Marengus — Secrets of Chemical Pallas Revealed, ca. 1700

The medium substance of common mercury occurs when it is turned into water. It is called menstruum solutivum dissolving solvent and coniunctivum joining solvent. With this alone, and with gold or silver physically dissolved in it without other help, the best medicine is made and perfected. This composition never varies, which must be well noted. It is used to transmute metals or mercury into the best gold or silver, depending on whether it was prepared with the sun gold or the moon silver. The second kind is drawn out from alum and mineral salts, but this is worth nothing without the help of the vegetable spirit.

Calxes of metals are made by calcining them with mercury or with strong waters, then washing them with rain water and drying them.
Salts of metals are made if the bodies are reduced into ashes through calcination. From these, a suitable lye is prepared by pouring on a proportioned water or suitable solvent. This is filtered or decanted, evaporated to one-third, and exposed to the cold so it congeals into a solid consistency in the basins. The salt of metals is also called sublimated metallic sulfur. It is likewise called the element of earth, calcined, dissolved, and dried.

Tinctures and the so-called essences are made from calcined metals through extraction with a proportioned solvent. These are digested together at a light heat. The solvent, fattened with the tincture, is decanted. This is repeated until the solvent is no longer colored.

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Ordinary sulfurs of metals are acquired by calcining them and performing an extraction with a proportioned solvent or suitable lye, and afterwards drying them.

Mercuries are made from metals through the addition of salts and reviving solvents, and through putrefaction, sublimation, and revivification.

Metals are reduced into flowers, such as lead, tin, antimony, sulfur, and the like.

If they are sublimated, flowers of perfect metals can be made. For example: dissolve the best silver in aqua forti strong water nitric acid. Abstract the strong water from it so many times that it remains like melted honey, and then sublimate it. In this way you will have flowers of silver. Wash and dry them. These flowers can be reduced into mercury, or revived into running mercury, by grinding them together with vinegar or with oil of tartar.

Crocuses of metals are made by calcining them with strong waters or with sulfur.

Oils are made from metals if their calxes are digested and distilled together with saline spirits, that is, with spirits of wine or urine fortified with their own salts.

Metals are reduced into vitriols if they are calcined with sulfur and afterwards smoothed, as will be said more clearly elsewhere.

Various names explained which Chemists use

Sulfur is called by innumerable names. It is made with the element of the earth of gold and its soul, or the first element, or the water of the medium substance animated by the sun. For it is called natural sulfur, sublimated quicksilver, sublimated arsenicum vivum living arsenic and exuberated with its own sulfur, the dragon eating everything and its own tail, sal alkali alkali salt extracted from its earth, sal armoniacum salt ammoniac, and salt of philosophical urine. For metals physically dissolved, or their souls, are accustomed to be called the philosophical urine of metals. It is also called white foliated earth, purified earth, taste, transforming and deadly poison, purified body, exalted gold, and dry water adhering to the terrestrial substance. It is called by many other names as will be established from what is to be said.

The Earth of the sun, despoiled of its mercury or its soul, is called