Page 417

Defcription of  C f  i LNJI.                     417 
breathe out, and is all dfolV~ o Smokethe Head being cut off;, the Flef+
is the moft precious Antidote againfi all Poyfons. 
There are Tortoifes difcover'd in the Chinefian Ocean, as the Atas tefnifietht
that afar off appear like Rocks. 
The Flora Sinenfis fays, That there are found Tortoifes in the Kingdomof
I+onan, fome green, and fome blue; there are alfo others, that to mend their
Pace, have Wings added to their Feet. 
CHAP. XI. 
Of the wondrous Stones and Minerals in China. 
I  H  Authorof the .,tlag Sinicu,and other Writers fay, That Nature hathj
here fported herfeilf in Stones, and the Occonomy of Mineralsas well, 
as Animals.-tn the Province Huquanig, at the Mountain Xeyen, efpe- 
cially after the fall of Rains, are found Stones which they call $Saalloivs,
becaufe 
they fo exa&ly refemble that Bird, that they want nothing ; the Phyficians
diftinguifh them into Male and Female, and ufe them in their feveralCom-
pounds. 
The Chinefian Genealogifis report, That there i  a Stone found in the Pro-
vince of Xenfi of an ineflimable Price, f6r that it increafoth and decreafeth
with 
the Full and Wane of the Moon. 
Many Writers of Natural Obfervations report, That the Stone call'd Se. 
lenitis hath the fame effie& amongft us : This is a kind of Taldis or
Specular 
Stone, which I have oftentimes obferv'd, not only to thine at the Brightnefs
and Splendor of the Moon, but perfe&ly to fhew, as in a Glafs, the Figure
of the Moon, when at Full, wtien an half-Moon, and when in a Sextile F'i-
gure; whence f fuppofe the Fable to have its original, That this Lunary Stone
fometimes increafeth, and fornetimes decreafeth, according to the appearance
of the Moon. 
They have an Eartcal'd .Uei, a Mineral very bright, and much efteem'd 
by the Women, being endow'd with a Cofmetick Faculty, which infus'd in 
Water with a gentle Fucus, mundifies the Skin, taking away all Morphew, 
Freckles, Flufhings, Pimples, and fuch Rubifying Ebullition; they call it
9.ei 
Xi, that is, The Noble Lady. 
There is in tle Province of Xantung a Stone taken out of a Cows Paunch, 
of a Claycolour, about the bignefs of a Goofes Egge, but inferior to a Dekoar
in folidity, being of a lighter Subliance, and-therefore thought by fome
to be 
the more eminent in Vertue. 
In the Province of Kiangfi, at the Mountain ]4ngkiu, is feen a wonderful
Stone, which being form'd into an humane Shape, either by Nature or Art,
affumeth divers Colours, according to the various Temperature of the Air,
as 
fome affirm, by which they  rognoflicate either fair or foul Weather. 
The Chinefian dtlas tells of an Herb calfd A.sbeflus, in Taniju,'growing
upon a 
Stone, that defieth the Flames, not fuffering in a fiery trial, but cometh
forth 
a Conqueror, no way impaird by the fierceft ardor, though a fibrous fmall
Excrefcency like Hairs; but being put into Water it moulders away like 
Clay, and is fuddenly confum'd. How this Asbeflus is hatchel'd into Flax,
and 
woven into fine Linneni whofe Maculations, and all other Soil, is.(as we
Soooo                    may