148 pliny's natural history. [Ijook XXXIV. 



another ancient fact wliich proves that the esteem in which it 

 AYas held was of equal antiquity with that of the City itself, 

 the circumstance that the third associated body'' which jS^uma 

 established, was that of the braziers. 



CHAP. 2. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF COPPER. 



The ore is extracted in the mode that has been described 

 above,® and is then purified by fusion. The metal is also 

 obtained from a coppery stone called " cadmia."^ The most 

 highly esteemed copper is procured from beyond seas : it was 

 formerly obtained in Campania also, and at present is found in 

 the countrj^ ot the Bergomates/^ at the extremity of Italy. 

 It is said to have been lately discovered also in the province of 

 Germany. 



(2.) In Cyprus, where copper was first discovered, it is also pro- 

 cured from another stone, which is called " chalcitis."" This, 

 however, was afterwards considered of little value, a better 

 kind having been found in other regions, especially that called 

 ''aurichalcum,"^^ which was long in high request, on account of 



' " Collegium." The colleges of tbe priests and of the augurs being 

 the first two associated bodies. — E. 



^ In B. xxxiii. c. 31, where we have an account of the oi-es of silver. — B. 



3 Pliny again refers to this mineral in the 22d Chapter. We have no 

 means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance to wlii'ch this 

 name was applied by the ancients, The ores of copper are very nume- 

 rous, and of various chemical constitutions : the most abundant, and those 

 most commonly employed in the production of the pure metal, are the 

 sulphurets, more especially what is termed copper pyrites, and the oxides. 

 It has been supposed, by some commentators, that the Cadmia of the an- 

 cients was Calamine, which is an ore of zinc ; but we may be confident 

 that the ^s of the ancients could not be produced from this substance, 

 because, as has been stated above, the JEs contains no zinc. I must, how- 

 ever, observe that the contrary opinion is maintained byM. Delafosse. — E. 

 See Note 2 above. 



io The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo.— E. See B. iii. 

 c. 21. 



1^ Aristotle gives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus. Chal- 

 citis is also spoken of by Dioscorides, as an ore of copper, — B. See further 

 as to " Chalcitis," in Chapter 29 of this Book. 



^2 There has been much discussion respecting the nature of this sub- 

 stance, and the derivation of the word. Hardouiu conceives it probable 

 that it was originally written " oviohalcum,'' i.e. "mountain brass" or 

 " copper." — B. Ajasson considers it to be native brass, a mixture of copper 

 and zinc. In the later writers it signifies artificial brass. The exact com- 

 position of this metal is still unknown, but there is little doubt that Har- 

 douin is right in his supposition as to the origin of the name. 



