3*4

General Btfiory o/DRUGGS.

Vol. II.

which when dry'd ferves to provoke to vomit.The Dofe whereof is from four to fix Grainsin Broth or Pills. Let it not feem ftrangethat I enlarge not more upon the ChymicalProcefs, fince it's hardly to he allow'd Mer-chants fo to do ; and feeing Mijjieurs Cbaras,Glacer, and Lemery, have fo amply done italready.

2. Of the Load-Stone.

Pomet. 'THE Load-Stone, according to■*■ fome Authors, is a black Mine-ral Stone, and is endu'd with furprifing Qua-lities ; fuch as Directing irs Poles towards theNorth and South, its Attracting Iron or Steel,and the Communicating its Virtue to it by theTouch. It is found in almoft all Sorts of Mines,more efpecially in thofe of Copper and Iron,of whofe Nature it participates. A good Load-Stone is very folid, not porous, nor veryheavy, and of an homogeneous Subftance,of the Colour of Water, or a Ihining Black,and fometimes of a Grey or oblcure Blue,inclining to Red. Obferve that the Virtue•which the Load-Stone communicates to Steelis loft when the Figure of it is alter'd, whe-ther it be with a Hammer or one's Fingers,as may be feen with a ftraight or crookedNeedle, after it has been touch'd, as FatherGrimaldi takes Notice of in his Phyficks.The Load-Stone that attracts Iron very forci-bly, is cali'd a generous or noble Stone. TheWay of keeping it is in a dry Place, wrap'din fcarlet Cloth, or rather to preferve itsVirtue, to hang it up by its Equator, with aCat's Gut, that it may have its free Tenden-cy to the South. If it chance to fall it lofesfomething of its Strength fox a While : ItsPoles are found by applying to it a commonNeedle j for the Pointing of the two Endsfhews the Places of them. It isfaid this Stonetaken inwardly intoxicates and renders ftu-pid ; and that its Antidote, or Counter-Poi-fon, is Gold or Emral'd Stone. Matthiolustells you, that red Brafs melted with fomeof this Stone becomes as white as Silver, af-ter the fame Manner as Copper does of agolden Colour, with Lapis Calaminaris.Pliny fays Dinocrates the Alexandrian beganto vault the Temple of Alfinoe with Load-&tone, in order to have his own Statue, which

was made all of Iron, fufpended in the Air :The fame Thing, and with the like Truth,has been affirm'd of Mahomet's Tem-ple : It is cali'd in Latin Magnes, from aShepherd nam'd Magnet, that bappen'd todifcover it upon Mount Ida, by hitting uponit with the Iron of his Sheep-crook, accord-ing to Nicander; It is alfo cali'd LapisLydius, or Heraclins, becaufe found in Hera-clea a City of Magnejia , which belongs toLydia : In French it has the Name of L'Ai-mant, from its Love or Attraction of Iron.It is befides cali'd Lapis Herculis, becaufe itdirects to find out the Ways, over which Her-cules, by Antiquity, was laid to be the pre-siding Divinity : And, laftly Sideritis, fromits Adhefion to Iron, which the Greeks callSyderos.

Befides the fore-mentioned Sort of Load-Stone, the Abbot de Vallemont, in his Trea-tife, tells us of another, which he found upoathe Top of Chartres Steeple in the Year 1691,and which he had experienc'd to attract Iron,and to direct its Poles North and South, andto have the fame Declination as the ordinaryLoad-Stone. It were to be wiih'd therefore,that it cou'd be oftner met with and foughtafter amongft the Ruins of old Buildings, itcertain!) being of a very extraordinary Na-ture. Mr. de Vallemont has fhewn me one of'em of a furprifing Excellency and Force,in attracting Iron of a great Weight. Iwou'd willingly enlarge upon this Sort ofLoad Stone were it more common, but it isvery fcarce j and fince the King has had oneprefe/ited to him, it is fought after with greatDiligence, therewithal to adorn the Cabinetof the Virtiiofis: However, I refer the Cu-rious to Mr. Vallemont's aforefaid Treatife,who has oblig'd the Publick with the De-fcription of this Load-Stone, and explain'dhow it was form'd by Nature in the forefaidPlace. There is a third Sort, but very rarealfo, which is what we call Winte Calamin,or the (Vhite Load Stone. There is more-over a fourrh Sort, very Sequent and com-mon amongft us, being no better than aSort of Drofs of Iron, but what is common-ly fold, as well becaufe the true black Ethio-pick one by Reafon of ics great Excellency,is fo fcarce, as that we cannot fliift withoutit, efpecialJy thole that go to Sea, becaufe italways tends towards the North, and fhews

the