The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by hym collected out of diuers excellent authours, and newly translated out of Frenche into Englishe, with a generall table, of all the matters conteined in the saied boke. By William Warde.

The signes that Sope giueth in seething, if it be to harde, or to softe, whether it be liquide or white.

IF whan the the Sope is sodden you would take it out, and that you see it white, and in making the proofe or assaie it waxe harde, note, that than it is verie good, & if you will haue it strong take it of, for beyng made it returneth to his colour againe, but it remaineth still strong. But if it bee to strong, it is not to be commmendid, for it waxeth hard, and so goeth in pieces whan you would occupie it, so that you shall be faine to seeth it againe, and to make it returne into a good and measurable sorte, for beyng so stronge or hard it fretteth to muche the clothes and consumeth theim. And by my Counsell you shall sette it on the fire againe, but putting firste into the caudron a little of the third or fourth magistrale lie, togither with a little oile, & so boile it, This don put in the strōg sope, & al wil incorporate togither, & let it so seeth an houre, and you shall see that it will not be so strong or hard.

And indeede it is better whan it is somewhat softer. It is a thing of greate importance to know with the tong what there lacketh in the boiling. Take your ladle and sturre it well about: and then take a little vpon your fingar, and putte it vpon the ende of your ••••ng, and you shall Iudge of your self what there lac∣keth, for if it be stronge beyonde measure, you shall thinke that a cole of fire had tutched your tonge: but if it be not to strong, it will not seeme vnto you so bur∣ning sharp in tutching it with your tonge. And whan it is so strong it hath neede of the fourth magistrale lie with a little oile. And if it were to soft (which thing you shall also knowe by your tonge) it hath neede of the first magistrale lie, & giue it these mixtures a little ••t ones, to the intent that it be not let or hindred from seething, & mingle it in faire & softly. It is also a great signe and token that the sope is strong, whan it brea∣keth in little pieces, and leaueth muche magistrale lie in the bottom of the vessell, where it remaineth long: but whan it is softe and euill sodden, it maketh as it were a certaine gelley: than you shall putte into it a little of the firste magistrale, and boile it vntill it bee well sodden, and waxe hard and firme, but whan it is ynough it will drawe towarde the colour of greene waxe some what darke and obscure, and that shalbe whan the sope is somewhat softe, and not muche sod∣den. The signe and token that strong sope ought to haue whan it is well sodden and indifferētly inough, is, that it will haue the colour of Marmelade, & drawe somewhat toward a Violet, and shall be obscurely glistering, and haue a faire floure vpō it, and shalbe good and parfite. But whan the black sope is become somewhat white and strong giue it a little oile, or els some of the third magistrale lie, & that a little at ones, least you weaken it to muche, and so it should lose his strength: for than you should giue it more oile, and more of the first lie, and so there should bee great dan∣ger

in it. And therfore beware and see that you bestow and distribute wel your lies. But in this cace you shal giue it a little oile, and in boiling it, it will be whiter, and softer. After this, continue with the first lie, and lot it be hote and a little at ones, and prouing it often times as we haue saide afore, you shall by & by know that it will be well trimmed and ordered. And whan it shalbe to muche sodden, or burnt, the signe or token shalbe whan it is so strong and white out of measure, that it is burned. Than must you giue it some water onely, or some of the fourth lie hote, not boiling it any more, or at the least very little, & by this meanes you maie parfitely atchiue and come to an ende of your worke. And alwaies whan you will adde or put to it any mater vpō the caudron, boile it euermore a little, bicause it wil incorporate the sooner: And make often times your profes and essaies. And if your worke go well, do no more in it, but be diligent and circumspect in taking it from the fire, and take it so hote as it is out of the caudron. For to make afterward the Magis∣trale, you shall do thus: whan you haue gotten out the first, which kepeth or beareth the Egge aboue, which wilbe about nine pintes, and of the seconde that bea∣reth not the Egge, a thirdendeale, whiche is three pintes, and of the thirde the halfe whiche wilbe three half pintes, and of the fourth asmuche as you will: for of that menne vse not muche, and as nighe as you can kepe them all by themselues and couered, bicause they will so keepe well inough. True it is that some men are wont to put them all togither, that is to saie one measure of the first, one of the second, and half a mea∣sure of the third, and somewhat lesse, & one measure of oile, whiche are in all three measures and a halfe, and by this meanes you maie multiplie asmuche of it as you will. After you haue thus ordered and dressed it, in the caudron, make fire vnder it, so that it may be but skant luke warme, and sturre it alwaies in the

caudron with your ladle, to the intēt that the oile maie incorporate, & perse thorow the magistrale: then leaue it al the night in infusion, and giue it fire again in the morning, and whan it is hote sturre it well that it may incorporate togither. And note, that it must boile ten or twelue houres, and wil not make any lie at the bottome, and in boiling lift vp your ladle a high, and it will make long strekes like threede the space of sixe houres, and then will beginne to fasten and close vp it self, and will make strekes whiche beyng broken will returne vpward againe, & that is a signe that it is not yet sodden inough: but whan they breake not neither returne backward but remaine fast and whole than it is sodden, and therfore you shall take it from the fire, for this is the true signe & token of it. The other signe is, whan it is cold cut it in little rolles, and if they stād vpright and not fall, it is a signe that it is made. Laie of it oftentimes vpon your tonge before it be sodden, and if you feele it to strong giue it a little of the third or of the last magistrale, according as you shal perceiue it to be strong, or els little or inough after as you shal see it hath nede. If you see it to white and strong, giue it a little oile at ones, and it will alter & turne. Whan it is almost sodden and that it make a gelley, giue it a little of the second or of the third, according as it shall haue neede by your Iudgement. If it passe his ordi∣narie time or houres in seething, and that it fasten not neither close it selfe, giue it a little of the first: but lette not the sope be to strong, therefore assaie it first: for that were no small fault. But if it be not to strong nor to white, and yet doe not fasten and close it selfe, you maie giue it of the first, as we haue saide, and if it be somewhat strong, you maie giue it of the seconde after the accustomed maner. Whan it is almost sod∣den and maketh as it were a gelley, and is strong, and not beyng white, giue it a little of the fourth, but yet very little at ones, to thintent you take not awaie

to muche of his force. But whan it is almost sodden and is very white, giue it a little oile, and it will bee well. Whan it should be sodden and that the houre or time of his seething is paste, and is neither strong nor white, giue it a little of the firste or of the second, or of the other, after as you see it stronge more or lesse, and it will returne into a good state, and muste boile fayre and softly, for feare it sticke not to the bottome, and burne by the reason of to muche fire: for suche a fire is of great importance. The fourth lie, is not set a worke but whan it maketh as it were a gelley, and is strong and to rawe. There bee some good Maisters & worke men, that put in the second magistrale with the oile, to the intent that the oile mighte not bee so muche hurt by his strength, and then they putte in a little of the third, and then a little of the fourth, and after that a little of the firste: but there is no hurte in that, for there bee measures in it, and these mixtions are made in the presence of other menne, whan the maister will not suffer it to bee knowen, for feare leaste that other should easely learns it. The good and parfite magistrale lie will beare alwaies an egge ouerthwart, and wayeth euer more twise as muche as water doeth, and contrarie wise whan it is lesse strong it wayeth lesse, and the oile waieth as muche as the fourth. If you order and appoint the saide lie•• by measure, giue euer the aduantage to the oile foure or sixe for the hundred, if you will haue it fatte and faire: for he that is well experimented in it knoweth well in boiling what is needefull to it, be it oile, lie, or any other thing. Whan you will make white Sope, keepe and vse the same meane and waie, & whan it is more than half sodden, put into it some salt, according to the measure & quantite of it, and let it boile a little: then take it out of that caudron, & put it into another, & whan it beginneth to boile put in againe more salt,

and let it seeth to his parfite measure. This done, set it to drie in a plaine and euē place, and cut it in peces, for it will be parfite good. Menne make the like with Soda, as they do vse at venise, the salt must be grossely beaten, and ten pound of it for the hundreth, and mixe it with it all about, and put in but a little at ones.