lU

Vol. II.

BOOK the Fourth, of theSecond Volume.

Of BIT UME NSor Sulfbureous MINERALS.

The P R E F A C E.

THE Word Bitumen, to /peak properly, fignifies a fat, fulphureons, inflammableMatter, which is found of different Colours and Confidence, either within theEarth, or upon it, or Swimming upon the Face of the Waters : Of thefe we have fede-ral Sorts, fome hard, others foft, and fome liquid, like Oil. The hard Bitumens thatwe fell, are the. Yellow Amber, Black Amber, or Jet ; Jews Pitch Naturaland Artificial,- Pit Coal, Cannal Coal, or Black Stone, and Sulphur: The'[oftSorts are Naphtha,, the Bitumen of Colao, of Syrnam and Copal ; The Liquidare Naphtha of Italy, and the Petroleum, or Rock Oil ; of all which hereafter intheir Turns. ft

pomet.

Y

Of Yellow Amber.

' Ellow Amber , to which the An-cients have given the Name otSuccinum, or Cara.be, is a Bi-tumen of different Colours, being eitherWhite or Yellow : This Bitumen is liquidwhen 'tis in its natural Place of Production,but as it comes from thence it hardens andbecomes fuch as we fee ; and as it paffes fromits Receffes in the Earth in a State of Fluidi-ty, fwimming upon the circulating Waters,it is ape co carry with it what is in it's Way,which is the Reafon we find many extraneousBodies in our Amber, which alfo not harden-ing all at once, but by Degrees, a great ma-

ny Infects ftick to it and there die. Modof the Yellow Amber we have is found uponthe Banks of certain fmall Rivers, runninginto the Balticl^ Sea, in the Ducal Druffia : Itis alfo found upon the Sands, which havebeen caft up by the Winds ; and is aCommodity which brings no inconfiderableProfit to the King of Prujjia, for he raifes a-bove 20000 Crowns per Annum from thefePlaces where it is found, over and abovethe great Charge they are at in Sscuring andPreferving it from others; fo that it necef-farily follows, that this fame Yellow Amberyields a yearly Rent of more than loooooLivers.

What I fay may perhaps feem ftrangeto thofy that don't know the great Ufe there

is