Preface.

such a destroyed body original: "Corpus." In alchemy, the "body" refers to the solid, metallic state of a substance., and see whether I might not finally bring it back into a gold; let the reader rest assured that I have done not a little in this regard for as long as I have lived.

In this work is found the red precipitation of gold original: "præcipitatio auri." This refers to the process where gold is dissolved in acid and then "precipitated" out as a fine red powder, often used for making ruby glass or medicinal "potable gold.", which, when I first saw it, I thought I had caught the hare by the ear A German idiom meaning to have successfully grasped the essence of a matter or made a great discovery.; however, upon proper examination original: "examine", I found that I hardly had him by the tip of his tail.

I will not fail, however, to briefly mention—without a more long-winded preface—the reason why I have prepared this present little work; for I am still minded, as soon as a better opportunity comes to hand, to write an entire Treatise on Gold original: "Tractat de Auro" and to extensively declare original: "declariren," meaning to explain or reveal in detail. that which I have broken off here.

There will also be, in my opinion, no lack of those who—out of their innate ignorance and insatiability to have everything at once—will later reproach me, saying that I might as well have stayed at home with this little bit of information. To stop their mouths, I will let the well-known Sabinus Likely referring to Georg Sabinus (1508–1560), a celebrated neo-Latin poet and scholar, known for his witty and learned responses to critics. answer them; this distin—