A Defense of the Introduction to a True and Unheard-of Physics

...which they call the first original: primum; likely referring to the materia prima or the first substance used in the Work., it must first be dyed, that is, it must be fermented with it.

§. 10. The anonymous author adds: that a distinction must indeed be made between an Element and an Elementated thing; between universal Fire and particular Fire: yet neither is at least a supernatural motion; but by motion, either natural or supernatural, they are brought into act and effect, so that they appear to the sight, catch fire, etc.

In truth, this says nothing at all. For because the author himself never proved that Fire is an Element, he can never distinguish between the universal and the particular, or between the Element and its Elementated thingA physical substance composed of elements, as opposed to the pure, abstract element itself.. Moreover, Dr. HelbigiusJohann Otto von Helbig (1654–1698), a German physician and alchemist known for his "Introitus" and search for the universal medicine. considers Fire, while it burns or flames, only as fire and a preternatural motion; but its burning and flaming Essence he considers as matter preternaturally brought into act and effect in such a way that it appears caustic original: caustica; meaning burning or corrosive to the touch. to the senses. Furthermore, Dr. Helbigius never used the term supernatural motion; since the supernatural differs greatly from the preternatural In early modern philosophy, "preternatural" referred to phenomena that were rare or strange but still part of the physical world (like a solar eclipse or a chemical reaction), whereas "supernatural" referred to things purely from God or outside the laws of nature. and the disordered, as I observed above.

§. 11. The anonymous author continues: Why only one—