Chemical Library

the minds of the young are so occupied, as if by a pestilential poison, that they eventually reject better things. Therefore, it is the duty of everyone to contribute something to uncovering this truth, so that it may finally be proposed naked before the eyes of all. But the limited resources of my household stand against the efforts of many—a fact I do not blush to say about myself—wherefore I fear not a little that the fruits of my vigils may for this reason lie hidden under the dust, unless a new Maecenas a generous patron of the arts should arise for me, who, extending a hand, might lift me on high. But God, the Best and Greatest, will carry out His decree, and for me, it will be enough to have wished it.

However, since I have been received by you kindly and humanely, and have always been a fierce enemy of an ungrateful spirit, I have not hesitated to dedicate this Chemical Library to you, although you have never applied yourself to this science (insofar as it concerns its transmutatory part), being content with other