Treatise on Philosophical and Hermetic Chemistry enriched with the most curious operations of the art
by Anonymous
Metallic Master's Degree
The star of the sun, I mean the incombustible sulfur, where a particle & spark of the vital fire, or catholic soul that celestial sun has put in the gold called celestial sun, because of their sympathies, is not only found in the body of gold, but also in the bodies of Mars & Venus, & in the good mineral vitriol, with which sulphurs, both metallic and mineral, united with the spirit or mercury of the duplicated Sages, one can do the work or Medicine of the Philosophers, because they are lands of the same root & origin, have the same tincture of similar substance & color; & the substance of this tincture is a spirit & a smoke which is reduced to liquor, which penetrates all metallic bodies.
Now, like Venus & Mars, one can make vitriol, which is properly to retrograde, reincrease, & reduce the metal or mineral; also one can reduce the mineral, that is to say pure vitriol, which grows in the mines into a spiritual essence, keeping the metallic properties; however this substance is not the first matter, but it can be converted & reduced by art into the first matter or hilé which is the seed of the metals & minerals; in such a way that it would not be necessary to have recourse to metals to obtain its vitriol, since their seed is found & found in the mineral vitriol quite bare & uncovered.
But all the more so since it is necessary for this operation to have pure vitriol which is not imbued in its mine with arsenical spirits, nor other heterogeneous things, & that one is not assured if the vitriols that one brings from Cyprus & Hungary, are adulterers or not, I recommend using vitriol extracted from verdet, veridis aëris, which is emerald in color, of a very high degree, & which spreads its color widely; because by this means you will have enough matter to reduce it & make it the Magisterium of the Sages, in case you were in doubt of not being able to accomplish this arcanity by other vitriols.
Extraction of Emerald Vitriol contained in verdet & its distillation
n° 1 _ The verdet which the Latins call veridis aëris, & the French vert-de-gris by a corrupt word, is nothing other than copper calcined by slow corrosion into a sea-green powder; which calcination is done by eratification,. that is to say that we make a bed with the groins or marc of grapes pressed in the press, & another bed of copper blades, containing bed on bed, as long as the container vase is filled then by succession of time the blades are converted into verdet, which is made abundantly in the Province of Languedoc.
So take twelve pounds of verdet or more if you want, pound them, and put them in eight glass cucurbits, each one and a half pounds; pour over it distilled vinegar with the eminence of eight fingers across it: let the ashes digest the closed vases for forty-eight hours, often stirring the matter with a stick; then filter the menses stained by the gray paper, put vinegar again on the faeces; digest, filter, & continue in this way as long as all the green dye is extracted, & the faeces remain of brown ocher color: then evaporate the dyed menses, as long as only a third or a quarter of it remains, & put it in a cold place, & will form beautiful emerald crystals, empty by inclination the remaining menses, evaporate & crystallize as before, as long as you have all the vitriol of verdet in emerald color, which will be in the amount of six pounds, which is half a pound per pound of verdet.
This vitriol is called painters calcined verdet, but improperly, which they use, because it is excellent for making a very beautiful emerald color; dissolve it again by boiling it in common water, then filter & crystallize, in order to have it purer, & deprived of your earthly excrement. because it is excellent for making a very beautiful emerald color; dissolve it again by boiling it in common water, then filter & crystallize, in order to have it purer, & deprived of your earthly excrement. because it is excellent for making a very beautiful emerald color; dissolve it again by boiling it in common water, then filter & crystallize, in order to have it purer, & deprived of your earthly excrement.
Take four pounds of this vitriol, dry it over a slow heat, put it in a well-battered retort; lay it in the Ponuture stove over an open fire, fit a large vessel to it, lute the joints in it well, then distill according to the art, giving slow fire at the beginning & the element of water will pass, increase a little , & the element of air will pass abundantly into the container in white smoke, & the liquor which will fall from the beak of the retorte, will be greenish, increase the fire still more, finally very violent, & you will see the element of fire pass into reddish liquor, and its fumes will be more cloudy than in the distillation of air.
As the smoky spirits enter the vessel, it heats up greatly; this is why it is necessary to soak cloths in cold water, and apply them cautiously from time to time on the container, in order to resolve the vapours, in. liqueurs. When you see that the container will be clarified & cooled, it will be the sign that the distillation will be finished; which is done in about seven or eight hours. You will let the vases and the stove cool for twelve hours then, carefully removing the container, after having moistened the cult of the neck, you will pour the liquor contained in the said container into a strong glass bottle, and seal it with wax.
To dephlegm this spirit & rectify it, you will put it in a bain-marie, & you will distill the phlegm or the insipid water, which will be in small quantity & will drip it often; & when the liquor begins to distill with acidity then you will bring the retorte to the furnace, where hot ashes will be accommodated; you will add a container to it, luterez the joints, & ferrez distill until dryness; & thus you will have a mercurial & sulphurous spirit, of hyacinth color, penetrating a pleasant acidity, & which will have the weight of twenty nine ounces or approximately. By the same method you will have all your emerald vitriol distilled, & from twelve pounds of it, you will have eighty-four ounces & more sulphurous spirit & at the bottom of the retorts there will remain said twelve pounds,
I will give you here yet another way to make the spirit of vitriol extracted from verdet, which is better than the first, but more painful.
Distillation of the Mercurial & sulphurous Spirit of Vitriol du Verdet
n° 2 _ Take vitriol from the verdet extracted as it is said, with distilled vinegar, then dissolve with common water filtered & coagulated by three different times, & thus it will be well purified, calcine it gently, as long as 'it begins to turn red; Add to three pounds of this vitriol a pound and a half of pebbles, calcine and extinguish three times in distilled vinegar, crush, mix, and put all this in a retorte lute, place it in the ashes, join its suitable container, then give slow fire for 24 hours, & white & green spirits will pass first, then after increasing the fire another 24 hours, red drops will come out with the spirits, continue the same force of fire, as long as all the spirits & the red drops have passed into the container: this makes,
Extraction of Iron Vitriol
No. 3 _ Take a pound of clean iron filings, put it in a curcurbite, mix on it a pound of the said red oil of verdet vitriol, & two pounds of distilled common water, let it digest with hot ashes, & when the filings are dissolved, you will filter the solution, then you will have the three parts distilled, & put the rest in a cold place, & it will crystallize it, another vitriol, in which Venus & Mars will be united, & will be sweetish in flavor, make three pounds of this vitriol.
Calcination & distillation of Vitriol de Mars
N° 4 _ Gently & subtly calcine this vitriol under the muffle on a slow fire, stirring it often with the rod of iron, & it will convert into a subtle powder of brown red color put this powder in a retort, add its receptacle, strain the joints well, & distill by the degree of the fire, just as you will have done in the distillation of the vitriol of the verdet, that is to say for forty-eight hours, by distilling the red oil. So first you will distill the white spirit which is the Mercury of the Philosophers; then will follow the red spirit, which is their sulfur or incombustible oil, of the two tinctures of Mars and Venus, reduced to one, which can no longer be separated; & thus will be joined the blood of the green lion, that is to say, of the vitriol of Mars, of which double blood, their father who is the sulfur of gold,
Put this oil in a bain-marie, in a distilling vessel, and separate the phlegm from it exactly, and the oil will remain at the bottom red as blood.
Extract from the Salt of Mars and Venus
N° 5 _ Take the caput mortuum left after the distillation of the vitriol of Mars, which will turn as red as scarlet, grind it subtly, and put it in a glass vase; pour over it good distilled vinegar, let it digest at slow heat for three days & three nights, so that the distilled vinegar attracts the salt, in which the treasure of glory is hidden, that if this salt were lacking your labor would be useless, afterwards filter the menstruation, & having removed it by distillation with ashes until dryness, the salt will remain at the bottom of the vase, which will dissolve in distilled rainwater, filter & freeze three times, to have it; pure.
Mars Salt Volatilization
N° 6 _ Pour on the depurated salt that you will have put in a retort all the oil of Mars & Venus dephlegmated, & it will resolve itself there quickly, then you will distill at high heat, & the oil will return volatile & will carry away its own spirit of salt in the distillation of phlegm this liquor in the bath & I assure you that it will be ten times stronger than it was before, because it will be impregnated with your salt made spiritual. By this means will be prepared the incombustible oil, which is all together mercury, sulfur & salt, all three coming from the same root, the true first matter of metals, & the root, from which gold was first generated.
Dulcification of the incombustible oil of Mars & Venus
No. 7 _ Take seven ounces of this very sour oil, put them in a retorte lute; pour over it five ounces of divine spirit reduced to the highest degree; put the retorte in the sand, add its container to it, fight the joints well, then distill first on a fairly strong fire without observing the degrees; pour again on top five more ounces of new spirit of wine, distill as the first time; go back again to do so for the third time, so that there are fifteen ounces of spirit of wine, for the eight ounces of oils, make them afterwards circulate in a lukewarm bath for a month, and by this means l the oil will lose its acrimony, & will become soft & pleasant; for the ethereal fire contained in the concavity of this spirit of wine, by means of circulatory digestion, dies acid things, softens harsh and acerbic ones, steal the dirty things. cooks the floods, also softens the corrosives, not because it is sweet in itself, but because it carries away with it, by repeated distillations, the corrosive spirits.
This oil having thus digested & circulated, as said is, will be put in a lukewarm bath to extract the spirit of wine from it by distillation, & thus the oil will remain basically prepared, as it should be, corrected for its acrimony, gently reduced subtle, penetrating, of pleasant flavor, & good smell, having the power to resolve the gold converted into lime for the first, in what is called purple mantle, to make it rise & pass through the still, & reduce it to potable gold, which will be effected by the following operations, the first of which is the purification of gold by antimony.
Gold Purification
N° 8 _ Take one part of starting gold, & three parts of good antimony; plunder them, & mix them, then put them in a new crucible, & make them, melt together in the oven before, by blowing & giving good fire, the whole being well melted, you will throw it in a glass of steel in the shape pyramidal, as the Goldsmiths do: this vase must first be anointed with a little tallow inside, & it be hot, then suddenly you will strike the edges of the said vase with a hammer, in order to bring down to the bottom 1e regulates which will contain the gold, which regulates, you will temper & knock down with the hammer..
As for the Antimony remaining above the regulus, you will melt it again in the crucible, throw it into the pyramidal vase, and separate the second regulus from it, then do so for the third time, so as to avoid anything. lose your gold.
This done, take your regules, put them in a grass or dry dish of crucible earth, place it on the fire, & surround it with hot coals, having previously covered it with a. muffle of earth, then blow with the bellows, as long as all the antimony contained in the regules is completely exhaled; this done, the gold will appear pure, & will suddenly freeze, this same operation must be done twice more, & in the same way as above, namely, one part gold & three parts antimony: by this medium you will have a gold without any mixture, purified & of high color, especially since in this operation, the gold retains to itself the tincture or this fixed sulfur of the antimony, because it is homogeneous with it, derived from the same source.
Calcination of Gold
N° 9 _ Take one part of gold passed through antimony & six parts of mercury revived with cinnabar, or corrosive sublimate, & well purified with salt & vinegar, cut your gold into small pieces after having reduced it to a blade loosened, then let it blush in a new crucible; also heat your mercury in another crucible, remove the crucibles from the fire; pour the hot mercury into the crucible where the gold is, & stir everything well together with a dry stick, as long as the mercury has swallowed up the gold: take this material called amalgam which will weigh for example seven ounces, then having melted fourteen ounces of flowers of sulfur in a crucible over a slow fire, you will throw in your amalgam, & stir well with a stick, until it turns into black powder,
Royal Strong Water
which then will clear up, which seeing, you will reject four ounces of new material, doing as above, continuing so long as all the material is distilled; afterwards you will dephlegmate the liquor by the water bath, & will rectify it with ashes, & thus will be made the water called of the two champions, but as much as it is rather difficult & risky to make, I give here a method to do it more easily & with less danger.
Take a pound of saltpeter, three pounds of clay or pebbles, pound, mix, & distill them in the lamppost, according to the art of adapting to the beak of the well-struggled glass retort a large receptacle, & the spirits red as fire will pass through it. , dephlegm this spirit of saltpetre & rectify it. Then take a pound of armoniacal salt & four pounds of ashes, from which you will have removed the salt, by means of common hot water, mix, & then distill with the sand over a good fire, & the spirit of the armoniac will pass into the container, which you will dephlegm in the bath, & rectify with ashes; this done, take equal parts of saltpetre and armoniac, mix them, and distill them over the fire of ashes, and you will have the solar solvent.
Fortified Sea Salt Water
N° 11 _ However, I warn you that the spirit of sea salt, distilled as saltpeter is made, performs the same operation as the water of the two champions, and if it is not so corrosive. So take three parts of this spirit of sea salt, and one part of the spirit of saltpetre, by this means you will have royal water, which will dissolve gold more quickly than the spirit of armoniacal salt, and will cause it to rise and pass. through the still & fall into the container.
Dissolution of the Lime of Gold, & its conversion into Vitriol
N° 12 _ Put in an earthenware vase a part of gold lime of N° 9 pour above three parts of water. of the two champions of No. 10 or rather that of the spirit of sea salt mixed with that of the spirit of saltpeter of No. 11 Let the lime dissolve on the hot ashes, pour by inclination what will be dissolved, then put three parts of new water on the faeces, as long as all the lime is dissolved; separate the solution from what will have remained indissoluble, which will be in small quantity, & make it digest in a water bath for twenty-four hours, separate the faeces again, if there are any, then put them to digest for nine days & as many nights, & then distill the dissolving water by the bath, until the acuosity & cohobe it so many times that you find the water debilitated to taste, & as tasteless, on this oily consistency, impregnated with the spirits of the solvent, you will pour new spirit of sea salt and saltpetre; mix them together, & repeat the same digestions, distillations & cohobotions, as before, except that the said last distillations & cohabations must be done on the sand, strengthening the fire one degree, as long as all the gold is dissolved & s pupil scattered by the still, with the solvent & falls into the container.
This done, you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold. you will pour new spirit of sea salt & saltpetre; mix them together, & repeat the same digestions, distillations & cohobotions, as before, except that the said last distillations & cohabations must be done on the sand, strengthening the fire one degree, as long as all the gold is dissolved & s pupil scattered by the still, with the solvent & falls into the container.
This done, you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold. except that the said last distillations & cohabations must be done on the sand, strengthening the fire by one degree, as long as all the gold is dissolved & rises scattered through the still, with the solvent & falls into the receptacle. This done, you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold.
except that the said last distillations & cohabations must be done on the sand, strengthening the fire by one degree, as long as all the gold is dissolved & rises scattered through the still, with the solvent & falls into the receptacle. This done, you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold. you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold. you will distil the solvent in the bath until it has an oily consistency, then put the glass vase in a cold and damp place, and diaphanous crystals will form which will be the vitriol of gold; the supernatant water distill it by inclination until obit, & put back to crystallize to have all the vitriol of the gold.
Conversion of Gold Vitriol into purple-colored Crocus called Purple Cloak
which immediately dissolves in distilled vinegar in color red as blood; this is also called the purple mantle of the Philosophers.
Which purple mantle, it will be necessary to separate into three parts, one of which will be used to extract the sulfur with the mercurial water, as it is said below N° 15 The other part to convert it into golden spiritual liquor, as the 'we see below N° 17 & the third part of this purple mantle will be used to extract the sulfur with the spirit of sea salt, softened by the spirit of wine, to then make potable gold, as will be taught on the following pages.
Preparation & distillation of attractive Mercurial Water
N° 14 _ Take mercury sublimated with prepared sea salt & calcined vitriol; because mercury removes with faith in sublimation the quintessence of vitriol, without which one cannot make any real extraction of gold, nor consequently any real drinkable gold: subtly pulverize this sublimated, & spread it on a sheet of iron which you will put in the cellar, & shortly it will dissolve into water which you will pour into a glass; & when there is no more water, filter clearly what you have collected.
Take this mercurial liquor to the weight of one pound, put it in a large container, then make an etching with two pounds of good vitriol, & two pounds of saltpeter without dephlegmating them, & chase away by degrees the spirits of this matter by the lamppost into the said receptacle, where the water of the sublimate will be, & when all the spirits have come out of the retort, take everything you find in the receptacle, & rectify it by the still over the ash fire, & it a lot of earth will remain at the bottom of the vase, but the attractive mercurial water will be clear and clean.
Extraction of the Sulfur from the Gold contained in the Purple Mantle.
N° 15 _ Take six parts of the aforesaid attractive mercurial water, pour it into a glass vase, in which you will have put a part of the gold prepared in a mantle of reserve purple, as it is said, close the vase well , & hold it at slow heat, as long as this water has drawn the soul or the sulfur from the gold, & is dyed in a very red color: draw this dyed liquor by inclination, & if the powder which remains in the shade of the mud still appears yellowish; throw on it new mercurial water, & extract again until there remains a body white as snow, which solar body remains at the bottom of the vase without being dissolved, & will be kept to extract the salt from it, as it will be said at No. 18 This attraction of the golden sulfur being completed, you will extract from it by distillation with the still all the mercurial water until dryness, and the gold sulfur will remain at the bottom; put distilled vinegar on the eminence of four fingerbreadths, make it digest until the vinegar is colored a high red, pour by inclination this dyed menses, put it back again; digest & continue thus as long as the vinegar no longer attracts anything; thus you will have true separation.
Solar sulfur, extracted from its body, put the faeces apart, then remove the vinegar by distillation until dryness, & the sulfur will remain at the bottom of the vase, which will be dulcified several times with distilled rainwater, & removing it from above by distillation.
Conversion of Gold Sulfur into Potable Gold.
N° 16 _ Take six parts of the incombustible oil of mars & venus, sweetened with the spirit of wine, as it is taught above N° 7 pour them on a part of sulfur of gold aforesaid in N° 15 in a distilling vase then distill & cohobe so many times that the soul of gold rises & passes spiritually with said incombustible oil in the container; then put this liquor to circulate in a pelican, or other distilling vessel for a month, & thus you will have drinkable gold which no longer returns to the body, & is a very great secret for health.
Distillation of Gold into Crocus, & its conversion into spiritual water
No. 17 _ Take six ounces of the prepared & dulcified incombustible oil from No. 17 & two ounces of the prepared gold crocus or mantle of purple from No. 13 put them together, & make them. digest in a vacuum, as long as the crocus is dissolved, if there are faeces, separate them because they are worth nothing for your work; put this solution of gold in a low cucurbite, join its capital to it, & adapt its container to it, close the joints, then distill & warmly put back what will be distilled on what will remain in the vase, & continue the distillation & cohobation so many times that the solution passes into the container in liquor, that if there remain some white faeces, separate them. Keep this golden liquor well, because the gold is there in spiritual, mercurial & sulphurous essence.
N° 18 _ Take all the white body which remained at the bottom of the vase after the extraction of the sulfur from the gold, as it is said above at N° 15, make it reverberate for three days & three nights, then sublimate it with an equal part of purified armoniacal salt; put back what will be sublimated with what will remain at the bottom of the sublimation, & make sublimate, as before, repeat this sublimation so many times that all this solar white body has risen & made volatile, then pour common water on this sublimated lukewarm, & the armoniac salt will dissolve, & the solar body will precipitate into powder, which you will dulcify entirely from the armoniac with filtered rainwater, & then dry it in a slow heat; this done, you will extract the tel with distilled vinegar,
Dissolve this salt in two parts of spirit of wine, & remove by distillation three quarters of this spirit, & put the rest in the cellar or other cold place, & it will form crystals which you will keep, after having emptied by inclination the remaining spirit of wine, you will have it distilled further, & put it back to crystallization in the cold, repeat this work as long as no more crystals are formed, which will gently dry, & thus you will have the true salt of gold well clarified.
All the aforesaid operations being completed, as I have clearly taught it, you will have to put all this gold salt, as much as you will have been able to recover, with the mercury and the sulfur of the gold in the furnace of the Philosophers in a glass vase which you will sign, which you will carry out as it follows in the commixtion & composition of the said Physical & Philosophical substances to make & accomplish the medicine, so occulted & celebrated by the ancient sages & true natural Philofophists.
Composition & conjunction of Physical and Philosophical substances
N° 19 _ Take in the name of the Most High, the potable gold of N° 16 pour it on the distillation of gold in crocuses, converted into golden spiritual liquor of N° 17 then add as much weight as these two together are incombustible oil of mars & venus prepared & softened by the spirit of wine of N° 7 finally, put all the salt of the gold of N° 18 in it then lock it all up. in the Philosophical egg, of which the three parts will remain empty for the circulation of spirits, seal this vase hermetically, & place it in the Athanor in the oven of the Philosophers, & then gently give it the first degree of the fire which must be sweet, slow, vaporous, closed & subtle.
Then the internal fire of the sulfur of gold excited by the "external fire will heat up & kindle with its own blood, & for ten months will convert & hatch it into a great blackness, which is true putrefaction, then will unite with its blood, that is to say, the incombustible oil of venus & mars which is homogeneous to it, & with his flesh which is the same as his own white body, the whole will be converted into a single very subtle volatile nature; after (meaning after the darkness has passed) you will increase the fire by two degrees, & what was volatile will sit down at the bottom of the vase, & the darkness will be lost in short after having lasted forty or forty-two days, then will appear very diverse colors, & in this second degree of fire all the phlegm will be joined in the name of the King, immediately you will see that the golden colors will lighten, & will begin to disappear, for then increase the fire to the third degree,
What you see will give the fourth degree of fire, & the shining whiteness will be annihilated, & will appear in its place in the vase, a thousand small streaks or rising & descending veins finally, when the veins will no longer appear, the matter will precipitate entirely , stopping at the bottom of the vase, & will change into a fixed powder of a red-brown color like a garnet & of great weight, then salvation is ready, & the regeneration of the red tincture is perfect.
Multiplication of the Stone both in quantity and quality
Take one part of this Philosophical powder, made as above said No. 19 & six parts of the incombustible oil of mars & venus, sweetened by the spirit of wine of No. 7 grind the said powder subtly on the marble; put it in a pelican or Philosophical egg, & pour your incombustible oil over it, seal the vase hermetically, & put it in conjunction with the athanor, observe the same mode & degree of fire, as you will have done above, & so the powder will melt easily into liquor, will blacken, whiten & rubify in a short time; stronger than what you will have done the first time in ten months, you will complete it this second time in two months, especially since the very fixed stone is full of fire, & can fix & again its liquid tincture, it that is to say,
You will proceed further in the same manner as you will have done the second time by dissolving the stone with the incombustible oil, & congealing the oil with the stone, & thus you will have an infinite multiplication of the Physical stone, which in each dissolution & coagulation will increase in virtue & in weight, & make each time a higher projection.
This universal medicine cures leprosy, epilepsy, dropsy, gout, calculus, & generally some diseases whatsoever by its great virtue, & those who use it will enjoy perfect health, & will feel an entire recovery of their strengths ; it penetrates the whole body, acts spiritually, and gives everything an accomplished being.
The dose is one grain in two spoonfuls of good white wine, in which it dissolves, or in some other suitable liquor, if there is any.
Fermentation & Stone Specification
Take a part of this prepared stone, as it is said; crush it, & three parts of pure gold passed through antimony, as seen in No. 8 & beaten in a very fine blade, put them together in a good & new crucible, making SSS, & give them fire moderate the first twelve hours, then melt them, & hold them in this fire of fusion for three natural days, & the whole will be changed into true medicine of a subtle, spiritual & penetrating nature, but it will not dye imperfect metals easily , because of its great subtlety; the ferment of corporeal gold being therefore fermented from its like, the tincture enters easily.
Projection
Take a part of this fermented medicine, & throw it on a thousand parts of molten imperfect metal, & the whole will be converted into pure gold, because a body easily takes another body, & although it is not similar to it, it must nevertheless be conjoined to him, so that by his great strength and virtue he may be made like him, seeing that the like has been begotten from his like.
No created thing can compare to the great subtlety of this Stone, for it alone comprehends & possesses all things that can be found by natural reason contained within the circumference of the universe.
This, then, is how the great metallic Magisterium is accomplished, that if you take the trouble to consider deeply the circumstances and the marvelous physical and philosophical operations of it, you know that art greatly helps nature, and that the things that she could not do, purely, are accomplished by the wise artist, to whom she furnishes the subject from which he separates the principles, purifies them of their heterogeneity, and reunites them. Then nature operating entirely by her natural heat, being gently excited by artificial external heat, thereafter produces a matter containing a form far more noble than it was before, which is properly the great work of the Philosophers; who have veiled this truth by riddles & parables that we have explained sincerely, so that the ignorant & Sophists would not have the intelligence of a thing so sublime & precious, by which God is praised & blessed eternally.