Chapter 2, Item 40a
Minerals
There are three kinds of Minerals:
First such that notwithstanding their hard growing together, yet will dissolve in Water as Salt, Allome, Vitrioll or Copperas, Nitre, Salt Peter, Bitumen, Armorick, Borax, Brimston &c. whose foundation is generally called aroch.
Second, such kind of Minerals as will flame, or be enflamed by fire; as Coale, Amber, or Amber-grease, Canole, Chrysorolla or Boras, Petroll, and other Hill-slimes of Bituminous qualities, not of one sort, but many: with several fat Earths both Concrete and Liquid.
Third sort of Minerals digged out of the Bowells of the Earth, are such as Wilbe beaten to dust, and turned into Paints or Colours, as Arsenick or Mercury, Open alias Auripigmentum, Ortment, Sandarake, Synope, Minium or Vermilion, Ruddy Stibium or Antimony, Azure, Calx, Bore, or Bolarmanacke, Sulphur, &c.
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Chapter 2, Item 40b
Metals
Out of the Earth proceeds Mines of Mettals which are by the fire both purged from their dross, refined and made, as
Lead, out of whose Oare, is produced Red-Lead, Ceruse or whit-lead, Litharg or Lithargie:
Tin, a more pure and harder, mettle, by it is made Pewter with a mixture of Lead.
Iron, it is made of a Stone called Iron Stone by melting: it being refined maketh Steel, the hardest of metals.
Copper, of its rust comes Verdigrass, but being mixt with Lead Ore, makes Lattin and Brass, two Brittle mettals, that will not be hammered.
Silver, a mettle Royal, white and clear, having a shril Sound it is the next to Gold for purity and rich.
Gold, the purest of mettals, therefore the most weighty and massy, being mettled an hundred times looses nothing of its Substance, nor receiveth no rust. There is a certain Veine in the Earth, whether I may call it a Stone or Golden Earth, it is easily digged up and broken, having the very look and face of Gold: Some call it the Arsnick Stone, but the Arsenicum or Arsnick is double, one of an Ashie colour, and the other of colour like Gold.
Talck, is of the nature of mettals which will not endure to be either melted or hammered, because of its untamable hardness. The Stone is like glass having as it were about it, Hills and edges naturally set in it.
Quick silver a mettal that never groweth hard, but it is always moist, and yet never wetteth or moisteneth any thing.
Electrum, or Amber, a mixt mettle of Gold and Silver.
The foundation of these mettals is Oare, save that Iron which is called a Stone.
Mettals, Sealed or coyned is termed money or goeth for money, that which is wrought or made otherwise are Vessels or Plate, that which is unwrought is called Lump, or Bar or raw mettle, of some a Wedge or Bulline.
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Chapter 2, Item 40c
Moulds.
From the Earth are gathered many sorts of Moulds, distinct sorts of Earth, which are serviceable for several purposes; as being of verious conditions, all which being layd in the Sun becomes hard, are put into Water, becomes clay, dirt and mire: if burnt in the Fire, it both looseth its nature and colour, and becomes either Stone or Glass.
Of earth are several sorts, as
Black earth, which is the generall Soil of the Land, slime, Mould for Gardens.
White earth, which are of two sorts, one more clammy, as Clay used by Potters.
Others more Brittle, as Chalk, Argill, Plaster of Paris, Fullers Earth, Rotten Stone.
Red Earth, as Marle, Clay, Occar, Spanish Red, Terra rubrum, Raddle, Bole, Brick.
Yellow earth, as Durry, Yellow Occar, Sand.
Brown earth, as Umber, Cullin earth Occar de lis.
Green earth, as terra vert.
Earth in it self is one of the four Elements, and is a thick and grosse substance, Scraped and compact together out of all the other purer Elements, and is by nature cold and dry.
Atome, or Mote, a thing of earth so little, that it cannot be divided.
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Chapter 2, Item 47a
Rich Stones or Jewels
...[List of names of gems omitted] The Gem, is the generall name, or notion given to all Precious Stones, which are called Gems, saith Isodorus, because they shine, and are as smooth as Gum. and they are called Precious Stones, because they are rare: for all things that are rare, are precious.
Of Gems some are found in the Veins of the Earth, are are digged up with Mettals: some are cast up to the Land from the bottome of the Sea, whose place of Generation is unknown: other some are bred and found in the bodies and bellys of Fowl, Fish, Birds and Beasts, with other creatures of the Earth. [further list of gems omitted]...
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Chapter 2, Item 47b
Stones of all Sorts.
There are several sorts of stones besides these; for in strictness stones are no more then earth hardned, and the softest is called Greet or Grit, which being ground small becomes Sand; being more grosser or courser we call gravel and of these stones, the Flint, which will take the first place being the hardest of such sort of stones as are common with us: with it we strike fire on a Steel, yet will be broken on a Cushion.
The Touch stone, is black, it trieth Mettals.
The Magnus, or Load stone draweth Iron or Steel to it and is of an Iron like colour.
The Jett, is black, and being rubbed to be hot with draw a Straw to it, as the Loadstone doth Iron.
The Bloodstone, is of variable colours; it Stauncheth blood.
The Allablaster, is white, with it is made Figures and Statues and Monuments, of carved works, being Sawed and easily cut with working tooles: Some is veined with diverse colours. The Free stone is white and worketh like Allablaster, but more hard, and durable: it is a kind of greet but finer sanded, and a smoother stone. The Slate stone, is blewish and smooth, of it is made tables, and coverings for houses. The Lyme stone is whitish, being burn in a Kiln maketh Plaster. The Mill stone, is whitish, being nothing but small and round gravel, fixed or hardned together into one entire. Of it is made Grinding stones to grind or bruse, Corn with.
The Albeston stone, is of an Iron colour growing in Arcadia; which being once set on fire, can never be quenched or put out.
The Ophite, is a kind of Marble, which hath spots like a Serpent, of which there are 2 sorts one white and soft, the other black and hard.
The Caristeum, is a kind of Marble of a green colour: some of this sort are here and there dyed after the manner of golden drops: others of a Corall kind, which have certain spots besprinkled on it proportionably.
The Prassius, is a stone in manner of Onyon or Leeke very green: It is found sometime to have bloody drops, and some with drops that be white.
The Pirrite, is a kind of stone yellow, like to the flame of fire, and in quality almost all one with the fire: it is soon set on fire and sparkleth.
The Pionite stone, it is thought to be a female, for in very short time it conceiveth, and bringeth forth his like.
The Rhombite, is a stone after the figure of the Mathematitians Rhombus, it is very white; but an other sort there is of them like a narrow rowler, but coloured and dyed within and without.
The Silonite, it is a stone in Persia, in colour like to Jasper or fresh green herb: It encreseth and decreaseth even as the Moon.
The Marble stone, of which ther are several colours as white, black, blewish, Ashcolour, some spotted, other veined.
The Marchasite stone, or fire stone, a blackish stone mixed as it were with Silver Ore, these stones are used in wheele locks for fireing of the Pistals as Flynts for Ferris in Guns. The antimony stone is of a Silver colour, and found in Silver Mines.
The Lazul or Azure stone, of it is made the Smalt and Bize, used by Painters.
The Grindle stone, a kind of whitish Greet, of which there are several sorts some more rough and others very smooth.
The Porphirie stone, resembleth Marble, but is all spotted and veined with variety of colours: it is the finest and excellent Marble: some call it Parius from the Isle Paria.
The Peeble stone, are stones of various colours, lying amongst gravel by the Sea side, which being cut and polished have a rich spark in them resembling the Diamond.
The Opal, stone in Latin Opalus, wherein appeareth the Firie brightness of a Carbuncle, the shineing purple of the Amethist, & the green shew of Emeral, all shineing together with an unbelievable mixture.
The Pardal stone, a stone all spotted like a panther. I take this to be fine wrought Porphire.
The Rinoper or Ruddle stone, a soft and red stone found in mines.
The Sleek stone, a ball made of glass, which Landresses and Drawers of Cloath use to pollish or sleeken their Linnen with.
The Hone, is kind of yellowish colur, being a Hollywood converted into stone, by lying in Water for a certain season: of this Water I have not heard any where save in some parts of Ireland and Italy. Though Johnson in his Herbal fol. 1276 signifieth as much, as if such Water were in England.
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