getables," says BERNARD of TREVISAN in his _Answer to Thomas
of Bononia_, "but Sensitives more especially, which for the most part
beget their like, by the Seeds of the Male and Female for the most
part concurring and conmixt by copulation; which work of Nature the
Philosophick Art imitates in the generation of gold."(1)

(1) _Op. cit_., p. 216.

Mercury, as I have said, was commonly regarded as the seed of the
metals, or as especially the female seed, there being two seeds, one the
male, according to BERNARD, more ripe, perfect and active, the other the
female. "more immature and in a sort passive(2) "... our Philosophick
Art," he says in another place, following a description of the
generation of man, "... is like this procreation of Man; for as in
_Mercury_ (of which Gold is by Nature generated in Mineral Vessels) a
natural conjunction

(2) _Ibid_., p. 217; _cf_. p. 236

is made of both the Seeds, Male and Female, so by our artifice, an
artificial and like conjunction is made of Agents and Patients."(1) "All
teaching," says KELLY, "that changes Mercury is false and vain, for this
is the original sperm of metals, and its moisture must not be dried
up, for otherwise it will not dissolve,"(2) and quotes ARNOLD (_ob. c_.
1310) to a similar effect.(3) One wonders how far the fact that human
and animal seed is fluid influenced the alchemists in their choice of
mercury, the only metal liquid at ordinary temperatures, as the seed of
the metals. There are, indeed, other good reasons for this choice, but
that this idea played some part in it, and, at least, was present at the
back of the alchemists' minds, I have little doubt.

The most philosophic account of metallic seed is that, perhaps, of the
mysterious adept "EIRENAEUS PHILALETHES," who distinguishes between
it and mercury in a rather interesting manner. He writes: "Seed is the
means of generic propagation given to all perfect things here below;
it is the perfection of each body; and anybody that has no seed must be
regarded as imperfect. Hence there can be no doubt that there is such
a thing as metallic seed.... All metallic seed is the seed of gold; for
gold is the intention of Nature in regard to all metals. If the base
metals are not gold, it is only through some accidental hindrance; they
are-all potentially gold. But, of course, this seed of gold is most
easily obtainable from well-matured gold itself.... Remember that I am
now speaking of metallic seed,