Chapter XXVI: Book XXXVII: The Natural History of Precious Stones (5)

[730] See B. iv. c. 23. In the Origines of Isidorus Hispalensis, B. xix. c. 32, we find mention made of “A Samothracian gold ring, with an iron bezil, so called from the place of its invention.” Pliny has already made allusion to the luxurious habits of the slaves, in B. xiii. c. 4; and B. xviii. c. 2; a subject upon which Juvenal enlarges in his Third Satire.

[731] The reasons are mentioned by Ateius Capita, as quoted by Macrobius, Saturnal. B. vii. c. 13: also by Apion the Grammarian, as quoted by Aulus Gellius, B. x. c. 10.

[732] The ring of each finger had its own appropriate name.

[733] The “dactyliotheca,” or “ring-box.”

[734] Juvenal, Sat. i. l. 26, _et seq._, speaks of the summer rings of the Roman fops, and their fingers sweating beneath the weight.

[735] Martial, Epigr. B. xiv., speaks of the numerous accidents to which a weighty ring was liable.

[736] Hannibal, too, for instance, as mentioned in Note 701 to the preceding Chapter.

[737] He alludes, probably, to forgeries perpetrated through the agency of false signets.

[738] Plautus, Cicero, Horace, and Martial, each in his own age, bears testimony to the truth of this statement.

[739] Or remembrancer; a slave whose duty it was to remind his master of the name of each member of his household; see B. xxix. c. 8. Athenæus, B. vi., speaks of as many as twenty thousand slaves belonging to one household. Demetrius, the freedman of Pompey, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 58, had a retinue of slaves equal to an army in amount.

[740] Meaning “Marci puer,” or “Luci puer”—“Marcius’ boy,” or “Lucius’ boy.”

[741] Suetonius says, c. 73, that Tiberius, in his last illness, awoke after a long lethargy, and demanded his signet-ring, which his son-in-law, Caligula, had removed from his finger, under the supposition that he was dead. Macro, to avoid any unpleasant results in the way of punishment, caused the emperor to be smothered with the pillows and bedclothes.

[742] This famous and somewhat improbable story of the ring of Polycrates is told by Valerius Maximus, B. vi. c. 9; Herodotus, B. iii.; and Cicero, De Finibus, B. iv. Pliny again mentions it in B. xxxvii. cc. 2, 4.

[743] He was crucified by Oroetes, the Persian satrap of Sardis.

[744] “Anulo exsiliente.”

[745] In Chapter 13 of this Book.

[746] The laticlave tunic. See B. viii. c. 73, and B. ix. c. 63.

[747] “Præcones.”

[748] See the list of writers at the end of B. ix.

[749] “Equus militaris.”

[750] See B. xxix. c. 8. The “Decuriæ” of “judices,” or “judges,” were so called, probably, from ten (decem) having been originally chosen from each tribe. As to the Decuriæ of the judices, see Smith’s Dict. Antiq. pp. 531-2. The account given by Pliny is confused in the extreme.

[751] “Turmæ.” Squadrons of thirty “equites” or horsemen; ten of which squadrons were attached to each legion.

[752] Before the time of Augustus, there were but _three_ decuries.

[753] A law introduced by Aurelius Cotta, B.C. 70, enacted that the Judices should be chosen from the three classes—of Senators, Equites, and Tribuni ærarii, or Tribunes of the treasury, these last being taken from the body of the people, and being persons possessed of some property.

[754] Members selected by lot.

[755] “Nongenti.”

[756] Tacitus says that this took place the year before, in the consulship of C. Sulpicius, and D. Haterius. See the Annales, B. iii. c. 86.

[757] Brother of the Emperor Galba.

[758] “Aucupatus.”

[759] Suetonius says that Tiberius instructed the ædiles to prohibit stews and eating-houses: from which we may conclude, Hardouin says, that C. Sulpicius Galba was an ædile.

[760] Or, in other words, belonging to the equestrian order. The Roman equites often followed the pursuits of bankers, and farmers of the public revenues.

[761] A law passed in the time of Julius Cæsar, B.C. 69, which permitted Roman equites, in case they or their parents had ever had a Census equestris, to sit in the fourteen rows fixed by the Lex Roscia Theatralis.

[762] Caligula.

[763] Conjointly with L. Vitellius.

[764] Or farmers of the public revenues; the “publicans” of Scripture. In reality, they were mostly members of the equestrian order, and the words “equites” and “publicani” are often used as synonymous.

[765] “This passage seems to be the addition of some ignorant copyist. It is indeed a remarkable fact, that we have _no_ inscription in which we see the Equites named _after_ the people as well as the Senate.”—Laboulaye, _Essai sur les lois Criminelles des Romains_: Paris, 1845, p. 224.

[766] According to Livy, B. i. c. 15, the Celeres were three hundred Roman knights whom Romulus established as a body-guard. Their name, probably, was derived from the Greek κέλης, a “war-horse,” or “charger,” and the body consisted, no doubt, of the patricians in general, or such of them as could keep horses. Another origin assigned to the appellation is “Celer,” the name of a chieftain, who was a favourite of Romulus. The adjective “celer,” “swift,” owes its origin, probably, to the title of these horsemen.

[767] A title derived, possibly, as Delafosse suggests, “a flectendis habenis,” from “managing the reins.”

[768] Called “Trossum” or “Trossulum,” it is supposed. The remains of a town are still to be seen at Trosso, two miles from Montefiascone in Tuscany. The Greek word τρωξαλλὶς, a “cricket,” and the Latin “torosulus,” “muscular,” have been suggested as the origin of this name. Ajasson suggests the Latin verb “truso,” to “push on,” as its origin.

[769] See the end of this Book.

[770] From the ambiguous nature of the name, it being in later times an expression of contempt, like our word “fop,” or “beau.” In this latter sense, Salmasius derives it from the Greek τρυσσὸς, “effeminate.”

[771] This concluding passage is omitted in most editions.

[772] See B. vii. c. 29.

[773] Dionysius of Halicarnassus is therefore probably wrong in his assertion that torcs of _gold_ were given to Siccius Dentatus, a Roman citizen, as the reward of valour.

[774] See B. vii, c. 29.

[775] On this subject, see B. xvi. c. 3, and B. xxi. c. i.

[776] A.U.C. 323, or 431 B.C.

[777] Situate about fourteen miles from Rome, and on the road to the town called La Colonna.

[778] A.U.C. 479, and B.C. 275. In the following year Merenda himself was consul, with Manius Curius Dentatus.

[779] “Testamento prælegavit.” Properly speaking, “prælegare” was “to bequeath a thing to be given before the inheritance was divided.” The crown thus left by Piso was to be three pounds in weight.

[780] Oxen, namely. The smaller victims had the head encircled with chaplets.

[781] The clasps by which the “sagum” or military cloak was fastened on the shoulders.

[782] See the beginning of Chapter 4 of the present Book.

[783] Isidorus Hispalensis, Orig. B. xix. c. 30, says that bracelets were formerly so called from the circumstance of being conferred on warriors as the reward of bravery—“ob virtutem.” Scævola, Ulpian, and others speak of “viriolæ” as ornaments worn by females.

[784] See B. xxxvii. c. 6.

[785] In allusion to the use of gold as an ornament for the shoes and sandal-ties.

[786] A dress worn over the tunic, and which came as low as the ankles or feet. The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman matrons of rank; other females being restricted to the use of the toga, which did not reach so low.

[787] Between the matrons of rank whose feet were not to be seen at all, and the plebeian females, whose feet _were_ seen, but comparatively unadorned.

[788] In the same way that the gold ring was the distinguishing mark of the Equites, so would the gold ankle-jewels be the characteristic of this new order of females. In the use of the word “Equestrem,” Ajasson absolutely detects an indelicate allusion, and rallies our author on thus retaining “the aroma of the camp!”

[789] “Pædagogiis.” The origin of our word “page.” The pages of the Romans were decorated with gold ankle-jewels and other ornaments for the legs.

[790] Or Horus, the god of silence. Ajasson is of opinion that this impression on the seal was symbolical of the secrecy which ought to be preserved as to written communications.

[791] To the Emperor’s presence.

[792] The _first_ crime having been committed by him who introduced the use of gold rings. See the beginning of c. 4 of this Book.

[793] The golden denarius was known also as the “aureus” or “gold coin.” It was worth 25 silver denarii. As to the modern value of the money used by the ancients, see the Introduction to Vol. III. The golden denarius is mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 17, and in B. xxxvii. c. 3.

[794] A.U.C. 479.

[795] Meaning, literally, the “little pound,” in reference to the diminished weight of the “as.”

[796] Meaning “two pounds,” or in other words, “two asses.” See B. xxxiv. c. 2. As to the weight of the “libra,” or pound, see the Introduction to Vol. III.

[797] “Brasse bullion, or in masse.”—_Holland._

[798] “Money weighed out,” _i.e._ “expenses.”

[799] “Money weighed out for the payment of interest.”

[800] “To weigh out money for payment,” _i.e._ “to pay.”

[801] “A weight of money.”

[802] “Weighers-out;” meaning “keepers of accounts,” or “paymasters.”

[803] “Weighers-out” of the soldiers’ wages; _i.e._ “paymasters.”

[804] From “pecus,” a sheep. See B. xviii. c. 3.

[805] “Pounds” or “asses.”

[806] The third of an “as.”

[807] The fourth of an “as.”

[808] Or ounces; being one-fourth of the “as,” of one “libra” in weight. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[809] A.U.C. 663.

[810] The same as the quinarius, one-half of the denarius. In B. xx. c. 100, it is mentioned as a weight. See also the Introduction to Vol. III.

[811] As, originally, there were 288 “scripula,” or scruples, to the “libra” or pound, this would appear to give 5760 sestertii to the pound of gold, and not 900 merely. Though this apparent discrepancy has generally puzzled the commentators, the solution, as suggested by M. Parisot, in the Notes to Ajasson’s Translation, appears equally simple and satisfactory. He suggests that in the “as,” or “libra,” of _two ounces_, there were 288 scruples. Now, the scruple remaining the same, when the as or libra was reduced to one ounce, it would contain but 144 of these scruples. Then, on making the as the sixteenth part of a denarius instead of the tenth, it would lose three-eighths of its value in scruples, or in other words, 54 scruples, thus making it worth but 90 scruples. Then again, as above stated, by the Papirian Law, the weight or value of the libra or as was reduced one-half, making its value in scruples only 45; or, in other words, five thirty-seconds of its original value, when worth two unciæ or ounces. This number of scruples to the libra would give, at the rate of twenty sesterces to the scruple of gold, exactly 900 sesterces to the libra of gold.

[812] Or “aurei.”

[813] “Fames auri.” Similar to the words of Virgil, “Auri sacra fames.” “The curst greed for gold.” See Note 666 to Chapter 3 of this Book.

[814] Another version of this story was, that he extracted the brain, and inserted lead in its place.

[815] See B. xiv. c. 16.

[816] In B.C. 88, M. Aquilius proceeded to Asia Minor as one of the consular legati to prosecute the war against Mithridates. On being defeated near Protomachium, he was delivered up to Mithridates by the inhabitants of Mytilene, and after being treated in the most barbarous manner, was put to death by pouring molten gold down his throat.

[817] “Insperso.” Sillig is of opinion that Pliny is here speaking of the work now known by Italian artists as _tausia_ or _lavoro all’ agemina_.

[818] Hardouin thinks that Pliny is here making allusion to the Greek word “chrysendeta,” vessels “encircled with gold.” It is frequently used in Martial’s works.

[819] See B. xv. c. 38.

[820] It is against such practices as these that Martial inveighs, B. i. Ep. 28, and B. ix. Ep. 12.

[821] A slave only; and not by any of his brother patricians. Antony was rendered infamous by his proscriptions.

[822] Appian and Livy mention the fine as consisting of ten thousand talents _in all_, or in other words, eight hundred thousand pounds of silver (at eighty pounds to the talent). Sillig is therefore of opinion that Pliny is in error here in inserting the word “annua.” The payment of the ten thousand talents, we learn from the same authorities, was spread over fifty years.

[823] Asia Minor.

[824] “Folia.” Hardouin prefers the reading “solia,” meaning “thrones,” or “chairs of state,” probably.

[825] Ajasson refuses to place credit in this statement.

[826] This vase of Semiramis was her drinking bowl, in much the same sense that the great cannon at Dover was Queen Elizabeth’s “pocket pistol.”

[827] The country to which, in previous times, the Argonauts had sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece, or in other words in search of gold, in which those regions were probably very prolific.

[828] See B. vi. c. 4.

[829] This story of the defeat of the great Ramses-Sesostris by a petty king of Colchis, would almost appear apocryphal. It is not improbable, however, that Sesostris, when on his Thracian expedition, may have received a repulse on penetrating further north, accustomed as his troops must have been, to a warmer climate.

[830] Of the amphitheatre.

[831] Covered, probably, with plates of silver.

[832] “Pegma.” A scaffold with storeys, which were raised or depressed, to all appearance, spontaneously. Caligula is the emperor meant.

[833] Another reading is “seven” pounds in weight, and “nine” pounds; which would appear to be more probable than seven _thousand_, and nine _thousand_, as given by the Bamberg MS. It is just possible, however, that the latter may have been the united weights of _all_ the coronets contributed by Spain and Gaul respectively, the word “inter” being an interpolation.

[834] See B. iv. c. 31, B. xi. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 20.

[835] Hence known as the “Golden Day,” according to Dion Cassius, B. lxiii.

[836] For further particulars as to the Golden Palace, see B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[837] A.U.C. 597.

[838] Or Marsic War. See B. ii. c. 85.

[839] There is an error in this statement, probably, unless we understand by it the small libra or pound of two ounces, mentioned in c. 13 of this Book.

[840] This remark is confirmatory of the incorrectness of the preceding statement.

[841] The reading here is doubtful.

[842] A.U.C. 612.

[843] See B. xix. c. 6.

[844] Chapter 57.

[845] In fact, no colour at all.

[846] In _this_ climate, the light of most of the stars has the complexion, not of gold, but of silver.

[847] The topaz, for instance.

[848] For ductility and malleability, both which terms may perhaps be included in the “facilitas” of Pliny, gold is unrivalled among the metals. As to weight, it is heavier than lead, the specific gravity of gold being 19.258, and that of lead 11.352. Pliny is therefore wrong in both of these assertions.

[849] He forgets asbestus here, a substance which he has mentioned in B. xix. c. 4.

[850] Chlorine, however, and nitro-muriatic acid corrode and dissolve gold, forming a chloride of gold, which is soluble in water. Ajasson remarks, that gold becomes volatilized by the heat of a burning-glass of three or four feet in diameter; and that when it acts as the conductor of a strong current of electricity, it becomes reduced to dust instantaneously, presenting a bright greenish light.

[851] The gold thus tested was called “obrussum,” “obryzum,” or “obrizum,” from the Greek ὄβρυζον, meaning “pure gold.”

[852] See B. xviii. c. 23, where he calls the chaff used for this purpose by the name of “acus.”

[853] The present mode of assaying the precious metals, is by fusing them upon a cupel with lead.

[854] For which purpose, lead was used, no doubt, in drawing the lines in the MSS. of the ancients. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 339. _Bohn’s Ed._

[855] This is far surpassed at the present day, its malleability being such that it may be beaten into leaves not more than one two hundred and eighty thousandth of an inch in thickness, and its ductility admitting of one grain being drawn out into five hundred feet of wire. For further particulars as to the gold leaf of the ancients, and the art of gilding, as practised by them, see Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 391, _et seq._ _Bohn’s Edition._

[856] See B. xxxvi. c. 64.

[857] He alludes to what are now known as _pepitas_, oval grains of river-gold. “Striges” is the reading in the Bamberg MS., “strigiles” in the former editions.

[858] “Massa.” As we should say at the present day, “nuggets.”

[859] “Ramentum.”

[860] The contrary is now known to be the case; gold is sometimes, though rarely, found in an oxidized state.

[861] As to the solvents of gold, see Note 850 above. Stahl says that three parts of sub-carbonate of potash, dissolved in water, and heated with three parts of sulphur and one part of gold, will yield a complete solution of the metal.

[862] Aldrovandus relates, in his “Museum Metallicum,” that the grave of the Emperor Honorius was discovered at Rome about the year 1544, and that thirty-six pounds’ weight of gold were procured from the mouldering dress that covered the body. See, on the subject of gold threads, Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. _Bohn’s Edition._

[863] The “cloth of gold” of the present day, is made of threads of silk or hair, wound round with silver wire flattened and gilded.

[864] “Paludamento.”

[865] See B. viii. c. 74. Beckmann is of opinion, from a passage of Silius Italicus, B. xiv. l. 661, that the cloth of Attalus was embroidered with the needle. See this subject fully discussed in his Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. See also Dr. Yates’s “Textrinum Antiquorum,” pp. 371, 464.

[866] “Without entering into any research respecting the minerals employed for this cement, called ‘leucophoron,’ one may readily conceive that it must have been a ferruginous ochre, or kind of bole, which is still used as a ground. Gilding of this kind must have suffered from dampness, though many specimens of it are still preserved.”—Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 294. _Bohn’s Edition._

[867] B. xxxv. c. 17.

[868] Literally, “fluid silver.” “The first name here seems to signify native quicksilver, and the second that separated from the ore by an artificial process.” Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 72.

[869] In Chapters 32 and 41 of this Book.

[870] As to the identity of the “alumen” of Pliny, see B. xxxv. c. 52.

[871] In the preceding Chapter.

[872] See B. xi. c. 36.

[873] See B. vii. c. 2.

[874] See B. iv. c. 17.

[875] Ajasson remarks, that the Castilians still call the surface earth of auriferous deposits by the name of _segullo_. He also doubts the correctness of Pliny’s assertion as to the produce of the mines of Dalmatia.

[876] See B. xxxiv. c. 47.

[877] We learn from Ajasson that numerous pits or shafts are still to be seen in Spain, from which the Romans extracted gold. At Riotento, he says, there are several of them.

[878] Both meaning “channel gold.”

[879] “Marmoris glareæ.” Under this name, he no doubt means quartz and schist.

[880] See B. xxxvii. c. 39.

[881] See B. xxxvi. c. 13.

[882] “Channel-gold” or “trench-gold.”

[883] Becoming volatilized, and attaching itself in crystals to the side of the chimney.

[884] Or “sweat.” This “sweat” or “silver” would in reality be a general name for all the minerals that were volatilized by the heat of the furnace; while under the name of “scoria ” would be comprised pyrites, quartz, petrosilex, and other similar substances.

[885] The cupel or crucible is still known in Spain by the name of _tasco_.

[886] Who were said to have heaped one mountain on another in their war with the gods.

[887] Deep mines in Spain are still called _arrugia_, a term also used to signify gold beneath the surface. According to Grimm, _arruzi_ was the ancient High German name for iron.

[888] See B. xxiii. c. 27.

[889] The breaking-machines, used for crushing the silex.

[890] “Cædunt” is certainly a preferable reading to “cadunt,” though the latter is given by the Bamberg MS.

[891] A similar method of washing auriferous earth or sand in the mines, is still employed in some cases.

[892] “The bringing of water into one channel.”

[893] Or as Holland quaintly renders it, “Some flying spirit or winged devill of the air.”

[894] Magnesian carbonate of lime, or dolomite, Ajasson thinks.

[895] From the Greek, ἀγωγὴ.

[896] It does not appear to have been identified; and it can hardly be the same as the Ulex Europæus of modern Natural History, our Furze or Gorse.

[897] That of sinking shafts, described already in this Chapter.

[898] All these names, no doubt, are of Spanish origin, although Salmasius would assign them a Greek one.

[899] In B. iii. c. 24.

[900] See B. iii. c. 21.

[901] “Auripigmentum.” Yellow sulphuret of arsenic. See B. xxxiv. c. 56.

[902] “Lapis specularis.” See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[903] Caligula.

[904] It was accidently mixed with the ore of arsenic, no doubt, unless, indeed, the emperor was imposed upon.

[905] This is almost, but not quite, universally the case.

[906] In Spain. See B. iii. c. 4, B. iv. c. 34, and B. ix. c. 2. The locality alluded to is now unknown.

[907] A name also given by the ancients to amber. Artificial “electrum,” or gold alloyed with silver, was known in the most ancient times.

[908] The gold found by sinking shafts. See Chapter 21.

[909] See B. ix. c. 65.

[910] Od. B. iv. l. 71.

[911] Pliny no doubt has been imposed upon in this instance.

[912] “Solid hammer-work,” in opposition to works in metal, cast and hollow within.

[913] In B. v. c. 20, most probably. See also B. xvi. c. 64.

[914] The worship of Anaïtis was probably a branch of the Indian worship of Nature. The Greek writers sometimes identify this goddess with their Artemis and their Aphrodite.

[915] Holland has strangely mistaken the meaning of the veteran’s reply; “Yea, sir, that it is; and that methinks you should know best, for even now a leg of his you have at supper, and all _your_ wealth besides is come unto _you_ by that saccage.” He then adds, by way of Note, “For Augustus Cæsar defeited Antonie, and was mightily enriched by the spoile of him.”

[916] In Sicily. According to Valerius Maximus and other writers, a statue of solid gold was erected by the whole of Greece, in the temple at Delphi, in honour of Gorgias, who was distinguished for his eloquence and literary attainments. The leading opinion of Gorgias was, that nothing had any real existence.

[917] The ninetieth Olympiad, about the year 420 B.C., is much more probably the correct reading; as it was about the seventieth Olympiad, or somewhat later, that Gorgias was born.

[918] See B. xxxiv. c. 29.

[919] See B. xxix. c. 38. and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38.

[920] Or gith. See B. xx. c. 71.

[921] Similar to the notion still prevalent, that the application of pure gold will remove styes on the eyelids.

[922] It has been supposed by some, that the “Chrysocolla” of the ancients, as well as the “Cæruleum,” mentioned in c. 57 of this Book, were the produce of cobalt; but the more generally received opinion is that “chrysocolla” (gold-solder) was green verditer, or mountain-green, carbonate and hydrocarbonate of copper, green and blue, substances which are sometimes found in gold mines, but in copper mines more particularly. It must not be confounded with the modern chrysocolla or Borax.

[923] In Chapter 21 of this Book.

[924] The “Reseda luteola,” Dyer’s weed, or Wild woad. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 478-481, where the identity of the Chrysocolla of the ancients is discussed at considerable length.

[925] As to the identity of this substance, see B. xxxv. c. 52.

[926] These drugs have not been identified.

[927] “Elutam.” Though this is the reading given by the Bamberg MS., “luteam” seems preferable; a name owing, probably, to its being coloured with the plant “lutum,” as mentioned at the end of this Chapter.

[928] So called, probably, from being made up into little balls resembling the “orobus” or vetch.

[929] A powder, probably, prepared from “cæruleum.” See the end of the present Chapter, and Chapter 57 of this Book. Littré renders the words “in lomentum,” kept “in the form of powder,” without reference to the peculiar pigment known as “lomentum.”

[930] “Sudore resolutis.”

[931] A strong proof that chrysocolla was a preparation from copper, and not cobalt. Copper owes its name to the Isle of Cyprus, in which it was found in great abundance. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 480. _Bohn’s Edition_.

[932] The colour now known by painters as Emerald green.

[933] As a “trigarius.” See B. xxviii. c. 72, and B. xxix. c. 5. From Suetonius, c. 18, we learn that the Emperor Caligula, also, had the Circus sanded with minium and chrysocolla. Ajasson is of opinion that the chrysocolla thus employed was a kind of yellow mica or talc.

[934] “Arenosam.” He alludes, probably, to the kind previously mentioned as “aspera” or “rough chrysocolla.”

[935] For its identification, see B. xxxiv. cc. 26, 32.

[936] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 18.

[937] Making a spurious kind of “lomentum,” possibly, a pigment mentioned in c. 57 of this Book. This passage seems to throw some light, upon the words “in lomentum,” commented upon in Note 929 above.

[938] As to durability, probably.

[939] It was the mineral, probably, in an unprepared state.

[940] Gold-glue or gold-solder.

[941] See B. xxxi. c. 46, as to the “nitrum” of Pliny. Galen, in describing the manufacture of “santerna,” omits the nitre as an ingredient.

[942] “Argentosum.” The “electrum,” probably, mentioned in c. 23.

[943] As to the “cadmia” of Pliny, see B. xxxiv. c. 22.

[944] “Plumbum album.” Tin, most probably. See B. xxxiv. cc. 47, 48, 49. Also Beckmann’s Hist. Inv., Vol. II. p. 219, _Bohn’s Edition_.

[945] Of doubtful identity. See B. xxxiv. c. 48.

[946] See Chapter 19 of this Book.

[947] “Thracius lapis.” This stone, which is mentioned also by Nicander, Galen, Simplicius, and Dioscorides, has not been identified. Holland has the following Note on this passage] “Which some take for pit-cole, or sea-cole rather, such as commeth from Newcastle by sea; or rather, a kind of jeat (jet).” In either case, he is probably wide of the mark, neither coal nor jet igniting on the application of water.

[948] Or mistletoe.

[949] In due succession to gold.

[950] See B. xxxiv. cc. 47, 53.

[951] “Plumbum nigrum”—“Black lead,” literally] so called by the ancients, in contradistinction to “plumbum album,” “white lead,” our “tin,” probably.

[952] Lead ore; identified with “molybdæna” in B. xxxiv. c. 53. Native sulphurate of lead is now known as “galena.” See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 211, where this passage is commented upon.

[953] This Beckmann considers to be the same as the “galena” above mentioned; half-vitrified lead, the “glätte” of the Germans.

[954] The specific gravity of lead is 11.352, and of silver only 10.474.

[955] From the words μετ’ ἄλλα, “one after another.”

[956] It is supposed that these shafts were in the neighbourhood of Castulo, now Cazlona, near Linares in Spain. It was at Castulo that Hannibal married his rich wife Himilce; and in the hills north of Linares there are ancient silver mines still known its _Los Pozos de Anibal._

[957] A mile and a half.

[958] The proper reading here, as suggested by Sillig, is not improbably “aquatini,” “water-carriers.” That, however, found in the MSS. is “Aquitani;” but those were a people, not of Spain, but of Gaul. Hardouin suggests that “Accitani” may be the correct reading, a people of that name in Spain being mentioned in B. iii. c. 5.

[959] Meaning “raw” silver, apparently.

[960] “Alumen.” See B. xxxv. c. 52.

[961] Kircher speaks of this being still the case in his time.

[962] See Chapter 19 of this Book.

[963] “Vomica liquoris æterni.” Mercury or quicksilver becomes solidified and assumes a crystalline texture at 40° below zero. It is found chiefly in the state of sulphuret, which is decomposed by distillation with iron or lime. It is also found in a native state.

[964] “Argentum vivum,” “living silver.”

[965] Ajasson thinks that this is not to be understood literally, but that Pliny’s meaning is, that mercury is a universal dissolvent.

[966] “Permanans tabe dirâ.”

[967] The specific gravity of mercury is 13.598, that of hammered gold 19.361. Platinum is only a recent discovery.

[968] “Id unum ad se trahit.”

[969] “The first use of quicksilver is commonly reckoned a Spanish invention, discovered about the middle of the sixteenth century; but it appears from Pliny, that the ancients were acquainted with amalgam and its use, not only for separating gold and silver from earthy particles, but also for gilding.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv., Vol. I. p. 15. _Bohn’s Edition._

[970] See the description of the mode of gilding, given in Chapter 20 of this Book. Beckmann has the following remarks on the present passage: “That gold-leaf was affixed to metals by means of quicksilver, with the assistance of heat, in the time of Pliny, we are told by himself in more passages than one. The metal to be gilded was prepared by salts of every kind, and rubbed with pumice-stone in order to clean it thoroughly (see Chapter 20), and to render the surface a little rough. This process is similar to that used at present for gilding with amalgam, by means of heat, especially as amalgamation was known to the ancients. But, to speak the truth, Pliny says nothing of heating the metal _after_ the gold is applied, or of evaporating the quicksilver, but of drying the cleaned metal before the gold is laid on. Had he not mentioned quicksilver, his gilding might have been considered as that with gold leaf by means of heat, _dorure en feuille à feu_, in which the gold is laid upon the metal after it has been cleaned and heated, and strongly rubbed with blood-stone, or polished steel. Felibien (_Principes de l’Architecture._ Paris, 1676, p. 280) was undoubtedly right when he regretted that the process of the ancients, the excellence of which is proved by remains of antiquity, has been lost.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 294, 295. _Bohn’s Edition._

[971] Beckmann finds considerable difficulties in this description—“I acknowledge that this passage I do not fully comprehend. It seems to say that the quicksilver, when the gold was laid on too thin, appeared through it, but that this might be prevented by mixing with the quicksilver the white of an egg. The quicksilver then remained under the gold: a thing which is impossible. When the smallest drop of quicksilver falls upon gilding, it corrodes the noble metal, and produces an empty spot. It is, therefore, incomprehensible to me how this could be prevented by using the white of an egg. Did Pliny himself completely understand gilding? Perhaps he only meant to say that many artists gave out the cold-gilding, where the gold-leaf was laid on with the white of an egg, as gilding by means of heat.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 295.

[972] Chapter 42 of this Book. See also Chapter 20, in Note 868, to which it has been mentioned as artificial quicksilver.

[973] He is speaking of Antimony.

[974] From its whiteness.

[975] Under the name of “female stimmi,” Ajasson thinks that pure, or native, antimony is meant, more particularly the lamelliform variety, remarkable for its smoothness. He thinks it possible, also, that it may have derived its Greek name “larbason,” or “larbasis,” from its brittleness.

[976] Ajasson thinks that under this name, crude antimony or sulphuret of antimony may have been included; as also sulphuret of lead, sulphuret of antimony and copper, and sulphuret of antimony and silver; the last of which is often found covered with an opaque pellicle.

[977] “Globis.” The fracture of sulphuret of antimony is, in reality, small subconchoïdal.

[978] “Eye dilating.” Belladonna, a preparation from the Atropa belladonna, is now used in medicine for this purpose. A similar effect is attributed in B. xxv. c. 92, to the plant Anagallis. In reality, the application of prepared antimony would contract the eyelids, and so _appear_ to enlarge the eyes. This property is peculiar, Ajasson remarks, to sulphuret of antimony, and sulphuret of antimony and silver.

[979] Preparations “for beautifying the eyebrows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxv. c. 56. Omphale, the Lydian queen, who captivated Hercules, is represented by the tragic poet Ion, as using “stimmi” for the purposes of the toilet. It was probably with a preparation of antimony that Jezebel “painted her face, and tired her head.” 2 Kings, ix. 30. The “Kohl” used by the females in Egypt and Persia is prepared from antimony.

[980] “Spuma argenti.” See the next Chapter.

[981] According to Dioscorides, it was prepared as a cosmetic by enclosing it in a lump of dough, and then burning it in the coals till reduced to a cinder. It was then extinguished with milk and wine, and again placed upon coals, and blown till ignition.

[982] As to the “nitrum” of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[983] “Flos”—literally the “flower.”

[984] “From this passage we may infer that the metal antimony was occasionally seen by the ancients, though not recognized by them as distinct from lead.”—Dana’s System of Mineralogy, p. 418. New York, 1850.

[985] Pliny has here mistaken the sense of the word στέαρ, which in the passage of Dioscorides, B. v. c. 99, borrowed probably from the same source, evidently means _dough_, and not grease.

[986] From ἕλκω, “to drag”—in consequence of its viscous consistency, Hardouin says.

[987] In B. xxxiv. c. 53.

[988] Cerates, adipose or oleaginous plasters. See B. xxiii. c. 81.

[989] “Spuma argenti.” This he uses as a general name for fused oxide of lead, the Litharge of commerce.

[990] Ajasson thinks it possible that the “chrysitis,” or “golden” litharge, may have been the yellow deutoxide of lead; the argyritis, or “silver” litharge, the white variety of the same deutoxide; and the “molybditis,” or “leaden” litharge, a general name for sulphuret of lead and silver; of lead and antimony; of lead, antimony, and bismuth; and of lead, antimony, and copper. Or perhaps, he thinks, they may have been the respective names of yellow or golden litharge, white or silver litharge, and terne. With the latter opinion Delafosse seems to coincide.

[991] “Tubulis.” These cakes were probably made in a tubular form.

[992] “Vena;” meaning the ore probably in its raw state, and mixed with earth. All these distinctions are probably unfounded.

[993] See B. xxxiv. c. 53.

[994] Of “Puteolana.”

[995] The litharge.

[996] The scoria.

[997] Nothing whatever is known as to the identity of these varieties of litharge. Indeed the words themselves are spelt in various ways in the respective MSS.

[998] In B. xxxiv. c. 53, where he identifies it with “galena,” mentioned in Chapter 31 of this Book.

[999] See B. xviii. c. 13, B. xvi. c. 61, and B. xxii. c. 66.

[1000] Sal gem, or common salt.

[1001] In this Chapter. See note 987 above.

[1002] The minium spoken of in this and the following Chapter is our Cinnabar, a bisulphurate of mercury. This ore is the great source of the mercury of commerce, from which it is obtained by sublimation. When pure, it is the same as the manufactured vermilion of commerce.

[1003] Intended, no doubt, to be typical of blood and carnage; and indicative of a very low state of civilization.

[1004] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[1005] See B. v. c. 31.

[1006] See B. xvi. c. 12, and B. xxiv. c. 4.

[1007] The same as the miltos mentioned below, “miltos” being the word used by Homer, Il. II. 637. This substance is totally different from the minium of the preceding Chapters, and from that mentioned in c. 40. It is our red ochre, peroxide of iron, mixed in a greater or less degree with argillaceous earth.

[1008] See B. xxix. c. 8; where he speaks of the mistake made by the physicians in giving mineral vermilion or minium to their patients instead of Indian cinnabar. The latter substance is probably identical with that which is now used for varnishes, being imported from India, and still known as “dragons’ blood,” the resin of the Ptero-carpus draco, or Calamus palm.

[1009] In B. viii. c. 12.

[1010] In Chapter 41.

[1011] The dragon’s blood, mentioned in the preceding Chapter.

[1012] “Single colour paintings.” See B. xxxv. cc. 5, 11, 34, 36.

[1013] Mentioned in Chapter 37.

[1014] The “miltos” of the preceding Chapter. See Note 1007 above.

[1015] In B. xxxv. c. 13, _et seq._

[1016] He is here speaking of our cinnabar, or vermilion, mentioned in