794. Cucurbites, vessels supposed to bear some resemblance to a gourd, whence the name (Lat. cucurbita, a gourd). 'Cucurbita est uas quod debet stare in aqua, usque ad juncturam firmatum in caldario, ut non moueatur'; Theatrum Chemicum, ii. 452.
795. dere y-nough a leek, dear enough at the price of a leek. Cf. Clerkes Tale, E. 999.
797. Watres rubifying, reddening waters. This is well illustrated by a long passage in The Boke of Quinte Essence, ed. Furnivall, p. 13, where instructions are given for extracting the quintessence out of the four elements. After various processes, we are directed to put the vessel into 'the fier of flawme right strong, and the reed water schal ascende'; and again—'thanne yn the stillatorie, to the fier of bath, cleer water schall asende; and in the botum shall remayne the reed water, that is, the element of fier.' A long and unintelligible passage about 'rubrificatio' and 'aqua spiritualis rubea' occurs in the Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 41. See also 'modus rubrificandi' and the recipe for 'aqua rubea'; id. iii. 110.
798. Arsenic was by some considered as one of the 'four spirits'; see note to l. 778. For a long passage 'de arsenico,' see Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 177; also p. 110, and ii. 238. Sal armoniacum was another of them (see l. 824) and is constantly mentioned in the old treatises; see 'praeparatio salis Armoniaci secundum Rasim'; Theat. Chem. iii. 179; also pp. 89, 94, 102; ii. 445. In vol. ii. p. 138 of the same work, it is twice called 'sal armeniacum.' See the account of sal ammoniac in Thomson, Hist. of Chemistry, i. 124. Brimstoon was also a 'spirit' (see l. 824); it is only another name for sulphur.
800. egrimoine, common agrimony, Ægrimonia officinalis; valerian, Valeriana officinalis; lunarie, a kind of fern called in English moonwort, Botrychium lunaria. The belief in the virtue of herbs was very strong; cf. Spenser, (F. Q. i. 2. 10). The root of valerian yields valerianic acid. The following quotation is from the English Encyclopaedia, s. v. Botrychium:—
'In former times the ferns had a great reputation in medicine, not so much on account of their obvious as their supposed virtues. The lunate shape of the pinnæ of this fern (B. lunaria) gave it its common name, and was the origin of much of the superstitious veneration with which it was regarded. When used it was gathered by the light of the moon. Gerarde says—"it is singular [i. e. sovereign] to heal green and fresh wounds. It hath been used among the alchymists and witches to do wonders withall."'
In Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum, p. 348, is a full description of 'lunayrie,' with an engraving of it. It is there also called asterion, and we are told that its root is black, its stalk red, and its leaves round; and moreover, that the leaves wax and wane with the moon, and on each of them is a mark of the breadth of a penny. See also pp. 315, 318 of the same work.
805. albificacioun, i. e. the rendering the water of a white colour, as distinguishing from the reddening of it, mentioned in l. 797. In a long chapter printed in the Theatrum Chemicum (iii. 634-648) much is said about red and white colours. Compare the Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'Mammon. Of white oil?