Sketches of early Scottish alchemists / by John Small.

  • Small, George.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sketches of early Scottish alchemists / by John Small. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    behold the substance of Kebis ^ converted into vs^atter: this is that Kebis so muche talked off, this is blaker than blak, this is our stone, the stone that is not named in any booke, bot one freind reveales it to ane vther, and so they keep it by tradi¬ tion doss amongst thaine selffs only ; in treuth this is that great stone of which all the great doctors and philosophers speik so obscurely, thairfoir look cheerfully into the pott and be merry now, for zou sail have greater cause of joy heerefter. “ Item zou must haue a long pott baked of earth very strong, and in the top it must have ane round hole, and in it put a white felt hatt sowed to a hoope that fitts the hole, and hang the felt in the top of the pott with the hoope in it, and fill the felt full of gross sheepes woll, and poure the watter throch the felt into the long pott. Item when it is now distilled throch the felt then zou must distill it fyve tymes per alembicum in sifted ashes, giue it first a small fyre till the glass growes warme, and then make a strong fire and lute the glass very doss with lutum sapientiae : when zou distill it fyve tymes over tak the feces every tyme and keep thame, for out of thame zou sail distill ane oyle, as I will teache zou heirefter. “ Heerefter zou sail cause tua round earthen bodies to be brent which sail shut one into ane vther so as the nek of the one may go into the nek of the vther, and these bodies must be very weill glassed, and in the vndermost nek zou must put a litle pan full of small holes and upon it must the vther nek stand so as the oyle may pass throch the holes into the vndermoist bodye ; the vppermost pott must be luted ane inch thik, and burie the vndermost pott within the earth vp to the nek. In the vppermost vessell put all the feces and close the one vessell in the other with lute, suffering it to drie, and mending the craks if any come, with fresh lute, so as no vapour may breath forth. Then build a wall round about the pott a foot higher than it, and lett the oven be open at the toppe, for the flamme to goe out of and leave ane hoale on the side to put in zour fyre at. At first for half a day give it a gentle fyre, then increase it the space of 24 houres moir, then lett the fyre go out and the vessells coole as they stand. Tak the vppermost and in it zou sail find zour earth calcined very white: keep ifc. Then break the earth open, tak out the vndermost pott, and thairin zou sail find ane oyle shyning lyk gold. Poure this oyle out of the pott into ane cleene Venise glass and keepe it cairfully, till I teache zou what to do with it, for with this oyle zou sail effect wonders, the power and vertew of which I am not able by wreting to expresse. “ Item tak the pott zou first placed vnder the hearth, and put the calcined white earth, and the watter zou distilled into it, and if zou be desirous to sie what it can do, put tuo or 3 lib of ^ into the pott and stop it doss as bef ir that no ayre may get foorth of it, and place it in the same pitt vnder the ^ Excrenientum alvi. (Rulandus Lexicon Alchem.) 2 Mercury.