490 Metals. M I N E R 
times go to the (hop of aTurkilh Jew, and call for a 
dram of fublimate, which he mixed in a glafs of water, 
and drank it up immediately. The firll time, the apo¬ 
thecary was very much alarmed, for fear he Ihould be 
charged with poifoning a Turk; but he was ftruck with 
amazement when he law the fame man again, on the next 
day, who called for another dole. Lord Elgin, Mr. Smith, 
and feveral gentlemen now in England, have met this 
extraordinary man, and have heard him fay, that the fen- 
fation he experienced after having drank that extremely- 
aftive poifon, was the moll delicious he ever enjoyed. 
Such is the force of habit! It is generally thought, that 
fmce the days of Mithridates, no one had ever made con- 
llant ufe of fuch a fubltance. 
4. Hydrargyrum larvatum, or red oxyd of mercury: 
deep red, of an earthy texture, heavy, fubliming its mer¬ 
cury by heat. Found mixed with land near Alicant in 
Spain, and in the foil in the mercury-mines of Idria and 
Bulchian. It is compadl and heavy, and generally mixed 
with globules of mercury. When heated in a dole velfel, 
it yields oxygen and a little carbonic acid gas, and the 
mercury becomes recovered. It appears to contain gene¬ 
rally about 0-91 only of mercury. 
5. Hydrargyrum FEthiops, or Ethiops mineral: black, 
without lullre or tranfparency, llaining the fingers, ealily 
melting, and if the heat be increafed entirely fubliming 
with a fulphurous fmell and flame. Found in the mines 
of Naflau near Kircheim, and in thofe of Idria; gene¬ 
rally in a loofe powdery Hate, of a black or greyilh-black 
colour, and accompanied by lamellated cinnabar or ful- 
phur pyrites. Itconfifts of mercury merely mixed with 
fulphur. Specific gravity, 2-223. Hahn. See Chemistry, 
vol. iv. p. 281. 
6. Hydrargyrum cinnabaris, native cinnabar, or ful- 
phuret of quickfilver. This is called native cinnabar by 
Kirwan, to diltinguifh it from the artificially-prepared 
cinnabar, or vermilion. It is the minium of Pliny. Spe¬ 
cific character; ponderous, without metallic luftre, red, 
fcarlet when fcraped, ealily melting, dilfipating before the 
blowpipe with a blue flame and fulphurous fmell. Found 
in Peru, Chili, New Spain, Japan, China, Siberia, Hun¬ 
gary, Sicily, Germany, &c. difi'eminated, in veins, grains, 
or ramifications, in a matrix of indurated clay, white and 
ferruginous quartz, calcareous fpar, argillaceous fliift, or 
pyrites. Colour, various fhades of red, fometimes grey- 
ilh: the cryllals are three or four fided pyramids, Angle 
or double three-fided prifms with three-fided pyramids, 
or fix-fided prifms : more or lefs Ihining, and of an earthy, 
lamellar, compact, fibrous, or granular, texture : the lofter 
kinds ftain the fingers and make a red mark : it is info- 
luble in nitric acid, and contains about So of mercury 
and 20 of fulphur; or, according to Mr. Seguin (Ann. de 
Chimie), 86-7776 of mercury, and 13-5334 of fulphur. 
Cinnabar is frequently the matrix of native quickfilver: 
it is principally found in the mines ofldria, Deux Ponts, 
and Almaden in Spain. The mines of Spain are the moll 
ancient, and were worked in the time of the Romans. 
It appears from Vitruvius that the term minium was 
derived from the name of a river in Spain; and there 
are feveral paflages in Pliny which fhow that the term 
minium was applied to a fubftance correfponding with 
our cinnabar. He fays that almoll all the minium in 
ufe at Rome came from Spain, and that the ore was fent 
over from Spain fealed. The firll circumltance fliows the 
abundance in wdrich minium was met with in Spain; the 
lad, its value : both are charafileriftic marks of the cinna¬ 
bar of the prefent day. He alfo fays that thofe who were 
employed in reducing the minium to powder wore loofe 
bladders over their face, left they fhould inhale the dull, 
the effects of which were very pernicious: this cuftom is 
alfo obferved at the prefent day by thofe who are em¬ 
ployed for a length of time together in triturating prepa¬ 
rations of quickfilver. The term cinnabar was originally 
applied to the drug commonly called dragon's blood, which 
is of a dull red colour: it was afterwards transferred to 
A L O G Y. Metals. 
the ore of quickfilver now under confideration. Sul- 
phuret of quickfilver may eafily be reduced by mixing it 
with quick-lime or iron-filings, and fubmitting the mafs 
to the procefs of'diftillation : the lime or the iron attracts 
the fulphur, and the quickfilver pafl’es over in a difen- 
gaged llate. Cinnabar is dillinguilhed from red iilver by 
the red ftreak it gives when rubbed on paper.; and in 
being entirely volatilized by heat: from realgar, by the 
bright red colour of its powder; the colour of realgar, 
when pulverized, being yellow: the fame mark will dif- 
tinguilh it from chromate of lead : from red cobalt ore, 
by its more lively red colour; and in not emitting a fmell 
of garlic, when expofed to the blowpipe. 
7. Hydrargyrum hepaticuin, or hepatic mercury -. pon¬ 
derous, of a common form, burning with a blue flame, 
but evaporating only in part. Found in the mines of 
Idria, and is nothing but cinnabar mixed with indurated 
clay: colour dark-red, or liver-brown, greenifli, bluifn, 
or lead-colour, or fpeckled green or blue: texture coin- 
pad, nearly even, ftiining and taking a polifli, fometimes 
lo foft as to be cut with a knife, and leaves a red mark. 
It is not foluble in nitric, but eafily in muriatic, acid. 
Sp. gr. 7-186. 
8. Hydrargyrum cupriferum, or cupreous mercury: 
dark-grey, of a glafly texture, decrepitating and emitting, 
fulphurous flames, when heated, and before the blowpipe 
leaving a bead of copper. Found in beds of pot-ftone, 
quartz, and fliift, in the mines near Mofchellanfburg 
and Sumatra, in a compaft brittle heavy Hate, and of a 
grey or blackifli colour. When frelh broken, it has a 
glafly appearance; it gives a red ftreak, and before the 
blowpipe melts with borax into a green glafs : it contains 
more or lefs of fulphur and copper. 
9. Hydrargyrum glandulofum, or arfenical mercury: 
without metallic luftre, red with a fcarlet ftreak, emitting 
fulphurous flames and arfenical vapours when heated. 
Found in the mines of Japan; and contains mercury mi¬ 
neralized by fulphur and arfenic. 
10. Hydrargyrum mixtum, or mixed mercury: in the 
form of white lumps, emitting fulphurous and arfenical 
vapours when heated. Found in the mines of Dauphiny; 
and contains mercury 1 part, filver §, and the remainder 
iron, cobalt, arfenic, and fulphur. 
11. Hydrargyrum phlogifticum, or phlogiftic mercury : 
of a dull opake colour, ponderous, brittle, flaming, and 
emitting difagreeable vapours when heated. Found in 
the mines of Idria in Carniola; and contains a large por¬ 
tion of quickfilver. 
12. Hydrargyrum fcetens, or bituminous mercury: 
dark red-brown, lamellar, fomewhat pellucid, fmelling 
like liver of fulphur when rubbed. Found in the mines 
of Idria, on hornftone; has an earthy texture, and flames 
when kindled, the vapours of which have the fmell of 
bitumen. It yields from 15 to 20 per cent, of mercury. 
Cuprum, Copper.—Fine red, eafily tarr.ilhing in the 
air; hard and tenacious, malleable and duftile, fonorous 
and elaftic; fpecific gravity, 8-667: melting with diffi¬ 
culty'-, and when expofed to a red heat taking fire and 
emitting a moll brilliant green light; exploding violently 
wdien melted and call into water : foluble in moll acids 
and in ammonia, exhibiting a blue colour; from its fo- 
lution in nitric acid precipitating a blue oxyd by the ad¬ 
dition of potalh .- tinging glafs green. 
The word copper, cuprum, appears to be derived from 
the name of an artificial alloy- of this metal, called as 
cyprium, which was a compound of copper and tin. In 
the early natural hiftorians, as, when ufed limply, very 
often fignifies copper. Copper, without doubt, was ear¬ 
lier known and employed than iron; and fome ancient 
w’eapons of great hardnefs have given rife to refearches in 
regard to the art of hardening it. The attempts, how¬ 
ever, to harden it in the fame manner as Heel, all mifcar- 
ried, and the art was confidered as loft. It was then tried 
whether this objefl could not be accomplished by mixing 
it with other metals. Monnet believed that arfenic had 
been 
