VOL. v.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 545 



should have leisure; but that being diverted by many avocations from accomplisli- 

 ing his purpose, it happened that that juice turned to a kind of glue, of the colour 

 of amber, and after the lapse of thirty days, it became dry and friable, and 

 easily reducible to powder, and that having pulverized it, out of a desire to see 

 whether this powder, being put into wounds, made by him in pullets and 

 pigeons, kept the same force of poisoning; he found, that in a little time all 

 the pullets and pigeons into whose wounds he had put a quantity of this 

 powder died. 



All Account of several Experiments made and communicated by Dr. 

 Erasmus Bartholin, on a Crystal-like Body, sent to him from 

 Iceland. N" 67, p^ 2039. 



The inhabitants of Iceland and our own merchants inform us, that this kind 

 of crystal is found in divers places of that country; but chiefly dug out of a 

 very high mountain, not far from the bay of Roerfiord, which lies in 65 deg. 

 latitude. That the mountain has its whole outside made up of this substance, 

 without a necessity of digging deep for it. That it is cut out by iron tools, in 

 the size of a cubic foot, or more ; and that out of its corners there is some- 

 times found grown a harder matter capable of cutting glass, of a figure differ- 

 ent from that of the whole mass, and approaching to that of diamonds. 



The figure of this crystal stone is like a rhomboid prism. Nor has the 

 whole body that form only, but even the parts of it when broken into small 

 pieces ; except that in some cases the ground, whence it is dug, yields such as 

 are of a triangular pyramidal figure. 



This substance is electrical, attracting when heated, straw, feathers, &c. 



It is not so hard as to endure polishing : nor is it easily consumed ; nor re- 

 duced into a calx but by a strong fire, by which it will turn into a substance 

 like unslacked lime, which will heat a wet finger, and when sprinkled with 

 water, will bubble up and become like common lime. 



Aquafortis being dropped on it, it was corroded, and the superficial parts 

 were put into motion with some noise. When I pulverized it in a mortar, 

 aquafortis poured on it, made it boil till all was dissolved, and the menstruum 

 tinged of a yellowish colour. Then putting it into a thermometer furnished 

 with a hollow glass ball, it considerably showed the difference of heat and cold. 

 The powder being dissolved in aquafortis, I dropped some spirit of vitriol 

 upon it, to separate the thick from the thin, and to precipitate the white calx 

 to the bottom. 



The sides of this body are very smooth; which is then easily obtained, if a 



VOL. I. 3 Z 



