THE FIRST TREATISE

...the hen's material, nevertheless it cannot develop either its real or accidental form, otherwise than by putrefaction putrefaction In alchemy, putrefaction is not simply decay, but a necessary stage of breakdown where a substance "dies" to its old form so it can be reborn into a higher state., which is caused by the influence of warmth. In the same way, neither the real nor the accidental form of the Philosopher's Stone The ultimate goal of alchemy, believed to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold and acting as an elixir of life. can originate in its natural matter without the agency of Putrefaction or Decoction Decoction The process of heating or "cooking" a substance in a liquid to extract its essence or mature its properties., of which we shall speak hereafter.

PUTREFACTION takes place when the natural heat of a moist body is expelled by an external heat, or else when the natural heat of the subject is destroyed by cold. For then the natural warmth leaves everything and gives room to putrefaction.

The Philosophers In this context, "Philosophers" refers to the "Philosophers by Fire"—the alchemists of old. do not mean this common kind of Putrefaction. Their Putrefaction is a moistening of dry bodies, so that they may be restored to their former state of Greening and Growing A reference to the "Viriditas" or the life-force that allows matter to be "re-animated" during the alchemical process..

In this process of Putrefaction, moist and dry are joined together and not destroyed; instead, the moisture is quite separated from the dryness, and it then becomes necessary to separate the dry parts that have turned to ashes.

This Incineration Incineration The reduction of a substance to ashes through intense heat. the Philosophers also reject. They require that their Putrefaction—which is a drying, trituration trituration The mechanical process of grinding or pounding a solid into a fine powder. and calcination calcination The process of heating a substance to high temperatures to change its physical or chemical structure, often resulting in a powdery "calx."—be performed in such a way that the natural moisture and dryness are united together, but se-

original: "se-" likely continues as "separated" or "secured" on the following page.