BOOK XXXV. XIV. 33-xviii. 36 



supply an undercoating to cinnabar and also for 

 adulterating cinnabar. In medicine it is a substance 

 ranked very highly. Used as a lininient round the 

 eyes it relieves defluxions and pains, and checks the 

 discharge from eye-tumours ; it is given in vinegar 

 as a draught in cases of vomiting or spitting blood. 

 It is also taken as a draught for troubles of the spleen 

 and kidneys and for excessive menstruation ; and 

 likewise as a remedy for poisons and snake bites and 

 the sting of sea serpents ; hence it is in common use 

 for all antidotes. 



XV. Among the remaining kinds of red ochre the other 

 most useful for builders are t.he Egyptian and Ihe ^*^ '^"' 

 African varieties, as they are most thoroughly 

 absorbed by plaster. Red ochre is also found in a 

 native state in iron mines. XVI. It is also manu- 

 factured by burning ochre in new earthen pots with 

 Hds stopped with clay. The more completely it is cal- 

 cined in the furnaces the better its quality. All kinds 

 of red ochre have a drying property, and consequently 

 will be found suitable in plasters even for erysipelas. 



X\'II. Half a pound of sinopis from Pontus, ten 

 pounds of bright yellow ochre and two pounds of 

 Greek earth of Melos mixed together and pounded 

 up for twelve successive days make ' leucophorum,' cf. xxxiii, 

 a cement used in applying gold-leaf to wood. ^-^ 



XVIII. Paraetonium is called after the place ^* WMte ptg- 

 of that name in Egypt. It is said to be sea-foam '"''"^*" 

 hardened with mud, and this is why tiny shells are 

 found in it. It also occurs in the island of Crete and 

 in Cyrene. At Rome it is adulterated with Cimolian 

 clay ^ which has been boiled and thickened. The 

 price of the best quality is 50 denarii per 6 Ibs. It 

 is the most greasy of all the white colours and makes 



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