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CHAP. 2.—THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF COPPER.

The ore is extracted in the mode that has been described above,1 and is then purified by fusion. The metal is also obtained from a coppery stone called "cadmia."2 The most highly esteemed copper is procured from beyond seas: it was formerly obtained in Campania also, and at present is found in the country of the Bergomates,3 at the extremity of Italy. It is said to have been lately discovered also in the province of Germany.

(2.) In Cyprus, where copper was first discovered, it is also procured from another stone, which is called "chalcitis."4 This, however, was afterwards considered of little value, a better kind having been found in other regions, especially that called "aurichalcum,"5 which was long in high request, on account of its excellent quality; but none of it has been found for this long time, the earth having been quite exhausted. The kind which was next in value was the Sallustian,6 procured from the Alpine district of the Centrones;7 but this did not last long, and was succeeded by the Livian, in Gaul. They both took their names from the owners of the mines; the former a friend of the Emperor Augustus, the latter that emperor's wife.8 They soon failed, however, and in the Livian even there is now found but a very small quantity of ore. That which is at present held in the highest estimation is the Marian, likewise known as the Corduban:9 next to the Livian, this kind most readily absorbs cadmia, and becomes almost as excellent as aurichalcum10 for making sesterces and double asses,11 the Cyprian copper being thought good enough for the as. Thus much concerning the natural qualities of this metal.

1 In B. xxxiii. c. 31, where we have an account of the ores of silver.—B.

2 Pliny again refers to this mineral in the 22d Chapter. We have no means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance to which this name was applied by the ancients. The ores of copper are very numerous, and of various chemical constitutions: the most abundant, and those most commonly employed in the production of the pure metal, are the sulphurets, more especially what is termed copper pyrites, and the oxides. It has been supposed, by some commentators, that the Cadmia of the ancients was Calamine, which is an ore of zinc; but we may be confident that the Æs of the ancients could not be produced from this substance, because, as has been stated above, the Æs contains no zinc. I must, however, observe that the contrary opinion is maintained by M. Delafosse.—B. See Note 2 above.

3 The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo.—B. See B. iii. c. 21.

4 Aristotle gives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus. Chalcitis is also spoken of by Dioscorides, as an ore of copper.—B. See further as to "Chaicitis," in Chapter 29 of this Book.

5 There has been much discussion respecting the nature of this substance, and the derivation of the word. Hardouin conceives it probable that it was originally written "orichaleum," i.e. "mountain brass" or "copper."—B. Ajasson considers it to be native brass, a mixture of copper and zinc. In the later writers it signifies artificial brass. The exact composition of this metal is still unknown, but there is little doubt that Hardouin is right in his supposition as to the origin of the name.

6 Possibly so called from Sallustius Crispus, the historian, who was one of the secretaries of Augustus.

7 There is some doubt respecting the locality of these people; they are enumerated by Pliny among the inhabitants of the mountainous districts of Savoy, B. iii. c. 24, and are referred to by Ptolemy.—B.

8 Livia.

9 It was named "Marian," after the celebrated Marius, and "Corduban," from the place whence it was procured; probably the mountains near Corduba, in Spain, well known as the birth-place of the two Senecas and of Lucan.—B. See B. iii. c. 3, and B. xix. c. 43.

10 No light is thrown upon the nature either of Cadmia or Aurichalcum by this statement; we only learn from it that different compounds, or substances possessing different physical properties, went under the common appellation of Æs, and were, each of them, employed in the formation of coins.—B.

11 "Dupondiariis." The "as," it must be remembered, originally weighed one pound. See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and the Introduction to Vol. III. 19 He alludes to the ancient works of art in this compound metal.

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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