The Book of Quinte Essence or The Fifth Being | Page 9

[gh]e
may drawe 12 out of siluir, q{ui}nte e{ss}encie //
[--How to get its Quinte Essence out of Antimony.--]
The science to drawe out of antymony, [th]at is, m{er}casite of leed,
[th]e v^te e{ss}encie, is a souereyn maistrie, and a p{ri}uytee
[Put powdered antimony into distilled vinegar; heat it till the vinegar is
red; take away the red vinegar, and put fresh; take that away when red.
Put the red vinegar into a distiller, and 1000 drops of blessed wine shall
come down the pipe; collect this; it is an incomparable treasure.]
of alle p{ri}uytees / Take [th]e myn of antymony aforeseid, 16 and
make [th]{er}of al so sotil a poudre as [gh]e kan / [th]anne take [th]e
beste vynegre distillid, and putte [th]{er}inne [th]e poudre of
antymonye, and lete it stonde in a glas vpon a litil fier into [th]e tyme
[th]at [th]e vynegre be colourid reed. [th]anne take [th]{a}t 20 vynegre
awey, and kepe it clene, and putte a[gh]en [th]er-to of o[th]{er}e
vynegre distillid, and lete it stonde vpon a soft fier til it be colourid
reed. & so do ofte tymes. and whanne [gh]e haue gaderid al [gh]o{ur}e
vynegre colourid, putte it [th]anne in a distillatorie. and 24 first [th]e
vynegre wole ascende; [th]anne aft{er} [gh]e schal se merueilis: for
[gh]e schal se as it were a [th]ousand dropis of blessid wiyn discende
doun in maner of reed dropis, as it were blood, by [th]e pipe of [th]e
lymbike / [th]e which lico{ur}, gadere togidere in a 28 rotu{m}be / and
[th]anne [gh]e haue a [th]ing [th]{a}t al [th]e tresour of [th]e world
[[No{ta}.]]
may not be in comp{ar}isou{n} of wor[th]ines [th]{er}to / aristo{t}le
sei[th] [th]{a}t it is his lede in [th]e book of secretis, al [th]ou[gh] he
[*]telle not [th]e name
[[* Fol. 17.]]

[It cures the pain of all wounds, and when fermented it works great
secrets.]
of [th]e antymonye aforeseid / Forso[th]e [th]is doi[th] awey ache of
alle 32 woundis, and wondirfully heeli[th]. [th]e v{er}tu [th]{er}of is
incorruptible & merueilo{u}s p{ro}fitable / it nedit to be putrified in a
rotombe and seelid i{n} fyme, and [th]anne it worchi[th] greet
p{ri}uytees / Forso[th]e [th]e vta e{ss}encia of [th]is antymony [th]at is
reed, i{n} [th]e which is 36
[Page 11: TO EXTRACT THE QUINTE ESSENCE FROM MAN'S
BLOOD.]
[th]e secreet of alle secretis, is swettere [th]an ony hony, or sugre, or
ony o[th]ir [th]ing.
['Science.']
[--How to get its Quinte Essence from Man's Blood.--]
The science in the extraccioun of [th]e .5[3] e{ss}encie from blood,
[Footnote 3: 5 for fifth, or quinte.]
and fleisch, & eggis / To [gh]ou I seie, [th]at in eu{er}y elementid 4
[th]ing, [th]e .5. e{ss}encie remayne[th] incorrupte: it schal be [th]anne
[th]e moost [th]i{n}g of merueyle if I teche [gh]ou to drawe out [th]at
fro mannys blood reserued of Barbouris whanne [th]ei lete blood; also
fro fleisch of alle brute beestis, and fro alle eggis, and o[th]{er}e 8
[Man's blood is the perfectest work of nature in us, and its Quinte
Essence converts blood into flesh, and works divine miracles of
healing.]
suche [th]ingis. for als myche as mannes blood is [th]e p{er}fitist werk
of kynde in us, as to [th]e encrees of [th]{a}t [th]at is lost, it is certeyn
[th]at nature [th]at .5. e{ss}ence maad so p{er}fi[gh]t [th]{a}t,
wi[th]oute ony o[th]ir greet p{re}p{ar}acioun wi[th]oute [th]e veynes,

it beri[th] for[th] [th]at blood 12 anoon aftir into fleisch. and [th]is 5
e{ss}ence is so ny[gh] kynde [th]at [it] is moost to haue[4] / Forwhy. in
it is merueylous v{er}tu of oure
[Footnote 4: MS. Harl. reads 'and this fifte beinge so nighe kinde it is
most to haue.']
[Get from Barbers the blood of young sanguine men; let it stand; pour
off the serum; mix the blood with a tenth of prepared salt; put it in an
amphora; seal that up; put it in a horse's belly, renewing the dung
weekly till all the blood turns into water; distil that; put the outcome on
the pounded faeces, and distil over again.]
heuene sterrid, and to [th]e cure of nature of man worchi[th] moost
deuyn myraclis, as wi[th]i{n}ne I schal teche [gh]ou / [th]erfore
resceyue 16 of Barbouris, of [gh]ong sangueyn men, or colerik men,
wha{n}ne [th]ei be late blood, [th]e which vse good wynes. take [th]at
blood aftir [th]{a}t it ha[th] reste, and cast awey [th]e watir fro it, and
braie it wi[th] [th]e .10. p{ar}t of co{men} salt p{re}p{ar}ate to
medicyns of me{n}; and putte 20 it into a uessel of glas clepid
ampho{ra}, [th]e which, sotely seele,
[[* Fol. 17b.]]
and putte it wi[th]i{n}ne [th]e [*]wombe of an hors, p{re}p{ar}ate as
tofore, and renewe [th]e fyme oonys in [th]e wike, or more, and lete it
putrifie til al [th]e blood be turned into watir / and it schal be doon 24 at