Four books of Johannes Segerus Weidenfeld concerning the secrets of the adepts, or, of the use of Lully's spirit of wine : a practical work, with very great study collected out of the ancient as well as modern fathers of adept philosophy : reconciled together by comparing them one with another, otherwise disagreeing, and in the newest method so aptly digested, that even young practitioners may be able to discern the counterfeit or sophistical preparations of animals, vegetables and minerals, whether for medicines or metals, from true, and so avoid vagabound imposters, and imaginary processes, together with the ruine of estates.

I. The Heaven, Essence, or Spirit of Wine of Lully, Described, Can. 1. Dist. 1. Lib. De Quinta Es∣sentia.

TAke Wine Red or White, the best that may be had, or at least take Wine that is not any way eager, neither too little nor too much thereof, and distil an Aqua ardens, as the custom is, through Brass Pipes, and then rectifie it four times for better purification. But I tell you it is enough to rectifie it three times, and stop it close, that the burning Spirit may not exhale, be∣cause herein have many men erred, thinking it ought to be se∣ven times rectified, But my Son, it is an infallible sign to you when you shall have seen that Sugar steeped in it, and being put to the flame burneth away as Aqua ardens. Now having the water thus prepared, you have the matter out of which the Quintessence is to be made, which is one principal thing we intend to treat of in this Book. Take therefore that, and put it in a circulating Vessel, or in a Pelican, which is called the Ves∣sel of Hermes, and stop the hole very close with Olibanum or Mastick being soft, or quick Lime mixed with the White of

Eggs, and put it in Dung, which is naturally most hot, or the remainings of a Wine-Press, in which no heat must be by ac∣cident diminished, which you may do, my Son, if you put a great quantity of which you please of those things at a corner of the House, which quantity must be about thirty Load: This ought to be, that the Vessel may not want heat, because should heat be wanting, the circulation of the water would be im∣paired, and that which we seek for uneffected; but if a continual heat be administred to it by continual circulati∣ons, our Quintessence will be separated in the colour of Heaven, which may be seen by a diametrical Line, which divides the upper part, that is the Quintessence, from the lower, namely, from the Faeces, which are of a muddy co∣lour. Circulation being continued many days together in a circulating Vessel, or in the Vessel of Hermes, the Hole, which you stopp'd with the said Matter, must be opened, and if a wonderful Scent go out, so as that no fragrancy of the world can be compared to it; insomuch as putting the Vessel to a cor∣ner of the House, it can by an invisible Miracle draw all that pass in, to it; or the Vessel being put upon a Tower, draws all Birds within the reach of its Scent, so as to cause them to stand about it. Then will you have, my Son, our Quintessence which is otherwise call'd Vegetable Mercury at your will, to ap∣ply in the Magistery of the transmutation of Metals: But if you find not the influx of Attraction, stop the Vessel again, as be∣fore; and put it in the place before appointed, and there let it stand till you attain to the aforesaid Sign. But this Quintessence thus glorified, will not have that Scent, except a Body be dis∣solved in it, nor have that heat in your mouth as Aqua ardens: This is indeed by the Philosophers call'd the Key of the whole Art of Philosophy, and as well Heaven, as our Quintessence, which arrives to so great a sublimity, that either with it by it self alone, or with the earthly Stars (Metals) the Operator of this work may do miracles upon the Earth.

Annotations.

THE twenty four following Kinds of Menstruums will prove, that amongst the Dissolvents of the Adepts, no one is made without the Vegetable Mercury, or Spirit of Philosophical Wine; for it is the foundation, beginning and end of them all: Yea it is ac∣cording to the various and distinct degrees of its strength, sometimes the least, sometimes the greatest of all the Menstruums. It is the least and weakest, when it doth by its simple Ʋnctuosity dissolve only the unctuous or oyly parts of Vegetables, but either reject or leave untouched the Remainder being less oyly and heterogeneous to it self: it becomes the strongest when we temper its Ʋnctuosity with Arids, (that is, dry things, not Oyly) for so it is made homogeneous to things dry-oyly, and to things meerly dry. In respect of which Ho∣mogeneity, the Menstruums of the Adepts differ from the common, because they do by reason of the said Homogeneity, remain with the things dissolved inseparably; yea, are augmented by them, but not with the least saturation, transmuted and melted into a third sub∣stance, and so cannot part without the diminution or destruction of their former Virtues. The permanent Homogeneity of Menstru∣ums with things to be dissolved, is the reason why Essences are made with simple Vegetable Menstruums, but Magisteries with the same compounded, and so these operate more strongly, those more weakly. This is it, to comprehend all in a word, which shews us the various kinds of Menstruums distinct one from another in so many several degrees, now to be described and illustrated by our Annotations.

But that you may more easily understand the following Receipts and me also, I thought it necessary to preadmonish some certain things concerning the Nature and Property of this Spirit of Wine, lest you should judge amiss of a thing not sufficiently understood.

First, You are not to take the Spirit of common Wine, though ne∣ver so much rectified, for the Philosophical Spirit of Wine; for so the following Receipts of all Menstruums would be erroneous and seducing.

Having occasion (saith Zacharias) for a most excellent Aqua-Vitoe for the dissolving of a mark or half a pound of Gold, we bought a large Vessel of the best Wine, out of which we did by a Pellican obtain great plenty of Aqua vitoe, which was of∣ten

rectified in many Glass-Vessels bought for that end: then we put one Mark of our Gold, being before calcin'd a whole month, and four Marks of Aqua vitoe into two Glass-Vessels, one Retort entring into the other, being sealed, and both placed in two great round Furnaces: we bought also Coals to the value of thirty Crowns at one time, to continue Fire under it for the space indeed of a whole Year. We might have kept Fire for ever before any congelation would have been made in the bot∣tom of the Vessels, as the Receipt promised, no solution pre∣ceding; for we did not operate upon a due matter, nor was that the true water of Solution, which ought to dissolve our Gold, as appeared by experience, pag. 783. Vol. 1. Th. Chym. Ripley admonisheth us of the same thing, who saith, Some think that this Fire (this Fiery Spirit of Philosophical Wine) is drawn from Wine according to the common way, and that it is recti∣fied by distillations often repeated, till its watry Phlegm, which impedes the power of its Igneity, be wholly taken from it. But when such a sort of Water (which Fools call Pure Spirit) though a hundred times rectified, be cast upon the Calxes of any Bo∣dy, be it never so well prepared, we do nevertheless see, that it is found weak and insufficient as to the act of dissolving a Body, with the preservation of its Form and Species, Cap. 2. suoe Medul. Phil. Common Wine (saith he a little lower) is hot, but there is another sort much hotter, whose whole substance is by reason of its aerity most easily kindled by Fire, and the Tartar of this unctuous Humor is thick; for so saith Raymund: That Tartar is blacker than the Tartar from the black Grapes of Catalonia; whereupon it is called Nigrum nigrius Nigro; that is, Black blacker than Black: and this humidity being unctuous, doth therefore better agree with the Unctuosity of Metals, than the Spirit extracted from common Wine, because by its liquefactive virtue Metals are dissolved into Water; which ope∣ration the Spirit of (Common) Wine cannot perform; which, how strong soever, is nothing else but clear water mix'd with a kind of Phlegmatick Water, where on the contrary, in this our Unctuous Spirit distilled, there is no Phlegmatick aquosity found at all. But this thing being rare in our Parts, as well as other Countries, Guido Montanor therefore the Grecian Philoso∣pher found out another unctuous humidity, which swims upon

other Liquors, which humidity proceeds from Wine; to the knowledge hereof attain'd Raymund, Arnold, and some other Philosophers, but how it might be obtained, said not.

O tortas adeo mentes! assuetaque falli Artificum vario rerum per inania ductu Pectora! cum duris quid mollia vina metallis? Apta epulis, atque apta bibi suavissima vina? Hic tamen expressam proelis torquentibus uvam Accipit, & phialae postrema in parte reponit, Cujus in extremo rostrum connectitur ore, &c.

Thus facetiously sings the Poet and Adept Augurellus, Lib. 2. Chrys. pag. 206. Vol. 3. Th. Chym.

2. That you take not any Oyl, though an hundred times rectified, in∣stead of the Spirit of Philosophical Wine; for all oyly matters, whe∣ther distilled or expressed, natural or artificial, alone, but much more mixt with other things, as Alkalies, Acids, &c. do by distilling, digesting, &c. in Bath, Dung, Vapor, &c. become thick, pitchy, yea, at length dry, insipid, black as a Coal, and sometimes like a Tyle, capable of being made red hot; which is a manifest sign, that they want rather a Dissolvent, than are themselves Dissolvents.

3. It is necessary to observe that the Spirit of Philosophical Wine appears in two forms, either like an Oyl swimming upon all Liquors, or like the Spirit of Common Wine (to the Nature of which it comes sometimes nearer, and therefore doth from the Ana∣logy borrow its Name) not swimming upon watry Liquors, but mix∣ible with them and its own Phlegm; yet separable by simple Distil∣lation, it easily by this means leaving its Phlegms behind it; but if being rectified, and kindled, it burns wholly away, it affords us the common sign of perfect rectification of the common Spirit, but however, they are not two, but one only Spirit, differing in degree of purity and subtilty. Which to prove, is not necessary, examples being obvious to us in almost every Description of the Vegetable Menstruums.

4. Lastly, Distinction must be made between the first and second Spirit of Philosophical Wine, Father and Son. The first doth in

its preparation require Laborem Sophiae, the most secret, diffi∣cult and dangerous work of all true Chymistry. The second is easily made with the former Spirit according to the Rule of perfect Chy∣mistry: An Essence makes an Essence, a Magistery a Magistery. Differ they do in Order, not in Nature; they are both of one Virtue, though of different preparation: for this, as hath been lately said, is of a more easie, that of a mor difficult preparation. Essences they are both, the former artificial, the other natural, in Medecines therefore unequal, though alike in Chymistry, as Menstruums, but they are easily di∣stinguished one from the other by their Epithets. The first hath these more general Names in the Latine Tongue, Essentia Vini, Al∣cool Vini, Mercurius Vini, Vinum Vitae, Vinum Salutis, A∣qua Vitae, Aqua ardens, Vinum adustum, Vinum sublimatum, &c. Examples of which you will have in these and the like Re∣ceipts: Take beaten Gold, and let it be resolved into Liquor by the Essence of Wine; Paracels. in Descript. Auri Diaphoret. Lib. 3. de male curatis. Take Flints, and dissolve them in the Es∣sence of Wine, as Salt in Water, &c. Paracels. in Descript. Essen∣tioe silicum, cap. 18. de Morbis Tartar. pag. 327. Take the Crocus of Sol, and the Alcool of Wine, corrected, &c. Paracels. in Tinct, Croci Solis, lib. de proeparat. pag, 81. The Alcool of Wine exiccated or corrected, is, saith Paracelsus, when the superfluity of the Wine is taken away, and the Vinum ardens remains dry and de∣phlegmed, without fatness, leaving no Faeces in the Vessel, pag. 507. But as to this, you will have many more Examples, especially in the following Book of Medecines.

The Second Spirit of Philosophical Wine hath its Sirnames an∣nexed to these more general Names, indicating the radix of its Ori∣ginal, of which the following Receipts may be for Examples. Take the Leaves of Sol four scruples, of the Alcool of Wine drawn from a Pine, from Balm, ana. &c. Paracels. in descript. Balsami Solis, pag. 90. Chyr. major. The Extraction of Mummy is made by mixing it with the Essence of Wine drawn from Celandine, &c. Parac. in descript. Tincturoe Mumioe, cap. 10. Lib. 3. de Vita long. pag. 65. Take the Essence of Wine drawn from Celandine, Mer∣cury of Saturn, &c. Paracels. Lib. 8. cap. 10. de Tumoribus, Pu∣stulis, &c. pag. 138. Chyr. major. In these and the like Receipts he does by the Alcool of Wine, drawn from the Pine, Balm, Celan∣dine, &c. mean the second Spirit of Philosophical Wine, or the Essence of those things made with the former Spirit, which also is

proved out of the fifth Chapter of the third Book of long Life, pag. 63. Where Paracelsus calls the Essences of Herbs the Elixir of Life, or the Wine of Health, made from this or that Herb: which (he saith) will be manifested in the example of Balm. Digest Balm (with the first Spirit of Philosophical Wine) a Philosophical Month in an Athanar, then separate so, as that the duplicated Elements may appear apart, and the Quintessence, which is the Elixir of Life, will presently shew it self, in Nepitha sharp, in Lolium yellow, in Tincium blackish, in Lupulus thin and white, in Cus∣cuta harsh, in others likewise to be judg'd according to the Pre∣script of Experience. Moreover that Spirit being extracted, and separated from the other, behold the Wine of Health, (Essence of Balm) in which the Pseudo-Philosophers have ear∣nestly laboured some Ages, yet never acquired any thing. And a good part of them that followed Raymund (intending to follow him according to the Letter, understanding Wine red or white) emp∣tied some Butts of Wine in extracting the Quintessence of Wine, but found nothing at all but burnt Wine, which they unhap∣pily used for the Spirit of Wine: sufficient it is to have thus ad∣monished the Spagyrist, which way the Quintessence may be had in Herbs.

This twofold, the first as well as second Spirit of Wine may be made not only out of the Vegetable, but the Animal Kingdom also: So is it read of the Aqua Vitae and Phlegm of the Wine of Ʋrine, in the 16th. Experiment of Lully,, and in Paramiro Paracelsi, pag. 57. Many have diligently laboured to find in man his own Health, Aqua vitoe, Lapis Philosophorum, Arcanum, Balsamum, Aurum potabile, and the like. Which they did rightly; for all those things are in him, as also in the external world. So also hath he a description of the Liquor of Flesh, pag. 505. Take of the Liquor of Flesh six ounces, of Mummy, &c. Here by Liquor, he means the Wine of Flesh, which is proved by Paracelsus himself; saying, Where and according to this it is to be noted, that the Wine of Balm is a Secret in an Asthma: Here also it is to be observed, that by Pulmonaria, not the Herb, but the Liquor, that is, the Wine of it hath place in this Cure: In which words, the Liquor and Wine of Pulmonaria, are synonimous. So in Lib. 8. de Tumoribus, cap. 3. By the Liquor of Hermodactils. And cap. 9. By the Liquor of Balm; and lib. 9. cap. 4. By the Liquor

Parthenion, And cap. 5. By the Liquor of Bdellium, &c. The Wines or Essences of them all ought to be understood. Though neither the first nor second Spirit can be produced out of the dry Kingdom of Minerals (there are indeed some purely Oyly, as Ole∣um Petrae, Naphthae, Carbonum fossilium, Succini, Agathis, &c. which are reputed Members of this Kingdom, the Oleosity of which notwithstanding differs so little from the Ʋnctuosity of Vege∣tables and Animals, that scarce deserve to be called Subjects there∣of) yet for the same reason that the Essences and Liquors of Vege∣tables are called Wines, is an Essence of the Mineral Kingdom, some∣times also called the Liquor and Wine of Minerals; so the Liquor or Essence of Vitriol or Copper is called Wine of the first Metal, Cap. 12. Lib. 3. de Vita longa, pag. 65.

Being now instructed by the light of these Premises, let us come nearer to the Spirit of Wine of Lully, which we shall find like an Oyl swimming upon its Phlegms, deduced not from the Common, but Philosophical Aqua vitae by Circulation: But all other Essences being made by the belp of some certain Essence, this first Essence of Wine alone must by its own virtues emerge its self out of its own foeculencies and impurities: In this respect the making of Philoso∣phical Wine (red or white) renders the work of all the most secret Chymistry most difficult and abstruse; of which we shall by the Bles∣sing of God) clearly and truly treat in a particular Book; namely, our Fifth. Our purpose at present is to prosecute the Ʋse of this Wine in the making of Menstruums, where we find Aqua vitae the first and weakest of all Menstruums, which, being by circulation alone reduced into an Oyl, is made much more excellent than before. Lully's Receipt is clear enough; yet however we thought it advisa∣ble to confirm at least, if not illustrate it with the Receipts of other Adepts. Johannes de Rupescissa, a Scholar of Lully, had so great an esteem for the first Distinction of his Master's Book of Essence, that he made it his own with a little alteration: He hath described the Spirit of Philosophical Wine after this man∣ner: