Chemical Experiments on the Radical Dissolution of Bodies

are the basic substances so united that they can be separated neither by nature, nor by art through external means.

But as soon as one treats the noble metals Gold and silver were called "noble" because they do not rust or corrode when heated, unlike "base" metals like lead or iron. with the primary basic substance, which as it were constitutes their element, they gradually melt away into it, just as ice melts in water and passes into the constituent parts of its solvent original: "Solventis.".

This radical dissolution is a gentle melting, which must occur without destroying the metallic form; therefore, the radical dissolving agent must be of the same nature as the object to be dissolved.

The medium for melting or radical dissolution must be of the same nature—that is to say, it must consist of the very same essential substances and forces of which the perfect metal consists, and likewise possess the same parts, only in a liquid state and in a higher sphere of activity original: "Exactionssphäre." This likely refers to a state where the substance's chemical powers are more concentrated or "exacted" to a higher degree of potency..

Such a medium is the Universal Solvent original: "Universalmenstruum." In alchemy, a "menstruum" is a solvent. The "Universal" version was the legendary liquid capable of reducing any body to its first matter..

— The Salt The symbol $\dagger$ here likely represents the "Salt of Nature" or a transformative center point in alchemical notation. of nature, the Mercury of the Philosophers original: "Mercurius Philosophorum." This is not common quicksilver, but the "living spirit" of metals that alchemists sought to extract or prepare to perform transmutations.,