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Book III.

Of MINERALS.

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the Pilots where they are. The White Mag-net alfo, being of great Virtue, is muchfought after, but feldom met with j and inits Place is fold a wonhlefs Sort of Marie,or white Earth, found flicking to the com-mon Load-Stone, but eafily diftinguilh'd fromthe ttue White, which is of a Sort of grey-ifh White, ponderous, and attracts Iron as for-cibly as that of Ethiopia, which that which isfold for it cannot do ; bsfides, the Cheap-nefs futficiently argues its being fpurious ; wetherefore are obhg'd to content ourfelveswith fuch as are brought from divers Places,particularly from Auvergne, which we canhardly get ten Groats a Pound for; muchlefs cou'd we be able to fell "em at the Price ofgenuine Stones, which foine have exchang'dfor their Weight in Gold ; but tho' we findmuch Fault with what we fell 'em, it does notfollow but there are fome good, though inTruth you'll fcarcely meet with above tenamongft a Thoufand. However, tholeof ours that can raife fmall Needles, ormake the Filings of Iron move upon aPlate, by only pjfllng the Stone along under-neath, without Touching it, or has Forceenough to make Steel-Duft flick to, whenthrown upon it, may very well ferve for anymedicinal Ufe, and for the Emplaftrum Di-vinum, which is its chief Ufe therein.

Magnes Lapis H:racliut, LapisLemery. Syderitis, Lapis ISattticus, or theLoad-Stone, is a Compact, hardMineral Stone, pretty heavy, and of a blackor brown Colour, or obfcure B'ue, which isfound in Iron or Copper Mines. The beltis found in India and Ethiopia ; but it is like-wife brought from Italy, Sweden, and Ger-many ; it has a great many excellent Proper-ties, both for liavellers and Artifts, whichare too tedious to relate. The moft valuableMagnet is that which attracts the greateftWeight of Iron. I have feen feveral Timesa Load Stone no bigger than a common Ap-ple that wou'd attract and fufpend a Bar ofIron that weigh'd twenty-two Pounds: ThisStone was fold for a hundred Piftols.

They make the Load-Stone one of the In-gredients in the Compofition of Plaifters ap-propriated to Wounds that are made with aSword, where they think fome Pieces may bekit behind ; for they believe that the Load-stone which.is in the Plaifter, attracts and

draws the Iron out of the Wound, tho' allthe Virtue in the Load-Stone cou'd never pro-duce this Effect : For firft of all, being pow-der'd finely, as it ought to be, it lofes all itsForce of Attraction: And, fecondly, beingmix'd in the Plaiftet, tho' its Virtue fhou'd.remain, it wou'd not have Power to act, be-ing confin'd by the Vifcidity of the Gumsand Rofins. There is a white Load-Stone,but it is very fcarce ; it ought to be of agreyiih White, heavy and attractive. Allthele Stones are aftringent, and flop Blood,outwardly apply'd.

3. Of Natural Cadmia, or CalaminareStone.

/^Admia, or Calamine Stone, or Lapis

^ Calaminaris, is a Mineral, where- Pomet,

of there are two Sorts, grey and

red.

The Firft is not unlike grey Bole, only'tis harder ; it is found in Germany and Eng-land, near the Lead Mines, and alfo nearLiege.

The fecond Sort is alfo a Stone of a red-dilh Colour, interlac'd with white, hard,heavy Veins, full of round hard Grains, theBignefs of Pepper: Thefe Stones are found ingreat Plenty in Berry, near Bourge and Saumur,where there are whole Quarries of them,and are of fo little Value, that one may havewhat Quantity he will for the Digging : Theymay be had alfo in many other Places; butfince thofe of Berry aforefaid are as good asany , 'tis not worth While to have thembrought from more diftant Places.

This Stone is of fome fmall Ufe in Medi-cine, in fome galenical Compolitions, forwhich it ought to be prepar'd upon a Por-phyry, and made into Troches, with Rofe-Water, and is what the Apothecaries call La-pis Calaminaris.

As for the firft Sort, how genuine foever,it is of very fmall Ufe in Phylick ; its chicfeitbeing to turn red Copper into yellow, which 'is calPd Leion, or Yellow Brafs.

Cadmia, in Arabic\, Clinia, velChilimia , in Englijh, C.tdmy , Lemery,is a Mineral Subftance, whereofthere are two general Kinds, one nature).,and the other artificial, the Natural is me-

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