PREFACE.

private individuals, and in the extrac-
tion of tincturesoriginal: "teintures". In alchemy, these are potent liquid extracts believed to have the power to transform or "color" base metals into gold or silver. with great
expense for those
who place faith in his words;
but it is not surprising
that the truth being un-
known to him, he attempts several paths,
and that, always uncertain, he
wanders in the midst of Darkness.
It is not enough to burden one’s
memory with maximsoriginal: "sentences". These are the pithy, often cryptic aphorisms found in classical alchemical literature., one must
comprehend them through under-
standing, by observing, as
we have said, the possibilities
of Nature, and judging
her ways by the sole rule
of reason.

Having therefore fallen into
my hands a Manuscript by
an anonymous Author, but very
learnedly written in the
Italian language, I have
formed a plan, in this time when the Darkness—