Reg.lat.1200

...whoever thinks to grasp these principles. The Prologue, which all Philosophers The "Philosophers" refers to the ancient and medieval alchemists, often called "Philosophers of Nature." have sought, in which are the first elements of minerals and the tincture A "tincture" is a substance capable of transmuting or coloring metals, often associated with the Elixir., the lime Latin: "calx"; the powdery residue left after a substance has been heated or calcined. and the soul, the spirit and the body, the fixed and the volatile. This involves Mercury In alchemy, Mercury is not just the liquid metal quicksilver, but a fundamental principle of fluidity and transformation., not just any kind, but that one around which Nature began the two first operations and performed? those first steps. She [Nature] determined it toward a metallic nature, but left those things imperfect. By the grace of God Latin: "Dei gratia.", [one must work] from that point so that he might extract that in which they find [the secret]; and when you have begun to work in this way, by beginning in that place where Nature left things imperfect, you will find in it the perfect thing, and you will rejoice, just as it is said of Alexander Likely a reference to Alexander the Great, who in alchemical legend was often associated with the discovery of hidden wisdom or the "Emerald Tablet.".