of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 593 
A. which likewife (hineth as glaffe, whereof the inhabitants of thofe parts doe make their mirrours - 
or looking-glafles. 
Itremaineth now, that] fhould proceed to thofe {tones which are by workmen emploied to 
good and neceflarie ufes: firft of all, to thofe which ferve to whet tools and inftruments of yron; 
of whichthere be many forts: Thole of Candie, fora long time were of greateft narne & moft 
in requeft: in a fecond degree were thofe accounted which came from the mountaine Targetus 
in Laconia :but both the one and the other ferve for no ufe, withoutoile. But among the grind- 
ftones and whet{tones which are occupied with water,thole of Naxos were in greateft price and 
moft commended; nextto them, thofe of Armenia, wherof I have alreadie written, The ftones 
of Gilicia will do well enough either with wacer or oile, it skilleth not whether:but the wherftones 
B thatcomefrom Arfinoé, are onely ufed with water. There bee found in Italie whetitones, which 
with water will give a wonderfull keene edge ; alfo beyond the Alps, and fuch they call Pafferni- 
ces. Ina fourth ranke are to be reckoned thofe ftones which ferve with a mans {pittle, and fuch 
be the hones that barbers occupie for to fharpen their rafors; but they are of little or no ule at 
all becaufe they be fo foft and brittle and of this kind,the chiefe are fent out of the hither part of 
-  $paine from the countrey Hamminitana, As for other {tones whereof I have nor written alrea- 
die,they be all naught for building, to foft they be, and.by that means nothing durable: and yee 
in fome countries they have none other to Suild withall, as namely at Carthagein Africke, not- 
withftanding the walls of the houfes there are fubject to the vapours of the fea, are pinched and 
_ pearced with winds, yea and beaten with raine and weather; againft which :nconveniences the 
© inhabitants are forced to keepe their walls with pitching, for otherwife (the ftones are {oten=_ 
der and foft) the ordinarie parget of lime would ftet and eat them: wherupon there goeth a pre- 
tie {peech of the Carthaginians, that they doe contrarie to all others, in that they ufe pirchto 
their houfes,and lime to their wines for in truth they tun up their new wines with lime. There bé 
found moreover aboutRome other loft {tones, to w:t,in the territories belonging to Fidena and 
Alba :in Liguria likew:fe, Vmbria,and Venice, they have a white free ftone, which may becea- 
fily cut with a toothed {aw : thefe are verie tractable and eafie to be wrought, and willlaft reafo- 
nable well,bur within-houfe only; for ifthe weather lieupon them, if the raine beat,and the pine 
ching froft come, they will pill and flake, yea and breake into peeces; neither bee they durable 
againit the breath and vapour of the fea, The Tyburtine ftones, they will endure all other things 
D well enough ,onely they may not abide hot vapours, for if the heat of Summer takethem, they — 
will gape and be readie to cleave in funder. Asfor flints, the blacke, and in fome places the red 
alfo,are much commended: in certaine countries the white be verie good ; asnamely, thofein 
the quarries about Anicia within the territorie of Tarquintj about the lake neare unto V olfiny: 
alfo along the tract of Statona, there bee good building-ftones that willtake no harme by fire ; 
thefe are commonly ufed for thofe monuments and memorials wherin oughtis to be engraveds 
for they continue along timeand are not the worfe for age: OF this kind of {tone, the founders 
make their moulds for to melt braffe in. Moreover,there is a kind of greene ftone, which woons 
_ derfully checketh and fcornech all fire; but in no place isthere plentiethereof to bee had: and 
whereioever it isfound, it groweth notin manner of arocke or quarrie, but lieth {cattered here 
E and there. Of the reft that hitherto are not named, the pale {tone isnot good for building, and 
feldome will itferve to make mortar of. The round pebblesare lafting enough, and will endure 
aay hardnefle, but furely in building nothing truftic unleffe they be knit and bound with ftrong 
mortat and couched well rogither. Lhofethat are gathered out of rivers make no {ure building; 
for they feeme alwaies to relent and be moift : but for {uch ftones as thefe, and generally for all 
tholethatwe doubt, the onely remedic is to dig them out of the ground in Summer,toletthem 
havetwo yeers feafoning in lying abroad and aking all kinds of weather before they be emploi- 
ed in building; andlooke how much thereot hath caught harme by this means, the fame will 
ferve verie well in groundworks and foundations: and that which continueth ftill found,you may 
_ bebold toput itin building, yea in open workes without. dore, The Greekes have a kind of wall 
© whichthey make of hard pebbles or flintcouched even and laid in order by line and levell, like 
as we doe in bricke walls;and this kind of building they call in mafonrie Ifodomon :butin cafe 
they be noreven laidnor raunged ftreight, but that {ome part of the wall is thicker than others, 
they teatme it Pfeudifodomon. A third manner they have which they name Emplecton,name- 
ly when the front onely of the wall is {mooth and even, for othervife within they huddle and All 
Ece iij . ond 
