'SECT. VH.
Of talc iif&j
Cornwall. "1
sect. vni.
Of the af- ,
beftos found
in Cornwall.
112 I . V N A T JLJ. R A L H I S T O R Y
O f the,, brown foliafeeoUs talc, atfin-work* in the^ par'tfli bf St.
TuftS affords a fairSpecimen ?! the leaves thi®#id elaftie ffomthe
fourth of *an inch downwards inn d i am e t e r , n o determinate
figure, nor inferted in any order. In tie mibrofcope the, leaves-are
op,a tor.toife-foellvtranfparency> :andcolour..« It,is found fin» a bed
of ruddy fpeckled granite, to which it adheres*!, ~
N°, ji. a much more beautiful fc^iaccous;' tale I have- from a cliff
ne«, tfie Lizherid, ; o f e^eam thinneft, fm§ texture, traniparency,
and filver hue’: the leaves were in diameter T.but half inch downwards,
being broken, fmaller than their natural fize: before" I had
them.' It is, the Mica farticulis tnembranaceisfiffilibus diafhanis *.
NS iii. A fpecimen of the fame kind of a" browner, more corneous
colour» lefs flexible, and its membranes larger S
N°. iv. Radiated filvery talc. In a bed- of milk-white tabulated
quartz. The rays are an inch and a quarter long and under, confiding
of feveral membranes of talc one-fourth of* an inch long by
one-fixth of an inch wide, in the fhape of the leaf of a peach-
tree they lie in ftraight lines, Springing as >it were from a
centre| * ^ ^ ' ,”
N°. v. The Ihining gold-coloured talc, ot mica aurea. ^|The
miriB are-of filver as well as gold-colour, but Ids diftindt; neithet
o f them elaftic: they lie longitudinally in parallel flakes, one on
the back o f another, and between them have white crystalline
fhivers; but what part of Cornwall I had this from, I do not
recoiled:.
O f the fblid albeftine talc we have before taken notice, that it
is fometimes found adhering to the pureft fpecimens of the fteatites
Cornubienjis, or Soap-rock. The lame fubftance is Ipread like an
enamel on the forface of the rocks expofed to the lea. •- Thisis near
o f kin to the Ophites, or Serpentine marble of the ancients, - and
fometimes is but a thin film, a. kind of enamel, fhiver, dr eruft; but
where it is in larger and more ftony maffes, it admits a high polilh,
is cut into various forms, and turned into vales
O f the fibrous abeftos I have a fample found in a ftone in the
church yard of Landawinek, the filaments flat, pointed, of a bright
purple colour, and filvery glofs, extremely fmall and flexile, appearing
in the microlcope edged with a foft down, the fibres longer and
of a brighter hue, but not lb woolly as fome famples I have from
the ille of Anglefea. In greater plenty I have received fpecimens ofj
b Huelanboys.
1 From Bellchapel work, in Gwenap.
1 It feems the Mica particulis fquamofis fpdrft
m This ihould be the Ol/aris folidus • mrefems,
of Linnaeus. Syft. Nat. page 159.
macuMta politaram admittms of Linnseus, page 160,
* Linnaeus Syft. Nat. ib._ .
N°. IB.» .
k From Gwenap.
an
OF C O R N W A L L . 3®(
an-'albeftos lately; found in the parifti o£St^dajre^^neaf the town of
Lilkerd, W .the^Reverend Mr'.^^p'er^ig^thl, month of March
It,yas] firi^dif|d^ed 50^1^3, Sout|fr^ e f t o f „the;
IGfiiakh, in a n - o r c h a r d , b u t afterwards in
.feverallfton^s o^th^idj^Qent grou A ^ fomc oi it} of^a
adheres to tl^qptj@dep5>a greenteard ^ d y ^k^la^Jbfsds Ihort
joirite^f.and not flexile},-but it liesun veins geperd.l'y^|^urfipg infatf'
wavy lfo^” th>sg|gh th^te^ider grit||ffoinereous fofla^be^e .menti-
jone%$>age 9qqi^|he yqins of N^^a^-c^likeicolour to.the mother
ftone, ffronxtWtenlhi-oha^ inch? tolthfee inc^sw^de»->kthis isVhat is
„called by,Authors .°. the whitifh brow|j| lilky afbeftos-, wi|h fong, con-t
tinned flat filaments 7 it is, not equ^Iyffine inwall xthe ftones w(fiet£in
it;;appears; in fome lamples the afbeftos. is very ^downy, and the
filaments rife flat'and eafily, ffrom .cpetipch j to^twpdnches and rap
half long.], h&ii.i Is the ^rxii^Xxi^jibms^ollib^pamllpJi^jcf^ilefepa-^
vabilihuspof authors-11.- . N°. iiL.is, in -itsjex|:eri,gurElikedec|ygc|pillow
,yfood;'dq other famples the fibres are;thrq© inches, lgnig, foupmetpj; ftony,
rounder^, more compact, • and heavier^-sfoarce ^t^ilf^plurhous,.; ( this
third fort L.itakeTofbe the,,» Apiiantos Jibris jiurtioribus in-,ilamellas
CTiaffioreSj campfiEiitponderoJus ’ .
t There is another.foft mentioned »by Grow ..called the “ baftard
amiantns, which. grows in veins in a clay and mundick foaid-between,
sjbeds of.af^Fepnrlh eartfi in our> Cornilh -mines,i the .thread? jbeing,*
one third orsnear half ^n Rinch' long, of afgloSy'black. colQur^atid
•btitSa!’ ‘n-Of the more downy forts,gfi}|his 1 ftone, ||e^^Wnis|had
:fhe> art of making a.-kind-oftcloth refembling linenyf,.itAad this fin-
gular property, that no^fire would injure it, - for which, reafonnfowas,>
t i l l e d incombaflibiky and; the iufe -of it was tq.» fnrgud fhc
dead bodies,^of princes, fo as to -preferve ,their alhes pure,- ;a'nd un-
mixed frona^thofe of the funeral pile. ..Pliny lib. xix. chap, -relays,'
tea t he. ha^fo^^ffoiins made of this linen which laftepbeihg-ufod'
at table,.-; were; thrown into the fire, ,and thereby cleaned better than
i f .‘they had befeS waflied with „„water. The, anclentSi .. made ;alfo<
nets of this'ftone, and reticulated caps for the head; it was- a|fo
ufod as wicks for lampsjf in which it proved fo retentive of the fire,
that Callimachus at Athens, dedicated a golden lamp to Minerva,
which continued burning, by means of the lint of - this; .ftcpie,-; iraj-
merfed in oily for: a whole year, without being, extinguiihed: Pau&-
nias in Atticis, chap. xxvi. A lamp of the fome kin,dj burnt in the
temple of Jupiter Hammon *. It is to be^obferved Jiowevef, > that
•wicks for lamps made- of the afbeftos do not yield fo bright a flapue
n See plate XXV.: fig. xxx.
0 See Hill’s foflils, page io i.
f See Linneeus Syft. Nat. page 162.
§ g
A; See Linnaeus^ page 16$ ibidem*
r Mufeutn of th^ Royal Society, page 313*
HPlutarch de def^ Orac.
as