CHAP. 33.—STIMMI, STIBI, ALABASTRUM, LARBASIS, OR PLATYOPHTHALMON.
In the same mines in which silver is found, there is also
found a substance which, properly speaking, may be called a
stone made of concrete froth.[1] It is white and shining, without
being transparent, and has the several names of stimmi,
stibi, alabastrum,[2] and larbasis. There are two kinds of it,
the male and the female.[3] The latter kind is the more approved
of, the male[4] stimmi being more uneven, rougher to
the touch, less ponderous, not so radiant, and more gritty.
The female kind, on the other hand, is bright and friable, and
separates in laminæ, and not in globules.[5]
1. He is speaking of Antimony.
2. From its whiteness.
3. Under the name of "female stimmi," Ajasson thinks that pure, or
native, antimony is meant, more particularly the lamelliform variety, remarkable
for its smoothness. He thinks it possible, also, that it may have
derived its Greek name "larbason," or "larbasis," from its brittleness.
4. Ajasson thinks that under this name, crude antimony or sulphuret of
antimony may have been included; as also sulphuret of lead, sulphuret of
antimony and copper, and sulphuret of antimony and silver; the last of
which is often found covered with an opaque pellicle.
5. "Globis." The fracture of sulphuret of antimony is, in reality, small
subconchoïdal.