On the Philosophers’ Stone.

...then proceed by letting it drink The process of "imbibition," where a solid (the "earth") slowly absorbs a liquid (the "mercury") until it is saturated.. See also the rest of chapter 15, from which those words are excerpted; and note that both the weight and the days are named quite clearly, which you will rarely find among other authors. This sentiment is repeated in the Rosary of the Philosophers under the name of Arnold Arnold of Villanova (c. 1240–1311), a famous physician and alchemist. The Rosarium Philosophorum is a seminal alchemical anthology., which Rosary they think was collected by Bernard of Trevisan, whose words are these: “Beware that you do not let the earth drink except little by little, and gradually with long grinding original: "tritione": add to this: after the drying of the earth. Furthermore, the weight is to be noted everywhere in this, lest excessive dryness or superfluous moisture corrupt the things to be administered. Pour on as much as the dissolution added, and in the drinking, dissolve as much as was lacking. The end is whiteness: there it will have exhausted a fiftieth part of itself. Sublime with the strongest fire you can, until it ascends upward in the manner of a most white powder, etc.” To these words, certain more correct instructions have been added, though you will easily notice the purpose for which they were placed there. Indeed, the rest of the masters teach the same. One should not worry about those sprinklings of mystery and hiding places where the exact truth of the matter is evident.

Sublimation.

Note, however, that when he says, “until you ascend, etc.” he means that sublimation Sublimation: in alchemy, this often refers to the "exaltation" or purification of a substance, raising it from a "low" state to a "noble" one, rather than just the physical change from solid to gas. by which spaces are not changed, but degrees of nobility. And the whiteness lurking in the blackness goes out from the innermost center to the surface, which is to "ascend." Likewise, what he adds about the fiftieth part being consumed, which the whiteness then receives, must be understood as the total quantity of "virgin’s milk" Virgin’s Milk (lac virginis): a symbolic name for the mercurial water or solvent used to "nourish" the stone. instilled by fiftieths. When, indeed, all has entered and been received, then at last we use a greater fire, and we burn it thoroughly so that it becomes white; without this being present, a greater fire is not required in this part. Some, when it has become white, call it "virgin’s milk" and "arsenic"; and the operation which strives toward this is that "washing" described by Arnold.

The Latten is the nourished seed of the stone, still black.

For when he speaks of "washing the Latten" Latten (Laton): a term for the impure "bronze" or base state of the matter before it is purified into silver., it is nothing other than when that seminal body has been nourished, to lead out the hidden whiteness from the open blackness by a degree of fire, just as if you had purged it by washing with elemental water. Nor is that power of whitening only in the fire, but also in the virgin’s milk. Thus it is said in the Rosary: “Azoth and fire wash the Latten and take away the darkness from it.” Azoth is the essential transformative agent in alchemy, often identified with mercury. This same whitening through grinding original: "vitionem," likely a typo for "tritionem" (grinding/rubbing). is also called sublimation, the preparation of which is always made with the mercurial water already well known. Nor should it be believed that this whiteness is that which is desired in the perfect Stone; rather, it is compared to the brightness of white lead or tin.

The Whiteness of the Latten.

Therefore, this dominion is also ascribed to Jupiter: whose whiteness is not fixed and still retains something of a livid hue. For this reason, the whitening heat must not be excessive, otherwise it escapes. And thus far the first part of the art is completed, and a "medicine of the first order" Medicine of the First Order: A preliminary stage of the Stone that can transform metals but is not yet stable or "fixed." is made according to Geber Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), the foundational figure of Arabic and Western alchemy.. They say one part of it tinges ten parts into Silver original: "Lunam" (the Moon/Silver)., but not consistently, and with scarcely one degree of quality. Ademarus, explaining Geber, denies that it enters [the metal], because it would rather turn into glass. Nor would it be advisable to lose anything, since this is a counterfeit of true perfection, and those who stop here, where they ought to begin, do poorly. Paracelsus says somewhere that this order of operations is mystical: to calcine, to sublime, to dissolve, to putrefy, to distill, to coagulate, and to tinge. Without a doubt, he drew that from the documents of the teachers. For these operations have thus far been fulfilled in one way, as has been shown.

Distillation.

They call it "distillation" when the mercurial water is sent down into the glass over the earth, and is fixed.

The second operation.

The second operation is nothing other than a repetition of the above process, by which greater dignity is acquired, and it becomes a "medicine of the second order" for silver. Here, in place of the natural bodies, is the preceding stone whitened by the mineral; for the menstruum A solvent; the liquid part of the work., mercury is again used, prepared in the same way as the first, or the second part of the first division, but in a greater quantity since the body has now increased and been made larger. Some say that common quicksilver prepared through oxalmen A mixture of vinegar and salt used for cleaning metals. can also be used in the same way. But the former way is more advisable. This is described by the artists in almost the same words as the first. For thus it is in the Turba The Turba Philosophorum (Assembly of the Philosophers), one of the oldest Latin alchemical texts.:

Note of the three, etc. water through and vinegar.

“It is necessary to take one part from our bronze original: "are noſtro" and three parts of permanent water; let them be mixed in a vessel original: "ficto," likely a ceramic pot and cooked into a thick stone, which is cooked and allowed to drink, so that it becomes earth.” After the three parts have been mixed with the stone through an amalgam or grinding, let both be enclosed in a new flask original: "geranio," referring to an alchemical vessel, and set aside in ashes, whether warm or cold, as before. Likewise, let nine parts be submitted at their own intervals, and once the body is resolved, another blackness emerges; if this lingers, it is a sign that dryness is prevailing. Therefore, more moisture must be added, just as the author says in the Rosary: “If the whole has not been sublimed, let a quantity be added again to that unfixed part, until total elevation by the fire of putrefaction, or by our mercury.”

Total solution.

Where it should be noted what he pronounces concerning "total sublimation." For in the first operation, something dreggy and unfit for dissolving was left behind, known as the "dead head" Dead head (caput mortuum): the useless residue left after distillation or sublimation.. But here, nothing ought to remain.

Sophistical emulation.

Therefore, those who have imitated these precepts by "sophistry" Sophistry here refers to "false" alchemy—chemists who followed the literal words but missed the true chemical or spiritual meaning. strive to elevate all of their sublimed Mercury so that no dead head is left; once this is done, they finally add the fixed body and the ferment, with which they might again fix that which they made volatile. [There is some sense to this sophistry. Think on it, then, because we are forbidden to make it public. However, it is explained elsewhere.] This is also completed in ninety days, in the middle of which the "Raven’s Head" A symbol of the nigredo or black stage of the work. is born, and then when it is seen, the "decapitation" also proceeds as before. The Mercury which is left from the separation has a consistency like oil.

Oil of the philosophers. The Dragon.

Therefore, it is then called the "Oil of the Philosophers." The blackness itself is called the "Dragon," and it is to be nourished in the same way as the infant of the first operation, just as the words of the artists have it: “The Dragon is born, and it feeds on its own body, and it kills itself, and it is submerged in it, or finally hidden, when the whiteness comes upon it.” Although it is commanded by the artists that the quantity should be exactly twelve-fold in this work as well, one must nevertheless pay attention to what the nature of the stone can bear, lest excessive moisture hinder the coagulation. Once all the food is consumed, it is transmuted into a higher whiteness by a sharper fire, and it becomes the "Elixir of the Philosophers."

Elixir, by which name the fixed stone is also called.

Furthermore, a more abundant heat is used in this second coagulation than in the first, but nonetheless according to proportion, so that the substances do not flee away. Thus stands the second work and the medicine of the second order for silver, which they say can tinge, but more deeply and copiously than the former, though even this does not please [the true master].

It could also be exalted a third time in the same way, but lest the hope of the artist be drawn out longer than is right, or the material become too subtle, and so that it can be perfectly fixed more quickly: one passes to fermentation. Where you will note that this stone is not yet perfect, because it is still subject to the powers of mercury and can be dissolved, which is contrary to the dominating nature of the perfect stone—which is such that it is no longer dissolved by quicksilver except by a singular artifice (of which below), but rather the stone itself converts and changes the mercury. Next, this elixir will waver toward gold, and silv—