Chaps. 26-36.

Chap. 26. (5.)—Chrysocolla.

Chrysocolla [It has been supposed by some, that the “Chrysocolla” of the ancients, as well as the “Cæruleum,” mentioned in c. of this Book, were the produce of cobalt; but the more generally received opinion is that “chrysocolla” (gold-solder) was green verditer, or mountain-green, carbonate and hydrocarbonate of copper, green and blue, substances which are sometimes found in gold mines, but in copper mines more particularly. It must not be confounded with the modern chrysocolla or Borax.] is a liquid which is found in the shafts already mentioned, [In Chapter of this Book.] flowing through the veins of gold; a kind of slime which becomes indurated by the cold of winter till it has attained the hardness even of pumice. The most esteemed kind of it, it has been ascertained, is found in copper-mines, the next best being the produce of silver-mines: it is found also in lead-mines, but that found in combination with gold ore is much inferior.

In all these mines, too, an artificial chrysocolla is manufactured; much inferior, however, to the native chrysocolla. The method of preparing it consists in introducing water gradually into a vein of metal, throughout the winter and until the month of June; after which, it is left to dry up during the months of June and July: so that, in fact, it is quite evident that chrysocolla is nothing else but the putrefaction of a metallic vein. Native chrysocolla, known as “uva,” differs from the other in its hardness more particularly; and yet, hard as it is, it admits of being coloured with the plant known as “lutum.” [The “Reseda luteola,” Dyer’s weed, or Wild woad. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 478-481, where the identity of the Chrysocolla of the ancients is discussed at considerable length.] Like flax and wool, it is of a nature which imbibes liquids. For the purpose of dyeing it, it is first bruised in a mortar, after which, it is passed through a fine sieve. This done, it is ground, and then passed through a still finer sieve; all that refuses to pass being replaced in the mortar, and subjected once more to the mill. The finest part of the powder is from time to time measured out into a crucible, where it is macerated in vinegar, so that all the hard particles may be dissolved; after which, it is pounded again, and then rinsed in shell-shaped vessels, and left to dry. This done, the chrysocolla is dyed by the agency of schist alum [As to the identity of this substance, see B. xxxv. c..] and the plant above-mentioned; and thus is it painted itself before it serves to paint. It is of considerable importance, too, that it should be absorbent and readily take the dye: indeed, if it does not speedily take the colour, scytanum and turbistum [These drugs have not been identified.] are added to the dye; such being the name of two drugs which compel it to absorb the colouring matter.

Chap. 27.—The Use Made of Chrysocolla in Painting.

When chrysocolla has been thus dyed, painters call it “orobitis,” and distinguish two kinds of it, the cleansed [“Elutam.” Though this is the reading given by the Bamberg MS., “luteam” seems preferable; a name owing, probably, to its being coloured with the plant “lutum,” as mentioned at the end of this Chapter.] orobitis, [So called, probably, from being made up into little balls resembling the “orobus” or vetch.] which is kept for making lomentum, [A powder, probably, prepared from “cæruleum.” See the end of the present, and Chapter of this Book. Littré renders the words “in lomentum,” kept “in the form of powder,” without reference to the peculiar pigment known as “lomentum.”] and the liquid, the balls being dissolved for use by evaporation. [“Sudore resolutis.”] Both these kinds are prepared in Cyprus, [A strong proof that chrysocolla was a preparation from copper, and not cobalt. Copper owes its name to the Isle of Cyprus, in which it was found in great abundance. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 480. Bohn’s Edition.] but the most esteemed is that made in Armenia, the next best being that of Macedonia: it is Spain, however, that produces the most. The great point of its excellence consists in its producing exactly the tint of corn when in a state of the freshest verdure. [The colour now known by painters as Emerald green.] Before now, we have seen, at the spectacles exhibited by the Emperor Nero, the arena of the Circus entirely sanded with chrysocolla, when the prince himself, clad in a dress of the same colour, was about to exhibit as a charioteer. [As a “trigarius.” See B. xxviii. c. 72, and B. xxix. c. 5. From Suetonius, c. 18, we learn that the Emperor Caligula, also, had the Circus sanded with minium and chrysocolla. Ajasson is of opinion that the chrysocolla thus employed was a kind of yellow mica or talc.]

The unlearned multitude of artisans distinguish three kinds of chrysocolla; the rough chrysocolla, which is valued at seven denarii per pound; the middling, worth five denarii; and the bruised, also known as the “herbaceous” chrysocolla, worth three denarii per pound. Before laying on the sanded [“Arenosam.” He alludes, probably, to the kind previously mentioned as “aspera” or “rough chrysocolla.”] chrysocolla, they underlay coats of atramentum [For its identification, see B. xxxiv. cc.,.] and parætonium, [See B. xxxv. cc.,.] substances which make it hold, and impart a softness to the colours. The parætonium, as it is naturally very unctuous, and, from its smoothness, extremely tenacious, is laid on first, and is then covered with a coat of atramentum, lest the parætonium, from its extreme whiteness, should impart a paleness to the chrysocolla. The kind known as “lutea,” derives its name, it is thought, from the plant called “lutum;” which itself is often pounded with cæruleum [Making a spurious kind of “lomentum,” possibly, a pigment mentioned in c. of this Book. This passage seems to throw some light, upon the words “in lomentum,” commented upon in Note above.] instead of real chrysocolla, and used for painting, making a very inferior kind of green and extremely deceptive. [As to durability, probably.]

Chap. 28.—Seven Remedies Derived from Chrysocolla.

Chroysocolla, too, is made use of in medicine. In combination with wax and oil, it is used as a detergent for wounds; and used by itself in the form of a powder, it acts as a desiccative, and heals them. In cases, too, of quinsy and hardness of breathing, chrysocolla is prescribed, in the form of an electuary, with honey. It acts as an emetic also, and is used as an ingredient in eye-salves, for the purpose of effacing cicatrizations upon the eyes. In green plasters too, it is used, for soothing pain and making scars disappear. This kind of chrysocolla [It was the mineral, probably, in an unprepared state.] is known by medical men as “acesis,” and is altogether different from orobitis.

Chap. 29.—The Chrysocolla of the Goldsmiths, Known Also as Santerna.

The goldsmiths also employ a chrysocolla [Gold-glue or gold-solder.] of their own, for the purpose of soldering gold; and it is from this chrysocolla, they say, that all the other substances, which present a similar green, have received their name. This preparation is made from verdigris of Cyprian copper, the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, and a portion of nitre. [See B. xxxi. c. 46, as to the “nitrum” of Pliny. Galen, in describing the manufacture of “santerna,” omits the nitre as an ingredient.] It is then pounded with a pestle of Cyprian copper, in a copper mortar, and the name given to the mixture is “santerna.” It is in this way that the gold known as “silvery” [“Argentosum.” The “electrum,” probably, mentioned in c. 23.] gold is soldered; one sign of its being so alloyed being its additional brilliancy on the application of santerna. If, on the other hand, the gold is impregnated with copper, it will contract, on coming in contact with the santerna, become dull, and only be soldered with the greatest difficulty: indeed, for this last kind of gold, there is a peculiar solder employed, made of gold and one-seventh part of silver, in addition to the materials above-mentioned, the whole beaten up together.

Chap. 30.—The Marvellous Operations of Nature in Soldering Metallic Substances, and Bringing Them to a State of Perfection.

While speaking on this subject, it will be as well to annex the remaining particulars, that our admiration may here be drawn to all the marvels presented by Nature in connection therewith. The proper solder for gold is that above described; for iron, potter’s clay; for copper, when in masses, cadmia, [As to the “cadmia” of Pliny, see B. xxxiv. c..] and in sheets, alum; for lead and marble, resin. Lead is also united by the aid of white lead; [“Plumbum album.” Tin, most probably. See B. xxxiv. cc.,,. Also Beckmann’s Hist. Inv., Vol. II. p. 219, Bohn’s Edition.] white lead with white lead, by the agency of oil; stannum, with copper file-dust; and silver, with stannum. [Of doubtful identity. See B. xxxiv. c..]

For smelting copper and iron, pine-wood is the best, Egyptian papyrus being also very good for the purpose. Gold is melted most easily with a fire made of chaff. [See Chapter of this Book.] Limestone and Thracian stone [“Thracius lapis.” This stone, which is mentioned also by Nicander, Galen, Simplicius, and Dioscorides, has not been identified. Holland has the following Note on this passage: “Which some take for pit-cole, or sea-cole rather, such as commeth from Newcastle by sea; or rather, a kind of jeat (jet).” In either case, he is probably wide of the mark, neither coal nor jet igniting on the application of water.] are ignited by the agency of water, this last being extinguished by the application of oil. Fire, however, is extinguished most readily by the application of vinegar, viscus, [Or mistletoe.] and unboiled eggs. Earth will under no circumstance ignite. When charcoal has been once quenched, and then again ignited, it gives out a greater heat than before.

Chap. 31. (6.)—Silver.

After stating these facts, we come to speak of silver ore, the next [In due succession to gold.] folly of mankind. Silver is never found but in shafts sunk deep in the ground, there being no indications to raise hopes of its existence, no shining sparkles, as in the case of gold. The earth in which it is found is sometimes red, sometimes of an ashy hue. It is impossible, too, to melt [See B. xxxiv. cc.,.] it, except in combination with lead [“Plumbum nigrum”—“Black lead,” literally: so called by the ancients, in contradistinction to “plumbum album,” “white lead,” our “tin,” probably.] or with galena, [Lead ore; identified with “molybdæna” in B. xxxiv. c.. Native sulphurate of lead is now known as “galena.” See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 211, where this passage is commented upon.] this last being the name given to the vein of lead that is mostly found running near the veins of the silver ore. When submitted, too, to the action of fire, part of the ore precipitates itself in the form of lead, [This Beckmann considers to be the same as the “galena” above mentioned; half-vitrified lead, the “glätte” of the Germans.] while the silver is left floating on the surface, [The specific gravity of lead is 11.352, and of silver only 10.474.] like oil on water.

Silver is found in nearly all our provinces, but the finest of all is that of Spain; where it is found, like gold, in uncultivated soils, and in the mountains even. Wherever, too, one vein of silver has been met with, another is sure to be found not far off: a thing that has been remarked, in fact, in the case of nearly all the metals, which would appear from this circumstance to have derived their Greek name of “metalla.” [From the words μετ’ ἄλλα, “one after another.”] It is a remarkable fact, that the shafts opened by Hannibal [It is supposed that these shafts were in the neighbourhood of Castulo, now Cazlona, near Linares in Spain. It was at Castulo that Hannibal married his rich wife Himilce; and in the hills north of Linares there are ancient silver mines still known its Los Pozos de Anibal.] in the Spanish provinces are still worked, their names being derived from the persons who were the first to discover them. One of these mines, which at the present day is still called Bæbelo, furnished Hannibal with three hundred pounds’ weight of silver per day. The mountain is already excavated for a distance of fifteen hundred [A mile and a half.] paces; and throughout the whole of this distance there are water-bearers [The proper reading here, as suggested by Sillig, is not improbably “aquatini,” “water-carriers.” That, however, found in the MSS. is “Aquitani;” but those were a people, not of Spain, but of Gaul. Hardouin suggests that “Accitani” may be the correct reading, a people of that name in Spain being mentioned in B. iii. c. 5.] standing night and day, baling out the water in turns, regulated by the light of torches, and so forming quite a river.

The vein of silver that is found nearest the surface is known by the name of “crudaria.” [Meaning “raw” silver, apparently.] In ancient times, the excavations used to be abandoned the moment alum [“Alumen.” See B. xxxv. c..] was met with, and no further [Kircher speaks of this being still the case in his time.] search was made. Of late, however, the discovery of a vein of copper beneath alum, has withdrawn any such limits to man’s hopes. The exhalations from silver-mines are dangerous to all animals, but to dogs more particularly. The softer they are, the more beautiful gold and silver are considered. It is a matter of surprise with most persons, that lines traced [See Chapter of this Book.] with silver should be black.

Chap. 32.—Quicksilver.

There is a mineral also found in these veins of silver, which yields a humour that is always [“Vomica liquoris æterni.” Mercury or quicksilver becomes solidified and assumes a crystalline texture at 40° below zero. It is found chiefly in the state of sulphuret, which is decomposed by distillation with iron or lime. It is also found in a native state.] liquid, and is known as “quicksilver.” [“Argentum vivum,” “living silver.”] It acts as a poison [Ajasson thinks that this is not to be understood literally, but that Pliny’s meaning is, that mercury is a universal dissolvent.] upon everything, and pierces vessels even, making its way through them by the agency of its malignant properties. [“Permanans tabe dirâ.”] All substances float upon the surface of quicksilver, with the exception of gold, [The specific gravity of mercury is 13.598, that of hammered gold 19.361. Platinum is only a recent discovery.] this being the only substance that it attracts to itself. [“Id unum ad se trahit.”] Hence it is, that it is such an excellent refiner of gold; for, on being briskly shaken in an earthen vessel with gold, it rejects all the impurities that are mixed with it. When once it has thus expelled these superfluities, there is nothing to do but to separate it from the gold; to effect which, it is poured out upon skins that have been well tawed, and so, exuding through them like a sort of perspiration, it leaves the gold in a state of purity behind. [“The first use of quicksilver is commonly reckoned a Spanish invention, discovered about the middle of the sixteenth century; but it appears from Pliny, that the ancients were acquainted with amalgam and its use, not only for separating gold and silver from earthy particles, but also for gilding.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv., Vol. I. p. 15. Bohn’s Edition.]

Hence it is, too, that when copper has to be gilded, [See the description of the mode of gilding, given in Chapter of this Book. Beckmann has the following remarks on the present passage: “That gold-leaf was affixed to metals by means of quicksilver, with the assistance of heat, in the time of Pliny, we are told by himself in more passages than one. The metal to be gilded was prepared by salts of every kind, and rubbed with pumice-stone in order to clean it thoroughly (see Chapter 20), and to render the surface a little rough. This process is similar to that used at present for gilding with amalgam, by means of heat, especially as amalgamation was known to the ancients. But, to speak the truth, Pliny says nothing of heating the metal after the gold is applied, or of evaporating the quicksilver, but of drying the cleaned metal before the gold is laid on. Had he not mentioned quicksilver, his gilding might have been considered as that with gold leaf by means of heat, dorure en feuille à feu, in which the gold is laid upon the metal after it has been cleaned and heated, and strongly rubbed with blood-stone, or polished steel. Felibien (Principes de l’Architecture. Paris, 1676, p. 280) was undoubtedly right when he regretted that the process of the ancients, the excellence of which is proved by remains of antiquity, has been lost.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 294, 295. Bohn’s Edition.] a coat of quicksilver is laid beneath the gold leaf, which it retains in its place with the greatest tenacity: in cases, however, where the leaf is single, or very thin, the presence of the quicksilver is detected by the paleness of the colour. [Beckmann finds considerable difficulties in this description—“I acknowledge that this passage I do not fully comprehend. It seems to say that the quicksilver, when the gold was laid on too thin, appeared through it, but that this might be prevented by mixing with the quicksilver the white of an egg. The quicksilver then remained under the gold: a thing which is impossible. When the smallest drop of quicksilver falls upon gilding, it corrodes the noble metal, and produces an empty spot. It is, therefore, incomprehensible to me how this could be prevented by using the white of an egg. Did Pliny himself completely understand gilding? Perhaps he only meant to say that many artists gave out the cold-gilding, where the gold-leaf was laid on with the white of an egg, as gilding by means of heat.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 295.] For this reason, persons, when meditating a piece of fraud, have been in the habit of substituting glair of egg for quicksilver, and then laying upon it a coat of hydrargyros, a substance of which we shall make further mention in the appropriate place. [Chapter of this Book. See also Chapter 20, in Note, to which it has been mentioned as artificial quicksilver.] Generally speaking, quicksilver has not been found in any large quantities.

Chap. 33.—Stimmi, Stibi, Alabastrum, Larbasis, or Platyophthalmon.

In the same mines in which silver is found, there is also found a substance which, properly speaking, may be called a stone made of concrete froth. [He is speaking of Antimony.] It is white and shining, without being transparent, and has the several names of stimmi, stibi, alabastrum, [From its whiteness.] and larbasis. There are two kinds of it, the male and the female. [Under the name of “female stimmi,” Ajasson thinks that pure, or native, antimony is meant, more particularly the lamelliform variety, remarkable for its smoothness. He thinks it possible, also, that it may have derived its Greek name “larbason,” or “larbasis,” from its brittleness.] The latter kind is the more approved of, the male [Ajasson thinks that under this name, crude antimony or sulphuret of antimony may have been included; as also sulphuret of lead, sulphuret of antimony and copper, and sulphuret of antimony and silver; the last of which is often found covered with an opaque pellicle.] stimmi being more uneven, rougher to the touch, less ponderous, not so radiant, and more gritty. The female kind, on the other hand, is bright and friable, and separates in laminæ, and not in globules. [“Globis.” The fracture of sulphuret of antimony is, in reality, small subconchoïdal.]

Chap. 34.—Seven Remedies Derived Prom Stimmi.

Stimmi is possessed of certain astringent and refrigerative properties, its principal use, in medicine, being for the eyes. Hence it is that most persons call it “platyophthalmon,” [“Eye dilating.” Belladonna, a preparation from the Atropa belladonna, is now used in medicine for this purpose. A similar effect is attributed in B. xxv. c. 92, to the plant Anagallis. In reality, the application of prepared antimony would contract the eyelids, and so appear to enlarge the eyes. This property is peculiar, Ajasson remarks, to sulphuret of antimony, and sulphuret of antimony and silver.] it being extensively employed in the calliblepharic [Preparations “for beautifying the eyebrows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxv. c.. Omphale, the Lydian queen, who captivated Hercules, is represented by the tragic poet Ion, as using “stimmi” for the purposes of the toilet. It was probably with a preparation of antimony that Jezebel “painted her face, and tired her head.” 2 Kings, ix. 30. The “Kohl” used by the females in Egypt and Persia is prepared from antimony.] preparations of females, for the purpose of dilating the eyes. It acts also as a check upon fluxes of the eyes and ulcerations of those organs; being used, as a powder, with pounded frankincense and gum. It has the property, too, of arresting discharges of blood from the brain; and, sprinkled in the form of a powder, it is extremely efficacious for the cure of recent wounds and bites of dogs which have been some time inflicted. For the cure of burns it is remarkably good, mixed with grease, litharge, [“Spuma argenti.” See the next.] ceruse, and wax.

The method of preparing it, is to burn it, enclosed in a coat of cow-dung, in a furnace; which done, it is quenched with woman’s milk, and pounded with rain-water in a mortar. [According to Dioscorides, it was prepared as a cosmetic by enclosing it in a lump of dough, and then burning it in the coals till reduced to a cinder. It was then extinguished with milk and wine, and again placed upon coals, and blown till ignition.] While this is doing, the thick and turbid part is poured off from time to time into a copper vessel, and purified with nitre. [As to the “nitrum” of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46.] The lees of it, which are rejected, are recognized by their being full of lead and falling to the bottom. The vessel into which the turbid part has been poured off, is then covered with a linen cloth and left untouched for a night; the portion that lies upon the surface being poured off the following day, or else removed with a sponge. The part that has fallen to the bottom of the vessel is regarded as the choicest [“Flos”—literally the “flower.”] part, and is left, covered with a linen cloth, to dry in the sun, but not to become parched. This done, it is again pounded in a mortar, and then divided into tablets. But the main thing of all is, to observe such a degree of nicety in heating it, as not to let it become lead. [“From this passage we may infer that the metal antimony was occasionally seen by the ancients, though not recognized by them as distinct from lead.”—Dana’s System of Mineralogy, p. 418. New York, 1850.] Some persons, when preparing it on the fire, use grease [Pliny has here mistaken the sense of the word στέαρ, which in the passage of Dioscorides, B. v. c. 99, borrowed probably from the same source, evidently means dough, and not grease.] instead of dung. Others, again, bruise it in water and then pass it through a triple strainer of linen cloth; after which, they reject the lees, and pour off the remainder of the liquid, collecting all that is deposited at the bottom, and using it as an ingredient in plasters and eye-salves.

Chap. 35.—The Scoria of Silver. Six Remedies Derived from It.

The scoria of silver is called by the Greeks “helcysma.” [From ἕλκω, “to drag”—in consequence of its viscous consistency, Hardouin says.] It has certain restringent and refrigerative effects upon bodies, and, like molybdæna, of which we shall make further mention when speaking [In B. xxxiv. c..] of lead, is used as an ingredient in making plasters, those more particularly which are to promote the cicatrization of wounds. It is employed also for the cure of tenesmus and dysentery, being injected in the form of a clyster with myrtle-oil. It forms an ingredient, too, in the medicaments known as “liparæ,” [Cerates, adipose or oleaginous plasters. See B. xxiii. c. 81.] for the removal of fleshy excrescences in sores, ulcerations arising from chafing, or running ulcers on the head.

The same mines also furnish us with the preparation known as “scum of silver.” [“Spuma argenti.” This he uses as a general name for fused oxide of lead, the Litharge of commerce.] There are three [Ajasson thinks it possible that the “chrysitis,” or “golden” litharge, may have been the yellow deutoxide of lead; the argyritis, or “silver” litharge, the white variety of the same deutoxide; and the “molybditis,” or “leaden” litharge, a general name for sulphuret of lead and silver; of lead and antimony; of lead, antimony, and bismuth; and of lead, antimony, and copper. Or perhaps, he thinks, they may have been the respective names of yellow or golden litharge, white or silver litharge, and terne. With the latter opinion Delafosse seems to coincide.] varieties of it; the best, known as “chrysitis;” the second best, the name of which is “argyritis;” and a third kind, which is called “molybditis.” In most instances, too, all these tints are to be found in the same cake. [“Tubulis.” These cakes were probably made in a tubular form.]

The most approved kind is that of Attica; the next being that which comes from Spain. Chrysitis is the produce of the metallic vein, [“Vena;” meaning the ore probably in its raw state, and mixed with earth. All these distinctions are probably unfounded.] argyritis is obtained from the silver itself, and molybditis is the result of the smelting of lead, [See B. xxxiv. c..] a work that is done at Puteoli; to which last circumstance, in fact, molybditis owes its name. [Of “Puteolana.”] All these substances are prepared in the following manner: the metal is first melted, and then allowed to flow from a more elevated receiver into a lower. From this last it is lifted by the aid of iron spits, and is then twirled round at the end of the spit in the midst of the flames, in order to make it all the lighter. Thus, as may be easily perceived from the name, it is in reality the scum of a substance in a state of fusion—of the future metal, in fact. It differs from scoria in the same way that the scum of a liquid differs from the lees, the one [The litharge.] being an excretion thrown out by the metal while purifying itself, the other [The scoria.] an excretion of the metal when purified.

Some persons distinguish two kinds of scum of silver, and give them the names of “scirerytis” and “peumene;” [Nothing whatever is known as to the identity of these varieties of litharge. Indeed the words themselves are spelt in various ways in the respective MSS.] a third variety being molybdæna, of which we shall have to make further mention when treating of lead. [In B. xxxiv. c., where he identifies it with “galena,” mentioned in Chapter of this Book.] To make this scum fit for use, the cakes are again broken into pieces the size of a hazel-nut, and then melted, the fire being briskly blown with the bellows. For the purpose of separating the charcoal and ashes from it, it is then rinsed with vinegar or with wine, and is so quenched. In the case of argyritis, it is recommended, in order to blanch it, to break it into pieces the size of a bean, and then to boil it with water in an earthen vessel, first putting with it, wrapped in linen cloths, some new wheat and barley, which are left there till they have lost the outer coat. This done, they bruise the whole in mortars for six consecutive days, taking care to rinse the mixture in cold water three times a day, and after that, in an infusion of hot water and fossil salt, one obolus of the latter to every pound of scum: at the end of the six days it is put away for keeping in a vessel of lead.

Some persons boil it with white beans and a ptisan [See B. xviii. c. 13, B. xvi. c. 61, and B. xxii. c. 66.] of barley, and then dry it in the sun; others, again, with white wool and beans, till such time as it imparts no darkness to the wool; after which, first adding fossil [Sal gem, or common salt.] salt, they change the water from time to time, and then dry it during the forty hottest days of summer. In some instances the practice is, to boil it in water in a swine’s paunch, and then to take it out and rub it with nitre; after which, following the preceding method, they pound it in a mortar with salt. Some again never boil it, but pound it only with salt, and then rinse it with water.

Scum of silver is used as an ingredient in eye-salves, and, in the form of a liniment, by females, for the purpose of removing spots and blemishes caused by scars, as also in washes for the hair. Its properties are desiccative, emollient, refrigerative, temperative, and detergent. It fills up cavities in the flesh produced by ulceration, and reduces tumours. For all these purposes it is employed as an ingredient in plaster, and in the liparæ previously mentioned. [In this Chapter. See note above.] In combination with rue, myrtle, and vinegar, it removes erysipelas: and, with myrtle and wax, it is a cure for chilblains.

Chap. 36. (7.)—Minium: For What Religious Purposes It Was Used by the Ancients.

It is also in silver-mines that minium [The minium spoken of in this and the following Chapter is our Cinnabar, a bisulphurate of mercury. This ore is the great source of the mercury of commerce, from which it is obtained by sublimation. When pure, it is the same as the manufactured vermilion of commerce.] is found, a pigment held at the present day in very high estimation; and by the Romans in former times not only held in the highest estimation, but used for sacred purposes as well. Verrius enumerates certain authors, upon whose testimony we find it satisfactorily established that it was the custom upon festivals to colour the face of the statue of Jupiter even with minium, as well as the bodies [Intended, no doubt, to be typical of blood and carnage; and indicative of a very low state of civilization.] of triumphant generals; and that it was in this guise that Camillus celebrated his triumph. We find, too, that it is through the same religious motives that it is employed at the present day for colouring the unguents used at triumphal banquets, and that it is the first duty of the censors to make a contract for painting the statue of Jupiter [See B. xxxv. c..] with this colour.

For my own part, I am quite at a loss for the origin of this usage; but it is a well-known fact, that at the present day even, minium is in great esteem with the nations of Æthiopia, their nobles being in the habit of staining the body all over with it, and this being the colour appropriated to the statues of their gods. I shall therefore use all the more diligence in enquiring into all the known facts respecting it.