“Aftertravellingforfifteendays，IarrivedinParis，onthe9thofJanuary1539。Iremainedforamonth，almostunknown；butIhadnosoonerbeguntofrequenttheamateursofthescience，andvisitedtheshopsofthefurnace-makers，thanIhadtheacquaintanceofmorethanahundredoperativealchymists，eachofwhomhadadifferenttheoryandadifferentmodeofworking。Someofthempreferredcementation；
otherssoughttheuniversalalkahest，ordissolvent；andsomeofthemboastedthegreatefficacyoftheessenceofemery。Someofthemendeavouredtoextractmercuryfromothermetalstofixitafterwards；
and，inorderthateachofusshouldbethoroughlyacquaintedwiththeproceedingsoftheothers，weagreedtomeetsomewhereeverynight，andreportprogress。Wemetsometimesatthehouseofone，andsometimesinthegarretofanother；notonlyonweekdays，butonSundays，andthegreatfestivalsoftheChurch。’Ah！’oneusedtosay，’ifIhadthemeansofrecommencingthisexperiment，Ishoulddosomething。’’Yes，’saidanother，’ifmycruciblehadnotcracked，I
shouldhavesucceededbeforenow:’whileathirdexclaimed，withasigh，’IfIhadbuthadaroundcoppervesselofsufficientstrength，Iwouldhavefixedmercurywithsilver。’Therewasnotoneamongthemwhohadnotsomeexcuseforhisfailure；butIwasdeaftoalltheirspeeches。Ididnotwanttopartwithmymoneytoanyofthem，rememberinghowoftenIhadbeenthedupeofsuchpromises。
“AGreekatlastpresentedhimself；andwithhimIworkedalongtimeuselesslyuponnails，madeofcinabar，orvermilion。IwasalsoacquaintedwithaforeigngentlemannewlyarrivedinParis，andoftenaccompaniedhimtotheshopsofthegoldsmiths，tosellpiecesofgoldandsilver，theproduce，ashesaid，ofhisexperiments。Istuckcloselytohimforalongtime，inthehopethathewouldimparthissecret。Herefusedforalongtime，butacceded，atlast，onmyearnestentreaty，andIfoundthatitwasnothingmorethananingenioustrick。Ididnotfailtoinformmyfriend，theAbbe，whomI