Ripley reviv'd, or, An exposition upon Sir George Ripley's hermetico-poetical works containing the plainest and most excellent discoveries of the most hidden secrets of the ancient philosophers, that were ever yet published / written by Eirenæus Philalethes ...

Then must thou know the measure of Firing, The which unknown thy Work is lost each deal. Let never thy Glass be hotter then thou mayst feel, And suffer still in thy bare hand to hold, For fear of losing, as Philosophers have told.

THis done, we then set our Vessel and Matter to the Fire, and let it stand untouched till the Work be done: so that the Philosopher hath nothing then to do but behold his Glass, and the Operation in it, and to govern his Fire artificially.

So then when once the Stone is set to work, the whole Mastery is to govern the external Fire, which as the Philosopher doth either perfect or destroy all: if thy Fire be too slow for want of motion, thou wilt hardly ever see an end; and if too

big, thou mayst happen to seek thy for∣tune in the Ashes.

Be not therefore immoderate in go∣verning; and for better security, let not your Glass neck be under a span in length, but as much longer as you shall see good; the longer for a Tyro, the bet∣ter he shall work, and with the more se∣curity. But the usual length which we use, is about 12 or 14 inches high; this height being so allowed, order so your Furnace as to let out about 3 or 4 inches of the top of your Glass, which may come forth through the cover of your Athanor, and if you can without hurt feel or suffer any part of that neck, fear not your Fire, but stew him without fear, your Glass being strong, and the quicker Fire the better.

Yet know, that your Furnace must be answerable, for do not believe that Phi∣losophers did formerly use our Art of Furnaces, but made them of Brick, or Earth, with Earthen Covers, which had holes for letting out part of the necks of their Glasses, over which if they put a Cover, which they could remove and set

on again at their pleasure; this Earthen Cover was not so reflective of heat, as our Iron Covers are, but that end of the Glass which came out at the hole of the Cover, they could feel without any da∣mage, and by their being able to suffer that in their hand, they judged the tem∣perament of their heat. Therefore in thy Furnace let thy Cover or Top be luted with good Loam every-where, at the least half an inch thick, so shalt thou be sure not to have too scalding a heat in the concavity of thy Nest, which other∣wise thou wouldst have, so mayst thou govern thy Fire at thy pleasure; the necks of thy Glasses which come forth, thou needest not cover▪ so shalt thou see this of Ripley verified, thy Work will go on very successfully, and thou wilt ever be able to endure thy Glass in thy hand; and this is the true meaning of all Philo∣sophers, to give a certain rule by which thou shalt never exceed, and that is so long as you can endure to feel any part of thy Glass, provided thy Nest be co∣vered, and the ends of thy Glass necks come forth.