it but Ammoniac which in Greek signifies Salt of the sand and underneath the sand of the Sea shore I suppose it is found congealed in little pieces by its internal heat and the continual burning of the Sun baked so much that it is made the bitterest to taste of all kind of Salt Goldsmiths use it more than the Physicians It is one of those they call the four spirits because the fire will convert them into smoak and so they fly away the other three are 1. Quicksilver 2. Sulphur 3. Saltpeter It hath a particular property to cleanse and colour Gold and is put into the composition of that Aqua-fortis that dissolves it At this day we have little knowledge of the true Nitre which was anciently made of the water of the river Nilus although Albertus Magnus saith that in Goselaria there was a mountain that contained a very rich Mine of Copper and the water that issued out at the bottom of it being dried became Nitre We know little also of Aphonitro which is but as it were the froth of Nitre Borax which is called by the Spaniards Chrysolica and Atincar is an artificial sort of Nitre made of Urines stirred togethet in the heat of the Sun in a Copper Pan with a Ladle of the same until it thicken and coagulate although others make it of Salt-Ammoniac and Allum Nitre is bitterer than Salt but less Salt Saltpeter is the mean between them two and consists of very dry and subtile parts it grows in the walls of old Houses and in Stables Cow houses Hog-sties and Dove-coats it will grow again in the same Earth it was taken out of if that Earth be throwen in heaps and spared and taken care of or if ordinary Earth be cast up into heaps and watered with brackish water after some years it will give a great encrease as profitable as crops of Grain The use of it in making of Gunpowder and Aqua-fortis is very well known It is used also in the melting of Mettals as shall be shewn hereafter CHAP. 9. Of Juices which the Spaniards call Betunes THe Betune is one of the things that does most damage of all unto Mettals especially in the melting of them because it burns them and makes them become dross if they be not cleared of the Betune before they be put into a fierce fire There be twelve sorts of Betune viz. Asphalto Pissasphalto Naptal la Piedra Gagete Azabache Ampelites Maltha Piedra Thracia Carbones de Mina Ambar de Cuentas Ambar Olorosa Alcanfor But few of these sorts are found mixed with Metals All Betunes are the oyliness or fat of the Earth and although some are of opinion that Alcanphor is the weeping or Gum of the Tree Capar in the Island of Zebat and the Amber of another Hearb called Polco in Spanish whereunto it is commonly found sticking And to the smelling Amber they ascribe for its original a great Fish in the Sea like a Whale because there is great resemblance between it and sperma Ceti Nevertheless that doth not hinder that such substances also may like sweat as it were issue forth of the Earth and make these Juices called Betunes Asphalto is found in the Lake of Sodom or the dead Sea in Judea whereinto runneth the river Jordan three leagues from the City of Jericho It is nothing else but an oyly froth that swims on the surface of the water of that Lake agitated and driven by the winds and waves a-shore and there condenses and hardens It is like unto Pitch but harder and of a better colour Before God overthrew those wicked Cities of Sodom Gomorrha Admah and Seboim that fertile valley had little of this Betune in it as may be collected from Gen. Chap. 14. These are found also in many other places and Provinces some whereof use them to make Candles with instead of Oyl and although in Peru they have not been curious in further search then how best to work their Oar of Gold and Silver yet by the plenty of them that the Indians bring it is known that there are of them in the Cordillera de la Chiriguanes in the frontiers of Lomnia although they have little access to them because they be in the power of the Indians that maintain war against the Spaniard The Pissasphalto is a natural composition of Asphalto and Paz and so the colour of it declares and for want of the true natural Pissasphalto they counterfeit it of those two materials La Napthe is a sulphurous liquor sometimes white and sometimes black also and is that which is called Oyl of Peter of admirable vertue to cure old pains proceeding from cold causes It will draw fire to it as the Loadstone does Iron with that force that it will take fire at a great distance from the flame as hath been confirmed by the miserable experience of the Conde de Hercules de Icontrarii of the Country of Ferara who having a Well in his ground the water whereof was mixed with Petreol and by some breaches or cracks in the Well much of this water ran to waste commanded it to be repaired the Laborer that was let down into the bottom of the Well desired a Candle the better to see his work which was furnished him in a Lanthorn and immediately through the holes of the Lanthorn the Napthe suckt the flame into it self and set fire on the whole Well which discharged it self instantly like a great piece of Cannon and blew the poor man into pieces and took off an arm of a Tree that hung over the Well The Conde himself told the story to Matiolo who reports it in his Dioscorides Asphalto and Pissasphalto melt in the fire as Pitch or Wax and by that they are distinguished from the Piedra Gagate or Ascabache and also from Pit-coal which burns and consumes it self away like Tea or any other sort of wood As yet I have not heard whether there be any Betunes in these Provinces although I perswade my self there be if they were sought for CHAP. 10. Of Sulphur and Antimony SUlphur is a Mineral the most universally known of any It is made of an Earthy unctuous substance and very hot to that degree that it is esteemed to be nearest of kin to the Element of fire of any compounded substance The Chymists call it the Masculine seed and Natures first agent in all generation and they say that the difference between one thing and another arises from the divers preparations and mixtures of Sulphur and Quicksilver It hath happened to an Apothecary that going about to make a salve compounded of those two materials he has found the result to be a Plate of fine silver After many considerations of this substance Thophrastus Paracelsus proceeds to contemplate the wonders produced by Sulphur and saith that God by an especial providence hath concealed those mysteries and that it is an evident confutation of those who oppose the transmutation of Mettals for this Mineral doth effect it and he teaches
San Christoval delos Lipes at that time in a beautiful high hill that together with others encompasses the dwelling of the Miners two Galleguares found a Mine which at first they called after their own names but ever since to this present it is called from its effects The stinking Mine At first they got out of it very rich Oar Tacana between white Chalk and as they began to sink deeper they were forced to give over by reason of a most abominable ill smell they met withal which killed several of the Miners Indians and so it lay unwrought for four or five years after which time another Miner I being then in the Country undertook to proceed in the working of it thinking that having layn still so long after its first opening the ill quality would have been evaporated but that experiment cost the lives of two Indians more whereupon they forbore the work and have done so unto this day The which I have not so much wondred at as to see with my eyes the Ground opened in several other parts of that Mountain at a great distance from the forementioned Mine and in digging scarce a yard deep such a stink came out of the ground as forced the labourers to give over and as I passed by those Pits a few days after I saw divers Birds and Serpents dead in them having been entoxicated by that poysonous smell On the other side of this forbidden Hill until Divine Providence make way for the Mining of the same are built dwelling houses and a Mill to Grind Mettals withal adjoyning unto a Marish Ground which in every place where they digg'd to lay the shallow foundations of those buildings the same smell breaks out as hath been already described and it comes out of the ground boiling like unto a Cellar full of Wine on the Must exceeding troublesome and noisome unto us though we were standing by in the open air In the famous Country of Mines Verenguela de Pacages in which the Indians procured a Patent to dig before that of Potosi was in use because its veins were esteemed much richer than Potosi and upon trial were found to be so and the Oar gotten there inferior to none in the Indies In the hill of that Country called Sancta Juanna a Miner followed a very rich and plentiful vein of Silver and intending to discover more of the like he determined to break a hole into an old Vault and set two Indians upon the work who after a few blows discovered a vacuity out of which came so Pestilential a stink that killed the two Indians presently and almost stifled others that were at a distance from them in the Mine who nevertheless ran out and told their Master what had happened He made haste to the Mine hoping to save the Indians but at first entrance into the ground upon the stairs by which they went down into the Mine he fell down dead and his body remained there no body daring to go down and take it away to bury it In another Mine in the same mountain in the bottom of it I saw a thick exhalation or poysonous vapor gush forth making a terrible noise and was of quality bad enough to kill one that would stay long in that Mine putting out the Candles when we held them to it which is a certain sign of the malignity of the air as hath been found by the constant experience of all Miners and therefore deserves to be the more taken notice of CHAP. 3. How to know the Condition of the Earth by the Taste THe Artist in the knowledge of Mettals before he gives his judgment leaves no experiment untried that may be considerable for his information And therefore useth his Taste which discovers the pureness of Mettals as well as smelling doth Pure Earth hath no manner of taste and that Earth which is mixed with Minerals commonly hath a bad taste because scarce any Mineral but is a dust and they be all dry when as the very first principle of sweetness or good taste is humidity Now since the Earth which hath such a mixture in it is greatly disposed also to contain mettals of like condition The curious Miner ought to make trial by tasting holding it for a certain truth that mettals of Gold and Silver and others are found as often in the form of Earth which in the Spanish Miners language is called Lampos as in Stones or Oar. The taste of the Earth is gotten well by infusing it in curious water especially if you set it upon the fire and let it boil once or twice and then cool again whereby may be discerned the mixture or juice which it contains and one that would improve this experiment may separate the water from the infusion substantially and visibly as shall be shewn in its place when we come to treat of the Preparation of Mettals to make them beneficial CHAP. 4. Of the Names and Vses of some sorts of Earth IN the books of Physick some kinds of Earth are very famous for the effects which they have upon mans body and it is not unnecessary that the Miner hath the knowledge to distinguish them when they come in his way 1. Lemnian-Earth so called from the Island Lemnos where it is found is very red and much like unto red Oaker or red Lead but it hath this notable difference that it will not colour ones fingers in touching it as do the others It is esteemed as rich as Gold and sold so weight for weight one cause of the dearness of it is the scarcity of it in the world and another is because they dig it only on one day in the year being superstitiously perswaded that that Earth of this kind only hath vertue in it that is dug upon the 6 16 of August It is a rare Antidote against any kind of poyson or Pestilence 2. That Earth which is commonly called Bol Armeniac from the vulgar opinion that it is found only in Armenia is very like the Lemnian-Earth aforesaid only it is not red but palish white or sallow-coloured There is excellent good of it and in great plenty in the West-Indian Mines and particularly in the rich mountain of Potosi and in those of Oruro divers are of opinion that this common Bol is that which Diascorides calls la Rubrica Synopica and that the Oriental Bol Armeniac is the true Lemnian-Earth 3. There be two sorts of Eritrian-Earth one pure white the other of an ash-colour and this last is the better and is known by rubbing it upon polished Copper where it will leave a tincture of violet colour It hath vertue to stench blood and to cool and heal green wounds 4. The Earth of Samia is light white Earth and will stick to ones tongue if you touch it with it It is brittle and yet will melt There is another sort of it called Aster that is close and hard as a stone Both of them have the Eritrian vertue in them viz. to be
excellent Antidotes against poyson or the biting of Serpents 5. The Earth called Chia is white inclining to ash-colour much like that of Samia and hath the same vertues and over and above that it takes wrinkles out of the face and gives a good complexion 6. selinusion-Selinusion-Earth hath the same quality as the last aforementioned The best kind of it is that which glisters much is white and brittle and soonest dissolves in water 7. cimolian-Cimolian-Earth is white although there be a sort of it that enclines unto purple The best is that which is most greasie and is very cold in ones hand It dissolves imposthumes and little swellings and in case of a burn it will keep the flesh from blistering 8. The Poigite is almost of the same colour as the Eritrian but is found in bigger lumps it cools and refreshes the hand that touches it and if one lick it it will stick much unto the tongue Its vertues are those of Cimolian-Earth 9. The Melian-Earth is of an ash-colour like Eritrian but it feels rough and makes a noise between the fingers like a Pomice-stone it has the vertue of Allum but very weak as one may perceive by the taste for it will make the tongue something dry it cleanses the body gives a good complexion and will cure the Itch. 10. Of that Earth which is called Ampelites the blackest is the best Ground with Oyl it easily dissolves and hath a cooling and loosening vertue also it is used to colour hair withal it is wholly bituminous as Jeat is also Cardanus amongst his curiosities makes mention of another kind of Earth anciently called Britanica from the Country where it is found they were fain to dig very deep Mines to come at it It was white and after they had separated the Plate it contained they manured their Tilth-fields with the Earth which were put in heart thereby for 100. years after 11. Out of Islands in the south Sea not far from the City of Arica they fetch Earth that does the same effect as the last aforementioned It is called Guano i. e. Dung not because it is the Dung of Sea-fowls as many would have it understood but because of its admirable vertue in making ploughed ground fertile It is light and spungy And that which is brought from the Island of Iqueyque is of a dark grey colour like unto Tobacco ground small Although from other Islands nearer Arica they get a white Earth inclining to a sallow of the same vertue It instantly colours water whereinto it is put as if it were the best leigh and smells very strong The qualities and vertues of this and of many other simples of the new world are a large field for ingenious persons to discourse Philosophically upon when they shall bend their minds more to the searching out of truth than riches CHAP. 5. Of Juices and first of Allum THe compositions within the bowels of the Earth are such as either will melt or will not melt Those that will not melt are hard and called Stones or being soft and easily crumbling into very small parts are called Earth Those that will melt are either such as after they run by the force of the fire become solid and malleable and those are Mettals or else such as do not obtain those qualities and those are they that are called Juices From the mixture of the aforesaid four kinds of compositions are made eleven other sorts of Minerals and no more Those who are hardned by cold ungive again by heat as Sulphur but such as are condensed by heat are dissolved again by cold and water viz. Allum Copperas Salt c. 1. Those that write of simple medicaments speak of divers sorts of Allum but the true Allum is that which is called Rock-Allum whereof some is white and transparent as glas and other some inclining to a red and this hath the best vertue and is mightily restringent and therefore called by the Greeks Estypteria According to the opinion of Galen lib. 4. of the quality of simples it should be of a cold quality because all astringent things are so and prescribes therefore Rupecissa as cold in the second degree to be infused in the quintessence of Raymundus But Dioscorides and many others make it to be of a hot quality by its effects but this is not a convenient place to examine the reasons of it 2. The Allum which is called Escayola is not a Juice but the same with the Earth of Samia which the ancients called Aster 3. Neither is the Allum seissile or de pluma a Juice which is yet taken for such in Apothecaries shops but is the Stone called Amianto and it is not astringent to taste nor consumes in the fire although it be kept there very long which are the particular qualities of an Amianto 4. The Allum Catino is made of the Ashes of the herb Anthide or Sosa Barilla or the herb they make glass of whereof there is great abundance in the plains of Oruro and in several places of the river Langa-Sollo 5. The Salt which is made of the Lees of Wine or of the Calcinings of the Lees until they become white is likewise called Allum the West-Indies abound in Allum as they do also in all sorts of Minerals In the Mines of the Lipes near unto Coloha the head Town of that Countrey I found a vein of Allum I have seen another in the hot Baths of Ventilla in the high way between Oruro and Chayante and there I saw the true Seissile-Allum or de pluma with all the qualities described by Dioscorides This same sort of Allum also is brought to Potosi from another Mine near to Porco Aylo and in many other parts there is of the same and there might of it be made in the City of Potosi if they would but boil the waters de la Quebrada or Guayco de Santiago which are almost all Allum CHAP. 6. Of Copperas THe Copperas is a Mineral substance very like unto Allum and oftentimes they are found incorporated together The manner of separating them is to put the leigh that is drawn off from the Stone or Earth which contains the Mineral into boiling Urine and the Copperas will divide from the Allum and fall to the bottom the Allum remaining swiming on the top The Copperas is sharp and biting to the taste and of an astringent quality for which reason divers doe attribute unto it the properties of Sulphur Iron and Copper the vertue of Allum the subtilness of Saltpeter and the driness of Salt Some Alchimists have written as if the hidden vertues of the Philosophers Stone were contained in this Mineral whose Latin name is Vitriolum and they form a saying to that purpose beginning every word with one of the letters of it viz. Visitabis Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Lapidem Veram Medicinam Raymundus saith that it is very near of kindred to Gold and hath the same original and principle and it may be that is the reason why sone
affirm that it is a sign of a Mine of Gold although the experience in these Provinces doth not correspond therewith It is ordinarily found with Copper and in great abundance with the Black mettal which also participates much of it and thence takes the ill smell it hath in working It is a very fine sort of Copperas which the Spaniards call Copaquiras and the best and purest of all is that they call Piedra Lipas from the Mine of it found in that Province although a few years ago a very plentiful Mine of it hath been discovered in the Province of Acatama which is of a greenish colour and that of Lipa is blew There is also whitish and yellow Copperas which the Painters use and different colours of it have caused several names to be given it of this Mineral are those the Spaniards call Mysi Sori Calohitis and Melanteria There is dispute enough about its temperament and qualities as well as about that of Allum Some not allowing it to be hot in the third degree will yet allow it to be so in the fourth and others on the contrary are of the opinion of Juan de Rupecissa who I think follows Raymundus that it is cold in the third degree It is admirable to see its effect in Aqua-Fortis in which all Mettals like Salt dissolve and are turned into water and an ocular demonstration of the possibility of the transmutation of Mettals one into another for with Copperas dissolved in Aqua-fortis without any other artifice Iron Lead and Tin become fine Copper and Silver will lose of its value and be turned into Copper also with a little help of another mettal very easie to be gotten By the force of a most violent heat they extract Oyl from the Copperas which is called Vitriol of wonderful vertue They make two sorts of artificial Copperas blew and green of a mixture of Iron Copper and Brimston put in the fire together Hereafter shall be declared how and what mischief Copperas hath caused in the working of mettals a thing hitherto not taken notice of CHAP. 7. Of Salt SAlt is no less necessary than commonly known in the world And that which is Mineral hath the same vertue as that which is made of the Sea-water or of the waters of brackish Lakes or Springs The only difference is that the Mineral-Salt is more thick and solid whence it comes to pass to be more astringent and not so easily dissolved in water as the made Salt is The Provinces of the West-Indies as much abound in Salt as they do in Mettals and a piece of the Sea between the Lipes coagulated into Christalline-Salt as also the Salt-pits called Garci Mendoca are none of the most inconsiderable wonders of this new world Those Pits are called Garci Mendoza for their bigness because they be forty leagues long and where narrowest sixteen broad and also because that sometimes in the middle of that space are discovered as it were Wells that have no bottom and great over-grown Fishes are seen in them It is very dangerous travelling over this space of ground for fear of losing ones eye-sight because the great glistering of the Sun-beams upon that place of Chrystal puts out ones eyes unless they be defended with black Tiffany There is danger of life also in that journy it having happened that going over that place the traveller and his horse and all have been swallowed up leaving no manner of mark behind of either of them In the Lipes four leagues from the Mines of St. Christopher de Achocolla there is a small Lake upon the top of a little hill in a Country they call Tumaquisa in the middle of which Lake the water boils and leaps up sometimes more sometimes less making a frightful noise Out of curiosity I went to see it and found the noise and motion of it so terrible that with reason there be very few that dare come near the mouth thereof the water is thick to that degree that it looks more like dirt than water there is one small gutter where it runs over and that water issued forth becomes red Salt as it runs along in little channels This is a mighty strong Salt and has twice the vertue of common Salt in the working of Mettals It hath also been found to be an excellent remedy for the Dysentery perchance it hath in it a mixture of the red Allum that gives it both colour and spirit Hard by this Lake runs a vein of Piedra Judaica and the Country thereabouts is full of mines of Copper A league and a half from Julloma in the Province of Pacages there be many Salt Springs that as they gush out of the ground in a short time become pure white Salt without the help of any art and they encrease into heaps of Salt until the winter rains dissolve and sweep them away In the same Province near unto Caquingora there be more Salt-Pits like unto the former and the like there is in several other places In these parts also is found in great abundance of the Mine or Rock-Salt which is massy and transparent looking like the purest Christal Julloma hath in it plentiful veins of this kind of Salt Many years ago the Inhabitants of Curaguara de Carangas have enriched themselves by digging of Rock-Salt and of later years they have discovered veins of it near the River of Langa Collo but the Salt-mines of Yocalla which God hath created near unto the rich mountain and City of Potosi that nothing might be wanting that was necessary for the working of its Oar yields such abundance of Salt as is incredible whereof is daily spent in the melting of Mettals at the least 1500 Quintales and this consumption hath lasted for many years Besides the common vertues of Salt which every body knows Arnaldo de Villa nova in his Treatise for the preserving of youthfulness says that Rock-Salt is beyond any thing in the world for that purpose He calls it the Mineral Elixir and prescribes that it be prepared with things that do not weaken it or alter its properties but he does not name the ingredients nor the manner of doing it Juan Beguino in his Tyrocinio Chymico teaches how to extract Oyl out of it of an extraordinary great vertue and he says that whatsoever is preserved in that liquor shall be kept from putrefaction for many ages and he believes that this was it that preserved the body of the beautiful maid which Rafael Volaterano speaks of that was found in the time of Pope Alexander the Sixth in an ancient tomb so fresh as if she had but just newly died when as it appeared by the Epitaph that she had been buried there 1500 years before CHAP. 8. Of Salt Ammoniac and other Salts AMong all the Salts that Nature alone produceth the scarcest but of greatest vertue is the Salt-Ammoniac they call it vulgarly Armoniac and from that name conclude that it comes from Armenia but that is not the true name of
commanded the Mine to be stopt up CHAP. 12. Of the Generation of Stones IT is most certain that there is some very active principle or vertue that operates in the generation of Stones as well as upon the rest of the matter of the Universe that is subject to generation and corruption but the difficulty lies in knowing what that principle is because it operates in no determinate place but sometimes Stones are made in the air in the clouds in the earth in the water and in the bodies of Animals Avicena and Albertus think the matter whereof Stones are made to be a mixture of Earth and Water and if the greater part be Water it hath the name of liquor but if the greater part of it be Earth then it is called dirt or clay That clay which is fit to make Stones of must be tough and slimy such as Bricks Pots and other Earthen vessels are made of for if it be not such as soon as the fire hath consumed the moisture of the dirt it will not hang together but crumble into earth and dust it is also necessary that the liquor which is to be converted into Stone be very slimy the experience whereof we find in our own bodies the Physicians being generally of an opinion that the Stone is begotten in the reins and bladder of slimy tough humors baked hard by the heat of the body this opinion touching petrifying liquors is confirmed past all question by the experiment of that famous water in this Kingdom of Peru near unto Guancavelica which they take and put into moulds of what form and bigness they please and expose it to the Sun for a few days whereby it is made perfect Stone and they build their houses with it all the cattel that drink it dye and from what has been said before it is not hard to conjecture the reason In a mountain called Pacocava a league from the Mines of Verenguela de Pajages there be Springs of this liquor the colour whereof is whitish inclining to yellow that as it runs along condenses into very hard and weighty Stone of different shapes Moreover any porous substance that can suck this kind of liquor into it is apt to be turned into Stone and of those I have seen Trees and Limbs and Bones of Beasts turned into hard Stone In the City de Plata I have seen sticks of wood taken out of that great River of the same name so much of which as had remained covered with the water being converted into very fine Stone I saw also the Teeth and Bones of Giants that were dug up in Tarija turned into heavy and hard Stone Stones have their substantial forms which makes them differ specifically yet because we cannot come to the knowledge of them in our definitions we are fain by way of Periphrasis to make use of accidents and properties Every several form of the Stones is accompanied with particular vertues as remarkable as those of Animals or Plants and proportioned to the length of time Nature takes in its generation but because Plants and Animals are to have so different dispositions and to produce such various and admirable effects they cannot be of so uniform and well mingled a temperament as the Stones are nor is their soft and gentle substance capable to endure so much force as neither is the hardness of the Stones fitted for the producing variety of several shapes and therefore in them are found no leaves flowers fruits hands nor feet as in Plants and Animals though they have a greater vertue of another kind CHAP. 13. Of the Differences of Stones one from another ALL sorts of Stones are reducible under some of these five following species 1. If they be small very scarce and very hard of substance and have lustre they be called precious Stones 2. If they be of great magnitude although they be rare and have lustre they are some kind of Marble 3. If in breaking they fall into splinters or scales they are a sort of Flints 4. If they be of a small grain they be Pebles 5. Those that have none of the above-said qualifications are Rocks or ordinary Stones But the Miners for the better distinction of the sorts of Stone wherein Mettals are engendred use peculiar names for them for example a kind of Stone like Peble which contains Gold Silver or any orher Mettal they call Guijos which breeds a richer vein of Mettal than any other Stone Cachi another sort of Stone white like Alablaster soft and easie to break in pieces is all this Country called Salt Much Lead is engendred in this kind of Stone in the veins of Metales pacos which is the name the Miners here give unto their Silver Oar. Chumpi which is so called because it is of a grey colour is a Stone of the kind of Esmeril mixed with Iron it shines a little and is very hard to work because it resists the fire much It is found in Potosi and Chocaya and other places with the black Mettals and Rosicleres Lamacrudria is that Stone which is close compacted and solid and shews not the least grain nor porousness when you break it and is of a yellow colour and sometimes high coloured as blood-red Almaclaneta is the name they give another kind of Stone which is very solid and weighty of a dark colour always found in the company of rich Mettals which are engendred in it when it comes to be corrupted and rotten as in like manner is done in the Gouijos It grows upon the Flints of the Gold Mines and those of Copper and Silver Amolaclera or Whetstone is that ordinary Stone which is commonly made use of for that purpose and so known to every body Divers rich Mettals grow upon it but most commonly los Cobriscos The veins of Silver are rare and inconsiderable that are found in Pit-coal although it be a more proper bed for Gold Other Stones that grow in Mines or cleave unto the Mettal they call Ciques and also Caxas which are rough and uneven but not very hard nor very spongy and commonly have nothing of Mettal in them although in some rich Mines they are infected with some little by the vicinity of the Oar. The Stones of Potosi called Vilaciques have been and are very famous for the abundance of Silver gotten out of them and are one of the ingredients that make this Province without comparison Vila signifies blood in Peru or any red thing and for the streaks of red this Stone hath in it they call it Vileciques CHAP. 14. Of Precious Stones PRecious Stones are either transparent as the Diamant is or obscure as the Onix or between both as the Sandonyx and the Jasper It is the water which is the principal cause of clearness and the Earth of the opacity of them So that the reason why they excel one the other in lustre and transparency is from the variety of humors congealed together to compose them which are some of them more
pure and clear than others White Stones are made of a humor almost like water and so are more cleâ—r and transparent such is the Chriâ—â—â—â— and the Iris so called because being held opposite to the Sun-beams it much resembles the Rainbow The Diamant is engendred of a less clear humor than the Christal or Iris and so is more obscure than either of them The same variety may be observed in all precious Stones of what colour soever they be whether composed of Juices or humors that be green as the Emerald and the Prasma or of blew as Saphir the Caiano and some sort of Jasper or red as the Ruby or purple as the Jacynth and Amatist or Gold-colour as the Chrysolites and Topaz or of mingled colours as the Opalos In like manner it is to be imagined that the other sorts of Stones that are not transparent are engendred of a mixture of black and thick humors an instance whereof we see in water which though it be naturally white and clear yet mingled with Ink or such like liquor it loseth its transparency though not the lustre of its superficies The different colours of the juices or humors aforesaid arises from the various mixture of black and white matter whereof the Stones are engendred Although Raymundus and many others attribute it more immediately to the variety of Mettals of whose purest liquors precious Stones are engendred in the heart of other hard Stones whither that liquor hath penetrated and thereby much refined it self And that in estimation precious Stones hold in proportion to the Mettals of which they are engendred as the Ruby to Gold the Diamant to Silver the Emerald to Copper and the rest in like manner In his Compendium of Transmutation dedicated to Robert King of England he doth particularly teach the way of making artificial precious Stones by a mixture of the waters of divers Mettals as beautiful and of the same vertue as the natural ones are A knowledge over and above other excellent qualities of that rare person which seems to outgo humane capacity But it is the easier to be believed because we see Esmalts made of divers colours by a composition of Minerals ground to powder and glass and false Stones made in the same manner Transparent precious Stones have many faults in them which by reason of their clearness are sooner discovered by the eye than those in common Stones as spots appear the most in the finest garments and it is rare to find a Stone that hath not some defect or other either spots or hair cloud shadow salt or other thing subject to be engendred in them because the humor of which it is made is not all of one colour A shadow arises from the humors being more obscure in that part A cloud coms from the humors being too white in that part Hairs which are oftenest found in the Saphir and salt which particularly hurts the Opalos as Lead doth the Emerald are impediments of different colours from the true colour of the Stone in which they are CHAP. 15. Whether there be precious Stones in the Kingdome of Peru. HItherto the industry of the people of these Provinces hath been principally applied in the search after Gold and Silver and they have neglected the enquiry after precious Stones although there have been and are many notable indications that this flourishing Kingdom wants not this prerogative also there is a constant report and I my self have heard it in the Country of the Lipes that in the adjoyning Province of Atacama there have been found excellent Diamonds and that in exchange for a little Cocus worth not above two Reals an Indian old woman sold a handful of rough Diamonds which in Spain were worth many Ducats It is a Country full of beautiful Stones to see to and therefore may very well be supposed to have riches in it There be store of Amatists in a wood called by that name which stands hard by the Mines of Esmeruco And in the rich Mine of St. Elizabeth of new Potosi there be found rich and well grown Amatists among the Silver Oar. There are of the same kind of precious Stones in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres they are engendred in Papas Lanadas one or two fathom under ground in a very hard and heavy Flint Stone which they call a Coco because like the Coco-nut it is about the bigness of ones head The Amatist within will be as big about as two fingers naturally coagulated into shapes like fine lace and is more or less mature and perfect according to the condition it was in when the Coco burst which it doth of its own accord and then makes a report like a piece of Ordinance and makes the Earth near it tremble for a good while and that just over it to break and open by which tokens men go to the place and dig for the Coco which they find split into two or three or more pieces This is a thing well known and common in these parts of the world Near unto the place called Aqua Caliente for the hot water that there gushes out in the way between Potosi and the Lipes there is a Pampa full of a pure transparent Chrystalline Stone formed by nature into several angles that meet in one point I always pickt up some of them when I went that way admiring their beauty for exposing them to the Sun-beams they looked all like so many several Suns The largest that I saw of them was about the bigness of ones Thumb Of this sort although much smaller yet there be abundance in the Countries of Callapa and Julloma in the Province of Pacages I gathered some also naturally cut like Rose-Diamonds as big as large Pease and washing the sand I often observed amongst it little small points of the colour of Gold and transparent like unto the best Topaz and others of that sort as big as Barley-corns which if they were bigger would be of great esteem and no doubt but such might be found if hearty industry were employed thereabout The Stones of the Mine of Camata in the Province of Larecaxa do vi in beauty with the Diamond and are worn in Bracelets and Rings in this Kingdom In the great Head land of Arica between the Rocks within the Port there is a Mine whence they get Stones transparent as Diamonds and very near as hard whereof also they make Jewels The best Turqueyes are found in Atacama I have seen one in the Lipes as big as a twelve-pence English The Indians of this Country esteem it great bravery to have Necklaces and Bracelets of small Turqueyes curiously composed The men wear great ones of this kind about their necks like Gold chains They wear such chains also of green Stones and the officers of their Armies esteem them most of all and account them the best ransom a prisoner can give them Pearls also are gotten in the coasts of Atacama and in the Mexillones which are taken out of Oysters and brought hither
free and wide passage out of the Earth then being carried up into the Region of the Air they are converted into Comets Clouds Snow Hail Thunder and other things that appear there But if the aforesaid exhalations chance to be included between hard Rocks in strait and narrow places whence it cannot get out or the place be already full of Minerals the said vapours will thicken and be turned into those they call half Minerals If these fumes penetrating the Rocks do not meet with a kind of clarified Brimston that shines like Silver and is something like unto the Fire-stone which the Spaniards call Marcasita without which no Mettal can be engendred they will stain the Rocks with several sorts of colours if these vapors ascending and endeavouring to get out meet with any Stones so hard as they cannot penetrate them then they are converted into perpetual Springs of water the like effect whereof we see in every common Still but if when they pass through the Rocks they meet with those two Juices namely the Fire-stone or Brimstone clarified and consolidated as hath been said a little before then it dissolves the said Juices mixing it self with them and after boiling together a convenient time it thickens and hardens in the Mine this is the Doctrine of Bracesco in his comment upon Getro but the greatest number of Alchymists do affirm the immediate matter of Mettals to be Quicksilver and Sulphur and that from the different proportion of their mixture and greater or lesser purification results the difference that is found in Mettals CHAP. 19. The Opinion that Quicksilver and Sulphur are the matter whereof Mettals are made is defended THose that think nothing can be effected that comes not within the compass of their own capacity a presumption very unworthy of learned men and much diminishing their credit who are possessed therewith from reasons that neither convince nor are of any force to deny hold that it is not possible by art to change one sort of Mettal into another It is not proper in this place to examine all the arguments of that kind although the great connexion they have with the right knowledge of Mettals whereof we treat makes it necessary to handle some of them and to make the weakness of their foundation plainly to appear They say that the Alchymists are ignorant of the manner whereby Nature Creates and brings Mettals to perfection and that it is erronious to say they are compounded of Quicksilver and Brimston because if it were so there would be found in the Mines of Gold and Silver and of other Mettals several indications and pieces of those Juices whereas common experience shews the contrary for answer thereunto the first part of that reason imports little for though it be granted it infers no more but that those Alchymists that went about those transmutations proceeded mechanically and without good knowledge in the art but nevertheless it remains possible that such transmutations may be made The second part of the forementioned reason shews plainly the great rashness wherewith they affirm that which they know very little of for there is nothing more experimentally known concerning Mettals then their ordinary mixture with Brimston and the abundance of Brimston in Minerals is an especial good sign of the richness a sufficient example whereof is the rose-coloured Oar of the famous mountain of Sancta Isabella of new Potosi in the rich Province of the Lipes which is almost all Plate and engendred amongst such abundance of Brimston that the cavities and hollow places in the Rocks are presently all on fire if a lighted candle touch them All those Oars which they call Soroches Mulatos and Negrilios and all such as do touch upon Antimony or the Fire-stone are certainly known to abound in Sulphur or Brimston as shall be declared hereafter In the very same manner is Quicksilver found incorporated with the Mettals although it be less taken notice of because it is indiscernable in the Oar as it comes out of the ground and when it is put in the fire the Quicksilver fumes away and leaves no smell behind it as the Sulphur does but its effects are too well experimented in the destruction of those that labour in the fumes where Oar is melted and a few years ago we have been undeceived in this matter by the Oar of Chalatiri which is four leagues from the City the most celebrated and rich one in the world Potosi which being melted down left in the furance a bar of Silver and also a great deal of Quicksilver which they picked out of those ashes that were coolest the plenty of Quicksilver there did expose it self to view and afterwards taking more pains to work it in the ordinary manner it produc'd as much Quicksilver as the richest Stones of Guancavilica where it is possible there may be much Reliques of Plate in the great heaps of Oar which hitherto they have refined and I do not know whether some curious person has not already by accident found it so when that that is already said shall not be held sufficient to clear this point it will bear no weight in the proof that Mettals are not compounded of Quicksilver and Brimston to say that these two ingredients are not met withal in the Mines for as parts of the composition of Mettals they have already lost their proper forms and are past into the nature of that Oar which is made up of them But the most skilful artists inquiring further into the secrets of Nature do again extract from all sorts of Mettal Quicksilver whereof they say they are most visibly and palpably compounded I forbear to set down the manner to avoid the occasioning of Chymical experiments which do more harm than good In like manner common Quicksilver is turned into fine Plate which is a certain proof of the possibility and truth of what has been said before whereof there are so many eye witnesses in these Provinces that it were a madness to disbelieve them all CHAP. 20. Of the efficient and formal causes of Mettals BEsides the Heavens which as an universal cause concurs in the Generation of all things and particularly of Mettal some other nearer efficient cause is necessary that having received vertue from the Planets may work upon the proper matter of Mettals for the qualities of the Elements alone are not sufficient nor are appointed to produce any compounded body but only so far as they are govern'd by some other particular vertue as is manifestly seen in living creatures This next cause then or Mineral vertue or Spirit serves it self of the Elementary qualities especially of heat and cold for its instruments in the generation of Mettals the heat mixeth uniformly the earthy and humid parts together which is the matter whereof Mettals are made then it boils digests and thickens that matter and the cold coagulates and hardens it and so it hath put on the form of Mettal and is more or less perfect according to the
Silver those very ancient Mines of Andacava are admired by all Miners for their vast depth and admirable contrivance and plenty of Oar which is such as promises continual employment for half the Indians of this Kingdom Those of Tabacco Nunio are near unto a Lake called by the same name have such wonderful and costly engines appertaining to them that the building of them hath consumed a great part of the treasure of this Kingdom that Lake contains so much water as would make a running river all the year long with which there goes day and night a hundred Silver Mills which grind the Oar which is gotten from its own banks Within the bounds of Potosi also are the Mines of Guariguare Caricari Piquiza la vera Cruz Sipoto and many others In the Lipes there be Farms of Mines of greater fame namly that of St. Isabel of new Potosi the name whereof doth not more predicate its beauty than doth the amenity of the mountain and the richness of the Oar that is found there La Trinidad is a wonderfull rich Mine there be also the Mines of Esmoruco el Bonete which they call so because the top of the mountain is like a Bonnet Xanquegua the new world which hath been discovered in my time yields very rich veins of Mettal namely Abilcha todos Santos Osloque St. Christoval de Achocalia Sabalcha Montes claros and many others In the Chicas are St. Vincent Tatasi Monserrat Esmoraca Tasna Sbina Chorolque old and new Chocaya which to the shame and astonishment of the Miners hath been now last of all found out and is one of the richest in all Peru. CHAP. 28. Continuing the discourse of the last Chapter touching the Mines of Silver THe Province of the Charcas besides the rich mountain of Potosi which alone was sufficient to eternize its name and the other Mines aforesaid that are round about it hath also the Mines of Yaco or the mountain of miracles those of St. Pedro de buena vista and those of Malcocota there is Silver Oar also found near unto Cayanta and also in Paccha and Tarabuco not far from Chuquisaca and in other places Within the Jurisdiction of Panna stand the three great mountains St. Christoval Pie de Gallo and la Flamenca which together make up those Mines which they call of Oruro that famous Town which is near unto them In the neighbourhood of Oruro also are the Mines of Avicaya Berenguela Cicacica la Hoya y Colloquiri which although it is a Mine of Tin yet now and then in following the veins thereof they meet with rich Oar of Silver which they call Lipta In the Province of the Pacages is the rich Mine of Berenguela with the mountains of Santa Juana Tampaya and others and in the bounds of the City de la Paz there are the Mines of Choquepina Pacocava Tiaguanaco and divers others briefly all these Provinces are nothing but a continued Mine and notwithstanding so great a number of Mines are opened at this day yet it is certain that there be many more known unto the Indians which they craftily have concealed from us till this present There is a certain tradition in this Country of an incomparable rich Mine belonging to the Village of Chaqui four leagues from this Imperial City although at present the sight of it is not known divers Indians having killed themselves out of obstinacy that they might not discover it There goes no less fame of the Mine which they call de los Encomenderos in the Province of the Lipes which name was given it divers years ago by the Indians who getting a great quantity of Silver out of that Mine gave that Treasure unto two Spaniards whom they dispatched away into Spain as their Agents they were two brothers of the sirname of Tapias whereupon this rich Province was incorporated into the Crown Whilest I was Curate of this place I spoke with many of the Country people that told me they had helped to load and conduct that riches unto the Port of Arica where it was put on Shipboard it is agreed on all hands that the abovesaid report is true although at present that Mine remains undiscovered which I do not at all wonder at when I consider that all the Mines that are wrought in that Province have been found out and first taken say of by the Spaniards themselves without lighting upon any one ancient work of the Indians whereof no doubt there were formerly very rich ones as appears by the choice Stones and pieces of Oar which Indians have given me without discovering whence they had them and the very streets of the Town when I was Curate there were full of small grains of rich Oar which I swept up and made profit of it In the plains of Julloma in the Pacages the Indians anciently have wrought Mines which at this day remain undiscovered It hath been a vast quantity of small pieces of Plate which they call Corriente that the Spaniards have bought up among this people and I my self have gotten there some of the remainders of that sort of Silver these grounds together with the colour and beauty of the mountains makes one rationally to suspect that Country to be fertile of rich Mettal but it is more certain that there are rich Mines in the Parish of Caquingora in the same Province of the Pacages because I have seen Stones of rich Oar picked out of the paving of their streets and the walls of their houses The same report goes also of divers of the neighbour Towns and a constant fame that in the time of the Ingas each of the parties had their particular Mines CHAP. 29. Of Copper and the Mines thereof THe Sulphureous parts do predominate in the composition of Copper and from their distempered heat rises the fiery colour of that Mettal when it is melted it smells more of Brimston than any other Mettal and because it is over-burnt in its composition therefore it is less subject to injury or corruption by the air earth or water as for the same reason Coals are not subject to such like accidents they use Copper about engines of long duration because it never rusteth as Steel and Iron doth and for the same reason it was highly esteemed by the Ancients who made the bolts and nails of their Ships their weapons and other instruments of this Mettal which also we found in use among the Natives of this Kingdom Copper is engendred in mineral Stones of divers colours although ever the most predominant colour is blew or green it is engendred in the same places with Gold and Silver and oftentimes in following a vein of pure Copper they have met with a nest of the finest Gold but it is more familiar to have its veins change into Silver and those veins of Copper that make any shew above ground commonly prove very rich as they are dug deeper and consequently are more moist The Mine of Osloque in the Lipes was at the top in
Meal of Oar that hath Sulphur or Antimony in it and in such proportion as the quantity of Iron in the Oar requires when they are mingled heat them upon the Tostadillo untill that taking out some of the Meal and Ensaying it according to custome the Oar is found to be well conditioned Sulphur is the destruction of all Mettals gold only excepted it hurts Tin less than other Mettals and Iron most of all and that is the reason why the Sulphur and Iron combating with and destroying each other in the Furnace the Silver is left alone by its self In like manner is Oar cured that contains Sulphur or Antimony being mingled and burnt with the Oar or dross of Iron after it is well grownd That Oar which contains Orpiment or Sandarca ought to be burnt which Soroches which is Oar of Lead and Sulphur that which contains Betun black or white must be burnt with dross of Iron and pouder of white stones whereof they make Lime Besides what hath been already said the diseases of Oar may be known by putting a little of it grownd somewhat gross upon a red hot plate of Iron observing well what fume it makes which if it be white or black participates of Betunes of that Colour if it were yellow of Orpiment if red of Sandaraca if it be yellow in the middle and green on the out sides of Sulphur and likewise the earth that is drawn out of the Mines together with the Oar will oftentimes send forth fumes of the like kind of colours CHAP. XII What the Refiner must do before he incorporates the Caxon THe Refiner throughly understanding what has been said before the Oar being well grown'd cearsed with that curiosity and circumspection which is necessary so that it need not be picked Before he doth go about to incorporate the Caxon and before he burns the Meal if there were need thereof let him set apart three or four pound of the Flower well mingled and stirring it together again afresh take a small quantity make two Ensays thereof by melting in such manner as shall be shewed hereafter whereby he shall certainly know what Silver the Caxon contains and how much he may expect to get out of it Laying down this ground that the Oar is of that they call Pacos and needs not burning nor contains Copperas nor Coppaquiras take out some in the manner abovesaid and Ensay a pound of it by Quicksilver but first pour upon the Oar a good deal of fair water more than is ordinarily necessary and let it stand a while and if there arise a scum or cream that is gross or oily scum it off and let that water run out and repeat the same with fresh water so often untill no such scum arise then take out so much water as is superfluous and put Salt and Quicksilver to it and without any other material proceed in repeating to cast in those too marking well the operation of the Quicksilver whether by accident it meets with more Quicksilver whether it turns little or much to Lead whether it dissolvs or remains intire if it fastens upon the Oar without the help of any Material it is a sign that the Oar doth attract it to it self repeat the operation so untill you find that the force of the Silver and the repetition doth wast the Quicksilver which if it do the work is excellent and will produce the Silver in dust as small as Pin-dust which must be gotten together by searsing and the remainder which is mingled with Quicksilver must be gotten by washing and so you shall have all that the Oar contained agreeable to the experiment which was made by melting The Oar of Berenguela de Pacages is of the quality afore mentioned a great deal whereof was spoiled at first by working it with materials supposing it impossible there should be Oar which did not stand in need thereof now adays they Refine with only Salt and Quicksilver and get the same quantity of Silver as they did by melting which is all that the Oar contains this Oar is called Cobrico if the Ensay doth shew Lead for so they call it when the Quicksilver loses its own bright colour and looks like Lead then other materials are requisite to cleanse it that it may the better take hold of and gather the Silver together those materials that have this virtue are Iron dissolved Lead or Tin and Lime slacked or unslacked for some resemblance it hath to Mettal any Oar may be Refin'd with the help of any one of these materials although that seems to bâ— best which is nearest of kindred to the mixture of the Oar. If the dust of the Silver and colour of the Quicksilver be dusky and blackish then Iron is most proper for it for that which looks like Lead Lead it self is best to that which is clear Tin is the best for Quicksilver that looks as if it were guilt and hath Copper in it Lime is the best this material which is most convenient they throw in by a little and a little at a time by measure and weight untill the Quicksilver look clear and lay hold on the Silver and by this they make the account by the great how much materials they are to put into a Caxon or Chest according to the number of kintals it contains If the Quicksilver be changed into white pouder or Ashes and often passing it again through the Oar do not make it finer it proceeds from the weight and solidity of the Oar the proper accidents of those they call Soroches and Magagitaes and those other Oars that sparkle and have need of burning as have been said before Hard stones that have no Silver in them cause the same accidents in Quicksilver wherefore looking upon it reduced to white pouder as aforesaid if you do not discern either black Oar or Margagita amongst it there was no Silver contained in that Oar which was Ensaid and is good for nothing If in the lesser Ensay the Quicksilver be bright and entire and falls to work laying hold on the Silver there is no need of using any other material all Ensays are made with a very little Quicksilver that there may be room to use any other materials if there be occasion for it if not that more Quicksilver may be added and so the work of Refining is perform'd with greater brevity and security as shall be shewed hereafter and let not the Refiner cease making experiments untill the lesser Ensay which he makes by Quicksilver correspond with that which he makes by melting and let him proceed respectively in the greater Refining of the Caxones CHAP. XIII Continuing the Rules of the last Chapter touching Oar that has need of burning IF the Oar have need of burning as hath been said before and the Ensays by melting made and the Refiner assured of the quantity of Plate the Oar contains let him burn it observing the rules of what he is to mix with it according to the
to quicken it again and unite it and in its place I shall shew how this is to be done CHAP. XV. Touching the causes and differences of that which is called Lis. QUicksilver dissolved and divided into very subtile parts is commonly called by the Refiners Lis which shews its self like an eye-brow in the matter Purunnia when the Oar is Ensayed and from it the experienced Refiners take their indication of the quality of the Oar and condition of the Caxomes it is caused by the often passing of it through the Oar a thing inexcusable in the ordinary way of refining although it hath no ill quality at all but if it hath Coperas in it it will grind the Quicksilver in great extreamity as hath been said If Quicksilver be without any foraign impression upon it and be dissolved into Lis which is white 't is called Lis of Quicksilver Lis of other materials is called that which is made by Quicksilver of Tin or Lead and Lis of Silver is the fine and subtile parts of Silver made by the repassing of the Quicksilver through the Oar but not as yet joyned or incorporated with it which when it is they call by the name of Pella which signifies a Ball or Pellet Quicksilver is susceptible of divers colours which appears in the Lises according to the different matter which accompanies that Silver Oar into which it is thrown these colours are reduced into three Genuses as it were which comprehend under them several other Species Those three are Cleer Lead Coloured Spotted The Quicksilver looks cleer either when the Oar hath no Silver at all in it or when the Silver it contains is fine without any Alloy or mixture in that case the Quicksilver will attract and cloath it self with the dust of fine Silver without losing the liveliness of its color which when it changeth they call it Leaden for its likness unto the colour of that Mettal although it always is accompanied with signs that the Oar contains Silver unless it be that the Lead for so they call it proceed from false principles and those have a manifest cause although little taken notice of as well as the other proceedings in Refining which hitherunto have been governed by chance It is Copperas alone the mortal enemy of Quicksilver which gives it the false colour of Lead in like manner as it doth to other Mettals the colour of Copper the other Lead colour is a certain sign of Silver because ordinarily it is made in raw Oar that is mixed with divers other bad things the which attracting to it self the Quicksilver the Quicksilver lays hold of and carries away both the Mettal and also its bad companions who give it that strange colour this is the ground of what is treated of in the twelfth Chapter of this Book and the reason of that assertion that the black or obscure Lis or colour of Quicksilver proceeds from Oar that is mixed with Iron if the Quicksilver have a deep Lead colour then it hath Lead its self in its company if it be something more clear then it hath Tin and if it look as if it were guilt a little Copper Whether the Lis be of Quicksilver Silver or of other materials is easie to be discerned for the Lis of Quicksilver is very fine white but wanting quickness and when it falls together with the water into the Tray it doth not run up and down but remains as if it stuck to the bottom and if you rub it with your finger it will unite into lumps of Quicksilver The Lis of Silver shines and is like Pindust or finer according to the richness of the Oar when they let the water out from the Oar it runs about the bottom of the Tray and if you rub it with your finger it will gather together into Pellets the Lis of other materials is as it were a middle thing between the other two and being reduced into a body by rubbing it with ones finger it unites it self with the touched Quicksilver CHAP. XVI Whether it be fitting at first to put in all the Quick-silver and other materials at once or no. THe Oar being in good disposition and the Refiner by the foregoing rules being assured how much Silver the Caxon contains and what proportion of Quicksilver and other Materials is necessary to be put in that when it comes to be washed it may yield three parts of Silver Pellets and one of Quicksilver it may be doubted whether all the Quicksilver and materials aforesaid should be put into the incorporating vessel at once or no and the most part if not all the Artists of this Country did use to do it at once untill about twenty years ago when I came to live in the Province of the Lipes I perswaded them to the contrary according to rules which I had learnt in such like operations out of Raimundus Lullus which do evidently agree with the ordinary course of Nature that brings to perfection all thing by a slow and gentle growth and not suddenly nor violently A very little fire is sufficient to burn the whole world if the combustible matter were put into it by little and little proportionable to the force of the fire but if all that matter or an over-great proportion of it should be laid upon the fire at once it would choak it and put it out the natural heat of Animals is subject to the same inconvenience and the same happens proportionally unto the Chests of Mettals besides that by experience it is found that the extraordinary cold of much Quicksilver doth accidentally bind up the Oar and hinder the Refine as on the contrary any heat hastens it moreover if because they have judged ill of the remedy to be put into the Chest the Caxon despair and the Quicksilver dissolve the remedy will be the easier the less loose the Caxon And if there be need of using Tin or Lead which cannot be applyed without Quicksilver that will be added with less danger the Quicksilver being in already The same damage or greater follows when they exceed in the quantity of Materials they put into the Oar which hath need thereof because it dulls and deadens the Quicksilver so that it will lay hold on no Silver at all and can very hardly ever be reduced into that condition it ought to be After many days spent in repassing the Quicksilver and dressing of the Oar let the Caxon be incorporated and washed with a third part of Quicksilver at the most and at first put in half the Tin or Lead that is requisite to be spent for so the Quicksilver will the better lay hold of the Plate and draw it out presently before the Materials are consumed which they call Aplomar whereby will be avoided the danger of the dry Plate which like froth swims upon the water that comes out and is the occasion of much mischief If the Caxon stand in need thereof proceed to put in more Quicksilver and other Materials always
diminishing the quantities proportionally in such manner that it may go dry and not wet for so there will be no occasion for much Lis and the Pellets themselves will serve to get out the rest of the Silver whereby the refining will be soonest and most securely performed if it be needful to Refine with Lime the rule already prescribed for Materials will not serve but the Lime must be put in all at once and with it repass the Caxon very well two or three days before you put in the Quicksilver taking especial care that you do not put in too much of it because it is the great hinderance that the Quicksilver doth not lay hold of the greater Plate and it is more hard to correct than other materials CHAP. XVII Of the often repassing the Quick silver through the Oar and the effects thereof THe chief and principal end of letting it soak through is to divide the Quicksilver into several bodies that it may every where lay hold of the Plate also with that motion it is heat and better disposed for the work and last of all by that frication the Plate is cleansed and purified which is that they call wasting the Materials all of them things most necessary and important although they cause an unpardonable damage that hath been the loss of many Millions in the wasting and consumption of Quicksilver for the repassings have been the foundation of this inconvenience by squeezing the Quicksilver through the grosser and finer parts of the Meal into such little Atomes which they call Lis that scarce have weight or dimension which when they wash the Caxon doth not fall down into the Tub at the bottom but being over-drowned and mingled with the Lamas or mud of the Meal it stays and is cast away with them this inconvenience may be prevented by two cautions the one is that the first and second day after the incorporating of the Meal of Oar in the Caxon they give not above two gentle repassings so that the Quicksilver may be divided but not into too small parcels because before it hath gotten a good body of Silver it is subject to part it self over finely The second is as abovesaid that they put in the other materials dry and not wetted with Quicksilver putting them in by little and little when most it be in the proportion one part of Quicksilver to two of Pellets Let no body deceive themselves that although the Meal in the Caxon contain other Materials sufficient if it be much bathed with Quicksilver that it shall be secured from the former inconvenience for contrariwise it will rather be subject to a greater prejudice for of necessity the repassings will make Lis and if it happen by some accident as it very well may that the Materials be quite consumed instead of the Lis made of them will remain only Lis of Quicksilver In the Lis of Plate there is not that danger that by the often repassings the Silver should be wasted or consumed rather it is thereby better refined and better embraceth and uniteth it self with the Quicksilver CHAP. XVIII Of divers accidents which happen in the way of Refining by Quick-silver and their remedies IN the progress of this kind of Refining divers accidents are met withall in the Caxones or chest full of Oar grownd to be Refined all which are discovered only by the Quicksilver which as in a glass represents the good or ill disposition of the Mettal which in themselves by reason of the fineness of the Meal into which they are grownd and a mixture of earth in the Oar cannot be discerned If the Quicksilver be very much charged above what it ought with materials that is to say Lead Tin Iron or Lime which the Spaniards call Quicksilver Tocado it will not appear round but flatted or rather prolonged like little Worms and if you stir it about the Tray without water it will make drops with little tailes and stick to the sides of the Tray and when it is of this condition it is a sign that it is killed and its virtue obstructed from laying hold of the Silver this evil is remedied by much repassing not without great cost and expence of time the quickest and most efficacious remedy is Copperas or the water thereof which I have shewed how to make and to keep in the 13. Chapter of this Book put it into the Caxones at the same time as you do the Quicksilver and other Refining Materials more or less according as there is occasion and you shall instantly see the effect of it the reason whereof is plain for as hath been said Copperas dissolved in water converts the baser Mettals into true Copper so that the quality of cold which they had before and wherewith they choaked the Quicksilver being turned into heat the property of Copper it is the cause of reviving the Quicksilver From hence is grounded the practice of putting Copper grownd small into the Caxon which is found very profitable for the purpose aforesaid hence also it comes to pass that all Oar of Copper although it be rich is not proper to clear Quicksilver with or to be used in the Refining to make it Aplomar unless it have a great deal of Verdigrease or Copperas The same account may be given of the Virtue that is found in those they call Magistrates which they use in the Refining to qualifie the Caxones with heat and to make them Aplomar the which effect is produced from the burnt Copperas that is in it as may be seen in their composition which for better satisfaction I shall here set down Burn Oar or Copper and grind it well then with an equal quantity of Salt knead it into a body together and having made it into loaves burn it again Others do mingle but one part of Salt with two parts of Copper Oar which they make up into a body and burn and to one Kintall of that beaten to pouder they add half a pound of filings of Latin Another Magistral is made of Lamas Relabes and Salt an equal portion of either soundly burnt together Another is made of that Oar wherewith they Refine the Relabes and Salt put together in equal portions Another sort may be made of Copper Oar Relabes Meal of that Oar which is to be Refined dross of Iron and Salt all put together in equal portions and burnt in loaves Another is made of three parts of the Lamas burnt and one part of Salt Every one inventing such like compositions or proportions according to his own fantasie and experience the foundation of all these Magistrales being the Copperas which the fire produces in them as may be seen and separated from them by whosoever shall please to go about it according to the rules that have been already delivered which seems to confirm that which Pliny says treating of Copper namely that it is begotten of stones burnt These Magistrales are to be used with the same carefulness as hath been
already said of the materials namely they are to be made trial of before the incorporating of the Caxon that by these lesser Ensays it may be known what proportion is fit to be put into the Caxon according to the number of Kintals it shall contain for if the proportion do exceed another great inconvenience will be produced thereby namely that which follows CHAP. XIX In prosecution of the Chapter foregoing AN Accident contrary to that mentioned in the former Chapter and an occasion of great waste of Quicksilver is of the colour of Lead that is to say when it is affected with no other material of inconvenience but only that discolouration and the damage is the greater if the discolouring hath proceeded from Copperas and that there be much Quicksilver divided and running loose about Quicksilver squeezed out of the lumps is very round and lively if it be divided the parts of it although never so small do not run into a Cylindrical figure but into a Spherical this mischief is cured by the contrary materials which as hath been said before cleave unto the Quicksilver nevertheless the Medicine which by its particular qualities attraction and natural sympathy cure this evil is Iron which reunits the Quicksilver and gathers it together into a body after it was dissolved corrupted and in a manner turned into another substance by the Copperas which shall be treated of more at large hereafter when we speak of washing the Caxones No certain rule can be given what quantity of materials to put into the Caxones that have failed in the operation because the mischief and the causes thereof are not always the same but this general rule must be observed that they do not repass the Caxon with Quicksilver till they have first Ensayed a small quantity thereof and thereby have understood what is necessary After that let them take a third or a fourth part of the Caxon and mingle that with the whole proportion of the Materials and stir it well together till it be very well mixed and incorporated one with another then mix this with the rest of the Caxon stir them very well together for after this manner the Medicine will be best and with most equality distributed in the Caxon especially if the Medicine to be put in be very small in quantity Have a care to use the means that is requisite to avoid falling into the first inconvenience of overcharging the Quicksilver and remedy the second mischief with all possible speed because otherwise the Copperas will transform the Quicksilver in such manner as if it were quite eaten up and consumed When Ensaying the Caxon the Quicksilver is found in the bottom of the Purummia Vessel divide it in small grains not run together in a lump it is a sign the Refination is imperfect and that some little hairyness or crisping encompasseth the Pellets of Quicksilver and hinders them uniting the want of materials is commonly the cause of this or else the over-much allay of other Mettals which as well as the Plate attracts the Quicksilver it self Repasses the Relabillo burnt by reason of its sharp cutting quality is profitable to cleanse the Quicksilver some put in ashes but the most proper and natural remedy for it is that which they call Millo or Allum which makes the Silver white and is very ordinarily to be had in great abundance amongst the Mines here at Potosi and in Guaico de Santiago there is a Spring that runs continually with this Allum water When the Caxon hath not been repassed equally or not served with as much Quicksilver as is necessary or in some places doth not unite it self with other parts of the Quicksilver that had gotten Plate already the cause thereof is that they call dry Plate In Ensays you shall see it swim upon the Relabes crisped like froth and if it be not scimmed off and saved before the cleansing the Caxon it will swim at the top and run away with the Lamas to the great detriment of him that owes the Oar if the Quicksilver dry having nevertheless materials sufficient with it it is no inconvenience at all because it will unite one with another the better or else that part which the material possessed being wasted away the other moist parts remain in the Quicksilver to unite it self with the rest of the Pellets that dry Plate which wants materials cannot safely be gathered together by loose Quicksilver untill the Caxon be ready for cleansing the proper remedy for this is to repass the Caxon with Pellet of Silver not over small so shall the dry Plate be collected together and the greatest part of the Lis also if there were any there CHAP. XX. How to know whether or no the Caxon be ready for washing THere can no certain time be prefixed wherein one is obliged to wash the Caxones It 's maturity is hastened by frequent repassings by the outward heat of the Air and the inward heat of the Copper or Copperas and other things of that kind of virtue and such as clear and purifie the Silver a principal cause whereof is the burning of Mettals On the contrary the work of Refining is prolonged and slackened by fewer repassings if the Air be cold or Frost if the Caxon be over foul that the Quicksilver loses it's clearness in passing through but letting pass these and other accidents let us come to the point of gathering out the clear Silver mixed with Quicksilver leaving the earth behind which is called washing the Caxon whereunto no small experience is necessary for if the Caxon be not ripe for washing that plate which the Quicksilver hath not laid hold on is likely to be utterly lost or if it be not it must be grownd over again so that at least one loses much time and labour and Silver too in the repassings besides other hazzards The rules hitherto delivered for the discovery of the disposition of the Caxon are subject to very great error such as it 's appearing so well to sight as if there were need of no more Quicksilver to find the Lis of the Plate all gathered together and finished and that of the Quicksilver beginning to come the substance of the Plate and Quicksilver being clear and gilded as it were with other signs all of which do not secure the judgment from being erroneous because these may be produced by other accidents besides the maturity of the Caxon The only sure and infallible sign is to see whether the Quicksilver hath gotten all the Plate which it ought to do according to the proportion shewed by the lesser Ensay of fire which was made at the beginning and if it hath not arrived to that although it hath many more good signs than hath been already mentioned wash not the Caxon but take more small Ensays thereof whereby you shall easily prove what Plate it contains and what remedy is necessary to bring it to full perfection which when it is attained and the refined substance alone
the bottom containing more or less according to the quantity of Mettal intended to be cleared at one time set it upon a Trevet of strong Earthen were or of Iron cased with Earth in a Furnace of sufficient bigness to put Wood or Coals under it as occasion shall require at a mouth made for that purpose the rest of the Furnace both the top bottom and sides is to be very close excepting one little hole at the top where it shall be found most convenient to give respiration dispose the Vessel aforesaid in such manner as they do that which they call the Cannon in the ordinary way of using Quicksilver so that it may look out above the top of the Furnace one large fingers bredth or two that it may the better joyn with another Vessel to be put a top of it which may serve instead of the Caperuca put the Pellet or Mettle aforesaid well kneaded together in Cakes of what form you please into the Vessel and lest the Plate should melt and stick to the Iron Vessel let it have a thin coat on the inside of Earthen ware or such as Crusibles are made of cover this Vessel with a large Limbeck head made of hammer'd Iron or Copper or of very good Earthen ware well glaz'd and out of it draw a long Pipe a little sloping the cavity whereof in the narrowest Place namely the extremity let be no lesser than the bigness of ones little finger let the joyning of the Limbeck with the Vessel below it be stopped very close with galt then in a secure place that doth not feel the heat of the Furnace let there be placed a great Vessel of stone or of other matter full of cold water whereinto let the nose of the Limbeck enter two fingers breadth blow up the fire in the Furnace from which the Quicksilver flying in the form of vapor to the top of the Limbeck the coolness whereof presently reduceth it into a body again which runs down through the Nose into the Vessel of water aforsaid the Limbeck should now and then be cooled on the outside with wet cloaths and the water into which the Quicksilver falls as it becomes warm should have more fresh water added to it A. The deep Vessel of Iron or Copper B. The head of the Limbeck C. The Nose of it D. A Trevet E. A Bason or Vessel of water to receive the Quicksilver in F. The Furnace G. The Mouth of it H. The hole to draw out the ashes at Lib 2 pag. 88. I. A hole open at the top of the Furnace whereat the deep Iron Vessel looks out a little and is joyned to the Limbeck K. Is a Chimney to let out smoak and give respiration to the fire Here place the Pictures and the Verses The trouble and hazard of keeping them close in the joynt with clay or galt may be excused by making of the place where they shut one upon the other a handful and a half higher or if to that size of them that is now in use they put at the bottom on the outside and fill it of two fingers broad so that the lower Vessel may come up very close upon it and cannot enter further into it a little lower than the Caperucas come are placed the Candlestick foot as they call it whereupon they set the Plate and the Pine Apple the Candlestick foot comes up about four fingers higher than the mouth of the lower Vessel which they call the Cannon in the which on the one side four or six fingers lower than the fire used to be enters in a small Pipe of cold water at a hole made for that purpose in the Cannon without disturbing the Caperuca at all because it is not to go in strait but with a little liberty over against this hole there is such another out of which runs as much water as enters in at the former whereby the Canon is always kept full and the water in good temper to receive the Quicksilver without any prejudice If one separates the Quicksilver by the Limbeck they may do the same thing clapping a ring of Copper of two fingers breadth and other two fingers deep to the mouth of the lower Vessel so that the other Vessel may easily be let in and out wherein the Quicksilver is to be saved Into this Circle the Limbeck must be fitted and to prevent its being blown off with the force of the vapor of the Quicksilver the Limbeck must be kept down with weight on the top of it or tying it to some other fixed thing or making a ring on the top of the Limbeck pass a bar of Iron through it both ends whereof afterward remaining fixed in two walls built on each side of it for that purpose FINIS * * An usual practice among the Miners in that Countrey Botijuela is a Spanish vessel which containes about a Gallon
in like manner is reducible again to Quicksilver is notoriously known to be poyson and hot in the first degree but leaving the determination of this to those that deal in simples it is certain that there is so great an affinity between the nature of Quicksilver and that of other Mettals that though it be none of them yet it is convertible into any of them because as most Philosophers hold it is one of the principles of which they all are compounded and most easily unites and incorporates with them and moreover its very substance is transmutable into true Mettal enduring the trials of the fire and hammer as well as those that come out of the Mine Raymundus teacheth several ways how to turn it into Gold and Silver in a book called La Disquisicion Eliana there is taught a very perfect way how to make Lead of Quicksilver and if one should suspect the credit of books in these Provinces there be many eye witnesses that have Plate by them which they have refined with their own hands by a Copel of Quicksilver cured according to a receit given unto them the which experiments take away all scruple of the possibility of its transmutation There was very little use or consumption of Quicksilver before the beginning of this new Silver age in the world then they only wasted it in Mercury sublimate Cinabrio or Vermillion and the powders made thereof called Precipitate which are also called in Spain the powders of Juanes de Vigo which have been used to such mischievous purposes that the world was said to have too much of them although in bulk and quantity then they had but little but since it hath been used to collect the Silver together out of Oar which is ground small an invention which the Ancients had scarcely arrived to and practised it but very little it is incredible how great a quantity is consumed by the Founders of Mettals of this Kingdom for if the abundance of Silver that hath gone out of this Kingdom hath filled the world with riches and admiration by it may be estimated the consumption and loss of Quicksilver which after a most extravagant expence thereof at first being now by good experience regulated within terms of moderation is found to be equal in weight to the Silver extracted and very seldom that the wast is so little They began to register the Quicksilver that came to Potosi upon the Kings accompt in the year 1574 and from that time till 1640 there had been received of it upwards of 204600 Quintals besides a vast quantity irregularly brought in upon other accompts to supply the excessive expence of this Mineral God Almighty provided the famous Mine of Guancabellica and in these Provinces subject to the Charcas of whose Minerals I have desired particularly to inform your Lordship there can be no want of this Mineral amidst the great plenty it hath of all others there are Quicksilver Mines in Challatiri four leagues from this Imperial City there be also of the same near unto Guarina in the Province of Omasuyo and not far from Moromoro a Village of the Indians six leagues from the City Chuquisaca a few years ago the Indians brought Stones very rich with Quicksilver which by the violent death as was suspected of the man that profered to discover the Mine hath remained concealed unto this present CHAP. 34. Of Artificial Mettals and Mettalliques ART also produces Mettals and Mettalliques and in their fabrick aims at and imitates the perfections of Nature From a mixture of Tin and Copper is made Brass for Bells and for pieces of Ordnance and for other uses They put a pound of Tin from four to eight lib. of Copper according as the occasion requires The Indians understood this composition and made use of it for their instruments of force and for their Arms as we do of Steel or tempered Iron which they knew nothing of Latten is made of small pieces of Copper put into large Crusiples covered with powder of Jalamina which is a Semi-mineral of a yellow colour there is of it near the Mine called the Turc in the Province of Carangas and also near unto Pitantora in the Charcas upon the powder of Jalamina they strew powder of beaten Glass to cover it and keep in the respiration and then they put fire to it which alters the colour of the Copper and makes an encrease of Mettal of eight lib. in the hundred weight For Looking-glasses they make several compositions although the best is of two parts Silver and one of Lead Moreover they make by art Cinabrio Mercury sublimate Precipitate Psorico Esmalte Escoria Diaphryges Cadmia Pompholix Spodos Flor de Cobre Suescama Cardenillo Vermicular Stommoma Herrumbre Ascul Albayalde Sandix Ochra Greta Purpurena and Glass Cinabrio is compounded of one part Sulphur and two parts Quicksilver well boiled and sublimated together in Glass viols or in Earthen vessels that are glazed Mercury sublimate is compounded of half Quicksilver half Copperas ground together extraordinary fine and sprinkling a little strong Vinegar upon it as it grinds that it may the better incorporate then sublimate it in Glass viols as aforesaid it is also made with Allum and many times they mingle a little Salt with it Dissolve Quicksilver in Aqua-fortis then set it upon a gentle fire and let the humidity evaporate and the Quicksilver will remain hard as a Stone then grind it very small and set it again upon the fire in a Crusiple or vessel of Copper if it can be gotten and keep stirring the Quicksilver until it be of a very lively red colour and then take it off the fire for service and this is called Precipitate Psorico is made of two parts of Calchitis and one of Greta ground and mingled together with a little strong Vinegar set it in a Muckhil for forty days together then take it out and in a broken piece of a pot toste it over the fire till it be very red The best Esmalte is made of Allum Copperas and Saltpeter it is susceptible of all colours as Glass is Escoria is that which worketh out of the Mettal when it runs and swims upon the top of it like fat which we call dross That which remains in the botton of the Furnace when they melt Copper is called Diaphryges Cadmia although there be of it natural is also that which sticks to the walls of the Furnaces principally wherein Copper is melted of which they call Bodrite that which is like unto Cobas and Stracita that which is like unto Potsheard and Placite that which looks like Bark or Shavings Pompholix is a mealy substance and looks like Wool as it sticks to the walls but dissolves as soon as ones fingers touch it It grows upon the walls as they melt Mettal They vulgarly call it Atutia Spodo is very little different from the Pompholix only that it is more impure It is found upon the walls where they refine Mettal Flower of Copper is made
by pouring cold water upon the plates of Copper as they come red hot out of the Furnace which with the fume raise up little small grains which they sweep off into a little Iron Fireshovel and so preserve it La Escama del Cobre is that which falls off from the Mettal when it is hammered and beaten and that which in like manner falls off from Iron is called Stommoma although this Greek name rather signifies Steel Cardenillo is made by stopping viols of Vinegar with stopples of Copper and letting it stand ten or twelve days before it is used If instead of Copper aforesaid they use stopples of Iron it makes Herrumbre Vermicular is very like to Cardenillo take one part of Whitewine Vinegar and two parts of stinking Urine and pour it into a Copper Basin or Mortar and stir it about with a Pestle of the same until it grow thick then put a twenty fourth part of Salt and Allum to it set it in the Sun until it coagulate and dry and it will turn into the form of little worms from whence it derives the name El Azul or Blew is made by covering a vessel of strong Vinegar wherein a little Almojatre hath been dissolved with fine sheets of Quicksilvered Plantada full of small holes and putting it into a hot Muckhil and after twenty days standing there rake out the Ascul for use If in the former case one puts Lead over the Vinegar it makes Albayalde Put Albayalde in a Spoon or Iron vessel upon kindled Embers and stir it until it looks very red and then it is Sandix Ochra is yellow it is made of Lead burnt until it come to that colour Greta is made in the refining of Gold and Silver whereof hereafter Purpurina is of the colour of Gold but of little endurance and lasts not long Take four or five parts of Tin and as much Quicksilver one part of Almojatre and another of Sulphur and grind them mingle them in a Glass viol and distil them and the substance that remains in the bottom is the Purpurina In the last place comes the most curious production of Art and that is the making of Glass Take two parts of transparent Sand or powder of Stones which dissolve in the fire one part of Nitre or Saltpeter or Salt of Sosa which they call the herb of Glass clear and purifie it with the mixture of a little powder of a Loadstone Another receipt Take two parts of Ashes and one of the Sand aforesaid with the powder of Loadstone and give it a fitting heat in the Furnace CHAP. 35. Of the Colours of all Minerals generally THat those who want experience may the more easily know the Minerals that come to their hands and that by their eye-sight the truest informer of all the senses they may know what they meet with in the bottom of Mines I shall reduce all sorts of Minerals unto Colours as to a Genus most familiarly known some sorts of Greta or Fullers-earth Allum Amianto the Arabick Stone the Meliti the Gallatiti or the Milk Stone Alablaster the Diomond Silver Quicksilver Tin and Marble are white of colour la tierra Pingiti Jeat Sori Melanteria are black of an ash-colour are the Eritrian and the Melian earth of blew is the Saphir the Ciano the Turky Stone the Lapis Laculo and el Cibairo of green colour is the Emerald the Prasma the Chrisocola or Atincar some sort of Greta and Vitriol or Copperas of the yellow colour is Gold the Ochra the Chrisopacio the Chrisolite and Orpiment of red the Ruby the Granatte the Balax the Cornelian the Sandaraca Corral la Piedra Seissile the Hematite or Blood Stone Copper Minio or Vermillion the Lemnian earth and Almagre of purple colour is the Jacint and Amathist of a clear blew the Jasper called Boria of a greenish blew the Cardenillo and the Armenian Stone or Cibairo are of this colour and so the Painters call the Colour which they make of this Stone a verdured blew of a white inclining to a red is the Afrodesiaca of a red that is whitish is the Xanto between black and red is the Batrachiti of a black inclining to purple is the Alabandico of a yellowish white is the Topas There be Minerals of any one single colour either black or white or mixed together as the Agates The Apsito hath red veins dispersed upon a black field and contrariwise the Nasomonite hath black veins upon a red field The Heliotrope in his fine green substance hath veins of the purest blood and in Saphires and lapis Lazuli are seen very resplendent Gold Two veins one white and the other red run quite through the substance of the Egitilla The Eupatalo is of four colours namely Blew fiery Red Vermillion Pippin colour The Orea also is wont to be found of so many colours namely red green white and black CHAP. 36. Of the Faculties or Vertues of Minerals I Shall finish this Treatise with a brief relation of the medicinal Vertues that are found in Minerals more than what hath been already mentioned that those that possess them may know how to benefit by them when the occasion serves Some Minerals work by their occult essential properties or specifical form others by the mediation of their Elementary qualities contrary to those of the disease Of the first sort some are opposite unto poyson and others to other sorts of infirmities and of those that resist poyson some cure the Plague as the Emerald the Lemnian and the Armenian earth others are good against one sort of poyson only as the Saphire drunk inwardly is against the biting of Scorpions Sulphur Nitre and Copperas are good against the venemous mushroms Salt used plaister-wise is good against the biting of Vipers and Scorpions drunk inwardly is good against the poyson of Opium and Toadstools Of those that cure by occult quality some stop the blood from passing to a particular part of the body as the Hematite others corroborate and fortifie the stomach when they are hung upon it by help of a string going about the neck as doth the true Jasper others tied to the left arm restrain abortion as doth the Eagle-stone which the Greeks call Aetites and if it be bound upon the left muscle it produces the quite contrary effect as also doth the Jasper others purge gross humors as doth the Loadstone others melancholy as the Stone Armenia or Cibairo others provoke to vomit as doth the aforesaid Armenia Chrysocola Copperas and Precipitate Amongst those that work by their Elementary qualities although generally all Minerals are drying some heat the body as do Allum Copperas Calchitis Misi Sori Melanteria and Cardenillo others cool it as to the Eritrian-earth Stibium or Antimony Albayalde and Greta or Lithargirio Others with the second qualities which they possess soften hardness as doth the Agate because it participates so much of the Betune others contrariwise will harden soft parts as doth the hard Lead and Estibium some open the pores