The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. 105 



distil it,* without adding anything, and 

 you will have a red oil, from which the 



Fire Stone is afterwards formed, which, 

 also, is a sweet, pleasant, and wonderful 

 Medicine. 



This oil is the quintessence, or the 

 highest form of Antimony. There must 

 be four preparations before Antimony is 

 perfect, and the fifth point of consid- 

 eration is its USES and its APPLICATION to 

 the human body. The first preparation 

 is calcination and liquefaction into glass ; 



* The great difficulty which puzzled me for many years, 

 is how to bring about this dexterous distillation. Shall I 

 describe it to you in a riddle ? Haste slowly ; " a bitch in a 

 hurry brings forth blind pups." By mean of Bacchus, Juno, 

 and Vulcan, you must give your substance wings, but restrain 

 it from flying away. Let Mercury instruct it in the Art of 

 flying. Hold it at first by a string, lest it rise upward beyond 

 your reach before the time and fall headlong, like Icarus, with 

 scorched wings. In due season, you may suffer it to spread 

 its wings, for then it will wing its flight to the Isles of the 

 Blest. Do you accuse me of mocking you after the manner 

 of Tantalus ? What would you have ? I may not cast pearls 

 before swine, or lightly make the mystery of mysteries the 

 common property of fools and knaves. Those who under- 

 stand the Art, understand me. If you do not understand 

 me, ponder, read, and study the books of the Sages ; com- 

 pare their parables with mine, and you will see that I have 

 shed much ?dditiona.l light on the subject. 



