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Book III. Of MIN

make Separation of it after the ordinary Me-thod.

The TeSovn Orpine is found to be of diffe-rent Colours, wherefore 'tis that the Dutchand Englifh fend it to us in fuch Variety ofForms and Figures, buc the beft and modvaluable is in rhick Pieces, and in handfomebright Scales, gilt, as it were, with Geld, andwhich eafily exfoliate, that is to fay, whichwithout much ado are feparated and dividedinto thin Lamina: or Scales, gliftering likeGold.

A fecond Requifice in the Yellow Orpine is,that ic be half yellow, half red, that is fullof reddifh Veins ; fo that which is in fmallStones, and of a greeniSh Yellow, is utterlyto be rejected, being nothing but mereEarth, as well as that which is in Powder.

Orpiment is made much ufe of by Perfonsof Several Profeflions, especially at Upt'ten, todye their Wood Yellow, of which theymake Combs and fell 'em for Box : Far-riers ufe it upon feveral Occafions, as alioPainters when it is ground j 'tis one of thegreaceft Poifons we have, therefore we oughtto take Care to whom we fell it.

'Tis this fame reddifh natural Orpiment,which ought to be denominated the Sanda'rach of Greece, and not the following, asmoft Authors have written ; for the red facti-tious Orpine is made of this, as I'm going tomake appear.

Of Red Orpine, or Ratsbane.

Red Orpine, which we ordinarily call RedArfenick, as Mr. Morin, a Phyfician of theFaculty of Mmtpellier, has aflur'd me, ismade of the >etlow Orpiment, as it is drawnout of the Mines, by heating ic in the Fire'till it has acquir'd a red Colour ; and after-wards putting it into a Crucible with Lin-feed Oil, or Sallec Oil, or Nut Oil, evapo-rating the Oil ; then adding more, and pro-ceeding after the fame Manner 'till the Or-piment becomes vitrified, and fie to be caftinto Moulds of the Form of a Cake, andredue'd to a Stone as we fee it: This Prc-cefs feeming very fealible, I was willing toattempt, but could not Succeed in it; for theOrpiment, inftead of Red, became calcin'dand white, altogether like Piaifter : But tho'I could not, yet I won't lay the Thing can'c

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be done. Mr. Morin being a Man of toomuch Honour to affirm a Thing he did notcertainly know to be true.

Yet however this be, Orpine or Red Arfe-nick ought to be chofen in thick heavy Pieces,and as high colour'd as poflible.

^ed Orpine is but little made ufe of, ex-cept when ground into a fillamot Colour byPainters.

II.

Of Natural White Arfenick.

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Wee Natural Arfenick, is a Mi-neral pretty much refembling Pomet.the common or factitious White Ar-fenick., only it is whiter, and more refplen-dent, but not fo fcaly : This Mineral, orNatural Wlrite Arfenick, is found alfo inCopper Mines, and when Miners meet withit, 'tis a certain Indication to tbem that Cop-per is near; it is found generally in the In-terflieia between the true Spar and fat Earth,and fometimes ic is met with in Separate Pie-ces amongft the dry Clay. This Arfenicl^isvery little known, and little us'd.

Of the White Factitious Arfenick.

Though I have taken fome Pains to difco-ver what this White Arfenick, that we fell is,yet it has not been in my Power to inform myfelf, fo that lam fore'd, to reft my lelf con-tented, and to fay with others, that it is aCompofition of Orpiment and common Saltfubhm'd together; which does not f+and toRealon, Since if it were So, I aon't See howthe Dutch cou'd pofibly Sell it ac the Pricethey do; Sor Arfenick., in Times of Peace,at Paris, is no: worth above Sixteen cr l'even-teen Shillings the Hundred, which wou'dbring Arfenick,, and what 'tis made up of toa Matter of a Halfpenny a Pound : But notknowing what to determine in this Matter,I will only remark that it ought to be chofenin thick Pieces, white within and without:Moft of what we have from Holland is whiteand rough without, and if you break it tran-sparent like unto GlaSs within, which gaveOccafion to the Ancients to call it CrjjlallineArfenick,, which is in mighty Requeft at thisDay with fome, but by others undervaluedand rejected.Vol. II. U Arfenick

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