Concerning which metal he tells us, that besides this they find some
which they call Gold in grains, which he tells us are small morsels of
Gold that they find whole without mixture of any other metal, which
hath no need of melting or Refining in the fire.
[Footnote 31: _Acosta_ Natural and Moral history of the Indies, L. 3.
c. 5, p. 212.]
I remember that a very skilful and credible person affirmed to me,
that being in the _Hungarian_ mines he had the good fortune to see a
mineral that was there digg'd up, wherein pieces of Gold of the
length, and also almost of the bigness of a humane Finger, grew in the
Oar, as if they had been parts and Branches of Trees.
And I have my self seen a Lump of whitish Mineral, that was brought as
a Rarity to a Great and knowing Prince, wherein there grew here and
there in the Stone, which looked like a kind of sparr, divers little
Lumps of fine Gold, (for such I was assured that Tryal had manifested
it to be) some of them Seeming to be about the Bigness of pease.
But that is nothing to what our _Acosta_ subjoynes, which is indeed
very memorable, namely, that of the morsels of Native and pure Gold,
which we lately heard him mentioning he had now and then seen some
that weighed many pounds;[32] to which I shall add, that I my self
have seen a Lump of Oar not long since digged up, in whose stony part
there grew, almost like Trees, divers parcels though not of Gold, yet
of (what perhaps Mineralists will more wonder at) another Metal which
seemed to be very pure or unmixt with any Heterogeneous Substances,
and were some of them as big as my Finger, if not bigger. But upon
Observations of this kind, though perhaps I could, yet I must not at
present dwell any longer.
[Footnote 32: See _Acosta_ in the fore-cited Place, and the passage of
_Pliny_ quoted by him.]
To proceed Therefore now (sayes _Carneades_) to the Consideration of
the _Analysis_ of Vegetables, although my Tryals give me no cause to
doubt but that out of most of them five differing Substances may be
obtain'd by the fire, yet I think it will not be so easily
Demonstrated that these deserve to be call'd Elements in the Notion
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