BOOK FIVE

Therefore, what follows shortly after: the emetic and sudorific sweat-inducing Water of the Holy Land itself, and also the same Golden Spirit, which is both emetic and purgative, are, I believe, metallic remedies duly prepared from Mercury and Antimony. From these, a skilled physician knows how to extract emetics which, by their own power, penetrate even to the roots and "mines" original: "mineras"; a metaphor for the deep-seated source of a disease within the body of the illness; nonetheless, they are less harmful and destructive than those ancient hellebores toxic plants used since antiquity to induce violent vomiting, which were once such celebrated and commonly used remedies.

Quercetanus's Blessed Water.

Quercetanus's Blessed Water Joseph Duchesne, known as Quercetanus, was a famous 16th-century Paracelsian physician is made as follows: Take of opal-colored and transparent Saturnine Magnesia a chemical substance, likely an antimonial ore, named "Saturnine" for its lead-like appearance, and of Stone of Prunella or Salt Prunella purified potassium nitrate, equal parts. Let them be mixed, ignited, and calcined by "philosophical calcination" heating a substance to a powder without melting it. You will find the Magnesia calcined and colored like Liver; this you shall sweeten wash with water to remove salts and reserve for use. This powder will be like a certain Saffron, and the name "Saffron of Metals" original: "Crocus metallorum"; a common name for reddish antimonial powders truly suits it, since the Magnesia from which it took its origin is the root and "first being" original: "primum ens" of metals. Take one ounce of this; two or three pounds of Blessed Thistle water; and half an ounce of Cinnamon. Macerate all of these for two or three days, then strain it and reserve this water for use, which by the best right deserves to be called "Blessed Water." For it produces remarkable and wonderful effects. Take one and a half ounces or more of this in the morning hours; it is not of an unpleasant taste. It gently provokes vomiting and evacuates through four or five stools, acting through both the upper and lower channels simultaneously, which hardly any other remedy can provide. It is also used most successfully for all kinds of fevers, even pestilential ones, as well as for pleurisy and other most desperate conditions which, because their roots are fixed too deeply and strongly, can hardly be subdued or tamed. Thus says Quercetanus; now we proceed to other preparations made from Antimony.

Syrup of Antimony.

An excellent Syrup of the Glass of Antimony is also made in this manner: Take one dram of Glass of Antimony—that is, prepared without Borax or any other flux substances added to help minerals melt and brought to a red color. Infuse this in six ounces of noble white wine, one and a half ounces of Rose water, and two drams of Cinnamon powder. Leave it for 24 hours in a warm place in a well-sealed vessel. Afterward, strain it, and in the strained liquid dissolve eight ounces of the whitest sugar. Let it be made into a syrup of moderate consistency according to the rules of the art. Dose. The Dose is three to six drams, with a little broth swallowed shortly afterward.