BOOK XXXIV. LTv. 175-LV1. 178 



the vinegar, till the whole ofit is iised up. The stufF 

 scraped ofF is ground up and sifted and heated in 

 shallow vessels and stirred with small rods till it 

 turns red and becomes Hke sajidarach. realgar.^ 

 Then it is washed with fresh water till all the cloudy 

 impurities have been removed. Afterwards it is 

 dried in a similar way and divided into tablets. Its 

 properties are the same as those of the substances 

 mentioned above, only it is the mildest of them all, 

 and beside that, it is useful for giving women a fair 

 complexion ; but like scum of silver, it is a deadly 

 poison. The lead acetate itself if afterwards melted 

 becomes red. 



LV. Of realgar aiso the properties have been Reaigar. 

 almost completely described. It is found both in 

 goldmines and silvermines ; the redder it is and the 

 more it gives off a poisonous scent of sulphur and the 

 purer and more friable it is, the better it is. It acts 

 as a cleanser, as a check to bleeding, as a calorific 

 and a caustic, being most remarkable for its corrosive 

 property ; used as a Hniment with vinegar it removes 

 fox-mange ; it forms an ingredient in eye-washes, 

 and taken with honey it cleans out the throat. It 

 also produces a clear and melodious voice, and mixed 

 with turpentine and taken in the food, is an agree- 

 able remedy for asthma and cough ; its vapour also 

 remedies the same complaints if merely used as a 

 fumigation with cedar wood. 



LVI. Orpiment ^ also is obtained from the same Orpimem. 

 substance. The best is of a colour of even the 

 finest-coloured gold, but the paler sort or what 

 resembles sandarach is judged inferior. There is 

 also a third class which combines the colours of gold 

 and of sandarach. Both of the latter are scaly, but 



