THE THIRD TREATISE.

 Of the true first matter of Metalls.

T

he first matter of Metalls is twofold, but the one cannot make a metall without the other. The first and principall is the humidity of the aire mixed with heat; and this the Philosophers called Mercury, which is governed by the beams of the Sunne, and Moon in the Philosophicall sea: the second is the dry heat of the earth, which they called Sulphur. But because all true Philosophers chiefly concealed¹ this, wee will a little more cleerly explain it; especially the weight or poise², which being unknown, all things are spoiled. Thence it is, that many bring forth³ an abortive⁴ out of that which is good; for there bee some that take the whole body for the matter, or seed, or sperme; and some that take a piece, and all these go beside the right way. As for example, if any one should take the foot of a man, and the hand of a woman, and would by mixing these two together make a man, it were not possible to be done. For there is in every body a Center, and a place or the point of the seed or sperme, and is alwaies the 8200th. part, yea even in every wheat corne; and this cannot bee otherwise. For not the whole corne, or body is turned into seed, but only a spark, or some certain small necessary part in the body, which is preserved by its body from all excessive heat and cold. If thou hast eares, or any[Pg 10] sense, mark well what is here said, and thou shalt be safe, and out of the number not only of those who are ignorant of the place of the sperm⁵, and endeavour to convert the whole corn into seed; but also of them all, who are employed in the fruitlesse dissolution of metalls, and are desirous to dissolve the whole of metalls, that afterwards by their mutuall commixtion they may make a new metall. But these men, if they considered the processe of Nature, should see that the case is far otherwise; for there is no metall so pure, which hath not its impurities⁶, yet one more, or fewer then another. But thou, friendly Reader, shalt observe the first point of nature, as is abovesaid, and thou hast enough: but take this caution along with thee; that thou dost not seek for this point in the metalls of the vulgar, in which it is not. For these metalls, especially the gold of the vulgar, are dead, but ours are living, full of spirit, and these wholly must be taken: for know, that the life of metalls is fire whilst they are yet in their mines; and their death is the fire, viz. of melting. Now the first matter of metals is a certaine humidity mixed with warm aire, and it resembles fat water, sticking to every thing pure, or impure⁷, but in one place more abundantly then in another, by reason the earth is more open, and porous⁸ in one place then in another, having also an attractive power. It comes forth into the light somtimes by it self, with some kind of covering, especially in such places where there was nothing that it could well stick to; it is known thus, because every thing is compounded of 3 principles: but in reference to the matter of metalls is but one, without any conjunction to any thing, excepting to its covering or shadow, viz. sulphur, &c.

1 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

2 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 abortive   

adj.不成功的，发育不全的

参考例句：

• We had to abandon our abortive attempts.我们的尝试没有成功，不得不放弃。
• Somehow the whole abortive affair got into the FBI files.这件早已夭折的案子不知怎么就进了联邦调查局的档案。

5 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

6 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

7 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

8 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。