Mirror of Lights.

He must be diligent and frequent in his work, and not lazy, but should persevere until the end; for if he begins and does not persevere, the matter is then lost. And if he works for seven days and remains idle for the next seven, and thus delays from year to year, he will never achieve perfection.

5th Precept

¶ The 5th precept is that he should work according to the art, namely according to custom: that is, first in solutions; 2nd in sublimations; 3rd in fixations; 4th in fixations The original text repeats "fixation" twice, likely emphasizing the difficulty of making a substance stable under heat; 5th in solutions; 6th in fermentations; 7th in distillations; 8th in coagulations. This must be done in order, because if he performs the earlier steps after the later ones, the sublimated Sublimation is the process of heating a substance into vapor so it collects as a purified solid substances—not being fixed Fixation is the process of making a volatile substance remain stable and non-evaporating when exposed to fire—will not remain, but will immediately fly away. And if he performs the earlier steps with fixed powders, he will not be able to dissolve, ferment, or distill them; nothing will appear because they will not enter the "bodies" Metals were often referred to as "bodies" in alchemical theory nor will they tint them.

6th Precept

¶ The 6th third precept is that all vessels in which the dissolved medicine is to be placed and prepared for the sun must be made of glass or be glazed. For if sharp water original: "aqua acuta," referring to a corrosive acid or solvent is placed in a copper vessel, the water will turn green. If placed in vessels of iron or lead, it will be blackened and ruined. If in an earthenware vessel, the water will soak through the vessel and be lost along with the liquid.

7th Precept

¶ The 7th precept is that the practitioner of this art should not involve himself in any operations for princes and rulers because of two evils. For if he involves himself with such people, they will inquire from time to time and say to him, "What is being done? When shall we see something good?" And because they are unable to wait

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for the end of the work, they will say the time is up even if it is not, and he will face the greatest shame. Furthermore, if he does not reach a successful end, he will face their indignation forever. If, however, he does reach a good end, they will imprison him forever so that he cannot leave, but must remain The author warns that a successful alchemist becomes a "golden prisoner" to a greedy king. ¶ The 8th precept is that no one should involve themselves in works that are not fully explained for at least two years, so that he may learn to perform all things necessary to the art. For if he involves himself and works, and in these specific tasks he fails, then the matter is lost. This is not to be understood only as regarding the person's work, but also if it happens that he errs in the operation and prolongs it, because by the interruption of the art it may not meet the necessity? before the end.?

Books and instruments

¶ 9th: Knowledge of books for the sake of the law to others who belong. ¶ 10th: Instrumental books refer to all the instruments that belong to this art.

Concerning fire

Fire is said to be made from charcoal of wood. This is specified because it is less labor to use charcoal than to use wood in the furnace. Secondly, because fire from wood produces much smoke, and because of that smoke, one cannot see when the vessels crack from the heat. This often happens when the clay is not good or when the vessels are not well-baked; when they crack, a white smoke immediately exits, which is easily seen over a charcoal fire. When the vessels smoke, they must be removed from the fire immediately; otherwise, the sublimation the purified material collecting at the top of the vessel contained within them will be lost.