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
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.
773/820 (page 63)
![Part ilL Of the Three FT R E ^ S T 0 N'E Si 65 Tervigil ecce Dnco^ fqnamis crepitantibus horrens^ Sibilat & torto peihrs verrit humum. Which Nenfementius hath thus rencired into French. Voy le Dragon veillant de furcur forcene Qui d'efcailk bruyante a le corps entourne Dont le golier fifflant fiimce 6c feu deferre Ec qui par rcplis tors va baliant la terre De fa large poitrine en lapoudrc imprimant Les finueuxfillons, qu’il trace incclTament. And may thus again be put into Latine. 'Adfpice fquaimfum tnmidumq^ furore Draconem Semper in excubias aures frontemque minacem Vibrantem, & nullo claudentem lumina fomno ^ui crijia lingu^q-f tribus prsefgnis , & uncis Dentibus horrendis, patulo de gutture Flammas Sibilat, & fumis atratis inficit auras. yidCpice multiplices Gyros quos pondere Cauda Jnfmuat Terra, cum longa volumina ducit ; Perque fuperficiem reptat, cum peiiore lato Verrit humum , relegens eadem veji/gia femper. And in Engliflo may found thus , Behold this fcalj Dragon fvjeFd with Ire, Pits Creji doth brandijh, with a dreadful Brovs 5^ Nere clofeth Eyes, nor Ears, nor yet retires From dtfmal noife, and horid Teeth to fhew ; From his broad Throat fames iffue cut Black fuifies infeCi the Air about. Behold the Bings, which bis encircled Tail Caff s on the Earth, whilfl he doth form his Coil’i With his broad Breaf be creeps upon its Face Sweeping the ground, always in the fame Trace. Here in few words the Philofopher deferibes the whole Work, how to fpoyl the Dragon of his Golden Fleece. But only to thofe, who eafily underftand thefe Verfes, whofe eyes God hath opened, and are already pretty well skilled in this Art. But to the unex¬ pert all remains dark. Reading only will not do it, but you muft put yOur hand to the Work, if you will attain to any thing. I have, for feveral years together, read, fought, and laboured in vain, before I found the right way of obtaining this Golden Fleece. And when at length I became Mafter of this Art, I could not but admire that it was fo eafie a thing, and yet fo difficult to be learned out of Books. Paracelfus and Ffeufementius write the plained of this, of which two expert Men, I firft learned this Art, but afterwards I found amore Compendious way, fo that I can now perform the whole Work, with the Charge of one Ducat Q or ten Shillings 3 in a very fhort time. But i muft leave it to others to do, being yet detained in my Bed by my ficknefs: So that lean do no more, than to flievv toothers by my Writings and InftrucSi- dns, the ready way to the Land of PrOmife. Of the Second Fire, and its marvellous Fire-fione, which is generated by it. We know, that Fire generates Stones, every one according to its Nature. The fecrer Fire ot the Phi lofophers, engenders the Philofophers Stone, Vvhicli is a univerfal Medicine for Men and Metals, as wc have already heard. That the Meteorical fire, from whence proceeds Lightening and Thunder, genorafcs allb Stones, is.known to all, for the Air procreates the fame things, which are found upon the Earth. There¬ fore Hermes in his Smaragdine Table hath very well faid, That whatfoever is beneath is a!fo above, and what is above, is alfb beneath, by which, marvellous things are done. We know, that Frogs and Grafhop- pers and the like, which are procreated in the Air, have fallen down with the R^ain. I have read in a cer¬ tain Hiftotian, that once a Calf fell down with the Rain. ^ Anaxagoras,2hv[\oxx% Philofopher, prognofticated iri hisLife time,that after he was dead,a great Stone fliould fall down from the Air, to the Earth, which alfo came to pafs. We alfb know, that fometimes great pieces of Irbn have fallen down, not epnopadt, but flicking one part to another like drops,. And alfo, every Bo.- dy knows, that Stones are caft .down by Thunder and Lightening, which Stones are formed, and con¬ centrated by the Lighteriing, and fb have afTiimed the Nature of a Stone;, for in the Lightening is hid a very miraculous Propertyfeeing that Lightening is a Fire ot quite .another Nature, than our common Fire, which breaks ip pieces all .hard things which re- lift, but toucheth not what rpaketh no reflfiance. It hath very pften happened,’that the Lightening hath broken a Mans-Bones, withpur hurting his ftel’h. We have alfo known, that it hath melted the,Sword in the Scabbard, and left the‘Scabbard whole. This Stone generated by Lightening,hath quite another Na¬ ture than common Stoncs,for it is nb^ tranfparent like a Pebble or Sand-ftone, which me]t in the Fire. Nei¬ ther hath it the Nature of tranfparent and hard Gems, which do not melt in the fire,’and,yet keep their Lu- ftre, neither can the fire reduce it into Lime, as it doth a Chalk-ftone. In a word , it can be compa¬ red with no Stone in the World. Irs fbape is alfo wonderful, for it is generally fharp at both ends, but yet they are not all of one Figure or fiiape, they are generally fmooth on the outlide, and pf a milky Colour, and reddifti within. I have one which is Triangular like a Star, and if you turn it, ’tisjike a Heart, of which I never faw the like. - I have alfo one which is Cole-black, wiiich is rough both within and without, it is a wonder tome, that this Stone will not ftrike fire with Steel, notwithftanding it is generated by fire. We may alfo by Art make Lighten¬ ing out of Iron or Steel , in which alfo is generated a ftrange Stone. The Thunderbolts love all things which are combuftible, efpecially Gun-powder, for the Lightening it felf proceeds Irom Saltpeter- and Sulphur, and that is the reafon, why it fo often ftrikes into Towers, where Gun powder is kept, and alfo it ufeth to ftrike Old Oak frees, which contain Sul¬ phur and Saltpeter, alfo upon Church Steeples, but fel- domer in the open Fields. I once faw in Germany, where the Thunder had ftroke a Tower of Gun¬ powder, and although it was four fquare, yet it run fo about it, and took out a piece of Stone-work all round, as it it had been cut out with Tools, becaufe if could no where find entrance. Strange things are done by Lightning, it fometimes killing the Horfe, and not hurting his Rider, and again killing the Ri¬ der, and not hurting the Horfe, becaufe it is no com¬ mon Fire , but a concentrated Meteorical fire ; It hath no refemblance of the fire of the Sun, much Icfs of our common Fire, but our fecret Fire of the Chalde¬ ans hath fome Agreement with it, becaufe it is made of Iron or Steel, and Saltpeter ; Therefore it cannot be much unlike the fire of Lightening, for that is alfo aenerared](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30322522_0773.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
