Page 22 - Scottish Alchemists

fiste may easily pass throch it; And the pott must have three strong feete, tuo
great strong eares to carry it by, which is very materiall for him that will
woorke it, for if it suld crak or brek in pieces, if the ayre do but strik thy face
it kills presently.

“Thairfoir when all the matter which must be in, is gathered togither into
the pot, tak a good lute maid of potters clay, and mix it with bolus and rust
of iron tempered with whitts of eggs and chopt hair, and mingle and worke
thame weill togither, and lute your pott ane inche thick thairwith, and mak a
stopple of potters earth weill brunt to shut close in the hole that is in the top
of the cover of the pott, and lute the pott and the cover very close togither,
so as no ayre may brek forth, and when any craks cum into it, in the drying
of the lute, dawbe thame up againe, and when the lute is perfectly drie in the
sunne, then take a course linen cloth or canvas, and soke it weill in the whitts
of eggs mixt with iron rust, and spred this cloth round about the luting, and
then wett it weill again with whitt of eggs and upon the luting; wett it befoir
thow put on the cloth bot stop not vp the eares of the pott with the cloth
because of removing to and fro, and tak good cair and provyd that the luting
crak not which the cloth will hold in, as also the prope and the cover togither,
and thus your pott is praepared. In the mids of May tak this pott thus
praepared and shut yourself up in your chalmer, not coming into the ayre, till
suche tyme as you have done the business you propose to doe. (And thrust
or wring a thik linen cloth, in the hole in the top of the cover, so that no ayre
may brek furth at any parte of the pott.)

“In this chalmer thow most remaine four or six dayes, and from the first
day you enter into your chamber till the end, lett your dyett be eggs drest in
wyne vinager, rye or wheaten bread which you best lyke, good store of
butter, Rhenishe wine the best you can get, all sorts of meates both rost and
sod, as beiff, mutton porke, and such like, with all sort of the best hearbes,
and with your meat eat good store of spices, as cloves, ginger, mace and
pepper, etc., the moir the better. Now the first three dayes you must (when
you keepe this dyet) emptie your bellie where you please, bot not in the pott
till the fourth day. The fourth day tak the linen cloth out of the hole in the
cover of the pott and unburthen nature in the pott, sitting als close to the pott
as you can with your buttokes, and whilst you doe this receave your urine
with ane urinall, and when you ryse poure it quicklie into the pott stopping it
spedelie close againe with the linen cloth, and losing as litle ayre as you can
possibly: and you must ease yourself at least four severall tymes, every tyme
pouring your urine into it, and stopping it againe closs and spedelie, though
you keep your chalmer a day or two longer.

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