Chalcitis[1628] is the name of a mineral, from which, as well as cadmia, copper is extracted by heat. It differs from cadmia in this respect, that this last is procured from beds below the surface, while chalcitis is detached from rocks that are exposed to the air. Chalcitis also becomes immediately friable, being naturally so soft as to have the appearance of a compressed mass of down. There is also this other distinction between them, that chalcitis is a composition of three other substances, copper, misy, and sory,[1629] of which last we shall speak in their appropriate places.[1630] The veins of copper which it contains are oblong. The most approved kind is of the colour of honey; it is streaked with fine sinuous veins, and is friable and not stony. It is generally thought to be most valuable when fresh, as, when old, it becomes converted into sory. It is highly useful for removing fleshy excrescences in ulcers, for arresting hæmorrhage, and, in the form of a powder, for acting astringently upon the gums, the uvula, and the tonsillary glands.[1631] It is applied in wool, as a pessary, for affections of the uterus; and with leek juice it is formed into plasters for diseases of the genitals. This substance is macerated for forty days in vinegar, in an earthen vessel luted with dung; after which it acquires a saffron colour. When this composition is mixed with an equal proportion of cadmia, it forms the medicament known as “psoricon.”[1632] If two parts of chalcitis are combined with one of cadmia, the medicament becomes more active; and it is rendered still more powerful if vinegar is used instead of wine. For all these purposes, calcined chalcitis is the most efficacious. CHAP. 30.—SORY: THREE REMEDIES. The sory[1633] of Egypt is the most esteemed, being considered much superior to that of Cyprus, Spain, and Africa; although some prefer the sory from Cyprus for affections of the eyes. But from whatever place it comes, the best is that which has the strongest odour, and which, when triturated, becomes greasy, black, and spongy. It is a substance so unpleasant to the stomach, that some persons are made sick merely by its smell. This is the case more particularly with the sory from Egypt. That from other countries, by trituration, acquires the lustre of misy, and is of a more gritty consistency. Held in the mouth, and used as a collutory, it is good for toothache. It is also useful for malignant ulcers of a serpiginous nature. It is calcined upon charcoal, like chalcitis. CHAP. 31.—MISY: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.