Preface

of the Author and Translator.

Most writers Original: "Scribenten," referring to authors and scholars who have dealt with Chemistry Chymie: In the 17th and 18th centuries, "Chymistry" was an umbrella term covering both what we now call chemistry and the more spiritual or transformative practices of alchemy. have written so obscurely about it that it appears as if they have spent all their efforts ensuring they would not be understood. And certainly, they have quite achieved their purpose, as this so noble science has been kept almost entirely hidden for many centuries and has been known to only very few people. From which it follows that a very great rise in Philo-