510 The foure and thirtieth Booke 
+; Theveine _. 18 for * Sory, that which is brought out of Zgyptis counted beft, and farrebetter thanthe G 
orminerall, Cyprian, Spanith, or African: neverthelefle, fome hold that which commeth fromC yprefle 
a aa to bemore appropriat to the cure of the eyes. But of what countrey foever itbe, the principal 
HA pee is that which to fmell unto is of the rankeft and moft ftinking favour: the fame alfo in the brui- 
ing will grow blacke and be unéteous or fattie,and fuch lightly is hollowin manner ofa {punge. 
A mineral] this is aleogither hurtfull to the ftomacke, and {o contrarie unto the nature of it, that 
to fome the verie {mell thereofis enough to overturne it andto caufe vomit: and efpecially the 
Egyptian Sory is of this operation, That which commeth from other nations, when itis broken 
or braied, fhineth againe. Hi 
Touching Myfy, itis ofa more hard and ftonie nature than Sory ; but good it is for the tooth- 
ach, if either it bee heldin themouth, ora collution bee made therewith to wath the teeth and 44 
gumbs: alfo it healeth the grievous and irkefome {ores of the mouth , yea though they growto : 
be cancerous and corrofive. The manner isto burne and calcine it upon coles of fire as Chal- } 
citis. Some nevertheleffe have written, that Myfy is engendred by the means of a fire made with ; 
pine wood, in the hollow veines or mines of braffe ore: and they hold,that the cinders or afhes 
of this pine fewell, beeing mingled with the yellow greins or floure of the faid mettall, isthat 
which begetteth Myfy. Bucthe truth is, of the forefaid {tone or ore itis engendred naturally: 
howbeit, athing itis byitfelfe gathered, diftin@ and feparat from it apart: and the beft is that 
which is found in the mines and forges of Cypreffe. You fhall know it by thefe fignes : breake 
it (for crumble it will) there appeare within it certaine {parkes fhining like gold : and in the bray- 
ing or ftamping, it runneth into the nature of afand or earth, like unto Chalcitis, This Myfy is l 
the minerall that they put to gold ore, when itis to be triedand purified. 
Tocome unto the medicinable vertues thereof: beeing infufed or powred intothe eares with, 
oile of rofes, it cureth their running with matter: the fame beeing applied ina frontall within 
wooll to the head, eafeth the ach thereof: it doth extenuat alfo and {ubtiliat the afperities of the 
- eyes, fuch efpecially as bee inveterat and have continued long: but foveraigne itis found to be 
forthe inflammation or {welling of the tonfils, forthe {quinancie, and all impoftumat fores. 
growne to fuppuration. For which purpofes,prepared it would be in this wife, and after this pro- 
portion : Take of it fixteene drams, feeth the fame in one heminc of vinegre with fome addition 
of honey, untill it begin to yeeld andrelent;and in this manner ordred, is ferveth in cafes afore- 
faid : but whenfoever need requireth to mollifie the violence thereof, and make it more mild, ie K 
were good to wetit with fome {princkling of honey. If there be a lotion or fomentation made 
wich itin vinegre,it doth confume and eat away the hard callofitie in fiftuloes, & fortifieth great- 
ly the collyries or tents to be made thereof,and put into the concavitie of the fore: it ferveth alfo 
for the collyries that be eyefalves: it ftauncheth bloud, repreffeth the malice of fretting humors 
in corrofive ulcers and {uch as doe putrifie: the excrefcenfe of proud or ranke flefhit taketh 
downe and confumeth : a peculiar propertie it hath to cure the accidents of the members of ge- 
neration in men ; and withall ftoppeth the immoderat flux of the moneths in women. } 
As concerning Vitrioll, which we callin Latine Atramentum Sutorium, that is to fay,fhoe- 
makers blacke,the Greeks have fitted it with aname refpective unto brafle, and by ancere af- 
finitie thereunto call it Chalcanthum: and verely there is not aminerall throughout allthe. & 
mines, of fo admirable a nature asit is. There have been found in Spaine certaine pitsor ftan- 
ding pooles, containing a water of the nature of vitrioll:they ufedto feeth the fame, putting 
thereto of other freth water a like quantitie, and poure itintocertaine troughs orbroad keelers 
of wood : over thefe veflels, there be certaine barrs [of yron] or tranfoms overthwart, lying faft 
that they cannot ftirre, at which there hang downe cords or ropes with ftonesat the end ftret= 
ching them outright, that they reachto the bottome of the faid decodtion within thofe:kee- 
Jers, to the end that the vifcous fubftance of the water may gather about thofe cords, which you 
fhall fee fticking faft thereto in drops, congealed in manner of glafle, and-it doth reprefent as it 
were the formeof grapes; and thatis Vitrioll, Beeing taken foorth and feparated fromthe cords 
aforefaid, they let it drie for the {pace of thirtie daies.In colour itis blew, carieth with iva moft ,4_ 
pleafant and lively luftre,fo cleare,as a man would take itto be tranfparentglaffe. Of this beeing 
infufed in water, is madethatblacke tin€ture which curriers andcorvinersoccupie in colouring 
of theirleather. This Vitriollisengendred many waies of the copperefle veine within the mines 
being hollowedinto certaine wenches: out of the fides whereof youthallfeein the middeft of 
