Albertus Magnus informs us, that “Alexander the Great discovered the sepulchre of Hermes, in one of his journeys, full of all treasures, not metallic, but golden, written on a table of _zatadi_, which others call emerald.” This passage occurs in a tract of Albertus _de secretis chemicis_, which is considered as supposititious. Nothing is said of the source whence the information contained in this passage was drawn: but, from the quotations produced by Kriegsmann, it would appear that the existence of this emerald table was alluded to by Avicenna and other Arabian writers. According to them, a woman called Sarah took it from the hands of the dead body of Hermes, some ages after the flood, in a cave near Hebron. The inscription on it was in the Phœnician language. The following is a literal translation of this famous inscription, from the Latin version of Kriegsmann:[9] [9] There are two Latin translations of these tables (unless we are rather to consider them as originals, for no Phœnician nor Greek original exists). I shall insert them both here. I.--VERBA SECRETORUM HERMETIS TRISMEGISTI. 1. Verum sine mendacio certum et verissimum. 2. Quod est inferius, est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius ad perpetranda miracula rei unius. 3. Et sicut omnes res fuerant ab uno meditatione unius: sic omnes res natæ fuerunt ab hac una re adaptatione. 4. Pater ejus est Sol, mater ejus Luna, portavit illud ventus in ventre suo, nutrix ejus terra est. 5. Pater omnis thelesmi totius mundi est hic. 6. Vis ejus integra est, si versa fuerit in terram. 7. Separabis terram ab igne, subtile a spisso suaviter cum magno ingenio. 8. Ascendit a terra in cœlum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum, sic habebis gloriam totius mundi. Ideo fugiat a te omnis obscuritas. 9. Hic est totius fortitudinis fortitudo fortis; quia vincit omnem rem subtilem, omnemque solidam penetrabit. 10. Sic mundus creatus est. 11. Hinc adaptationes erunt mirabiles, quarum modus est hic. 12. Itaque vocatus sum Hermes Trismegistus, habens tres partes philosophiæ totius mundi. 13. Completum est quod dixi de operatione solis. II.--DESCRIPTIO ARCANORUM HERMETIS TRISMEGISTI. 1. Vere non ficte, certo verissime aio. 2. Inferiora hæc cum superioribus illis, istaque cum iis vicissim vires sociant, ut producant rem unam omnium mirificissimam. 3. Ac quemadmodum cuncta educta ex uno fuere verbo Dei unius: sic omnes quoque res perpetuo ex hac una re generantur dispositione Naturæ. 4. Patrem ea habet Solem, matrem Lunam: ab aëre in utero quasi gestatur, nutritur a terra. 5. Causa omnis perfectionis rerum ea est per univerum hoc. 6. Ad summam ipsa perfectionem virium pervenit si redierit in humum. 7. In partes tribuite humum ignem passam, attenuans densitatem ejus re omnium suavissima.