A Specification of those Chymical things

This, good Reader, is the Beginning or Preface of that Lying Writing, in which he hath exposed to Sale those Secrets he had of me, and found good: Besides, he adds, That those Secrets which he had of me, which do not succeed according to his desire, are not added; but those only whose Truth he has found in the trial.

Now we’ll open this Pedler’s-Stall, and look through all its parts, to see what is in it.

These words follow: 1. Glauber’s Panacea; About which these things come to be considered.

Here Farnner saies my Panacea, for the greatest part, is prepared of Antimony; besides, there are yet two other subjects, from which a purer Sulphur may be extracted, than that which is drawn from Antimony: Which vain fancies he may vend, or what else he will, I can’t hinder him, seeing I have taught him to extract nothing but a pure Medicinal Sulphur from Antimony, by the benefit of a singular Liquor, which I call Alkahest. He adds also, That he can extract the same Sulphur from all sorts of Metals and Minerals (except ☉ and ☽) and after Glauber’s way convert them into Tinctures.

I declare against this his first Position: Farnner here saith, That Panacea may be prepared from Antimony for the most part, and promises to communicate it to any man that desires it, for a certain price, to wit, thirty R. Dollers. But thou hast seen, gentle Reader, how strongly he bound himself, by his Obligation given to me, to keep secret those things I had taught him, and communicate them to no man, under the Penalty of Disgrace, and the forfeiture of all his Goods. I confess indeed, being cajol’d by his frequent solicitations, I taught him the way of preparing the Panacea, but from no subject but Antimony. This Panacea of Antimony Farnner exposes to sale, for thirty R. Dollers; and moreover has taught that Preparation to many, from whence great profit hath redounded to him; when yet this was not lawful for him to do: But he shall be forced e’re long to give his Reasons for so doing, and I will one day see if I can have a remedy for this evil. I will now only shew how wicked he has been to me: Wherefore I am compelled to expose those secrets he had of me and every where makes common, to the view of the whole World, that no man shall need to give Money to Farnner for ’em, or any other reward, but may come to the knowledge of them for nothing: for if that knowledge is divulg’d by Farnner, who unjustly, by the publication of it, endeavours to heap up to himself Fame and Riches, I may well communicate them to all men faithfully, that every man may save his money: But because this Panacea is prepared by the benefit of a hot and Saline Liquor, which I call Alkahest, therefore ’tis necessary that he who desires this Panacea should first know the Preparation of the Liquor it self, without which he can effect nothing. Indeed it grieves me, and I am very hardly brought to discover and divulge to the World so excellent a Menstruum, by which so many rare Medicaments may be prepared; and I had never done it, had not this perfidious Farnner chang’d and adulterated it and its use in the Preparation of the abovenamed Panacea of Antimony and others, from Minerals, Animals, and Vegetables, and by prostituting and communicating it to all men. I think him, indeed, a Boar out of the Forest, broke into my Garden of Flowers, that has with his snout routed up all the many Fruits, which with much sweat and labour I have planted; but the deed will once be rewarded.

Now follows a very short Description of the Preparation and use of that Liquor, needfully requisite in Vegetable, Animal, and Mineral Medicaments: And though I might teach another and far better way of preparing it, yet there’s no necessity for throwing all my Pearls before Swine: It is sufficient, to my sorrow, that I cannot recal those which this unfaithful Farnner has sent abroad, and am forc’d to behold their destruction with the greatest trouble.

Of the Preparation and Use of a certain secret Universal Menstruum, with which one may institute an Anatomy of all Vegetables, Animals, and Metals; correct them, and from thence prepare good Medicaments.

Of this Menstruum the Modern Philosopher Helmont makes mention in some places of his Writings, and attributes wonderful Effects to it, which he exhibits in the Preparation of Medicaments, and gives it the name Alkahest; which name Paracelsus also remembers; but in few words, it is the same as if we should say Alkali est; for when the Letters l and i are joyn’d with a dash, it produces the word Alkahest. But what moved Helmont to call it Alkahest, we shall not here dispute: I indeed believe he did it, thereby to demonstrate its Nature and Essence; for in German Alkahest is as Al gar heis, or Al zu hees; but in the Brabantick Idiotism, which was the Mother Tongue of the Author, it sounds Althohees, that is, very hot, and so the name answers to the Essence; for this Liquor is nothing but a meer fiery Water, by whose immense and Secret heat Vegetables, Animals, and Minerals, if they are put into it a certain time, are forthwith purged, ripened, and made better, so that they become excellent and wholesome Medicaments, which without this fiery water cou’d not be done. This Menstruum then, is nothing but an igneous Liquor, prepared of urinous Salts, which is endowed with those Virtues which are attributed to it in my Treatise of Flints.

An Admonition.

Here it is to be noted, that this Menstruum may be prepar’d of more than one Subject; for Nature is Copious, and sets before our eyes many various Ingredients, from which, by the help of Art, divers things may be effected; as may be evidenc’d in this admirable Liquor, which may be made not only of the common Sal terræ, or Salt Peter, but also of the fix’d Salt of all Vegetables, and especially of Tartar; ’tis no matter of what Subject it is prepared, for it has still the Same Virtues that are ascribed to it, forasmuch as, if a right Preparation be made, the common Sal terræ and the fix’d Salt of Vegetables are of one and the same Nature and Essence: For the genuine Sal terræ, or Salt-Petre, may be made of Salt of Tartar; and of Sal terræ, or Nitre, a fixed Salt, like Salt of Tartar; of Spirit of Wine, Salt of Tartar; and of Salt of Tartar spirit of Wine: of Wine-Vinegar, Nitre; and of Nitre, corrosive Vinegar. So those Salts partake of either nature, and will be manag’d at pleasure; neither are they undeservedly by the ancient Philosophers, called Hermaphroditick Salts. Wherefore it is not for any one to be offended at its base original, and accordingly undervalue it; ’tis no matter wherein the good consists, ’tis sufficient to say it is good, and may be converted to good uses: Good things ought to be so much the more esteem’d, by how much the more mean and base their original may have been, for Nature and true Art use both base and abject things in their Works, and nevertheless, their desires are accomplished: But on the contrary, the vain reason of Man in his labour aims at nothing but Sublimity and specious Notions, and therefore brings nothing to a good end, but destitute of a happy success, finishes his fruitless labours with great damage.

To conclude then, take this advice; Be not offended at this wonderful Liquor, because of its mean original, but let the Work praise the Work-man.

Now follows the Preparation.

If any man will prepare this Menstruum of Salt-Petre, he must extract and coagulate that Salt from the earth with common water, and adding coals or some other vegetable Sulphur, fix or calcine it so long, till it be resolv’d in the Air into a fiery liquor, then the preparation is finished. But because that sort of earth, from which this salt is extracted, cannot be found every where, in its stead, you may take Nitre well cleans’d, which must be melted in a Crucible, upon which you must cast a small quantity of coals and that so long, till the coals upon the flowing Nitre will take fire no more, but remain dead upon it, for then your Nitre is fix’d and prepar’d, so as from it, this so admirable water may be made, which is made after this manner; While the fix’d Nitre flows yet in the Crucibele, pour it into a brass mortar that in that it may cool, then beat it to powder, and spread it on a Glass table plac’d in the Cellar, or some other moist place, that there it may flow; so you have that fiery water which is endowed with so many wonderful virtues in the preparation of medicaments of vegetables, Animals and Minerals, of which I made mention before. But if you wou’d make such a liquor of Tartar, which will be best for preparation of Medicaments of vegetables and Animals, then you must bring common Tartar made pure by Calcination, Filtration, Solution and Coagulation, and by flints purg’d from all impurity, into a fair and bright Salt, mixing six or eight parts of the purest Tartar with one part of flints well pulverated, which mixture you must melt in a cover’d Crucible, and pour it into a brass Mortar to cool: This bright and white fiery mass you must reduce into powder and put it into a Glass body, and pouring rain water thereon, boil it upon hot Ashes, for then the rain water will dissolve the Tartar only, and leave the Flints at the bottom, like a Mucilaginous matter which draws to it self all the impurity of the Tartar, which before, by the common solution and filtration cou’d not be taken away, and so keeps it, that the Salt of Tartar, is by this means freed and purg’d from all impurity: then you must filtrate this solution, and draw the water from it by a limbeck, that so that Chrystalline fiery liquor may remain in the Glass: And this is that preparation by which vegetables and animals are reduced into the best medicaments; but to prepare metallick Medicaments, and especially for the making them better, liquor of Tartar is not to be added, but only liquor of the Salt of fix’d Nitre, which is not prepared by coals, but by the Regulus of Antimony, and that after this manner;

Put three parts of clean and pulverated Nitre to one part of Regulus Martis, put this mixture into a Glass wash’d clean, and by a prudent increase of fire, make it boil a little in a Fixatory Furnace, and in this degree of fire, leave it five or six hours, then take it out that it may cool, then very finely pulverize it, and pour upon it rain water, and the Nitre, which by the Regulus of Antimony comes out fix’d, wash out; and lastly abstract the water, so you will produce a fiery liquor fit for use in metallick operations.

NB. This fixation may be as well made in cover’d Crucibles, as in Glasses, and is good enough, only the management of the fire must be observed, neither let the heat from the begining be too intense, least your Nitre evaporate before it be brought to a fixation, but keep a gentle fire, and it will effect the fixation in conjunction with the Antimony.