PROLEGOMENA.

We know there are stones that dye metals with a stable color. If Tutia A mineral form of zinc oxide often used to turn copper into yellow brass. is cast into boiling copper, it turns from red to yellow. Orpiment Arsenic trisulfide, a yellow mineral often used to create a silver-like appearance in metals. turns it to white, although it may cause some corruption or brittleness. It is the part of a wise man to consider how to avoid this corruption. Even a small amount of tin changes many pieces of copper to white, though it makes the metal too dry. Human hair turns silver yellow like gold. Pomegranate bark hardens iron into steel. These things are apparent to those who experiment. Therefore, if these substances perform such tasks without complex preparation or mixing, there is no doubt that a power exists nearby that can achieve perfection when these materials are improved and mixed with others. Furthermore, experience itself frequently shows that the thing is possible and certain, even if those who perform it hide the matter as much as they can.

To bring forward something from the ancients, Suidas A 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia. is an authority on this, as are Orosius in his seventh book, and Paul the Deacon in his life of Diocletian Caesar. They record that after Diocletian had defeated Achilleus, the leader of the Egyptians, after an eight-month siege in Alexandria, he sought out and burned all the books of the chemical art with diligent care. He did this so that they might not rebel against the Romans again after restoring their wealth. Truly, then, the art of chemistry original: "χυμεία", which transforms raw or burnt metals into better ones, is not a new or uncertain art, as the ignorant common people think. Regarding its origin and usefulness, see also the preface of Euonymus Philiatrus A pseudonym for the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner. in his Treasury. The things that follow will also sufficiently testify to its certainty.

Concerning Chemistry, or Alchemy, Robertus Constantinus writes thus in his List of Distinguished Writers published in Paris in 1555.

Regarding this art, as we said concerning the Cabala, no ancient author is found who has recorded anything for memory, whether this was done out of envy or ignorance. However, there are some who interpret that famous "Golden Fleece" original: "χρυσόμαλλον δέρας" of Jason mentioned by the poets to have been a book written on skin or parchment. This book contained the art itself, which is the method of making gold and silver. Interpreters pull these fables in both directions, and anyone is allowed to imagine what they wish according to their own judgment. As far as I am concerned, whether it is true or not, I hold it in equal regard. It is certain in history and the annals of deeds, however, that the Prince Diocletian carefully sought out and burned all the books of this art, "on account of the innovations of the Egyptians, so that they might no longer gain wealth from such an art" original Greek: "διὰ τὰ νεωτερισθέντα Αἰγυπτίοις, ὡς πρὸς τὸ μηκέτι πλουτεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης προσγίνεσθαι τέχνης.". This craftsmanship is called Alchemy by a corrupted word, or Archymy, as if you were to say "the casting of silver" original: "ἀργύρου χυμείαν". Others call it Chymia or Chimia, and others Chrysopoeia The art of making gold.. These are the ones who have written something about it:

• Arnald of Villanova.
• Avicenna to the philosopher Assem.
• Blemidas, On the Making of Gold, a Greek book, handwritten in the royal library of France.
• Geber the Arab, whose commentator is Giovanni Braccesco of Orzinuovi.
• Giovanni Agostino Panteo wrote the Ars et Theoria of metallic transmutations along with Voarchadumia A technical term coined by Panteo for a "true" gold-making process, distinct from common alchemy..
• Isaac the Monk wrote the Method of Silver, and How One Ought to Find the Sides of Irrationals original Greek: "ἀργύρου μέθοδον ὅπως δεῖ εὑρίσκειν τὰς πλευρὰς τῶν μὴ ῥητῶν", a Greek manuscript in the royal library of France.
• An alchemical book by a certain Morienus is circulated, not printed.
• Philipp Ulstad published the Heaven of the Philosophers, which however looks toward medical matters.
• Raymond Lull wrote, among many other things, On the Secrets of Nature, or the Fifth Essence. In my inquiries, I find that he actually performed what he promised in his books among the English. By the command of the King in the Tower of London, he made the most excellent gold. A type of coin was shown to me which they still call "Raymond's Noble," made of pure and refined gold of the highest standard. He himself confesses in the book he calls his Testament that he learned this art from Arnald of Villanova, his contemporary. Giovanni Andrea testifies that Arnald struck gold plates which were not inferior in quality to gold sought from river beds or extracted from mines. Many others have also written about this art whose books are not yet printed. Among these are Rofinus the Philosopher, and Roger Bacon, whose Mirror of Alchemy I have read.
• Zosimus, a Greek author, is kept in the Royal Library. He wrote on the Sacred Art, on the Composition of Waters for Gold-making, and on instruments and furnaces. There are also other teachers of this art, such as Christianus, Heliodorus, Theophrastus, Archelaus, Pelagius, Ostanes, Olympiodorus, Democritus, Dioscurus, Synesius, and Stephanus, who wrote a book on the Great and Sacred Science. All these Greeks writing under ancient names seem modern to me. There is also a chemical book by the Count of Trevisan.

Thus far Robertus Constantinus. Whoever desires to know the rest should read the works at the end of Geber, recently published by Johann Petreius, or the edition printed at Bern at his expense. Also see Euonymus Philiatrus of Zurich, the 53rd letter of Johannes Langius, and the last leaf of the 18th chapter of the second book On the Hidden Causes of Things by Jean Fernel, a most learned and excellent physician and philosopher, and other more recent authors, such as Janus Lacinius, who should be despised by no one.