So there will bee afterward a stone, and oyle when and as oft as thou pleasest, _viz._ if thou puttest it into a cold place, or in the aire in a Glass. For there it will presently bee dissolved into an Oyle. And if thou puttest it againe into the fire, it will againe bee coagulated into a Stone of wonderfull, and great vertue. Keep this as a great secret, and mystery of Nature, neither discover it to Sophisters. Moreover, as in Sublimation many Corrosive things are made sweet in the conjunction of two matters, so on the contrary, many sweet things are made Corrosive: many sweet things are made sowre, harsh, or bitter; and on the contrary, many bitter things as sweet as Sugar. [Sidenote: Rules concerning Salt Armoniack.] Here also wee must take notice, that every Metal which is brought into Sublimation by Salt Armoniack, may afterward in the cold, or in the aire bee brought into an oyle, and againe bee coagulated into a stone in the Fire, which indeed is one of the chiefest, and greatest Transmutations in all naturall things, _viz._ to transmute Metall into a Stone. [Sidenote: What Solution is, and its kinds.] The third degree is Solution, under which are to bee understood Dissolution, and Resolution, and this degree doth most commonly follow Sublimation, and Distillation, _viz._ that the matter be resolved which remaines in the bottome. Now Solution is twofold: the one of Cold, the other of Heat; the one without Fire, the other in Fire. A cold dissolution dissolves all Salts, all Corrosive things, & all calcined things. Whatsoever is of a Salt, and Corrosive quality, is by it dissolved into Oyle, Liquor, or Water. And this is in a moist, cold cellar, or else in the Aire on a marble, or in a glasse. For whatsoever is dissolved in the cold, contains an Airy spirit of Salt, which oftentimes it gets, and assumes in Sublimation, or Distillation. And whatsoever is dissolved in the cold, or in the Aire, may again by the heat of the Fire bee coagulated into powder, or a stone. [Sidenote: What things a hot Solution dissolves.] But a hot Solution dissolves all fat, and sulphureous things. And whatsoever the heat of the Fire dissolves, the same doth coldnesse congeal into a Masse. [Sidenote: A double Solution _viz._ of Heat and Cold.] And whatsoever heat coagulates, is again dissolved by cold, or in the Aire. Here also we must know that whatsoever Aire, or the Cellar doth resolve, is of a very great drynesse, and hath a secret corrosive Fire hid in it: so whatsoever is dissolved in Fire, or in the heat thereof, hath a sweetish frigidity out of the Fire. Thus, and no otherwise is Solution to be understood. [Sidenote: Putrefaction what it is, and its kind.] Putrefaction is the fourth degree, under which is comprehended Digestion, and Circulation.