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Book I Minerals color, taste, odor , physical properties of gemstones and minerals such as emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires

Book I Minerals color, taste, odor , physical properties of gemstones and minerals such as emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires Page of 251 Book I Minerals color, taste, odor , physical properties of gemstones and minerals such as emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
8
DE NATURA FOSSILIUM
as the earth. A kind of juice is given off by certain stones such as hematite and schistos when they are ground in a mortar. Gems and the stones which melt in a fire do not give this kind of juice. Each metal has a distinctive taste which can be ascertained by placing water in a vessel made from the metal and allowing it to stand for a long time. The metal then gives its taste to the water. The taste of copper is very bitter and unpleasant, that of iron less so while the taste of tin is the weakest of all metals.
The odor which minerals give off according to their strength and nature will be considered next. That of sory is so foul it causes nausea. Certain minerals have an odor when struck with an iron or stone. Treated in this way the Hildesheim marble gives off an odor of burning horn. Recently a silver vein has been discovered in a prospect named St. Fabius and St. Sebastian near Marienburg and the ore from this vein, when broken in the mine or after it is carried outside, gives off an odor which is pleasing to everyone. Prince Henry, who was present at the time the vein was dis­covered, was so pleased that he exclaimed, "This is Calcutta, India." Aromatic gums come to us from that city. An odor is also obtained from some minerals by crushing them in a mortar. Realgar, treated in this way, gives off an odor of sulphur. Certain minerals give off an odor when burnt in a fire, for example, realgar has an odor of sulphur; amber, for the most part, of myrrh; jet, of bitumen. Camphor has an acrid odor and the fire which heats it increases its pungency as it is carried upward to the cover of the vessel. Stones and earths which do not contain bitumen give off almost no odor when thrown on a fire. When heated gold has a sweet odor which is detected with difficulty; silver a somewhat fetid odor; copper and iron a fetid odor; lead, bismuth, and zinc a dull odor. Many mixed minerals smell of bitumen, many of sulphur. Some cadmia fossilis has an odor of garlic. The geodes from Misena, the stone from Berninger and fragments of a rock from Aldenberg have an odor of violets which comes, not from the stone, but from the adhering moss.
Minerals have warmth and coolness, moisture and dryness. To anyone who touches minerals lightly almost all appear to be cold but there are many which warm the body if they are held against it for a long time. Some minerals are warm, having been heated by the fires which rage with­in the earth. This genus is commonly found in fiery localities. Sometimes a mild subterranean heat warms them, for example, the vein recently found in the Joachimsthal valley and named the "Stella" and the vein found some years ago at Annaberg and named the "Obliqua." But this mild heat found in minerals is not excessive for the miners working in pits and mines usually do not notice it. But when ore is first brought out to the air, if it is in the form of small pieces so that the hands can be buried in it, the ore not only heats them but burns them painfully for a short time. Any very hard stones which are naturally cool become warm when rubbed or pounded together. The same is true of metals.
Although minerals are naturally dry, often projecting parts can be
Book I Minerals color, taste, odor , physical properties of gemstones and minerals such as emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires Page of 251 Book I Minerals color, taste, odor , physical properties of gemstones and minerals such as emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires
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