Section 37

work
work diligently as I have (hewed you, in three hundred Eggs you fliall hardly lefe ten or twenty at moft. Buc becauie they are hatcht without the dam, Imuftftiew how to make
A Cockjojier Chickens as the Hen dothy
For they would die,if cone did keep them. But a Cock or Capon will perform what the Hen ftiould ; do but (hew him the Chicken, and flroke him gently on the back, and give him meat out of your hands often , that he may become tame. Then pull the feathers off of his breft, and rub him with Nettlej, for in a few hours, not to fay days, he will t.ke care of the Chickens fo well and give them their meat , that no Hen did ever do it,as he will.
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THE
|«6
THE
FIFTH BOOK
O F
Natural Magick :
Which treateth of Alchymy ; fliewing how Metals may be altered and transformed, one into another.
Thi Proem e.
\X7£ are now come ( According to that order which we propofed mto our [elves in the be- ginning) to $hofe experiments which are commonly called by the name of t/flchymy meters, wherein not onely a great part of the world is much converfant , but alfo every one is very defirous to be a practitioner in them , and doth thirft after them with an unquench- able luft. Wherefore we are conftrained to fpeak^fomething concerning this Subject the rather, because many rude and unskilful men , being dr awn on., partly by the hope of gain, whtch they looked for by it , and partly by the pleafure and delight which they did take in it, have be ft owed themfelves tn theft experiments to the great flander both of the %/irt it felf, and alfo of the prof effors thereof; fo that nowadays, a man cannot handle it without the fcorn and obloquy of the world, becaufe of the dif grace and contempt , which thoje idiot j have brought upon it. For whilft they , being altogether ignorant of the Princtples ofthefe things, have labored to make fophiftkal and counterfeit geld , they have utterly mifcarri* ed in their endeavours , and wafted aU their fubftance , and quite undone themfelves, and fo were deluded by that vain hope of Gold, which fet them on work* Demetrius Pbalere- us faid very well of the fe men, That which theyfhculd have gotten , faith he, they did not qet,& that which they had in their own poffeffientthey loft -and fo,whereas they hoped to work_ amttamorphofs or alteration in the Metals , the alteration and change hath lighted heavily upon themfelves, tn rejpecl of their own eft ate : and when they have thut overthrown them- felves, they have no other comfort left them but onely this , to broach many lies and coun- terfeit devices, whereby they may I ike wife deceive others , and draw them into the very fame lurches which themfelves have before f alien into, And furely the defire partly of the Art it (elf, and partly of the great gain which many men hoped after by the fame , hath filled the world with fo many Bookj , and fuch an infinite number of lies , that there is fcarce any other matter in the like requeft ; fo that it was very welldone of Diodefian the Emperour , and it was high time for him fo to do , to eilablifh a Decree , that all fuch lying Books that were written concerning that matter, fhould be caft into the fire and burnt to ajhes. Thus was an excellent good o/frt difcredited and difgraced by reafon that they abu- fed it ; which falls out alfo in many other better things then this is. The Art of it felfis not to be fet at nought , but rather to be embraced and much to be fought after ; efpeciall) by fuch as apply their minds to Thilofophy , and to the fearching out of the fecrecies of Nature : for they fhall find in it many things which they will wonder at , and fuch as are exceeding neceffary for the ufe of men : and when they (hall behold the experience of many kinds oftranf- mutations andfundry effects, tt wiUbe no [mail delight unto them ; and be fides, it will (hew them the way to profounder and -worthier matters , fuch as the heft and foundeft Philofophers have not been afhamed to fearch into , and to handle in their writings. J do net here pro- mfe any golden mountains , as they fay , nor yet thatThilofophers ftone , which the world hath fo great an opinion ofand bath been bragged of in many ages, and happily attained unto byfomex neither yet do I promife here that golden liquor , whereof if any man do drinks, it is fuppofed thut it willm^k' him to be immortal ; but it is a meer dream , for feeing that the w irU. it felfis variable and fubjeEv to alteration , therefore it cannot be but that whatfoever the world yield! , (hould likewife be fubjebl to deftruUion\ fo that to prcmife or to under- take
Of Changing Metals. 1 6 1
take any fuch matters a& thefe are , it mere but r-.jh fiefs and meer foolifmtfs. Bat the things which we purpofe to difcourfe of and to deliver, arerheje which here fier follow, and I would requefi the Readers to take them tngood part , and to conte t thenfelves r ith theje; h(l if they attempt to proceed to further experiments herein , they prove themf.lzes M fooh\h and m m.id at thofe which we have fpoken of before* Thefe things which hey e you [hall find , J my felf have feen , and proved by experience, and therefore I am tfte bolder to fet tioem abroach to the view of the whole world*
Chap. J.
Of Tin, and how it may be converted into a more excellent Mettal. %r,i ij ipn rnsTOv aoj 31000901 ^/.ijMoini srf jfrfi fsb«ro vJrmB baa ;'• 10 ^*^vit7''i *nnc c'ot'1 counter^c anc' rcfcmblc Silver; and there is great ^Jt~~z~k amity and agreement betwixt thefe two Mettals inrefped of their colonr. The Nature and the colour of Tinne is fuch, chac it will whiten all other Mettals ; but it makes them brickie and I eafieto be knapt in funder : onely Lead is free from this power of Tinne : but he tha t ca« skilfully make a medley of this Met- tal with others, may thereby attain to many pretty fecrecies. Wherefore, we will endeavor to counterfeit Silver as ne r as we can : A matter which may be eafily effected , if we can tell how to abolifh and utterly deltroy thofe imperfections which are found in Tinne, whereby it is to be difcerned from Siver. The imperfections are thefe : Firft,it is wont to make a crea- king noife, and crafheth more then Silver doth : Secondly, it doth not ring fo plea- fantly as Silver , but hath a duller found : Thirdly? it is of a more pale and wanne co- lour : And laftly, it is more foft and tender ; for if it be pur into the fire , it is not firft red hot before ir be meired , as Silver will be; but it clings faft to the fire , and is foon overcome and molten by the heat thereof. Thefe are the qualities that are obierved to be in Tinne ; not the effential properties of the Nature thereof, but one- ly accidental qualities , and therefore they may be more eafily expelled out of their fubj Let as fee therefore how we may rid away thefe extrinfecal accidents : and
firit,
How to remedy the foftnefs of Tmt and the creaking noife that it makjs.
You muft firft beat it into fmall powder , as you (hall hereafter be inftm3ed in the manner how to do ic ; and when you have fo done, you mu't reduce h into one whole body again. And if it do not lofe its foftnefs at the firit time as you deal fo by it, ufc the fame ccurfethe fecond time, and folikewife the third time rather then fail , and by this means you fhall at length obtain your purpofe : for, by fo do- ing, the Tin will wax fohard, that it will endure the fire till it be red hot, before ever it will melt. By the like practice we may alfo harden all other foft bodies , to make them red hot before they fhall be melted : but the experience hereof is mere clear in Tinne then in any other Mettals whatfoevcr. We may alfo take away the crea- king noife of Tinne , if we melt it feven lever al times , and quench it every time in the urine of children ; orelfe intheOyl of Wall-nuts : for this is the onelv means to expel that quality and imperfection out of it. Thus theD we have declared the manner how to extract thefe accidents from it : but all this while we have not fhew- ed how it may be transformed into Silver : which now we are to fpeak of, as foon as ever we have (hewed the manner
How to bring Tin mto Powder, which we promifed to teach. Let your Tinne boil in the fire ; and when it is very liquid , pour it forth into a sreac morter ; and when it beginneth to wax cold, and to be congealed together again , you muft ftir it and turn ic round about with 3 wooden peltle , and let it not ftand ftill in any cafe . thus fhall you caufe it be con- gealed into very fmall crums as little as duft : and when you have fo done , put it in- fo a very fine ranging fieve , and fift out the fmalleft of it ; and that which is lefc
A a behinde
\6% NaturalMagick. 2>0o^ ^
behinde in yourfieve , becaufe it is too grew and not broken well enough, you muft put it into the fire again , and ufe the very fame courfe with it to break it into fmaller durt, as yon ufed before ; for unlcfs it be throughly broken into powder, it is not ferviceable,nor fit for your purpofe. Having therefore (hewed you how to break your Tin into fmall crams , as alio how to expel out of it thofe imperfections whereby it is molt manifeftly diicerned from Silver j both which things are very ne- ceflary preparatives as it were to the main matter which we have in hand , let us now come to the principal experiment it felf, namely
How to alter and transform Tm9 that it may become Silver^ You muft take an earthen veflel fomewhat wide-mouthed ; but it muft be very ftrongly and firmly made, that it be throughly able to endure the vchemency of the fire, even co be red hot : Into this veflel put your Tin broken into luch fmall crums as have been fpoken of, and therein you muft with an iron ladle ftirrc it up and down continually without ceafing, till it be all on a light fire, and yet none of the Metal to be melted : when you have fo done , that you have given it over, and it gathereth together into one body or lump again , you muft beftow the very fame labour upon it the fecond time , fo long as it may Hand in fmall crums all on a fire for thefpace of fix hours together, without melting. But if fome part of the Me- tal be melted by the vehement heat of the fire , and fome other part of it remain not melted , then you muft cake away that which is melted , and when it is congealed, you mu t break it into fmall powder once again , and you muft run over your whole labour again with it, even in the fame veflel and with the fame iniirumcnt as before. After this, when you have brought all your Metal to that perfection that it will en- dure the fire without melting , then you mu!t put it into a glafs-fornace where glafs is wont to be made , or elfe into feme Oven that is made of putpofc to reflex the heat of the fire to the beft advantage , and there let it be tormented and applied with a very great fire for the fpace of three or four days together , until fuch time as it is made perfectly white as fnow : for the fmaller that it is broken and beaten into powder, the more perfectly it will take white , and be the fitter for your purpofe, and more exactly fatisfie your expectation. After all this, you muft put it into a veflel that (hall be almoft full of vinegar, and the vinegar muft cover all the Tinne, and fwim about three inches above it. There yon matt diftil it, and let the vinegar boil with it fo long, till the 1 inne hath coloured it, and made it of his own hue , and thickened it into a more grofs fubftance. Then let it ftand a while ; and when it is throughly fettled, pour out that vinegar and put in new, and temper it well with thofe afhes or crums of Tinne : and this you muft do again and again , till all your Tinne be diflolved into the vinegar. If by this often repetition of this labour, you cannot effect fuch a diflolution , then you muft put it once again to the fire in fuch a fornace, or clfe into fuch an Oven as we fpakc of before , that fo it may be reduced inro white afhes more exactly and perfectly , whereby it maybe the more eafily diflolved into vinegar. After this, you muft let the vapour of the vinegar be exha- led andftrained out , and the Tinne that is left behinde muft be put into a certain veflel where afhes have been wont to be pur , and then melt fome fine Lead and put amongftit: and becaufe the Lead that is put in will bear up the Tinne aloft, there- fore you muft make certain little balls or pills compounded of Soap and Lime, or elfe of Salt-peter and Brimftone, or fome other like fat earthy fluff, and call them in amonsft the Lead and 'inne, and they will caufe the Tinne to drench it felf with- in the Lead: and by this means, all v our Tinne that doth take the Lead, and is incorporated into it by a juft proportion and equal temperature , doth become very excellent good Silver. But this is a marvellous hard labour, and not to be atchie- ved without very great difficulty. You may like wife alter and transform
'Time into Leadt
An eafie matter for any man to eff ect, by reducing Tinne into afhes or powder often times: for the often burning of it will caufe the creaking noifc which it is wont to make , to be voided from it , and fo to become Lead without any more
«Hr> •
Of Changing Metals. id j
ado; efpecially, if you ufc a convenient fire, wren you go about to reduce it into powder.
Chap. it. Of Lead, and how it may be converted inie another Metal.
THe Antieot Writers that have been coavcrfant in the Natures of Metals, are wont to call Tinne by the name of white Lead ; and Lead, by the name of black Tinne: infinuating thereby the affinity of the Natures of thefe two Metals, that tbey are very like each to another, and therefore may very eafily be one of them transformed into the other. It is no hard matter therefore, as to change Tinne into Lead, which we have fpoken of in the former Chapter, So alfo
To change Lead into Time- It may be cffe&ed onely by bare wafhing of it: for if you bath or wafh Lead often times, that is, if you often melt it , fo that the dull and earthy 'ubftance of it be abolifhed , it will become Tinne very eafily : for the fame quick-filver, whereby the Lead was firft made a fubtil and pure fubftance , before it con;ra&- ed that foil and earthinefs which makes it fo heavy , doth Mill remain n the Lead, as Gebrm hath obferved ; and this is it which caufeth that creaking and gnafhing found, which Tinne is wont to yield , and whereby it is efpecially dicerned from Lead : fo that when the Lead hath loft its own earthy lumpiflinefs , which is ex- pelled by often melting ; and when it is endued with the found of Tinne, which the quick-filver doth eafily work into it , there can be no difference put be- twixt them , but that the Lead is become Tin. It is alfo poffiblc to transform
Antimony ir.to head :
For, that kind of Antimony which the Alchymifts are wont to call by the name of Rcgulus , if it be oftentimes burned in the fire, and be firft throughly boiled, it turnech into Lead. This experiment is obferved by Diofcorides , who faith, That if you take Ancimony and burn it exceedingly in the fire , it is converted into Lead, Galen fhewcth another experiment concerning Lead, namely,
How to procure Lead to become heavier , then of it [elf it u : For, whereas he had found by his experience , that Lead hath in it felf an aethereal or airy fubftance , he brings this experiment. Of all the Mettals, faith he, that I have been acquainted with, only Lead is encreafed both in bignefs and alfo in weight | for, if you lay it up infellars or fuch other places of receipt that are under the ground, wherein there is a turbulent and grofs foggy air, fo that whatfoever is laid up in fuch rooms flisli ftraightways gather filth and foil, it will be greater and weightier then before it was. Yea, even the very clamps of Lead which have been fattened into carved Images to knit their parts more ftrongly together , efpecially thofe that have been fattened about their feet , have been divers times found to have waxed bisger j and iome of thofe clamps have been feen to fwell fo much , that whereas in the ma- king of fuch Images the leaden plates and pins were made level with the Images themfelves , yet afterwards they have been fo fwoln , as that they have flood fojth like hillocks and knobs very unevenly, out of the Chriftal ftones whereof the Images were made. This Lead, is a Mettal that hath in it great ftore of quick-filver, as may appear by this, becaufe it is a very eafie raaftery,