On the Basic Decomposition of Metals.

Our natural sulfur is the universal solvent original: "Solvens universale." In alchemy, this is often called the Alkahest, a hypothetical substance capable of dissolving every other substance, including gold, into its primary matter. — the key into the innermost part of nature.

Through this key, bodies are unlocked and the virgin earth original: "terra virginea." This refers to the pure, primordial matter that remains after a substance has been stripped of its impurities; it is the "soil" in which the alchemical seed is planted. is obtained.

This virgin earth, this natural substance, is the fixed substrate The "fixed substrate" refers to the stable, solid part of a substance that resists the fire., just as the natural sulfur is the volatile The "volatile" refers to the spirituous part that easily evaporates or rises when heated.. — Natural sulfur is the upper center, and the natural substance is the lower: these two roots must be united with one another; therein consists the whole Art The "Art" is a common historical term for Alchemy or the "Great Work" of transformation.: —

1. To separate the principles from the body,
2. To purify these principles,
3. To unite these principles.

Basic Decomposition (Grundzersetzung): The process of breaking a metal down into its fundamental alchemical components.
Natural Sulfur (Naturschwefel): Not common brimstone, but the philosophical "Sulfur"—the active, masculine, and transformative principle in matter.
Principles (Principien): The basic constituents of matter, usually identified in this tradition as Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury.