The force of distillation in transmuting things.

6. Coagulation is fourfold, and what each kind is.

Coagulation is the sixth stage. It is twofold: one through cold, the other through heat; one of air, the other of fire. Each is itself twofold, giving four coagulations, two of cold and two of fire. Coagulations by fire are fixed; those by cold are not. One occurs through common air alone, outside fire; the other through the upper firmament of winter stars, which coagulate all waters into snow and ice. Coagulation by fire, the kind of concern here, occurs through the alchemist’s artificial and graduated fire and is fixed and lasting: whatever such a fire coagulates remains so. The other occurs through the Etnean and mineral fire in mountains, which the Archaeus of earth governs and graduates much as an alchemist does. Whatever this fire coagulates is likewise fixed and stable, as you see in minerals and metals. Initially they are mucilaginous material, coagulated by the Etnean fire in mountains through the Archaeus of earth, nature’s worker, into metals, stones, flints, salts and other bodies. Fire coagulates no water or moisture, but only the liquors and juices of all natural things. No phlegm can therefore be coagulated unless it was originally corporeal material, to which an expert alchemist’s diligence can return it. Thus any mucilaginous material or spermatic liquor can be coagulated by fire’s heat into body and corporeal material, but cannot be resolved again into water. Understand of Solution what you have heard of Coagulation: no corporeal material can be resolved into water unless it was water at the beginning. So it is in all mineral things.

What cannot be coagulated.

What things cannot undergo solution.

7. What Tincture is and how many kinds it has.

Tincture is the seventh and final stage, completing the whole work of our mystery toward transmutation. It makes all imperfect things perfect, transmutes them into a most excellent essence and changes them into their highest health and another colour. A tincture is therefore a most excellent material by which metallic and human bodies are tinged and transferred into a better and far more excellent essence, into their highest health and purity. Tincture colours everything according to its own nature and colour. There are many different tinctures, not merely for metallic and human bodies: anything which penetrates another material or tinges it with another colour or essence, so that it no longer resembles its former condition, can be called a tincture. Thus there are tinctures of metals, minerals, human bodies, waters, liquors, oils, salts, all fatty things—in short, everything which can be brought into fluidity outside or inside fire. For a tincture to tinge, the body or material to be tinged must be open and in flow; otherwise the tincture cannot work. It would be as though someone threw saffron or another colour into coagulated water, or ice. It would not tinge the ice as quickly as if thrown into liquid water; and even if it tinged it, it would at the same time dissolve the ice into water. Metals which we wish to tinge must therefore be melted in fire and released from their coagulation. The hotter they melt, the more quickly the tincture runs through them, just as leaven penetrates and infects the whole dough with sourness. The better the dough is kneaded and the warmer it is kept, the better it ferments and the better bread it yields. Leaven too is a tincture of flour dough and bread.

Metals to be tinged must be open.

Dregs yield things more fixed than water.

Note also that all dregs are of a more fixed substance than their drink and of a more acrid and penetrating nature. You see this in ardent wine made from wine lees and ardent beer distilled from beer dregs: it flames like ardent wine and ignites like sulphur. Likewise, if another vinegar is distilled from vinegar dregs as ardent wine is commonly distilled, a vinegar results of so fiery and intensely acrid a nature that it consumes all metals, stones and other things like aqua fortis.

The preparation and nature of radical vinegar.

How tinctures of metals are made.