Two Dialogues on Alchemy

because it is sulfurous and contains within itself a mineral power, so that it may be converted into metal.
10 ¶ The mineral power of generating metals is found in washed sulfur: without this, metals can never be produced. original: "sulphure loto" — Sulfur that has been purified or "washed" of its impurities through alchemical processing.
11 ¶ These substances, which possess the nature of salt and alum, are the only ones that can be dissolved.
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12 ¶ From dissolved vitriol, a double smoke is released: the Philosophers call these two smokes Sulfur and Mercury. vitriol: A class of metal sulfate minerals, often used in alchemy as a starting material due to its acidity and metallic origins.
13 ¶ The various types of sulfur acquire a power in metals that is very close to the process of becoming metal. original: "metallationi" — the transformative state where a substance takes on metallic properties.
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14 ¶ From imperfect metals, we obtain different kinds of vitriol that are both useful and necessary to our work.
15 ¶ Prepared types of sulfur are the most suitable substances for converting their quicksilver into Mercury, gold, or silver. quicksilver: The common name for liquid mercury, distinct here from the "Philosophical Mercury" needed for the Stone.
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16 ¶ When exhaling vapors fall onto a specific type of red earth, they are converted into common quicksilver.
17 ¶ When the double smoke penetrates through rocks and finds sulfur, it dissolves the sulfur and mixes with it firmly. Through a continuous process of cooking within the ore, it is converted into metal. original: "decoctionem" — a slow, steady heating process mimicking the natural growth of metals inside the earth.
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18 ¶ All metals are generated from the same and similar material. The differences between them arise from the variety of the mineral location, from different accidental qualities, from the opposition of the washed sulfur, and from different degrees of digestion. In this context, "accidental qualities" refer to non-essential traits like color or hardness, while "digestion" refers to the length and quality of heat applied during formation.
19 ¶ All accidental qualities that affect the root matter can be removed. To create the true Elixir, which is a substance more than perfect, it must be made from the specific seed provided by nature.
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20 ¶ The elements of the Philosopher’s Stone have achieved a nature that allows them to convert into metal: this property is not found in the elements of other things.
21 ¶ Common vitriol is a starting point far removed from this art.
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22 ¶ The principles of this art are not found in plants or living creatures, nor in things derived from them, because they are foreign to the nature of metals.