A description of new philosophical furnaces, or A new art of distilling, divided into five parts. Whereunto is added a description of the tincture of gold, or the true aurum potabile; also, the first part of the mineral work. Set forth and published for the sakes of them that are studious of the truth. / By John Rudolph Glauber. Set forth in English, by J.F. D.M.

The preparation of Aurum fulminans or Aurum Tonitruans.

TAke of fine granulated or laminated gold (whither it he refined by Antimony or Aqua fortis) as much as you please: put it in a little glass body, and powre four or five times as much of Aqua regis upon it, set it stopt with a paper in a gourd in warme sand; and the Aqua regis within the space of one or two hours will dissolve the gold quite into a yellow water: but if it have not done so; it is a signe, that either the water was not strong enough, or that there was too little of it for to dissolve it. Then powre the solution from the gold, which is not dissolved yet into another glass; and poure more of fresh Aqua Regia upon the gold: set it again to dissolve in warme sand or ashes, and the remaining gold will likewise be dissolved by it, and then there will remaine no more, but a lit∣tle white calx, which is nothing else but silver, which could

not be dissolved by the Aqua Regia (for the Aqua Regia whi∣ther it be made after the common way with salt Armoniack, or else with common salt, doth not dissolve silver) so in like manner common Aqua fortis, or spirit of salt nitre dissolveth no gold; but all other metals are dissolved as well by strong Aqua fortis as by Aqua Regia. And therefore you must be care∣ful to take such gold as is not mixed with Copper, else your work would be spoiled: for if there were any Copper mixed with it, then that likewise would be dissolved and precipita∣ted together with the gold; and it would be a hindrance to the kindling or fulminating thereof: but if you can get no gold; that is without Copper, then take Ducats or Rose∣nobles, which ought to have no addition of Copper, but onely of a little silver, which doth not hurt, because that it cannot be dissolved by the Aqua Regia, but remaineth in the bottome in a white powder. Make those Ducats or Rose nobles red hot, and afterward bend them, and make them up in roles, and throw them into the Aqua Regia for to dissolve. All the gold being turned into yellow water, and poured off, poure into it by drops a pure oyle made of the Salt of Tartar per deli∣quium, and the gold will be precipitatcd by the contrary li∣quor of the Salt of Tartar into a brown yellow powder, and the solution will be clear. But you must take heed, to pour no more oyle of Tartar into it then is needful for the precipi∣tation of the gold; else part of the precipitated gold would be dissolved again, and so cause your loss. The gold being well precipitated, poure off the cleer water from the gold calx by inclination and poure upon it warm raine or other sweet water, stir it together with a clean stick of wood, and set it in a warm place, until the gold is settled, so that the water standeth cleer upon it again; then poure it off, and poure on other fresh water, and let it extract the saltness out of the gold calx: and this pouring off, and then pouring on of fresh wa∣ter againe, must be reiterated so often, untill no sharpness or saltness more be perceived in the water that hath been poured off: Then set the edulcorated gold into the Sun or another

warm place for to dry. But you must take heed that it have no greater heat then the heat of the Sun is in May or Iune, else it would kindle or take fire, and (especially if there be much of it) give such a thunder clap, that the hearing of those that stand by, would be much endangered thereby, and therefore I advise you to beware and cautious in the handling of it, lest you run the hazard both of your gold and of your health by your oversight.

There is also another way for to edulcorate your precipita∣ted gold, viz. thus, take it together with the salted liquor, and poure it into a funnel lined with brown paper laid double, and so let the water run through into a glass vessel, whereupon the funnel doth rest, and poure on other warm water, and let it run through likewise; do this again, & again untill that the water come from it as sweet as it was poured on. Then take the paper with the edulcorated gold calx, out of the funnel, lay it together with the paperupon other brown paper lying se∣verally double together, and the dry paper will attract all the moystness out of the gold calx, so that the gold can be dryed the sooner. Which being dry, take it out of the filtring pa∣per, and put it into another that is clean, and so lay it aside, and keep it for use. The salted water that came through by filtring, may be evaporated in a little glass body (standing in sand) until to the dryness of salt (ad siccitatem salis) which is to be kept from the aire: for it is likewise useful in physick; be∣cause some vertue of the nature of gold is yet hidden in it: though one should not think it, in regard that it is so faire, bright and cleer; which for all that may be observed by this, that when you melt it in a clean covered crucible or pot, and poure it afterward in a clean Copper morter or bason (being first made warm) you get a purple coloured salt, whereos▪ 6. 9. 12. to 24. grains given in, doth cleanse and purge the stomach and bowels, and especially it is useful in feavers and other diseases of the stomach. But in the crucible, out of which the salt hath been poured, you will finde an earthy substance, which hath separated it self from the salt, and looketh yel∣lowish; this being taken out and melted in a little crucible

by a strong fire, turneth to a yellow glass, which is im∣pregnated with the Tincture of Gold, and doth yeeld a corn (or grain) of silver in every regard like unto common cupel∣lated silver, wherein no gold is found, which is to be ad∣mired: because that all Chymists are of opinion, that no Aqua regia can dissolve silver, which is true▪ The question therefore is from whence or how this silver came into the salt since no Aqua Regia doth dissolve silver? whereupon some perchance may answer, that it must have been in the oyle of Tartar, in regard that many do believe, that the salts like∣wise may be turned into metals, which I do not gainsay▪ but only deny that it could have been done here; for if that silver had been existent in the Aqua Regia or salt of Tartar (whereas Aqua Regia cannot bear any) it would have been preci∣pitated together with the gold. But that it was no common silver, but gold which turned to silver after it was deprived ofits Tincture, I shall briefly endeavor to prove. For that salt-waters (of Aqua Regia and salt of Tartar) out of which the gold hath been precipitated, is of that nature, before it be coagulated to salt, though it be quite clear and white, that if you put a feather in it, it will be dyed purple within few dayes, which purple colour comes from the gold, and not from silver; in regard that silver doth dye red or black: and hence it appeareth, that the salt water hath retained some∣thing of gold.

Now some body peradventure may ask: if that the said salt water hath retained some gold, how is it then, that in the melting no gold comes forth, but only silver? To which I answer that some salts are of that nature, that in the melting they take from the gold its colour and soule; whereof if the gold be truly deprived, it is then no more gold nor can be such; neither is it silver, but remaineth onely a volatile black body, good for nothing, which also proveth much more unfixt then common lead, not able to endure any force of fire, much less the cupel: But like Mercury or Ar••enicum va∣nisheth (or flyeth away) by a small heat. Hence it may be gathered, that the fixedness (or fixity) of gold doth consist

in its soul or Tincture, and not in its body, and therefore it is credible, that gold may be anatomized, its best or purer part separated from the grosser (or courser) and so that a Tingent medicine (or Tincture) may be made of it. But whether this be the right way, whereby the universal medicine of the ancient Philosophers (by whose means all metals can be changed or transmuted into gold) is to beattained unto, I will not dispute; yet I believe that peradventure there may be another subject, endued with a far higher Tincture then gold is, which obtained no more from nature, then it doth need it self for its own fixedness. However, we may safely be∣leeve, that a true Anima or Tincture of gold, if it be well se∣parated from its impure black body, may be exalted and im∣proved in colour; so that afterwards of an imperfect body a greater quantity, then that was from which it was abstracted, may be improved and brought to the perfection of gold. But waving all this, it is true and certain, that if the gold be de∣prived of its Tincture, the remaining body can no more be gold; as is demonstrated more at large in my treatise (de Auro potabili vero) of the true potable Gold: And this I mentioned here onely therefore, that in case the lover of this Art, in his work should meet perchance with such a white corne, he may know, from whence it doth proceed.

I could have forborne to set down the preparation of the sulminating gold, and so save paper and time, in regard that it is described by others: but because I promised in the first part to teach how to make the flores of gold, and that those are to be made out of fulminating (or thundring) gold, I thought, it not amiss to describe its preparation, that the lover of this Art need not first have his recourse to another book for to finde out the preparation, but by this my book may be furnished with a perfect instruction for the making of the flores of gold, and this is the common way for to make Aurum fulminans, known unto most Chymists; but in regard that easily an error may be committed in it, either by pour∣ing on too much of the liquor of Tartar (especially when it is not pure enough, so that not all the gold doth precipitate,

but part of it remaineth in the solution, whereby you would have loss; or else, the gold falling or precipitating into a heavy calx, which doth not fulminate well, and is unfit for to be sublimed into flores.

Therefore I will here set down another and much better way, whereby the gold can be precipitated quite and clean out of the Aqua Regia without the least loss, and so that it cometh to be very light and yellow, and doth fulminate twice as strong as the former, and there is no other difference between this and the former preparation, but only that in steed of the oyle of Tartar, you take the spirit of urine or of Salt Armoniack for to precipitate the dissolved gold thereby; and the gold (as before said) will be precipitated much purer, then it is done by the liquor of the salt of Tartar, and being precipitated, it is to be edulcorated and dryed, as above in the first preparation hath been taught.