Book III.

Of MINERALS.

which then may be conveniently ferit whitheryon pleafe.

Formerly Was ro be met with in France,the Hungarian Antimony in Cakes or Loavesof three or four Pounds Weight, interwovenwith frrrall Needles running a-crofs eachother, of a golden yellowilh Colour, and atBottom white inclining towards that of Sil-ver. This Antimony was found in theMines of the Mountains belonging to Pres-burg, the Capital of the lower Hungary,where it was melted and made into the Figurewe find it. But this is now fo fcarce, that it'snext to an Iirtpoflibility to find out any of it.Thofe that have work'd upon this Sort ofAntimony have affur'd me, that 'twas muchfitter to yield whatever ufes to be obtain'dfrom Antimony than that of France ; andwithal, that from every Pound of it theycoa'd obtain two Ounces of better Mercurythan that of Spain.

In France we have feveral Sorts of Anti-mony, which differ only according as it isbetter or worfe cur'd : And the nexr beft toihat of Hungary is what we have brought fromSanmur in Anjou, whither it is fent purifiedfrom Ptsitou.

The Antimony of Poitou appears with finebeautiful Sort of Needles, long, large, white,fpafkling, light, and eafily broken, and withas little half-melted Antimony as may be,which refembles the Drofs of Iron, whichis-commonly found at the Bottom of the Loafm Scoria, and is call'd the Bottom or Top ofAntimony. This Defect, however, is fel-doffl found in the - Antimony of Poitou, byReafon they are well vers'd in Refining orMelting it j and this is the Sort of Antimo-ny that ihould be us'd in all the following O-perations, becaufe it abounds lefs with Sul-phur, and affords more of the I{rgu/us. Wehave had, for fome Time part, an Antimonyfrom Bretagne in fmall Needles very pure,and perfectly fit for the fame Purpoles asthat of Poitou. A third Sort is that we havefrom Auvergne, which in one Word is goodfor nothing, being very hard, full of Drofs,and in fmall Needles of a tawny Blue, whichmakes it evident that 'tis not half purified,nor divifted of its fetid and malign Sulphur,which gives Abundance of Trouble and Dif-ficulty to thofe that work upon it.

Befides the greac Number of chymical

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Medicines which are made of, or drawn fromAntimony, Abundance of Artificers ufe itboth to promote the Melting of Metals, andalfo to make the I^egulus, efpecially in Eng-land, whither we fend a great Pare to put intheir Pewter to make it the harder, whiter,and more founding : But I obferve, never-thelefs, that of late Years the Englifh don'tmake (o much ufe of it, becaufe inftead ofthe Hegulus of Antimony they ufe Tin-glafs;The Letter Founders for Printing ufe Anti-mony, to render their Lead the more durableand hard. Antimony melted, and boil'd ina Ptifan with Salfaparilla, Guaiacum, &c. isa certain Cure for the fecrec Difeale. Andhow much foever this Drugg has been con-demn'd and out of Ui'e in Times part, it isaltogether as much in Vogue now. Whenyou make ufe of it break it in fmall Pieces,or reduce it into a grofs Powder, and put itinto a Linnen Rag to be boil'd with otherThings. Some give the Powder inftead ofthe Liver of Antimony to their Horfes, andfay it has the fame Effect.

I (hall not lofe Time here to enter into aDifquifition, whether there be Male and Fe-male Antimony, as moft Authors affirm, andthat the Male is the coarfer, more fandy,fcaly and light, and confequently lefs effica-*cious than the Female, which is more pon-derous, bright colour'd, and more brittle ^for I have dealt a great deal in Antimony,and never knew any other Difference,but that of its Purification, And whenit is good it may ferve alike to all Pur-pofes, fo that I don't fee how there can be twoSorts.

Antimonium, five Stibium, orAntimony, is a Mineral approach- Lenutf,ing very near to a Metal, It isheavy, fhining, and in Chryftals, fhootinglike Needles, of a blackifh Colour, which isfound near the Mines of Metals in feveralPares of Europe, as Hungary, Tranfihania,Brit any, Poitou and Auvergne; they gee itin Pieces bigger or lefs, full of little hardStones or Pebbles, which the Workmen callGangue .- They take the cleareft, or thatwhich has leaft of the Gangue in it whenthey make ufe of it, for feveral prefer theMineral Antimony before that which is caftand purified,

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