9. In this great work of ours, two modes of fermenting and projecting are wanting, without which the uninitiated will not easily follow our process. The mode of fermenting is as follows: Take of our sulphur above described one part, and project it upon three parts of very pure gold fused in a furnace; in a moment you will see the gold, by the force of the sulphur, converted into a red sulphur of an inferior quality to the first sulphur; take one part of this, and project it upon three parts of fused gold, the whole will be again converted into a sulphur, or a friable mass; mixing one part of this with three parts of gold, you will have a malleable and extensible metal. If you find it so, well; if not add other sulphur and it will again pass into sulphur. Now the sulphur will be sufficiently fermented, or our medicine will be brought into a metallic nature.
10. The mode of projecting is this: Take of the fermented sulphur one part, and project it upon ten parts of mercury, heated in a crucible, and you will have a perfect metal; if its colour is not sufficiently deep, fuse it again, and add more fermented sulphur, and thus it will acquire colour. If it becomes frangible, add a sufficient quantity of mercury and it will be perfect.
Thus, friend, you have a description of the universal medicine, not only for curing diseases and prolonging life, but also for transmuting all metals into gold. Give therefore thanks to Almighty God, who, taking pity on human calamities, has at last revealed this inestimable treasure, and made it known for the common benefit of all.[19]
[19] Mangeti Bibliothecæ Chemicæ Præfatio.
Such is the formula (slightly abridged) of Carolus Musitanus, by which the philosopher’s stone, according to him, may be formed. Compared with the formulas of most of the alchymists, it is sufficiently plain. What the _sublimed mercury_ is does not appear; from the process described we should be apt to consider it as _corrosive sublimate_; on that supposition, the sal sapientum formed in No. 5, would be calomel: the only objection to this supposition is the process described in No. 5; for calomel is not soluble in alcohol. The philosopher’s stone prepared by this elaborate process could hardly have been any thing else than an _amalgam of gold_; it could not have contained chloride of gold, because such a preparation, instead of acting medicinally, would have proved a most virulent poison. There is no doubt that amalgam of gold, if projected into melted lead or tin, and afterwards cupellated, would leave a portion of gold--all the gold of course that existed previously in the amalgam. It might therefore have been employed by impostors to persuade the ignorant that it was really the philosopher’s stone; but the alchymists who prepared the amalgam could not be ignorant that it contained gold.