Concerning the Philosophers’ Stone original: "De lapide Philosophico"

[Philosophers] have been, who have worked on wonderful amalgamations, fixations, multiplications, and many other wonderful operations, taking on what they believe to be "short works"—of perhaps one month, or eight to ten weeks—which nevertheless stretch out so long that they never reach the end due to failures that occur in the work. For in the beginning or the middle of the work, they do not preserve its natural moisture, so that their work becomes completely dry; or they cook it too hard, or too cold, or too long over the fire △: The alchemical symbol for fire. so that it loses its ingress Ingress: The ability of an alchemical substance to penetrate or "enter" into a metal to transform its properties. and melting capacity. Thus, they expect to gain a profit from it, but nothing is found, and they remain as far from the end as they were before; cost, time, and everything is lost.

Therefore, shun all amalgamations or multiplications and fixations, even if you believe them to be quite short. They are actually so long and must be done with such great care and labor that one cannot reach the end, alongside the uncertainty regarding the washing and purification that must take place. For no fixation Fixation: The process of making a volatile (evaporating) substance stable so it can endure heat without vanishing. can occur before the spirit and body original: "Spiritus und corpus" have first been purified of all dregs original: "fecibus"; the sediment or waste matter left after a process.. But no fixation or new "entry" An alternative term for "ingress." can occur if, during the washing, purification, and dissolving original: "solvirung", you deprive the spirit of its moisture; if so, all is lost.

Thus I advise that you avoid all operations in which washing and cleaning...