To prepare this Panacæa, it is requisite to take Mercury reviv'd from Cinnabar, because it is more pure than Mercury which is immediately dug out of the Mine. The Mercury is reviv'd with Cinnabar, after this manner: Take a Pound of artificial Cinnabar pulveriz'd, and mingled exactly with three Pounds of unslack'd Lime, in like manner beaten to Powder: Let this Mixture be put into a Retort of Stone, or Glass luted, the third part of which at least remains empty; Let it be plac'd in a reverberating Furnace; and after having fitted a Recipient fill'd with Water, let the whole be left during twenty four Hours at least; then let the Fire be
put under it by degrees, and at length let the Heat be very much augmented, whereupon the Mercury will run Drop by Drop into the Recipient: Let the Fire be continu'd till nothing comes forth, and the Operation will be perform'd generally in six or seven Hours: Then pour the Water out of the Recipient, and having wash'd the Mercury, to cleanse it from some small quantity of Earth that may stick thereto, let it be dry'd with Cloaths, or else with the Crum of Bread: Thus thirteen Ounces of Mercury may be drawn off from every Pound of artificial Cinnabar.
The Panacæa is made of sweet Sublimate, and the later of corrosive Sublimate: To make the corrosive Sublimate, put sixteen Ounces of Mercury reviv'd from Cinnabar, into a Matrass, pour upon it eighteen Ounces of Spirit of Nitre; place the Matras upon the Sand, which must be somewhat hot, and leave it there till the Dissolution be effected: Then pour off this dissolved Liquor, which will be as clear as Water, into a Glass Vial, or into a Stone-Jug, and let its Moisture evaporate gently over the Sand-Fire, till a white Mass remains; which you may pulverize in a Glass Mortar, mingling it with sixteen Ounces of Vitriol calcin'd, and as much decrepited Salt: Put this Mixture into a Matras, two third parts of which remain empty, and the Neck of which hath been cut in the middle of its height; then fix the Matras in the Sand, and begin to kindle a gentle Fire underneath, which may be continu'd for three Hours; afterwards let Coals be thrown upon it till the Fire burn very vehemently, and a Sublimate
will arise on the top of the Matras; so that the Operation may be perform'd within the space of six or seven Hours. Let the Matras be cool'd, and afterward broken; avoiding a kind of Flower or light Powder, which flyes up into the Air as soon as this Matter is remov'd; whereupon you'll find nineteen Ounces of very good corrosive Sublimate; but the red Scoria or Dross which settleth at the bottom must be cast away as unprofitable. This Sublimate being a powerful Escarotick, eats away proud Flesh, and is of singular use in cleansing old Ulcers. If half a Dram thereof be dissolv'd in a Pint of Lime-Water, it gives a yellow Tincture; and this is that which is call'd the Phagedonick-Water.
The sweet Sublimate, of which the Panacæa is immediately compos'd, is made with sixteen Ounces of corrosive Sublimate, pulveriz'd in a Marble or Glass-Mortar, intermixing with it by little and little, twelve Ounces of Mercury reviv'd from Cinnabar: Let this Mixture be stirr'd about with a Wooden Pestle, till the Quick-silver become imperceptible; then put the Powder, which will be of a grey Colour, into divers Glass-Vials, or into a Matras, of which two third parts remain empty; place your Vessel on the Sand, and kindle a small Fire in the beginning, the Heat of which may be afterward encreas'd to the third Degree: Let it continue in this Condition till the Sublimate be made; and the Operation will be generally consummated
in four or five Hours: whereupon you may break your Vial, and throw away as useless, a little light Earth that lies at the bottom. You must also separate that which sticks to the Neck of the Vials, or of the Matras, and keep it for Ointments against the Itch; but carefully gather together the white Matter which lies in the middle, and having pulveriz'd it, cause it to be sublimated in the Vials or Matras, as before. This Matter must also be separated again (as we have already shown) and put into other Vials to be sublimated a third time. Lastly, the terrestrial parts in the bottom, and the fuliginous in the Neck of the Vials, must be, in like manner, separated, still preserving the Sublimate in the middle, which will then be very well dulcify'd, and amount to the quantity of twenty five Ounces and an half: It is an Efficacious Remedy for all sorts of Venereal Diseases; removes Obstructions, kills Worms, and purgeth gently by stool, being taken in Pills from six Grains to thirty.
Of the proper Composition of the Mercurial Panacæa.
Take what quantity you please of sweet Sublimate, reduce it to Powder in a Marble or Glass-Mortar, and put it into a Matras, three quarters whereof remain empty, and of which you have cut off the Neck in
the middle of its Height: Then place this Matras in a Furnace or Balneum of Sand, and make a little Fire underneath for an Hour, to give a gentle Heat to the Matter, which may be augmented by little and little to the third degree: Let it continue in this state about five Hours, and the Matter will be sublimated within that space of time. Then let the Vessel cool, and break it, throwing away as unprofitable a little light sort of Earth, of a reddish Colour, which is found at the bottom, and separating all the Sublimate from the Glass. Afterward pulverize it a second time, and let it be sublimated in a Matras, as before: Thus the Sublimations must be reiterated seven several times, changing the Matrasses every time, and casting away the light Earth. Then having reduc'd your Sublimate to a very fine impalpable Powder, by grinding it upon a Porphyry or Marble Stone, put it into a Glass Cucurbite or Gourd, pour into it alkaliz'd Spirit of Wine to the height of four Fingers; cover the Cucurbite with its Head, and leave the Matter in Infusion during fifteen Days, stirring it about from time to time with an Ivory Spatula. Afterward set your Cucurbite in Balneo Mariæ, or in a Vaporous Bath, make fit a Recipient to the Mouth of the Alembick; lute the Joints exactly with a moistened Bladder, and cause all the Spirit of Wine to be destill'd with a moderate Fire: Let the Vessels be cool'd, and unluted, and the Panacæa will appear at the bottom of the Cucurbite. If it be not
already dry enough, you may dry it up with a gentle Fire in the Sand, stirring it with an Ivory or Wooden Spatula in the Cucurbite it self till it be reduc'd to Powder. It may be kept for use in a Glass-Vessel, as a Remedy of very great Efficacy for all sorts of Venereal Diseases, as also for Obstructions, the Scurvy, Scrophula or Kings-Evil, Tettar, Scab, Scurf, Worms, Ascarides, inveterate Ulcers, &c. The Dose is from six Grains to two Scruples, in Conserve of Roses.