The works of the highly experienced and famous chymist, John Rudolph Glauber: containing, great variety of choice secrets in medicine and alchymy in the working of metallick mines, and the separation of metals. Also, various cheap and easie ways of making salt-petre, and improving of barren-land, and the fruits of the earth / Translated into English, and pub. for publick good by Christopher Packe.

  • Glauber, Johann Rudolf, 1604-1670.
Date:
1689
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The works of the highly experienced and famous chymist, John Rudolph Glauber: containing, great variety of choice secrets in medicine and alchymy in the working of metallick mines, and the separation of metals. Also, various cheap and easie ways of making salt-petre, and improving of barren-land, and the fruits of the earth / Translated into English, and pub. for publick good by Christopher Packe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    758/820 (page 48)
    ^8 three unknown Fires, and Stones; Frft of t!ic fecret fire of the ancient Philofophers, which is called the Ftre of Artephins., by Virtue of which fccret Fire, is generated the vegetable, Animal and Mineral Hone of Philofophers, and alfo particularly out of all Vege¬ tables, Animals, and Minerals, their QuintefTence, or higheh Power, without the help of any common Fire, without Furnace, GlafTes, or any other known Chymical Inftrurnents, is to be obtained in a few hours, W’ithout any Labour or Coft ; And aH'o things incredible and unheard of are by it brought to pafs of which great Secret, no Philofopher hath hitherto made the leaft mentionas the before cited Treatife will fufliciently teftifie. The fecond Fire is like to it, viz. the fame with which the Ifraelites in old time did fet Fire to their Sacrifices, which their PrieHs, when they were to go into the Babylonif Captivity, did hide in dry hole in the Earth j and many years after, when they were releafed from their Captivity, and returned, they found not a Fire, but inflead of it a Vifcom water, which they poured upon their Sacri¬ fice, and it kindled it, as. well as if it had been done by the fccret heavenly Fire, of which you may read more in the Maccabeus. This fecret Fire of the An¬ cient Caldeans is alfo comparable to the Mthereal Fire, of W’hich Meteors, Thunder and Lightning are generated, and alfo the Thunderbolts thcmfelves, which are calf down upon the Earth, to the great affonifh- ment of Mankind. Hermes hath very well faid, that what is above is alfo below, which is proved by the fecret Fire of the Caldeans. For by a light, plain and cheap Art, one may eafily produce the fame Light¬ ning fire,together with the Thunder, here upon Earth i of which the following Book fhall treat more fully. And therefore to that I refer the Reader. I could not but here touch a little at thefc three Principal Fires, by which are generated the three chief Jewels of the World, that the Enquirer after the Wifdom of God may know, what great Mj fteries of God are to be imparted hereafter to the ungrateful World, before I publifh this Book of Fires and Stones. Now to return to our particular, and fee by what means our Red Oyl of Mars and Antimony may be Coagulated, after a nearer way, into a tinging Stone, with which Silver particularly, with all other inferiour Metals, may be Meliorated, that out of them may be had good Gold and Silver with profit. And alfo, how by it the Tin- <^lures of Stones, both noble and ignoble, may be drawn out of them, and after the TintSture is drawn out, to incorporate it with Silver, and Colour it. And alfo, all precious Stones exalted in their natural Co¬ lour, and if their Colour be too high, it may be di- minifbed, and the Stone rendred more precious, and how this is to be done, the following Praefice will reveal. The fecond and eafier way, how to bring our tinging Red Oyl of Mars and Antimony into an hard, fweet, and not Corrofive Stone, is this. In the foregoing Appendix, I have faid fomewhat of the Coagulation ol the tharp Spirits, of Metals and Minerals, and have proved, that fuch Coagula¬ tion is to -be made by the help of Old, cold and dry Saturn., but becaufe I did not there declare, how it is to be eflfefted, I think fit to do it here, and it is thus. All Liquors or moifl things, if they are to be dryed, then the rnoillure muft be drawn off from the thicker part by an eafie hear, and then the thicker part re¬ mains by it fclf, and is ufed according to ics Appro¬ priation, as we know, that Aloes., Afyrrh, Opium., and all other Gums a.nd Juices were thin at the firli, and were inTpifTated into concrete Juices, by the Sun or Fire. It is true, fuch an InfipifTatson of vegetable juices is eafily dune in this manner but Mineral ] diilillcd Spirits, and Corrofive Oyls, cannot he thuS \ dryed, for they will endure heat, but if you give too 1 great a heat, they will fly away and not be thickned, I as you may fee in Oyl of Vitriol., which by it felf Can f never be dryed, although it be never fo long kept i.n | heat. But if you will have it dry, you mult add i fomething to it which is more than dry, and hath aE fo power to exficcate moifture. We fee in the ba¬ king of Bread, when we put water to the Flour, and mix them Together to make Dough, and of that bake ! Bread, that the Flour, although it bgdfy, yet it can¬ not retain with it ftlf the Water, in a hot Oven, for that perfcdly flies away from the Meal by the hear, and if the Fire be cncreafed, all the moiffurc would || be gone, and only the Meal remain in form of a dry Earth, having quite loft the form of Bread,- bccaufc the Meal was not radically united with* the watery and therefore they could not endure the heat toge¬ ther. If one take a dry Earth, Sand or Powder of al Stone, and put water to it, the dry Earth will im¬ bibe the water, and to the Eye reduce it into Earth, but this is not conftant. for if you diftil this Earth' I by a Retort, all the added wat?r will again come over,- and leave the Earth alone, but this is to be under- ftood of common water. But fuppofe, one fhould add a heavy Mineral water as ol. Vitrioli to a dry Earth, and fhould commit this mixture to the Fire, in hopes, that the dry Earth fhould retain with ft felf the Cor¬ rofive Oyl of Vitriol., ar.,d alfo reduce it into a dry Earth, it would prove a miftake, for the Oyl of Vi¬ triol, in a fufficient heat, would wholly forfake the Earth, becaufe the Earth is dead, and hath no Sym- pathetick, or Magnetick power, to conjoyn it felf ra¬ dically with the Oyl of Vitriol, fo as to remain toge¬ ther conftant in the Fire i but fuch an Earth, whicU ' by an innate Love dfaws the Oyl of Vhriol to it felf, and endures with it in heat, or cold without Separa¬ tion, maft proceed from the fame Original with ir, for every thing loves its like, and hateth what is un¬ like to if. Now, becaufe the Oyl of Vitriol proceeds || from a Mineral kind, therefore it loves the Metals, but no common Earth or Stones, for it hath no affini- i ty with them. Now if the Oyl of Vitriol be to be converted into an hard Mineral ftone, it muft be done by its like, to wit, by Metals, and by fuch Metals as are moft nearly related to it, viz. the MetaJs that are yet imperfedt, for all Metals and Minerals proceed from the fame Root, and therefore they all Jove one another, yet one Metal loves Oyl of Vitriol more than another, and tbe immature Metals, better than the ripe ones. For although Gold and Silver alfo love Oyl of Vitriol, yet they doit by Compulfion, and not out of true Love, for they are very difficultly dilTolv’d by it, becaufe they have put off their vitriolick Na¬ ture in their Fixation : On the contrary. Mars and Venus have not yet fo done, and therefore they ea¬ fily. alTume the Oyl of Vitriol, and are diffolved by if, becaufe it was driven out of their Body by the fores ol Fire, therefore one might fay, that Mars and Ee- mis were the true Metals, and eafieft to Coagulate the I Oyl of Vitriol and Antimony, and to fix them into a Stone, yet this is not fb, for Mars and Venus are of a grofs Nature, and have too much unprofitable 1 Earth, which may eafily be feen by their difficult . : melting in the Fire. Then what is to be done ? Snail ' Saturn or Jupiter do it, both which are of an ealic Fufidn f Or, (hall Mercury do it, which is abvays Li¬ quid ? I anfwer, that Mercury cannot Coagulate, no? ;' iiiake. i