Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

[bi3mw]

My question is: Was there an alchemist before Paracelsus who permanently introduced salt as a basic substance? Paracelsus had probably adopted the "tria prima" doctrine from the book of the Holy Trinity by the Franciscan Ulmannus. As far as I know, however, the book had no widespread effect in his time. It was Paracelsus who first spread the idea that the formless primary substance, the iliaster, was organized according to sulphur, mercury and salt. Is this correct ?