CHAP. 28. (12.)—SCOLEX OF COPPER; EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
There is another kind of verdigris also, which is called
"scolex."[1] It is prepared by triturating in a mortar of
Cyprian copper, alum and salt, or an equal quantity of nitre,
with the very strongest white vinegar. This preparation is
only made during the hottest days of the year, about the
rising of the Dog-star. The whole is triturated until it becomes
green, and assumes the appearance of small worms, to
which it owes its name. This repulsive form is corrected by
mixing the urine of a young child, with twice the quantity of
vinegar. Scolex is used for the same medicinal purposes as
santerna, which we have described as being used for soldering
gold,[2] and they have, both of them, the same properties as
verdigris. Native scolex is also procured by scraping the
copper ore of which we are about to speak.
1. From the Greek skwlh\c, "a worm," "Vermicular Verdigris."—
"The accounts of this substance in ancient authors seem to some commentators
to be obscure; but in my opinion we are to understand by them
that the ingredients were pounded together till the paste they formed assumed
the appearance of pieces or threads like worms. For the same
reason the Italians give the name of vermicelli to wire-drawn paste of flour used in cookery."—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 173, Bohn's
Edition.
2. In B. xxxiii. c. 29—B.