IX. That dissolvents are not debilitated with dissolving, but be-

come rather more powerful, and eo are by dissolutions aug-
mented as well in quantity as quality.

Though the spirit of our wine is the basis, root, and centre
of all dissolvents, medicines, alchemical tinctures, and precious
stones, yet nevertheless doth it dissolve slowly, yea only such
bodies as are homogeneous to it, that is, purely oily, as itself
is a pure oleosum, and associate the same to it, transmuting into
it§ owu nature, and so multiplies itself by this means. Now so.

280 Alchemical Treatises.

soon as this spirit is transmuted into an arido-oleosum, it docs
under the name of a simple vegetable dissolvent, dissolve arido-
oleosums, that is, the sulphurs of tinctures of the mineral king-
dom, the pure aridum being untouched, and left in the form of
a white powder, with which essences the said dissolvents or es-
sences may indeed melt together, but not in the least be satiated,
because there is an addition and multiplication of like parts. But
the same vegetable dissolvents being now compounded of the sim-
ple, do no more extract the tinctures and essences of minerals, but
dissolve and transmute the whole mass or substance of these bo-
dies into an oil swimming above, which is called a magistcry.: —
Now this being digested together with its dissolvent, at length
falls in, is united, and so multiplies the compounded vegetable
dissolvent. For an example to young beginners ; the spirit of
philosophical wine being a dissolvent of the first kind, and acu-
ated with the oil of nutmegs, is hereby made a dissolvent of the
second kind ; or acuated with honey, if you would have a dis-
solvent of the third kind : distil either of those dissolvents with,
common sal armoniac, and you will have a dissolvent of the
fourth ; but if you desire one of the fifth kind, cohobate either
of them with the salt of tartar, and you will have the acetum
acerrimum of Ripley ; or with common salt, and you will make
the sal circulatum of Paracelsus ; cohobate mercury, or any
other mercury, or any other metal through an alembic with this
vinegar or salt, and you will transmute the simple vegetable
dissolvents into the compounded vegetable dissolvents of the
seventh kind ; from which you will further prepare dissolvents
of the eighth kind, by dissolving and volatilizing any other me-
tal in them. The same rule you have as to our mineral dissol-
vents. But the common dissolvents cannot receive beyond their1
capacity.