On the Consideration of the Quintessence

neither children of philosophers nor of physicians shall be excluded from this doctrine. And if it does not agree in odor and attractive influence, good, as I have said, seal the vessels as before and return it to the fire described above, so that through reiterated sublimations you may arrive at this fifth essence thus glorified by the nobility of the methods and the attractive influence of the bodies. And then it will not only provide this, but it will also reduce it to such an incorruptible degree that it does not possess that odor which belongs to the manner of aqua ardens, nor that very acidic and flowing humidity which sharpens the heat of the aqua ardens, and [since] the dangerous humidity as water in previous sublimations corrupts, then the goodness will remain substantified at the bottom. And thus you shall know that this is that fifth essence, or corpora somatica and conformable; if it were not that which consists of the four elements, it is where the matter is very noble and glorified to such an extent that the potential of the matter cannot aspire to another form, and thus it remains incorrupt.