Chemical-Philosophical Treatise on Natural and Supernatural Things

...and thus it will happen afterward that, having perceived these things, it will be proved by infallible experiment that he has snatched the palm from those who deny all faith to supernatural things. It will also refute the opinions of many who, discussing natural things and not grasping the foundation, do nothing but engage in trifles and rashly produce their contentions.

ON

The First Tincture and Root of Me-

tals.

Chapter Two.

BUT that I may complete my undertaking, with GOD permitting, and take up the doctrine concerning the first tincture, the root, and the generation of Metals and Minerals, it must be known that the tincture and root of all Metals is also a supernatural, volatile, and fiery Spirit, which sustains itself in the air and naturally seeks its seat in the water and earth, where it can rest and operate. This Spirit is found in all Metals, and more abundantly in others than in gold, which, because of its cooked, matured, and fixed body, is solid, firm, and compact, and therefore, besides what the body requires, it cannot receive more. But other Metals are devoid of such a fixed body, and their pores are open and widely dispersed; therefore, the Spirit of the tincture can penetrate and occupy them more copiously. But because the bodies of other Metals are unfixed, the Tincture cannot subsist with the wandering bodies...