040v - - - - - Cross of the commanders of Malta
This beautiful rouge clair which makes the field of the white enamel cross is blood of fine tear of dragon’s blood tempered with eau de vie or else Indian laque plate, which in my opinion is made in Flanders, tempered with clear turpentine & tear of mastic & laid down on a silver leaf, not the kind which the painters use, but a thicker kind, which is burnished by those who make foil backings for gemstones Av or by goldsmiths, & that gives it this beautiful brilliance.
Latten and calamine
Founders do not melt latten in a airbellow furnace but in crucibles, for in a bellow furnace & amid the charcoals, the calamine would disappear. A
Metal
Tin should be pure for if there is any lead, it will go up in smoke while melting. Mixed tin holds in the fire for a long time but the cendrée separates it.
Aquafortis
If your retort is well luted one ought not to surround it with ashes, which would only get in the way of chasing the spirits properly. But when, towards the end, you give it violent fire, surround it with coals lit elsewhere beforehand, as those in the furnace should be, so they do not crackle & do not make smoke. Put the said lit coals around the body of the retort, & not close to the neck, which does not need to be heated as vigorously. The top grate, where you place your retort, is sufficiently far from the bottom grate where the charcoal is placed, one dour or half a foot, for by doing this you will not waste as much of it.