previous next

CHAP. 28. (12.)—SCOLEX OF COPPER; EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.

There is another kind of verdigris also, which is called "scolex."1 It is prepared by triturating in a mortar of Cyprian copper, alum and salt, or an equal quantity of nitre, with the very strongest white vinegar. This preparation is only made during the hottest days of the year, about the rising of the Dog-star. The whole is triturated until it becomes green, and assumes the appearance of small worms, to which it owes its name. This repulsive form is corrected by mixing the urine of a young child, with twice the quantity of vinegar. Scolex is used for the same medicinal purposes as santerna, which we have described as being used for soldering gold,2 and they have, both of them, the same properties as verdigris. Native scolex is also procured by scraping the copper ore of which we are about to speak.

1 From the Greek σκωλὴξ, "a worm," "Vermicular Verdigris."— "The accounts of this substance in ancient authors seem to some commentators to be obscure; but in my opinion we are to understand by them that the ingredients were pounded together till the paste they formed assumed the appearance of pieces or threads like worms. For the same reason the Italians give the name of vermicelli to wire-drawn paste of flour used in cookery."—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 173, Bohn's Edition.

2 In B. xxxiii. c. 29—B.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Latin (Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, 1906)
hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: