OPERIS MINERALIS

it penetrated through, leaving the nest empty and the weight of the Saturn whole behind it. When I examined it at some time, it exhibited a grain of silver heavier than common silver, which I believed to be fixed and coagulated Mercury. But by repeated labor, I discovered the thing to be otherwise: namely, that the Mercury itself had not been fixed, but had flown away, yet by its hidden power, it had permeated and improved the Saturn so that it yielded some silver. The entire mass of lead was also blackened by this labor and hardened like tin. Whence I perceived well that Mercury, which is pure fiery spirit and most impatient of fire, cannot be fixed without the Fifth Essence. It can, however, do this: if joined to other metals, it is retained for so long that it bears the fire, although it soon vanishes. It changes them in a certain way, not by improving them, but by exciting them through penetration so that they act upon one another and receive the power of improvement, even if, as I know, not with great profit. But I wished only to show its possibility and its wonderful and almost uninvestigable power. For it is deservedly held as a miracle of nature; it is mere invisible fire, although among the ignorant it is called cold, and by art it can be rendered far hotter and more volatile, which I have experienced several times, where, having been repeatedly thrown into vehement fire and caught by glasses, it elevated itself by its innate power without fire and returned to its own chaos. In a word, many have achieved prodigious things with Mercury, but all without fruit, concerning which matter there is more in its proper place.