One of them, however, had at least got the idea into his head that Mercury was the substance of the Stone, and determined to concentrate all his efforts on the chemical preparation of Mercury....

He took common Mercury and began to work with it.

He placed it in a glass vessel over the fire, when it, of course, evaporated.

So in his ignorance he struck his wife, and said: 'No one but you has entered my laboratory; you must have taken my Mercury out of the vessel.' The woman, with tears, protested her innocence.

The Alchemist put some more Mercury into the vessel....