Although none of Mary's writings have survived, some quotations credited to her are found in hermetic writings. The most notable of these are found in "The Dialogue of Mary and Aros on the Magistery of Hermes," which is an extract made by an anonymous Christian philosopher. Operations are described in this document which would later become the basis of alchemy, such as "leukosis" (whitening) and "xanthosis" (yellowing). The document describes, for the first time, an acid salt and other acids. There are also several recipes for making gold from plants (mandragora, for example).