did profpeCt, looking down on an extenfive kingdom
beneath you as on a map, exhibiting a fertile country
to the South, iludded with villages and watered with
¡rivers; the eye ftretching out further over the Mediterranean,
the landfcape is rendered Hill more ftriking
from the contrail on the North and Eall, bounded by the
bare and dark mountains of the Rouffillon, and the
fnowy tops of the Pyrenees. - On thefe inhofpitable
cliffs o f Montferrat, amidil the conilant inclemency of
jarring elements, dwells the pale hermit, with hairy
gown, wrapt up in iilent contemplation. Here he has
hewn a folitary dwelling arid offers up his fervent
prayer, and takes his lonely walk, lifting up his eyes,
muling
Of every ftar that heav'n doth -ihew.
And every herb that fips the dew.
But though the elements have wreaked their fury upon
thefe elevated peaks, the indulgent hand of nature has
not been fparing in her gifts to this furprifing mountain,
as numberlefs evergreens and deciduous plants ferve to
adorn the various gaps and breaks which its lingular fhape
admits of, rendering it a curious repofitory of the vegetative
kingdom. The lower part of the mountain has
decompofed much fooner than the upper parts and turned
into foil, productive of corn, vineyard and olive, while
the ihelving rocks facilitate a paffage to the fummit, and
exhibit
exhibit to the botanilt a view of above two hundred forts
of trees, fhrubs, and plants, that Ihoot up fpontaneoully,
gracing this hoary and venerable pile ; amongll others
the fcarlet oak, three different kinds of juniper, baltard
alaternus, mock privet, the lote or nettle tree, the fcor-
pion fena, the perennial llrawberry tree, rofemary,
gorze, thyme, fern, and towards the top the ftink-
ing trefoil o f the fea ihore of Valencia, and the rough
bind weed of Andalulia and Bifcay, proving that thefe
plants grow equally in cold and warm climates.
Here we find the touchftone, or lapis lydius, known to
Theophraltus the difciple o f Ariltotle, who fays it was
found in the river T'molus in Lydia, and that the upper
part was better for effaying gold than the lower, adding,
that thefe llones appeared to be pebbles, and as they
were not round, it was inferred they were fixed in the
earth, and were never walhed away by the rivers. The
moderns make ufe of acids with greater advantage for the
effaying of gold, by comparing a line drawn on the Hone
with gold of a known llandard, to another line which they
want to effay, for as aqua fortis has the property o f dif-
folving all metals except gold, the colour and diminution
of the lines compared together, will lhew what allay they
have, with little danger of error. From hence it is plain
the touchftone is not limy, otherwife it would diffolve in
the acid, arid the'only quality required is to receive the
•" ' G c c 2 line