chapter 63, about this impurity of the imperfect metals and the

qualities of the perfect Mercury: Herein we found by true experi- mentation a peculiar kind of two secrets, viz., one secret is that there are three causes for the destruction through fire of every imperfect metal, the first of which is that their combustible Sulphur is inclosed in their innermost part, and is enkindled with a strong fire, lesseneth the entire substance of the bodies, transformeth them into smoke, and finally consumeth them, however excellent their Mercury may be.
The second cause is that the outer flame is augmented by them, passeth through them, and dissolveth them into smoke, however dense they may be.
The third cause is that their bodies may be opened through the Calcination, for then the flame of the fire can pass through them and transform them into smoke, however perfect they may be. Now when all these causes of destruction come together, then necessarily the bodies will be destroyed and reduced to nothing. But when they are not together then the speed of the destruction of the bodies is less rapid. The second kind of these secrets concerneth the quality of the Mercury in these bodies. For since in Mercury there is no cause of destruction or expulsion, it doth not separate the compound into parts, but remaineth with its entire substance in the fire. For this reason one hath neces- sarily to recognise the reason of its perfection. Let us therefore praise and give glory unto God the All-Highest, who hath created the Mercury and given it its substance, and to the substance those qualities which cannot be found in the other things of Nature, that therein the perfection may be brought about by some art, and which we find therein in its nearest power (potentia proquinqua). For this it is that overcometh fire and is not overcome by it, but remaineth friendly therein and rejoiceth in it.
In these words Geber proveth infallibly that the Materia of our stone cannot be in the imperfect metals, because they are themselves impure, and if one wanted to purify them they would completely disappear therefrom. But our Mercurius, on account of its purity, is constant in fire and cannot be damaged by it.
Now since these imperfect metals cannot be the Materia of our stone, much less can they be such when mixed together, for they become not purer than they were before through their mixture. And in addition to this cometh another Confusion out of it, which is contrary to our intention, and only, as mentioned
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above, requireth a single Materia. Haly testifieth clearly to this when he saith in Lib. Secret., chapter 9: It is a stone, and thou shalt not mix any other thing with it; with this the Wise work, and an all-healing power floweth from it. There shall be nothing else mixed with it, either in the whole nor in its parts.
And Morienus saith: This masterly skill cometh in the beginning out of a root, which extendeth later into many parts and finally returned to its source. Now why have the Philosophi bidden us to work with the imperfect metals, since these cannot be the Materia of the stone? And the answer is: When the Philosophi order the impure bodies to be taken, they did not mean thereby copper, iron, lead, tin, etc., but they meant its Corpus or its earth; as Arnoldus in Flore florum saith: The Mer- curius is added to the earth, i. e., to the imperfect body. And what is more, its earth in itself, however perfect and pure it can be made by Nature, still is impure and imperfect respectu lapidis Physici.
And herein art excelleth Nature, for it can do what Nature cannot accomplish. But since this earth, as said, is imperfect before perfect purification and regeneration, it appeareth there- from that it cannot as yet tinge and make perfect, and hath no more than what Nature hath bestowed upon it. But when it is regenerated it may then add much. But its impurity is obviously perceptible in our work. At first it is wholly black, and then it will be comparable to lead or antimony, after that it becometh gray, and is called Jupiter or tin or bismuth, and all this before it turneth white. After it is white, it is called Mars and Venus before it is brought to a complete redness. Basilius Valentinus is of the same opinion, and seeketh many another, as he doth set forth in the above-mentioned book, and himself doth testify in his treatise about the great stone, where he investigateth the Materia lapidis, and saith: That in Sol the gift of all three fixities is together, and therefore resisteth every power of fire; and that Luna, on account of its fixed Mercury doth not escape so quickly, and doth pass its Examen. And thus he saith finally: The archcourtesan Venus is clothed and dressed with superfluous color and her master’s body is of pure Tinctur and of the same color as abideth also in the best metals, and on account of this superfluity is proven red. And since her body is leprous, the Tinctur hath no permanent abode in it and must at the same time disappear with her body. For where the body is consumed through death, there the soul cannot remain, it must give way and escape. Because the abode is destroyed and burned with fire, so that its place is unrecognisable, and no one may continue to dwell there. But gladly and with understanding dwelleth the soul in a formed body. The constant salt hath given the war- like Mars a hard, strong, and crude body, by which is proven the valor of his mind, and one cannot easily wound this war-lord, since his body is invulnerable. But if someone should say: Because Venus hath a constant Sulphur it must likewise, accord- ing to the teaching of Basilius, be united to the Spiritus Mercurii perfecti, and a Tinctur will be made therefrom. What hath already been said many times, and what hath been stated by Basilius himself, should be borne in mind: That our Materia must not be taken from many things, since the Universal is one thing, and can only be found and extracted from a single thing; and that the Spiritus Mercurii and Anima Sulphuris including the spiritual salts, are united together under one heaven and dwell in one body. So will he cease from his error and, without further consideration, turn his thoughts to the perfect metals, observing the saying of Plato, quart. 2. Why do ye calcinate and dissolve the other bodies with great difficulty, since ye can find in this (perfectly) what ye seek? But is ye ever want to use it, then it is necessary that ye first transform it into the nature of the perfect body.
Therefore, my dear seeker of the natural secrets, leave all animal and vegetable things, all salts, alum, vitriol, marcasite, magnesia, antinomy, all imperfect and impure metals, and seek for thy stone in Mercurius and Sol, for the gold, and in Mercurius and Luna for the silver, since this is the essence of the whole art, according to Arnoldus de Villa Nova, Rosar., part 1, chapter 7. Just as the fire in the beginning is a sealed fire, saith Riplaeus, porta 1. Thus gold is also the beginning of gold-making. If, therefore, thou wouldest make gold and silver through the philosophic art, do not take for that purpose eggs or blood, but gold and silver, which engender a new birth, augmenting their kind, as do all other things when calcinated intelligently and naturally, but not through manual work. Therefore Richardus,