ITALY. LETTER XIX. 277 



f ' 



ble in the evaporated common falt-brine, and by 

 a mixture of vitriolic acid produces the bitter 

 purging or cathartic and Epfom-falt. Should not 

 there be a means to reconcile thefe two different 

 opinions ? 



The I mpruneta- Gabbro or Serpentine is white, 

 red, black, yellow, and green ; either of the fame 

 colour or variegated, fuch as yellow and red- 

 veined, black and red, green and yellow. All 

 thefe varieties are found and compaft, crolfed by 

 fmall afbeft veins, and are frequently fprinkled with 

 a greenim argentine fat talcous glimmer, which is 

 cubic as the horn-blende, but friable into a fattifh 

 duft. In the perpendicular or oblique fiffures of 

 this Gabbro, which were broad from fix to twelve 

 inches, I found the following varieties : 



i. White and loofe foap- (lone, or lebes-earth. 



^. Green ditto. 



3. White compact foap : ftone, or Serpentine, 

 feemed but a petrifaction of the white lebes-earth 

 f#."f'.) being either ftill friable or entirely petrifieff 

 as the Brianfon-chalk. 



4. Green compaft Bacon-ftone, produced and 

 differenced as n. 3. by the petrifaction of n. 2. 

 55. Fibrous Bacon-ftone or Gabbro, refembling 

 Amiant, either white or green, either coarfe or fine 

 fibrous. This fibrous Serpentine may be, I think, 

 confidered as unripe Amiant. Between the coarfer 



T 3 fibres 



