The short alchemical treatise entitled A Short Inquiry concerning the Hermetic Art, written by an anonymous initiate under the pseudonym "The Lover of Philaletes", was published in London in 1714. It is one of the most interesting alchemical texts of the 18th century.
«This Art, of bringing all Imperfect Metals to Perfection, hath been asserted for Truth, by Men of almost every Degree, in most Ages of the World; many of whose Books are extant». «Know for certain also, that this Art is not placed in Fortune, or casual Invention, but in real Science; and that there is but this one Matter in the World, by which, and of which, the Philosopher's Stone is made, viz., the Mercury of the Philosophers».