THE PHILOSOPHICAL TREASURE OF METALLIC MEDICINE.
TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN INTO FRENCH, BY
The Reverend Father Gabriel de Castaigne, Doctor of Theology, Counselor & Chaplain to the King: & Conventual of Avignon.
HERE begins a wonderful little work, which will not be recommended by me with many words, but only I will show the truth with the works of it, & its nobility with admirable experience, & marvelous examples. And therefore I will divide & separate this volume into seven Chapters.
The first will be required Furnaces & Vessels.
The second, of the preparation of mineral spirits.
The third, of the preparation of metallic bodies.
The fourth, from the preparation of several minerals.
The fifth, of the preparation of salts.
The sixth, experiences of the Works.
The seventh, dissolving waters and resolving oils.
Know that whoever will have this book will not need any other, & mainly for sophisticated things nor for particular works, which hardly approach major science, & he will hear all books & recipes that speak of these things, which books & recipes the Philosophers said were consecrated under three infallible regulations & orders.
The first, they say, denies the truth of medicine, which must be prepared in such a way that it can also change the body of metal into the appearance of gold or silver, not yet real nor permanent in the trials. , however it will be permanent in that the body will be changed, and without the cupel it cannot be destroyed or known.
The second order is, that the medicine must be prepared perfect according to this book, & then it can be thrown in projection on the metallic bodies, & purges them so much that it changes them into real gold & real silver perpetually, sustaining all tests.
The third is, to project on mercury, & on all other metals, & change them into perfect silver, or fine gold, without any other purgation: & to achieve this mastery, I have put here seven Chapters for declare it.
FIRST CHAPTER
Furnaces.
which would ensue great loss: it is also necessary that this furnace have five or six openings at the top, for this purpose that the smoke can better go out outside, both in front and behind: this is why it is called philosopher's furnace, for in this one can complete the whole science of metallic transmutation. But to distil, & calcine in similar furnaces, you don't need a terrine like the above, it is true that removing the terrine, & making it a little higher will serve for everything. And when it is necessary to dissolve something, it will be necessary to remove the terrine from the ashes, & put a cauldron full of water in it to putrefy it slowly, & thus it is used for a bath called Marie, & then when one distills by Marie bath must boil the water greatly, & for putrefaction,
CHAPTER SECOND
Mineral Spirits
It must be understood that just as there are four elements, there are also four mineral spirits: The first is fire which is here called sulphur, in name is called Labat. Then there is Air, which is armoniac salt, which is called Flying Eagle. Then there is water, quicksilver mercury, which is called a fugitive servant. Then there is earth, which is Arsenic, Reagal, and Orpiment, which are of the same material, and to prepare them six things must be done.
The first is, to sublimate above. The second is, going down, by botum barbatum. The third is, to fix, which is the same as to calcine. The fourth is to dissolve. The fifth is to distil, then the other to freeze & incinerate, which is the accomplishment of the sublimatory work, according to the Philosophers: for the things which are not clear are purged by rising above by sublimation, and then are pure & clear. . There are two kinds of sublimation, one very strong which is philosophical, which drives everything out by violence of fire above, & below as long as it is fixed, & the other is the simple vulgar one which is only done by degree of fire, to separate the most volatile from its earthiness, but then it must be fixed.
Sulphur.
& having made it white & if you & fuse, to hear better: I will teach; this in its place: I pray you therefore that this be highly recommended to you to take the trouble of the Third Order because it is marvelous on all bodies, both human and metallic, because it is hot & dry, & freezes & fixes the mercury consuming its humidity: but when you purge it with vinegar you must keep in mind that none of the lye remains there, but that it takes away all the saltiness, often changing the vinegar until you have extracted all the tincture from the sulfur , otherwise when you would like to sublimate it, you could not, because the salts of the washing powder would retain it, and would not allow it to sublimate. And having arrived at this way, it is necessary to grind it with as much rock alum,
Armoniac salt.
Armoniac salt grinds hard with as much decrepit common salt,
then it is sublimated as said, sulfur in two pots, or in a glass aludel, but the more one sublimates it, the more it loses its force: one can dissolve it in hot water, then filter & freeze to clean it, & prepare, & to fix it take two pounds quicklime & one pound salt armonia, & grind them together, then dissolve them in hot water, then separate the water, & put another hot one, so many times that you have removed the armoniacal salt, then distill the waters by filter & freeze them, & at the bottom will be the fixed armoniacal salt, fuse some wax but it is not a big case, because it is not metallic, and can never take shape, but one uses it as one wishes.
Quick Money.
It sublimates in several ways which would cost too much, but take a pound of mercury, and a pound of the faeces of strong water, grind everything well with a little strong vinegar, until the mercury is all lost, then dry it. in a bread oven, or similar heat, then again grind it with vinegar, & dry it out, this should be done five or seven times in all, otherwise it would revive, & thus be at all mortified, grind it each time for a good hour , then it must be sublimated as sulfur was made, but when no more humidity comes out through the sluice above, it must give greater sublimation fire than sulfur to make it come out of the faeces, then to make it a rare thing in science, must sublimate said sublimated with as much decrepit common salt,& each time twelve hours & must renew the salt prepared in each sublimation, grinding it together for half an hour at each sublimation & will be all ready to fix.
Arsenic
Must grind the scum of the iron into a powder that falls from the anvil, & grind it with as much Arsenic, & half as much decrepitated salt, & with strong vinegar to make a paste & dry it in the oven like mercury, and this five times as you made mercury,
grinding each time for an hour with a little vinegar, then the five or the seventh time that it will be dried out, it must be ground and brought to sublimate as the sulfur and the mercury were done, but when the humidity has all come out through the small pertuis, then you have to close it & give it a very high fire to make it all sublimate like crystal, & you will have the arsenic well prepared, & in the same way you have to make reagal, & orpiment, & the pot must never be filled only the third part, & the whole well pulverized, & thus these mineral spirits will be well purged.
CHAP. 2.
To make the Spirits.
To fix a thing, it must, being at all volatile, be permanently reduced to fire, a thing which is very necessary for all mineral spirits, because if they give yellow or white dye it is useless if it is not fixed, & permanent. Now it should be noted that the spirits are fixed in two ways, the first is by renewing their sublimation by precipitation, that is to say when you have the volatile mercury of arsenic & other half-minerals by sublimation that have made with salt & alum: you must put this sublimation all fire between two suction cups, or else inside a philosopher's egg, & remove them upside down so many times that in the end the whole remains fixed & fuse in the fire, & when the must still be left on the same fire for two natural days,
Of Dissolution.
To dissolve is to reduce something to water, and this is very useful, because fixed spirits are worthless before their solution because they are deprived of the fluid and fusible humor which makes them run to fusion on the surface. molten metal: therefore for two reasons the solution must be made first, because virtue vegetating, that is to say increasing by such means, it will be multiplied, & thus the lime of a metal or of a half-mineral is dissolved, the more it tints either gold or silver. The other reason is that the more gross things become subtle, the more they become penetrating: don't you see that the brandy, which is subtle, penetrates more than wine, which is coarse, for note that the size or thickness of the metallic bodies or limes prevents making the entire mixture or mixture, & must be noted that the said dissolution is done in various ways according to the diversity of the minerals or lime of the metals. So we'll talk about ordinaries in general.
All the dissolutions of the sublime spirits, & of the non-sublimated bodies or limes of ice, & of the semi-minerals are done very well with strong water, as I will say in its place: & also the said more subtle spirits, dissolve in distilled vinegar, & in distilled well water, by putting the well-stoppered vial in very hot manure in putrefaction, & when everything is dissolved, the water must be separated by a bain-marie or distilled vinegar, & in background remain all-body penetrating minds. From abundant they can be dissolved by soaking them, & triturating with oil of tartar, or Alkali salt water on a marble, putting them in a very humid place, making flow in a glass vessel what will fall being the marble a little bent in low to distill:
To calcine Gold, & prepare it.
GOLD is the most worthy of all metallic bodies; well stopper the said crucible with fatty earth or lut of wisdom, & put it on the calcination fire every six hours, making a very small wheel fire every two hours, & then increase it from hand to hand, & then at the end when the crucible will be cold, must see if the gold is frangible & if it can be reduced to powder, then will be calcined, if not, must repeat until it can be pulverized, then must wash it four or five times with distilled vinegar to remove the sulfur from it, & there must be common salt dissolved in the said vinegar, then after having thus washed it,you must again wash with hot water so many times until it no longer becomes salty, and thus you will have your Gold well calcined.
Further, take two ounces of sublimed mercury, & one ounce of gold filings, & one ounce of prepared common salt, grind well together on a marble; then sublimate them & at the bottom the gold will remain calcined & the mercury will have risen which will always be better: because it will be enlivened with gold, you must wash the said lime with hot water as long as you have drawn all the common so that will be always better, & congealing it over low heat without boiling, then it can be dissolved, distilled, & congealed, as you have done metallic spirits, because it thus prepares itself for leaven or leaven, which is why it must no longer be reduced to a body, but who would have the will to do this, I will teach it in its place.
Money.
Fine silver is calcined like gold, except that instead of sulphur, you need Arsenic or reagal, or else orpiment, and then when the lime of silver is dissolved in water it is used as ferment or leaven in the bath. , just like water from gold to red, & also both gold and silver dissolve with aquafortis, & then when they are dissolved they must be put into putrefaction by five ovens, then separates the strong water, after keeping the flask five days in cold water, & when you have separated it by distillation, you must wash the lime with hot water to force out all the salts of the strong water, & then this lime so clean it must be putrefied, and by such means will be disposed to dissolve in water, which water is the true great work.
Iron,
Iron and copper are calcined as gold is made, if you want to make a white one, you have to take reagal, or arsenic instead of sulfur, or orpiment, as has been said of silver: & can also be calcined, gold, silver, iron, & copper, with prepared common salt, then you will have crocus martis, aes ustum, white lead of gold, & white lead of silver: when calcined with salt; they can then be dissolved like gold, soaking them several times with distilled vinegar, or good oil of tartar, which converts the limes of the metals into a philosophical solution, just as one makes volatile spirits half-minerals: but when the limes will be washed with boiling water to remove salt or sulfur, being then well dried,
Tin, & lead.
They are calcined by always stirring with an iron rod, and to calcine them instead, you have to throw in some prepared common salt, and having separated the common salt with hot water, you have to put them into putrefaction with six times as much distilled vinegar, then by distillation extract the vinegar & at the bottom have the frozen material which you will grind with as much sublimated mercury, & four times grind what will sublimate with its faeces then mix everything with as much moonlime & put in putrefaction for ten days in distilled vinegar then freeze over low heat & have the true medicine of the white Philosopher's Stone, which freezes & fixes mercury & makes copper fine silver.
Half Minerals.
The half Minerals are, several namely vitriol, rock alum, tuthia, calamine stone, antimony, magnesia, marcasite, gelamine, bol d'armenia, locrea, azure, lapis lazuli , emery, the mineral cinnabar, there is black vitriol which is called atramentum, & several other strong ones which all have the same effect, they burn out in six hours, but I have found them to be more beautiful in twenty-four hours , they dissolve in distilled vinegar in five days then change it until you have extracted all its tincture, it also comes out with urine, & said tincture converts lime from silver into gold grinding & drying & so can draw the tincture of all the limes from the calcined metals to dissolve the limes:to make it white, the rock alum must be calcined for nine hours, at the beginning a small fire for three hours, then a large one, and then it must be dissolved in distilled vinegar, then the said vinegar will dissolve the limes, both silver and tin & lead, & others to white: there are other alums but there is need here.
From Tuthi.
That of Alexandria is better than that of Germany, it must be reddened ten times in the fire, & extinguished each time in strong vinegar, then it must be calcined as one did iron, & copper, then it must be dissolved like the lime of metals, & other semi-mineral spirits, it must be put into powder its lime, & in distilled vinegar in putrefaction for five days, then on a slow fire freeze it, & at the end give large fire for fourteen hours, then the faeces must be calcined again, then with what it will have sublimated it must be mixed & turned to dissolve everything in vinegar, distilled, then freeze it as said is, & will be perfect tincture which converts silver, & copper in good gold.
Calamine with Gelamine, lapis Calaminaris,
All calcine, & dissolve like the Tuthie.
Antimony.
It is calcined & prepared as reagal & arsenic do, & also there are other ways for those who want to make a regulus which is made with tartar & nitre salt.
Marcasite..
There are as many species of Marcasite as there are metals, because each metal has its own marcasite, but that of gold and that of silver are better: however one draws from all a white & red spirit, but if it is marcasite of gold, having dissolved it in strong water, then with its leaven of good dissolved gold, mix the solutions, together, then freeze it will make real dye on the silver because its substance is fixed with gold.
To sublimate Marcasite.
Take Marcasite, nitre salt, rock alum as much as one half pound as another, grind everything together, put in a retort with its container, & give fire for distillation, & will distill as strong water, & when by force of fire the whole water will be distilled, give great sublimation fire every twelve hours, & find a metallic crust above the faeces, you will fix it like arsenic, & if it is silver, or tin you will make it white very beautiful & good fire.
Salts.
Common salt dissolves in hot common water, afterwards is distilled by filter, then freezes at low heat in a lead or bronze vessel & doing so until it is fusible, you will fix it with two parts of lime vice, cooking it together three hours, then with hot water separate them & freeze, & get the fusible salt.
Alkali Salt
Alkali Salt, you will make like common salt & will be prepared.
Experiences.
Take two parts of Arsenic prepared, as said has been, & one part of quicksilver prepared, & one part of leaven which is lime of fine silver, & water of litharge of silver as much, & of all this you will make a mixture of it, & put in a glass matrass, & dissolve it in a bain-marie, or in horse manure, & when the whole is dissolved in water, freeze it at low heat, then grind it on marble, & l 'soak with oil of tartar, & put everything in a glass vial at low heat, for eight days & find noble medicine, put one part out of six of purged copper accompanied by one third of silver, & will make fine silver coming out of the fire.
Other Recipe.
Take some Réagal, Salt that they sell you a pound, a pound and a half of Alkali salt, mix well together, & put it in four pounds of very strong distilled vinegar, & put it in putrefaction in a matrass, always stirring it, & it will dissolve almost everything in eight hours, after having calcined six pounds of tin white lead, & put it in the same way in six times as much distilled vinegar as white lead, putrefying it & stirring like reagal, & in eight hours or approximately will dissolve, then take what will be dissolved, & from one & from the other, & coagulate it, after triturate it with as much sublimed mercury, & dissolve it with distilled vinegar separate it from the faeces, & again do dissolve the said ceruse & reagal & mercury, & freeze them all three together,& if you add half a pound of silver ferment to it & freeze it with ice, you will have good medicine, & goes one weight out of four of copper, aloy between the fifth & the seventh, & everything can be done in four days.
Other.
Take Réagal or Orpiment one pound such as is sold, & as much quicklime, & five pounds of sublimated mercury, common salt, nitre salt, raw tartar as much of one as the other four ounces, & paste it with common oil , & egg white or kid, pig, or sheep fat, then put it in a matrass, & lute it with a piece of cloth, & then make a hole in the said cloth so that the humidity can escape, & you you will have at the bottom a crust or metallic material which tints a lot of copper white but frangible, & smoking, & if you want to do it good, look in this book, & you will find the way.
Experience.
Take sulfur & minion as much of one as of the other vile pound, of each, water of tuthie & arsenic as much of one as of the other eight ounces of each, water of, marcasite of gold one pound, & mix all together, & triturate it with egg oil, & vitriol, & put it in screw matrass for a week doing as I taught at the first lunar medicine: part of this on six parts of purged copper alloy with the four part of silver for seventeen carat gold, with all the properties of deafness, weight & softness, & if you want to come to higher things so that you don't wander, make your copper once well purged as I have taught, otherwise the color of your gold would be dark, and if it is good it will tint the silver at least nine or ten aloy,& so that it once put beautiful add to the medicine half a pound of water of vitriol, & thus will come to the due color, & so that you don't err to give weight, & its gold, to the silver & copper, you will calcine the said copper or silver with sulphur, & this three times, then reduce it to a body, & you will have what you ask for: & when you want to reduce it, you will grind it with lime, & three ounces of sublimated mercury & as much copper, & even though it separates, nevertheless it takes away the impurity of the copper, & if you know how to do it, you have the means doing it with reason, so that it does not happen on the contrary, though you know how to discern the things that give whiteness & redness, weight, deafness, & softness, nevertheless by your negligence or ignorance,the work could come as soon as badly as well, & you will never find a book that speaks more clearly than this one, because if the Philosophers had written openly, everyone would have been an Alchemist, so keep it, & thank God.
Solutive waters, & Incerative oils.
If you want something to dissolve metals, make strong water with a pound of vitriol, & eight ounces of nitre salt, & distill them according to the art at this required, real water dissolves silver, & all other metals except gold, & if you want to dissolve it, you will put in the aforementioned quantity of strong water declared above four ounces of armoniacal salt, & then this water dissolves the gold & the sulphur, & several other things, &c.
Money Experience.
Take a pound of rock alum, half an hour of nitre salt, & if you want to put in it four ounces of scayole alum, & the water will be stronger & better, & distill it according to the art, & you you will have strong water to separate the gold from the silver, & to distinguish it, for each pound of water put an ounce of silver to dissolve, & the faeces will go to the bottom separate them, & you will have the said clean water to make departure of gold from silver.
Incerative oils.
Follows incerative oils which concern the radical humidity of medicine, take egg whites as long as you please, & half as much salt nitre, distill by the still over the ashes as long as you can , then mix this oil with as much armoniacal salt, the better it is with alkali salt water, & for the yolk take rubified vitriol, bull's gall, & add egg yolk oil, & half less of the water of eggs, of aes-ustum or verdet, & its weight of water of armoniacal salt.
END OF THE FIRST BOOK.
ADMIRABLE WORK, CALLED LIGHT OF LIGHTS.
BECAUSE the root of the science of Alchemy consists in the solution, we will stop there so that we know how to dissolve the things which are in nature, & after freezing them: but first we must speak of the things which have the power, as are the atraments, & alums, mineral spirits, metals, & precious stones of their nature, & in how many ways they can be dissolved: & for freezing, we will preserve it, we will say therefore.
Atraments.
Atraments are in many ways, black, yellow, & green, one each is hot & dry, & without it quicksilver could not sublimate, take as much atrament as you like, & put it in a pot at the middle of the lit coals, & leave it until it is red, take it & put it in an earthen vessel with three times as much clear little children's urine & kept for eight days, & better will be if it is distilled, or distilled vinegar, or clear fresh water, & do as the alums will hereinafter say, plug the vessel & keep it well until you need it.
Alums.
There are several strong alums, the alum which is called feathery iameni & is very white & suitable for dissolving: there is yet another kind of citrine green alum, & another like rock salt, but the best of all is the iameni, take as much of it as you like, & I pound it in a bronze mortar, & put it in a vessel with six times as much clear child's urine, & put it on a stove at evaporate half or two-thirds at least, then put it on fire, & pass it through a cloth or filter, then put it in a well-stoppered glass vessel, & keep it until you need it, & the faeces must be plundered, & put on the marble, & keep the water that will drip from it to use it.
Salts.
There are several salts such as the Armoniac salt called the Flying Eagle Philosophers, another gemma salt clear as crystal, the so-called common sea salt, another a little bitter, & the Alkali salt, all come from the same root & nature, & do not differ except that they are more or less purified: You will therefore take common salt, put it in a pot & put it in the potter's oven from evening to morning, then put it into powder, & put it in a vessel of glass, & put atraments on top of the water as I said above, & this is good for the red, or for the white as you wish & let it rest for a week, & if it remains at the bottom something indissolves, & what is dissolved comes to the side & swims like oil & is white, & what remains at the bottom is worth nothing.
Very nice experience.
Take common salt & make it decrepitate then put on top three times as much distilled vinegar or clear water, take after half less than sucarin alum salt, & as much quicklime, plunder them together, & the put in a glass vessel, & put on top three times as much distilled vinegar or clear water, & if you want, put two parts of honey in it, then leave it for three days, then take what swims on the salt pure & clean without faeces & put it in a matrass, likewise take what swims on the alum, & lime, & put it together in the said matrass, then freeze it, & you will have, a white stone like Crystal keeps the dust, hear the same of other salts as common, & if you dissolve & freeze three or four times, you will do a marvelous work,for the salts thus prepared melt like metal, and throw a weight on a hundred, even on three hundred.
Armmoniac Salt.
Take as much as you want & put it in a glass vessel, & put on it twice as much distilled vinegar or clear & pure water or water from the atraments, or water from the alum, & let it rest for eight days, then separate what will be dissolved, & which swims over it, put it in a matrass & let it freeze & keep it dusty until you need it.
MINERAL SPIRITS.
And First of Arsenic.,
Take Arsenic & put it in very subtle powder then put twice as much alum water on top in a glass vessel & leave it for eight days, then take what swims on top, & put it in a matrass & freeze it, & you will have a white & crystal clear stone keep it from dust & if it is decooked with bitter almond oil then with alum water it will be better, & if it is mixed with the ferment it will cover the eyes of the Alchemists.
sulfur.
The same dissolutions & freezings must be made of Sulfur as Arsenic with vinegar & oil, & arsenic is good for silver, & sulfur for Gold, you will know it by the effects.
Mercury.
Several have labored to make the Mercury stop in the fire, but the spirits always desire to follow their nature, therefore it cannot be done easily, but with great difficulty and industry.
Experience.
Take Mercury & as much common salt, & put it in a pot & grind it well as you can, then put vinegar three times as much, & wash it well, then dry it & put it with as much vitriol, & grind it together, then put it in the aludel on a slow fire at the beginning after a little stronger, & it will show & have the white sublimed Mercury.
Other Experience.
Take three ounces of oliun oil & put them in a varnished pot on the fire until it begins to boil, then put half an ounce of sulfur in it & remove it immediately that it will be melted by stirring it, & the let it cool, then put an ounce of quicksilver in it & put it back on the fire until it is dry, then put it in the aludel to be sublimated, & then pull it out & put it in a glass vessel with two parts of water of atraments, & leave it for eight days: take all the clear water & put it in a matrass & freeze it, & you will find it beautiful, & clear as a garnet, keep it from dust its virtue will be said later.
Great secret against all Sophists, both in the Sun and in the Moon:
So take from the Minières du Meilleur Atrament which is vitriol a pound: & as much common salt, & grind them well together in a mortar, then put them in a terrine on a stove with a coal fire & the whole will melt like wax: then have inside a double cloth a clean pound of mercury & spread it little by little over the said melted salt & vitriol, always stirring with an iron rod as long as all the mercury is lost among the salt & vitriol, then let it cool, & then put everything to sublimate by twenty four hours giving a small fire from the beginning by three hours then closing very well the mouth of the matrass which must be well fought up to the belly, & that it be tall & wide than all the material only reaches half of the belly,& at the end with uncovered bottom you have to give fire of fusion, & after when it will have cooled on the same fire you will find a beautiful white plaster like candy sugar which will be your sublimated mercury, which will be of the best in the world: then you have to separate it from the faeces & once again put it back on new salt & new vitriol melted as above, & then sublimate as you did, & must be repeated in all seven times with the new materials, & will be completed: & this beautiful sublimated is called the true salt of the Philosophers which works wonders in Philosophy: then after take the said sublimated & grind it on a marble, & put it in a cold place or in the serene night & will dissolve everything in the most sovereign mercurial water that can ever be found,after put it in saw matrass on hot ashes for an hour to exalt the humidity of the serene: then keep it as a great treasure, & to implement it, take from it seven ounces & one ounce of fine Sun: or well if you want to work white, an ounce of fine Moon, & put everything in a matrass with the said water, & will dissolve in a water bath, then put to freeze on the hot ashes in the oven of Athanor & will be converted into a stone of which you will make real projection holding to all judgments & cup, & must put an end here to all Philosophy, & burn in fire all sophistic books of the Philosophers, given that in our presence the proof has been made for a great Prince of Ferrara at nearby Tivoli of Rome, by the hands of the Lord Abbot of Euoli,& of Sieur Pellegrin Luquois: Let everything be done to the honor & glory of God.
A Labore required.
I want to put here the end of this book, though there are more than twice as many fine doctrines & experiences: but I have it all preserved to my most Illustrious Lord & Master, & for my, Friends.
OF CASTAGNE,