Mirror of Lights.

rather than coagulatedCoagulation: the process of turning a liquid or vaporous substance into a solid. tinctures which lose their specific nature on their own, they work according to the science. They produce gold and silver better than all natural gold in its malleability and blending, because alchemy is a most true and most firm science; thus the objections are answered.

¶ To the first objection, it is said that Silver speaks and says of those who believe and wish to transmute metals that are neither calcinedCalcination: the process of heating a metal to high temperatures until it oxidizes and turns into a powder (calx). nor prepared, that it can undoubtedly hardly be done; as Silver says: "I do not believe that metals can be sublimatedSublimation: in alchemy, heating a substance to turn it into vapor and then collecting the purified solid that forms upon cooling. unless they are reduced to their primary matter, namely into calcesoriginal: "calces"; the powdery residue or "ash" left after calcination. through the burning of fire and cleansed of their corruption." And this is what HermesHermes Trismegistus: the legendary Egyptian sage considered the founder of alchemy. says: "Species cannot enter bodies unless they are prepared."

¶ To the 2nd objection, I say that this does not prove a defect of the science, but rather a defect of the vessels and a defect of the person who directed the manner of working.

¶ To the 3rd objection, it is said that it is no wonder if the species evaporated, because they were not fully prepared; they were not fixedFixation: the process of making a volatile substance stable so that it no longer evaporates when heated., not dissolved, not fermentedFermentation: adding a "ferment" (like gold or silver) to a prepared substance to give it the properties of that metal., nor distilled, nor coagulated. And therefore, when projected upon molten metals, they were not able to endure the fire; they departed, and consequently, the metals could not be tinted.

¶ To the 4th objection, it is similarly said that the objection proves a defect in those who did not wish to wait for the end A common alchemical trope: the failure of the work is blamed on the practitioner's impatience., and not a defect in the science.

¶ To the 5th objection, it is said that the reason why the species was infected and blackened was due to boiling is?, and it was because those desiring to know the skill of the art did not wait in the proper manner.

Mirror of Lights.

rather it is named after gold for such a color, because white is stronger than silver tincture. Rather it is named after gold for such a destruction, the same substance remaining and not being destroyed. There is much matter through which much is done more often. For sharp wateroriginal: "aqua acuta"; a corrosive acid or solvent used to dissolve metals. can often be made, by which any free bodies can be transmuted from color to color; this is clear enough in dyed things, where tinctures and paintings are used.

¶ One might say perhaps that this is true for those colors which are not in things by nature but come from the outside; hence such colors are "colors within color," as in painted things. But in colors that are in things by nature, it is not true, since such colors are inseparable "souls." others Truly it is otherwise in silver, for it is white by nature, not through destruction, while the gold? itself still remains. For white comes from arsenicArsenic was frequently used in "whitening" copper to produce a silver-like alloy. by nature and from natural arsenic, and red [likewise]. And then we see that silver, through decoction and persistence, is black, and through sublimation it becomes white.

¶ And so we also see through art it is naturally black because the earth is black, but through calcination it is always red. Thus it is that colors are naturally within things. If, however, they cannot be destroyed while the things remain undestroyed—as Silver claims, saying that it more often destroys the form of the species—one might again say that such species can easily be changed from color to color, but this takes time in metals. As we see, silver was a white color, that is, like the "flower of silver."

¶ Likewise, we see that copper takes on color again...