Prima materia,

"Materia prima. Materia ultima. Prima Ens. Prote hyle. Materia nostra. Materia secunda. Materia prima Hermetika. The alchemists meant the material by these terms out of which they intended to compose the "stone of wisdom". They held of it as a transparent, pure light or life; other times they thought it was an invisible creature, a spiritual flame or a fiery spirit that is present everywhere but one body has more of it than the other. The first task of the alchemists was to find the material that contains the most."

(László Szathmáry: Magyar alkémisták. [Hungarian alchemists] Bp. M. Kir. Természettud. Társulat kiad. 1926-28 évi ciklus 2. kötete).