Two Treatises on the Nature of the Elements and the Fifth Essence

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Hoc solùm

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The only thing that seemed to stand in the way of a readier understanding (intellectioni) of it was that it had been written in Dutch (Belgicè), a dialect which not everyone grasps equally. And so, not long ago, someone was found who brought that little book (libellum) onto the stage in a German (Germano) dress, but by an altogether unfortunate and ridiculous effort. For he neither grasped the meaning of the author, where the sinew (neruus) and the very sap (succus) and spirit (spiritus) of the argument lay hidden, nor did he translate everything, nor did he do so with sufficient clarity or in proper German (Germanicè). Yet because its utility (ususfructus) was commonly believed to be of great value in both philosophical (Philosophica) and chemical (Chemica) matters, I began—at the request of my friends, the distinguished physicians (Medicis) of this city—to devote myself to its translation (interpretationi) for a two-hour period (bihorium) or two. While doing this, I found that although the work had spread (dispaluisse) among the common people in a new style and by a new author, it nevertheless smacked of the native nobility of a more ancient philosophy (Philosophiæ). Indeed, as for the chemical aspect, its final two chapters so openly uncover the foundations of a more abstruse wisdom that they can easily be recognized, seen, and even touched by anyone whose blood (sanguis) does not "run cold around the heart." As for the Peripatetic (Peripateticæ) philosophy, whatever

reliquum