## JOHN BRACCESCO

RAYMOND: They should have used this to prolong life. STUDENT: Could they have used anything better to protect themselves from death? RAYMOND: Speaking naturally, there was no better medicine in the whole world than this. For according to the opinion of the Philosopher A reference to Aristotle. in the tenth book of the Metaphysics, in every genus there is one certain thing that holds the first rank. Because this medicine is produced from the most incorruptible and effective matter beneath the heavens, as you will understand, it holds the first rank among all preservative medicines. STUDENT: Therefore, it can be nothing other than the Wood of Life. RAYMOND: I have already told you that according to the writings of Moses, they were deprived of that wood. STUDENT: Perhaps Moses, who was instructed in all the science of the Egyptians in his youth and knew this divine science, as Vincent Vincent of Beauvais, a 13th century encyclopedist. says in the seventh book of his Natural History, spoke with some obscurity, just as the other Philosophers did. RAYMOND: I do not wish to believe more or less than is proper.

Note: Herb. The poets say "herb" because of the color which becomes green once in the salt for? little? and so of others substance? because of the color alone

STUDENT: Perhaps it is that herb with which Medea restored Jason to youth, and with which Aesculapius The Greek god of healing, said to have the power to raise the dead. revived those who were nearly dead. RAYMOND: It is indeed a medicine, but do not call it an herb. STUDENT: The poets say it was an herb. RAYMOND: The ancients hid this science under poetic fables and spoke in parables. STUDENT: What is the nature of this likeness? RAYMOND: When this medicine is prepared, it becomes green like an herb at one stage. Therefore, they called it a "vegetable thing" and an "herb." For this reason, Metuendus, a disciple of Hermes Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary founder of alchemy., said when speaking of this matter: "O how similar it is to vegetation because of its green color." STUDENT: Why could it not be an herb, since herbs abound with so many virtues and powers? RAYMOND: This medicine could never be made from vegetable or animal things, nor from anything flowing from them. STUDENT: What is the reason? RAYMOND: Since it must be incorruptible above every elemental thing, it must be drawn from a matter that is more foreign to corruption than any other.

y p l y

STUDENT: Yet you said in the book The Secrets of Nature that we should extract it from red wine. John of Rupescissa A 14th century Franciscan alchemist known for his work on the "quintessence" of wine. affirms the same. Others say it comes from the celandine herb; others from human blood. RAYMOND: Do not be deceived, and do not believe the simple letter of the Philosophers in this science. Where they have spoken most openly, they are most obscure, speaking in riddles or through likenesses.

one from which it is said? it is given?

STUDENT: What likeness did they use in this place?

twice black

RAYMOND: The philosopher Senior Senior Zadith, an influential Arabic alchemist. says: "This thing converts from color to color, from flavor to flavor, and from nature to nature; therefore its names are multiplied." The philosopher Mirerius says: "Why was it made red before it was white?" He answers: "It becomes black twice, yellow twice, and red twice." Therefore, because it becomes red twice, like red wine and human blood, specifically after putrefaction and in the distillation itself, the Ancients called it "red wine" and "human blood" and similar names, speaking by way of likeness. STUDENT: I would believe that animals have more medicinal power, since they are more noble than any other inanimate thing.

Note: B. the medicine is composed of the substance of things and the mass

RAYMOND: The excellence of animals does not concern or exist within the proportion and mixture of the elements. Instead, it consists in the soul. Because the aforementioned medicine is made from a corporeal and material substance, certain minerals are better. Their composition is very hard and stronger than animals. The composition of animals, as far as the body is concerned, is weak, easily corrupted, and of little power. We see that animals, occupied with high and sublime things, are deprived of low and humble powers. Therefore, certain minerals, which have no intellectual or sensory operation, have a greater corporeal force than other animals.

not otherwise medicine from intermediate minerals such as salts alums vitriols marcasites antimony sulfurs and others?

STUDENT: If this medicine cannot be made from vegetables or animals, could it be drawn from intermediate minerals, such as salts, alums, vitriols, marcasites, antimony, sulfur, and common mercury? RAYMOND: Not from these either. STUDENT: