420 
4 any other part. And yet forfome ufes the groffe andfoule fubftance isvery good, and namely, 
oe 
The one and thirtieth Booke 
the fome of fale found {ticking to rocks or floting upon thefea water,is thought tobe morecon- ey 
venient than any other falt.Butto conclude,any fale whatfoever it is,ferveth well for thofe medi- 
cines that bee ordained either to take away lafficudes, or to‘enterinto thofe fope-bals which are 
to polith the skin and to rid itfrom wrinckles, If either a boeufe or mutton berubbed with fale,ie 
will kill che skab or mange in them: for which purpofe alfo they give it unto thefaid beaftsfor to 
licke :and more particularly, itis fpurced out of ones mouth into horfes eyes. Thus you fee what 
miay be faid as touching Salt, : : 
Cuap. x. 
ee Of Nitre,and the [undrie kinds thereof, The manner of making Nitre. The 
medicines and obfervations to it belonging. : 
T May not put off the Treatife concerning the nature of Salnitre,approching fo near asit doth 
to the properties of falt: and the rather am I todifcourfe of it more exadtly,becaufe it appea- 
reth evidently, that the Phyficians who have written thereof werealrogether ignorant of the 
nature and vertues of it: neither is there any one of them who in that point wrote more advifed- 
ly chan Theophraftus. In the firft place this is to be noted, That among the Medians there isa lit- 
tle Nitre engendred in certain vallies,which in time of drought became all hoarie and grey ther- 
with,and this they call Halmirrhaga. There is found alfo fome of it in Thracia neare unto the ci- 
tie Philippi, but in lefle quantitie,and the fame all foule and beraied with the earth,and this they 
name Agrion.In times paft men have pra@tifed to make Nitre of Oke wood burnbut never was 
there any great {tore thereof made by that devife:and long itis fince that feat was altogether gi- 
ven over. As for waters and fountaines ef nitre,there bee ynow of them in many places, howbes 
it,the fame haveno aftringent vertue at all. Butthe beft Nitreis found about Clytz in the mar- 
ches of Macedonie,where there is moft plentie thereof, and they call it Chalaftricum : White 
and pure it is,and commeth neareft to the nature of falt. And verely,a lake or meere there is ftan- 
ding alcogether upon Nitre,and yet out of the midft thereof there{pringeth up a little fountain 
of frefin water: Inthis lake there is engendred Nitre about the rifing of the Dogge. {tar for nine 
daies together: then it {taieth as long, and beginneth frefh againe to flote aloft: and afterwards 
giveth over. Whereby itappeareth,that it isthe very nature of the foile that breedeth it: for itis 
knowne by experience, Thatif itceafe once,neither heat of Sun nor fhowers of raine will ferve 
or doe any good, Befides,there is another wonderfull propertie obfetved in this lake, that not- 
withf{tanding the forefaid Spring or fource do feeth and boile up continually yet the Jake neither 
rifeth noroverfloweth . But during thofe nine daies wherein itis given to yeeld Nite, if there 
chaunce to fall any fhowers,they make the Nitre to taftthe more of fale, And fay that the North- 
eaft winds do blow the while,the Nitre is nothing fo good and cleare, by reafon of the mud min-— 
gled withall,which thofe winds doe raife, Thus mouch of Nitre natural. 
As for artificial] Nitre,great abundance there is made of itin A2gypt, but farre inferiour in 
goodneffe to the other : for browne and duskith it is,and befides full of gritand ftones, The or- 
der of making it,isallone in manner with that of falt,faving onely that into the falt-houfes they 
let in {ea water,whereas into the boiling houfes of Nitre they conveigh thewater of the river Ni- 
Jus. Whiles Nilus doth rife and flow, you thall have the faid nitre. pits or workhoufes, drie : but 
asit falleth and returneth againe toward the channell,they are feeneto yeeldacertaine moifture, 
(whichis the humor of Nitre)and that for the {pace of fortie dayes together,with no fuchreft or 
intermiffion betweene,as there is about Clytz in Macedonie abovefaid. Moreover, if the wea- 
ther bee difpofed toraine during that time, they employ not fo much of Nilus water to the ma- 
king of nitre, Now fo fooneas the faid humor beginneth to thicken, prefently they gather it in 
all haft, for feare it fhould refolve againe and meltin the nitre pits. In this nitre as wellas in fale, 
there is to bee found, betweene whiles,a certaine oleousfubftance; which is heldto bee fingular 
good forthe farcin and skab of beatts, The nitre it felfe is laid up and piled imheapes, where it 
hardeneth and continueth along time, But admirable is the nature of the lake Afcanius, and of M 8 
certaine fountaines about Chalcis,where the water above,and which floteth uppermoft,is freth 
and potable; butall beneath and under it roward the bottome,is nitrous. The lighteft ofthe ni- 
treand the fineft,is reputed alwaies beft; and therefore the fome and froth thereot 1s better than 
of 
ee 
