The 10th Chapter.

...whether so-called magnets truly attract the air, or whether something remains hanging within them from the flow of air, or whether the air refills such empty matter by itself once its spirit has been driven out of a vitriol A sulfate mineral, often used as a starting point for alchemical acids and reagents. or other substance by fire. The magnet of our Universal Mercury The essential, volatile principle of all metals; the "spirit" of the material world. is Vitriol, yet not the common kind, nor that which is found in the earth, but that which the living human has within himself. Here, the reader will undoubtedly desire to know how and in what manner this human vitriol attracts the universal air-salt A hypothetical vital substance or "spirit" extracted from the atmosphere. so that it becomes visible, tangible, and turns into a Mercury, because the success of the Art in obtaining the matter for the Masterpiece of metals depends mostly on this. But I cannot satisfy everyone with this knowledge, for I do not know everyone, and the clear discovery of such a secret is given only to a few trusted friends.

Yet know that the greatest science in allowing the magnet to work with profit is the knowledge of the vessel. When the air-salt and the human vitriol are united, the matter—after previous preparation—is separated and divided into Mercury, which is volatile, white, crystalline, dissolving, and dispersing, and Vitriol, which is constant and contracting; thus...

Of the Magnet.

D

...has one the upper and the lower, both of which—when they are joined together again in their proper weight with a little of their water, so that they may accept one another—give rise to a living metal original: "Queck-Metall." This refers to "philosophical mercury," a purified state of matter distinct from common quicksilver. or fluid living metal. Outwardly, it looks like common quicksilver, only it is more fluid and pure. From this, the moisture (not "wetness," as the ignorant say, because nothing wet can enter into metals, much less tinge To "tinge" or "tincture" means to fundamentally transform the internal nature and color of a base metal into gold. them) departs from the dry Mercury and Vitriol before it becomes a living metal through the addition of common gold. Nothing foreign, nor any common water, must be added to it; otherwise, it is unfit for the metallic Masterpiece and becomes unruly.

Before one brings the Masterpiece to its end, three transformations occur: First, of the magnet with the air-salt, to prepare the Mercury by means of water; thereafter, with the Vitriol and Mercury to prepare the living metal and living gold, also by means of water; thirdly, with the living metal, living gold, and common gold to create the Tincture The final "medicine" or Philosopher's Stone used for transmutation..