it & NAME S 



CHAP. II. 



Of the Names* of the P y ri t e s. 



IN natural hiftory, and more efpecially in the 

 foflile kingdom, fancy rather than judgement 

 appears to have determined the names of a great 

 variety of bodies : thus to imaginary or acciden- 

 tal circumftances the Dendrites^ Selenites, Myrrhi- 

 nites, JEtites^ Ajlroites^ Bufonites^ with many more, 

 owe their refpective denomination. With refpect 

 to the mineral under confideration, its name, py- 

 rites, or fire- ftone, has, above moft other fofiils, 

 the good fortune to be equally juft and expreflive. 



It is called a ftone in the fame fenfe, as all ores, 

 that are not quite fpungy and friable, are fo deno- 

 minated from their hardnefs, weight, and clofe- 

 nefs ; for inftance, lapis aris, lapis ferri^ copper- 

 ftone, iron- fi one, &c. however, we are not to con- 

 found it with the horn- ftone [flint] which is ufed 

 for fire-arms, and at this day commonly called by 

 the Germans fire-ftone. 



Pyrites more efpecially derives its name from fire, 

 as it contains a larger fhare of fulphur, which is the 

 pabulum of fire, than moil bodies in the mineral 

 kingdom : not indeed more than all ores, feeing cin- 

 nabar and antimony ores, alfo ftone-coal, partake 

 confiderably of fulphur; neverthelefs, it claims a 

 preference in this refpeel: to all ores of a ftoney na- 

 ture, which the three abovementioned cannot be 

 properly deemed, on account of their friability, 

 and extreme loofe texture. In 



* It is but juftice to the author to take notice that, under 

 this head, he has {hewn great afliduity, and displayed more 

 than a common fhare of learning, in tracing the Etymologies 

 of the feveral names applied to Pyritar. Thefe, however cu- 

 rious, are apprehended not the moft ufeful parts of this work ; 

 for which reafon the tranflator acknowledges that he has taken 

 greater liberties in his abridgement of this chapter, than in any 

 other. 



