metallum._ Strabo _multo expressius; effossum ibi metallum semper
regenerari. Nam si effossio spatio centum annorum intermittebatur, &
iterum illuc revertebantur, fossores reperisse maximam copiam ferri
regeneratam._ Which history not only is countenanced by _Fallopius_,
from the Incom which the Iron of that Island yielded the Duke of
_Florence_ in his time; but is mention'd more expressely to our
purpose, by the Learned _Cesalpinus_. _Vena_ (sayes he) _ferri
copiosissima est in Italia; ob eam nobilitata Ilva Tirrheni maris
Insula incredibili copia, etiam nostris temporibus eam gignens: Nam
terra quae eruitur dum vena effoditur tota, procedente tempore in venam
convertitur._ Which last clause is therefore very notable, because
from thence we may deduce, that earth, by a Metalline plastick
principle latent in it, may be in processe of time chang'd into a
metal. And even _Agricola_ himself, though the Chymists complain of
him as their adversary, acknowledges thus much and more; by telling us
that at a Town called _Saga_ in _Germany_,[30] they dig up Iron in the
Fields, by sinking ditches two foot deep; And adding, that within the
space of ten years the Ditches are digged again for Iron since
produced, As the same Metal is wont to be obtain'd in _Elva_. Also
concerning Lead, not to mention what even _Galen_ notes, that it will
increase both in bulk and Weight if it be long kept in Vaults or
Sellars, where the Air is gross and thick, as he collects from the
smelling of those pieces of Lead that were imploy'd to fasten together
the parts of old Statues. Not to mention this, I say, _Boccacius
Certaldus_, as I find him Quoted by a Diligent Writer, has this
Passage touching the Growth of Lead. _Fessularum mons_ (sayes he) _in
Hetruria, Florentiae civitati imminens, lapides plumbarios habet; qui
si excidantur, brevi temporis spatio, novis incrementis instaurantur;
ut_ (annexes my Author) _tradit Boccacius Certaldus, qui id
compotissimum [Errata: compertissimum] esse scribit. Nihil hoc novi
est; sed de eadem Plinius, lib. 34. Hist. Natur. cap. 17. dudum
prodidit, Inquiens, mirum in his solis plumbi metallis, quod derelicta
fertilius reviviscunt. In plumbariis secundo Lapide ab Amberga dictis
ad Asylum recrementa congesta in cumulos, exposita solibus pluviisque
paucis annis, redunt suum metallum cum fenore._ I might Add to these,
continues _Carneades_, many things that I have met with concerning the
Generation of Gold and Silver. But, for fear of wanting time, I shall
mention but two or three Narratives. The First you may find Recorded
by _Gerhardus_ the Physick Professor, in these Words. _In valle_
(sayes he) _Joachimaca [Errata: Joachimica] argentum gramini [Errata:
167