General Hijlory o/DRUGGS.

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to be cut; and when divided , compact inthe Infide, and not gritty, of a fine- cloieGrain, in moderate Pieces, rather long, pro-per to cut, and make the lone Pencils thatare fo much efteem'd. Lead of thefe Quali-ties wants for no Price, the Merchant mayhave what he pleafes, being much fought forby Architects and other Perfons for Drawing.This Sort of Lead comes generally fromEngland, but as for the Common it is broughtfrom Holland, and is of no great Ul'e.

Mdtjfieur Morin, Phyfician and Minera-lift, has affur'd me that there were a greatmany Lead Mines in France, efpecially inAuvergne, from whence we might have thefethree Sons of I ead, and this may be reliedupon, he being aPerfon that would not affirman Untruth.

Of Lead in Pigs,

They call Lead in Pigs the Lead Mineral,melted and purified from the Stone and otherImpurities, which being well refin'd, byfcuming and throwing Suet, or other Greafeinto it, iscaftinto Moulds to make Pigs ofdifferent Sizes.

The Lead fo refin'd, to have its due Re-quifites, fhould be foft, that is to fay, eafyto cur, pliant, and the moft white and fhin-ing that can be. The different Ufes that aremade of Lead, as well in feveral Trades,as in Chymical Operations, is the Rea-fon of fo large a Confutnpticn as there is.of it, as well in Europe, as other Parts of the."World.

Of Lead in Powder.

The firft Preparation that is made of Lead,is the Reducing it to Powder, not in the Man-ner fome Apothecaries ufe to reduce it, byrafping it and beating it in a Mortar; bur bymelting Lead m an Earthen or Iron Vellii ,and when it is melted by throwing into itthe Duft of beaten Charcoal, ftirring it a-bout, and in this Manner ycu may foonerreduce into Powder a thouiand Weight ofLead, than one Ounce the other Way. Toclean the Lead, that is to ieparate the Coalfrom it, you have nothing to do but to walhit in Water, and dry ir. Lead in Powder isvery little us'd but by the Potters, who ufe

Vol. II.

it as Lead Mineral for glazing their Earthen

Ware.

Lead In Powder, efpecially that which is in

a Powder almGft impalpable, has fome Ufein Medicine, becaufe it is an Ingredient in

fome Oyntments, as the Pompholyx and o-thers. They which refine Lead and makeMufquet Bullets, or fmall Shot, fend us theirScum, which we fell to the Potters, and iswhat we call Scum cr Lead-dfhcs.

Of Burnt Lead.

"Burnt Lead, which the Latins call Plum-bum ZJflum, is Plates of Lead put into aPot with Sulphur, and by the Fire the Leadis redue'd to a brown Powder.

Burnt Lead has fome Ufe in Medicine, be-caufe it dries and is an Ingredient in fomeOyntments and Plaifters As to its Choice,there is no more to be laid than that it beclean and well burnt : Some wafh it to fepa-rate the Impurities, or the Sulphur that re-mains in ir.

Of Red Lead.

The I{ed Lead, which we call Minium, isLead Oar pulveriz'd, calcin'd, and redue'dro fuch a J\ed PcxvJer as we fee it. It iswrong to think that the l{cd Lead which isbrought from England is made of the PigLead, the Cheapnefs of it flews it to beotherwife, and that it is made from the LeadOar as it comes from the Mine : Befides, tfcePig Lead will never come to that Rednefsas Mineral Lead, whatever Fire you gneto it.

Minium ought to be chofe for its high Co-lour, the fineft Powder, and cleandt thatcan be, and Care muft b e taken that it hasnot been wafh'd, which will be known by itswhirifh Colour, and the little Lumps thatare commonly in it. One may draw Mer-cury, from Minium, with Lime or File-Duft ;but it is in fo fmall a Quantity, that it isfcarce worth fpeaking of.

The t\ed Lead is of fome fmall Ufe in Me-dicine, becaufe it is drying, and gives a Bo-dy to fome Oyntments and Plaifters. Pain-ters ufe it as well for painting Red, as tomix with other Colours to make themdry. Potters ufe a great Deal to glaze

their