On the Tincture of Gold or True Potable Gold

tion of male and female: yet, if one is persuaded of the superiority of the Tincture proceeding from gold alone, let him mix only gold: not so, however, the master of metals, who knows the power of the radical union of gold and silver dissolved in one and the same menstruum) place the mixed materials in a Philosophical Vase to be dissolved, and in the space of a quarter of an hour those mixed metals will be radically dissolved by the Mercury, and they will give a purple color; afterward, increase the fire a little, and it will change into a most elegant green, to which, once removed, pour dew water to dissolve it, which can be done in the space of half an hour. Filter the solution, and in a water bath, distill off the water through a glass alembic, which you may then pour back again even while fresh, and distill off once more, and do this three times; and in the meantime, that greenness will change into a color like black writing ink, stinking like a corpse, and therefore formidable: but it is necessary to distill off the water several times, pour it back, and digest it, and that blackness and stench will vanish in the space of 40 hours, and they will produce a most elegant milky whiteness. When this appears, it is necessary to distill off all the humidity until it is dry; which mass will be white, and in a few hours, under the gentlest heat, with various colors appearing first, it turns into an extraordinary greenness far more excellent than the former: to which one ought to pour spirit of wine, best rectified, to the height of two or three transverse fingers' breadths; and that dissolved green gold will draw to itself that spirit of wine on account of their supreme friendship, like a dry sponge drawing-