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General El/lory of D R U G G S.

Vol. ir.

One may give what- Colour he pleafes tothe Imperial Powder, or Liver of Antimony,according to the Preparation, or accordingto the Saltpeter that is made ufe of; which itit be of the ordinary Sort will make it a littledarker, or upon the Liver Colour, more thanif it was of the beft and fineft Saltpeter ; andif you add decrepitated Salr, that is, fuch ashas been dry'd and half calcin'd, 'till it hasdone Crackling: 'twill be a good Red enough,inclining to that of Opal, and therefore ithas'obtain'd the Name of Magnefia Opalina,or ihe Ruby of Antimony.

Some make ufe of the white Drofs, aswell for Hories as to draw from it a Salt orfix'd Saltpeter with Water, which is a verygood Medicine for Horfes, and to which theName of Polychreflum, or general Remedyis therefore given ; both wafli'd, and otherCrocus Metallorum, is us'd in making theemetick Wine, which is done by putting theCrocus or Liver of Antimony in white Wine,and Infilling of it for twenty four Hours.

Of Diaphoretick Antimony.

Antimony Diaphoretick., or the Calx ofAntimony, is -the Antimony of Poiciou, andfineft Saltpeter incorporated together, madeinto a Powder by the Means of Fire andwarm Water ; which before it is quite dry isform'd into fmall Troches, and fo dry'd byDegrees and kept for Ufe. This Medicine isfometimes ns'd in Malign Fevers, where-fore feme prefcribe it in the Plague and othercontagious Difeafes, it being a Sudorifick,and an Expeller of the Virus; tho" there areothers very diffident of its Qualities, fup-pofing it to have no Manner of Virtus, be-ing only a Sort of Chalk, which I will notpretend to judge of, but leave it to the Phy-sicians to do it; who fince they fubftitute forit fuch Things as Men wou'd hardly believe,fuch as Cerufe, and the like, which oughtcarefully to be avoided, and may make onecareful to buy it only of faithful honeftMen ;for I know no certain Proof of ir, unlefs itbe that genuine Diaphoretick. Antimony, oughtto be excreamfy white, foft, brittle, andwholly void of all Tafte or Smell, beingperfect, y infipid. Some ingenious Men haveaifur'd me, that the Quality of this Medi-cine is cjiike alter'd by keeping : For where-

as, when newly made, it is diaphoretick,it becomes emetick when old, but this iswhat I have not experiene'd ; and be it howit will, the New ought always to be pre«fer'd.

Two Sorts of Salt may be drawn fromLotions made of it; but confidering thefmall Quantity that's to be obtain'd, I can-not advife any one to trouble himfelf a-bout it.

Of the Flowers of Antimony.

The Flowers of Antimony are made in Potsput upon one another, call'd Aludels, beinga Vapour rais'd by the Force of Fire, andfound in the Top of them in white Powder,which may be gather'd with a Feather. Note,If you make ufe of an Earthen Retort in-ftead of Aludeis, you'll have the Flowersred.

The Flowers of Antimony are efteem'd goodagainft the Epiiepfy and Intermitting Fevers,the Dofe is from two to fix Grains; and ofthe Red, being mors emetick from two tofour, taken with any Sort of Conferve, orLozenges, or in Broth. And I cannot burcbferve, by the By, that a Man ought notto deal in chymical Medicines, without Ad-vice of a faithful and experiene'd Phyfician ;Empericks killing more than the Sword.How effe&al foever a chymical Preparationmay be, aptly and duly taken, it may be al-together as pernicious unfealonably pre-fcrib'd.

Of the Butter and Cinnabar of Antimony,

The Butter and Cinnabar of Antimony a rifefrom the fame Matter, the Degrees of Fireonly making the Difference : The Matterthen is a Mixture of Antimony and corrofiveSublimate put into a Retort. That whichcomes over firft is a tranfparent Oil, next anOil as thick as Wax, which being weljwrought 'tis like white Sugar-Candy j and thethird Sort produe'd by the Violence and Force-of the Fire, is a reddifli Matter in finall Nee-dles, pretty much refembling Mineral Cinna-bar, from whence it has its Name.

This Butter of Antimony is a ftrong Cau-ftick, but its principal Ufe is to make theAngelick Powder, as will be feen heieafter ;

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