BISMUTH. 219 
Eearance, this powder is sometimes employed by ladies 
>r painting their skin ; a practice which cannot be too 
much condemned, both on account of the danger with 
which it is attended, and from its soon injuring both the 
texture and natural colour of the skin. It has the fur- 
ther disadvantage of turning black when touched by the 
fumes of fetid and other substances ; and ladies, who 
have used this cosmetic, and have afterwards bathed 
in the Harrogate waters, have come from the bath a 
perfectly tawny colour. It was probably the oxide of 
bismuth which the Roman ladies used for whitening 
their skin; for Martial, in speaking of a lady, who 
made too free an use of cosmetics, describes her as 
afraid even of the sun. The oxide of bismuth is used 
in the composition of most of the pomades employed in 
France for painting the face. 
A preparation of bismuth has lately been employed 
in medicine, as a remedy against spasmodic affections 
of the stomach. 
The following is a pleasing experiment, illustrative 
of metallic crystallization. Melt a ladleful of bismuth, 
and allow it to cool slowly and quietly till a thin crust 
is formed on the surface : then, with a pointed iron, 
make two small opposite apertures through the crust : 
and, through one of these, quickty pour out the fluid 
portion, as carefully and with as little motion of the 
mass as possible. The air having entered by the other 
aperture, there will appear, on removing the upper 
crust by means of a chisel, when the vessel has become 
cold, a cup-shaped concavity, studded with very bril- 
liant crystals, and more or less regular according to the 
quantity of metal employed, the tranquillity and slow- 
ness with which it has cooled, and the dexterity with 
which the fluid portion of the mass was poured off be- 
fore it became solid. The same effect may be produced 
by melting bismuth in a crucible which has a hole in 
the bottom, lightly closed by an iron rod or stopper ; 
this is to be drawn out when the mass begins to con- 
