1. What is Alchemy?
It is a science founded by Alchimus. It took its name from the Greek word archimo, which in Latin means masia.
2. What kind of craft is it and what does it teach?
This science teaches how to separate the essence of things from the rest of their substance. In this way metals, which were imperfect and corrupted in their ore, are made perfect, whereby it should be noted here that metals are different from one another only by virtue of their external form, not in their inner essence. It is possible to separate out all of the components of the various metals that are not part of this single essence. Thus, under the right circumstances and with the correct technique, all metals can be rid of their destructive and transformed into gold. True alchemy is therefore a craft that strives to recognize the essential principles, origins, characteristics and problems associated with all metals, for the purpose of transforming even the most imperfect, mixed and corrupted metals into true gold.
3. How are the metals perfected through alchemy?
In order to accomplish this, we must first identify an agent or active essence that contains both the power to separate and to shape, so that when it is applied to imperfect metals it enables them to withstand long enough for their incidental or unessential parts to be consumed or removed by the strength of the inner (particularly since an external fire cannot produce the same separation of parts), so that nothing but the essence of or remains behind.
4. What is this active essence or agent?
The Philosopher's Stone.
5. What is the Philosopher's Stone?
A general tincture or artificial , which is produced in accordance with nature from Philosopher's , perfected and cooked and digested to the highest degree.
6. What kind of cooking or digesting is meant here?
We mean a slow decoction by which the Philosopher's is first resolved into a red liquid or elixir (that is, potabile) and then coagulated to a powder through the application of heat, which will turn it from a black to a white color, and then to a yellow, and finally to a red color. This latter stage represents the completed process of digestion.
7. What does the process of digestion do here?
When it is complete, the Philosopher's Mercury is transformed to the consistency of stone. If this is once again dissolved and coagulated, its power will increase without limit.
8. Does the Philosopher's Stone possess powers other than that of transformation?
According to the testimony of wise men through the ages, it can, among other things, make glass malleable such that it can be hammered into shape.
9. Is it not also a general medicinal agent that is effective against all illnesses, even incurable ones?
Because it is not only composed of the most powerful and most indestructible substance, but also contains all the powers of the stars within it, this material is certainly the greatest general medicine on earth, which can also cure incurable diseases.
10. Why did you indicate above that the Philosopher's Stone could be made simply out , without mentioning any fermentation process?
One must be aware that fermentation is not regularly present in Philosopher's Mercury, but only occurs coincidentally. This is so not only because Philosopher's Mercury already contains everything needed for the transformation within it, but also because with the process is among the shortest and most complete without additional steps having to be added. Thus, it was sufficient to speak only of this one process above, because it is the most perfect and does not require any additional steps.
11. How many types if processes are there, with what effects, and how does fermentation fit in here?
In order to successfully complete their work, wise men discovered two types of process. They called the one a “dry” process and the other they called a “wet” process. With the latter term they wanted to show that the process could use just Philosopher's , without any other substances or fermenting agents. In the “dry” process, however, they found it necessary to use such a fermenting agent in order to shorten the duration of the entire process, which would otherwise be excessively long, since here the Philosopher's is not so quickly prepared as in the “wet” process.
12. What is a fermenting agent?
The fermenting agent of Philosopher's through the dry process is twofold: the first and simplest is that has been purified with and which has been ground very fine. The second agent, much more noble in nature since it reflects in some ways the Philosopher's Stone, is a fixed , which is drawn from common or from other metals, although many will deny that such a fixed exists in metals.
13. What are the qualities if this golden , which is found in other metals along with common ? And in what kind if metals does it occur?
Before answering this question we should point out from Geber's work that metallic bodies consist of two distinct types of sulfur: the one is coincidental and stable, while the other is contained within quicksilver. The first type, which is the only one we are speaking about here, can be found only in certain metals after they have been sufficiently raised by the such as and . From each of these this golden can be drawn, and when it is united with the Philsopher's Mercury, it creates the Philosopher's Stone. We might note here that the fixed sulfur of other metals cannot be used at all as a fermenting agent of Philosopher's Mercury, since it has not achieved the same level of solar enrichment.
14. What is the Philosopher's ?
This is the same important question whose answer determines the entire truth of this knowledge. Among the various interpretations of this name, so many contradictions, both great and small, are rampant that an observer could easily become skeptical about the validity of this craft in general. Upon closer inspection however, one quickly discovers that the different interpretations, using different words, all aim at the same thing. Therefore in order to sift through the different representations of Philosopher's Mercury we should look at it in the following terms: (1) as the most distant material, (2) as a closer material and (3) as a material most closely related to the Stone. As the most distant material it is nothing other than a simple heavenly impression that has been directly imprinted into the air from the stars, from where it in turn is poured out onto the earth, where it receives its physical form and becomes visible. When this process is complete, the material now has a bodily form, which is nevertheless still imperfect. From the most distant material of the stars it has now become a more closely related material. If this material can then be brought to its perfect form and nature through various processes such that it needs no further improvement, but can be placed directly into the philosophical egg, then we can call it the closest material. Since we are dealing here only with the so-called dry process, rather than the wet one, with respect to the inner dissolving of or fixed needed for the fermentation process, then the Philosopher's Mercury, which represents the closest material, can be acquired through the one process in a different form than through the other.
15. In what form can we acquire Philosopher's through a dry process?
It is captured in the form of a living, running, but not moistening . However, this form is not the product of natural, but rather artificial, means.
16. Why does it appear in the form of a running but not moistening quicksilver?
This occurs because only in this type of quicksilver can common , together with all the fixed and golden types of , be thoroughly yet inseparably dissolved, like ice in water. No solvent could do this, for the dissolving agent and the material to be dissolved must both be of the same nature. Just as ice is a frozen or congealed , so too, the Philosopher's is nothing other than a congealed and extracted, dissolved and to a certain degree raw, quicksilver, with respect to and fixed . We notice that ice will quickly melt in water, but not so quickly in other liquids, because it is composed of water. Similarly, and fixed solar can be dissolved by something like themselves into that which they were before, and from which they became what they are now. Philaletha says that before became it could have become another metal or mineral. Yet it became , this running, but not moistening , and was destined to take on a metal or mineral form. We see from this that or quicksilver is the closest material to all metals. Therefore all metals can be quickly dissolved by and in it, which is in keeping with nature. Likewise, if followed correctly, we can arrive at the same results through other processes.
17. What is the relationship of Philosopher's to the next closest material in the wet process?
It is a double ial substance of and Philosopher's , which was made from the closer material by means of the dry process, that is, through various preparations and alterations that shall be described below.
18. Is it true that common will become the Philosopher's , a running, but not moistening , through the dry process?
Because it is found in abundance in nature in the form of quicksilver, but also in part because of the shortcoming that it does not possess the same nature as , this notion is generally rejected by all knowledgeable people.
19. Does it then become the of bodies?
Although the of bodies does not possess as much of the abundant essence we spoke of earlier, as does common , and although it is not opposed to the nature of —even though the nature of its has been changed, thereby losing its crude shape and penetrating power—not much notice is taken of this type of , just as common attracts little attention in this regard.
20. What is understood by the “crudity,” or raw shape, of ?
We mean an unfixed that is bonded with and called “arsenic” by Geber. The effect of this arsenic comes primarily from the sulfur, and if it had been previously fixed it would have had no effect in our process, since it is the true inner (radicalis) warmth or, as Philaletha says, the fiery force of burning.
21. Corporeal , and particularly the mercury of metallic bodies, is tied to common and and can be inseparably fixed with them. This is one of the qualities of Philosopher's . Therefore…
Although the of metals can be fixed to and , we realize only an increase in the weight of the and , which is not a characteristic of Philosopher's . The latter completely dissolves gold and silver, turning them not into common gold and silver, but through a mysterious process of fixation transforms them into the Philosopher's Stone.
22. Philosopher's is called the of metals by those familiar with this substance. Does this mean it is also what we call corporeal ?
We must realize that the words corporeal and metals mean two different things, such that Philosopher's can also be called the of metals but the two should not be confused with one another. The latter is only called this because of its origin among the metals. Philosopher's cannot be found in the form of quicksilver. However, the of metals assumes this form in nature.
23. If Philosopher's does not exist in nature, where can we find it?
Although it cannot be found in nature in the form of quicksilver, it is present in another form and can be transformed into a true quicksilver, that is, into a running, but not moistening, , which possesses such qualities that cannot be acquired in nature by common quicksilver.
24. How can we produce a quicksilver that imitates nature—but which is better than common quicksilver—from a vaporous substance?
In order to better understand this question we showed above that Philosopher's can be viewed in three ways: as a material remotissima, as a material remota and finally as a material proxima. If the reader understood our earlier discussion, he will realize that we do not mean an actual imitation of nature, as if the transformation could occur in the material remotissima, these simple vapors that are still in the . Rather, we mean that all the preparatory steps in the process involving the distant material (i.e., vaporous material) should be left to nature. If wise men advise us to imitate nature, they are certainly referring to the second of these categories of materials, the material remota, which already has a corporeal essence, although a still imperfect one. Only in this way and in no other will nature transform it into the desired state in which we can then produce a true that is better than all other natural forms of mercury. The effect of nature by itself is not sufficient to produce in the earth a Philosopher's or Philosopher's Stone, neither by means of a wet or a dry process. Rather, this way produces only quicksilver or common metals. Thus, we can honestly say that our techniques cannot only help natural processes, but also surpass them in achieving desired results.
25. What natural form of the material remota is best to work with? And what do experts call this form?
When the material proxima is ready to be processed, it is a white substance that can be dissolved in water and forms crystals, like other s or alum. And it has two particular characteristics that distinguish it from those salts or alum: First, it already has a metallic nature and radiates its purity like silver. Second, it is only found in the depths of the earth with other metals and minerals. Thus, wise men call it the central-or metal-, since it truly lies at the center of these substances.
26. We stated above that all metals are derived from the material remota, which is a . Hermes says, however, that the heavens are the father of the metals, that the is their mother, and that the wind carried them in its belly. How does this apply to ?
The central of metals is the true and right seed that is the origin of not only quicksilver in the bowels of the —and according to the forces of nature all the metals and minerals that derive from it—but also above the the Philosopher's and Philosopher's Stone. This itself was produced by the stars and then transported into the air and was ultimately received by the and given corporeal form there, being transformed into perfect metals. Therefore Hermes said that heaven is the father of metals, the earth is their mother, and the wind carried them in its belly.
27. According to Geber the bases of all minerals and metals are and ; therefore cannot fulfill this role.
Roger Bacon answers this question in the best and most elegant manner when he notes that there is something in nature which, when a pure, living is proportionately mixed and bonded with a similar type of , can be congealed into a solid mass. This mass is nothing other than the we mentioned above, for in every metal- both and can be found. A farmer might point out the following: although the writings of philosophers say that all metals are the product of and , one should never understand this with regard to their seeds. The qualities of metals are contained in their seed, which is composed of their perfect and unspoiled . If we put the seed into a double mercurial substance, the one part of this double essence is called and the other . But they understand both of these elements together as its in the form of its double substance.
28. Wise men say that all metals that flow under heat come from the earth and from water and thus not from and . Can this be true?
With the terms earth and water the wise men also meant to say . When they say that the metal- is their vitriol, they mean that it is composed of and that have been cooked and digested together. In this cooking process the subtle earthly essence becomes an oily . The watery essence, however, is bonded with the subtle creating an early stage of quicksilver. This is how nature brings forth all metals in the earth, namely by constantly changing them through the heat that is often present in the mineral deposits of mountainous regions. By this means then these substances are finally joined together and from them perfect or imperfect metals are produced, depending on their purity.
29. Recent philosophers have said that metals have three types of origins. Do they mean and the double essence we spoke of above?
We must remember whenever anyone mentions the three principles of nature that they are all equally in and also come from salt, because the double essence cannot be extracted from it, unless all three of the principles had been previously dissolved out of it.
30. How can we prove from the writings of experts that the aforementioned is the one true material of Philosopher's as well as the Philosopher's Stone?
We will limit ourselves to just a few authors here, the first being Hermes, who says that metal-salt is the Philosopher's Stone. This word stone is understood as representing the materiam remotam, that is, the that Raymund Lully and Arnold say should be dissolved into its elements or principles, cleansed of all its impurities and then joined together into one essence. This having been accomplished, the dead body will once again come to life and present a clear, white, shining substance like mercury. Thus, both of these authors believe that Philosopher's Mercury and the Philosopher's Stone can be made from alone. Geber says that the natural principles of metals are and . We proved earlier that these elements are nothing other than a double essence of .
Basil says those who cannot correctly prepare metal- cannot create Philosopher's Mercury. Trevisani says we must first transform the double mercurial essence (which, as Basil noted, resides in salt) into quicksilver. Bauer uses the imagery of the white and red lilies, or the white woman and red man, as representations of and in which the lies concealed. As he admits himself, it can all be found in its entirety in metal-salt. In this opinion the following authors also concur: Turb. Philos. 495, 356; Flamellus fol., pages 31, 32, 40, 44; Magister Degenhardus, page 475; Turb.fol., pages 158 and 159 and Flamellus fol., page 152. The historian Chimicus says that salt becomes water and water becomes mercury. Arnold states that quicksilver comes from a noncombustible ; he further explains these ideas in another place in his writings and goes on to say that metal- is the noncombustible Philosopher's . Richardus Anglus supports this position by saying that quicksilver comes from a white sulfurous earth and from clear water. This is cited from several places in his writings. Basil says clearly that this has its spirit within it, which Richardus Anglus, Raymund Lully and Arnold all call a clear water. The white earth that Richardus Anglus described is the metal-, which is rich in . Anaxagoras says that our gold is red and has a fiery nature; it is mixed with the soul and nature of by means of the spirit, with the resulting composite being Philosopher's . Morienus says if we cannot bring the sun (gold) and moon (silver) together in one body, we will not be able to produce the desired substance. These two parts are explained by others in this way: the metal- is the moon or Philosopher's Silver, which contains in its depths the red and white vapors, of which the former is called an unfixed , arsenic, gold and the sun, while the latter has been called the bird of Hermes, the eagle, the tail of the dragon, clear water, spirit and . The three parts together or the entire composite are also suggested in the names , , and Philosopher's .
31. From which metals should we extract this ?
Because some difficulty arises in the selection of the minerals and metals, we should observe some essential requirements: First, it should be extracted from those metals in which its essential parts (of which two are not fixed) have not yet experienced a fixed coagulation. Second, it should be sufficiently cooked so as to withstand a separation of its three original parts. This can only occur after all the impurities have been removed. Third, it should be extracted with loss of the spirits. The first requirement will exclude common gold, since its spirits have already entered into the hardest and most fixed stage of coagulation. The second requirement applies, according to Basil and others, only to certain metals and minerals such as iron, copper and vitriol. And the third requirement excludes all minerals and metals that melt in fire.
32. Can we not make the Philosopher's Stone out of molten metals?
It is important to recognize that a metal that is still in its earthen bed or ore still has a complete and unspoiled seed. Those that have gone through fire, however, are quite different in that the fire robs them of the two parts of the seed—its spirit and unfixed —such that it is no longer capable of producing either Philosopher's Mercury or the Philosopher's Stone. And although these metals that have gone through fire still have in them their , and , these are not the true principles sought by wise men. Instead, they are to a certain degree bodies produced by the metals themselves and which make up the mineral body and that of the metal. The wise men or philosophers did not mean the entire metal, but rather only the middle substance, when they said that the principles of metals are in the seed whose perfect and unspoiled salt comes from its earthen bed rather than from the molten metals themselves. This is why Arnold calls it the full moon, and this without the loss of its spirits. This is one of the greatest secrets in achieving our true goal here. In the metals that have not yet been exposed to the smelting- there is a fixed , a spiritual and an unfixed , all of which lie concealed in , and together with it they make up the complete seed. These two spirits, which alone contain the life of the metals, flee the metal during smelting, leaving the dead husk behind, which can no longer be used for universal purposes, although it is still able to show its power in this particular case.
33. How can we extract this from the metals?
It can be extracted with vinegar (it should be dissolved in the cask, as Basil arid others indicate) and through a calcination, by means of which the metal is changed into an ash that cannot be returned to its original form. (NB) Basil says that if this process does not produce the ash, then the is not present; and if we cannot make the metal-, then we cannot make Philosopher's . Also, in the calcinated body the acidity of the vinegar draws the substance to itself, and along with it the subtle (called Sulphur intrinsecum) which is concealed in the salt. All Philosopher's Metals can be found in these two substances, namely and .
34. What kind of qualities does this possess, from which we can recognize its true essence?
When it is dissolved in water, it is green; when it is coagulated, it is white, crystalline, sweet, and easily melts, like wax. It also has its life-giving spirit and soul within it. But there is also a lunar element to this , as we mentioned earlier. Therefore, wise men say that we should choose the kind of which leaves a lunar essence behind in a body. That is, if this is laid on a glowing hot copper sheet, it will melt and flow like wax and its spirit will escape. The residue of this salt that remains behind on the copper sheet will shine like silver. These are the unmistakable characteristics of the central salt, about which philosophers through the ages have written so many books.
35. How should we proceed then with this so that we produce Philosopher's Mercury and the Philosopher's Stone from it?
We must transform it not only out of its natural form, but also dissolve it into its original parts. In going from one to the other we take it from the material remota, that is, from to the material proxima or double mercurial substance. However, this can only be accomplished by various stages of preparation and transformation, which follow a certain progression.
36. What are these steps and how many are there?
The wise men who possess that knowledge have never spoken about the particular order of the steps, such that this great secret, which consists essentially of certain stages of preparation and transformation, remains concealed in their writings. The stages themselves, however, are described fairly clearly, as follows.
The first stage of alteration is called the “Reddening-of-Salt Stage” by Isaac Holland. About this stage he notes that one should put this into a hermetically sealed glass container and heat it lightly, so that it does not liquefy, but turns yellow and then red. The green has been transformed to red and it will remain so, although it is not fixed. Thus, an essential requirement has been fulfilled with this stage.
The second, third and fourth stages are described by Basil and Bauer. In the second stage the reddened is distilled into an oil, which Basil calls the spirits of . These spirits, which consist of dry and moist vapors combined in the form of an oil—which are drawn out in the -stage—should be poured onto the material in the glass container and then distilled off again, until it has drawn its body, the fixed to itself and has transformed the entire substance of the red into oil through repeated distillation.
The third stage of transformation consists entirely of the digestion of this oil through the applied heat. Here, the red precipitate appears as a white layer floating on top, which is otherwise called a , or spirits, of the distilled material. The remaining material must be slowly calcinated; then the spirits should be poured over the material, so that the draws out its own soul (which is also called , or arsenic) and from this extracts the spirits until an oil remains behind, which glows like a burning coal. Then, calcinate the remaining material once again for a longer period of time until it has become ash. The Philosopher's Treasure is concealed therein, that is, the fixed , without which the process cannot be completed. Lastly, this salt must be extracted by means of the same spirits from the in which it was enveloped after the calcinations step. This third stage is called Anatomia (the dissolving or separation of into its component parts) and by this process the salt is purified of all its internal and external impurities.
The fourth stage deals with nothing but the aforementioned , which has been divided into its three natural principles by the Anatomia process, being transformed into a double mercurial substance whose spirits, joined together with the , constitutes the one part, while the soul, the or arsenic (as Geber calls them), constitutes the other part. The reader should note here in particular what Bauer says in this regard, namely that the spirits that were joined together with their can be quickly transformed into a certain substance in such a way that if we were to take a bit more of the than the process called for, the substance would become quite thick, like butter. And if anyone could isolate this material above ground (in the bowels of the earth it is the origin of all metals), he would be able to accomplish many great things.
Stage five of the transformation can be learned from the clear words of Trevisani, where he says that the double mercurial substance must be transformed into quicksilver. Here, quicksilver has realized its complete and perfect nature. In the dry process it is not necessary that this double mercurial substance be transformed into . Rather, the spirit that was united with the body, such as it was, is directly coagulated into a stone ad album. This is confirmed by wise men who say that the process to acquire the white material is completed with three elements: , and is left out, as it can later be joined with its soul and can be coagulated to a stone ad rubrum. This process can take place in its wet form with this or alone, without the fermentation discussed earlier, because wise men consider , stone and are one and the same thing. In the dry form of the process, as Trevisani and others report, we must produce from the double mercurial substance a quicksilver or running that does not moisten things. Then, ferment it with one of the agents mentioned earlier and prepare it in the appropriate manner. These then are the various stages in the transformation process of the philosophers. The stage after which the is taken determines what name it is given, for it has various names given by various peoples.
37. What names are given to this salt when it is taken after one or the other stages of this process? And what names in particular are given it by wise men?
So that there will not be difficulties with the many designations for (the materia remota), we will give the following names, all of which presume a certain stage, in a particular order. The first are those that describe the perfect unchanged materia remota, which the wise men call Secundævum Chaos nostrum. Our elements or principles arise out of the mixed qualities of this Secundævum Chaos (in which the four elements mix and are transformed into our water). Therefore, it is also called the stone, , , or the minera, in which nature began its process of transformation. There are the minera , minera the miner a of all metals, magnesium, , green ore, the green lion, chelidonia, coagulated , dry that does not run, that has been coagulated by the drying force of , the full moon, urine-, saltpeter, etc. Because of this salt's green color and because it is composed of a spirit, soul and body, it is also called a vegetable and animal . Below we will list the names that reflect the first and second stages. Because of its preparation and red color in the first stage this salt is called the common prepared , precipitated , the red penny, Mars, Colchotar, the red squire, and cinnabar. In the second state, because it is an oil or an oily red liquid, it is called a that wets the hands, a spirits of and, according to Basil, flowing ; and because of its heavy weight it is also called Philosopher's Lead (since in the process of distillation it is so hard to raise, such that in an hour hardly a drop passes through the tubing). It is also called incombustible oil, the water of life (but not of the grapevine), the of metal, the of , the blood of the red man, the Mercuriorum, in which the name of is taken to be incomplete and specified according to its parts, or the three principles of nature that are attributed to this name without distinction.
In the third stage we find the following names:
Salt | Sulfur | Qgicksilver |
Body | Soul | Spirit |
Earth | Fire | Water |
Saltpeter | Common | Sal ammoniac |
Bitter | Sweet | Sour |
Silver | Gold | Quicksilver |
Moon | Sun | Mercury |
The dragon with its blood and tail | Diana with her red, and her white doves | The old man who walks between the mountains and holds two flowers in his hands, a red one and a white one. |
The names that belong with the fourth stage are the following: (according to Geber) arsenic and quicksilver; and, as John Bracescus explains, is also called argentum vivum, which joins together and as arsenic; he says that one should separate the arsenic out of the mercurial . However, mercurial water, as well as , or , all describe the same thing. In this stage other names also appear, such as the double mercurial substance, the double , golden and silver nature, man and woman, and , and Bauer's white and red lilies. And when the is joined together with , producing a white milky liquid, it is called the Milk of the Virgin. And if even more than normal is added to the and the material becomes thick like butter, it is called butyrum antimonii and mons sueviæ. Similarly, the other mercurial substance that shines like a burning coal has several names of its own, such as carbuncle, sun, light of the world, radiance of the sun, etc.
In the fifth and last stage, in which this double mercurial substance is changed into a complete and unified state, it is only called by its true name, quicksilver. It is in fact a running prepared from one, two or three parts, and it does not moisten things with its touch. From all this we can conclude that although it is also called Philosopher's Mercury and sometimes makes the hands wet, but other times not, or is sometimes dry and other times oily, and is oftentimes a single, double or triple substance, which is sometimes red, or white, and sometimes green, etc., we should not think of it as different things, but rather as a single substance that nature has given us for further study. In preparing this substance we can often change it into a double, or even a triple, substance, or back again to a simple, singular material. It can be changed into many colors and shapes before it achieves the complete nature of quicksilver and of the Philosopher's Stone. The many names given to it by wise men through the years reflect these differences and the different ways of preparing it.
38. Apart from the substance as a whole, can it also be viewed in terms if its specific parts?
Yes. There are as many as there are corporeal parts in each molten metal. Although a metal may be molten, it consists of corporeal , fixed and fixed . There are, in short, many individual parts, of which each one can have a beneficial effect.
39. What are these effects if the specific parts, above all of , but also of and ?
The first effect of corporeal is that when it is joined together and shaped with lime, it produces an increase in the substance (augmentum). A second effect occurs when it is dissolved by nitric acid (aqua fortis) and precipitated, and then calcinated, digested and distilled into an oil. At that point it has been sufficiently readied for the preparation of some specific tinctures. A third effect is that with this oil the can also be drawn out. The primary effect of the fixed is that when it is drawn out of a metal, regardless of what type of metal it is, its common is transformed into , regardless of the fact that its spirits were lost during smelting, as we reported earlier. This should not be understood as an absolute, but rather only with respect to its most noble parts (insofar as it became unsuitable for making Philosopher's and the Philosopher's Stone). Therefore, we must recognize that metal- cannot be so greatly destroyed by that it does not have enough remaining spirits to penetrate things. The second effect is that after it has taken on its red color, as mentioned above, it can be distilled into an oil, which (according to Holland) not only thickens but also colors all metals ten times more strongly in red. Finally, the effect of a fixed sulfur is threefold: first, it colors yellow (citrinat); second, it thickens common ; and third, it is the basis for specific tinctures, as noted by Basil.