%6& A Voyage to 



;<K pofed upon by any artful Subftituting of Natural Gold, 

 ' € inftead of that he made. 



I ^yill not here fall into the Dreams of thofe Searchers 

 after the Philofophers- Stone j nay, I will believe, notwith- 

 ftanding all the moft plaufible Stories they tell us, as above,' 

 in the Words of Zweifer, upon the Experiments that have 

 been feen made, that they are fraudulent Sleights of Hand, 

 which have gain'd Reputation to that vain Employment ; 

 but tho' they have not attained the Degree of the Perfecti- 

 on of Gold, it is {till certain that they have imitated it ve- 

 ry well with Mercury, This is fulficient to eftabliffi my 

 Opinion about the Formation of Metals. May it not be 

 thence inferr'd, that the Mechanifm of Nature in thofe 

 Productions differs from this only, in that it is more per- 

 fect ? I am beholden for this Thought only to the Ob- 

 fervation I have made of the feveral Sorts of Ore that have 

 fallen into my Hands, tho\ in the main, it be fomething 

 agreeable to* that of Meflieurs Voffius and Vallemont y who 

 look upon the fubterraneous Fires as the firft Principle for 

 the Formation of Metals. 

 ExhdUthm Be that as it will, it is certain that there are continually 

 yftbe ^//w.jftrong Exhalations coming from the Mines. The Spani- 

 ards, who live over them, are obliged frequently to drink 

 of the Herb of Paraguay, or Mate, to moiften their Breafts, 

 without which they are liable to a Sort of Suffocation. 

 The very Mules that pafs along thofe Places, tho' much 

 iefs fteep and mountanous than others, where they trip it 

 away, are forced to ftand almoft every Minute to recover 

 their Wind. But thofe Exhalations are much more fenfi- 

 ble within they have fuch an Effect on Bodies that are not 

 ufed to them, that a Man who goes in for a Moment, comes 

 out as it were benumb'd, or blafted with fuch a Pain in all 

 his Limbs, that he is not able to ftir, which often lafts 

 above a Day ; and then the Remedy is to carry the Difeas'd 

 Perfon back into the Mine. The Spaniards call that Di- 

 flemper guebrantahueJJos y that is, Bone-Breahr. Even the 



Indians , 



