CHAPTER I.

Concerning the Building of the Furnace, with the Fire.
Mercurius Hermes Trismegistus says that he who perfects this Art creates a new world. For in the same way as God created the heaven and the earthy the furnace with its fire must be constructed and reg"uhitedj that is to say, in the folio whig: manner : First, let a furnace be built at a heig^ht of six palms, with the fingers and thumb extended, but in breadth only one palm ; round within and plain, so that the coals may not adhere to it. At the bottom let a little mound be raised, sloping on all sides to the border* Let holes be left open underneath, four fingers in breadth, and to each hole let its own furnace be applied with a copper cauldron, which contains water. Then take the best and most lasting coals, and break them into lumps the size of a walnut. With these fill the long furnace, which must tlien be closed, so as not to burn out. Afterwards, add coals below, right up to the holes. If the fire is too great, put a stove before it : if too little, let the coals be stirred with an iron rod, that they may meet the air and the heat may be increased. In this way you will be able to regulate the fire, according to the true requirements of its nature, so that it shall not be excessive or defective, but adapted to the move- ment of the matter. This is compared to the firmament. And there is another firmament in this place, namely, the matter contained in the glass, .'\fter these things follows the form of the world. The furnace then is to be placed as the sun in the great world, which affords light, life» and heat to the whole furnace itself, and to all the instruments and other things which it encloses.