[If it could be moderated it would cure the disease h.e.l.l fire, and every corrosive sickness.]
hem into lijknes of peerl. who so coude rep{ar}ale & p{re}p{ar}ate kyndely is fier, wioute doute it wolde que{n}che anoon a brennynge sijknes clepid e fier of h.e.l.le. And also it wolde heele eu{er}y cor[os]if sijknesse. And manye philosophoris clepi is 24
["sal amarus."]
[It is also called "Sal Amarus."]
i{n}g in her bookis "sal amarus," al ou? ei teche not e maistrie {er}of / If it be so {a}t is firy watir breke e glas, and re{n}ne out into e aischen, anne gadere alle togidere {a}t ?e fynde pastid in e aischen / and leye it vpon a marbil stoon as afore, and it wole 28 t{ur}ne into watir. And is is a greet p{ri}uytee.
["Scie{n}ce."]
[--To calcine gold.--]
[Cut gold into shavings; put it into a crucible with Mercury; heat it, and it will crumble into dust like flour. Heat it more till the mercury goes his way; or distil it, and the gold powder will be in the crucible.]
The sci{enc}e to brynge gold into calx / Take fyn gold, and make it into smal lymayl: take a crusible wi a good q{ua}nt.i.tee of Mercur{ie}, and sette it to a litil fier so {a}t it vapoure 32 not, and putte {er}i{n}ne i lymail of gold, and stire it weel togidere /
[[* Fol. 15b.]]
& aftirward [*]wii{n}ne a litil tyme ?e schal se al e gold wii{n}ne e M{er}cur{ie} turned into ere as sotil as flour. a{n}ne ?eue it a good fier, at e M{er}cur{ie} arise and go his wey; or ellis, 36
[Page 9: TO GET THE QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF GOLD.]
and ?e wole, ?e may distille and gadere it, puttynge {er}-vpon a lembike / and in e corusible ?e schal fynde e gold calcyned and
[A thin plate of gold will do instead of shavings, and Silver may be treated like gold.]
reducid into ere / And if ?e wole not make lymayl of gold, anne make {er}of a sotil i{n}ne plate, as ?e kan, and putte wii{n}ne 4 e M{er}cur{i}e al warm; and ?e schal haue ?oure desier / And in is same maner ?e may worche wi siluir / Thanne take e calx of ese two bodies, and bere hem openly wi ?ou; and {er}
[To carry these powders about, mix them with pitch, wax, or gum, melting the ma.s.s when you want the metal.]
schal noman knowe what ei ben / And if ?e wole bere hem 8 more p{ri}uyly wioute ony knowynge, anne meynge hem wi pich melt, or wex, or ellis gu{m}me, for anne noman schal knowe it what it is. And whanne ?e wole dissolue ony of ese calces by hem silf, putte eiir by hi{m} silf in a test, or ellis e pich or 12 e wex in which ei be{n} y{n}ne; and anoon schal come out verry gold & silu{er} as ei were tofore.
[--How to separate gold from silver when mixed with it.--]
Now I wole teche ?ou e maistrie of departynge of gold fro siluir wha{n}ne ei be meyngid togidere / Forsoe ?e woot 16 weel at er be manye werkis in e whiche gold and siluir be meyngid, as in giltynge of vessel & Iewellis / {er}fore
[Put the mixture into a solution of vitriol and saltpetre, and the silver will be dissolved.]
whanne ?e wole drawe e toon fro at oir, putte al at mixture into a strong watir maad of vitriol and of sal pet{re}. and e 20
[[* Fol. 16.]]
[Corrosive water and sal ammoniac will dissolve the gold.]
[*]siluyr wole be dissolued, and not e gold: a{n}ne ?e haue at oon departid fro e toir / And if ?e wole dissolue e gold to watir, putte a{n}ne yn e watir corosyue, Sal ar{moni}ac; and at watir wioute doute wole dissolue gold into watir. 24
["science."]
["N{ota}."]
[--How to get out of gold its Quinte Essence.--]
[Put calcined gold into distilled vinegar or purified urine; set it in a hot sun; a film will soon rise; skim it off, collect all such in a gla.s.s vessel till no more rise.]
The sci{enc}e to drawe out of fyn gold vta e{ss}encia is is / First ?e schal reduce gold into calx, as I tolde ?ou tofore / anne take vynegre distillid, or ellis oold vryne depurid fro e fecis, and putte it in a uessel glasid; and e liquor schal be in 28 e hei?e of 4. ynchis; and {er}i{n}ne caste e calx of gold, & sette it to the strong su{n}ne in somer tyme, {er}e to abide / and soone aftir ?e schal se as it were a liquor of oyle ascende vp, fletynge aboue in man{er} of a skyn or of a reme. gadere at awey 32 wi a sotil spone or ellis a fe{er}e, and putte it into a uessel of glas in e which be putt watir tofore. and us gadere it manye tymes in e day, into e tyme {a}t er ascende nomore / and aftir do vapoure awey e watir at e fier. And e vta e{s}sencia of e 36
[Evaporate the water left; the residuum is the Quinte Essence of Gold.]
[Page 10: TO GET THE QUINTE ESSENCE OUT OF ANTIMONY, &C.]
gold wole abyde bynee. And manye philosophoris clepi is q{ui}nta e{ss}encia an oile incombustible, {a}t is a greet p{ri}uytee / And if ?e wole fixe is q{ui}nta e{ss}encia i{n} o{ur}e heuene, {a}t[1] it
[And if you fix this Quinte Essence in our heaven, it will restore man to the strength of his youth.]
[[1 then, MS. Harl.]]
may wioute doute restore a?e{n} to man {a}t nature at is lost, 4 and reduce hi{m} a?e{n} i{n}to e v{er}tu of e strenke of ?onge, and also lenki his lijf into e laste terme of lijf set of G.o.d // Now
[Now I have told this most sovereign secret, which should not be shewed. The Quinte Essence of gold is best to heal wounds.]
[[* Fol. 16b.]]
[[N{ota}.]]
forsoe I haue toold ?ou e souereynest [*]pr{i}uytee and restorynge of mannys kynde, and i{n} p{ar}t greet ing at schulde not be 8 schewid / Forwhi. is oyle, at is to seie, q{ui}nta e{ss}encia of gold, hath e mooste swetnes and v{er}tu to a-swage and putte awei e ache of woundis, and for to heele woundis, oolde sooris, and manye wondirful yuelis / Also i{n} e same maner ?e may drawe 12 out of siluir, q{ui}nte e{ss}encie //
[--How to get its Quinte Essence out of Antimony.--]
The science to drawe out of antymony, at is, m{er}casite of leed, e v^te e{ss}encie, is a souereyn maistrie, and a p{ri}uytee
[Put powdered antimony into distilled vinegar; heat it till the vinegar is red; take away the red vinegar, and put fresh; take that away when red. Put the red vinegar into a distiller, and 1000 drops of blessed wine shall come down the pipe; collect this; it is an incomparable treasure.]
of alle p{ri}uytees / Take e myn of antymony aforeseid, 16 and make {er}of al so sotil a poudre as ?e kan / anne take e beste vynegre distillid, and putte {er}inne e poudre of antymonye, and lete it stonde in a glas vpon a litil fier into e tyme at e vynegre be colourid reed. anne take {a}t 20 vynegre awey, and kepe it clene, and putte a?en er-to of o{er}e vynegre distillid, and lete it stonde vpon a soft fier til it be colourid reed. & so do ofte tymes. and whanne ?e haue gaderid al ?o{ur}e vynegre colourid, putte it anne in a distillatorie. and 24 first e vynegre wole ascende; anne aft{er} ?e schal se merueilis: for ?e schal se as it were a ousand dropis of blessid wiyn discende doun in maner of reed dropis, as it were blood, by e pipe of e lymbike / e which lico{ur}, gadere togidere in a 28 rotu{m}be / and anne ?e haue a ing {a}t al e tresour of e world
[[No{ta}.]]
may not be in comp{ar}isou{n} of worines {er}to / aristo{t}le sei {a}t it is his lede in e book of secretis, al ou? he [*]telle not e name
[[* Fol. 17.]]
[It cures the pain of all wounds, and when fermented it works great secrets.]
of e antymonye aforeseid / Forsoe is doi awey ache of alle 32 woundis, and wondirfully heeli. e v{er}tu {er}of is incorruptible & merueilo{u}s p{ro}fitable / it nedit to be putrified in a rotombe and seelid i{n} fyme, and anne it worchi greet p{ri}uytees / Forsoe e vta e{ss}encia of is antymony at is reed, i{n} e which is 36