Hermes: A Journal in Occasional Issues

regarded as the essence; however, according to Nollius's Heinrich Nolle (c. 1583–1626), a Paracelsian physician and philosopher. report, the story of a nobleman who sought his salvation in it also refutes these seekers.

Various naturalists, thinking more appropriately about the matter, sought the philosophical mercury Philosophical Mercury: Not common quicksilver, but the "soul" or "prime matter" of metals believed to be the key to the Philosopher's Stone. in the earth, because they believed the universal mercury A hypothetical spirit supposed to permeate all matter. took form there, or that one could obtain the fat of the earth original: "Fett der Erde." An alchemical term for a fertile, oily substance within the soil thought to contain the life-force of nature.. This was especially pursued since the earliest and most competent masters assure us that whoever knows how to find it therein has attained the only true jewel of the sages. This provided the opportunity to subject various types of earth to philosophical testing: for example, yellow and red clay original: "Letten.", sealed earth original: "Siegelerde" (Terra Sigillata). A medicinal clay, historically stamped with a seal to certify its origin and purity., the earth found near gold mines (fat of the sun original: "Axungia solis."), and the red clay of which Siebmacher Johann Ambrosius Siebmacher, an alchemist and engraver active in the early 17th century. speaks in his "Water-Stone of the Sages," and the like. Those who were still most successful were those who sought the so-called Saturnine universal original: "Catholicum saturninum." This likely refers to a universal substance derived from lead (Saturn) or the "dark" initial state of matter. in the earth and took up the minera A term for raw ore or an unrefined mineral product., that is, the simplest, non-specified mineral products. The philosophers call this subject a son of the macrocosm, a son of the sun and mo- original: "filium Macrocosmi, einen filium Solis et Lu-" (text cuts off mid-word).