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

...their right [to speak] is manifest. If, therefore, Mr. Helbig original: Dn. Helbigius. "Dn." is an abbreviation for Dominus, a title of respect like "Lord" or "Mister.", led by a love of truth and of his neighbor, strives to lead the ranks of those wandering in error toward a true understanding of truth by using new and indeed proper Terms Helbig advocated for using precise, literal names for substances rather than the poetic metaphors common in alchemy. of their own significance and for the designation of natural things—specifically so that such great floods of time and expense do not provoke those eager for the Chemical art to enter the arena original: palæstram, a Greek-derived word for a wrestling school, here used metaphorically for the difficult practice of alchemy. only to find the ruin of their lives and souls—it shall be more to his glory than to his infamy. For this reason, Mr. Helbig is considered to be more beneficial to the Hermetic Republic than the anonymous author; for it is better to devise new and proper terms than to remain unhappily stuck in the doubtful explanation of the Philosophers’ tropes Metaphors or figures of speech. Alchemists often hid their secrets in "tropes" like "The Green Lion" or "The Red King.".

§. 13. The anonymous author does not approve of every opinion of Nuysement Jacques Nuysement (c. 1570–1630), a French alchemist from the Duchy of Lorraine whose works on the "Universal Salt" were highly influential., nor does he reject every one. To him, [Nuysement's] writings are learned and ingenious in certain parts, with which he seems to agree, perhaps due to his own prejudice. Yet, if the pure principles of the Lotharingian Referring to Nuysement, who was from Lorraine (Lotharingia). were to contradict his own as much as Dr. Helbig’s do, he would have no regard for Nuysement. Of Count Bernard...