Hill 1751
John Hill, A History of the Materia Medica. Containing Descriptions of all the Substances used in Medicine; their Origin, their Characters when in Perfection, the Signs of their Decay, their Chymical Analysis, and an Account of their Virtues, and of the several Preparations from them now used in the Shops, London [T. Longman – C. Hitch – L. Hawes – A. Millar – J. and J. Rivington] 1751.
FOSSILE BODIES
Used in MEDICIN.
CLASS the FIRST.
METALS.
. . .
pp. 24–27
CAPTER III.
CUPRUM,
Copper.
COPPER is the lightest of all the Metals except Iron and Tin. It is found on the strictest Trials to be much more simple in its Nature than Iron, tho’ greatly less so than Gold or Silver. It is considerably hard; it is not equal indeed to Iron in this respect, but after that it claims the Title of the hardest Metal: it very happily communicates that Quality to Gold and Silver which greatly want it, and with which it readily mixes in Fusion, and is the best of all Alloys for both. It is malleable much more easily than Iron, tho’ it does not spread under the Hammer so readily as any of the other Metals except that. It is ductile to a very great Degree: in its natural State we see it drawn out into extreamly fine Wire, and in the Form of Brass, in which it is only alter’d in Colour by an Admixture of a Semi-metal Zink: It is beaten into Leaves in the manner of Gold, which, tho’ not quite so thin as those of that Metal, serve so many Purposes in their Place.
It is the most liable to rust of all the Metals, being susceptible of Impressions from all kinds of Salts, and all unctuous Bodies; in short, almost every thing in Nature is a Solvent for it. If only expos’d to a moist Air, it readily acquires a green Rust, and even Water in Time will dissolve it. It is remarkably sonorous, and is indeed the Basis of almost all the compound Metals in which that Quality is expected. It requires a very considerable Degree of Fire to melt it; less indeed than is necessary to the fusing of Iron, but much greater than that required for the making any of the other Metals run; on this is founded that easy Practice of separating all the other Metals, except Iron, from Copper, by what is call’d Eliquation: For if the Fire be kept up just under the Degree necessary to melt a Plate of Copper, every other Metal will run and be perfectly separated from it, if Iron be not there. Copper grows red hot before it melts, and when in a state of Fusion is destructive to every Body near it, if but the least Quantity of Water be in the way of its Course, a single Drop being enough to scatter a vast Quantity of melted Copper about like Shot from a Gun. It amalgamates with Mercury, but not without considerable Difficulty: melted with Antimony it readily runs into Scoria or vitrifies, and the same Effect is produced, tho’ not so suddenly, on fusing it with Iron.
Filings of Copper thrown into the Flame of a Candle become red hot as they pass thro’ it, but they do not sparkle, they tinge the Flame however of a green Colour. If one Part of Filings of Copper, and two Parts of corrosive Sublimate be put together into a glass Retort, and the Matter distill’d, the Quicksilver will be freed from its Salts, and found in the Form of common crude Mercury in the Receiver, and the Copper will remain at the Bottom of the Retort, intimately blended with the Salts, and in Form of a yellowish or reddish Resin, more or less transparent according to the Degree of Fire that has been used. This will melt at the Flame of a Candle, and will easily take Fire, yielding a greenish Flame.
Arsenick or Quicksilver mixed with Copper make it white like Silver, but it is brittle when thus whitened. If Copper after Fusion be urg’d by a very violent and long continued Fire, it finally calcines into a reddish Calx. Expos’d to the solar Heat collected in the Focus of a large Burning Glass, it very readily assumes this Form of a reddish Calx, which it so difficultly acquires in a common Fire; and soon after it is in this State, if it be laid upon a Stone or Copel in the Focus it runs into a deep red Glass; but this exposed again to the same Heat, on a piece of Charcoal, receives from the vegetable Sulphur of that Body the Phlogiston or inflammable Principle it had lost in the former Operation, and becomes pure Copper again. If exposed from the beginning on a Charcoal, it will never vitrify at all, that vegetable Coal supplying its Sulphur as fast as it is dissipated from it by the Heat. The same thing happens to the other Metals also, whence it is easy to conclude, that the Sulphur they contain is the same in all of them, and is not different from that of common vegetable Substances, and therefore that it is the Earth or vitrifiable Matter that is different in each, and that on this alone depends the peculiar Form of the Metal.
The specific Gravity of Copper is delivered by the Hydrostatical Writers, as from 8500 to 9150, to 1000 to that of Water. The purest Copper I have been able to procure, nicely weighed, is to Water as 8810 to 1000.
The extreme Divisibility of this Metal almost exceeds Imagination; Mr. Boyle observes, that a Grain of it dissolved in an Alkaly, will give a sensible Colour to more than five hundred thousand times its Weight of Water. If we were to enumerate the Solvents of this Metal, there is scarce any thing that could be left out of the Account. It very readily dissolves in Aqua Fortis, Aqua Regia, Spirit of Salt, and in short in all the stronger, and even in all the weaker Acids, the very mildest of the vegetable Tribe being able to produce a green Tincture from it, and to acquire an emetick Virtue by being suffered to stand in it. All Salts dissolve it very readily, the Acids afford a green Solution of it, the Alkalies, and particularly the volatile urinous Kinds, a blue one that is equal to the finest Colour in the Painters whole Materia, not excepting even the Ultramarine.
Copper acts itself as a Menstruum upon Iron, for being put into the Fire with it, it greatly promotes its Fusion, but the Metal becomes more rigid and of a paler Colour by the Mixture. In order to make this Fusion yet the easier, it will be proper to throw over the Mixture such a Quantity of a flux Powder made of Tartar and common Glass powdered, as will cover it a quarter of an Inch deep.
Copper melted with Zink makes the yellow Metal we call Brass, this Operation is usually perform’d not with pure Zink, but with Calamine, but this tho’ not always understood to be the Ore of Zink, is now very well known to be so, and therefore the Mixture is the same as if Zink were added in its separated State, except that it is done by the Calamine in a more rude and indeterminate Way. One third or one fourth Part of Zink is all that is usually received into the Copper in this Process: the Metal is found to weigh about so much more when taken out in the State of Brass, than it did when put into the Furnace in Form of Copper; yet is the Metal when cold scarce at all less malleable than the pure Copper was, tho’ while hot it is extremely brittle.
Copper in the Bowels of the Earth is not known to give any determinate Figure to the Crystals or Spars, whose Composition it enters, but it is very apt to colour them sometimes with a Green, and sometimes with a fine Blue. The Colours bestowed by this are the most beautiful of those given by any Metal, if we except the elegant Red of the Ruby which is owing to Gold. The Emerald and the Sapphire both owe their Colour to Copper, and in the making of the factitious Gems or coloured Glasses, we find it easy by means of this Metal to come up to the Beauty of Colours in those Gems, tho’ not to their Hardness.
Copper is call’d by the Chemists Venus and Meretrix Publica, from its receiving all kinds of Menstruums, the other Metals having all their appropriated ones. The Character by which they express it is ♀, a Circle with a Cross underneath it, what they would denote by this is that the Body or Basis of Copper is Gold, but that it is debas’d by some corrosive Matter. The Cross among their Figures signifying corrosive.
The Ores of Copper are variable almost without End. It is found frequently native in the Earth in the utmost Purity, sometimes in solid Masses, and at others in ramose or botryoid Forms. The Masses of native Copper are usually not very large, but in Cornwall there has been lately met with a Piece of near one hundred and sixty pound Weight, of a high Colour but variegated in some Places with Spots of that fine green enamel-like Matter, which the Medallists call the Venerable Erugo. Many of the richest Ores of Copper are metalline Masses of an iron Colour, or of a deep Grey; but the greater Part of them manifest the Metal they contain more plainly, by being tinged with Green or Blue in a very beautiful manner. There are many grey and reddish Stones in which Copper discovers itself in green or blue Spots, some of these are rich enough, others too poor for working. The green and blue Ochres also contain Copper in large Quantities, they are properly the Ochres of Copper, as the yellow ones are of Iron. In the German Mines a very rich Copper-Ore is found of a reddish grey Colour very heavy, bright and sparkling when fresh broken, and usually of a more or less regularly striated Texture. The Mullein Copper-Ore of Cornwall approaches nearest of any English Ore to this Kind. It is always very rich in the Metal, sometimes containing not less than one half its Weight of it.
The Mines of Germany and Sweden also afford a very beautiful green Copper-Ore, sometimes deeper, sometimes paler in Colour, but always considerably hard; it is found in large Masses of very irregular Figures, and often rising into Tubercles, sometimes into ramose Efflorescences like Shrubs on the Surface. This usually contains about forty Pound of Copper in the hundred Weight. Another of the Swedish Ores is of a fine deep blue, equal to that of the Lapis Lazuli, but the Substance is less hard, and is frequently debased by a Mixture of a greyish Earth; this sometimes yields sixty Pound of Copper from the hundred: finally, another of the rich Ores of this Metal is of a purplish and blackish Colour in different Places; this is very hard, and breaks with an even and glossy Surface; it contains usually about thirty Pound of Metal in the hundred Weight. These are what may be properly called the richer Ores of this Metal, they are usually accompanied with some crystalline or sparry Matter in the Loads or Veins where they lie, and these Bodies being usually ting’d to a green or a blue Colour by the Metal, make a very elegant Appearance, many of them being scarce inferior to Sapphires and Emeralds. Among the most beautiful of these attendant Substances of the Copper-Ores, may be reckoned those small and often globular Masses of a striated Texture, and elegant green Colour, which resemble the Porpitæ of Naturalists, and want only Transparence to be of the Number of the most beautiful Fossils Nature affords us.
The poorer Ores of Copper are generally of the Figure and Texture of common Stones or Earth, and betray themselves only by the green or blue Efflorescences which are about them.
We are not however to close the List of Copper-Ores without introducing into the Number of them two very elegant Bodies, which tho’ truly no other than Ores of this Metal are ranked by Authors in general among a much nobler Class of Fossils, the Semi-pellucid Gems.
These are the Lapis Lazuli, and one of the two Kinds of the Turquoise, or as it is usually called the Turkey-stone.
pp. 27–29
LAPIS LAZULI,
The Azure Stone.
This is one of those Ores of Copper, the Basis of which is a debased crystalline Matter, coloured with that elegant and beautiful Blue, which this Metal gives in our Experiments to all alkaline Liquors. It is a very compact and hard Stone, insomuch as to come into the Rank of those that take a high Polish, and are not liable to be scratch’d by Accidents; and therefore is worked into a Number of different Toys. It is found in detached Lumps usually of the Size of a Man’s Fist, often smaller, and sometimes of four or five Pounds Weight. It is never covered with any Coat or Crust, but resembles those Stones which have been washed off from whole Strata, and smoothed or rounded by Accidents afterwards. It is of a naturally smooth and glossy Surface, and its general Colour is the elegant Blue already mentioned; but this is variegated in a very beautiful Manner, with Spots or Clouds of White, and with Veins of a fine shining gold Colour. It has these Variegations in different Degrees in the several Masses, and is in general most to be valued as it has least of them; for though very beautiful to the Eye, they are foreign to all the Uses it is put to, except when it is cut as a Gem. The white Clouds or Veins (for this Matter is sometimes though more rarely disposed in the last Form) are usually of a dead and opake Hue, but sometimes they are bright and pellucid as Crystal; this last State of them adds greatly to the Beauty of the Stone: The yellow ones are always bright and glossy; they have been supposed by many to be Veins of Gold, and the Stone has been thence called a Gold-Ore; but they are in reality only Marcasite. Sometimes this gold-like Matter is not disposed in Veins but in Spots and Stars, and in this Case the Stone is the Sapphire of the Antients, for they knew the Gem we call the Sapphire by a very different Name, calling it the Sky-blue Beryll; and describing what they meant by the Word Sapphire to be a Stone opake, of a fine Blue, and variegated with Spots of gold Colour in Form of Stars. All these Variations of this Stone are subject beside to other accidental Foulnesses, and are sometimes debased to the State of a mere common blue Copper-Ore.
The Lapis Lazuli is found in many Parts of the World, but that of Asia and Africa, in both which Countries it is frequent, is vastly superior both in Beauty and real Value to the Bohemian and German Kind, which is brought too often to us in its Place. It is to be chosen heavy, of a close fine Texture, and of a deep Indigo-blue Colour, with as little white Matter about it, and with as few of the ornamental gold-coloured Veins in it as possible, and such as when put into the Fire calcines without emitting any Smell. We are sensible that these Directions are contrary to those of the People, who want it to cut for ornamental Works; but tho’ they may esteem it for its golden Veins, it is much the worse for them, in regard to its medicinal Use, and even for the Painters Purposes. Its Virtues in Medicine are those of a very violent Purgative and Emetic. It stands greatly recommended against Apoplexies, Epilepsies, Melancholly, and Quartan Agues; but the present Practice takes no Notice of it in any of these Intentions. Its Violence in its Operation has frighted People out of the Use of it. They have endeavoured indeed to edulcorate and make it milder by washing, but in vain. Its Virtues, which are owing to the Copper it contains, lie much too deep to be affected by such superficial Operations: even a great Fire makes no Alteration in it. It is an Ingredient in the Confection of Alkermes, as the Receipt for it stands in all the old Dispensatories. One might wonder how a Medicine of this Kind obtained a Place in a Cordial and strengthening Confection; but we are to consider that the old Authors all acknowledged a styptic Virtue in it as well as an Emetic, nay, they thought the styptic or restringent Quality its only innate and proper one, and its emetic and purgative Effects only to be owing to some heterogenous Particles among it which might be washed out: They gave it a place in this Medicine merely as a Restringent. The chymical Writers give us Processes for Magisteries, Tinctures and Elixers of Lapis Lazuli, but they are wholly out of Use. Whatever may be the present Credit of this beautiful Stone in Medicine however, the Painters are indebted to it for one of the noblest Colours they are acquainted with; their Ultramarine being only a Calcination of this Stone. The German Lapis Lazuli does not answer well in this Process, and discovers itself by its calcining easier than the African or Asiatic and turning greenish. The Oriental Kind calcines to a finer Blue than it naturally has, and retains that Colour for ever. After calcining the Stone in a clear Fire of Charcoal, they grind it to an impalpable Powder on a Porphyry, and then mixing it up in a Paste composed of Pitch, Wax, and Oil, they work it about in the Hands ; and finally, kneading this Paste in a Vessel of clear Water as the Powder separates from the viscid Matter it sinks to the Bottom: When all that is perfectly fine is thus worked out, they let the Water be drained off, and dry the Powder for Use. What remains embodied in the Paste is afterwards separated, and makes a worse Kind than the former, though even the very meanest Ultramarine is a very beautiful Colour.
. . .
p. 53
FOSSILE BODIES
Used in MEDICINE.
CLASS the SECOND.
SEMI-ΜΕΤALS.
AFTER having celebrated the Metals for their Virtues, and for the many Preparations with which they furnish the Shops, we are to observe that the Semi-metals furnish also as great a Number in Proportion; and these yet more efficacious, and less to be spared than even those produced from the Metals themselves.
When we say this, we mean to include under the Class of Semi-metals, Mercury, or Quicksilver, a Body so different from all others in Nature, that the Writers on these Subjects have been puzzled where to range it; but if Malleability be, as is universally allowed, the grand Criterion of Metals, and if those Substances which approach to their Nature in many respects, but want that great Character, are properly call’d Semi-metals, as is also as generally allowed, surely there can be no Dispute among Men of Science about the Class of Bodies to which this fluid Mineral belongs.
We understand by the Term Semi-metals, metallic Fossils, heavy, opake, of a bright glittering Surface, and not malleable under the Hammer.
Of these we only know five Kinds, which arranged according to their medicinal Merit, will stand thus:
1. QUICKSILVER, with its Ore Cinnabar.
2. ANTIMONY.
3. COBALT, with the Arsenics.
4. BISMUTH.
5. ZINK, with its Ore Calamine.
To these adding the Semi-metallic Recrements, Tutty, Pampholyx, &c. we have before us all that the Semi-metals furnish the Materia Medica with.
pp. 53–56
CHAPTER I.
HYDRARGYRUM,
Quicksilver.
QUICKSILVER is a naturally fluid Mineral, and is the heaviest of all known Bodies next to Gold. Its fluid Nature renders it incapable of Malleability, and tho’ many People have pretended at different times to fix it and render it solid, and agree to tell us that it is then malleable and ductile to a great Degree, we are apt to believe that no such Change was ever fairly made in it, but that all who have pretended to be able to do it, have either deceived themselves, or have attempted knowingly to deceive the World. Mercury is always the more heavy and the more fluid as it is the more pure; and is of so perfectly homogene and simple a Nature, that it is a Question whether Gold itself be more so: when perfectly purify’d we find it the same in all its Parts, as far as our utmost Tests can go, till we come to that severe Trial the solar Fire. It penetrates the Parts of all the other Metals, renders them brittle, and in part dissolves them. It is wholly volatile in the Fire, and may be driven up in Vapour by a Degree of Heat very little greater than that of boiling Water. It is the least tenacious of all known Bodies, for its Parts separate into more minute ones of the same Figure with the smallest Force, and every smaller Drop may be again divided by the lightest Touch into a Multitude of others, and so on as far as our Senses are able to trace them. It is indeed the most divisible of all Bodies, the Vapour in Form of which it rises in Evaporation, is too thin almost to be distinguished from the ambient Air, yet this is pure unaltered Mercury; for if received into cold Water it forms itself into regular round visible Drops again.
Mercury very readily mixes with Gold, Silver, Lead, and Tin among the Metals, and with Zink and Bismuth among the Semi-metals. Copper it will also mix with in the same Kind of Amalgamation, but with more Difficulty; and the remaining Metal, Iron, it is said by some to be immicible with; but all that these Authors should affirm on the Subject is, that they have not found the Means of bringing such a Mixture about. If there be any thing of the metallic or semi-metallic Kind that seems absolutely to refuse an Union with this fluid Substance, it is the Regulus of Antimony.
Of all the Metals it unites the most readily and the most perfectly with Gold, next after this with Lead, then with Silver, Tin follows these, as easier of Amalgamation than the remaining ones. A little Bismuth added to these Amalgamations is of great Assistance; it makes the Metals penetrated by the Mercury flow much thinner than they otherwise would, so that much of them will pass thro’ Leather with the Quicksilver. The other Assistances to Amalgamation are in the Management. The Mercury must be quite pure, and the Metal reduced to the smallest Particles that can be, then it is to be heated as far as the Mercury will bear, without being dissipated, and both are to be rub’d briskly together in a Mortar for a long Time. The Metal and the Utensils employ’d must necessarily also be very clean, and particularly there must be nothing of an unctuous, nor any thing of an alkaline Nature suffered to come near them. Mercury however perfectly blended in this manner with any of the Metals, may be easily separated by Distillation, in which Case it comes over into the Receiver in its own Form, and leaves all the metalline Matter behind in the Retort.
Notwithstanding that a small Heat serves to evaporate Mercury, yet if it be kept in a Degree smaller than that in a Vessel carefully clos’d, a long Continuance of that Heat will reduce it to a red Calx in Form of Powder, and this may again be revived into fluid Mercury, by a gentle Heat given it in Stratification with Charcoal Dust. If it be laid in its crude State in the Focus of a great Burning-Glass, it is immediately dissipated in Fumes and leaves no remainder. But if instead of crude Mercury, this red Calx, or as we improperly call it, Precipitate per se, be us’d, it runs into a kind of Glass, and immediately afterwards evaporates, leaving a small Quantity of a dusky Powder behind, which on being farther urg’d by the same intense Heat vitrifies and flies off as the other Part had done: but if this Calx be exposed upon a Piece of Charcoal, the Effect is the same as in the giving it the Heat of a common Fire with Charcoal Dust; it runs into liquid Mercury and immediately afterwards evaporates. It appears therefore that Mercury, simple as it seems to be, is composed of a vitrifiable Earth, and a Sulphur, which last gives it the Brightness and Appearance of a Metal, for that when robb’d of this it ceases to be bright or metalline, and again recovers those Qualities on its being added again, tho’ from no other a Substance than Charcoal. This shews also the Error of the Chemists, who from its great Simplicity have esteem’d it a Principle, or one of the primary Elements of Bodies: an Element according to their own Definition of their Terms must be an incorruptible and unchangeable Body, and Mercury when brought to this Trial appears not to be such.
They tell us also that the perfect Metals are only Mercury with its Particles, pervaded and fill’d with the Matter of Fire or Light, but this is Chimera.
It is possible to calcine Mercury to such a Degree that it shall be able to bear heating red hot in a Crucible without Evaporation, this is an Experiment first shewn us by the French, and is a very curious but a very tedious one.
The penetrating Power of Mercury is so great, that in Salivations any thing of Gold worn by the Persons will be amalgamated with the Fumes of it passing thro’ the Skin, and will be rendered white and soft by it.
The specific Gravity of pure Mercury is to Water as 14020 to 1000.
It dissolves very readily in the stronger acid Menstrua, and what is very singular in Aqua Fortis and Aqua Regia indifferently; whereas the Metals in general that are soluble in one of these, are not to be affected by the other. With Oil of Vitriol it yields us the yellow emetic Powder, call’d Turbeth Mineral, and with Spirit of Sea-Salt Corrosive Sublimate. Mercury being the heaviest of all Fluids is also the coldest: common Water is much more cold to the Touch, under the same Circumstances, than Spirit of Wine, and consequently Mercury than either, and when heated Mercury is in an equal Degree the hottest of all Fluids, that Heat which given to Water would scarce be felt by the Flesh, will burn it if given to Mercury.
Mercury tho’ it readily mixes with the Metals, does not easily blend with any other Substance, except by the means of Fire, or of Trituration: by either of these Agents, it may be blended intimately with Sulphur, by the former into a red Matter, by the latter into a black Powder, the Æthiops Mineral.
No Drug ought to be so carefully examined as to its Purity as Mercury, as none is so frequently sophisticated. The weighing it hydrostatically is the surest of all Means to find out this Adulteration, as whatever can be mixed with it (Gold excepted, which no body will use for this Purpose) is lighter than it, and consequently it will be the less heavy as the more adulterated: but as the Apparatus for these Purposes is not in all Hands, we may recommend the evaporating a little of it to try if any thing will remain behind. Or it may be discovered when adulterated in the common way with Lead, by grinding it in a Mortar with common Vinegar. This mild Acid is a Menstruum for Lead, tho’ not for Mercury, and consequently if there have been Lead mix’d among the Mercury it will grow sweet to the Taste, but if the Mercury be pure it will remain unaltered.
The Ores of Mercury are of various Kinds, but the most general one is known by the Name of Cinnabar, and as this is received in the Shops as a Medicine, as well as the Mercury itself, we shall give its Description singly.
pp. 56–60
CINNABARIS,
Cinnabar.
Cinnabar is the richest and most valuable of all the Ores of Quicksilver. It is a moderately compact and firm Substance, extreamly heavy, and of a bright and beautiful red Colour. It is usually of a striated Texture, but according to the Quantity of Sulphur contained in it, the Striæ still are more or less broad, and in some Pieces they are so fine as not to be perceptible, but leave the Mass with the Appearance of one homogene Substance. It is always of a glossy Surface, the most so in the purest Pieces, and in some of the finest of all is transparent and of a most elegant red Colour like a Ruby if examined between the Eye and a strong Light.
Cinnabar is sometimes found in large Masses, sometimes only in small Spangles in Earths or Stones; in the first Case it is one of the best mineral Ores we know for Profit to the Owner, and in the other is often very well worth working, tho’ it require the Stones or Earths it lies among to be first powder’d and separated from it by washing.
The Places where native Cinnabar is produced in greatest Abundance, are the Mines of Friuli, some others in Spain and Hungary, and some in the East-Indies. It is so rich in Quicksilver that it sometimes will yield more than six Drams of it from the Ounce. The common and poorer Cinnabars are one half at least pure Mercury. Native Cinnabar is to be chosen for internal Use of the brightest Red, the heaviest that can be found, and such as has no extraneous stony or earthy Matter adhering to it: but after all the Directions that can be given about it, it seems best to use the factitious Cinnabar in its Place.
This is in Effect the same Substance, compos’d of the same Ingredients, and with no other Difference, but that one is prepared in the chemical Elaboratory, the other in the Bowels of the Earth. The factitious has this Advantage, that we know what Proportion of Mercury it has in it, which we never can know more than by guess of the Native, and we are sure also of the former, that it contains nothing but Mercury and Sulphur, which is more than we can always be certain of in regard to the Native.
The Name of Cinnabar, tho’ known to the Ancients, was not appropriated to this Drug, tho’ they knew this also very well and call’d it Minium.
Cinnabar in the time of Dioscorides was used to express an Indian or African Drug, suppos’d to be the congealed Blood of Dragons; this was probably what we now call Sanguis Draconis: in after times however they began to apply this Word to their Minium, and Cinnabar and Minium became indifferent Terms, both apply’d to the Mineral out of which they procur’d Quicksilver, and which was the same with our first Cinnabar. In fine, the Word Minium in succeeding Ages became used for red Lead, and the Term Cinnabar was handed down from them to us as the Name of the Ore of Quicksilver alone. The old Greeks call’d it also Ammion, and Vitruvius Anthrax, a Name not very ill apply’d to such Pieces of it as are reddest and most transparent, which when held up against the Light have much the Colour of a fiery Coal, and yet more so of the Gem which the Ancients call’d by that Name.
Native Cinnabar very readily parts with its Quicksilver on being distill’d in a glass Retort, with the Addition of Quicklime or iron Filings. In many Places it is separated with no farther Ceremony than the burying certain earthen Vessels in the Earth, and inverting into them others containing Cinnabar and stop’d with a Bundle of Moss, a Fire being made about these the Quicksilver runs thro’ the Moss and is saved in the under Vessel. The Sulphur is not so easily separated from this Mineral in its proper Form, but if it be boiled in a strong Lixivium of Wood-ashes, and distill’d Vinegar be added to the clear Liquor it will be precipitated.
The medicinal Virtues of native or factitious Cinnabar, for they are the same thing when the native is pure, are very great. It is excellent in Epilepsies, and in all Complaints of the Head and Nerves, and it is affirmed by many to be one of the greatest Medicines known in Cases of Madness.
People have been sometimes frighted out of the Use of it by its exciting Nauseas, Vomitings and other Disorders. It would be well if they would be frighted out of the Use of the native Cinnabar by these means, for the factitious will answer all its Purposes, and is not liable to those Accidents which arise from vitriolic, nay, perhaps from arsenical Particles blended by Nature among some of the Masses of this native Mineral.
Cinnabar is, as we have already observed, the principal, the most valuable, and the best known Ore of Quicksilver; but beside this there are several others well known among the Curious; and even native Quicksilver is often met with. It is generally found in its pure and fluid State, lodg’d in the accidental Cavities of hard Stone, and that often in very considerable Quantities: the Workmen can have no guess at the Places where they shall find it in this State, but as they are making their way thro’ the Rocks after Cinnabar, and its other Ores, they sometimes break into these Cavities by Accident, and the fluid Mercury runs out like Water. In the same Mines there is also usually found a peculiar Kind of slaty or fissile Stone, of a soft Texture and of a blueish Colour in the little Cavities of this Stone, the fluid Mercury often lies in larger or smaller Globules: these are sometimes too small to be seen by the naked Eye, but they are easily separated by pounding the Stone and washing it with Water, on which they all get together, and the Quicksilver is found in a Mass at the Bottom of the Vessel. There are also several Species of Earths, peculiarly a reddish Marl and a pale brown Clay, in which the Quicksilver is found in this manner, and sometimes it is lodg’d thus in the purer crystalline Stones.
Quicksilver however is much more frequently found in the State of Ore than thus native: in this Case its Parts are intimately penetrated by common Sulphur, and it becomes like what we make by subliming Mercury and Sulphur together in close Vessels, a Substance of a solid Form and red Colour, as different in Appearance from Quicksilver as any two Things can be from one another. The Cinnabar pure and in Masses we have already described as the richest Ore of Quicksilver, the poorer Ores are principally compos’d of Cinnabar in small Parcels, lodg’d in other useless Substances of various Kinds. It is frequently found in a blueish indurated Clay, and frequently in a greenish or Olive colour’d talky Stone in which it runs in elegant Scarlet Veins, and the whole makes a very beautiful Appearance; sometimes it lies in the same sort of Veins in a white Stone of a crystalline Basis, and which will take a high Polish. Pieces of this cut and work’d as Gems are extremely beautiful.
These and the thousand other Appearances of the Cinnabar, whether in Spots or Stains, or blended among the whole Substance of the Matter it falls into, are of the Number of the Ores easily known at Sight, but there is another in which there is not the least Appearance of a redness; this is a greenish, orange colour’d or blackish Stone, for it occasionally assumes all these Colours, and when broken has very little Brightness, and nothing of the striated Appearance of Cinnabar. From all these Ores the Mercury is easily procur’d by Distillation in large Retorts, with iron Filings, or with Lime: the Retort is to be well coated and should be of a peculiar Form, having the Neck very long and turn’d down at the End, so that the glass Receiver may be apply’d perpendicularly to it, and the Quantity of the Ore put in ought to be so much as will fill two thirds of the Cavity of the Retort: it must be placed so that nothing of the fluid Adherent to the Neck may be able to fall back into the Belly, but that every Particle collected there must necessarily run down into the Receiver. The Retort is to be set on a rais’d Hearth, and a Bed of Sand under it to keep it firm; a Stone is to be plac’d at its Front to support its Neck and to keep the Fire from the Recipient, and the Recipient is then to be apply’d with cold Water in it, the Nose of the Retort being received an Inch or two into the Water. In this State a Fire of Charcoal is to be made about the Retort, at first at a Distance, but by degrees it is to be brought nearer, and the Retort is to be kept slightly red hot for about an Hour: more or less time is to be allowed to this according to the Quantity of the Ore and its Richness, the poorer Ores requiring the greater Heat: when the Vessels are cool’d the Quicksilver will be found at the Bottom of the Water in the Receiver. This Operation may be perform’d in a Sand-heat, but then it is necessary that the Bottom of the Furnace be kept red hot during the Time, and that the Retort immediately touch it; but with this Caution it does not do so well, as the several Parts of the Retort and of the Ore are not equally heated. When there is little or no Sulphur in the Ore there needs no Addition to it, but it runs very readily thus out of the Retort; but when it is of the Cinnabarine Kind Iron or Lime must be added, and the Fire must be made a great deal stronger.
The Chemists Name for Quicksilver is Mercury, and the Character by which they express it is this ☿, by this they mean to express that Quicksilver is Gold in the Middle, Silver at Top, and corrosive at Bottom, the Character being made up of the three Signs which express those Bodies, and accordingly all the Adepts say, that tho’ it shews Silver in its Face, it is Gold at the Bottom, whence its Heaviness; but that there is a pernicious corrosive Sulphur adhering to it, whence they can never bring it to Purity. The ancient Greeks call’d it Argyron Cyton, melted Silver, and Authors of different Ages amongst the Latins have named it Argentum Mobile, and Vomica Liquoris æterni, the Arabians Zaibar or Zabach.
The Ancients all esteem’d Quicksilver a Poison, Dioscorides tells us it is so, and Galen, who seems to have taken his Word for it, (for he confesses he never had dar’d to try it himself) places it among the corrosive Substances; the Name of it does not occur in Hippocrates, whence it is probable that it was never used in his Days: In the time of Avicenna we find that it was used externally, but never prescribed inwardly; and even at that time it was esteemed poisonous by some. Actuarius places it among the Poisons; and Mesue, though he used it externally, is of the same Opinion as to its inward Use: yet this is wonderful, when they acknowledge that People had frequently swallowed it without Hurt, and voided it unaltered with their Stools.
It is about two hundred and twenty Years since it was brought into internal Use by some, though others even at that time declaimed against it as a Poison. Fallopius gives us the History of this: the Shepherds had ventured to give it their Sheep to kill Worms, and as they received no Hurt by it, it was soon very rationally concluded, that Men might also take it as safely. Brassavolus and Musitanus gave it about this time to Children who had Worms, they ventured it however only in small Quantities; two, three, or four Grains were a common Dose, and a Scruple the highest they ventured upon: They both declared however that it never did any Harm, and often a great deal of Good. After this the Midwives gave it in the same Dose to Women in Labour, and whatever Good it might do, it was never found thus to do any Harm. Matthiolus tells us of greater things in his time: it was then found that the Dose need not be limited to such small Quantities; for that Women had taken a Pound of it at a Time to force an Abortion, and had received no Injury from it. The Diggers of Quicksilver by this time, when they found it crude, would venture to swallow it in vast Quantities, to get it out of the Mines, and sell it afterwards privately when they had voided it by Stool. And of late we have had it recommended so strongly by Dr. Dover, in Doses of an Ounce or two, in almost all Diseases, that the whole Kingdom in a Manner took crude Quicksilver.
We are not however to imagine that too free a Use of so powerful a Medicine as Quicksilver, whether internally or externally, can be always without Danger. We find that the unhappy Creatures who work in the Mines seldom live more than three or four Years, and then die in most miserable Conditions, and the People who work it in any other Manner in Abundance and for a Constancy, are as certain of Mischief from it. Palsies and Tremblings of the Limbs always attend this, and we have had abundant Experience from the common mercurial Unguents, and from the Method of taking it internally, that when proper Care has not been taken the Nerves have been frequently terribly hurt by it, the Humours colliquated, and beside the common Symptoms of a Ptyalism, Ulcers of the Mouth and Throat and Diarrhœas of the most dangerous Kind have been brought on. It is to be allowed that under proper Regulation however, it is a most powerful and noble Medicine. Its Virtues in opening the obstructed Passages, and in attenuating tough and viscid Humours in the very remotest Parts of the Body, are superior to those of almost any other Medicine. Whence it is found of great Use in Stoppages of the Glands, in Schirrosities of the Spleen and Mesentery, and in strumous and scrophulous Cases. It is also well known as superior to any thing in the Itch, and other cutaneous Eruptions of the most malignant Kind, and in venereal Ulcers.
The Preparation of Mercury for internal Use in its crude State, has usually been the straining it through a Piece of Leather, but this is not sufficient, for it will carry a small Quantity of Lead with it this Way through the Strainer, especially if the Druggist, who sophisticated it, had the Secret of mixing some Bismuth with it, which attenuates every other Metal in Amalgamation with Mercury in a very surprising Manner. The safest Preparation for this Purpose is the distilling it by the Retort; in this Case there is a Certainty that pure Mercury alone is given.
A very good Method of giving crude Mercury in small Doses is the rubbing it with fine Sugar in a Mortar, with a small Proportion of Oil of Almonds till it is perfectly blended with the Sugar: the Decoction is also given in Cases of Worms; and in Unguents it is the most certain, tho’ not the safest of all Cures for Vermin harbouring any where about the Body. Some have ventured to give it in very large Quantities in the Iliac Passion or twisting of the Guts as it is usually called; but though it sometimes has succeeded in this Case, it is a very dangerous Practice, for if the Obstruction be too great for it to break thro’ it will do vast Mischief by lodging in such a Quantity in the Intestines.
Crude Mercury is an Ingredient in many of the Ointments and Plaisters of the Shops, and is frequently ordered in extemporaneous Prescription. In this Case the common Method of giving it is in Form of Pills, in which it is killed with Turpentine, and mixed with other Ingredients principally of the purging Kind.
The Preparations of Quicksilver now in Use in the Shops are these, 1. Æthiops Mineral. 2. Factitious Cinnabar. 3. Corrosive Sublimate. 4. Mercurius Dulcis. 5. Mercurius Calcinatus, commonly called Precipitate per se. 6. White Precipitate. 7. Red Precipitate, or red corrosive Mercury. 8. Coralline Mercury. 9. Turbith Mineral.
p. 60
ÆTHIOPIS MINERALIS,
Æthiops Mineral.
Take of pure Quicksilver and of Flowers of Sulphur of each equal Parts, rub these together in a Marble or glass Mortar till the Mercury wholly disappears, and the whole is a fine deep black Powder. This succeeds much better for the Operator if the Mortar be a little warmed, and the Medicine receives no Injury by it. This is esteemed the safest but yet not the least powerful of the Preparations of Mercury. It is a very great Medicine against cutaneous Eruptions, and in scrophulous Cases, in Remains of venereal Disorders, and even in the Gout and Rheumatism it has been given with great Success: in scorbutic Cases scarce any thing is superior to it; and it has been long known as a Remedy against Worms. It may be given in very large Doses up to a Dram or two, though a Scruple is the ordinary Quantity, and may be continued a long time without Hurt, though it is best to purge every three or four Days during the Course of it. It operates by Perspiration, and sometimes by Stool, but scarce ever makes the Mouth sore however largely taken.
pp. 60–61
CINNABARIS FACTITIA,
Artificial Cinnabar.
Take of purified Quicksilver twenty-five Ounces, of Sulphur seven Ounces, melt the Sulphur, and stir the Quicksilver into it while fluid, if it take Fire let it be immediately extinguished by covering it with another Vessel. When cold let it be rubb’d to a fine Powder. Let this Powder be put into a subliming Vessel, and setting over a gentle Fire, raise it by Degrees, till the whole is sublimed into a red striated heavy Mass, which perfectly resembles native Cinnabar.
This is a very great Medicine in all the Cases where the native Cinnabar is recommended, and is greatly preferable to it on many Accounts, as before observed. This Receipt for making it, is that of the late College Dispensatory; which, I have found by Trial to succeed better than the Proportions of other Authors, who allow just one third Part of the Weight of the Mercury in Sulphur, which is too much.
. . .
pp. 63–68
CHAPTER II.
ANTIMONIUM,
Antimony.
ANTIMONY is a considerably heavy Semi-metal, naturally running into Masses composed of an infinite Number of Striæ or Filaments. It is softer than any other of the Bodies of this Class; it breaks easily with a small Blow, and is very readily reducible to Powder by only rubbing it in a Mortar. It has not the least Degree of Ductility, but it is naturally very bright and glossy, and not much susceptible of Rust. It is not at all sonorous in itself, yet like Tin, which has not that Quality in itself, it is capable of heightning it in other metallic Bodies that are possessed of it. It is easily fused by Fire; a small Degree of Heat answers this Purpose: it flows the thinnest of all the known mineral Bodies; and when urged by a violent Fire, proves totally volatile. It bubbles up in the Manner of Lead when the Degree of Fire is a little greater than what is barely necessary to melt it. It is not only volatile in itself, but it renders all other Substances volatile by Mixture, Gold alone excepted. It leaves this Metal in Fusion clearer and purer than it can be made by any other Means, but carries off every thing else in Vapour with it. Antimony very easily runs into a Glass like that of Lead, which is of the same Use with the Glass of Lead in the vitrifying Earths and Stones; but is even preferable to it, as it attenuates them more, and in a strong Fire carries them off with it in Vapour. It would therefore be very useful in the Fusion of Ores, by the vitrifying and separating the stony Matter, but that it carries the Metal itself also, except that be Gold, away with it. This Glass is very easily prepared by only fusing Antimony with a mineral Substance, commonly known by the Name of Calk, and very frequent in our Lead-Mines: A Lump of this, the Bigness of a Wallnut, thrown into a Pound of Antimony in Fusion, vitrifies it almost instantly, and receives no visible Change itself in the Operation.
The Glass produced by this Process is of a dusky brownish Red, and semi-pellucid; wherever Calk is to be had, there is no Way so ready as by this means, to make the Glass of Antimony: where it is not at hand it is easily vitrified alone, by calcining it in coarse Powder to a grey Mass, stirring it that it may not run into Lumps, and then putting this Calx into a Crucible in a strong Fire: the Antimony is thus converted into a Glass, like that of the former Process, but of a clearer Red.
Where Bodies very difficult of Vitrification are mixed among the Matters to be purify’d by Antimony, as is the Case in the more refractory Ores of many Kinds, the Antimony is apt to evaporate away before it has done its Office: This however is easily prevented by only throwing a little Piece of Suet or Tallow into the Matter which keeps it from flying off a long Time. The Regulus of Antimony mixes very readily with the several Metals; most freely of all with Iron, and next to that with Copper. It consists of a large Quantity of a true fossil Sulphur, and a Matter very much resembling the Nature of the Metals, and which, if Art could arrive at any Method of rendering it ductile under the Hammer, would be a true Metal. Mr. Boyle tells us, he knew a secret Process, by which a true fluid Mercury might be obtained from it; and others since his Time have pretended the same Thing, but we have never seen any of them do it. We could know how much Credit was to be given to Mr. Boyle if he had told us the Process. It renders all Metals brittle with which it is mixed; and upon the whole, there seems great Reason from its Effects on these Bodies compared with those of Arsenic, to believe that it is very nearly allied to that poisonous Mineral, tho’ it do not exert the same fatal Power in the Body. The whole Difference between the two Substances seems to be, that the Arsenic is fixed in Antimony by a vitrifying Earth.
The Ores of Antimony are very numerous and very various in their Form, Colour, and Figure. It is pretended by many, that Antimony is often found pure, in its perfect State in the Earth; and the Cabinets of Collectors hold so many Substances under the Name of native Antimony, that it should seem almost absurd to deny the Existence of such a Fossil. I can only observe that of all the Specimens I have seen preserved as native Antimony, I never met with one that would bear the Test, and prove truly such: and to silence the Clamour that such a harsh Assertion may raise among the Gentlemen who are robb’d by it of some of the greatest Glories of their Cabinets, I may add, that many of the very finest of the Substances preserved under this pompous Name, and resembling the wrought Antimony in their grey Colour and striated Texture, are Specimens of Manganese. Antimony is found reduced to the State of Ore by Sulphur and other extraneous Matter, and as these are blended with it in greater or lesser Quantities, it has more or less of the external Appearance of wrought Antimony, and is from this external Appearance arranged by Collectors in the Class of native Antimony, or of Antimony-Ores.
The most usual Ore of Antimony is a hard and ponderous Substance of a blueish grey Colour, not striated as common Antimony, but composed of a Number of small irregular Granules, which appear very bright and sparkling wherever the Mass is fresh broken. This Ore has much the Appearance of a bright Piece of cast Iron where fresh broken.
Other Ores of Antimony, in which there is less extraneous Matter, are formed of broader and flatter Granules, these more nearly resemble the wrought Antimony but are more brittle: these are very bright, of a paler grey than the Granules of the last mentioned Kind, and the Ores composed of them are more beautiful and more valued.
When there is yet less of the extraneous Matter, and that is almost pure Sulphur, the Ores approach infinitely nearer than either of these to the Appearance of wrought Antimony. They are composed of Multitudes of fine and slender Filaments of a bright and glittering steel Colour; these are laid more or less closely together in the several Specimens, and are much broader and coarser in some than in others. These are properly enough called striated Antimony-Ores; but the Generality of People who collect Minerals loving founding Names, they are generally found in Cabinets under the Title of native Antimony.
These are the Forms in which Antimony appears in those Ores in which it is most pure; but beside these there are others very frequently met with, in which this Semi-metal is mixed with Silver and with Iron; these give it a very different Appearance. In England we also have Antimony mixed with Lead in the same Ore, a thing scarce known in any other Part of the World; and some of our Cornish Antimony-Ore contains also a small Portion of Tin. The German Ores of Antimony are frequently found of a fine silvery White or of a fine gold-like Yellow: these Colours are owing to the Admixture of the white or yellow Marcasites with them, and though very splendid as to the Appearance, they are far from being the most valuable of Antimony-Ores for working.
Antimony-Ore is very frequently blended with Crystalline or sparry Matter; sometimes it is perfectly covered with a fine yellow Sulphur, and sometimes with a Mixture of these and other Substances together.
Antimony-Ore is found in great Abundance in many Parts of the World. The German Mines abound with it. There is a great deal of it in France and Italy. In Hungary, particularly about Presburg, there is a great deal of very rich Ore found. The first Antimony of France is that of Poictou; and in England, where we have no small Quantity, that of Endellion in Cornwal is the best; but this must be well purified from the Lead the Ore also contains before it is fit for Use.
The Hungarian Antimony-Ore is much of it of the naturally striated Kind; this was called the male Antimony by the Romans. The broad-grain’d, or that formed of large and shining Granules, which the Romans called the Female, is frequent in Saxony. Some of the striated Hungarian Antimony-Ores are variegated with yellowish or orange-coloured Spots. These Pieces are frequently found in the gold Mines, and are supposed to contain the Sulphur of Gold. The Chemists call this Kind Antimonium Solare, and are very full of an Opinion, that vast Matters may be done with it in the great Work of the Transmutation of Metals.
The Antimony-Ore is never brought into the Shops, or at least it never ought to be. What we see there has been all melted from its State of Ore, and is in Cakes of the Figure of the Vessels it has been cast in, all throughout composed of the same Sort of Striæ or Filaments as the finer Ores, resembling so many bright Needles, disposed in Fasciæ or Bundles throughout the Mass.
It should be chosen very bright, tender and friable, composed of long and broad Striæ of the palest Colour, and the most glittering that can be found; and the Tops of the Cakes, which are of an irregular or spongy Texture and blacker Colour, ought to be thrown away. The Sulphur that Antimony contains is not separated in that Fusion which it passes in the reducing it from its Ore. We have the most evident Instances of it in the Calcination of it after wards, in which Operation we are offended with a Smell wholly like that of common Brimstone; and if it be performed in a dark Place, we even see it burn away in thin blue Flames.
Antimony thrown into a Crucible with Nitre, deflagrates in the very same Manner that common Sulphur does under the same Circumstances; and if crude Antimony be distilled with corrosive Sublimate, a Cinnabar is prepared, called Cinnabar of Antimony. This owes its Origin solely to the Mercury in the Sublimate united with the Sulphur in the Antimony. In fine, the Sulphur may be separated from Antimony in its proper Form by boiling crude Antimony in common Water, after it has been run with a Mixture of Quick-lime or Potash, and then adding Vinegar or some other Acid to the Solution made of the Sulphur of it by the Water and alkaline Salts; for a plain Sulphur is precipitated from it in this Manner.
The Glass of Antimony only loses its semi-metalline Form by the Sulphur’s having been driven off from the Antimony in Calcination; and if it be fused in the Fire, and any sulphureous and inflammable Matter be added to it, it instantly becomes Antimony again. Nay this Sulphur abounds so much in the common melted Antimony, that an Acid plainly of the Kind of that of common Sulphur or Vitriol, for they are the same, may be produced from it.
The proper Solvent of Antimony in its reguline State is Aqua Regia.
Antimony is more easily separated out of its Ores than almost any other of the metalline Substance. It needs no Flux-Powders, and the utmost Caution necessary, is to keep off in a great Measure the Communication with the external Air, and to keep the Fire moderate that Part of it does not burn away or go off in Vapour. The Method of separating it is no more than this. Bore three or four Holes in the Bottom of a Crucible, and filling it half full of broken Antimony-Ore, set it in another Crucible and cover it with a Tile; lute all the Junctures with some Windsor Loam or any common Lute, and set these Vessels thus joined on the Hearth. Place some Stones or Bricks round them at six Inches Distance every Way, and fill up the intermediate Space with Ashes up to the Rim of the lower Crucible; then put burning Charcoal about the upper Crucible and blow it till it be red hot; keep it so a Quarter of an Hour, and then let all cool. The melted Antimony will be found in a striated Mass in the lower Vessel.
Antimony has had various Names among the Writers of the several Ages, and the Chemists have added to these a Multitude of fantastical ones, expressive either plainly or metaphorically of its Qualities. We generally call it Antimonium or Stibium. The Greeks called it Stimmi, and sometimes Alabastrum. And in the Writings of Hippocrates in particular, it seems to stand under the Name of Tetragonon. Pliny calls it Lapis Spumæ candidæ nitentisque non tamen translucentis, and the Arabians Antimad or Atemed. The Chemists from its Power of destroying other Metals, call it Lupus Vorax, the voracious Wolf, and Saturnus, from the Name of the God who was said to eat his own Children. They have also called it Plumbum Sapientum, the Lead of the wise Men, from its performing the Office of Lead only more perfectly in the purifying of Gold, and some of them Magnesia Saturnina. They also call it Lavacrum Solis.
The Character they denote it by is this ♁, a Circle, denoting the Body to be Gold, to which a Cross is added, to shew it very corrosive at Top.
Antimony is not only given in Substance, but a great many Preparations of it are in common Use in Medicine; they are either emetic, cathartic, diaphoretic, or sudorific. Crude Antimony in Powder is found of great Benefit in dissolving Viscidities in the Fluids, it gives Relief in cutaneous Diseases, and as some very confidently assert in Convulsions and Epilepsies. Externally in Ointments it is much commended for drying up of Ulcers, and for curing the Itch and other Diseases of the Skin, and in Plaisters for resolving of Tumours. With the Ancients it was in frequent Use among the Cosmetics, being the most esteemed Substance for tinging the Eyebrows black. This Practice is even as old as the Old Testament, for we find Jezebel and other of the Israelitish Women censured for this Use of it: the Greeks gave it two new Names on this Account, calling it Gyraicon and Platyophthalmon, from its making the Eyebrows appear broader than they naturally were.
Dioscorides and the older Greeks seem to have been but imperfectly acquainted with its Virtues internally; they tell us that it was astringent and cooling, but that it was apt to obstruct the Passages. They used it frequently in Collyriums for the Eyes, when they meant to dry up redundant Humours, and also in old Ulcers. They calcin’d it in order to prepare it for Use, and made it into Pastills with the Milk of a Woman’s Breast; these were usually of a square Form, and hence the Name of Tetragonon seems to have been given it by Hippocrates. The Greeks do not seem to have known any thing of it in any other Intentions than these.
Its Virtues as a Purge became known in the twelfth Century, at which Time Basil Valentine publish’d his Book entitled Currus Antimonii Triumphalis, in which he extolls it as a Remedy for almost all Diseases. In the fifteenth Century Paracelsus brought it yet more into Use. It was even after this however a disputed Point a long Time among the Physicians, whether Antimony were a salutary or a poisonous Medicine. At present we are however very well satisfy’d of its salutary Effects, and know of two very different Qualities in it according to the different Form it is given in, a purging and a diaphoretic. All the Preparations of Antimony operate either by Stool or Vomit, or by insensible Perspiration or Sweat. There appears no Reason in the World for People’s ever having been afraid of giving the crude Antimony internally, we daily see it taken in large Doses a Dram or more at a Time, and that for a long Continuance without any bad Symptom or even the least Nausea, unless by Accident the Acid of the Stomach should be strong enough to prove a Menstruum to it.
The Preparations of Antimony most in Use are, 1. The Sulphur præcipitatum Antimonii. 2. The Crocus Antimonii, call’d Crocus Metallorum. 3. The Crocus Antimonii Lotus. 4. The Tartarum Emeticum. 5. The Calx Antimonii, call’d Antimonium Diaphoreticum. 6. The Causticum Antimoniale. 7. The Cinnabaris Antimonii. 8. Regulus Antimonii Martialis. And, 9. Tinctura Antimonii.
p. 68
SULPHUR PRÆCIPITATUM ANTIMONII,
Precipitated Sulphur of Antimony.
Take Antimony sixteen Ounces; crude Tartar twelve Ounces; Nitre six Ounces; powder these separately, then mix them well and throw them by small Quantities at a time into a Crucible heated red hot, and finally melt the Mixture with a very strong Fire. Pour it out into a conic Mould that the metallic Part or Regulus of the Antimony may fall to the Bottom.
Separate the Scoriæ that are at Top and dissolve them in Water, filter the Solution, and to the clear Liquor drop in Spirit of Sea Salt, and the Sulphur of the Antimony will be precipitated. This is to be freed from the Salts by repeated Washings, and then dry’d for Use.
The Regulus separated in this Process is of Use, tho’ not in Medicine. It is what the Pewterers use with the Tin in the making their finest Pewter.
The Sulphur is a Diaphoretic, and is said to be a great Medicine in Scorbutic Cases.
pp. 68–69
CROCUS ANTIMONII vulgo CROCUS METALLORUM,
Crocus of Antimony commonly call’d Crocus Metallorum.
Take Antimony and crude Nitre of each equal Quantities, powder them separately, then mix them well together and throw the Mixture by degrees into a red hot Crucible, let it be melted thoroughly, then pour’d out and separated from the Scoriæ and kept for Use. The common Method among our Chemists is to use but about half the Quantity of Nitre that is here ordered, and only to set it on Fire in the Mortar the Powders were rub’d together in, by throwing a Piece of burning Charcoal; a little common Salt is also usually added, and by this means the whole Process is soon finish’d, as they give it no farther melting; but this is a very unfair Practice. This Crocus in its crude State is principally used by the Farriers for their Horses.
p. 69
CROCUS ANTIMONII LOTUS,
Wash’d Crocus of Antimony.
Boil the Crocus of Antimony reduced to a very fine Powder in Water, and after pouring this away wash it with more hot Water till it comes off insipid.
Some Authors give us the Result of this Process as the Crocus Metallorum, and call the crude Mass prepar’d by the latter Hepar Antimonii, or Liver of Antimony. Of this is made the Vinum Antimoniale, call’d also Vinum Emeticum, and Vinum Benedictum.
VINUM ANTIMONIALE,
Antimonial Wine.
Take Crocus of Antimony wash’d one Ounce, white Wine a Pint and Half, infuse them together without Heat and filter off the Wine for Use. This is a powerful Emetick, the Dose is from one Ounce to two or three. It is also sometimes prescribed in Glisters, where stimulating things are necessary.
TARTARUM EMETICUM,
Emetic Tartar.
Take Crystals or Cream of Tartar and wash’d Crocus of Antimony, of each an equal Quantity; common Water three times the Weight of the whole, boil all together for half an Hour, then filter the Liquor and evaporate it to a Pellicle; set it by in a cool still Place and the Salt will shoot into Crystals, which are the Tartar Emetic. Some have order’d the making this by evaporating the Decoction to a Dryness, but the way by Crystallization is preferable.
This is a very good Emetic, and is greatly to be prefer’d to all the other antimonial ones. Its Dose is from two Grains to six or eight, the Dose of this is always a determinate thing, which is by no means the Case in regard to the antimonial Wine, which may be stronger or weaker in the same Quantity as the Wine has been more or less acid, or more or less in Condition to extract a Tincture from the Crocus.
CALX ANTIMONII vulgo ANTIMONIUM DIAPHORETICUM,
Calx of Antimony commonly call’d Diaphoretic Antimony.
Take crude Antimony three Ounces; Nitre nine Ounces, powder them separately and then mix them, throw the Mixture by degrees into a red hot Crucible, after it has been melted let it be taken out of the Crucible and wash’d in several Quantities of warm Water till all the adhering Foulnesses and the Salts are separated from it. The best Method of doing it is by pouring the melted Matter out of the Crucible into Water, and after several other Washings, when the Water is insipid, to pour it off thick and turbid with the Calx and keep what subsides out of it for Use. It is a very good Diaphoretic, but is usually given with us in under Doses. It may be given to a Scruple, half a Dram or more, in which Case it opens Obstructions and attenuates the Humours in a very remarkable manner.
pp. 69–70
CAUSTICUM ANTIMONIALE,
The Antimonial Caustic.
Take corrosive Sublimate two Pounds; crude Antimony one Pound; reduce them separately to Powder, then mix them together and put the whole into a Retort with a large Neck and a wide Mouth, fit to it a Receiver, and seting it in a Sand-heat distill till the Neck is fill’d with a thick Substance like Butter; unlute the Vessels and set this thick Matter in a Cellar, it will run into an oily Liquor which is to be kept for Use.
This is a very good Caustic, it eats away fungous Flesh, and stops the Progress of Mortifications.
p. 70
CINNABARIS ANTIMONII,
Cinnabar of Antimony.
Take the Remains of the making the Butter of Antimony out of the Retort, put them into a glass Bolthead, coat it over with Loam and set it in an open Fire of Charcoal, there will sublime a solid Substance which is to be separated by breaking the Vessel and to be kept for Use.
It is a noble Medicine in all Diseases of the Head, in Convulsions, and Epilepsies, and in venereal Cases. Its Operation is by Sweat. Its Dose is from five or six Grains to fifteen.
TINCTURA ANTIMONII,
Tincture of Antimony.
Take Salt of Tartar a Pound; Antimony half a Pound; rectify’d Spirit of Wine a Quart; reduce the Antimony to Powder and mix it with the Salt by Fusion in a strong Fire; when it is cold powder it and pour on it the Spirit of Wine, digest them together three or four Days in a Sand-heat and then filter off the clear Tincture for Use. The Salt of Tartar in this Preparation yields a Tincture as well as the Antimony. It is diaphoretic and attenuant.
REGULUS ANTIMONII MARTIALIS,
Regulus of Antimony with Iron.
Heat gradually in a good Crucible a Pound of clear and bright iron Filings, when red hot add a Pound of crude Antimony in Powder, encrease the Fire that the Matter may flow thin, then by a little at a time throw in four Ounces of powder’d Nitre made warm, make the Fire so violent that the whole may run fluid like Water, keep it thus half a quarter of an Hour and then pour it into a conic Mould; separate the Scoriæ when cold and there will remain a stellated Regulus as bright as Silver. The chemical Writers attribute great Virtues to this Regulus, but it is at present kept rather as a Curiosity than as a thing of any Use.
Besides the Use of Antimony in Medicine, it is of great Service in many of the mechanic Arts. Added to Tin it makes a very fine kind of Pewter, giving it a silvery Colour and making it very sonorous. It also enters the Composition of Bellmetal, that for the making reflecting Speculums for Optical Experiments, and for casting the Types for Printing. In Chemistry it is also of very great Use as it serves to the Solution of the Metals, and the Extraction of the metallic Sulphurs.
The specific Gravity of Antimony is to that of Water as 6220 to 1000.
pp. 70–73
CHAPTER III.
COBALTUM,
Cobalt.
THIS is a semi-metallic Substance which agrees with the Ores of Zink in that it does not precipitate its reguline Matter to the Bottom of the Vessel in Fusion, but raises it by Sublimation, and in the same manner will let it be wholly carried off by the Action of the Fire if some proper Method be not taken to retain it.
Cobalt has been but very lately well understood in the World, tho’ it seems to have been known by its external Figure a long Time, as the Lapis Ærosus of some of the old Authors seems pretty plainly to have been meant as a Name for it.
It is a very dense and compact mineral Substance, usually of a blackish or a dusky blueish grey Colour, though sometimes paler: It is often of the exact Colour of the finer Antimonial Ores, tho’ it seldom has all their Brightness. It is very heavy and in the various Masses is sometimes of a granulated and sometimes of a striated Texture. It is usually smooth and even on the Surface, but when broken in the granulated Pieces it much resembles the Grain of cast Iron, and in the striated ones shews a Number of wav’d Lines running in a very regular manner sometimes thro’ its whole Mass, sometimes only thro’ a Part of it; the same Lumps of Ore having often four or five separate Courses of these Fibres which seem so many Fasciæ of a purer Ore immers’d among a coarser of the same Kind. In some other Pieces neither the Granules nor Striæ are at all visible, but it resembles by its even Structure and uniform Look a Piece of melted Lead, only with less Brightness; and finally there are other Masses of it found of a yet evener Structure, at least in many Parts and of a deep Black; these are less heavy and less hard than the rest. All these various Appearances of Cobalt may be however reduced by a closer Observation, and the help of Glasses to assist the Eye in discovering their Structure, to the various Arrangements of one Kind of Particles. All Cobalt is composed of Granules, and these as they are larger or smaller discover themselves more or less easily in the Mass; in some they are so small and so closely press’d to one another, that they make what appears to the naked Eye one solid Mass; in this Case the Cobalt looks like Lead, in others they are still small but separated by a black earthy Matter; in this Case they make the black soft Cobalt before mentioned; in some Cases they are large and apparent to the Eye tho’ very irregularly dispos’d; these Pieces of Cobalt are such as break with an Appearance of the Grain of Iron; and finally, in some they are as large and are arrang’d into long and narrow Series which run in undulated slender Lines like Filaments along the Mass; these are the most beautiful of all the Cobalts, and when the Striæ are of a fine silver Grey, as is not unfrequently the Case, they are more beautiful than even the Antimonial Ores.
These are the genuine Appearances of Cobalt when it is in its purer State, but it is liable to be mix’d in the Bowels of the Earth with Sulphur and other extraneous Bodies, and from them acquires a very different Form from what we have described as that natural to it: in this Case it has very little of a metalline Look, but is a fine florid red Substance, sometimes pure, sometimes debased by a Mixture of yellow, grey, or blackish with it; and is sometimes found in compact Masses, fometimes in more elegant ridg’d and striated ones dispos’d in some Pieces without any particular Order, but in others elegantly stellated.
We are yet to add to these the Appearance that Cobalt makes in some of the German Mines where it is mix’d with the Matter of the Pyrites and acquires from it a glossy copperish or silverish Hue, and has sometimes only Veins of this Matter in it, the rest remaining pure Cobalt: the last Ores are very like some of those of Bismuth, and are not unfrequently confounded with them.
These are all the Forms under which this Mineral appears to us, and tho’ very different in themselves, yet they are all readily discovered to belong to the same Class when put into the Fire by the intollerable stink of Garlick, that is of Arsenic, which they exhale. The only Substances Nature seems to have confounded Cobalt with are the Bismuth Ores: there is indeed a very great Analogy between these, many of the Bismuth Ores having true Cobalt in their Composition, and many of the genuine Cobalts yielding Bismuth: they both have also the blue vitrifiable Earth in them, of which our Smalt is made: even the fine red Cobalt call’d by the German Miners Cupffer Nicol, and the Flower of Cobalt yields some genuine Bismuth by a very easy Process.
Whoever examines the Cabinets of Collectors will find many Substances preserved under the Name of Cobalt, different from what we have here described, but we are to observe that they are different from Cobalt also: what we mean by that Name is a Mineral from which Arsenic may be sublim’d, and which afterwards leaves an Earth which turns white Glass to a deep Blue; every Thing that will do this has a Title to the Name of Cobalt, unless it contain so much Bismuth as to deserve the Name of an Ore of that Semi-metal; but those Substances which do not contain Arsenic, or this Earth have no Right to the Name because ignorant People have given it to them. The true Cobalt is found in Saxony and Bohemia, and in some Parts of England, though with us in no great Quantity.
Cobalt is not totally soluble in any Acid, Aqua Fortis will take up a great Part of it, and Aqua Regia from some Masses of it, yet more, and either of these Solutions properly made and evaporated to such a Degree as to leave them very strong of the Cobalt, serve as a very remarkable Kind of invisible Ink, with which Letters or Figures made on Paper remain undiscernible, yet on its being held to the Fire they shew themselves in a beautiful green Colour, which goes off as they cool, but will be restor’d at any time on being held to the Fire again. I have known a Piece of Paper with a Figure drawn on it with this Solution retain its Virtues for five Years.
It is supposed that the vitrifiable Earth which gives the blue Colour to Glass, and the Arsenic which sublimes in the roasting are all that Cobalt contains, beside accidental Impurities; but I have by tedious Processes produced at length a Regulus from it which is Black and of a semi-metalline Appearance, and which readily fuses with Iron and destroys its Power of answering to the Magnet. This points out an antimonial Nature in it, and there are some other Qualities in it which seem to declare it to partake of the Nature of Bismuth, but no Art has yet been able to reduce it either to Antimony or to Bismuth, or even to separate either of those Bodies from it. These are Disquisitions however too curious to be treated of more largely in a Work of this Nature.
Arsenic and the Smalt Earth are the two Things for which Cobalt is work’d at this Time, and they are prepared in the following manner.
A Furnace is prepared considerably large but low, with a flat Roof and with a Chimney terminating in a large and wide wooden Funnel form’d of several Joints, and reaching, tho’ not in a strait Line but with several Bendings, to the length of a hundred Yards or more. The Cobalt is bruis’d and wash’d and then is put into this Furnace with a moderately strong Fire, the Flame of which is every where beat down upon it from the flat low Roof. The Cobalt takes Fire and burns with a blue Flame, and in the burning emits a great Quantity of Flowers which are collected in the wooden Funnel in form of Soot, and are thence swept into a Heap: the Remains of the Cobalt are also swept together for the Purpose of making Smalt.
After having given thus far the Process common to both, we shall give the separate Preparations under their several Heads.
. . .
pp. 75–76
SMALTUM,
Smalt.
The remaining Matter of the Cobalt, from which the Flowers have been sublimed as before described, is suffered to cool and then taken out of the Furnace. It is then reduced to a fine Powder, and calcined over again in the same Furnace, and this is repeated till there is not the least Particle of Flame or Smoke seen to arise from any Part of it. The Cobalt thus perfectly freed from its arsenical and sulphureous Part is then ground to an impalpable Powder, and a Mixture is made of one hundred Pounds of this Powder, fifty Pounds of pure white Potash, and a hundred and fifty Pounds of fine white Sand. This is all ground together in a Mill, and then put into a proper Furnace, like those of our Glass-houses, where it runs into an elegant deep blue Glass. This is afterwards ground to Powder in Mills contrived for that Purpose, and makes what we call Smalt or Powder-blue, used by our Painters and Washer-women. It has no Use in Medicine.
pp. 76–77
ZAFFERA,
Zaffer.
This has been by many confounded with Smalt, and supposed to be the same Thing only in Substance, and the other in Powder: others have erred yet farther about it, and supposed it a native mineral Substance, from their finding it in Form of a hard Stone. It is thus prepared: Take of the fine Powder of calcined Cobalt before described one hundred Pounds, of calcined Flints reduced to a like impalpable Powder two hundred and sixty Pounds; spread it on a Floor and wet it with a small Quantity of Water, so as to form it into a stiff Paste. Put this by in a Heap, and in a few Weeks time it will concrete into a Mass as hard as a Stone. This is Zaffer; it is used by the Potters, the Glass-men, and the Enamellers. The People who prepare these Substances find the Residuum of the Cobalt much finer at some Times than at others; nay they sometimes separate it into a finer and a coarser in the working; in this Case they always use the finer and better for Smalt, and the coarser for Zaffer.
This vitrifiable Earth, which is always contained in Cobalt, and is the most valuable Part of it, is also contained in all or most of the Ores of Bismuth. It has not been found in any other Substance.
It has been supposed indeed by some that Bismuth was at the Bottom the real Matter that gave this Colour; but it is evidently not so, since Bismuth, however prepared for the Colouring of Glasses, or artificial Gems, will not stain them to the fine Blue of this Earth, but to a Purple with a remarkable brownish Tinge in it, very different from all the Colours of the Gems; we are to add also that there are many Cobalts that contain no Bismuth at all; though it is a general Observation, that those which contain the most Bismuth make the finest Smalt.
If a Cobalt is suspected of not being worth working, or if an unknown Mineral is supposed, but not perfectly known to be a Cobalt, there is a very ready Way of trying it on both Occasions. Powder a Dram of it and mix it carefully with as much Borax; put the Mixture into a Crucible, and keep it in Fusion in a strong Fire four or five Minutes, it will communicate its blue Colour to the glassy Substance that results from the Fusion of this Salt, in proportion to the Quantity of the Earth it contains; and from the Depth of the Blue it may be judged what is the Value of the Cobalt considered as an Ore for Smalt.
Cobalt is found in great Abundance in Hungary, and not unfrequently contains Silver-Ore among it; for which Reason the Possessors of it in that Country are not ready to part with it. It is also found at Gosselaer in Saxony, and in the Mines of the Valley of Joachim in Bohemia. We have it also in some of our Mines on Mendip Hills in Somersetshire and in Cornwall; but it is not produced in any great Plenty in either of those Places. It is a very strong Poison before Sublimation, and in some Places is so corrosive that when it falls into Water in Places, where the Miners are obliged to stand, it ulcerates their Legs and Feet.
Agricola and some other of the Latin Writers have called it Cadmia Metallica, by Way of distinguishing it from the Cadmia Fornacum or Tutty, and the Cadmia Lapidosa or Saxatilis, the stony Cadmia which is our Calamine. It seems by the Description of the Lapis ærosus of the Ancients, that some of them meant Cobalt by that Name; but others say Things of that Fossile which put it wholly out of the Semi-metallic Class; be that as it will, it is evident they knew nothing of its Properties.
FOSSILE BODIES
Used in MEDICINE.
CLASS the SIXTH.
EARTHS.
. . .
p. 237
OCHRES.
Of OCHRES.
THE Earths distinguished by the Name of Ochres, are those which have rough or naturally dusty Surfaces, are but slightly coherent in their Texture, and are composed of fine and soft argillaceous Particles, and are readily diffusible in Water.
The Earths of this Kind that have been used in Medicine, and therefore make a Part of the Materia Medica, are only three. 1. The Ochra Attica of Dioscorides, a yellow one. 2. The Ochre called by the Ancients Rubrica Sinopica, or red Earth of Sinope, a deep red one; and 3. That Species of Ochre called by the Ancients Cæruleum, and by many, tho’ very improperly, Lapis Armenus.
pp. 237–238
Chapter I.
OCHRA,
Yellow Ochre.
AUTHORS who have written on these Subjects have generally described our common yellow Ochre as the Earth to which the Ancients, beside the using it in Painting, ascribed some Virtues as a Medicine, but this is erroneous. The Earth they used under that Name is described by Dioscorides under the Name of Ochra Attica, and proves to be very different from our common Kind, tho’ this Species is also found among us.
It is an elegant and beautiful Earth, of a soft, shattery and friable Texture, and naturally of a tolerably even, tho’ dusty Surface. It is usually met with in flat Pieces, and tho’ very easily broke in any Direction, yet when the Masses have any considerable Thickness it separates more readily into flat Cakes in a Direction that was its horizontal one while it lay in the Earth, than any other way: this is owing to its Structure which is not uniform as that of the Generality of the Earths, but laminated or composed of a great Number of very thin and fine Plates which lye evenly over one another, but do not cohere very closely.
It is very light, and in Colour is of a very bright and strong yellow, sometimes purely and uniformly so, but at others variegated with Clouds of a deeper yellow approaching to the Orange Colour, and in some Specimens, tho’ that is very rare, with a fair tho’ not very bright red. Applied to the Tongue it adheres very firmly to it; if taken into the Mouth it breaks very readily in it, and has a disagreeable Taste, but is so fine and pure, that it leaves not the least Grittiness between the Teeth.
If calcined in a moderate Fire it becomes of a strong, but not very bright red, and acquires a little additional Hardness; if put into the strongest Acids it does not cause the least Ebullition in them, and if thrown into Water it sends up a large Quantity of Air Bubbles with a hissing Noise, but does not break till after some time in it, when it gradually separates first into a great Number of thin Flakes, and from these falls into a fine yellow Powder.
This Species of Ochre seems to have been known both among the Painters and in Medicine from the very earliest Times, and is so extremely different from our common yellow Ochre, that it is very absurd to attribute to that Earth the Qualities we find the old Writers giving to this.
It is very rarely found in Strata, in the Manner of the Generality of the Earths; its general Situation is in the perpendicular Fissures of the Strata of Stone, and it is sometimes found in loose Masses of two or three Ounces Weight among the Pebbles, in our Gravel Pits. We have it in this last State in many Places to the North of London, and the Masses picked up there, if compared with the Description Dioscorides has left us of the Grecian Kind, which he says was very light, of a fine yellow composed of a Number of thin Plates or Flakes, and not containing any stony or gritty Particles, will be found to agree so perfectly with all the Particulars of it, that there is no room to doubt of its being the very same Substance. Beside its Use in Painting, it was esteemed a very valuable external Medicine in Inflammations and Tumors; they mixed it with various Liquids, and usually applied it in Form of a Cataplasm.
On Analysis this is found to contain Iron, and that in such Quantity as could scarce be conceived from its Lightness; what Weight it has seems indeed to be almost entirely owing to the ferrugineous Matter it contains.
pp. 238–239
CHAPTER II.
RUBRICA SINOPICA,
Earth of Sinope.
THE Ancients have not been so careful in distinguishing the Characteristics of the Genera of the several Earths they admitted into Medicine as might have been wished, and it is owing to their Inaccuracy that we find in this Instance a true Ochre called by the Name of a Reddle, or Rubrica, that is of a Kind of Marl, for the Name Rubrica Sinopica is no more than a literal Translation of the Name, by which Theophrastus and all the other Greeks whose Works are preserved to us have called it. It is truly a Species of Ochre, and is the only one of the red Kind which they admitted into Use as a Medicine.
It is by far the most dense and compact in its Texture of all this Genus of Fossils; it is met with in Masses of two or three Ounces, and sometimes more in Weight, but never in very large ones; these are of an even, but not smooth or glossy Surface, and are soft to the Touch, but usually have some dusty Matter about them, and very deeply stain the Hands on touching them. They are not of the plated Structure of the former Ochre, but even and uniform in the whole Mass, and break with equal Ease and Readiness in any Direction, tho’ they are so hard that it requires a smart Blow to break them at all.
This is as much the heaviest as the most compact of all the Ochres. It is usually of a fine glowing Purple or deep red Colour, but in some Pieces much paler, nay even in some of no more than a Flesh Colour, yet always bright and beautiful, and under all these Appearances giving the same Proofs of its being the genuine Substance under the severest Trials. Applied to the Tongue it adheres very firmly to it, and if taken into the Mouth it very readily disunites in it, leaving a very remarkable astringent Taste behind it, but having no hard Particles in it, nor making the least gritting between the Teeth. If a Piece of it be thrown into Water it sends up a great Quantity of Air Bubbles with a loud hissing Noise, and after a few Moments swells in Bulk, and by Degrees moulders away to a fine Purple Powder. Thrown into any acid Menstruum it makes a very considerable Effervescence, and on calcining in a moderate Fire it acquires a very considerable Addition to its Hardness, but its Colour remains unaltered.
This Earth has been in Use from the earliest Times we have any Account of.
In the Times of Theophrastus and Dioscorides it was dug in Cappadocia and in no other Part of the World, its Name of Sinopica having been given it not from its being produced near that City, but from that’s being the Place where it was most frequently sold; afterwards it was found also in Ægypt and Africa, and in the Insulæ Baleares or Majorca and Minorca, in the latter of which it is found also at this Day: It does not constitute whole Strata in the Earth, but is found in the perpendicular Fissures of the Beds of Stone, particularly in the Rocks about Iron Mines. We have it not, so far as is yet known, in England, but it is sometimes met with in our American Colonies, particularly in the New Jersies, and is there from its Colour called Bloodstone. It is an excellent Astringent, the Ancients have been very full of its Praises in Diarrhœas and Dysenteries, and indeed in Hæmorrhages of all Kinds, and I have the Proof of a frequent Use of it to affirm from, that it does in reality possess all the Virtues they ascribe to it; it is indeed equal to any of the astringent Earths we are acquainted with, superior to most.
On Analysis it is found to contain a very considerable Quantity of Iron. I have procured near one fifth of that Metal from the finest Specimens of it.
pp. 239–241
CHAPTER III.
LAPIS ARMENUS,
Armenian Stone.
NOTHING has perplexed the World more in their Enquiries into the Substances used in Medicine than the improper Names they have been call’d by, and we have in no Case a greater Instance of this Confusion and Error than in regard to this Fossil.
The Armenium or Cæruleum Nativum of the Ancients is in Reality, according to their own Accounts, if we examine those who wrote first of it, and who were best acquainted with it, no other than a kind of Earth: It is properly an Ochre of Copper, as the yellow Earths we usually distinguish by this general Name are Ochres of Iron; but the Inaccuracy of some of the Writers who succeeded these, having judged the Word Lapis applicable enough to any thing that was dug out of the Ground, having added it to the more simple Name of this Substance, and call’d it, instead of Armenium, Lapis Armenus; People who have, after their Time, attempted to determine what was the Substance meant by the Descriptions of the Ancients, and have contented themselves with going as far back as to these instead of going to the Fountain Head among the Greeks, have look’d for a blue Stone to answer the Description they have met with of the Armenium, and finding it was used as a Colour in Painting, have supposed it must be of the Lapis Lazuli Kind; and have generally understood it to be a Stone like that in all Respects, except that it had not its gold-like Spangles: Nay some have allowed it even these too, and have left us scarce any Distinction between the two Substances, though in Reality they are at least as different as an Egyptian Pebble and a Lump of Clay. People who write on Subjects that the Ancients have treated of are fond of calling in their Names on every Occasion, and of quoting their Sentiments as far as they will fall in with their Purposes; but if we examine their Quotations, we shall find that they generally think it going very far back if they go to Pliny, and they take his Accounts for those of the Ancients in general: But this is not going nearly far enough, Pliny often indeed gives us Translations of Dioscorides and Theophrastus for the Accounts of Things, but then he often translates them very ill, and not unfrequently omits a Part of what they have said, or adds from others, whose Writings are lost to us, Errors or Contradictions: We have a Proof of this in the Instance before us. Pliny adds the Word Lapis to the Cæruleum or Armenium of the Authors whom he translates from, and blunders so far in the Translation itself, as to say that such of it as is greenest is the best; whereas the Accounts of those from whom he intended to take his, all declare its great Value to be in its pure and unmixed blue Colour.
We are sorry to have Occasion to name so great an Author as Geoffroy among those who have err’d about the Lapis Armenus as it is call’d, but we ought not to contradict him without giving our Reasons for it: He describes this Substance as an opake Stone, spotted with Green, Blue and Black, and with the same Sort of gold-like Spangles that the Lapis Lazuli has, from which Stone he says it differs very little, nay that both are sometimes found in the same Mass and are often used for one another. This Description agrees but very ill with the Substance we preserve as the true Cæruleum or Lapis Armenus (if we must follow a bad Custom so far as to call it so) of the Ancients, which is indeed a true Ochre. But as this Substance perfectly agrees with the Accounts of the earliest Writers among the Greeks who always describe it as a blue Earth, and particularly with that of Dioscorides, who tells us it was a blue, soft and friable Substance, smooth and of an even and regular Texture, we shall not hesitate to give its Description for that of the true Lapis Armenus, though we could not think it proper to put a poor Earth in this manner in the Place of a fine and beautiful Stone without this prefatory Apology.
The blue Ochre of the Shops, call’d very improperly Lapis Armenius, is a soft and friable Earth, of an extremely even and regular Texture where it is pure, but often debased by a Mixture of foreign Particles. We meet with it in Masses of two or three Ounces Weight, which are of an irregular Figure, but generally of a tolerably even and smooth Surface, easily broken between the Fingers, and in small Pieces crumbling into an impalpable Powder on rubbing a little between them. It is smooth to the Touch though not unctuous as the finer Boles are: It is lighter than most of the other Earths, and in Colour is of a very beautiful Blue, sometimes deeper and sometimes paler, though very bright and elegant in all its Degrees, and often spotted with a greenish, sometimes with a blackish Earth, and sometimes, though more rarely, containing in it a Quantity of that fine green arenaceous Matter which the Ancients knew under the Name of Chrysocolla: All these Admixtures however debase the true
Nature of this valuable Earth, whose most perfect State is that in which it is only Blue, it does not stain the Hands in touching it: Apply’d to the Tongue it adheres very firmly to it, and if taken into the Mouth it is of a very disagreeable Taste, but is so perfectly fine as to leave not the least Grittiness between the Teeth.
The finest Lapis Armenus is that which is of the deepest blue Colour, the most soft to the Touch, and most easily crumbled to Powder between the Fingers; that which is lightest, and which has fewest green or black Particles mix’d with it; these being no Part of the Armenus itself, but really Pieces of a green Ochre, or of a black Earth of the same Kind that have accidentally got in among it. The Tests to prove that it is genuine are these: If kept a few Moments red hot in a common Fire it loses all its blue Colour, and when cold is found to be a mere brown Ochre a little harder than it was before. If put into the strongest acid Menstruums it makes not the least Effervescence with them; and if thrown into Water it immediately sends up a Number of Air Bubbles with a hissing Noise, and after a few Moments swells in Bulk, and gradually breaks into small Lumps and thence into a fine blue Powder.
The Ancients had it from Ægypt and many Parts of the East. At present it is not only produced in the same Places but in many others, though no where in any great Plenty. We have it in some Parts of Ireland; in the Neighbourhood of Truro where there is Copper-Oar; and the Mines of Germany and Saxony, where the same Metal is found, frequently afford it. It is never found in whole Strata, but only in small Lumps lodged in the Fissures of Rocks, where the common green Ochre used in Painting, and call’d by the Germans Berggrüen, is also found Native, and is frequently mix’d with it. It has been a Custom lately to call this green Ochre Chrysocolla, but the Chrysocolla which the Ancients mention to have been sometimes found in their Lapis Armenus or Cæruleum Nativum, was not this but the green Sand before mentioned. The Specimen I am so happy to possess with a Quantity of this in it, came from Persia with some of the Turquoises of that Country.
The Lapis Armenus is one of the finest Blues that Nature furnishes for Painting, and in Oil makes a Colour that will stand without Alteration, almost as well as the true Ultramarine. It has also been used in Medicine, but never obtained any great Credit that way. It is a violent Emetic, and generally begins to work almost as soon as it is swallowed. The Dose is from five to ten or twelve Grains, and the Miners who know its Effects, though not its Name, sometimes take it in Disorders of the Head and Stomach.
On Analysis it is found to contain a considerable Quantity of Copper. It is too scarce among us to make many Experiments upon, but I have produced from a rich Piece of it one eighth of its Weight in pure Copper.
p. 255
STONES
Used in MEDICINE,
Of the harder and opake Kind.
Of these there are Six.
| 1. LAPIS CALCARIUS. | 3. OSTEOCOLLA. | 5. LAPIS BEZOARDICUS FOSSILIS. |
| 2. LAPIS HIBERNICUS. | 4. CERATITES. | 6. LUDUS HELMONTII. |
pp. 255–256
CHAPTER I.
LAPIS CALCARIUS,
Lime-Stone.
THERE are so many Species of Stone capable of being burnt into Lime, and so many that in the different Parts of the World are really put to that Use, that it would be difficult to affix any particular Idea to the Term Lime-Stone: We are to understand by it in general any Stone, that upon a proper Degree of Heat continued a sufficient Time, becomes a white Calx, which will make a great Ebullition and Noise on being thrown into Water, and will in fine fall into a loose white Powder at the bottom of that Liquor, after having very strongly impregnated it with its soluble Particles.
As we never use the Lime-Stone uncalcin’d, it is the less necessary to affix any particular Species, as the true or proper Lapis Calcarius of the Shops: The most common Kind is a greyish or blueish Stone, found in loose Masses, of considerable Size, and often vein’d with red: Marble, Alabaster, and all the Stones that have Spar for their Basis, may also come under the general Denomination of Lime-Stone, since they all burn into Lime. In general every Stone, of whatever Kind or Colour that will ferment with Aqua Fortis, will also burn into Lime, and it is of no Consequence to the medicinal Use of that Calx, whether it be made of one or of the other of these Stones. What we have in London is usually made of Chalk; it is weaker than that made of Stone, otherwise the same. Lime is to be chosen for medicinal Use in clean, light and hard Pieces, but not stony, such as will not easily crumble to pieces between the Fingers, and yet will readily break when thrown into Water. The best Lime in the World, on being long exposed to a damp Air, will moulder away into a Powder and lose all its Virtue, but this the more slowly, as it was originally the better made. The Lime when in its perfect and unaltered State, as newly taken from the Kiln, is call’d Calx viva or Quicklime: That which has lain in the Air till it has fallen to Powder of its own accord, is call’d Calx extincta; and that which has been thrown into Water, and the Powder it has fallen into afterwards wash’d with several fresh Waters, is call’d Calx lota.
Quicklime is burning, and corrosive and is never given internally, but it is sometimes used in external Applications, as made into a Paste with Orpiment, or with Rusma, and used as a Depilatory. The Calx lota is no longer a Corrosive but a powerful Desiccative; and Lime-Water is of great Service internally in all cutaneous Eruptions, in the Cure of obstinate Ulcers, and for Diseases of the Lungs. It is generally to be continued a considerable Time for this Purpose.
The Preparations of Lime in Use in the Shops are, 1. The simple Lime-Water just mentioned. 2. The Aqua Calcis minus composita, the less compound Lime-Water. 3. The Aqua Calcis magis composita, or more compound Lime-Water. 4. The Causticum commune fortius, the common stronger Caustic. 5. The Causticum commune mitius, the common milder Caustic; and, 6. The Aqua Phagedænica, or Phagedænic Water.
p. 256
AQUA CALCIS SIMPLEX,
Simple Lime-Water.
Put into a large earthen Pan a Pound of Quick-Lime, pour upon it by a little at a Time a Gallon and a half of Water, after the Ebullition is thoroughly over, let the Liquor stand to settle, and then pour it clear off and filter it for Use.
This is principally intended for washing old Ulcers and other external Purposes; when it is to be taken internally the following Additions are made to it to take off its ill Flavour, or to add to its Virtues.
AQUA CALCIS MINUS COMPOSITA,
The less compound Lime-Water.
Take of Liquorice Root an Ounce; of Sassafras Bark half an Ounce; simple Lime-Water three Quarts; let the whole infuse together for two Days without Heat, then filter it for Use.
p. 257
AQUA CALCIS MAGIS COMPOSITA,
The more compound Lime Water.
Take Raspings of Guaiacum half a Pound, Liquorice Root an Ounce, Sassafras Bark half an Ounce, of Coriander Seed three Drams, of Lime Water three Quarts, let the whole stand together two Days without Heat, and then filter it off for Use.
CAUSTICUM COMMUNE FORTIUS,
The common stronger Caustic.
Take equal Quantities of Quicklime and Russia Potash, throw on Water by Degrees till the Lime is slaked, then throw on more Water and stir the whole together, that the Salt may be thoroughly dissolved; filter it through Paper and boil it, till from its true Standard of sixteen Ounces in Weight filling an exact Pint, it be reduced to a fourth Part of that Quantity; then while it is yet boiling sprinkle into it Lime that has been kept in a Vessel pretty close stopped for several Months, continue to add more and more of this Lime, till all the Liquor is absorbed and the whole reduced to a Paste; this Paste is the Caustic; it must be kept in a Vessel well stopped.
CAUSTICUM COMMUNE MITIUS,
The common milder Caustic.
Take of soft Soap and of Quicklime of each equal Quantities, mix them for Use; our Surgeons are fond of this last, where a milder Operation is necessary: the other is now used in the Place of the Lapis Infernalis, and answers all its Purposes.
AQUA PHAGEDÆNICA,
Phagedænic Water.
Take Corrosive Sublimate a Dram, Lime Water a Quart, mix them together, and after thoroughly shaking, let the Liquor settle for Use.
This is used by the Surgeons as a gentle Escharotic for the cleansing of Ulcers, and the eating away proud Flesh.