Two Dialogues on Alchemy

23 ¶ Common sulfur and common quicksilver are not the principles of nature; therefore, they will not be the principles of the art. original: "principia naturæ... artis principia" — Alchemists distinguished between "common" substances found in nature and the "philosophical" versions prepared through alchemical labor.
24 ¶ Sulfur alone cannot generate either metal or the Elixir.
5

25 ¶ He who knows how to prepare sulfur so that it can be mixed and united with metals will hold the greatest secret of nature. He has entered the short path to perfection.
notab.

26 ¶ The Elixir is made in two ways: by calcination and solution, or without calcination and distillation. calcination: Heating a substance until it is reduced to a powder. solution: The process of turning a solid into a liquid state.
10

27 ¶ Quicksilver, when joined to its own sulfurs, can be coagulated and made fixed. original: "fixum" — In alchemy, a "fixed" substance is one that can withstand the heat of a fire without evaporating or changing.
28 ¶ Quicksilver is not made fixed by using plants alone.
29 ¶ Our quicksilver, or our Mercury, is a salt that possesses the power of true lime. original: "ueræ calcis" — Referring to a caustic or purified powder produced through intense heating.
15

30 ¶ Mercury, or the quicksilver of metals, is converted into salt through calcination.
31 ¶ There are two types of sulfurous qualities within metallic bodies.
cc

32 ¶ Our Arsenic shares in the nature of sulfur and quicksilver; for this reason, they call it the Hermaphrodite. Yet, by itself, it cannot generate metal or the Elixir. original: "Hermaphroditon" — Alchemists used this term for substances like arsenic or mercury that seemed to contain both the "male" (sulfur/active) and "female" (mercury/passive) principles.
cc

33 ¶ Tutty is a white smoke of our Jupiter; for that reason, it gives copper a lemon-yellow color. Tutia: Zinc oxide, used to turn copper into brass. Jupiter: The alchemical name for the metal tin.
20

34 ¶ Sulfur and quicksilver are made fixed by conversion into earth, and also without this conversion.
25

35 ¶ Sulfur is calcined and washed with its own salt and vinegar.
36 ¶ Our Jupiter and Saturn are salts joined together before distillation. Saturn: The alchemical name for the metal lead.
37 ¶ During preparation, sulfur creates many thin films upon its surface.
38 ¶ Under the name of Marcasite, Geber speaks of the Philosopher’s Stone. Marcasite: Generally iron pyrites, but used here as a code name to hide the true nature of the Stone from the uninitiated.
30

39 ¶ The vessels for putrefaction and the preparation of sulfur are similar and the same: they are flat at the bottom. putrefaction: The stage of the alchemical process where the matter is allowed to rot or break down, usually turning black.
40 ¶ The principles of the Art are found within metals.
41 ¶ The Elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone are vegetable, animal, and mineral.
35