V I T 



V I T 



All mrulsi, and even almoit all natural boilics, Sufficiently 

 iiiatcd, vitrifv ; and this vitrification is tlie lall elTeft of the 

 lire : after which, tlie molt intenfe heat of the largclt burn- 

 ing-glafs will make no fartlicr alteration. 



VITRING, in Geography, a town of the duchy of Ca- 

 rinthia, with an abbey of Ciilertians, on the Wordtfee ; 

 4 miles S.W. of Clagenfiirt. 



VITRINGA, Campegius, in Biography, an eminent 

 Dutch divine, was born at Lecwarden in the year 1659, 

 and educated firft at Frankfort, and afterwards at Leyden, 

 where he took his doftorial degree in 1679. I" l^^O he 

 was admitted to the miniftry, and in the fame year became 

 profeffor of the Oriental languages at Franeker. In 1682 

 he was promoted to the chair of theology ; and in 1693, to 

 that of facred hiilory, in the fame univerfity. An apo- 

 pleftic ftroke terminated his life in 1722. He was the 

 author of many learned works in theology and fcriptural 

 hiftory ; of which one of the mod efteemed is his " Ob- 

 fervationes Sacras, Lib. VI." 4to. Francf. 1683, and two 

 vols. 4to. 17 1 2. But his moft learned work is his " Com- 

 mentary on I laiah," in two vols. fol. Leeward. 1714-1720. 

 Vitringa had two fons, Horace and Campegius, cut off at 

 an early age. The former, who died at 18, publifhed fome 

 animadverfions on the work of Vorltius on the Hebraifms 

 of the New Teilament. The latter, who died in 1723 at 

 the age of 3 1 , was profcfTor of theology at Franeker, and 

 publifhed leveral works, one of which was " A Summary 

 of Natural Theology." After his deceafe was pubhdted a 

 colleftion of " Several Dilfertations" on criticifm and theo- 

 logy. Moreri. 



VITRIOL, Native, in Mineralogy, is a fubftance of 

 greyilh or yellowifh-white, apple or verdigris-green, or {l<y- 

 blue colour ; and when decompofed, covered with an ochrey 

 cruft. It occurs in mafs, difleminated, ilalaftical, and ca- 

 pillary. Externally it is rough and dull ; internally it is 

 more or lefs fhining, witli a vitreous or filky ftrudture. Its 

 fradture is generally fine and ftraight fibrous, fometimes alfo 

 lamellar and conchoidal. It is foft, brittle, and tranducent, 

 and has an acerb metallic flavour. It is more or lefs foluble 

 in water, and is a mixture in various proportions of the ful- 

 phate of iron, copper, and zinc. It is not unfrequeiitly 

 foimd in caverns and fliafts, in argillaceous fchiftus, and in 

 old mines, efpecially fuch as abound in blende and pyrites. 

 Aikin. 



Some take the word vilriolum to be ufed qitaft vitri oleum, 

 becaufe of its fhining colour ; but Menage rather derives it 

 a vitreo colore : the Latins call it atramettium futcrium ; and 

 the Greeks, chakanthus. 



It acquires different names, according to the different 

 places where it is dug ; and the vitriols of thofe alfo differ 

 from each other in denomination and colour ; fome being 

 lulite, others blue, and others green. 



Roman and Cyprus vitriol, for inftance, is blue ; and 

 that of Sweden and Germany, commonly called Englifli 

 vitriol, is green ; befides which there is alfo a white kind, 

 called Goflar vitriol. 



Vitriol is very commonly called by the manufafturcrs 

 copperas ; accordingly, we conflantly hear of green, blue, 

 and wliite copperas. The conllituent parts of the different 

 kinds of vitriols were not underftood by the ancients fo well 

 as they are at prefent : they feem to have had an idea, that 

 copper was tlie bafis of thera all : hence the Greek term for 

 vitriol, chakanthus, the cfflorefcence of copper, and the 

 Latin one, cuperofa or cupri rofa, the flower or elflorefceiice 

 of copper ; from which, fays Dr. Watfon, the French 

 roupernfe, and our copperas, ;irc evidently derived. See 

 CAllULfSI. 



Some moderns lake the chahilis, or chalcanlhum of the 

 ancients, which they fuppofed to be a native vitriol, that 

 had acquired, according to their opinion, its full pcrfeftion 

 in the entrails of the earth, and which is a kind of mineral 

 Hone, of a rcddifh colour, to be the fame witli that chal- 

 cauthum brought from Svveden and Germany ; the beft of 

 which is of a brownifh-red colour, and a vitriolic talte, and 

 diilolvcs eafily in water ; and when broken, is of the colour 

 of fhining copper. See Vitriolic Minerals. 



The vitriols which nature prepares are never to be met 

 with in commerce ; they fcrve to adorn the cabinets of the 

 curious, but tlicy are neither fuificiently pure for the pur- 

 pofes to which common vitriols are applied, nor .ve they 

 found in fufficicnt quantities to nnfwer the demand which is 

 made for them. 



ViTiiioL, in Chemiftry, is a term that is now applied to 

 every combination of the acid of fulphur with any metallic 

 fubftance : three of thcle combinations, however, are more 

 particularly diftinguilhed, being of great ufe in various 

 manufactures ; viz. green vitriol or fulphate of Iron (which 

 fee), blue 'vitriol ox fulphale of copper (fee Copper and Cop- 

 peras ) , and ivhlte -vitriol or fulphate of zinc. ( See Zinc. ) 

 The acid in all thefe vitriols is the fame ; the metallic bafis 

 of the green vitriol is iron, that of the blue vitriol is copper, 

 and that of the white vitriol, zinc. 



According to the analyfis of fir Torbern Bergman, 

 (ElTays, by Cullen, vol. i. p. 180.) 100 parts of blue 

 vitriol, or vitriolated copper, cryilallized, contain 26 of 

 copper, 46 of vitriolic or fulphuric acid, and 28 of water. 

 According to Kirwan, 100 parts contain 30 of real acid, 

 27 of copper, and 43 of water. The talle is acefcent, xtu- 

 ginous, and cauHic ; it calcines in heat ; one part, in a mo- 

 derate heat, re(Juirc3 nearly four parts of water, but much 

 lefs of boiling water. Of white vitriol, or vitriolated /inc, 

 100 parts contain 20 of zinc, 40 of vitriolic acid, and 40 of 

 water. According to Kirwan, 100 parts contain 22 of 

 •icid, 20 of zinc, and 58 of water. In a moderate heat, 

 one part requires more than two of water, but much lefs of 

 boilnig water. Its tafte is acefcent, aflringent, and cauftic. 

 Of green vitriol, or vitriolat'.d iron, lOO parts contain 23 of 

 iron, 39 of vitriolic acid, and 38 of water. According to 

 Mr. Kirv/an, 100 parts of it, recently cryflallized, contain 

 20 of real acid, 25 of iron, and 55 of water. In moderate 

 heat, one p.irt requires fix of water, but three-fourths of 

 boiling water. In heat it fplits into a yellow powder ; in 

 the fire, into a ferruginous powder. The tafte is acefcent, 

 ftyptic, and cauftic. 



Grten vitriol is often met with native in our coal-mines. 

 From an old canncl coal-pit, near Wigan \n Lancafhire, 

 Dr. Walfon procured a confiderable quantity of it, very 

 well cryftallized ; and Dr. Rutty has obferved, that the 

 vitriolic water at Haigh, in Lancafliire, is the ftrongefl in 

 Britain, yielding 1920 grains of vitriol from a gallon of 

 water. See Vitrkjlic IValcrs. 



The green -vitriol, or fulphate of iron, commonly cilled 

 Englifh vitriol or copperas, and the Roman vitriol of the 

 Italian writers, is prepared at Deptford, near London, and 

 many other places, from m.^rtial pyrites, which is a native 

 fulphuret of iron, and is found in abundance on Sheppey 

 ifle, the ifle of Wight, and various other parts of the Elfex, 

 Kcntifh, Suffex, and Dorfetfhire coafts. Bv expofing this 

 to the air in large beds, oxygen is abforbed ; the fulphur 

 becomes fulphuric acid, and the new-formed fait is feparatcd 

 by wafliing, &c. 



Much after the fame manner vitriol is made from the py- 

 riler. found among coal : there are manufaftories of it '^ear 

 Wi^an, at Wiiiichavcn, at Newcaftk-upoii-Tyue, and in 



fereral 



