58 The Production and Generation 



from concomitant circumftances infer the pyrites 

 to be the mother of all other ores, he would be 

 convinced of his miftake, upon being apprifed, that 

 tho' they attend upon, they never are derived 

 from each other. Neverthlefs, fome preference is 

 frill due to the pyrites-, particularly its martial 

 and fulphureous parts are fuch earths, as are 

 proximately derived from the undetermined, fim- 

 ple earth, and to which they proximately agree. 

 The fulphur is originally contained in fuch a man- 

 ner in the crude, efpecially the (limey and bitumi- 

 nous earth of the fea, that to its introduction into 

 the compofition of pyrites, it need only be educed 

 and not tranfmuted. And tho' between bitumen 

 and common mineral fulphur fome diflinclion may 

 be obfervable •, yet, 1. they are very nearly allied i 

 again, 'tis the iron, not the fulphur, which con- 

 ilitutes the principal, nay the ground- part of py- 

 rites : and in regard to the metallic earth, no fort 

 of ore or metal has any thing in it, between which 

 and an unfpecificated crude earth there is fo near 

 an affinity, as might be (hewn in pyrites and 

 iron -ftone. Hence iron is educed without diffi- 

 culty from loamey, clayey and the like fat earths, 

 by the acceflion or addition ©f the phlogifion con- 

 flicting metals : which cannot fo eafily be ef- 

 fected for other metals, without mixing the earths 

 employed with other things, and efpecially without 

 a previous long appropriation, and taking a te- 

 dious compafs about. And the iron-earth of the 

 pyrites called ochre, fo nearly refembles a common, 

 efpecially a loamey earth, in texture and gravity, 

 that it may well be deemed an earth immedi- 

 ately derived from it : and often their colour is 

 fo much alike, that the one might be eafily taken 

 for the other. In fliort, there is no metal, to 

 whofe constitution an univerfal crude earth more 

 readily and nearly fuits, nor which fo eafily 



reverts 



