ANTIMONY. 215 
them, as a cathartic. Realgar is poisonous, but by no 
means so much so as arsenic (242). 
It is found in Sicily, Hungary, and various parts of 
Germany : and is very common in several districts of 
China. 
245. ANTIMONY is a compact metallic substance of 
brilliant and slightly bluish white colour, destitute of ductility, 
and about seven times heavier than water. 
Its texture is laminated, the plates crossing each other in 
almost every different direction. It is as hard as silver 9 and 
so brittle that it may easily be reduced to powder y in a mortar. 
In the state of the Connecticut, North America, it 
is said that antimony, in a pure metallic form, is found 
in such abundance that, in some places, large masses 
of it may be seen lying on the surface of the ground. 
The principal supply of antimony in Europe is from an 
ore which is found in Hungary and Norway, called 
svlphuret of antimony. The process of bringing it 
into a state for use is very simple. The mineral is put 
into pots, each of which has a hole in the bottom, and 
which is placed on another pot bedded in the earth. 
The upper pots, which are filled with the mineral, are 
heated. As soon as the antimony is fused it flows into 
the lower pots, while the substances with which it was 
combined remain in the upper ones. The antimony 
fixes, and forms cakes of the shape of the pots which 
receive it. In this state the metal presents, in its frac- 
ture, a surface thick-set, with long needle-shaped crys- 
tals, which, lying by the side of each other, compose, 
as it were, the whole of the mass. It is afterwards re- 
melted and cast into cakes for sale. 
This metal, in a pure state, or alloyed only with a 
very small portion of silver and iron, is found in veins of 
mountains in some parts of France and Sweden, occur- 
ring in massive and kidney-shaped lumps of white 
colour. 
The only mine of antimony in Britain, which is of 
any importance, is at Glendinningin Dumfries-shire. It 
was discovered in 1760, in searching for lead ore, but 
