in comparison with one marvellous fact, which I must not omit to
mention before I pass on to other subjects. In the consulship[2631] of
M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus, there was not at Rome, as we learn from the
most trustworthy authors, a finer house than the one which belonged to
Lepidus himself: and yet, by Hercules! within five-and-thirty years
from that period, the very same house did not hold the hundredth
rank even in the City! Let a person, if he will, in taking this fact
into consideration, only calculate the vast masses of marble, the
productions of painters, the regal treasures that must have been
expended, in bringing these hundred mansions to vie with one that had
been in its day the most sumptuous and the most celebrated in all the
City; and then let him reflect how that, since that period, and down
to the present time, these houses have all of them been surpassed
by others without number. There can be no doubt that conflagrations
are a punishment inflicted upon us for our luxury; but such are our
habits, that in spite of such warnings as these, we cannot be made to
understand that there are things in existence more perishable even than
man himself.
But there are still two other mansions by which all these edifices
have been eclipsed. Twice have we seen the whole City environed by
the palaces of the Emperors Caius[2632] and Nero; that of the last,
that nothing might be wanting to its magnificence, being coated with
gold.[2633] Surely such palaces as these must have been intended for
the abode of those who created this mighty empire, and who left the
plough or their native hearth to go forth to conquer nations, and
to return laden with triumphs! men, in fact, whose very fields even
occupied less space than the audience-chambers[2634] of these palaces.
Indeed, one cannot but help reflecting how trifling a portion of these
palaces was equal to the sites which the republic granted to its
invincible generals, for the erection of their dwellings. The supreme
honour, too, attendant upon these grants—as in the case of P. Valerius
Publicola, the first consul with L. Brutus, for his many meritorious
services; and of his brother, who twice in one consulship defeated the
Sabines—was the permission granted, by the terms of the decree, to have
the doors of their houses opening from without, and the gates thrown
back upon the public street. Such was the most distinguished privilege
accorded in those days to triumphal mansions even!
I will not permit, however, these two Caiuses,[2635] or two Neros,
to enjoy this glory even, such as it is; for I will prove that these
extravagant follies of theirs have been surpassed, in the use that was
made of his wealth by M. Scaurus, a private citizen. Indeed, I am by
no means certain that it was not the ædileship of this personage that
inflicted the first great blow upon the public manners, and that Sylla
was not guilty of a greater crime in giving such unlimited power to his
step-son,[2636] than in the proscription of so many thousands. During
his ædileship, and only for the temporary purposes of a few days,
Scaurus executed the greatest[2637] work that has ever been made by
the hands of man, even when intended to be of everlasting duration;
his Theatre, I mean. This building consisted of three storeys,
supported upon three hundred and sixty columns; and this, too, in a
city which had not allowed without some censure one of its greatest
citizens[2638] to erect six[2639] pillars of Hymettian marble. The
ground-storey was of marble, the second of glass, a species of luxury
which ever since that time has been quite unheard of, and the highest
of gilded wood. The lowermost columns, as previously[2640] stated, were
eight-and-thirty feet in height; and, placed between these columns, as
already[2641] mentioned, were brazen statues, three thousand in number.
The area[2642] of this theatre afforded accommodation for eighty
thousand spectators; and yet the Theatre of Pompeius, after the City
had so greatly increased, and the inhabitants had become so vastly more
numerous, was considered abundantly large, with its sittings for forty
thousand only. The rest of the fittings of it, what with Attalic[2643]
vestments, pictures, and the other stage-properties,[2644] were of such
enormous value that, after Scaurus had had conveyed to his Tusculan
villa such parts thereof as were not required for the enjoyment of
his daily luxuries, the loss was no less than three hundred millions
of sesterces, when the villa was burnt by his servants in a spirit of
revenge.
The consideration of such prodigality as this quite distracts my
attention, and compels me to digress from my original purpose, in order
to mention a still greater instance of extravagance, in reference
to wood. C. Curio,[2645] who died during the civil wars, fighting
on the side of Cæsar, found, to his dismay, that he could not, when
celebrating the funeral games in honour of his father, surpass the
riches and magnificence of Scaurus—for where, in fact, was to be found
such a stepsire as Sylla, and such a mother as Metella, that bidder at
all auctions for the property of the proscribed? Where, too, was he to
find for his father, M. Scaurus, so long the principal man in the city,
and one who had acted, in his alliance with Marius, as a receptacle
for the plunder of whole provinces?—Indeed, Scaurus himself was now no
longer able to rival himself; and it was at least one advantage which
he derived from this destruction by fire of so many objects brought
from all parts of the earth, that no one could ever after be his equal
in this species of folly. Curio, consequently, found himself compelled
to fall back upon his own resources, and to think of some new device of
his own. It is really worth our while to know what this device was, if
only to congratulate ourselves upon the manners of the present day, and
to reverse the ordinary mode of expression, and term ourselves the men
of the olden time.[2646]
He caused to be erected, close together, two theatres of very large
dimensions, and built of wood, each of them nicely poised, and turning
on a pivot. Before mid-day, a spectacle of games was exhibited in each;
the theatres being turned back to back, in order that the noise of
neither of them might interfere with what was going on in the other.
Then, in the latter part of the day, all on a sudden, the two theatres
were swung round, and, the corners uniting, brought face to face; the
outer frames,[2647] too, were removed, and thus an amphitheatre was
formed, in which combats of gladiators were presented to the view; men
whose safety was almost less compromised than was that of the Roman
people, in allowing itself to be thus whirled round from side to side.
Now, in this case, which have we most reason to admire, the inventor or
the invention? the artist, or the author of the project? him who first
dared to think of such an enterprize, or him who ventured to undertake
it? him who obeyed the order, or him who gave it? But the thing that
surpasses all is, the frenzy that must have possessed the public,
to take their seats in a place which must of necessity have been so
unsubstantial and so insecure. Lo and behold! here is a people that has
conquered the whole earth, that has subdued the universe, that divides
the spoils of kingdoms and of nations, that sends its laws to foreign
lands, that shares in some degree the attributes of the immortal gods
in common with mankind, suspended aloft in a machine, and showering
plaudits even upon its own peril!
This is indeed holding life cheap; and can we, after this, complain
of our disasters at Cannæ? How vast the catastrophe that might have
ensued! When cities are swallowed up by an earthquake, it is looked
upon by mankind as a general calamity; and yet, here have we the
whole Roman people, embarked, so to say, in two ships, and sitting
suspended on a couple of pivots; the grand spectacle being its own
struggle with danger, and its liability to perish at any moment that
the overstrained machinery may give way! And then the object, too, of
all this—that public favour may be conciliated for the tribune’s[2648]
harangues at a future day, and that, at the Rostra, he may still have
the power of shaking the tribes, nicely balanced[2649] as they are!
And really, what may he not dare with those who, at his persuasion,
have braved such perils as these? Indeed, to confess the truth, at the
funeral games celebrated at the tomb of his father, it was no less than
the whole Roman people that shared the dangers of the gladiatorial
combats. When the pivots had now been sufficiently worked and wearied,
he gave another turn to his magnificent displays. For, upon the last
day, still preserving the form of the amphitheatre, he cut the stage
in two through the middle, and exhibited a spectacle of athletes;
after which, the stage being suddenly withdrawn on either side, he
exhibited a combat, upon the same day, between such of the gladiators
as had previously proved victorious. And yet, with all this, Curio
was no king, no ruler of the destinies of a nation, nor yet a person
remarkable for his opulence even; seeing that he possessed no resources
of his own, beyond what he could realize from the discord between the
leading men.[2650]
But let us now turn our attention to some marvels which, justly
appreciated, may be truthfully pronounced to remain unsurpassed. Q.
Marcius Rex,[2651] upon being commanded by the senate to repair the
Appian[2652] Aqueduct, and those of the Anio[2653] and Tepula,[2654]
constructed during his prætorship a new aqueduct,[2655] which bore his
name, and was brought hither by a channel pierced through the sides of
mountains. Agrippa,[2656] in his ædileship, united the Marcian with
the Virgin[2657] Aqueduct, and repaired and strengthened the channels
of the others. He also formed seven hundred wells, in addition to five
hundred fountains, and one hundred and thirty reservoirs, many of them
magnificently adorned. Upon these works, too, he erected three hundred
statues of marble or bronze, and four hundred marble columns; and all
this in the space of a single year! In the work[2658] which he has
written in commemoration of his ædileship, he also informs us that
public games were celebrated for the space of fifty-nine days, and that
one hundred and seventy gratuitous baths were opened. The number of
these last at Rome, has increased to an infinite[2659] extent since his
time.
The preceding aqueducts, however, have all been surpassed by the costly
work which was more recently commenced by the Emperor Caius,[2660] and
completed by Claudius. Under these princes, the Curtian and Cærulean
Waters, with the New Anio,[2661] were brought from a distance of forty
miles, and at so high a level that all the hills were supplied with
water, on which the City is built. The sum expended on these works was
three hundred and fifty millions of sesterces. If we only take into
consideration the abundant supply of water to the public, for baths,
ponds, canals, household purposes, gardens, places in the suburbs, and
country-houses; and then reflect upon the distances that are traversed,
the arches that have been constructed, the mountains that have been
pierced, the valleys that have been levelled, we must of necessity
admit that there is nothing to be found more worthy of our admiration
throughout the whole universe.
Among the most memorable works, too, I, for my own part, should
include another undertaking of the Emperor Claudius, although it was
afterwards abandoned in consequence of the hatred borne him by his
successor;[2662] I mean the channel that was cut through a mountain as
an emissary for Lake Fucinus;[2663] a work which cost a sum beyond all
calculation, and employed a countless multitude of workmen for many
years. In those parts where the soil was found to be terreous, it was
necessary to pump up the water by the aid of machinery; in other parts,
again, the solid rock had to be hewn through. All this, too, had to be
done in the midst of darkness within; a series of operations which can
only be adequately conceived by those who were witnesses of them, and
which no human language can possibly describe.
I pass in silence the harbour that has been formed at Ostia; the
various roads, too, that have been cut across mountains; the Tyrrhenian
Sea separated by an embankment from Lake Lucrinus;[2664] and vast
numbers of bridges constructed at an enormous expense. Among the many
other marvels, too, of Italy, we are informed by Papirius Fabianus,
a most diligent enquirer into the operations of Nature, that the
marble there grows in the quarries; and those who work in the quarries
assure us that the wounds thus inflicted upon the mountains fill up
spontaneously. If such is the fact, luxury has good grounds for hoping
that it will never be at a loss for a supply of materials for its
gratification.
CHAP. 25. (16.)—THE MAGNET: THREE REMEDIES
Upon quitting the marbles to pass on to the other more remarkable
stones, who can for a moment doubt that the magnet[2665] will be the
first to suggest itself? For what, in fact, is there endowed with
more marvellous properties than this? or in which of her departments
has Nature displayed a greater degree of waywardness? She had given a
voice to rocks, as already[2666] mentioned, and had enabled them to
answer man, or rather, I should say, to throw back his own words in
his teeth. What is there in existence more inert than a piece of rigid
stone? And yet, behold! Nature has here endowed stone with both sense
and hands. What is there more stubborn than hard iron? Nature has, in
this instance, bestowed upon it both feet and intelligence. It allows
itself, in fact, to be attracted by the magnet, and, itself a metal
which subdues all other elements, it precipitates itself towards the
source of an influence at once mysterious and unseen. The moment the
metal comes near it, it springs towards the magnet, and, as it clasps
it, is held fast in the magnet’s embraces. Hence it is that this stone
is sometimes known by the name of “sideritis;”[2667] another name given
to it being “heraclion.”[2668] It received its name “magnes,” Nicander
informs us, from the person who was the first to discover it, upon
Ida.[2669] It is found, too, in various other countries, as in Spain,
for example. Magnes, it is said, made this discovery, when, upon taking
his herds to pasture, he found that the nails of his shoes and the iron
ferrel of his staff adhered to the ground.
Sotacus[2670] describes five[2671] different kinds of magnet; the
Æthiopian magnet; that of Magnesia, a country which borders on
Macedonia, and lies to the right of the road which leads from, the town
of Bœbe to Iolcos; a third, from Hyettus in Bœotia; a fourth, from
Alexandria in Troas; and a fifth, from Magnesia in Asia. The leading
distinction in magnets is the sex, male and female,[2672] and the next
great difference in them is the colour. Those of Magnesia, bordering on
Macedonia, are of a reddish black; those of Bœotia are more red than
black; and the kind that is found in Troas is black, of the female sex,
and consequently destitute of attractive power. The most inferior,
however, of all, are those of Magnesia in Asia: they are white, have no
attractive influence on iron, and resemble pumice in appearance. It has
been found by experience, that the more nearly the magnet approaches
to an azure colour, the better it is in quality. The Æthiopian magnet
is looked upon as the best of all, and is purchased at its weight in
silver: Zmiris in Æthiopia is the place where it is found, such being
the name of a region there, covered with sand.
In the same country, too, the magnet called “hæmatites”[2673] is
found, a stone of a blood-red colour, and which, when bruised, yields
a tint like that of blood, as also of saffron. The hæmatites has not
the same property[2674] of attracting iron that the ordinary magnet
has. The Æthiopian magnet is recognized by this peculiarity, that it
has the property, also, of attracting other magnets to it.[2675] All
these minerals are useful as ingredients in ophthalmic preparations,
in certain proportions according to the nature of each: they are
particularly good, too, for arresting defluxions of the eyes.
Triturated in a calcined state, they have a healing effect upon burns.
In Æthiopia, too, not far from Zmiris, there is a mountain in which the
stone called “theamedes”[2676] is found, a mineral which repels and
rejects all kinds of iron. Of the attractive and repulsive properties
of iron, we have spoken[2677] more than once.
CHAP. 26.—STONE OF SCYROS.
In the Isle of Scyros[2678] there is a stone,[2679] they say, which
floats upon water when whole, but which falls to the bottom when broken
into fragments.
CHAP. 27. (17.)—SARCOPHAGUS, OR STONE OF ASSOS: TEN REMEDIES.
At Assos in Troas, there is found a stone of a laminated texture,
called “sarcophagus.”[2680] It is a well-known fact, that dead bodies,
when buried in this stone, are consumed in the course of forty days,
with the sole exception of the teeth. According to Mucianus, too,
mirrors, body-scrapers, garments, and shoes, that have been buried with
the dead, become transformed into stone. In Lycia, and in the East,
there are certain stones of a similar nature, which, when attached to
the bodies of the living even, corrode the flesh.
CHAP. 28.—CHERNITES.
Less active in its properties is chernites,[2681] a stone which
preserves bodies without consuming them, and strongly resembles ivory
in appearance: the body of King Darius, they say, was buried in it.
The stone that is known as “porus,”[2681] is similar to Parian marble
in hardness and whiteness, but is not so heavy. Theophrastus mentions
also a transparent stone that is found in Egypt, and is similar to
stone of Chios in appearance; it is by no means improbable that it
may have existed in his time, for stones, we know, disappear, and new
kinds are discovered. The stone of Assos,[2682] which is saltish to the
taste, modifies the attacks of gout, the feet being placed in a vessel
made of it for the purpose; in addition to which, in the quarries of
this stone, all maladies of the legs disappear, whereas, in mines in
general, the legs become affected with disease. “Flower of stone of
Assos” is the name given to a soft stone which crumbles into dust, and
is found very efficacious in some cases; it resembles red pumice in
appearance. In combination with Cyprian wax, this stone is curative
of affections of the mamillæ; and, employed with pitch or resin, it
disperses scrofulous sores and inflammatory tumours. Used in the form
of an electuary, it is good for phthisis, and, with honey, it causes
old sores to cicatrize, and consumes proud flesh. It is used, also, for
the cure of wounds of an obstinate nature inflicted by animals, and
acts as a desiccative upon suppurations. Plaisters, too, are made of it
for gout, bean-meal being incorporated with it for the purpose.
CHAP. 29. (18.)—OSSEOUS STONES. PALM STONES. CORANI. BLACK STONES.
Theophrastus and Mucianus are of opinion that there are certain stones
which bring[2683] forth other stones. Theophrastus states, also, that
a fossil[2684] ivory is found, both white and black; that the earth,
too, produces bones, and that osseous[2685] stones are sometimes found.
In the vicinity of Munda in Spain, the place where the Dictator Cæsar
defeated Pompeius,[2686] there are stones found, which, when broken
asunder, bear the impression of palm leaves.[2687]
There are some black stones, also, which are held in much the same
esteem as the marbles; the Tænarian[2688] stone, for example. Varro
says that the black stone of Africa is more durable than that of Italy;
while, on the other hand, the white corani[2689] are harder than Parian
marble. He states, also, that the silex of Luna admits of being cut
with a saw; that that of Tusculum decrepitates in the fire; that the
tawny silex of the Sabine districts, with the addition of oil, will
yield a flame even; and that, at Volsinii, molar stones[2690] for
grinding are found. Among the prodigies that have happened, I find
mention made of millstones that have moved of themselves,
CHAP. 30.—MOLAR STONES. PYRITES; SEVEN REMEDIES.
In no country are the molar stones[2691] superior to those of Italy;
stones, be it remembered, and not fragments of rock: there are some
provinces, too, where they are not to be found at all. Some stones of
this class are softer than others, and admit of being smoothed with
the whetstone, so as to present all the appearance, at a distance, of
ophites.[2692] There is no stone of a more durable nature than this;
for in general, stone, like wood, suffers from the action, more or
less, of rain, heat, and cold. Some kinds, again, become deteriorated
by the action of the moon, while others are apt to contract a rust in
lapse of time, or to change their white colour when steeped in oil.
(19.) Some persons give this molar stone the name of “pyrites,”[2693]
from the circumstance that it has a great affinity to fire;[2694] but
there is also another kind of pyrites, of a more porous nature, and
another,[2695] again, which resembles copper. This last, it is said,
is found in the mines, near Acamas,[2696] in the Isle of Cyprus; one
variety of it being of a silver, another of a golden, colour. There
are various methods of melting these stones, some persons fusing
them twice, or three times even, in honey, till all the liquid has
evaporated; while others, again, calcine them upon hot coals, and,
after treating them with honey, wash them like copper.
The medicinal properties which these minerals possess are of a
calorific, desiccative, dispersive, and resolvent nature, and, applied
topically, they case indurations to suppurate. They are employed also,
in a crude state and pulverized, for the cure of scrofulous sores
and boils. Some writers mention another kind of pyrites also. Those
among them have the greatest affinity to fire which we distinguish as
“live”[2697] pyrites. They are the most ponderous of all, and are found
remarkably useful for advance-guards when laying out encampments; for,
on being struck with a nail or any other kind of stone, they emit a
spark, which, received upon sulphur, dried fungus,[2698] or leaves,
produces a fire almost sooner than it could be named.
CHAP. 31.—OSTRACITES; FOUR REMEDIES. AMIANTHUS; TWO REMEDIES.
The several varieties of ostracites[2699] bear a resemblance to shells.
They are used by way of substitute for pumice-stone, for smoothing the
skin. Taken in drink, they arrest discharges of blood; and, applied
topically with honey, they are curative of ulcerations and pains in the
mamillæ.
Amianthus[2700] resembles alumen[2701] in appearance, and suffers
no diminution from the action of fire. This substance effectually
counteracts all noxious spells, those wrought by magicians in
particular.
CHAP. 32.—GEODES; THREE REMEDIES.
Geodes[2702] is so called from its formation, it containing earth
within. It is remarkably beneficial for the eyes, and is used for the
cure of diseases of the testes and mamillæ.
CHAP. 33.—MELITINUS; SIX REMEDIES.
The stone called “melitinus”[2703] yields a liquid that is sweet, like
honey. Bruised and incorporated with wax, it is curative of pituitous
eruptions, spots upon the skin, and ulcerations of the fauces. It
removes epinyctis[2704] also, and, applied as a pessary, in wool, it
alleviates pains in the uterus.
CHAP. 34.—GAGATES: SIX REMEDIES.
Gagates[2705] is a stone, so called from Gages, the name of a town
and river in Lycia.[2706] It is asserted, too, that at Leucolla[2707]
the sea throws it up, and that it is found over a space twelve stadia
in extent. It is black, smooth, light, and porous, differs but little
from wood in appearance,[2708] is of a brittle texture, and emits a
disagreeable odour[2709] when rubbed. Marks made upon pottery with
this stone cannot be effaced. When burnt, it gives out a sulphureous
smell; and it is a singular fact, that the application of water ignites
it, while that of oil quenches it.[2710] The fumes of it, burnt, keep
serpents at a distance, and dispel hysterical affections: they detect a
tendency also to epilepsy,[2711] and act as a test of virginity.[2712]
A decoction of this stone in wine is curative of tooth-ache; and,
in combination with wax, it is good for scrofula. The magicians,
it is said, make use of gagates in the practice of what they call
axinomancy;[2713] and they assure us that it will be sure not to burn,
if the thing is about to happen as the party desires.
CHAP. 35.—SPONGITES: TWO REMEDIES.
The stone called “spongites” is found in sponges, and is a marine
formation. By some persons it is called “tecolithos,”[2714] from the
circumstance that it is curative of affections of the bladder. Taken in
wine, it breaks and disperses urinary calculi.
CHAP. 36.—PHRYGIAN STONE.
Phrygian stone is so called from the country which produces it, and
is a porous mass like pumice. It is first saturated with wine, and
then calcined, the fire being kept up with the bellows till the stone
is brought to a red heat; which done, it is quenched in sweet wine.
This operation is repeated three times. The only use made of it is for
dyeing cloths.[2715]
CHAP. 37. (20.)—HÆMATITES: FIVE REMEDIES. SCHISTOS: SEVEN REMEDIES.
Schistos and hæmatites[2716] have a certain affinity between them. The
latter is found in mines, and, when burnt, has just the colour[2717]
of minium.[2718] It is calcined in the same manner as Phrygian stone,
but is not quenched in wine. Adulterations of it are detected by the
appearance of red veins in it, and by its comparative friability.
It is marvellously useful as an application for bloodshot eyes,
and, taken internally, it acts as a check upon female discharges.
To patients vomiting blood, it is administered in combination with
pomegranate-juice. It is very efficacious also for affections of the
bladder; and it is taken with wine for the cure of wounds inflicted
by serpents. In all those cases the stone called “schistos”[2719] is
efficacious, though not in so high a degree as the other; the most
serviceable being that which resembles saffron in colour. Applied with
woman’s milk, it is particularly useful for arresting discharges from
the corners of the eyes,[2720] and it is also very serviceable for
reducing procidence of those organs. Such, at least, is the opinion of
the authors who have most recently written on the subject.
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 magnet[2721] so called. He
gives the preference among them to that of Æthiopia,[2722] a very
useful ingredient in ophthalmic preparations and the compositions
which he calls “panchresta,”[2723] and good for the cure of burns.
The second, he says, is called “androdamas,”[2724] of a black[2725]
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.[2726] 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 hæmatites[2727] 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 fourth[2728]
kind, he says, is known as “hepatites,”[2729] while raw, and as
“miltites”[2730] when calcined; a substance good for burns, and more
efficacious than rubrica[2731] for all the purposes for which that
mineral is employed. The fifth[2732] 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.[2733]
The same author mentions also a kind of schistos which has no affinity
to hæmatites, and to which he gives the name of “anthracites.”[2734] 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.
CHAP. 39. (21)—AËTITES. TAPHIUSIAN STONE. CALLIMUS.
The stone called aëtites[2735] has a great reputation, in consequence
of the name which it bears. It is found in the nests of eagles, as
already mentioned in our Tenth Book.[2736] There are always two of
these stones found together, they say, a male stone and a female; and
without them, it is said, the various eagles that we have described
would be unable to propagate. Hence it is, too, that the young of the
eagle are never more than two in number. There are four varieties of
the aëtites: that of Africa is soft and diminutive, and contains in the
interior—in its bowels as it were—a sweet, white, argillaceous earth.
It is friable, and is generally thought to be of the female sex. The
male stone, on the other hand, which is found in Arabia, is hard, and
similar to a nut-gall in appearance; or else of a reddish hue, with a
hard stone in the interior. The third kind is a stone found in the Isle
of Cyprus, and resembles those of Africa in appearance, but is larger
and flat, while the others are of a globular form: it contains a sand
within, of a pleasing colour, and mixed with small stones; being so
soft itself as to admit of being crushed between the fingers.
The fourth variety is known as the Taphiusian aëtites, and is found
near Leucas,[2737] at Taphiusa, a locality which lies to the right as
you sail from Ithaca towards Cape Leucas. It is met with in the beds
of rivers there, and is white and round; having another stone in the
interior, the name given to which is “callimus:” none of the varieties
of aëtites have a smoother surface than this. Attached to pregnant
women or to cattle, in the skins of animals that have been sacrificed,
these stones act as a preventive of abortion, care being taken not to
remove them till the moment of parturition; for otherwise procidence of
the uterus is the result. If, on the other hand, they are not removed
at the moment when parturition is about to ensue, that operation of
Nature cannot be effected.
CHAP. 40.—SAMIAN STONE: EIGHT REMEDIES.
Samian stone[2738] comes from the same island which produces the
earth in praise of which we have spoken already.[2739] It is useful
for giving a polish to gold, and it is employed medicinally for the
treatment of ulcerations of the eyes, combined with milk in manner
already[2740] described. It is good, too, for watery discharges of
a chronic nature, from the eyes. Taken internally, it is useful for
affections of the stomach, and it has the effect of dispelling vertigo
and restoring the spirits when depressed. Some writers are of opinion
that this stone may be administered with advantage for epilepsy and
strangury; and it is employed as an ingredient in the restoratives
known as “acopa.”[2741] The test of its purity is its weight and its
whiteness. Some persons will have it that, worn as an amulet, it acts
as a preventive of abortion.
CHAP. 41.—ARABIAN STONE; SIX REMEDIES.
Arabian[2742] stone resembles ivory in appearance; and in a calcined
state it is employed as a dentifrice.[2743] It is particularly useful
for the cure of hæmorrhoidal swellings, applied either in lint or by
the aid of linen pledgets.
CHAP. 42.—PUMICE; NINE REMEDIES.
And here, too, I must not omit to give some account of pumice.[2744]
This name is very generally given, it is true, to those porous
pieces of stone, which we see suspended in the erections known as
“musæa,”[2745] with the view of artificially giving them all the
appearance of caverns. But the genuine pumice-stones, that are in use
for imparting smoothness to the skin of females, and not females only,
but men as well, and, as Catullus[2746] says, for polishing books, are
found of the finest quality in the islands of Melos and Nisyros[2747]
and in the Æolian Isles. To be good, they should be white, as light as
possible, porous and dry in the extreme, friable, and free from sand
when rubbed.
Considered medicinally, pumice is of a resolvent and desiccative
nature; for which purpose it is submitted to calcination, no less than
three times, on a fire of pure charcoal, it being quenched as often
in white wine. It is then washed, like cadmia,[2748] and, after being
dried, is put by for keeping, in a place as free from damp as possible.
In a powdered state, pumice is used in ophthalmic preparations more
particularly, and acts as a lenitive detergent upon ulcerations
of the eyes. It also makes new flesh upon cicatrizations of those
organs, and removes all traces of the marks. Some prefer, after the
third calcination, leaving the pumice to cool, and then triturating
it in wine. It is employed also as an ingredient in emollient
poultices, being extremely useful for ulcerations on the head and
generative organs; dentifrices, too, are prepared from it. According
to Theophrastus,[2749] persons when drinking for a wager are in the
habit[2750] of taking powdered pumice first; but they run great risk,
he says, if they fail to swallow the whole draught of wine at once;
it being of so refrigerative a nature that grape-juice[2751] will
absolutely cease to boil if pumice is put into it.
CHAP. 43. (22.)—STONES FOR MORTARS USED FOR MEDICINAL AND OTHER
PURPOSES. ETESIAN STONE. THEBAIC STONE. CHALAZIAN STONE.
Authors, too, have paid some attention to the stones in use for
mortars, not only those employed for the trituration of drugs and
pigments, but for other purposes as well. In this respect they have
given the preference to Etesian[2752] stone before all others, and,
next to that, to Thebaic stone, already mentioned[2753] as being
called “pyrrhopœcilon,” and known as “psaranus” by some. The third
rank has been assigned to chrysites,[2754] a stone nearly allied to
Chalazian[2755] stone. For medicinal purposes, however, basanites[2756]
has been preferred, this being a stone that remits no particles from
its surface.[2757]
Those stones which yield a liquid, are generally looked upon as good
for the trituration of ophthalmic preparations; and hence it is, that
the Æthiopian stone is so much in request for the purpose. Tænarian
stone, they say, Phœnician stone, and hæmatites, are good for the
preparation of those medicinal compositions in which saffron forms
an ingredient; but they also speak of another Tænarian stone, of a
dark colour, which, like Parian[2758] stone, is not so well adapted
for medicinal purposes. We learn from them, too, that Egyptian
alabastrites,[2759] or white ophites,[2760] from the virtues inherent
in them, are considered still better adapted for these purposes than
the kinds last mentioned. It is this kind of ophites, too, from which
vessels, and casks even, are made.
CHAP. 44.—STONE OF SIPHNOS. SOFT STONES.
At Siphnos,[2761] there is a kind of stone[2762] which is hollowed
and turned in the lathe, for making cooking-utensils and vessels for
keeping provisions; a thing too, that, to my own knowledge,[2763]
is done with the green stone[2764] of Comum[2765] in Italy. With
reference, however, to the stone of Siphnos, it is a singular fact,
that, when heated in oil, though naturally very soft, it becomes hard
and black; so great a difference is there in the qualities of stone.
There are some remarkable instances, too, beyond the Alps, of the
natural softness of some kinds of stone. In the province of the Belgæ,
there is a white stone[2766] which admits of being cut with the saw
that is used for wood, and with greater facility even. This stone is
used as a substitute for roof-tiles and gutter-tiles, and even for
the kind of roofing known as the pavonaceous[2767] style, if that is
preferred. Such are the stones that admit of being cut into thin slabs.
CHAP. 45.—SPECULAR STONES.
As to specular[2768] stone—for this, too, is ranked as one of the
stones—it admits of being divided with still greater facility, and can
be split into leaves as thin as may be desired. The province of Nearer
Spain used formerly to be the only one that furnished it—not, indeed,
the whole of that country, but a district extending for a hundred miles
around the city of Segobrica.[2769] But at the present day, Cyprus,
Cappadocia, and Sicily, supply us with it; and, still more recently,
it has been discovered in Africa: they are all, however, looked upon
as inferior to the stone which comes from Spain. The sheets from
Cappadocia are the largest in size; but then they are clouded. This
stone is to be found also in the territory of Bononia,[2770] in Italy;
but in small pieces only, covered with spots and encrusted in a bed of
silex, there being a considerable affinity, it would appear, in their
nature.
In Spain, the specular-stone is extracted from shafts sunk in the
earth to a very considerable depth; though it is occasionally to
be found just beneath the surface, enclosed in the solid rock, and
extracted without difficulty, or else cut away from its bed. In most
cases, however, it admits of being dug up, being of an isolated
nature, and lying in pieces, like rag-stone, but never known as yet
to exceed five feet in length. It would appear that this substance
is originally a liquid, which, by an animating power in the earth,
becomes congealed like crystal; and it is very evident that it is the
result of petrifaction, from the fact that, when animals have fallen
into the shafts from which it is extracted, the marrow of their bones
becomes transformed into stone of a similar nature, by the end of a
single winter. In some cases, too, it is found of a black colour: but
the white stone has the marvellous property, soft as it is known to be,
of resisting the action of the sun and of cold. Nor will it, if it is
only protected from accidents, become deteriorated by lapse of time, a
thing that is so generally the case with many other kinds of stone that
are used for building purposes. The shavings, too, and scales of this
stone, have been used of late for another purpose; the Circus Maximus
having been strewed with them at the celebration of the games, with the
object of producing an agreeable whiteness.
CHAP. 46.—PHENGITES.
During the reign of Nero, there was a stone found in Cappadocia, as
hard as marble, white, and transparent even in those parts where red
veins were to be seen upon it; a property which has obtained for it
the name of “phengites.”[2771] It was with this stone[2772] that
Nero rebuilt the Temple of Fortune, surnamed Seia,[2773] originally
consecrated by King Servius, enclosing it within the precincts of
his Golden Palace.[2774] Hence it was that, even when the doors were
closed, there was light in the interior during the day; not transmitted
from without, as would be the case through a medium of specular-stone,
but having all the appearance of being enclosed within[2775] the
building.
In Arabia, too, according to Juba, there is a stone, transparent like
glass, which is used for the same purposes as specular-stone.
CHAP. 47.—WHETSTONES.
We must now pass on to the stones that are employed for handicrafts,
and, first of all, whetstones for sharpening iron. Of these stones
there are numerous varieties; the Cretan stones having been long held
in the highest estimation, and the next best being those of Mount
Taygetus, in Laconia; both of which are used as hones, and require oil.
Among the water-whetstones, the first rank belonged to those of Naxos,
and the second to the stones of Armenia, both of them already[2776]
mentioned. The stones of Cilicia are of excellent quality, whether used
with oil or with water; those of Arsinöe,[2777] too, are very good, but
with water only. Whetstones have been found also in Italy, which with
water give a remarkably keen edge; and from the countries beyond the
Alps, we have the whetstones known as “passernices.”[2778]
To the fourth class belong the hones which give an edge by the agency
of human saliva, and are much in use in barbers’ shops. They are
worthless, however, for all other purposes, in consequence of their
soft and brittle nature: those from the district of Laminium,[2779] in
Nearer Spain, are the best of the kind.
CHAP. 48.—TOPHUS.
Among the multitude of stones which still remain undescribed, there
is tophus;[2780] material totally unsuited for building purposes, in
consequence of its perishableness. Still, however, there are some
localities which have no other, Carthage, in Africa, for example. It
is eaten away by the emanations from the sea, crumbled to dust by the
wind, and shattered by the pelting of the rain: but human industry
has found the means of protecting walls of houses built of it, with
a coating of pitch, as a plaster of lime would corrode it. Hence it
is, that we have the well-known saying, “that the Carthaginians use
pitch[2781] for their houses and lime[2782] for their wines,” this last
being the method used by them in the preparation of their must.
In the territories of Fidenæ and Alba, in the vicinity of Rome, we
find other soft kinds of stone; and, in Umbria and Venetia, there
is a stone[2783] which admits of being cut with the teeth of a saw.
These stones are easy to be worked, and are capable of supporting a
considerable weight, if they are only kept sheltered from the weather.
Rain, however, frost, and dew, split them to pieces, nor can they
resist the humidity of the sea-air. The stone[2784] of Tibur can stand
everything except heat, which makes it crack.
CHAP. 49.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SILEX.
The black silex[2785] is in general the best; but in some localities,
it is the red, and occasionally the white; as in the Anician quarries
at Tarquinii, near Lake Volsinius,[2786] for example, and those at
Statonia,[2787] the stone of which is proof against fire even.[2788]
These stones, sculptured for monumental purposes, are subject to no
deterioration by lapse of time: moulds, too, are made from them, for
the purpose of fusing copper. There is a green silex, also, which
offers a most powerful resistance to the action of fire, but is never
found in any large quantities, and, in all cases, in an isolated form,
and not as a constituent part of solid rock. Of the other kinds, the
pale silex is but rarely used for erections: being of globular form,
it is not liable to injury, but at the same time it is insecure for
building purposes, unless it is well braced and tightly held together.
Nor yet does river silex offer any greater security, for it always has
the appearance of being wet.
CHAP. 50.—OTHER STONES USED FOR BUILDING.
When the nature of stone is doubtful, the proper precaution is, to
quarry it in summer, and not to use it for building before the end of a
couple of years, leaving it in the meantime to be well seasoned by the
weather. The slabs which have been damaged will be found to be better
suited for the foundations under ground: while those, on the other
hand, which have remained uninjured, may be employed with safety, and
exposed to the open air even.
CHAP. 51.—THE VARIOUS METHODS OF BUILDING.
The Greeks construct party-walls, resembling those of brickwork, of
hard stone or of silex, squared. This kind of stonework is what they
call “isodomon,”[2789] it being ” pseudisodomon”[2790] when the wall
is built of materials of unequal dimensions. A third kind of stonework
is called “emplecton,”[2791] the two exteriors only being made with
regularity, the rest of the material being thrown in at random. It is
necessary that the stones should lie over one another alternately, in
such a way that the middle of one stone meets the point of junction
of the two below it; and this, too, in the middle of the wall, if
possible; but if not, at all events, at the sides. When the middle
of the wall is filled up with broken stones, the work is known as
“diatoichon.”[2792]
The reticulated[2793] kind of building, which is mostly in use at Rome,
is very liable to crack.[2794] All building should be done by line and
rule, and ought to be strictly on the perpendicular.
CHAP. 52. (23.)—CISTERNS.
Cisterns should be made of five parts of pure, gravelly, sand, two of
the very strongest quicklime, and fragments of silex not exceeding a
pound each in weight; when thus incorporated, the bottom and sides
should be well beaten with iron rammers. The best plan, too, is to have
the cisterns double; so that all superfluities may settle in the inner
cistern, and the water filter through, as pure as possible, into the
outer one.
CHAP. 53.—QUICK-LIME.
Cato[2795] the Censor disapproves of lime prepared from stones of
various colours: that made of white stone is the best. Lime prepared
from hard stone is the best for building purposes, and that from
porous stone for coats of plaster. For both these purposes, lime made
from silex is equally rejected. Stone that has been extracted from
quarries furnishes a better lime than that collected from the beds
of rivers; but the best of all is the lime that is obtained from the
molar-stone,[2796] that being of a more unctuous nature than the
others. It is something truly marvellous, that quick-lime, after the
stone has been subjected to fire, should ignite on the application of
water!
CHAP. 54.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SAND. THE COMBINATIONS OF SAND WITH LIME.
There are three kinds of sand: fossil[2797] sand, to which one-fourth
part of lime should be added;[2798] river sand; and sea sand; to both
of which last, one third of lime should be added. If, too, one third
of the mortar is composed of bruised earthenware, it will be all the
better. Fossil sand is found in the districts that lie between the
Apennines and the Padus, but not in the parts beyond sea.
CHAP. 55.—DEFECTS IN BUILDING. PLASTERS FOR WALLS.
The great cause of the fall of so many buildings in our City, is, that
through a fraudulent abstraction of the lime, the rough work is laid
without anything to hold it together. The older, too, the mortar is,
the better it is in quality. In the ancient laws for the regulation of
building, no contractor was to use mortar less than three months old;
hence it is, that no cracks have disfigured the plaster coatings of
their walls. These stuccos will never present a sufficiently bright
surface, unless there have been three layers of sanded mortar, and
two of marbled[2799] mortar upon that. In damp localities and places
subject to exhalations from the sea, it is the best plan to substitute
ground earthenware mortar for sanded mortar. In Greece, it is the
practice, first to pound the lime and sand used for plastering, with
wooden pestles in a large trough. The test by which it is known that
marbled mortar has been properly blended, is its not adhering to the
trowel; whereas, if it is only wanted for white-washing, the lime,
after being well slaked with water, should stick like glue. For this
last purpose, however, the lime should only be slaked in lumps.
At Elis, there is a Temple of Minerva, which was pargetted, they say,
by Panænus, the brother of Phidias, with a mortar that was blended with
milk and saffron:[2800] hence it is, that, even at the present day,
when rubbed with spittle on the finger, it yields the smell and flavour
of saffron.
CHAP. 56.—COLUMNS. THE SEVERAL KINDS OF COLUMNS.
The more closely columns are placed together, the thicker they appear
to be. There are four different kinds of pillars. Those of which the
diameter at the foot is one-sixth part of the height, are called
Doric. When the diameter is one-ninth, they are Ionic; and when it is
one-seventh, Tuscan. The proportions in the Corinthian are the same
as those of the Ionic; but they differ in the circumstance that the
Corinthian capitals are of the same height as the diameter at the
foot, a thing that gives them a more slender appearance; whereas, in
the Ionic column, the height of the capital is only one-third of the
diameter at the foot. In ancient times the rule was, that the columns
should be one-third of the breadth of the temple in height.
It was in the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, as originally built, that
spirals[2801] were first placed beneath, and capitals added: and it
was determined that the diameter of the shafts should be one-eighth of
their height, and that the spirals should be one-half of the diameter
in height, the upper extremity of the shaft being one-seventh less in
diameter than the foot. In addition to these columns, there are what
are called “Attic” columns, quadrangular, and with equal sides.
CHAP. 57. (24.)—FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIME.
Lime is also employed very extensively in medicine. For this purpose,
fresh lime is selected, which has not been slaked with water. Its
properties are caustic, resolvent, and attractive; and it prevents
serpiginous ulcers from spreading, being incorporated with vinegar
and oil of roses, for the purpose. When this has been effected,
it is tempered with wax and oil of roses, and applied to promote
cicatrization. In combination with honey, and liquid resin, or hogs’
lard, lime is curative of sprains and scrofulous sores.
CHAP. 58.—MALTHA.
Maltha[2802] is a cement prepared from fresh lime; lumps of which are
quenched in wine, and then pounded with hogs’ lard and figs, both of
them, mollifying substances.[2803] It is the most tenacious of all
cements, and surpasses stone in hardness. Before applying the maltha,
the substance upon which it is used must be well rubbed with oil.
CHAP. 59.—GYPSUM.
Gypsum[2804] has a close affinity with limestone, and there are
numerous varieties of it. One kind is prepared from a calcined[2805]
stone, as in Syria, and at Thurii, for example. In Cyprus and
at Perrhæbia,[2806] gypsum is dug out of the earth, and at
Tymphæa[2807] it is found just below the level of the soil. The
stone that is calcined for this purpose, ought to be very similar
to alabastrites,[2808] or else of a grain like that of marble. In
Syria, they select the hardest stones for the purpose, and calcine
them with cow-dung, to accelerate the process. Experience has
proved, however, that the best plaster of all is that prepared from
specular-stone,[2809] or any other stone that is similarly laminated.
Gypsum, when moistened, must be used immediately, as it hardens with
the greatest rapidity; it admits, however, of being triturated over
again, and so reduced to powder. It is very useful for pargetting, and
has a pleasing effect when used for ornamental figures and wreaths in
buildings.
There is one remarkable fact connected with this substance; Caius
Proculeius,[2810] an intimate friend of the Emperor Augustus, suffering
from violent pains in the stomach, swallowed gypsum, and so put an end
to his existence.[2811]
CHAP. 60. (25.)—PAVEMENTS. THE ASAROTOS ŒCOS.
Pavements are an invention of the Greeks, who also practised the art of
painting them, till they were superseded by mosaics.[2812] In this last
branch of art, the highest excellence has been attained by Sosus,[2813]
who laid, at Pergamus, the mosaic pavement known as the “Asarotos
œcos;”[2814] from the fact that he there represented, in small
squares of different colours, the remnants of a banquet lying upon
the pavement, and other things which are usually swept away with the
broom, they having all the appearance of being left there by accident.
There is a dove also, greatly admired, in the act of drinking, and
throwing the shadow of its head upon the water; while other birds
are to be seen sunning and pluming themselves, on the margin of a
drinking-bowl.
CHAP. 61.—THE FIRST PAVEMENTS IN USE AT ROME.
The first pavements, in my opinion, were those now known to us as
barbaric and subtegulan[2815] pavements, a kind of work that was
beaten down with the rammer: at least if we may form a judgment from
the name[2816] that has been given to them. The first diamonded[2817]
pavement at Rome was laid in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, after
the commencement of the Third Punic War. That pavements had come into
common use before the Cimbric War, and that a taste for them was very
prevalent, is evident from the line of Lucilius—
“With checquered emblems like a pavement marked.”[2818]
CHAP. 62.—TERRACE-ROOF PAVEMENTS.
The Greeks have also invented terrace-roof[2819] pavements, and have
covered their houses with them; a thing that may easily be done in the
hotter climates, but a great mistake in countries where the rain is
apt to become congealed. In making these pavements, the proper plan is
to begin with two layers of boards, running different ways, and nailed
at the extremities, to prevent them from warping. Upon this planking
a rough-work must be laid, one-fourth of which consists of pounded
pottery: and upon this, another bed of rough-work, two-fifths composed
of lime, a foot in thickness, and well beaten down with the rammer.
The nucleus[2820] is then laid down, a bed six fingers in depth; and
upon that, large square stones, not less than a couple of fingers in
thickness; an inclination being carefully observed, of an inch and a
half to every ten feet. This done, the surface is well rubbed down
with a polishing stone. The general opinion is, that oak[2821] should
never be used for the planking, it being so very liable to warp; and
it is considered a good plan to cover the boards with a layer of fern
or chaff, that they may be the better able to resist the action of
the lime. It is necessary, too, before putting down the planking, to
underset it with a bed of round pebbles. Wheat-ear[2822] tesselated
pavements are laid down in a similar manner.
CHAP. 63.—GRÆCANIC PAVEMENTS.
We must not omit here one other kind of pavement, that known as the
“Græcanic.” The ground is well rammed down, and a bed of rough work,
or else broken pottery, is then laid upon it. Upon the top of this,
a layer of charcoal is placed, well trodden down with a mixture of
sand, lime, and ashes; care being taken, by line and rule, to give
it a uniform thickness of half a foot. The surface then presents the
ordinary appearance of the ground; but if it is well rubbed with the
polishing-stone, it will have all the appearance of a black pavement.
CHAP. 64.—AT WHAT PERIOD MOSAIC PAVEMENTS WERE FIRST INVENTED. AT WHAT
PERIOD ARCHED ROOFS WERE FIRST DECORATED WITH GLASS.
Mosaic[2823] pavements were first introduced in the time of Sylla; at
all events, there is still in existence a pavement, formed of small
segments, which he ordered to be laid down in the Temple of Fortune, at
Præneste. Since his time, these mosaics have left the ground for the
arched roofs of houses, and they are now made of glass. This, however,
is but a recent invention; for there can be no doubt that, when Agrippa
ordered the earthenware walls of the hot baths, in the Thermæ which he
was building at Rome, to be painted in encaustic, and had the other
parts coated with pargetting, he would have had the arches decorated
with mosaics in glass, if the use of them had been known; or, at all
events, if from the walls of the Theatre of Scaurus, where it figured,
as already[2824] stated, glass had by that time come to be used for the
arched roofs of apartments. It will be as well, therefore, to give some
account, also, of glass.
CHAP. 65. (26.)—THE ORIGIN OF GLASS.
In Syria there is a region known as Phœnice,[2825] adjoining to Judæa,
and enclosing, between the lower ridges of Mount Carmelus, a marshy
district known by the name of Cendebia. In this district, it is
supposed, rises the river Belus,[2826] which, after a course of five
miles, empties itself into the sea near the colony of Ptolemaïs. The
tide of this river is sluggish, and the water unwholesome to drink,
but held sacred for the observance of certain religious ceremonials.
Full of slimy deposits, and very deep, it is only at the reflux of the
tide that the river discloses its sands; which, agitated by the waves,
separate themselves from their impurities, and so become cleansed. It
is generally thought that it is the acridity of the sea-water that has
this purgative effect upon the sand, and that without this action no
use could be made of it. The shore upon which this sand is gathered is
not more than half a mile in extent; and yet, for many ages, this was
the only spot that afforded the material for making glass.
The story is, that a ship, laden with nitre,[2827] being moored upon
this spot, the merchants, while preparing their repast upon the
sea-shore, finding no stones at hand for supporting their cauldrons,
employed for the purpose some lumps of nitre which they had taken from
the vessel. Upon its being subjected to the action of the fire, in
combination with the sand of the sea-shore, they beheld transparent
streams flowing forth of a liquid hitherto unknown: this, it is said,
was the origin of glass.[2828]
CHAP. 66.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF GLASS, AND THE MODE OF MAKING IT.
In process of time, as human industry is ingenious in discovering, it
was not content with the combination of nitre, but magnet-stone[2829]
began to be added as well; from the impression that it attracts
liquefied[2830] glass as well as iron. In a similar manner, too,
brilliant stones of various descriptions came to be added in the
melting, and, at last, shells and fossil sand. Some authors tell
us, that the glass of India is made of broken crystal, and that, in
consequence, there is none that can be compared to it.
In fusing it, light and dry wood is used for fuel, Cyprian copper
and nitre being added to the melting, nitre of Ophir[2831] more
particularly. It is melted, like copper, in contiguous furnaces, and
a swarthy mass of an unctuous appearance is the result. Of such a
penetrating nature is the molten glass, that it will cut to the very
bone any part of the body which “it may come near, and that, too,
before it is even felt. This mass is again subjected to fusion in the
furnace, for the purpose of colouring it; after which, the glass is
either blown into various forms, turned in a lathe, or engraved[2832]
like silver. Sidon was formerly famous for its glass-houses, for it was
this place that first invented[2833] mirrors.
Such was the ancient method of making glass: but, at the present day,
there is found a very white sand for the purpose, at the mouth of the
river Volturnus, in Italy. It spreads over an extent of six miles, upon
the sea-shore that lies between Cumæ and Liternum, and is prepared
for use by pounding it with a pestle and mortar; which done, it is
mixed with three parts of nitre, either by weight or measure, and,
when fused, is transferred to another furnace. Here it forms a mass
of what is called “hammonitrum;” which is again submitted to fusion,
and becomes a mass of pure, white, glass. Indeed, at the present
day, throughout the Gallic and Spanish provinces even, we find sand
subjected to a similar process. In the reign of Tiberius, it is said,
a combination was devised which produced a flexible[2834] glass; but
the manufactory of the artist was totally destroyed, we are told, in
order to prevent the value of copper, silver, and gold, from becoming
depreciated.[2835] This story, however, was, for a long time, more
widely spread than well authenticated. But be it as it may, it is of
little consequence; for, in the time of the Emperor Nero, there was a
process discovered, by which two small glass cups were made, of the
kind called “petroti,”[2836] the price of which was no less than six
thousand sesterces!
CHAP. 67.—OBSIAN GLASS AND OBSIAN STONE.
Among the various kinds of glass, we may also reckon Obsian glass,
a substance very similar to the stone[2837] which Obsius discovered
in Æthiopia. This stone is of a very dark colour, and sometimes
transparent; but it is dull to the sight, and reflects, when attached
as a mirror to walls, the shadow of the object rather than the image.
Many persons use it[2838] for jewellery, and I myself have seen
solid statues[2839] in this material of the late Emperor Augustus, of
very considerable thickness. That prince consecrated, in the Temple
of Concord, as something marvellous, four figures of elephants made
of Obsian stone. Tiberius Cæsar, too, restored to the people of
Heliopolis, as an object of ceremonial worship, an image in this stone,
which had been found among the property left by one of the præfects
of Egypt. It was a figure of Menelaüs; a circumstance which goes far
towards proving that the use of this material is of more ancient date
than is generally supposed, confounded as it is at the present day
with glass, by reason of its resemblance. Xenocrates says that Obsian
stone is found in India also, and in Samnium in Italy; and that it
is a natural product of Spain, upon the coasts which border on the
Ocean.[2840]
There is an artificial Obsian stone, made of coloured glass for
services for the table; and there is also a glass that is red all
through, and opaque, known as “hæmatinum.”[2841] A dead white glass,
too, is made, as also other kinds in imitation of murrhine[2842]
colour, hyacinthine, sapphire, and every other tint: indeed, there is
no material of a more pliable[2843] nature than this, or better suited
for colouring. Still, however, the highest value is set upon glass
that is entirely colourless and transparent, as nearly as possible
resembling crystal, in fact. For drinking-vessels, glass has quite
superseded the use of silver and gold; but it is unable to stand heat
unless a cold liquid is poured in first. And yet, we find that globular
glass vessels, filled with water, when brought in contact with the rays
of the sun,[2844] become heated to such a degree as to cause articles
of clothing to ignite. When broken, too, glass admits of being joined
by the agency of heat; but it cannot be wholly fused without being
pulverized into small fragments,[2845] as we see done in the process of
making the small checquers, known as “abaculi,” for mosaic work; some
of which are of variegated colours, and of different shapes. If glass
is fused with sulphur, it will become as hard as stone.
CHAP. 68. (27.)—MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH FIRE.
Having now described all the creations of human ingenuity,
reproductions, in fact, of Nature by the agency of art, it cannot but
recur to us, with a feeling of admiration, that there is hardly any
process which is not perfected through the intervention of fire. Submit
to its action some sandy soil, and in one place it will yield glass, in
another silver, in another minium, and in others, again, lead and its
several varieties, pigments, and numerous medicaments. It is through
the agency of fire that stones[2846] are melted into copper; by fire
that iron is produced, and subdued to our purposes; by fire that gold
is purified; by fire, too, that the stone is calcined, which is to hold
together the walls of our houses.
Some materials, again, are all the better for being repeatedly
submitted to the action of fire; and the same substance will yield
one product at the first fusion, another at the second, and another
at the third.[2847] Charcoal, when it has passed through fire and
has been quenched, only begins to assume its active properties; and,
when it might be supposed to have been reduced to annihilation, it is
then that it has its greatest energies. An element this, of immense,
of boundless[2848] power, and, as to which, it is a matter of doubt
whether it does not create even more than it destroys!
CHAP. 69.—THREE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM FIRE AND FROM ASHES.
Fire even has certain medicinal virtues of its own. When pestilences
prevail, in consequence of the obscuration[2849] of the sun, it is a
well-known fact, that if fires are lighted, they are productive of
beneficial results in numerous ways. Empedocles and Hippocrates have
proved this in several passages.
“For convulsions or contusions of the viscera,” says M. Varro—for it is
his own words that I use—“let the hearth be your medicine-box; for lie
of ashes,[2850] taken from thence, mixed with your drink, will effect
a cure. Witness the gladiators, for example, who, when disabled at the
Games, refresh themselves with this drink.” Carbuncle too, a kind of
disease which, as already[2851] stated, has recently carried off two
persons of consular rank, admits of being successfully treated with
oak-charcoal,[2852] triturated with honey. So true is it that things
which are despised even, and looked upon as so utterly destitute of all
virtues, have still their own remedial properties, charcoal and ashes
for example.
CHAP. 70.—PRODIGIES CONNECTED WITH THE HEARTH.
I must not omit too, one portentous fact connected with the hearth,
and famous in Roman history. In the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, it
is said, there appeared upon his hearth a resemblance of the male
generative organ in the midst of the ashes. The captive Ocrisia, a
servant of Queen Tanaquil, who happened to be sitting there, arose from
her seat in a state of pregnancy, and became the mother of Servius
Tullius, who eventually succeeded to the throne.[2853] It is stated,
too, that while the child was sleeping in the palace, a flame was seen
playing round his head; the consequence of which was, that it was
believed that the Lar of the household was his progenitor. It was owing
to this circumstance, we are informed, that the Compitalia,[2854] games
in honour of the Lares, were instituted.
SUMMARY.—Remedies mentioned, eighty-nine. Facts and narratives, four
hundred and thirty-four.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,[2855] Cælius,[2856] Galba,[2857]
Cincius,[2858] Mucianus,[2859] Nepos Cornelius,[2860] L. Piso,[2861]
Q. Tubero,[2862] Fabius Vestalis,[2863] Annius Fetialis,[2864]
Fabianus,[2865] Seneca,[2866] Cato the Censor,[2867] Vitruvius.[2868]
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Theophrastus,[2869] Pasiteles,[2870]
King Juba,[2871] Nicander,[2872] Sotacus,[2873] Sudines,[2874]
Alexander[2875] Polyhistor, Apion,[2876] Plistonicus,[2877]
Duris,[2878] Herodotus,[2879] Euhemerus,[2880] Aristagoras,[2881]
Dionysius,[2882] Artemidorus,[2883] Butoridas,[2884] Antisthenes,[2885]
Demetrius,[2886] Demoteles,[2887] Lyceas.[2888]