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Book III about halite and nitrium, alum and acrid juices and related minerals, sulphur, bitumen, realgar, and orpiment; the fourth, chrysocolla, aerugo, caeruleum, ferrugo

Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences Page of 251 Book III about halite and nitrium, alum and acrid juices and related minerals, sulphur, bitumen, realgar, and orpiment; the fourth, chrysocolla, aerugo, caeruleum, ferrugo Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
BOOK III
There are many species of earths which can be used by artisans for various purposes. I have described these earths, as I know them, in the previous book. I shall now take up the next class of minerals, congealed juices, of which, as I have said, there are four genera. The first embraces halite and nitrum; the second, alum, atramentum sutorium, and related minerals as well as the acrid juices; the third, sulphur, bitumen, realgar, and orpiment; the fourth, chrysocolla, aerugo, caeruleum, ferrugo, etc. I shall discuss each species in these four genera beginning with halite.
Sal (halite, salt) is known as both a natural mineral and an artificial product. Halite produced by Nature is found both within the earth and on its surface. When it occurs within the earth it is either quarried out of the mountains, or mined from beneath the fields or sands that cover it. The latter are stripped off before the mineral is recovered. There are many famous mountains of halite in the world. In Germany there is a salt lake just to the north of Seburg and rock salt occurs near the gateway of the Caspian Sea. It is not quarried at either place since, at the former locality, a river flows from the lake and carries particles of halite with it and in the latter region salt pits are common. From these the salt workers draw off liquid so rich that they have no need for the natural mineral. Halite is mined in quantity in the Carpathian Mountains at Salzburg, Torrenburg, Aderhell, etc., areas inhabited by the Siebenberg and Ceculus people. The most famous mine in Germany is near the town of Thusa. Onesicritus writes that it was mined from a certain mountain in Carmania. Other sources are Oromenus, India, and according to Pliny, the mountains of Africa near Ammanien. It comes from three places in the part of Sarmatia that is now called Poland. First, near Cracow, where digging started only recently and where, in contrast to the second locality, no stones are found ; second, a place about eight miles from the town of Veliscus; third, about thirty miles from Bochnia. The pits near Veliscus have not been put down in the plains but in rolling ground toward the coast, to the south, and back in the mountains. However, the most important mines are those of Stass-furt, Saxony. In summer a sprinkling of salt can be seen on the plains and salt effloresces at all times. It is mined near Kolomea in the neighborhood of the Rutheni and the Valachi. It is also mined at two places in Cap-padocia, one near the towns of Colupena and Camisena near Lesser, Armenia, the other in Ximena near the headwaters of the Kisil-Irmak river, as mentioned by Strabo. Ambrosius mentions the mines in Britain; Pliny, the mines in Spain near Egelasta; Posidonius, the mines in Arabia; and Strabo, the mines on the island of Meroe. Pliny mentions occurrences overlain by sand at Castle of Tineh, Egypt, and in the deserts of Africa
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Book II About different applications of earths (painting, medical) and their occurrences Page of 251 Book III about halite and nitrium, alum and acrid juices and related minerals, sulphur, bitumen, realgar, and orpiment; the fourth, chrysocolla, aerugo, caeruleum, ferrugo
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