- 
| “of Plinies Natural Hiftorie. 42 
A. forthe fetting of any colour upon cloth, and efpecially the purple die. As touching the vertues 
of nitreitfelfe, and howitis emploied many waies,| wil] write in place convenient.butto return 
againe to our nitre-pits,and their boiling-houfes, there be of them verie faire and goodly in 4E- 
gypt. In oldtime,they were woontto be about Naucratis and Memphis only ; but thofe at Mem | 
phis were nothing fo good asthe other: for there, the nitre lying upon heaps, groweth to the 4 
hardnefle of a {tone;in fo much,as by this means, you fhall {ee whole mountains therof like rocks. | 
- Of this nitre they ufe to make certain veflels to ufe in the houfe :and many time they mele it with 
fulphur,and boile it over the coles for to give atin@ture unto the {aid veflels : look alfo when they 
would kcepe any * thing long they ufe this {tone-nitre. Moreover,there bein Egypt other nitre- 7 As dead bG- 
pits alfo, outof which there iffuethareddifhkind of nitre, refembling thé colour of the earth “"* 
B fromwhich it fweateth and oofeth our. As for the foame of nitre, (whichis commended for the 
beft of all)the auncient writers were of opinion, that it could not be made but when the dewfell: 
at what timeas the nitre-pits were (if I may fo fay) great bellied and full of nitre within, but not 
readic to be delivered thereof: and therefore if they be neare (as it were) to their time, there can 
no fuch froth be gathered notwithftanding the dew doc fal], Others there be of this mind, that 
the faid uppermoft coat or cruft aloft, is engendred by reafon of the fermentation of the faid 
nitre : but the moderne Phyficians of late daies have thought and taught, That * Aphro-nittum ‘his is out 
is gathered in Afia, and found within certain foft and grittie caves diftilling out of rocks: [Thefe Salperre. 
caves becaufe they be vaulted and arched over head,the inhabitants call * Cochlacas] which af- * some read 
terwards they doe drie in the Sun: and the beft is thought that of Lydia. The true marke to know Coca 
_ © good fal-petre,[sto be verie light in hand, exceeding britele and cafie to crumble; enclining al- 
fo much tothe colour of purple: this is brought from thence to us in trochifchs. As for the 4- 
gyptian Aphro-mire or Sal-petre;it commeth in veffels well pitched, becaule it fhould not mele 
and refolve into water. Thofe veflels allo beforenamed, ought to be throughly dried and drefled 
ia the Sun. As for nitre,the beft is chofen by thefe marks ;namely,if it be pafling fine and cleare, 
; but withall ,fpongions and veric full as it were of pipes & holes. Many dofophifticat it in £gype 
j with quickelime ; burthis deceit may bee eafily found by the taft : forthe good and crue fal-nitre 
will foone melt and diffolve at the tongues end ; whereas the other that is not right, pricketh and 
biteth in the mouth: moreover, if ithavea fprinkling of lime among,it carietha {trong {mell 
with it. When itis calcined in {ome earthen pot, it ought to be well covered with alid,leatt itleap 
D or fie out; otherwife,in the fireit elfe, it fparkleth not nor leapeth foorth :neither groweth any 
thing elfe in thofeplaces where fal-nitre is engendred, whereas in falt-pits yrafle commeth up. 
Asforthe Sea, what a numberof living ‘creatures breedeth it? and what plentie of reike and 
weeds befides ? And not only by this arguinent appearethit, that thereis more acrimonie and 
fharpnefic in fal-nitre charrio falc,but alfo herein, Thatno thoes will abide the nitre pits,butpre- 
fently fret and weare; for otherwife holefome they be and foveraigne for the eyes: neither wasit 
ever feen, thatany men who handled thefe pits of nitre, andwroughttherein, were ever blind. 
Moreover,this commoditie they have, That if aman come thither having a fore or ulcer upon 
him,the fame will foone be healed up and skinned cleane: but if one chaunce to bee wounded or 
hurtthere,!ongit will be ere he be cured thereof. Salnitre provoketh {wer, ifthe bodie be anoin= 
E tedwithie and oiletogithers and it maketh the skin foft and tender. That which is called Chala- 
ftrzeum, ferveth in lieu of falt,in making bread ; whereas the Egyptian nitre is ufed with radi- 
fhes, for it maketh them more tender, As for cates and meats, if they be powdred withall, they 
will looke whiteand bee worfe for it: whereasall woorts either for pot or fallad, will feeme the 
reener. 
2 To come now unto Phyficke and the medicinable vertues of falnitre:hot itis of temperature, 
___ and doth extenuar; biting befides and aftringent:a great drier it is,and doth exulcerat.Inregard 
’ of which qualities ,emploied it is in thofe accidents which require either drawing to the exterior 
parts, orto bee difcufled and refolved :{uch alfoasneed fome gentle mordication, or would be 
lightly extenuated; as meazils,fmall pocks,wheals,& pimples, Some for this purpofe, firft make 
icred hot inthe fire, and then quench it with fome auftere and aftringent wine: which done,they 
beat and reduce itto powder, and therewith rub andchaufethe bodie in the bains, without any 
addition of oil toit:mixed with the pouder of dried flour-delis,& incorporat in green oile olive, 
it repreffeth immoderat {wets :a liniment made therwith & figs cogither doth extenuat the films 
in the eies sand the afperitie of the eye-lids it doth fubtiliat: the fame operation hath it befides, 
| oe ee a OO 7" 
earf 4 
