chapter 1, saith: As it also is otherwise in all Nature, everything

is ordained by the Highest Creator, so that each thing doth
bring forth and bear its own kind. And as dumb animals cannot bring forth their kind to any increase except through the nature of their own kind, so is it with everything else in Nature. There- fore Basilius Valentinus saith: Thou art not permitted to look for the true stone, nor shalt thou undertake to make it, except out of its own seed, out of which our stone hath been made even from the beginning.
To find this seed, thou must consider by thyself for what purpose thou dost want to find the stone, and then it will become obvious to thee that it can come only from a metallic root, from which the Creator commanded all metals to bear and come forth. There is a great similarity between the production of metals and that of the great stone, especially since there is Sulphur and Mercury in both, as well as the Salt, and the noble soul hath concealed itself, and one cannot possibly obtain the advantage of use in metallic form until these three are brought together in one, after having been taken out of metallic substance, and after this nothing must be added which doth not come from them. And therefore it is plain, as Baccho saith, that no thing which hath not had its origin in Mercury and Sulphur can be sufficient to perfect them and transform them. Therefore it is necessary for the production of the great stone that a metallic substance be taken. But whether one can find this in the imperfect metals remaineth to be seen.
There are many to be found who want to find the white in lead or tin, and the red in copper or iron, or the Materia Lapidis in both; without doubt mislead by the Philosophi them- selves. For thus saith Geber in Lib. Fornac., chapter 9: As cus~ tomary, the dough that is to be fermented we extract out of imperfect bodies. And therefore we give thee a general rule: that the white dough is to be extracted from Jupiter and Saturn, but the red from Venus, Saturn, and Mars. So also doth Basilius Valentinus, in his book about natural and supernatural things, teach that a Tincture can be made out of the Conjunction of Mars and Venus.
Likewise in his Triumphal Chariot, he saith: After this followeth the Tinctura Solis et Lunae, etc., from white, then the Tinctura Vitrioli or Veneris, and likewise the Tinctura Matis, both of which have in them the Tinctura Solis, if they have been brought before to permanent fixation. Then followeth the Tinc- tura Jovis and Saturni unto the Coagulation of Mercury, and then the Tinctura Mecurii itself.
Now let this be known to the investigators of natural secrets, that such hath not been the opinion of Geber and Basilius Valentinus or other Philosophers, else they would contradict themselves, which cannot be, since the Wise must always tell the truth in their writings, although they may mask the truth in concealing phrases. For there can come forth perfection neither in the imperfect metals nor amongst those which are so mixed with each other that they could at least be improved. Out of those things themselves alone such cannot come, because for our stone the purest essence of Mercury is required, as Clangor Buccinae, Avicenna, Lullius, and in general all Philosophers say: We must choose for our Work the purest Mercurial substance. But the purest substance of Mercury is not to be found in the imperfect metals of Nature, because they are like leprous bodies, which are corrupted and rendered inactive by alien and impure Sulphur, so that no kind of art can bring them to their inner and perfect purification, and they cannot even stand fire. And it is a neces~ sary quality of our Materia that it remain constant in fire, which does not occur here.
Let us now hear what Geber hath to say in his Summa,