JERUSALEM. 
.329 
procure very large specimens of that mineral, in its natural 
state. It is worn in the east as a charm against the plague; 
and that a similar superstition attached to this stone in very 
early ages, is evident from the circumstance of our having af¬ 
terward found amulets of the same substance in the subterra¬ 
nean chamber below the Pyramids of Saqudra , in Upper 
Egypt. The cause of the fetid ■effluvia emitted from this stone, 
when partially decomposed by means of friction, is now known 
to be owing to the presence of stilphureted hydrogen,* All 
bituminous limestone does not possess this property. It is very 
common in the sort of limestone called black marble in Eng* 
land, though not always its characteristic. The workmen 
employed by stone masons often complain of the unpleasant 
smell which escapes from it during their labours. The an¬ 
cient Gothic monuments in France frequently consisted of 
fetid limestone.f The fragments which we obtained from the 
Dead Sea had this property in a very remarkable degree y 
and it may generally be observed, that the oriental specimens 
are more strongly impregnated with hydro-sulphuret than any 
which are found in Europe. The water of the Dead Sea has 
a similar odour. The monks of St. Salvador keep it in jars., 
together with the bitumen of the same lake, among the 'arti¬ 
cles of their pharmacy; both the one and the other being also 
esteemed on account of their medical virtues. 
We set out to visit what are called “the Holy Places.** 
These are all amply described by at least an hundred authors. 
From the Monastery we descended to the church of the Holy 
Sepulchre; attended by several pilgrims,, bearing with them- 
rosaries and crucifixes for consecration in the tomb of Jesus 
Christ. Concerning the identity of this most memorable re* 
Pique, there is every evidence but that which should result 
from a view of the Sepulchre itself. After an attentive perusal 
of all that maybe adduced, and all that has been urged, in sup¬ 
port of it, from Eusebius, Laetantius, Sozomcn, Jerom, 8eve- 
rus, and Nicephorus, it may be supposed that the question '..is 
for ever decided. If these testimonies be insufficient, “ we 
might,” says Chateaubriand,J adduce those of Cyril, of 
Brochant Mmeralog. tom. I. p. 568. Paris, 1808, &e* 
f See Rome de Lisle, Cristallog. tom. I. p. 574. 
t Mons. De Chateaubriand, whose work contains much illustration of this curious 
subject, after showing that the church of the Holy Sepulchre may possibly be refer¬ 
red to a period long anterior to the age of Helena, maintains, upon the evidence of a 
letter written by the Emperor Constantine to Macarius bishop of Jerusalem, pre¬ 
served by Eusebius, and upon the testimonies of Cyril, Theodorat, and the XUnsraiy 
2. h 2 
