CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Definition of the Subject antj Matter of the Tincture of the Philosophers.
Before I come, then, to the process of the Tincture, it is needful that I open to you the subject thereof : for, up to the present time, this has always been kept in a specially occult way by the lovers of truth. So, then, the matter of the Tincture (when you understand me in a Spag}'rical sense) is a certain thing which, by the art of Vulcan,* passes out of three essences into one essence, or it may remain. But, that I may give it its proper name, according to the use of the ancients, though it is called by many the Red Lion, still it is known by few. This, by the aid of Nature and the skill of the Artist himself, can be transmuted into a White Eagle, so that out of one two are produced ; and beyond this the brightness of gold does not shine so much for the Spagyrist as do these two when kept in one. Now, if you do not understand the use of the Cabalists and the old astronomers, you are not born by God for the Spagyric art, or chosen by Nature for the work of Vulcan, or created to open your mouth concerning Alchemical Arts. The matter of the Tincture, then, is a very great pearl and a most precious treasure, and the noblest thing next to the manifestation of the Most High and the consideration of men which can exist upon earth: This is the Lili of Alchemy and of Medicine, which the philo- sophers have so diligently sought after, but, through the failure of entire knowledge and complete preparation, they have not progressed to the perfect end thereof. By means of their investigations and experiments, only the
• The office of Vulcan U the separation of the good from the bad. So the Art of Vulcan, which is Alchemy, is like unto death, by which the eternal and the temporal are divided one from another. So also this art might be called the death of things.— Z?* Morbts Aletaiiicis^ Lib. I., Tract III., c. i. Vulcan is an astral and not a corporal fabricator. - Dt CaHuco Atntricis, Par. VI. The artist working in metals and other minerals transforms them into other colours, and in »o doing h» operation Is like that of the heaven itself. For as the artist excocts by means of Vulcan, or the igneous element, so heaven performs the work of coction through the Sun. The Sun, therefore, is the Vulcan of heaven ac- complishing coction in the earth. — Z>^ Icttritiis. Vulcan is the fabricator and architect of all things, nor is his habita- lion in heaven only, that is, in the firmament, but equally in all the other elements.— Z.i^. Meteorum^ c 4. Where the three prime principles are wanting, there also the igneous essence is absent. The Igneous Vulcan is nothing else but Sulpbiu-, Sal Nitrum. and Mercury.— y^/
The Tincture of the Philosophers.
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initial sta^e of the Tincture has been given to us ; but the true foundation, which my collea^es must imitate, Krs been left for me, so that no one should ming-le their shadows with our good intentions, I, by right after my long experiences, correct the Spagyrists, and separate the false or the erroneous from the true, since, by long investigations, I have found reasons why I should be able justly to blame and to change diverse things. If, indeed, I had found out experiments of the ancients better than my own, 1 should scarcely have taken up such great labours as, for the sake, the utility, and the advantage of all good Alchemists, I have undergone willingly. Since, then, the subject of the Tincture has been sufficiently declared, so that it scarcely could or ought to be exceeded in fidelity between two brothers, I approach its preparation, and after I have laid down the experiences of the first age, I wish to add my own inven- tions ; to which at last the Age of Grace will by-and-by give its adhesion, whichever of the patriarchs, O Sophist, you, in the meantime, shall have made leaders.