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CHAP. 38.—ÆTHIOPIC HÆMATITES. ANDRODAMAS; TWO REMEDIES. ARABIAN HÆMATITES. MILTITES OR HEPATITES. ANTHRACITES.

Sotacus, one of the most ancient writers, says, that there are five kinds of hæmatites, in addition to the magnet1 so called. He gives the preference among them to that of Æthiopia,2 a very useful ingredient in ophthalmic preparations and the compositions which he calls "panchresta,"3 and good for the cure of burns. The second, he says, is called "androdamas,"4 of a black5 colour, remarkable for its weight and hardness, to which it owes its name, in fact, and found in Africa more particularly. It attracts silver, he says, copper, and iron, and is tested with a touchstone made of basanites.6 It yields a liquid the colour of blood, and is an excellent remedy for diseases of the liver. The third kind that he mentions is the hæmatites7 of Arabia, a mineral of equal hardness, and which with difficulty yields, upon the water-whetstone, a liquid sometimes approaching the tint of saffron. The fourth8 kind, he says, is known as "hepa- tites,"9 while raw, and as "miltites"10 when calcined; a substance good for burns, and more efficacious than rubrica11 for all the purposes for which that mineral is employed. The fifth12 variety is schistos; a substance which, taken internally, arrests hæmorrhoidal discharges. Upon the same authority, it is recommended to take any kind of hæmatites, fasting, in doses of three drachmæ, triturated in oil, for affections of the blood.13

The same author mentions also a kind of schistos which has no affinity to hæmatites, and to which he gives the name of "anthracites,"14 It is a native of Africa, he says, and is of a black colour. When rubbed upon a water-whetstone, it yields a black colour on the side which has adhered to the earth, and, on the opposite side, a saffron tint. He states also that it is a useful ingredient in ophthalmic preparations.

1 Mentioned in Chapter 25 of this Book.

2 Mentioned also in Chapter 25. Probably Red peroxide of iron, in a massive form.

3 "All-serviceable," or "all-heal."

4 "Man-subduing."

5 The colour of Specular iron, or red peroxide of iron, being of a dark steel-grey or iron-black, this is probably another variety of it. Ajasson thinks that it includes compact or massive red oxide of iron, and scaly red iron, or red iron froth, which leaves red marks upon the fingers.

6 See Chapter 11 of this Book. Its alleged attraction of silver and copper is fabulous, no doubt.

7 This is probably the Limonite, or Hydrous peroxide of iron, mentioned in the preceding Chapter. See Note 70 above.

8 Identified by Ajasson with Red ochre, or Reddle, a red peroxide of iron, used for red crayons in drawing.

9 "Liver-stone." Not to be confounded with the Hepatite of modern Mineralogy, or Sulphate of Barytes.

10 "Spleen-stone."

11 See B. xxxv. c. 14.

12 Identified by Ajasson with Laminated protoxide of iron. It has probably an affinity to the variety noticed above, in Notes 70 and 78.

13 Owing solely, in all probability, to its name, "blood-stone."

14 Ajasson is at a loss to know whether this is our Anthracite, a nonbituminous coal, or some kind of bituminous coal. Delafosse takes it to be pit-coal.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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