A66 
— *or Chryfoporon 
Thethreeand thirtieth Booke 
_ els whatfoever.Butthispafleth all,that {pun it may be as wooll and filke, woven alfo in manner of G 
yearne,chufe whether you will work it twifted.with [filke]thred, or finglein wier by it felfe.Wexrites 
the Hyftoriographer reporteth, That king Zarquin:us, furnamed Pr.fews, rodein wiumph in a | 
robe of wrought gold. I my felfe have feene the Emprefle Agrippina, wile to Claudius Cafar, {it- 
ting by her husband the Eiperour to behold the brave fhew of a navall skirmifh upon the’ wae 
ter which he exhibited, all gorgeoufly arraied in a royall mantle, woven withoutany othermat- 
ter fave onely pure gold. Cloth of goldand tiffue I know there is befides, called Veftis Attalica, — 
wherein gold is wrought with other ftuffe :andlong fince it is, that this invention hath been de- 
wiled by the rich and {umptuous kings of Afia, Furthermore,to guild marble or any other thing 
“that will not abide to be guilded by the fire,gold foile muft bee latd on with the white ofan cgge. 
Asfor wood and timber, they ufe to guild it by the meanes of acertaine compound glue orfize, 
which is commonly called *Leucophoron: but what a gluethisis, and howitis made, Iwill de- 
clare in place convenient. As touching the manner howto guild braffe,it was performed ordi- 
narily heretofore by quickfilver naturall,or elfe artificiall named Hydrargyron:and herein there 
hath been devifed much fraud & deceitjaccording as 1 will hereafter fhew in their proper chap- 
ters,when I praétifeto fet downe their nature and properties.Butnowafterthat braflehath been 
much knocked and beaten they ufe to put itinto the fire: and fo foone as it is perceived red hote, 
. they quenchit againe in falt, vinegre,and allum.Now afterward,when itis well fcoured &clean- 
fed with fand,and knowne by the brightneffe and luftre thereof that ithath beene fufficiently fro- 
bifhed and purified,againe it muft into the fire to take a new heat by the ardent exhalation ther- 
of;that being thus (as itwere) mortified and befmeared with a fize of the pumifh ftone, allum 
and quickfilver mixed together, it may take gold foile laid upon it the better, and keepe it more 
furely. To conclude, allum hath the verie fame vertue to trie and cleanfe gold, as I faid before 
lead had. 
Cuap. 111 pa ite 
ee The manucr of finding gold naturally in the Mine. When were knowne 
the firft flatues of gold. The medicinable veriues 
aud properties of gold. 
N thefe parts of the world wherein we live,gold mines are found:fo that wee need notto ftand 
{o much upon the gold of India,nor thatwhich the ants caft up out of the ground, orthe grif- 
fons gatherin Scythia. And verely the gold here with us commeth naturally in three forts, to 
wit, among the fands of fome greatrivers, likeas Tagus in Spaine, the Po inItalie, Hebrus in 
Thrace ,PaGolusin Afia, andthe Indian Ganges do yeeld it: neither is there any gold more fine 
and perfet,as beeing throughly polithed by that rubbing and attrition which irmeeteth withall 
in the courfe and ftreame of the water. Another mannerthere isto come by gold, namely, by 
digging it out of pits which are funke of purpofe for it: orelfe to light upon it within the caves 
aud breaches happening by the fall of mountains undermined or cutthrough.And my meaning 
isto.difcourfe of the one way as well asthe other, of fearching for gold. 
To begin then with thofe who feeke for this mettall : Firttabove all they hit upon aveine of 
earth called Segulium, and thisisic that giveth them the firftlight and fhew that goldis thereto 
beehad. This they take up : the bed and conch wherein it lieth :the gravell skewife and the fand 
about it they wafh,obferving diligently that which fetleth in the botwome, for by itthey have a 
good guefle and aime that directeth them to gold,whether it lie deepeor fhallow, And by this 
conjecture otherwhiles their hap is fo good,as to find that which they defite,aloft,even ebbeun- 
der the upmoft coat of the earth:burl muft needs fay,a rare feliciticis this, And yet of late daies 
during the Empire of Nero, there wasfound in Dalmatia avaine of gold ore within one {pades 
griffe in the firft turfe of the ground; which yeelded every day the weight of fiftie pound, This 
mariner of earth, if it be found alfo undera vaine of gold, they call Alotatio. Moreover,this is to 
bee noted, That ordinarily the drie and barraine mountaines in Spaine which beare and bring M 
foorth nothing elfe, are forced (as it were) by Nature to furnifh the world with this treafure,and 
doe yeeld mines of gold,As for that gold ore which is digged forth of pits,fome call it in Latin 
Canalitium,others Canalienfe. And verely thisis found {ticking to the grit and utmoft cruft of 
hard rockes of marble ; not after the manner of drops or {parkes glittering in orientfaphire, or _ 
the 
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