strious
men, and lovers of Art, made hast
to me, among which, by name,
the General Examiner of the Moneys
of this Province of Holland,
D^n Porelius, came to me, with certain
other most illustrious men,
earnestly desiring, that I would
communicate to them some small
particle of my Artificial Gold, to
prove it by legitimate Examens:
these, for their curiosity sake, I willingly
gratified; and we went together
to the house of a certain
very curious Silver-Smith, by
name Brechtelius, in whose Workhouse,
the Excellency of my Gold
was evidenced, by that form of
Probation, which Skilful Artists
call. Quarta, viz. when they in a
Crucible melt three or four parts
or Silver, with one part of Gold,
and then by hammering, reduce
that mixture into thin Plates, on
which they pour a sufficient quantity
of Aquafortis, by which the
Silver is dissolved, but the Gold
settles to the bottome, like a black
powder. Afterward, the Aquafortis
is poured off, and the golden
powder, is again put into a Crucible,
and by strong fire reduced to
Gold.

But when this work was ended,
we supposed, that one half of the
Gold was vanished, yet in very
deed it was not so: for we found
that the Gold, besides its own
weight, had transmuted some part
of the Silver into Gold, viz. two
drams of the Gold, transmuted
two scruples of the Silver (through
the abundance of its Tincture)
into like Gold Homogeneal to it self.

After this, we, suspecting that
the Silver was not well separated
from the Gold did presently make
a mixture: with seven times as much
Antimony. And after this Examen,
we lost eight grains of Gold;
but when I had again evaporated
the Antimony, I found nine grains
of Gold, yet in colour somewhat
pale. Thus, in the best Tryal of
fire, we lost nothing of this Gold,
And this infallible kind of Probation,
I thrice performed in presence
of those most noble and illustricsus
Men, and found, that
every Dram of Gold acquired from
the Silver for an augmentation to
it self, one Scruple, of Gold: and
the Silver, is pure good, and very
flexible. So according to this, the
five drams of Gold, attracted to it
self from the Silver, five Scruples;
and (that I may together, and at
once, comprise all that remains to
be said) the whole weight that
that Laudable Powder, in quantity
so exceeding small, did transmute,
was six drams, and two
Scruples, of a more vile Metal,
into Gold, in such wise fixed, as it
was able perseveringly to s