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Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences

Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences Page of 251 Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
34
DE NATURA FOSSILIUM
from its purity, we call "unadulterated" because it is not mixed since mer­chants are accustomed to mix it with other inferior earths. Painters use all varieties of ocher. Artisans use those from Egypt and Africa, ac­cording to Pliny, and physicians that from Sinope. There are three vari­eties of this earth, one that is soft and when touched comes off on the hands and soils them, an intermediate variety which soils the hands to a lesser extent, and a hard variety which does not soil the hands unless moistened. Each of these, when moistened, makes an excellent line and is widely used by artisans. From these properties we know this genus of ocher to be moderately unctuous, acrid, sometimes hard, sometimes soft. The loose textured varieties may be either hard or soft and usually are astringent. Some ochers are not unctuous, for example that found in Lydia and in part of Hildesheim. The latter occurs in lumps and has a good red color and good taste. It will adhere readily to the tongue and then melt like butter. The ocher from Sinope, according to Dioscorides and Strabo, is obtained from a cave in Cappadocia and after being cleaned is brought to Sinope, a town in Pontus, and sold there. The best quality is dense, heavy, and uniformly liver-colored but this is adulterated and sent to all parts of the world in large quantities. Strabo writes that a red earth similar in quality to Sinopian ocher came from Spain. An astringent, white to reddish-white earth with properties similar to Lemnia earth is found in Elbogan near the town of Toterbisa and in Hesse between Mar­burg and Suenisburg. It is not to be wondered at that there are as many varieties of red earth as there are of white and other earths.
Armenia earth which both Paulus Aegineta and Aetius Amidenus call "Armenia Soil" derives its name from Armenia on the border of Cappado­cia where it is found. This name is also used by the Arabs. It is pale colored and denser and heavier than Samian aster. It has the appearance of a stone, yet is soft and friable. Since it dries so excessively it cures colic and oral ulcers, stops vomiting and bleeding, and reduces inflammation. It is very useful in treating cases of wasting diseases and plagues. Paulus Aegineta says it has properties similar to those of Alana earth.11
A yellow earth is found in many parts of Germany but is most abundant in distinctive veins in Bohemia and Hesse near Francoberg. The Hessians use it to tint leather while the Bohemians and Misenians use it as a pig­ment. Although it is highly astringent the Germans usually call this earth and true ocher by the same name.
Many earths that are extremely acrid are found in mines and since these have been dried by the heat of the earth they have the appearance of having been burnt. They vary in color as much as other earths but in general are either yellow, tawny, red, or purple. All have the property of healing and reducing swellings. They all lack names except ocher which the Latins could have named lutea (clay) if the Greek or foreign term sil
11 Agricola also calls this earth gelerbolus.
Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences Page of 251 Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences
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