two parts of the brandy that you put in reserve and one and a half parts of ferment. Prepare the ferment so that it is reduced to a thin, fixed white lime if you want to make the white elixir. If you want to make the red elixir, use very yellow golden lime, prepared according to the art. There are no other ferments than these. The leaven of silver is silver, the leaven of gold is gold, so do not look elsewhere. The reason is that these two bodies are luminous, they contain brilliant rays which communicate to the other bodies true redness and whiteness. They are of a nature similar to that of the purest sulfur of matter, of the species of stones. So extract each species from its species, each genus from its genus. The aim of the white work is to whiten, the red work is to redden. Above all, do not mix the two works,

All Philosophers say that our Stone is made up of three things: body, mind and soul. Now, the white leafy earth is the body, the ferment is the soul which gives it life, the intermediate water is the spirit. Unite these three things into one by marriage, by grinding them well on a clean stone, so as to unite them in their most infinite particles, to form a confused chaos. When you have made a single body at all, you will gently put it in a special flask, which you will place on its hot bed, so that the mixture coagulates, sets and becomes white. You will take this blessed white stone, you will grind it subtly on a very clean stone, you will soak it with a third of its weight in water to lower its thirst.

You will then put her back in the clear, clean vial on her warm, warm bed so that she begins to sweat, give up her water and finally you will let her insides dry out. Repeat several times until you have prepared by this process our very excellent, fixed white stone. which penetrates the smallest parts of bodies very quickly, flowing like still water when put on the fire, changing imperfect bodies into real silver, comparable in every way to natural silver. Note that if you repeat all these operations several times in the same order: dissolve, coagulate, grind, cook, your Medicine will be all the better, its excellence will increase more and more. The more you work on your Stone to increase its virtue, and the more output you will have when you make the projection on imperfect bodies. So that after one operation a part of the Elixir changes a hundred parts of any body in the Moon, after two operations a thousand, after three ten thousand, after four hundred thousand, after five a million, after six operations thousands from a thousand and so on to infinity. So the followers all praise the great maxim of the philosophers about perseverance in starting this operation again.

If imbibition had been enough, they would not have talked so much on this subject. Thanks be to God. Amen. after five a million, after six operations thousands of thousands and so on ad infinitum. So the followers all praise the great maxim of the philosophers about perseverance in starting this operation again. If imbibition had been enough, they would not have talked so much on this subject. Thanks be to God. Amen. after five a million, after six operations thousands of thousands and so on ad infinitum. So the followers all praise the great maxim of the philosophers about perseverance in starting this operation again. If imbibition had been enough, they would not have talked so much on this subject.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

If you wish to change this glorious Stone, this white King which transmutes and dyes Mercury and all imperfect bodies into a true Moon, if you wish, I say, to change it into a red Stone which transmutes and dyes Mercury, the Moon and the other metals in true Sun, operates like this. Take the White Stone and divide it into two parts; you will increase one to the state of white elixir with its white water, as was said above, so that you will have it indefinitely. You will put the other in the new bed of philosophers, neat, clean, transparent, spherical, and you will place the whole in the furnace of digestion. You will increase the fire until by its strength and power the matter is changed into a very red stone, which the Philosophers call Blood, purple gold, red coral, red sulfur. When you see this color such that red is as bright as dry charred crocus, then joyfully take the King, set it aside carefully.

If you want to change it into a tincture of the very powerful Red Elixir, transmuting and dyeing Mercury, the Moon and any other imperfect metal into the very true Sun, ferment three parts with one and a half parts of very pure gold in it. state of lime held and very yellow, and two parts of solidified water. Make a perfect mixture according to the rules of the Art, until you can no longer distinguish anything from the components. Return to the flask over a ripening fire to bring it to perfection. As soon as the real red bloodstone appears, you will gradually add solid water. so take the King joyfully, set him aside carefully. If you want to change it into a tincture of the very powerful Red Elixir, transmuting and dyeing Mercury, the Moon and any other imperfect metal into the very true Sun, ferment three parts with one and a half parts of very pure gold in it. state of lime held and very yellow, and two parts of solidified water.

Make a perfect mixture according to the rules of the Art, until you can no longer distinguish anything from the components. Return to the flask over a ripening fire to bring it to perfection. As soon as the real red bloodstone appears, you will gradually add solid water. so take the King joyfully, set him aside carefully. If you want to change it into a tincture of the very powerful Red Elixir, transmuting and dyeing Mercury, the Moon and any other imperfect metal into the very true Sun, ferment three parts with one and a half parts of very pure gold in it. state of lime held and very yellow, and two parts of solidified water. Make a perfect mixture according to the rules of the Art, until you can no longer distinguish anything from the components. Return to the flask over a ripening fire to bring it to perfection. As soon as the real red bloodstone appears, you will gradually add solid water.

the Moon and any other imperfect metal in the very true Sun, ferment three parts with one and a half parts of very pure gold in the state of strong and very yellow lime, and two parts of solidified Water. Make a perfect mixture according to the rules of the Art, until you can no longer distinguish anything from the components. Return to the flask over a ripening fire to bring it to perfection. As soon as the real red bloodstone appears, you will gradually add solid water. the Moon and any other imperfect metal in the very true Sun, ferment three parts with one and a half parts of very pure gold in the state of strong and very yellow lime, and two parts of solidified Water. Make a perfect mixture according to the rules of the Art, until you can no longer distinguish anything from the components. Return to the flask over a ripening fire to bring it to perfection. As soon as the real red bloodstone appears, you will gradually add solid water.

You will gradually increase the fire of digestion. You will increase its perfection by repeating the operation. you must each time add solid Water (which you have kept), which suits its nature; it multiplies its power to infinity, without changing anything in its essence. A part of perfect Elixir of the first degree projected on a hundred parts of Mercury (washed with vinegar and salt, as you must know) placed in a crucible over a low heat, until fumes appear, transmutes them immediately in real Sun better than the natural one. Likewise by replacing Mercury with the Moon.

For every degree of perfection in addition to the Elixir, it is the same as for the white Elixir, until at last it dyes into Sun infinite quantities of Mercury and Moon. You now possess a precious arcana, an infinite treasure. This is why the philosophers say: “Our Stone has three colors, it is black at the beginning, white in the middle, red at the end. » A philosopher said: “Heat acting first on the humid generates blackness, its action on the dry generates whiteness and on whiteness generates redness. Because whiteness is nothing other than the complete deprivation of blackness. White, strongly condensed by the force of fire, generates red. » — “All you researchers who work the Art, said another wise man, when you see the white appear in the ship, know that the red is hidden in this white. You need to extract it and heat it strongly until it turns red. »

Now let us give thanks to the sublime and glorious God, Sovereign of Nature, who created this substance and gave it a property which is not found in any other body. It is she who, putting herself on the fire, engages in combat with it and valiantly resists it. All the other bodies flee or are exterminated by fire. Collect my words, note how many mysteries they contain, because in this short treatise, I have gathered and explained what is most secret in Alchemy; everything is said simply and clearly, I have omitted nothing, everything is briefly indicated, and I call God to witness that in the books of the Philosophers, you cannot find anything better than what I have told you . So I beg you, do not entrust this treaty to anyone, do not let it fall into impious hands, because it contains the secrets of philosophers of all centuries. Such a quantity of precious pearls should not be thrown to swine and the unworthy. If, however, this happens, I pray to Almighty God that you will never be able to complete this divine Work.

Blessed be God, one in three persons. Amen.

---

GLOSSARY

Flying eagle. — Mercury of the philosophers.

Alphidius. — Greek philosopher; manuscript 6514 from the national library: Liber meteorum, is by Alphidius. Despite its title, it is a treatise on alchemy.

Aludel. — Sublimatory apparatus, composed of a glazed earthenware vase, surmounted by a glass capital intended to receive the sublimated.

Soul. — This is the volatile part of the stone; more specifically this word designates the ferment.

Aristotle. —Disciple of Avicenna, he should not be confused with the Greek philosopher, tutor of Alexander. Works: De perfecto magisterio. — De practica Lapidis. Spagyric art. — Synonym of Alchemy.

Astanus. — Perhaps it is the same as Ostanès. There are several manuscripts of the latter in libraries.

Star. — It is the essential principle of metals capable of changing bodies into its own nature (Paracelsus).

Avicenna. — Al Hussein Ebn Sina, born in Bokhara, disciple of Alpharabi, Arab alchemist, lived in the 11th century. Works: Canon, medicinæ; Tractatulus alchemiae; From lapidum conglutinalion.

Azoth. — Mercury of the Philosophers. Basil Valentinus made a treatise on Azoth.

Barsen or Basen. — Alchemist cited in Peat.

Red lime. — Material from stone to red.

Cohober. — Return the distilled liquid to the retort.

Body. — Fixed part of the stone.

Crocus. — Material from stone to red. Also means oxide.

Degrees. — The first degree of fire corresponds to 50 degrees centigrade, the second to the boiling of water, the third to the melting of tin, the fourth to the boiling of mercury. Water, holy water, metallic water, cloud water, brandy. Mercury of the philosophers.

Entéléchis: essential and perfect form of a thing.

Ash fire. — Sand bath.

Geber. — Djafar al Soli, Arab Hermetic philosopher, lived in the 9th century. He is the most famous Arab alchemist. Works: Sum of perfection. — Will.

Fat. — Old measurement of weight: 3 gr., 90. A large is worth 72 grains.

Hermes. — Egyptian Thaut, the father of chemistry. Works: Emerald Table. — The seven chapters.

Hyle. — Material of the stone. Mercury of the philosophers.

Lalon or brass.. — Mercury of the philosophers before putrefaction, that is to say before darkness.

Lion.— Green lion, green vitriol. Red lion, hypoazotide gas.

Law. — German weight measure, equivalent to half an ounce.

Moon.. — Silver, or ordinary mercury, or even white matter.

Magisterium. — Synonymous with philosopher's stone and Great Work.

Mercury of the philosophers. — Raw material of the stone.

Metals. — Alchemists recognize only seven, to which they attribute the names of the planets. Gold or sun, silver or moon, mercury, lead or Saturn, tin or Jupiter, copper or Venus, iron or Mars.

Medicine. — Synonym of elixir. Microcosm. — Or small world, it is man, as opposed to the macrocosm, which is the universe. Philosophers still understand by microcosm their magisterium.

Morien. — Disciple of Adfar, Roman Hermetic philosopher. Works: On the transmutation of metals - Dialogue between King Calid and the philosopher Morien.

Ounce. Old weight measurement equals 31 gr. 25.

Bird of Hermes. — Mercury of the philosophers.

Pelican. — Circulatory vessel: it consists of a body surmounted by a capital, from which two tubes emerge which enter laterally into the body, so that the distilling liquid constantly falls back into the body.

Phoenix. — Fabulous bird with red plumage; red stone emblem.

Physicist. - Doctor. This word is still used in England in this sense (physician). Hermogenes chicken. — Material from stone to white.

Phases. — Persian Hermetic philosopher, lived in the 10th century. His works exist in manuscript in Latin translation in the national library: Lumen luminum. -- Liber perfecti magisterii. — De aluminibus et salibus.

Sulfur. —Second principle of. metals. Also means the material of the stone. Bright sulfur or red sulfur, material from stone to red.

Sublimation. — In the philosophical sense, means purification.

Raven's head. — It is the matter during putrefaction.

Theleme. — Perfection.

Philosophers' Peat. — Turbo, philosophorum, the best known and most common of the ancient treatises on Alchemy. Attributed to the philosopher Aristaeus.

Horse belly. — Warm horse manure, provides a constant temperature.

Vinegar, white, first sour, of the philosophers.— Mer" cure of the philosophers.

Vitriol. — Green vitriol or Roman vitriol is all one, means green rosacea. Blue or Hungarian vitriol: blue rosacea.

Note. — Rudianus , Franciscus, and Mechardus are completely unknown. They are probably Greek alchemists whose works are lost.

Completed printing, June 15, in Paris Chez henri JOUVE, l5, rue Racine MDCCCXC