THE SECOND PART OF THE MINERAL WORK OF THE BIRTH
& Origin of all Metals & Minerals; how they are produced by the Stars, are composed of water & earth, & receive various forms.

In favor of the Curious.

BY JEAN RUDOLPHE GLAUBER

And put in French by Sr DU TEIL

A PARIS
At THOMAS JOLLY, Librairie Juré, rue S. Jacques, at the corner of rue de la Parcheminerie, at Armes de Hollande
M. DC. LIX
WITH PRIVILEGE OF THE KING

PREFACE TO THE READER

Having mentioned, Friend Reader, this little treatise on the Generation of Metals in the Book that I previously gave to the Public, and my business has not given me the leisure to bring it to light until now : Finally, at the request of several people of small and high status, I took away from my other affairs the time it took to make myself known to the public, no one doubting that although my feelings on the veneration of metals do not conform to the opinion of all the Philosophers, the most enlightened, yet are not of my party.

What I put forward here, I adjust it and do not embellish it with chosen words, nor with the writings and testimonies of others; but I give it in pure simplicity, in which the entire truth consists: This is why I tried to be as short as I could in this Treatise, and let no one believe that my intention was to shock the opinion of other Authors on this matter, nothing less than that. ; on the contrary I leave the freedom to everyone to confer what they have said with my writings, in order to be able to better judge from there, which will be found most in conformity with the experiences of Nature and the testimony of the truth.

I do not claim any honor or profit in all this, and what I do with it is purely to clarify and give a little more light to my previous writings, in which I particularly made mention of this Treatise of the Metal Generation; because I would suffer with great pain if my writings were misinterpreted, & that they serve as an obstacle to no one; on the contrary, I wish and hope that many will gain great insight from it, and will become wiser and more judicious in their work. God, who is the common father of all men, and who fills Heaven and Earth with his wonders, wants everything to end in his honor and for our benefit.

THE SECOND PART OF THE MINERAL WORK.
Of the origin & birth of Metals.

Regarding the origin of metals and minerals, how they are generated in the bowels of the greenhouse, and finally achieve such great fixation, opinions have always been very different and in large numbers: so that new students in the mysteries of Philosophy and Nature have always been at great difficulty to whom they should relate. And as there are today many people of all sorts of condition who seek to establish their fortune by metals, and yet they can never succeed in their purpose, without having a perfect knowledge of it, I will explain here fully their birth & their origin. For please, how can we improve metals and put them in a more perfect state, if we do not know what material they are composed of,

Although most Philosophers assure by very short, very obscure & enigmatic writings, that metals are generated from above, by the force of the stars in the bowels of the earth, there are nevertheless those ignorant enough to dispute that they be provided with seed, like plants and animals; & consequently that they have no virtue of generating, but that God has produced them as they are, from the first creation of the world in the womb of the earth.

But this error is too palpable, too crude and too contrary to daily experience. Because when the Miners have pulled the metals out of the earth, we know visually that they grow every day, and that this virtue and movement is not lost in them, only after they have been deprived by eternal accidents of this life & vegetative force. Others believe that God from the creation of the world did not put metals in the womb of the earth, but only that he infused their seed there to serve for their propagation and generation. But if that were the case, it would have been a long time since this seed would have given us a new harvest through perfect vegetation, of which we see no trace anywhere. We must therefore know that there is a big difference between the seed of metals, and the seed of plants and animals which are palpable and visible.

Metals were not created all together from the beginning of the world; but by the length of time they are begotten of the elements, to whom God has communicated this virtue of giving increase to all things. Hence it is that they cannot do without the continual mixing and reciprocal coupling of each other.

Because the stars and the element of fire throw the seed, metallic from their insides, this seed is carried by the air to the water, where it takes a palpable form, or a body that the earth incubates, nourishes, & increases from form to form, until it has made a perfect metal; which finally she brings to light as a mother does her child when he is in his perfection. where it takes a palpable form, or a body that the earth incubates, nourishes, and increases from form to form, until it has made a perfect metal; which finally she brings to light as a mother does her child when he is in his perfection. where it takes a palpable form, or a body that the earth incubates, nourishes, and increases from form to form, until it has made a perfect metal; which finally she brings to light as a mother does her child when he is in his perfection.

This conception & generation of is started with the world, & will last until its end. Because by the virtue and force of the elements, new metals are generated every day, and the old ones, on the contrary, corrupt at the same time. Which does not only happen in metals, but is also daily visible in plants and animals. Since no one can deny that several plants of herbs and small animals are generated without any seed by the sole virtue of the elements.

Of this I could give several lessons, and several examples, if the thing were not well known to everyone. But who is he who will not believe that the same thing can be done in metals?

God has placed & implanted in the stars or element of fire, the seminal & vivifying virtue of all things, which virtue the fire does not retain enclosed within itself, but by the command of God, by means of the air & the water, he pushes it to the center of the earth. These igneous rays by their own movement do not stop going until they have met a place beyond which they cannot pass, & do not stop long in this place, but slipping & reflecting from the center to around the circumference in all parts of the earth, it ferments, heats up, and grows in size.

That if that did not happen in this way, and that these virtues and these astral influences stopped at the center of the earth, without ever going back to the top, there would be no production or generation on the earth. But since it is the nature of heat, and of everything that starts from fire, to push as far forward as possible, when it cannot go beyond, it reverberates and reflects from the center to the area. As we obviously see in a mirror on which the rays of 1 come to fall, and not being able to pierce and pass through the solidity of the metal, they rise again and are reflected towards their principle.

until, having broken through all obstacles, it has acquired the perfect form for which it is destined. The metals are therefore diversified according to the purity or impurity of the place; because the seed of all metals and all minerals is the same; but the diversity of the place where they are generated, and other accidents cause their difference. As we will prove below.

Many will find it strange that I say that there is a place or middle of the earth, which nothing can penetrate or pass beyond, but that everything is stopped there; the heavy remains, and the light turns back. Which opinion it is necessary that I explain in a few words. At the creation of the world, before the elements were separated from chaos. God wanting to separate them established a proper and particular place for the heaviest of them, namely the earth, which was done in a very short time. Because heavy things, namely the whole earth, stuck to their marked and destined point, from which this globe on which we live was made.

What was next heaviest after earth, like, water, separated from the other elements & surrounded the surface of the earth with which they have the same center; so that if the earth were not there, water would immediately surround this point or this magnet established for heavy things. But because the earth is heavier than the water, it occupies this place with justice, and carries the waters on its back. God also separated the other elements; fire as the lightest, was placed at the farthest place from the center of heavy things, the air a little less light held the middle, between water and fire.

God placed these two elements, air & fire, in such a way that touching each other they would continually circulate together, support each other, & revive each other, until being completely resolved they come into their first nothingness from which they emerge. For fire cannot burn without air, nor air be preserved without water, nor water be nourished without earth; nor the earth as having died of itself produce something, if the element of fire did not rather enrich it spiritually with its seed, which then becomes corporeal & sensible in the matter of the earth, as is necessary for all things. things that grow.

Now so that we do not believe that what I have just said is a tale, that the earth has its center beyond which nothing can pass, and to which the celestial rays coming to fall are constricted and repelled or reflected, subtleting & distilling throughout the earth; whence comes the production of all metals & minerals with the help of water & earth which gives them a body; you should know that this philosophy can be demonstrated by invincible reasons, and that I not only hold this opinion, but several others with me, among which the famous Sendivogius is not the least considerable, having written that there are an empty place in the center of the earth, where nothing can rest. Which even seems to be obvious by natural reason.

For there must be in the middle of this point an empty species, to which all the virtues of the stars are thrown, acting mutually among themselves, and exciting an extreme heat, a movement, and continual flow, not suffering anything remains enclosed within this place, from which the astral virtues, being pushed back, recede and rise again towards the surface of the earth, and joining along the way with a moist and terrestrial substance, produce metal.

It is not surprising that there is extreme heat in this place; since all the stars, the 1 the 2 with the other planets, & an infinite number of stars throw their rays there at will; when we only consider the 1 which is 64 times larger than the earth, without speaking of an infinity of other great celestial bodies which throw their influences into the bosom of the earth where they collect their forces, render them manifest and effective, what powerful heat should it not excite in this place? Consider the force of a small number or assembly of rays from 1 by means of a fiery mirror, which picks them up and unites them at a point.

Because a small, well-made, well-proportioned & polished mirror is capable of burning wood or other combustible material. If it is a little big, it will melt lead & tin, & even bigger it will melt copper, & also soften iron to be forged on the anvil. If, then, experience shows us that a small heap of collected rays can melt metals, reduce to smoke the 3, antimony, orpiment, arsenic, and other similar raw metals, unripe & volatile, what will be the countless thousands of all the rays of 1 collected in the center of the earth, not to mention those that the other stars contribute? Certainly there will be nothing sufficiently fixed that can resist this fire, as in fact nothing can resist it. This is why this point is necessarily empty at which nothing can rest or remain.

You will say that I tell you a lot, but that I prove nothing. For who has ever been to this place to see this great concavity? to which I reply, that though there are no eyewitnesses to what I am proposing, yet natural philosophy gives sufficiently powerful proofs to show that there must be such a place. For no one denies that the 1st and the other stars circle the earth, and do not imprint or cast their rays on it. This being granted, as any man of good sense will always confess, it must then be conceded that these warm & invisible rays always push forward of their own natural motion, until they are arrested somewhere, & cannot pass beyond , what happens at the center of the earth: either we must give a denial to all the Philosophers,

Here is a very clear example. Put hot coals on an iron or copper file, and when the underside of the blade begins to heat up, remove the coals, and put your hand on top of the blade, you will find it much hotter than underneath: some Time after the heat has had time to pass and penetrate, put your hand under it again, and you will find this part much warmer than the one above where the coal had been. Which sufficiently proves that heat always moves forward, and never moves behind. So, whether you like it or not, you will confess that the astral heat also does not stop at the surface of the earth, but penetrates to its center.

You will make this objection to me. How can it be that the whole earth is not heated, since the rays of the 1 descend to the center, or at least that it is not as hot everywhere, as on the surface? For the Miners find by experience that descending into the dug earth, it is not hot, and shows no traces of the rays of the 1?

To this I answer you, that the rays of 1 being dispersed, only act and exert their force in the places where they are collected and made sensitive, as is seen on the surface of the earth, from which to because of its thickness and the hardness of the stones and rocks, it does not leave a free passage for the rays, hence the heat is redoubled, so that very often it happens that pieces of wood fallen by chance on rocks light up and set ablaze simply by the heat and reflection of the rays of 1 which are received there. Which never happens in air however near it may be to 1, because it is rare & cannot stop & reflect rays. Thus the higher one climbs in the region of the air, the colder one feels.

So much so that the highest mountains, even in the hottest climates, are covered with snow and ice above, while their valleys, although further away from the 1, are heated and produce a thousand kinds of fruits. What comes from the reflection of the rays which is done below in the valleys, and cannot be done at the top of the mountains.

These rays of & which find themselves joined & multiplied on the surface of the earth by means of reflection penetrating into the earth, weaken imperceptibly, & finally come into their first simplicity; hence it is that the parts of the terrestrial globe that are a little too far from the center do not have more heat in them than the highest and highest air. That if someone could go towards 1, he would gradually feel that the heat would increase as he approached it, and that he would find it extreme when he reached it. It is the same with the earth whose parts which are between the 1, & the center, where all the rays of the 1 are collected, have less heat than the other parts, which approach more to one or the another of these extremes.

The proof & demonstration of this is clearly seen on the hottest summer days, when the aqueous vapors being carried by the wind a little higher in the air than usual, they come to convert into hail, & ice, by means of the cold they find there. If then the middle region of the air were not extremely cold, how would this coagulation and freezing of the cloud take place?

And who can know the magnitude of the greatest cold which is found in the parts of the air which hold the middle. The cold is undoubtedly so excessive there that no animal could survive there for a single moment; but first converted to stone.

As we often experience that terrestrial exhalations being carried to the middle region of the air, they coagulate there and convert into stone, so that we have often seen stones raining down, which weigh entire pounds, and not only stones, but we have also seen large pieces of metal falling, which represented the shape of several drops of water glued together.

More can be seen throughout such stories in several Authors. It is therefore constant that the rays of 1 do not produce heat in the places where they have free passage; but when they come to find resistance, and encounter a hard and solid material, they excite heat more or less depending on whether the resistance is greater and the material is thicker. Thus wood does not receive such a strong impression of heat as stone, nor stone like metal, depending on whether one is harder than the other, & happens to have fewer pores to let the rays pass through, the characteristic of heat being (as we said) to always push forward as long as it does not find resistance, & to only turn back 'with great difficulty.

The example and proof of this can be seen in the common fire of the kitchen, and in the fire of the 1, and in that of lightning. For if someone has a piece of silver or other metal in his pocket, and he stops for a while near the fire, he will find that the heat, having easily passed through his clothes, has stopped and increased in this metal, there finding more resistance; so that it can hardly be held in the hand, although clothes much closer to the fire are hardly warm.

It is the same with lightning, of which the fire starting with extreme speed does not have the time, nor the means to seek the holes and the pores of a solid body, to pass little by little, which is why it breaks everything that resists it, his nature not being to turn back, hence he will sometimes melt a sword in the sheath, without touching or altering the sheath, where he found no resistance.

Thus fire finding resistance to the sword or to another body, forces & destroys the weakest element. For fire alone is the most powerful of all the elements, incapable of yielding to the other three, which are obliged to yield to the force that God gave it from its creation. this is why he breaks everything that resists him, his nature not being to turn back, hence he will sometimes melt a sword in the scabbard, without touching or altering the scabbard, where he has not found point of resistance. So fire finding resistance to the sword or another body, forces & destroys the weaker element.

For fire alone is the most powerful of all the elements, incapable of yielding to the other three, which are obliged to yield to the force that God gave it from its creation. this is why he breaks everything that resists him, his nature not being to turn back, hence he will sometimes melt a sword in the scabbard, without touching or altering the scabbard, where he has not found point of resistance. So fire finding resistance to the sword or another body, forces & destroys the weaker element. For fire alone is the most powerful of all the elements, incapable of yielding to the other three, which are obliged to yield to the force that God gave it from its creation. strength & destroys the weakest element.

For fire alone is the most powerful of all the elements, incapable of yielding to the other three, which are obliged to yield to the force that God gave it from its creation. strength & destroys the weakest element. For fire alone is the most powerful of all the elements, incapable of yielding to the other three, which are obliged to yield to the force that God gave it from its creation.

I make the same reasoning about the heat of 1, 2, & the other stars, & their hidden virtues, namely that they always push forward until they find resistance, then they stop, pick themselves up, & are forced to turn back, looking for a place where they can rest & become corporeal. For the central heat of the earth is extreme, and does not tolerate anything in its center, but the moment something comes there, it pushes it all around towards its humid and porous parts of the earth, where the rays being sublimated and hidden, take on a sensitive body, advance from one form to another, until, finding no obstacle, they are cooked into metallic perfection.

Let no one believe, however, that I mean to bet by this central fire of the earth, the fire of Purgatory, destined for the torment of unhappy souls; I don't know this place at all, nor do I care to know anything about it. The place I describe is the search for natural philosophy; on the other hand, Holy Scripture has spoken of it, which I leave with the Theologians to terrify the impious. For truly there are punishments reserved for the wicked, let no one despise these threats. God is just, and does not want to be mocked; he will come and put an end to all things, when the world which is so corrupt and so perverted least thinks of it.

Since we have come across the discourse on the fire of Purgatory, I cannot help but examine a little the weak and frivolous opinions of certain false Doctors on this matter. There are several mountains that throw out large quantities of flame, smoke, ashes, and stones. In Europe there is Mount Gibel in Sicily, in Iceland, that near Norway, Vesuvius near Naples, & several others in other parts of the earth; some of which at various times, and others continually burn and smoke.

These places pass in the minds of many people for the chimneys of Hell, or of that place to which Lucifer was thrown with all those of his party, because of his pride, & where the damned are tormented: But this cannot to be truthful, because the burning mountains have a natural cause of their fire, known however to few people: It is therefore necessary to know that there are in certain places entire mountains of sulfur, which are lit. Either by the central fire, by lightning, or by some other accident, they must necessarily burn.

And when they have once started, no one can extinguish this fire, because of the size and the danger of approaching it. Being therefore left in its freedom, it burns and mines continuously, because it does not lack material. they must necessarily burn. And when they have once started, no one can extinguish this fire, because of the size and the danger of approaching it. Being therefore left in its freedom, it burns and mines continuously, because it does not lack material. they must necessarily burn. And once they have started, no one can put out this fire, because of the size and the danger of approaching it. Being therefore left in its freedom, it burns & mines continually, because it does not lack material.

That if someone is surprised that there are mountains that have been burning for entire centuries, even for more than a thousand years, according to the memories and traditions that we have of them; let him know that this can be done easily, not only because of the size of the mountain which is filled with bitumen, sulfur, & similar things, but also because of the continual movement of the stars, which incessantly repairs this hole & consumption of matter, engendering not only minerals, but also all kinds of combustible matter, by means of which this fire is increased & maintained.

They still claim to prove their opinion on what they say that at certain times one hears near these mountains groans & howls, that the simple & credulous people imagine themselves leaving the damned souls, but these are tales of old ; & one hears these groans only when the mountain makes an effort to throw an extraordinary quantity of flame: apart from that it burns & smokes noiselessly very peacefully. The inhabitants of the place as soon as they hear these groans & this noise, know very well that they will soon have a harvest of ashes, fire, & stones, & try to take cover. Often times near these mountains, the inhabitants prepare a quantity of sulfur for the common use of men, and earn their living from it. As for those moans,

They also say that around these burning mountains, we often see specters and spirits appearing. This is true, I admit, and even founded in nature: but we will never prove that these spirits are infernal demons, since elsewhere also we see such spirits appear in the bowels of the earth, which often hurt Minors. , sometimes kill them, cripple them, or poison them, in the past; they do no harm, but watch them work peacefully, play with the Miners' instruments, and sometimes even help them in their work.

These spirits appear in several forms, sometimes in the shape of a horse, a dog, or another animal; sometimes in the shape of a little hunched man, often with a monk's frock and habit. Such spirits are usually the marks of great felicity and extreme wealth of character. Often they are very wicked, smother the miners with bad exhalations, or precipitate them into the wells, & are the cause that we have been forced to abandon several very good & very fertile mines, because the treasure was guarded too stubbornly. by these spirits.

They are called Pygmies, or little terrestrial men, and are not at all infernal spirits, but terrestrial spirits who are marvelous things under the earth. Thus in these burning mountains there can be igneous spirits, just as we also believe that there are spirits of air and water. It is not that no one denies that the demon very often mixes with these elementary spirits to lay ambushes for men: for he is always like a roaring lion who walks around looking for someone to devour him, against whom he We must arm ourselves with vigils and prayer, according to the precept of Saint Peter.

Let this be said in parenthesis touching the minds, both those who are around the burning mountains and those who live in the mines & let themselves be seen in several figures. I return now to my proposition, namely, that the fire which issues from these burning mountains has nothing in common with the central or infernal fire, but that they throw forth a gross and material fire. What I prove in this way.

Firstly, these mountains from time to time stop burning, and only emit smoke, sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes they go out completely for lack of material to burn. But the central fire can never be diminished nor extinguished while the Sun & the Stars shine & throw their virtues into the center of the earth; just as the fire of Hell, of which Holy Scripture speaks, will never be extinguished.

The fire of these mountains, however violent it may be, is neither the central fire nor the fire of Hell; but it is a purely material fire which increases and decreases, and is finally lost for lack of matter. Moreover the fire of these mountains is not extraordinarily hot, but is for the most part filled with smoke, & the earth around about a thousand paces is very hot, so that you cannot walk on it without getting burned. The waters which pass over these mountains, or which come out of them, are all boiling, and smell of the sulfur which they contain in abundance.

Besides these burning and smoking mountains, there are caverns and caverns which throw forth neither flame nor smoke, but only push out great heat, which is another species of fire of which it is treated in the Chronicles of the Metallics, where it is reported among other things that a great hole was made in a mountain, which emitted a great heat, and gave only at night some small and fertile light, during the day only a hot exhalation was noticed.

Curiosity led a Monk to throw in a copper vessel attached to the end of an iron chain, believing he would get molten gold from it; but as soon as the vessel had touched the fire it melted in an instant, and the Monk only removed his chain. However, he was not satisfied with this single attempt; he then plunged an iron pot into it with a large iron chain; but he only removed his chain, and even then he left a good part of it visible, which was burned with the pot in a moment like straw, and at the same time went up in smoke, with such a noise.

terrible that the Monk had difficulty in saving himself. Now this fire, so violent that in a moment it reduced an iron pot to smoke, could not be the common & material fire, because it throws out smoke, it must therefore be said that it was a purely astral & celestial.

Those who work in the mines know well enough that the central fire pushes upwards through the mountain caves where it produces metals and matures them; in such a way that the lower they descend, the more heat they feel, which does not come entirely from the action of the minerals which grow there, but for the most part comes from the central fire, and the central fire comes from the stars. Now how the stars engender this central fire, & this central fire engenders the east & the minerals, I will explain to the ignorant as briefly as possible.

We read in Genesis that when God made the world, he first took the elements out of chaos, assigned a place to each, and a particular office. Now how they are preserved by a continual circulation, & how all things are generated from them, natural Philosophy teaches us, it is therefore not necessary to treat it here at length, & I will content myself with explaining briefly the birth & the origin of the metals, as far as it is known to me, to know how the metallic kind draws its origin from the elements, its increase, its increase, & finally its perfection,

I showed above how the element of fire, namely 1 and 2, and the other stars, send their invisible virtues and their rays of fire to the center of the earth, where they are picked up, causing a extreme heat, and not being able to stop in this place, are reflected and dispersed throughout the terrestrial globe, where they make these beautiful productions of metals and minerals; how this is done, I will explain in a few words.

Every spiritual thing from whatever body it has taken its birth, being invisible & impalpable, nothing can be done with it alone, but it always remains spirit, until it encounters some subject or it attaches itself, unites, & takes a body by its means, pure or impure, according to the purity of the spirit & matter. The spirit holds the place of seed, the subject, of matter, responds to the earth, or matter in which it is cooked, & converted into a body conforming to nature.

It should be noted that the conception & generation of metals is very different from that of plants & animals: because in several plants which are already perfect, nature prepares a seed for the propagation of the species which is the noblest part of the plant; which seed being planted in the spring, comes to produce another soil just like the first, which again grows a new seed, which always continues.

That if there are some herbs which multiply by root, and not by seed, the root serves as seed for these herbs, and those which are born without seed, and without root, are born by the virtue of the elements which have the faculty of fertilize the earth on their own; & to give birth to all kinds of plants. It is the same with animals, some have their own seed; the others are generated from the elements immediately by means of putrefaction.

Minerals are generated in the same way in these two ways, namely by the universal impregnation made by the stars at the beginning of the creation of the world, and the other by daily impregnation. And as the first generation of animals and minerals is much nobler than the other accidental and daily generation, the same is true of minerals. For as there are plants which acquire their perfection sooner than the others, and also die sooner; likewise metals & minerals the faster they grow, & the sooner they die, & quite the contrary.

As the reasonable & mobile animal surpasses the vegetable a thousand times in fixity & nobility, so the mineral surpasses the animal in fixity. And when the plants, animals & minerals come to corrupt & destroy, returning to nothingness, in this dissolution, each element takes back what belongs to it; the stars withdraw the spirit; the earth, the body she had given; & each principle returns to its principle, from which it issued at the beginning. This is how all things continually die & regenerate according to daily experience.

I speak here as a natural Physicist & Philosopher, and do not pretend to enclose in this discourse the reasonable soul, which starting immediately from God, is consequently immortal, having neither its birth nor its death in common with the rest of the things, which being generated from the elements, die in the dissolution of their principles, and these principles will also perish at the end. Apart from that, metals prevail in nobility and perfection over all the other productions of nature. For everything that produces in a short time, also dies in a short time, and is not of long duration, like plants and animals; but the metals remain long in being produced, and subsist just as long.

This is why they are the most fixed & the noblest of all the three vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms.

Someone will tell me that I extremely esteem the nature of metals, and that the animals which live and die, approaching more closely the nature of man, are much more noble; but it is an opinion that comes only from the ignorance & little knowledge we have of minerals, animals & plants. We will acquire this knowledge when we have fully understood how the world is an animal, and was called such by ancient and modern philosophers. Now between the world which we call Macrocosm, that is to say, big world, and man who is called Microcosm, that is to say small world, there is a perfect resemblance; for everything that is in the macrocosm is also perfectly found in the microcosm, as all Philosophers have demonstrated, and would be useless here to repeat, I will only say this in passing, which concerns the subject we are treating, namely, that if the earth is a great animal, and comparable to man, it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as the man. We first notice in man the seven principal members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest.

He then has blood from the soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which are often found lice and fleas; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others.

I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals. which looks at the subject we are treating, namely, that if the earth is a great animal, and comparable to man, it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man. We first notice in man the seven principal members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest. He then has blood from the soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates.

It is covered with hair on the outside, in which are often found lice and fleas; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals. which looks at the subject we are treating, namely, that if the earth is a great animal, and comparable to man, it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man. We first notice in man the seven principal members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest. He then has blood from the soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates.

It is covered with hair on the outside, in which are often found lice and fleas; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals. that if the earth is a great animal, and comparable to man, it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man.

We first notice in man the seven main members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest. It then has the blood of soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which lice and fleas are often found; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others.

I will only prove here that plants & animals can be compared with metals. that if the earth is a large animal, and comparable to man, it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man. We first notice in man the seven principal members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest.

He then has blood from the soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which are often found lice and fleas; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals. She must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man. We first notice in man the seven main members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest.

It then has the blood of soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which lice and fleas are often found; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants & animals can be compared with metals. it must also live and die, enjoying the same advantages as man. We first notice in man the seven main members, the heart, the brain, the liver, the lungs, and the rest. It then has the blood of soft & hard bones,

muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which lice and fleas are often found; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others.

I will only prove here that plants & animals can be compared with metals. & the rest. It then has the blood of soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which lice and fleas are often found; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants & animals can be compared with metals. & the rest.

It then has the blood of soft & hard bones, muscles & ligaments that the anatomy demonstrates. It is covered with hair on the outside, in which lice and fleas are often found; the same thing must be found in the world, since it is seen as a large animal, which relationship I pass over here in silence, because it is amply demonstrated by several others. I will only prove here that plants & animals can be compared with metals. because it is amply demonstrated by many others. I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals. because it is amply demonstrated by many others. I will only prove here that plants and animals can be compared with metals.

He who will grant that very good and very pure blood, which is the seat and home of life, is more excellent and nobler than the horses and the insects which feed on it, will also admit that metals are more noble than trees & all kinds of plants, which are the last of animals: Metals are the most precious part of the world, taking their origin from the heart coming from the central fire.

For the central fire excited & lit by the superior stars, responds to the heart of the animals, which is always above, & preserves the body by means of warm & invigorating spirits. And as the blood of the veins is spread throughout the body to preserve it, so the metals are spread in the earth. For if the fire of the central earthly heart did not send its spirits which are extremely hot throughout the earth to heat it, all things would be dead and sterile and no generation would take place. Now the earth is fertile with trees, fruits, and herbs for the food of animals, and the plants and animals which feed on them are the last and vilest part of this great animal.

For metals, they represent the best blood: for, as the veins are spread throughout the body, being larger in the trunk, from which force glider branches which gradually become thinner & looser, represent throughout the body the form of a tree: The same thing is the is in the belly of the earth. Because the virtues of the stars having descended to the center of the earth, and not being able to stop there because of the excessive heat, they are pushed back and reflected on all sides towards the circumference, where they form metals by means of solid and compact humidity. These metals spread in a thousand branches through the earth, like trees, so that very often the top of these metallic trees extends to the surface of the earth, and can be seen, mainly if it happens some great flood at the top of the mountains, which carries away part of the earth, and exposes the solid veins of the metals.

There are still several other means by which metallic mines come to be discovered; such as the great conflagrations are, when a whole wood comes to burn through the negligence of a pastor who set fire to it without thinking about it, then the earth opens up because of the excessive heat, and the metal was melted out, & uncovers. Oftentimes also it is discovered by great earthquakes, often by digging wells, or plowing the earth; often the vessels passing through the mines carry away metallic sand, and provide an opportunity to look for its root.

Oftentimes by means of animals. Because a channel coming to beat on a mountain, can discover the seam, as it happened formerly at Rametsbergue. In the past, pigs looking for an acorn discovered mines. Or sometimes the completely pure metal rises out of the earth, and it is in this way that the very rich mine of Kuttemberg in Bohemia was discovered by a Monk, who was walking in a wood, having encountered a small silver torch which came out of the earth, left its coat on it as a mark, and was to warn those of the house. Often times, large storms uproot entire trees, revealing places where mines are hidden.

We can also judge it by the small bluish flames, which light up and flutter above the earth. The reason for this is that the little sulphurous vapours, which continually rise from the mines, are ignited by the heat of the air, and these same sulphurous vapors cause the grass which grows in these places to be more slender. , drier, & more delicate, the trees are smaller, have their leaves thinner & paler than usual in other places.

The same where snow, dew and hail melt and disappear more quickly. It is a mark that there are metallic mines, the hot vapors of which coming up thus dry up the surface of the earth.

Metallic mines can also be discovered using a Coudrier rod, here is the process which I have often experienced. Melt the metals under a certain constellation, and make a ball with a hole in the middle, in the hole inserted a shoot of Coudrier of the year, and which has no branches, carry this rod extended straight in front of you among the places where you believe that there is metal, and when the rod bends, the ball will come to lower towards the earth it will be a line that there is metal under there; this process is very genuine, and as it has its basis in physics, it is preferable to all other ways of discovering metals. Do not be surprised at this, since there are so many things that are hidden from us. Who knows the reason why the magnet attracts iron, & heated amber attracts salt, & other plants? The earth is full of marvelous & matchless secrets which we must diligently observe.

The Authors are very different regarding the causes of the diversity of metals. They give various reasons for this. Some say that there are only 7 metals because there are only 7 planets which generate them. They give lead to Saturn: tin to Jupiter: iron to Mars: gold to the Sun: copper to Venus: quicksilver to Mercury: & silver to the Moon. But this opinion does not seem likely.

For how would each planet seek its own and particular place to sow the seed there and produce its metal, since we never find in the earth any metal alone and without mixture of others? Case never the lead mine is without silver, the tin mine, without gold, & without silver, the copper & iron mine always contains in itself silver, & sometimes gold. Gold is never without silver or copper; silver is rarely without gold and without a mixture of other metals. That if each particular planet generates its own metal, where does the mixture of others come from?

We can only hold this opinion of the metals which are found alone in the veins, or which are found in small grains among the fable. I remove from this number the metals which are sometimes 2, & 3, joined together: each however in its own vein, put on top of each other, often even they intertwine & mingle together, forming only one and the same vein, & then separate into several small branches. But if each planet produced its own metal, it would also choose its own & particular place, in which it was not interrupted in its work.

Grant that each metal has its planet. But what star shall we give to Bismuth, Cobalt, Antimony & Zinc, which are rejected without reason from the number of metals, & which are however more metallic than Mercury, since they melt like other metals, & are worked by the hand of the worker for various uses?

What Mercury does not do. In truth, there are only a few metals in the veins, such as lead and silver. Gold too is found in many separate places amongst the sand, but it is never without silver & without copper. Iron and tin likewise are often found in the earth, or in the sand in small grains; but they are never pure, being always mixed with stone. An excellent tin is obtained from these grains,

Miners often find Mercury flowing or locked in red stone, which must be revived; sometimes they find copper in small grains. Otherwise all metals are born & grow in their mines, & in the veins of the mountains, from which they are extracted with great labor, great costs & great dangers, by burning, washing & purging it. But, how is this preparation done? What is the brand to know when it is well made? How do we have to look for the metals, break the mine, wash it, melt it, and separate it from these excrements? There are very considerable Authors who teach it amply, such as Georgius, Agricola, & Lazarus Erker.

I therefore conclude that all metals and half metals or minerals come from the same seed, but that they are diversified by accident into several species;

especially since the virtues of the stars being brought together to the center of the earth, do not remain alone and separated, but putting themselves together with each other, they are reflected towards the caves of the mountains, and seek a place of rest or, they build themselves a body, which is begotten pure or impure, according to the purity or impurity of the place.

This place is like the material that receives the seed to ripen it and cook it.

The astral spirits are like the virile Seed, which through the help of moist earth is received in the caves as in its womb, where it is cooked, nourished, & converted into various metallic forms & palpable bodies, all according to the goodness & purity of the place. Which again proves that all metals come from the same seed; it is that in their beginning they are still raw, ripen imperceptibly, and are perfected every day.

What we see by experience not only below, but even above the earth. Hence it is that miners encountering a raw mine, such as for example Bismuth or Cobalt, or Zinc, coming to examine it like silver, and finding nothing there, say that they have come too soon, & after having exposed the mine to the air for a few years, they find a quantity of silver there. Which further proves that all metals come from the same seed; it is that in their beginning they are still raw, mature imperceptibly, and are perfected every day.

What we see by experience not only below, but even above the earth. Hence it is that miners encountering a raw mine, such as for example Bismuth or Cobalt, or Zinc, coming to examine it like silver, and finding nothing there, say that they have come too early, & after having exposed the mine to the air for a few years, they found a quantity of silver there. Which further proves that all metals come from the same seed; it is that in their beginning they are still raw, mature imperceptibly, and are perfected every day. What we see by experience not only below, but even above the earth.

Hence it is that miners encountering a raw mine, such as for example Bismuth or Cobalt, or Zinc, coming to examine it like silver, and finding nothing there, say that they have come too early, & after having exposed the mine to the air for a few years, they found a quantity of silver there.

All these reasons sufficiently prove that if the seed of metals found a pure & clean matrix, which was not hindered by accidents, it would never produce anything but gold, like the most perfect of metals. Now that it is always the intention of nature to push what she has begun to its ultimate perfection, and that only gold has reached this sovereign metallic degree, all the others metals being imperfect, which there is a way of bringing to perfection by means of true chemistry; this is what I will amply demonstrate in my third Part.

That if we could not prove that imperfect metals can be perfected by means of art and fire, we would really have to believe when each metal had its seed or its appropriate planet. But if there is a way of extracting a lot of silver from lead after a few digestions and coctions, by means of salts, and even of extracting gold from it, after a longer digestion, instead of before according to the common proof of the cups there contained very little silver; we obviously see from this that nature did not simply want to make lead, but that it wanted to pursue and push this material to the perfection of silver and gold.

One can still fix bastard metals, or other minerals, such as Antimony, Cobalt, Zinc, Bismuth & similar; so that they give very good gold to the dish. What will be clearly taught in the third Part. after a longer digestion, whereas before, according to the common proof of the cupels, it contained very little silver; we obviously see from this that nature did not simply want to make lead, but that it wanted to pursue and push this material to the perfection of silver and gold.

One can still fix bastard metals, or other minerals, such as Antimony, Cobalt, Zinc, Bismuth & similar; so that they give very good gold to the dish. What will be clearly taught in the third Part. after a longer digestion, instead of before according to the common proof of the cups it contained very little silver; we obviously see from this that nature did not simply want to make lead, but that it wanted to pursue and push this material to the perfection of silver and gold. We can still fix bastard metals, or otherwise minerals, such as Antimony, Cobalt, Zinc, Bismuth & the like; so that they give very good gold to the dish.

What will be clearly taught in the third Part. but that she wanted to pursue and push this material to the perfection of silver and gold. We can still fix bastard metals, or otherwise minerals, such as Antimony, Cobalt, Zinc, Bismuth & the like; so that they give very good gold to the cup. This will be clearly taught in Part Three. but that she wanted to pursue and push this material to the perfection of silver and gold. We can still fix bastard metals, or otherwise minerals, such as Antimony, Cobalt, Zinc, Bismuth & the like; so that they give very good gold to the cup. This will be clearly taught in Part Three.

You therefore see that if there are so many imperfect metals, it is not the fault of nature, but of external accidents which prevented it. For if gold was not present in imperfect metals, how could it be extracted by industry? It is not in the power of art to create gold or silver; nature can do it under the earth but on earth it cannot do it without the help of art.

When the gardener lets the seed and the roots of his plants dry, failing to water the earth and giving it what it lacks; It is not the fault of the seed, if it perishes against the design of nature, it is the fault of the gardener. Nature often needs help, as seen in the fruits of animals and plants, why shall not the east also need the assistance of the art & industry of man? He is therefore confident that nature wants to make minerals out of gold and imperfect ests, just as she wants to make a child a man and a kernel a tree, only if happens otherwise, it is not her fault, it is that of external accidents which have prevented her from doing so.

I think I have sufficiently proved, as all metals issue from the same seed or root, & that they can be reduced & brought back; that minerals can very well be compared to the first germs of vegetables; the is imperfect, to the plants which are half grown, and the gold to the seed, or rather to the fruit finished in its last perfection. But this must be understood of the origin & of the universal generation of metals, of which the greatest quantity is generated in the caves of the mountains, & is drawn from there with great expense, great dangers & great labours.

The other generation of metals is made in a completely different way without a central common seed, but only by virtue of the stars on the surface of the earth, and by this way very little metal is generated. We have said that plants and animals are generated in two different ways; it is the same with metals. The first is ordinary & sensitive, the other is rare & insensitive.

Plants are produced either by the propagation of their seed or root, or they are all produced again by the sole influence of the stars and by the virtue of the elements. As if the rainwater were dried up by the heat of the  or the air, the earth remains at the bottom, which by its own natural virtue without the help of any seed produces various plants, various small animals, grubs & flies. The same thing happens to metals when the or another star acts on a moist earth, the astral virtues assemble, & having become corporeal produce various minerals & is according to the purity of the matrix or moist earth, water, being like the womb, & the star like the father who spreads his seed.

It is not possible for any metal to be generated in the center of the earth, because of the great drought; but far from the center where the earth is moist by the waters that water it, to which the spirits can join, & be then converted into metal. Because the dry spirit cannot coagulate itself, because of the dryness, it needs a matter suitable to make it take body, which is water; as soon as the sulphurous spirit is mixed in water, it is no longer common water, it is the principle and first outline of the metallic generation, which the Philosophers call Mercury; not this common metallic Mercury, but a viscous water, which Chemists call fermenting foam, which being received in a clean place, and maintained by a gentle heat and central humidity,

This conception therefore & this generation of metals are not only under the earth, by means of the central spirits raised above: but they are also made on the surface of the earth, the stars coming to throw their invisible rays on an earth subtle & oily, on which being stopped they become corporeal. Because the astral fire never ceases to send its virtues to the earth & to enrich it with various embryos of plants, minerals, & metals, according to which it finds the matrix disposed. And this impregnation & generation is not only done in the very clean earth for the generation of metals; but still in the air & in the clouds.

From where we see that it often rains small animals, such as grasshoppers, frogs &c. There are even trustworthy stories, that we have seen fall from the clouds up to more than a hundred stones, and even large pieces of malleable iron, made in the form of drops of water glued to each other.

It is thus that comets & other igneous substances, after having been raised in the air, coming to be compressed by the cold which surrounds them, ignite, burn, & finally die, descending below on the earth as a with arsenical smoke & poison the earth with their feces, from which then comes an infinity of diseases. Even lightning is only a subtle nitre ignited in the same way as stones which fall with a great noise. It is thus evident that the central fire does not only make generations in the bowels of the earth, but the astral fire also seeks in the air and in the clouds, a place to generate metals; but of all places, the cleanest are truly the caverns of the earth.

I know well that concerning the generation of these metals which are found on the earth among the sand, there are several different opinions, but they are almost all erroneous. Many believe that the gold found on the banks of the streams was not produced, but that it was carried there from the veins or from the top of the mountains by the force of the waters which flow violently from them, and this can be true sometimes; but that all the gold which is found along the streams is carried there by the waters of the fountains which flow from the mountains, this is not reasonable; it is much more likely that it was generated there, since it is found in certain places extremely far from any kind of fountains, and it is found on the tops of the mountains among the earth & among the sand, where there never was a fountain. Such is most of the gold that the Dutch buy from the Indians.

There were also similar places in Germany, namely high places and far from all kinds of water; from where he had the earth and sand brought to the banks of the streams to wash them and separate the gold. And even today around the mountains where it is customary to wash the grains of tin, there are grains of gold among these grains. The reason why gold is more commonly found along rivers & streams, is because the water carries away by its rapidity the lightest sand, leaving the grains of gold as the heaviest, which are afterwards washed away. easily & separated from the rest of the sand.

Now this kind of gold which is found here in Germany and other places, is rarely without a mixture of silver and copper, & is not always fine & pure metal, but it is in the form of sulfur powder, which sulfur being burnt & carried away by fusion, this material acquires the color, softness, ductility, & purity of gold. That which is brought from India has grains which approach very closely to purity, but of all kinds of gold the finest is esteemed that which comes from Hungary and Transylvania, which I have experienced going to the purity of the ducat.

I think I have sufficiently demonstrated that gold is not generated only in the bowels of the earth by the central fire, but also on the surface of the earth, by virtue of the stars. And not only is gold engendered there; but also all other metals and minerals, mainly iron and copper, and particularly iron, which is found everywhere and abundantly enclosed in certain round or made stones, with angles which very ordinarily relate to the nature of gold. What is despised & neglected by everyone, & what should be taken care of. Such are also the yellow or red stones, which contain gold and iron together. For there is great familiarity & friendship between iron & gold,

In order to more strongly convince the unbelievers, and to make them see that metals are often generated on the surface of the earth in humid and loamy places, without the help of any central seed, I will relate to them the following example , which sufficiently proves that the stars sometimes find matter suitable for the generation of is in places that are always humid and marshy.

In Flanders we dig up earth every year to burn instead of wood, it is called peat, in addition to sulfur it contains arsenic, iron & copper. However, it is not all land indifferently, but the only one that is a little low and deep. Now although this kind of land is up to 20, 30, or 40 feet deep, we do not yet get it deeper than five or six feet, or at most 10 because in its base it has no sulfur at all, and is not suitable for burning.

That if sometimes they want to know the depth of this bituminous earth, and they dig it deeply for this purpose: the further they go into the earth, the less sulfurous they find it, so that having gone all the way down into the sandy bottoms, they find it completely free of sulphur.

From which it is evident that this sulfur and arsenic, this mineral and this metal, did not take its origin from below, but from above, and that it is true to say that the greatest abundance metals are generated in the depths of the earth, and that they are generated very little near the surface, the metallic seed being much stronger & more active in the center of the earth than on the surface; for as we have said several times, the astral virtues are continually pushed to the center of the earth, and there, being unable to pass beyond, collide, tighten, excite an extreme heat, the repercussion of which heats the whole terrestrial globe, and fertilizes with all kinds of minerals.

It is therefore in this way that all kinds of minerals and are made in the bowels of the earth, or on its surface, are produced from an astral, subtle seed, and from a specific humor, which serves as their body. And let no one be surprised that metals are generated from an insensible and very subtle vapor, hot, mixed with humidity, they do not fall from Heaven ready-made like a stone from the roof of a house; they descend in spirit, and finding in the earth a proper place, they corporify by means of water, and take their weight from the earth. Just as the seeds of plants and animals only provide form, growth and life, and not the body.

Those there are greatly mistaken who hold that metals are composed of sulfur and mercury. It is very true that they are composed of sulfur & mercury: but it is not of this common sulfur & mercury, it is of those of which we spoke above, namely of this astral soul, spiritual, sulfurous, hot, & dry; & terrestrial & viscous water, from the conjunction of which, as of the male with the female, all the metals are engendered. This false opinion has been the cause of several works which are done by mercury by various people who have spent their money on this philosophy, trying to fix the common mercury without gold & without silver, or else with gold & silver, & convert it at the same time into gold & silver. I tried it myself, but in vain, in my third Part I will tell how far I have come.

There are still many who have tried to extract mercury from metals, in order to fix it later in gold and silver, as being in their opinion the first material of all metals: but they have advanced nothing, and the end of this work was no more valid than its beginning, which was very ill-founded. They particularly tried to extract mercury from Saturn & antimony; seduced perhaps by this sentence of the Philosophers, that Saturn common father of metals, being reduced to mercury, is easily converted into gold.

But the Philosophers did not hear of this common mercury, they spoke of this viscous water which is the seed of all metals, and which can receive any form whatsoever by the industry and by the address of the craftsman, I don't know where the madness of men comes from, to amuse themselves by extracting mercury from Saturn and antimony, in the hope of fixing it more easily, since Saturn nor antimony have never been Mercury nor ever will be, in my opinion.

Let us grant them that Saturn can be converted into Mercury by virtue of which it will be better than Saturn, not being made more fixed than it, but on the contrary more volatile? They say that mercury is of a purer substance than saturn, and that it can therefore amalgamate and fix more easily with gold and silver. But this is false; here is what is true, and what I have experienced, namely that saturn and antimony philosophically converted into mercury, that is to say, reduced to a viscous water, easily join with gold and 'money, & settle with them, & without them.

But to have ever wanted to do anything worthy of this so-called Mercury of Saturn, that's what I've never seen; I know well from experience that with the addition of common mercury it is possible to obtain mercury from metals; but the profit that comes from it, ask it from those who did it to their great damage.

If common mercury were the universal principle of all metals, it would always be found more or less in all or most mines. And as there is none, we must conclude that this opinion is very false; but that an astral spirit and an earthly water are the beginning of all metals, is what the Philosophers protest, saying that things can be reduced by art to what they were first composed of.

Now the metals can be reduced without the aid of any corrosive into viscous water, which, by regulated heat and digestion, will pass into more perfect metallic forms than before. We must therefore conclude that it is from this viscous water that the metals have come, and not only the metals, but many more stones and other mineral things, whether they contain or do not contain metal, found above or below the earth, derive their origin from the same water.

As I have seen by experience in certain sandy mountains, where the miners coming to dig for another purpose, came across a similar watery and viscous silt, of which there was one who carried it home, taking this matter for a grease. with which he greased his shoes: but three days later he was astonished to find them covered with a crust of stone, & all the mass he had worn, also converted into stone, I am not unaware, however, that the stones are also engendered in another way, of which it is not appropriate to speak here. whether they contain or contain no metal, found above or below the earth, derive their origin from the same water.

As I have seen by experience in certain sandy mountains, where the Miners coming to dig for another purpose, encountered by chance a similar watery and viscous silt, of which there was one who took some home, taking this material for a grease with which he greased his shoes: but three days later he was very surprised to find them covered with a crust of stone, and the whole mass that he had carried, also converted into stone, I am not unaware, however, that the stones are also engendered in another way, of which it is not appropriate to speak here.

whether they contain or do not contain any metal, found above or below the earth, take their origin from the same water. As I have seen by experience in certain sandy mountains, where the miners coming to dig for another purpose, came across a similar watery and viscous silt, of which there was one who carried it home, taking this matter for a grease. with which he greased his shoes: but three days later he was astonished to find them covered with a crust of stone, & all the mass he had worn, also converted into stone, I am not unaware, however, that the stones are also generated in another way, of which it is not appropriate to speak in this place.

The metal being reduced to its first material similar to a fatty and viscous silt, it is capable of receiving all kinds of forms by the hand of the artisan, and can never be perfected and improved unless it is rather reduced to his first subject.

In a solid metal, we cannot recognize its composition, but it appears in the resolution of the metal, from which after we have drawn the soul in which all its life and its perfection consists, it is no longer metal, but rather useless earth, friable & without fusion. All the goodness of the metal consisting of this little soul and virile and astral seed, all the rest is only body composed of a vile and contemptible earth.

Finally, what I said in my treatise on Potable Gold sufficiently confirms that metals are also created on earth, namely that the rays of  do not only become corporeal collected in various subjects, but even the common fire of the kitchen does the same.

What the examination of the cup powerfully certifies. I refer the reader to this place of my drinking gold. The nitre & other salts, are obviously generated by the  in a humid earth, which would never be done in a dry earth, & all the Philosophers always recommend the inclusion in their treatises of the perfection & improvement of metals: In this operation humidity is the patient, & heat the agent. Which is also practiced in the same way in animals and plants, where nothing can be perfected & cooked without moistening.

The thicker and more viscous the water, the more suitable it is to serve as a matrix, and the more avidly does it retain the seed: and the more loosely and subtle it is, the more suitable it is for the vegetation of the seed. Water cannot of itself be converted into metal, or rather it is not fattened with seed by the virtue of the stars, and endowed with a vegetative life.

This water is the seed, the origin, & the soul, & the life of all metals, & the more each metal participates in it, the better & more fixed it is. I am therefore firmly of this opinion, that metals draw their soul, their spirit, and their life from the stars, as from a universal seed; their body is taken from the water as from the common mother, according to the situation, or the purity of which, or according to the various impediments,

Let this be enough regarding the generation of metals. But now how they decrease and die, after having acquired their last perfection, or how they are prevented from doing so by some accident which kills them in their youth; I'm going to explain it to you.

All kinds of creatures have a certain time of life and fixed duration, up to which they can go according to the course of nature; that if they do not quite succeed, it is by accident and not by nature. This abbreviation of life is made in several kinds according to the various events or various accidents which cause it, to certain things the cold is contrary, and prevents them from growing, like the metals, which drawn out of the mine no longer grow, but remain. as they were taken up either pure or impure, ripe or unripe, unless they meet a new womb, as does the seed of plants thrown into the ground: for then they again begin to grow, to cook & to improve.

For other things air is their life, as for plants and animals which cannot live without air: fish, on the contrary, find their death there, and water is their life; which is the death of animals at 2 feet & at 4 feet.

As each element has its own & particular productions which it nourishes like its children; also there are others which it destroys naturally, as is manifested in the birth and death of metals. For as soon as they are conceived in the earth, and begin to grow, they are made participants of a certain salty nature, which serves them as a matrix, in which or by which they are ultimately perfected:

Growing more and more in goodness and quantity every day, as long as they are not interrupted by any accident. But from the moment something contrary like air or water is introduced into their matrix, they no longer grow and lose their life, being unable to resist air & water in their birth because of the very subtle salt in which their life consists, this salt by means of the air comes to be raised & removed by the stars, & if c It is the water which enters with violence, this salt comes to be dissolved & the metal consequently destroys, for what in one way & in the other its matrix is ​​destroyed by a contrary element.

This is how metals die in their birth, being in this first being like an embryo subject to the slightest corruption. But when they are half-cooked, & when they have almost reached virile age, they are more robust & can resist external injuries more; their soft and subtle salt having already been converted into sulfur, which does not fear the corruption of air or water.

That if the metal comes to its ultimate perfection, and it is not drawn from the earth, from which it no longer receives nourishment, being stripped of its sulfurous habit, and no longer receiving help from nature, it can to be very well compared in this state to the old and decrepit man, in whom the radical humidity dries up more and more every day. For then the metal is likewise dissolved & imperceptibly devoured until it is reduced to nothingness by the same astral salt from which it was begotten: so that nature keeps the same circulation of birth & death in the metals as in plants & animals. It sometimes happens that the Miners finding the metal dug & eaten by the astral salt, like the hive of honey by the bees, they used to say that they came too late.

It does not matter to us to know who was the first to dig the earth to extract the metal from it, and to apply it to our uses. It seems, however, to be very certain that it was Adam whom God inspired with this thought as being absolutely necessary to him. From Adam the secret came to Noah successively, from Noah to us, and will thus be preserved until the end of the centuries because of its great usefulness and necessity.

And although this very noble and very useful art is accompanied by a lot of expense, work, and danger, and the very profit from it is uncertain, it must nevertheless not be despised or neglected; because it is honest, pleasing to God, cultivated in the past by many Prophets & Kings, & today it is of great esteem among Christians, because of its great necessity.

He really would have a rich mine, & would not have to apprehend that the specters, the flooding of the waters, the storms, the malignant vapours, & other accidents, interrupt him in his work. But what, man by his incorrigible bad life has made himself incapable of this Science, he is forced to extract metals from the earth with the sweat of his use, and to lead a life full of work, care, and of worries.

Thus, ending my treatise on the generation of metals, I refer the reader who desires more to my third part, where it is carefully taught, what is metal strictly speaking, the means of distinguish one from the other, open them without corrosive, reduce them to their first material, & by means of the art & fire of this first material generate new, much more perfect metals.

Besides this, how metals must be examined & purged by a method better than ordinary. I further explain in this treatise as best as I can the treatise of Paracelsus, entitled the Book of Vexations or Heaven of the Philosophers, in order to be able to restore the honor which is due to this great character, of whom several evil spirits wanted to obscure the 'glow, and let everyone know that he was very experienced in the secrets of nature, that he wrote very faithfully, and left us great insights, although few people pay attention to it.

I undertake the third part of this work to clarify them even further, carry them further & defend them against the enemies of the truth, all in favor and usefulness of my neighbor, I pray to God, Creator of all things, & Protector of the truth, to want to favor my design.

END