The Mortification of Gold.
The Mortification of Gold that it may be brought into its Arcana, as into a Tincture, Quintessence, Resine, Crocus, Vitriall, and Sulphur, and many other excellent Arcana, which preparations indeed are many. But because for the most part wee have sufficiently treated of such Arcana in other bookes, as the extraction of the Tincture of Gold, the Quintessence of Gold, the Mercury of Gold, the Oile of Gold, Potable Gold, the Resine of Gold, the Crocus of Gold, and in the Archidoxis, and elsewhere, wee conceive it needlesse here to repeat them. But what Arcana were there omitted, wee shall here set down, As the Vitriall of Gold, Sulphur of Gold, which indeed are not the least, and ought very much to cheer up every Physitian.
How the sulphur, and the Vitriall of Gold are made.
But to extract Vitriall out of Gold, the processe is this:
Take of pure Gold two, or three pound, which beat into thin plates, and hanging them over Boyes urine, mixt with the stones of grapes, in a large gourd glasse, well closed, which bury in a hot heap of stones of Grapes, as they come from the presse; when it hath stood fourteen dayes, or three weeks, then open it, and thou shalt find a most subtil colour, which is the Vitriall of Gold sticking to the plates of Gold, which take off with the foot of a Hare, as thou hast heard concerning other Metalls; as of the plates of Iron, Crocus Martis, of the plates of Copper, the Vitriall of Copper and Verdegrease, of the plates of Lead, Ceruse, of the plates of Silver the Azure colour, &c. comprehended under one processe, but not with one manner of preparation. When thou hast enough of the Vitriall of Gold; boyle it well in Rain-water distilled, alwaies stirring it with a spatle, then the sulphur of the gold is driven up to the superficies of the water, as fat, which take off with a spoon: Thus also doe with more Vitriall. Now after all the Sulphur is taken off, evaporate that raine water til it bee all dry, and there will remain the Vitriall of Gold in the bottome, which thou maist easily dissolve of it selfe upon a marble in a moist place. In these two Arcana’s, viz. the Vitriall of Gold, and the Sulphur of Gold lies the Diaphoreticall vertue. I shal not here set down their vertues; for in the book of Metallick Diseases, and also in other bookes wee have set them down at large.
The mortification of Sulphur, that the combustible and stinking fatnesse may bee taken away, and it brought into a fixed substance, is thus:
The mortification and fixation of Sulphur.
Take common yellow Sulphur finely powdered, and draw from it by distillation Aqua fortis, that is very sharp, and this doe three times, then the Sulphur which is in the bottome of a black colour dulcifie with distilled water, until the water come from it sweet, and it retains no more the stink of Sulphur. Then reverberate this Sulphur in a close reverberatory as you doe Antimony, then it will first be white, then yellow, and lastly as red as Cinnabar. And when it is so, then thou maist rejoice: For it is the beginning of thy riches: This reverberated Sulphur tingeth Silver most deeply into most excellent Gold, and the body of Man into most perfect health. This reverberated, and fixed Sulphur is of more vertue then it is lawfull to speak.
The Mortification of Salts.