Mineral Stone, or the Highest Medicine

and the best gold ore original: "Goldertz" that you can get / grind it together into equal weight / before it has been touched by any fire / pour upon it an Oil of Mercury original: "Oleum Mercurii", made by itself original: "per se" / from common purified and sublimated quicksilver original: "Quecksilber" / set it aside / and digest it for a month / then you have an Extraction original: "Extractio", which is more heavenly than earthly / gently distill the Extraction in the Bath of the Blessed Virgin Mary Bath of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Also known as a "bain-marie," this is a vessel of hot water used to heat another container gently and evenly to prevent scorching. / so that the Phlegm original: "Flegma"; in alchemy, the watery, tasteless, and inactive distillate passes over / and the heavy Oil remains at the bottom / which takes all metals into itself in a moment / to this pour three times as much Spirit of wine original: "Spiritum vini"; high-proof distilled alcohol / circulate it in the Pelican Pelican: A specialized glass flask with two side-arms that feed vapors back into the body, allowing for continuous "circulation" or refluxing of a substance. until it has become blood red / and has acquired such a sweetness / that nothing can equal / pour off the Spirit of wine / down to the liquid original: "liquorem" / and pour fresh upon it / repeat this as often / until the material is entirely oversaturated / sweet and ruby-red and transparent / then put together what has passed over / pour it onto white calcined tartar original: "tartarum"; a salt residue from wine barrels, often used as a purifying agent / and distill it off strongly in the ashes / so the Spirit of wine remains behind in the Tartar / but the Spirit of Mercury passes over / when this Spirit of Mercury is mixed with the Spirit of Sulfur of Gold original: "Spiritu Sulphuris Solis"; "Sol" or the Sun is the alchemical symbol for gold together with its salt / and you bring them together joined here / so that they cannot be separated unto infinity original: "in infinitum" / that possesses such a power / that when it receives its ferment through the solution original: "solution" with gold / according to a certain measure original: "mensur" and fixed goal / and in its full ripeness in the