PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY;. [Book XXXIV. 



Another ancient fact which proves that the esteem in which it 

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

 the- circumstance that the third associated body 7 which 2sumu 

 established, was that of the braziers. 



CHAP. 2. TIIK DIFFKKKXT KIXDS OF COPPKK. 



The ore is extracted in the mode that has been described 

 above, 8 and is then puriik-d by fusion. The metal is also 

 obtained from a coppery stone called " cadiniu." The most 

 highly esteemed copper is procured from beyond seas : it was 

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

 the country of the Bergomutes, 10 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 " ehalcitis." 11 This, 

 however, was afterwards considered of little value, a better 

 kind having been found in other regions, especially that called 

 'aurichalcum," 12 which was longiu high request, on account of 



7 "Collegium." The colleges of the priests and of the augurs bring 

 the first two associated bodies. I*. 



* In U. xxxiii. c. 31, where wt have an account of the ores of silver. I*. 



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

 means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance to which this 

 name was applied by the ancients. The ores of copper arc very nume- 

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

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

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

 ]t has been supposed, by some commentators, that the Cadmia of tin; an- 

 cieuts was Calamiue, which is an ore of zinc ; but we may be confident 

 that the -is of the ancient?, could not be produced from this substance, 

 b- cause, as has been stated above, the ^% contains no zinc. I must, how- 

 rvt-r, observe that the contrary opinion is maintained by M. Delufosse. B. 

 Sec Note 2 above. 



10 The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo. 13. See B. iii. 

 c. 21. 



11 Aristotle ives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus. Chal- 

 citis is also spoken of by Dioscoridcs, as an ore of copper. Jj. See further 

 as to 44 Chalcitis," in Chapter 20 of this Hook. 



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

 stance, and the derivation of the word, jlardouin conceives it probable 

 tLat it was originally written * orichalcum,'' f. c. "mountain brass" or' 

 ** copper." B. Ajusson 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 llar- 

 is right iu his supposition as to the origin of the name. 



