‘ 
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514 aay The foure and thirtieth Booke 
image of Hercules allof hard yron or fteele,which 4/con the famous workman made of purpofe G 
to fignific the undaunted heartof that deified Hercules, who underwentand endured all labours 
and perils whatfoever. Herealfo in Rome wee tay fee certaine drinking cups of fteelededicated 
in the temple of Aéers the Revenger, ch. drydeisi lodishs ofT ele 
Butto come unto the nature of yron,herein appeareth ftill the fame goodnefle of Nature, 
=e that this mettall working fuch mifcheefe asit dooth,fhould bee revenged of -it felfe, and receive 
morelins faci. CONdigne punifhment by the own ruft.See alfothe wonderfull providence of Nature;*who ma- 
ente, quam quod keth nothing in.the world more {ubjed to death and corruption,than that whichis moft hurtful 
infertsfimum and deadly to mankind, 109 ofierd dos 
grace of wine ‘As touching mines of yfon ore,they are to be found alnioft in every countrie,forthereis nor 
ec fo much asthe Iland Ilva here within Italie,butit breedeth yron. And lightly wherefoever anie t 
preffed in En. {Uchbe,they are eafily found, for the very leere of the earth,refembling the colour of care; be: 
glih, wrayeth where they lie. And when itis found our, they burne, trie, and fine it,as other veines of } 
Whichour  mettall.Onely in Cappadocia there isfome queftion and doubt made,whether in the making of 
{miths cal Co]- ; 
fat-yron, yton they be more beholden to the earth that yeeldeth the ore,or to the water for the preparing 
pee es and ordering of it? For this is certaine,that unlefle the veine of ore be well drenched and:foked 
lorum acic} i,o¢ With the water of one river there, it will never yeeld yron out of the furnaces As forthe kinds of 
dazelingthe  yron,many they are,and all diftin@. The firft. difference arifeth {rom the diverfitie of the foile and q 
ciesswhichiton Climats where the mines be found:For in fome places,the ground & the pofition of the heavens I 
red hot, orthe 5 . 
bright blade of doe yeeld onely a foft ore,and comming nearer to the fubftance of Jead than yron: in another, 
oe other the mettall is *brittle and {hort,ftanding much upon a veine of brafic, fuch as willnot ferve one —] 
@ ns, $ Oi te bak . . . . ~ 3 
Meets any whit for ftroke and naile to bind cart-wheeles withall, which tire indeed would be made of the o- 
copies of the ther that is gentleand pliable. Moreover,lomekind of yron thereis that ferveth onely, ifr bee 
author have  wroughitin {hort and {mall works,as namely, for nailes,{tuds,and rackesemploied abourgreeves 
‘the word [ocu- F : b ° ; ; 
brumjocither andleg-harneis: another againe, that is more apt to take ruftand cankerthan the reft. Howbeit, 
An I es all che forts of yron ore are tearmed in Latine Stri¢turee,a word appropriatto this mettall and to 
her frmerers noother,*a Svingenda acie,t.of dazelipg the eyes,or drawing anaked {word, But the furnace it 
fignifie;Toda- felfe, where the ore or yron ftone isttied, maketh the greateft difference that is: for therein you 
zie Others un (hall haveroarife by much burning and fining, the pureft part thereof,which in Latine is called 
derftand it of ei k i 
drawing a na- Naclews ferri.the kernel] or heart of the yron [anditisthat which we call fteele} and the fame 
ked fword:and alfa of diverfe forts: forthe beftis itthat hardeneth the ecge of any weapon ortoole:thereis of K 
ued it which ferveth better for ftithie or anvill heads , the faces of-hammers, bits of mattockes, and 
tincto fayin yron.crowes. Butthe moft varietie of yroncommeth by the meanes of the water, wherein the 
that fence, yron red hot is eftfoones dipped and quenched for to be hardened. And verely, water only which 
me, in forme placeis better,in other worfe,is that which hath ennobled many places for the excellent 
ieee at yron that commeth from them,as namely, Bilbilis in Spaine,and Taraflio,;Comus alfoin Italie; 
cline ratherto ‘OF none of thefe places have any yron mines of their owne, and yerthere is no talke butof the 
this, for thar yron and fteele that commerh from thence. Howbeit,as many kinds of yron as there bee, none 
aameahitle {hall match in goodneffe the fteele that commeth from the Scres: for this commoditiealfo, as 
after calleth ns dp. Neds agp 
the bet ficele hard ware asitis,they fend and fell with their foftfilkes and fine furs:In a fecond degree of goad- 
Adewwhich  neffe, may be placed the Parthian yron.And fetting afide thefe twocounties,[know notwhere [L 
word haply i : fan 
dic Rai. there be any bars or gads tempered of fine and pure ftecle indeed, forall the reft have amixture 
fromwhence of yron,tmore or lefic.And generally in this Wett part of the world wherein we live,all ourfteele 
eciesalfeisuled is of amore foftand gentle temperature than thatof the Levant. This goodnefle of fteele in { 
foran edge, &c. ! ; : : ree . 
Andyetitmay fome countries arifeth from the nature of theinine,as in Auftrich :in others from the handling 
be,tharthole andremperaturethereof,like as by quenching,as I {aid before,and namely at Sulmo, where the 
viclure,i {par- ; pier: ; 5 
ied ales fy. Water ferveth efpecially for that purpofe: andnomarvaile, for wee {ee a great difference in whet- 
ing from yron ting and fharpening the edge of any inftrument,betweene oyle wheiftones that barbarsufe, and 
ee ee the common water grindftones: for furely the oyle giveth a morc fine and delicat edge.Further- 
andfromno  More,this is {traunge that when the ore or veine is in the furnace,it yeeldeth yron liquid & clear 
‘ae as. water : and afterwards,being reduced into bars and gads when itis red hot,itis {pungeousand M 
1c O per- . . \ ~ ° . ° ’ 
rn britde,apt to breake or refolve into flakes, And confidering the differencethatisbetweene the 
Stringere aciem : 
oculorumafany native of ayle and water(as I havefaid) this is to be obferved,that the finer any edge-tooles bee, 
thing els) may : : 3 
givescesfon’ the manner is to quench them in oyle forto harden the edge ; for feare leaft the water fhould. 
hereof, Sed ec harden them overmuch,and make the edge more readie to breake out into nickes, thantobend 
viderine Critic, . m3 and 
ia 
