General Htflory o/DRUGGS.

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This Mineral Sulphur comes from Mount'uvlus ; as to the Choice of it, though in-deed 'tis made but very little Ufe of, lee itbe.in bar.dfome Lumps, of a golden Yellow,bright and firming, and as little as may bemix'd with Earth or other F.kh.

Its Uies and Qualities are no other thanlike thole of the common factitious Brim-ftone that is.made of this, which we are go-ing to fpeak of under thj next H;ad.

Of Sulphur in Roll?, or Common Brimftone.

The common factitious Sulphur

Pomet. or Brimftone , is made of yellow

Mineral Sulphur melted, and, by the

Afilftance of right Train Oil and Moulds,

caff into the Form in which wc fee it.

This Sulphur is more or lefs beautiful, andendow'd with good Qualities, according tothe Degree ot its Purification, and the Placeswhere'tis made ; tor that of Holland is muchbetter, and more beautiful than that of Ve-nice, or that of M.trfeilles, the three Placeswhence it comes, and where 'tis made :The Gentlemen of the f{oyal Arfenal, indeed,manufacture great Quantities, but make ufeof it all themlelves.

In your Choice of th's factious Sulphur,or "Brimftone, take fuch as comes from Hol-land, in large thick Rolls, of a golden Yel-low, light, eafie to break, and bring heldclofe, or grafp'd in the Hand, and apply'd tothe Ear, crackles and makes a Nolle, andat length breaks to Pieces, and being broken,appears as it were in Cryftals, which are thetrue Marks of that of Holland and Venice ;none of which were to be found in the Mar-Jeilles Sulphur, it being little better than ag'ey Sort of Earth, 'tii! of late, fince wecou'd have none from Holland, they havelearnt the Art of well-working it there ; andT think it has been our own Fault that wehave fuff.r'd other Nations fo long to run a-way with the Profit of Refining it as it oughtto be: The Realon has been that no Mer-chants have undertaken to write of it, or en-quire into the Manner of doing it; only aJew phyficians, and feme Apothecaries andothers that have traveli'd, but understoodno hing ef the Myftery of Trade, have fetPen to Paper concerning it, who acquitrhuiik'ives but indifferently, when ;hey tell

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us that ordinary Sulphur in Rolls, or CommonBrimftone, is made of Sulphur Vive ; for thatwou'd be to turn Pewter into Lead, fince thelatter, tho' natural, is more valuable, thatis, will fell dearer than the former, notwith-standing it be wrought; however, I wou'dnot be thought to difcourage Authors, fewBooks being fo ill written, but may con*e, in fome Adeafure, to the Advance-men of Knowledge; only in general it may befaid, that the Subject one is going to treatof, ought to be underftood before we beginto write.

There are feveral other artificial Sulphurs,as I have already taken Notice of, proceed-ing only from the different Preparations ofdifferent Countries ; fo the ordinary Sulphurof Marfeilles is in fmall Rolls, the green Sul-phur of the fame Place, both in large andfmall Rolls, which Sort is efteem'd thebeft for Diftillation, as (hall be (hewn here-after.

There are a great many other natural Sul-phurs, befides the two Sorts we ordinarilymake ufe of, but they are not very commonwith us, becaufe they come a great Way off,and we have 'em not in large Quantities.

The fiift and moft defirabie is that ofQyitta, of a golden Colour, and an AmberFigure, found in great Abundance near theGold Mines.

A fecond Sort is that of Nicaragua, whichis in a yellowifli grey Mafs, altogether likeThat that was found, fome Years fince, inthat Bank of Earth which was levell'd by St.Martins Gate.

A third Sort is of Swijferland, refemblingthat of Quitto • and many more there arewhich I (hall forbear to mention, there beingno Demand for 'cm.

The Ufe of Sulphur in s\o!ls, or CommonBrimftone, is well known to all, and thatit is one of the chief Ingredients of Gun-Powder ; for which Reafon, thofe that fellgreat Quantities of it to the Arfenal, forthat Purpofe, ought to difcover it when 'tisfaul'y, that what is made of it may not fall /(hort of Expectation. This Sulphur is us'dtoo in whitning Gawzes, Stockings, &c. fornothing blanches any Thing of Woollen likethe Futne or Vapours of Sulphur.

It is alio of fome Ufe in Medicine, as Wellin the Body of many Prefcriprs, as to per-form

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