482 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°d S. No 5L, Dec. 20. '56. 



on which are perched a bird and a human figure. 

 Around is the inscription " Leniter . Degestus . 

 Animatus . Sum . Exalta . Me . Grassioribus." 



No. 5. One friar holds the alembic, and bears 

 in his other hand a smaller alembic. Three other 

 friars kneel, as though in adoration. Within the 

 large alembic are the figures of the man and 

 woman ; though here, his legs are twined around 

 hers, and she stands up between them with clasped 

 hands. Two birds fly above them. On the fur- 

 nace is written, " & : blacker : ". Around is the 

 legend " Exalto . Sepera . Subtilia . Me . Vt . 

 Posim . Reducere . Ad . Simplex." 



No. 6. The figure of the woman, standing up 

 in a light fluid, is the only figure on the alembic. 

 About it are five friars. On the furnace is 

 " white : " ; around is the legend " Sitio . Deficio . 

 Pota . Me . Me . Albifica." 



No. 7. In the alembic, the figure of the woman, 

 nude, with floating hair, and hands crossed over 

 her breast. Six friars stand around, three of 

 whom hold smaller alembics. On the furnace is 

 "white ;" around is the legend " Vidui . Sumus . 

 & . A . Dono . fopria . FLosatrNos . Ad . Spu . 

 Reduct . Vt . Corpus . Nos . Amplectatur . & . 

 Nobis . Fiat . Amicabille." 



No. 8. The woman in the Alembic, "as in the 

 last. Seven friars stand around, three of whom 

 hold small alembics. On the furnace is " & . 

 white." Around is the legend " Leniter . Cum . 

 Igne . Amicabili . Fac . Vt . Aliqua . Viatentia . 

 Nos . Separare . Non . Possit." 



At the base of the vessel containing these pic- 

 tures is a black ellipse, bordered with white, on 

 either side of which is written, " y® blacke Sea : y* 

 blacke luna:" — "y* blacke sea : y® blacke Soil :". 

 At the foot of this, in red letters, is heee : is : t" : 

 LAST : OF : T" : whit : stone : & : t" : begining : 

 or : T= : bed : stone. 

 Then follow these lines : 



« Of the Sunne take the light 



The red Gum that is so bright 



And of the Moone doe alsoe 



The white gum there keepe to 



The Philosophers sulphurs wife 



This Ycald withouten strife 



Kibert and a Kivert I celd allso 



And other names many mo 



Of him draw a white tincture 



And make them a Mariage pure. 



Between y« husband and y« wife 



Yspowsed with the water of life 



But of this water you must beware 



Or else thy worke will be full bare 



He must be made of his owne kinde 



Marke you well now in thy minde 



Acetum of the philosophers men call this 



And water abiding so it is 



The Maids Milk of the dew 



That all our worke alone renew. 

 " Terra Stat Vnda Lauat Pir. 



" The Spirit of life called allso 

 And other names many moe 



The which causeth our generation 



Betwixt the Man and the Woman 



Soe lookt that there be noe division 



Be there in the Coniuntion 



Of the Moone and of the Sonne 



After the Marriage is begun 



And all the while they be a wedding 



Give him to her drinking 



Acetum that is good and fine 



Better to him than any wine 



Now when this Marriage is done 



Phillosophers call this a stone 



The which hath great Nature 



To bring a Stone y' is pure 



Soe he have kindly nourishing 



Perfect heate and decoction 



But in the Matrix where the bee put 



Looke never the vessell be unshut 



Till they have ingendred a Stone 



In all the woorld is not such a one. 

 " Purgat Spiritus Intrat." 

 Between these verses is represented the black 

 opening of a furnace mouth, from the upper part 

 of which is issuing golden flame. Below this are 

 ten substances with ramifications (like diagrams 

 of the brain) labelled alternately " Spf " and 

 " Aula." From this descends a long-haired human 

 figure with the legs of a toad (who is labelled 

 Spr), who is falling down upon the figure of a 

 very red man,*standlng (in the attitude of a horn- 

 pipe dancer) in a golden aureola. In the left 

 hand corner is the golden head of the sun, with 

 two feathers (labelled Spf, An^) issuing from its 

 mouth. In the right hand corner Is the silver 

 crescent moon, with three feathers crossed and 

 labelled Spf, Ana. On either side of the red man 

 is a figure of a Friar, with an inverted Alembic, 

 standing in a turret, labelled " 2 Bibinge." " 3, 

 Bibinge." There are five other similar turrets, 

 similarly labelled, divided from each other by 

 battlemented walls, which enclose a heptagonal 

 space filled with water, labelled Spr, Ana. In the 

 centre of this grows a trunk of a tree (labelled 

 Spr), around which are twined two vine tendrils 

 covered with bunches of grapes ; this trunk is 

 surmounted by the red man aforesaid. Standing 

 nearly up to their knees in the water, and holding 

 on to the vine branches, are nude figures of a man 

 (also very red) and a woman, both labelled " Cor- 

 pus." They have both placed their mouths to 

 bunches of grapes ; by the man's head is the figure 

 of the sun ; by the woman's, the moon. Of the 

 five remaining turrets, three are filled by Friars, 

 holding up alembics ; the fourth contains a robed 

 figure of a bearded man wearing a peaked cap 

 like to those of Henry VI.'s time, and holding up 

 an alembic ; while the fifth contains the figure 

 of a woman, holding an inverted alembic, and 

 wearing a turbaned head-dress (in shape not un- 

 like the dome of St. Paul's), from the top of which 

 falls long drapery, passing round the body, and 

 over the left arm — like the lawn falls to the 

 head-dresses of ladies in Edward IV.'s reign. All 



