CHAPTER XVI,

CONCERNIP^G THE VIRTUES OF VlTRIOL, CrUDE OR CaLCINED, IN MeUICINE.
For the most severe pains in the stomach and discomforts arising from the inordinate use of food or drink* exhibit crude Vitriol to the extent of six cometz or three drops, say, three grains. To weak patients it should be administered in wine or in water, to stronger ones in distilled wine. It purges
remains, unless it be reconverted into vitriol by » suffidcnt quantiry of aquafo'tts, Thl^ kind of kinship between vitriol and copper is remarkable. Whatever is of the iiAture of copper gives gocxl vitrioL Thus verdigris gives good Mid highly Ki'^duaied blue vitriol. Although for us to discu«>s these nuiltcrs at any length would perhaps be ridicti- Itjus, still nouecAn deny that ibcrc \h btent i« vitriol a lincture, which ]« of mutrh higher esfcelltncc than inoii people iraaj^ne, Happy he who understands, this matter [ Note other f^cts about the oil of vitnol. If the oil uf quicksilver and this oil of vitriol be joined and ihus coagulated according to their own special process^ a sapphire of marvellous nature and condition is produced. It ij» not, indeed, the sapphire »tone, but like it, with a wonderful tinge, concerning which I have much more to 6ay. Hence it is evident that stupendous «ecrtts lie hidden m Nature and in the different creau'ofls of Nature or of God ; and it would be much more to our credit if we looked into these and investigated ibeni, instead of indulging in revelry and debauchery. At present the palm b given to debauchery, until one-third part of mankind or of the populaiiun of the world shall be killed, anotlier shall l>c finished olTby diseasctand the remaining third only iball be saved ajid stur>'ive. In the present condition of depravity the world cannot last or the arts Bourish. It must needs be that the present condition and order of things go to destruction and be aliogctbcr eliminated, otherwise no good ihiug can be compassed. Then .11 lost will flouri*h the Golden Age : that is. then at last man will use his Intdlt* gence and live as a man, not a« a brute ; nor will he act the swine, of live in caves and dens of the earth.. Since, then* I have so far communicated to you these facts about vitriol, with every good dispo! you sec those unlucky and unhapi>y creatures suffering from critical di:^a!»c, for the sake of your own conscience, for God's glory, and the love of your neighbour, you will seriously milect and not despise or lightly e&teetn the gifts im- planted! by God in vitriol. Let love constrain you^ so that by night and by day you may be occupied hereini, and none be found takmg his ease, but all ready to do anything for his neighbour's good. Will this not move you lawyers? Lbten to what Christ says : '* Woe unto you, lawyer* 1 " This saying is not effete. Nor do y^u theologians place a stumbling block in the way, you who think so ntuch more of your returns and your salaries than about your iiick fulk^ These are they who pass by on the Jericho road. Be you like the Good Somaritant and follow the example of hU virtue. Then God will so enlarge your gifts that in helping the skk you ^all suffer no lack' All that you need shall be given you. You only sell this treasure !
I04 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
out every failing from the roots, driving it up and down. In arcana it is called Vitriol Grillus, or Grilla. Neither hellebore, nor colocynth, nor digridion purge so strongly or cure so perfectly as this, nor have they the same faculty for driving out worms. For curing the falling sickness, too, the purgation by Vitriol is of all methods the best. These properties accrue to it from its twofold nature, that is to say, its acetosity and its saltness. On this account it is a much nobler medicine than others. Its colcothar, or, as they call it, its red Caput Mortuum^ should not be taken internally, unless as an adjunct to surgical treatment for putrid ulcers of the first grade of malignity ; but its oil may be taken for those of the second or third grade. Its medicinal virtues are contained in other medical books, as, for instance, in the treatise entitled De Naturalibus Rebus, Here we had intended only to treat and to bring to one focus what it does for Alchemy in the way of trans- mutation. Sometimes medical topics tempt one to stray from one's set purpose. Let us see, then, what Vitriol does in Alchemy beyond the transmutation of iron into copper, as we described above, giving the formula at the outset. Although, then, it is not so difficult a work to transmute iron into gold, God wills that the lesser operations shall be performed first, and that the greater ones should remain occult until the Elias of the Art arrives. All arts have some one person specially their own, as is understood in other arts. Now, take one pound of iron filing, without the admixture of any other metal, and half-a-pound of Mercury. Over these pour one measure of the strongest Acetum, with a quarter of a pound of Vitriol. Throw in an ounce and a half of Sal Armoniac. Boil all together, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. As the Acetum wastes pour on fresh, and also Vitriol. After twelve hours let the chief part of the Iron which has been transmuted be entirely separated with Mercury from the other part of the Iron which has not been transmuted ; and when the Mercury has been pressed out by a leather, there will remain a paste of amalgam, and when this is reduced by fire it exhibits the purest copper. Half an ounce of this is at once mixed with an equal part of silver, six degrees being held back, though not fixed but ready to be fixed in regale^ so that therefrom the industrious Artist may have moderate gain for food and clothing. Vitriol is also made from Venus, dissolved by means of aquafortis and granulated. This does not return again to copper. So also from the colcothar of vitriol Venus is made (as we have mentioned above among the tests), which is not brought back to vitriol of itself except by a special water. Verdigris, in like manner, exhibits a Spagyric Vitriol of highest degree. In Vitriol so great and powerful a. tincture lurks as an inexperienced person could scarcely believe, though he can who under- stands its arcana. As often as Oil of Vitriol is mixed with Oil of Mercury, and both are coagulated together, they change to a stone of wonderful tint and condition, very like a sapphire.
Having dealt with the Salts, let us now pass on to Sulphur.
The Economy of Minerals. 105