NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY-. 171 



upon this piece of ftone, as a manifeft mother of cryftal *. Were 

 it not for the yellowiih caft, too common in thefe northern cryf- 

 tals, like thofe of Bohemia, and Hungary, they might juftly de- 

 ferve the appellation of Norway-diamonds, which Mr. Arent Be- 

 rendfen confers on them; for the original ehence and formation 

 of the diamond, namely, a filtrated, vitrified, denfe, indurated 

 mineral juice is likewife that of thefe cryftals, the whole difference 

 being, that the filtration here is lefs perfect. It appears, however, 

 that as nature in other things fometimes deviates from her general 

 rule, working either more delicately or coarfely than ufual, fo 

 the northern cryftals may be accounted fuch deviations, from her 

 general rule in the formation of diamonds, or Norway mountain- 

 drops. A certain officer of reputation of the diftricl: of Hardan- 

 ger, a few years ago fent to London two ftones found there, in 

 order to have them made into a pair of ear-rings for his lady. 

 When the merchant to whom he had given this commiilion, 

 called upon the lapidary for them, he was afked what he looked 

 upon thofe ftones to be, the merchant anfwered, Norway-cryftals, 

 then replied the lapidary, give me a note of hand that they mall 

 not be-. pa4Ted for real diamonds, which the merchant very readily 

 did. I mention this little ftory, partly to fhew quantum eft in rebus 

 inane, and how, in matters which are highly eftimated, and fome- 

 times deferve fo to be, the world is more governed by imagina- 

 tion than reality, as otherwife there could not be at leaft that 



* Cryftallus montana (prout ex pluribus obfervationibus feiiciter didicimus) non 

 eft aliud quam ramincatio feu propagatio duriflimi filicis, quartz, la&ei fepius colons 

 ac opaci, cujus dorfum fi compluribus comprefium ftratis, interius tamen aliquid va- 

 cui fortiatur, intra quod libere valeat in ramulos propagari, tunc generatur cryftallus 

 (non vero ex aqua gelu in montibus vehementiore concreta, (ut Plinius, Seneca alii- 

 que non pauci tradiderunt. ) Quod fi cinnabris effluvia ipfius fefecommifceant vegeta- 

 tioni (quod nobis plerumque videre contigit in argentifodinis) tunc eidem amethyfti 

 colorem non tarn raro impertiunt. Et rem fane verofimiliter fie fe habere, per Hel- 

 veticas Alpes ad montem S. Gotthardi, anno 1682, iter facientes amplius intelleximus 

 ac edbcli fumus ibi a fofforibus cryftallos eruentibus. Hi fiquidem in pluribus nobis 

 monftrarunt ventriculum feu cavitatem quandam, cujus parietibus majori ex parte 

 fubfternebatur filex feu quartz, intra illam cavitatem vegetans, cujus puriores ac tenui- 

 ores partes filtratione quadam a reliquis fegregatae ac fenfim concrefcentes affurgebant 

 feu diftendebantur in conos cryftallorum angulares, Aloyf. Com. Marfili Danub. Pa- 

 non. Tom. III. p. 89. This is further worth obferving, that as the effluvia of cinnabar 

 veins in the mountains, by the tinge, which- they communicate to cryftals, make ame- 

 thyfts of them, the turquoife and emerald in the like manner owe their colours to vi- 

 triol. P. I. page 100. The abfurdity of that opinion of Pliny, Seneca, and other an- 

 cient naturalifts of the formation of cryftal like ice, by an intenfe froft, has been more 

 than fufficiently exppfed by Sir Tho. Brown in his vulgar errors, Lib. II. cap. 1. p. 



Part I. Yy im- 



