Preface.

they nevertheless, for lack of suf-
ficient knowledge of the first principles original: "ersten anfahenden Dinge," referring to the fundamental elements or beginnings of natural processes,
could not be investigated
nor fully fathomed, because such
works and operations are merely natu-
ral, yet at the same time hidden, effects.
For even if one has already devised
various furnace charges original: "Beschickungen," the specific mixtures of ore, fuel, and additives placed into a furnace for smelting to unlock, tame, and
master one's ores, wherewith they are
fed and melted, it has very
often been found that these, instead of
fixing fixing: the alchemical and metallurgical process of making a volatile substance stable and solid so it can withstand the heat of the fire without evaporating the volatile, have completely
dissolved that which is fixed, and both have
flown away together as a smoke in the fire,
which finally moved them
to calcine calcining: the process of heating a substance to a high temperature in air to remove impurities, sulfur, or "wildness" through oxidation and to
burn these same ores in a specially made roast-
ing fire for so long until they have lost
all their wildness and volatility;
whatever remains after this burning
is then prepared for
smelting smelting: the process of extracting a base metal from its ore by heating it beyond its melting point, usually in the presence of a reducing agent, and at