Book IV.

0/BITUMENS.

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The Spirit of Amber is efteem'd an excel-lent aperitive or deobftruent, and very goodagainft the Scurvy, taken ir. any Liquor,from ten to twenty-four Drops.

As for the Oil it is chiefly in Ufe to allayand drive down Vapours, being put uponSilk or Cotton, and rubbing the Wrifts orPnlfe, and the Nofe therewith. If you'dhave this Oil of a fine clear reddifh Colour,you have nothing to do but to mix with it alittle Earth or Sand, and to diftil it again.

Thofe that wou'd have a volatile Salt, orSpirit, or OH of White Ambsr, may performall the three Operations very well, with aGiafs Retort, and a Sand Heat: As for thevolatile Salt, if you find it not good andfine enough, you need only put it into afmall Vial, or Glafs Bottle, and to fublimeit upon a gentle Fire, taking Care to keep itwell ftopt; for this is a tickliih Commoditythat will evaporate and lofe itfelf in the Air,and that which you'll find in the Retort, isof a fine fhining Black, refembling the Bitu-men of Jude.i, or Jews Pitch.

2. Of Black Amber, or Jet.

Pomet.

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which with good Reafon,may be call'd Succinum Nigrum,or Black, Amber, is alio a Sort of Bitumenfound in the Bowels of the Earth, but Sel-dom near the Waters ; it is a fulphureousFoffil, very hard, and of a glittering orinining Black, found in feveral Places ofEurope, as well in Germany and Sweden, asin Ireland; as alfo in France, between St.Be.mme and Toulon ; and in Ireland it is focommon, that as you go along you may feeVeins of it running through the Stones andRocks. Some Authors are of Opinion that'Jet is the Yellow Amber diverted of its Od,drawn out by the fubterranean Fires, andthat from thence proceeds Naptba and Petro-leum, which does not feem very repugnantto good Senfe.

Jet is of a like Ufe with Yellow Amber forOrnaments and Decoration, but in Medicineit is only made ufe of for its Oil, which fervesfor the fame Purpofes as that of the other.

As to the Choice of it, 'tis fufficient tobe of a fhining Black as the Proverb be-Ipeaks it.

Gagates, in French Geeft, Jaysor Jayet, and in Englijh, Jet, is Lenlery.a Bituminous Stone, that is bard,black and fmootb, found in feveral Partsof Europe ; as Germany, Sweden, Provence andIreland, in the Stone Quarries among theRocks ; it yields a good deal of Oil, and Alittle volatile penetrating Salt.

Some People are of Opinion that Jet is anAmber whofe volatile Parrs have been fepa-rated by the fubterranean Fires, and becomewhat we call Petroleum .- Chufe fiich as isnear, hard, and of a fine Aiming Black ; itdifculTes, is emollient, expells Wind, and al-ia vs Vapours : The Dole from a Scruple toa Dram. The Name comes from Gaga, aRiver and City of Lycia, from whence Jetis fometimes brought.

3. Of Jews Pitch.

HT HE Jews Pitch, or Afpbaltttm, is

a Bitumen found fwimming up- Pcmet.on the Waters of the Lake, whereheretofore flood the Cities of Sodom and Go-morrha, and the Name Afpbaltum comesfrom the Dead Sea, or Lotus dfpbahiies,which fignifies the Lake of Truft, being fovery ftrong, that every Thing almoft fwimsthat is thrown-into it; and it is call'dMortuum, or the Dead Sea, because no F *other Beaft can live in ir, through the ex-tream Saltnefs and Bitternefs, and noifom'eSmell of its Waters ; but in Recompencethere are great Quantities of this Bitumenfound floating thereupon like Greafe or Far,of which the Coafters, who are Arabs, makevery confiderable Advantage ; it being whatthey ufe to lay upon and befrrsear theirShips and Boats with, as the Northern Na-tions do with common Pitch : AndThing is very remarkable, that when thisLake is very full of this Bitumen, there a-rifes fuch a Stench in the Air, that rhe In-habitants thereabout are neceffitatcd to git and put it a Shore, and io noifome at thatTime is the Smell that all Birds that fly overit fall down dead ; and this is the Reafon whythe People in the neighbouring Places aie fofhorc liv'd.

The Bitumen of Judea, or Afpbaltum, fomuch refembles the beft Black Stoc

Y 2 Pitch,

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