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I will not insist to this purpose upon the Examples afforded us by yellow Orpiment, and common Sea Salt, from which, sublim'd together, Chymists unanimously affirm their White or Crystalline Arsenick to be made: But 'tis not unworthy our noting, That though Yellow Orpiment be acknowledg'd to be the Copiousest by far of the two Ingredients of Arsenick, yet this last nam'd Body being duely added to the highest Colour'd Metall Copper, when 'tis in fusion, gives it a whiteness both within and without.
By reason of its abounding Sulphur, which is therein; for I find no fluxibleness or fusibleness in any thing saving in Sulphur, Mercury and Arsenick, and all these three are in Saturn; so that Saturn is quickly fluxible, but all these three are cleansed with it from their uncleanness. Saturn stands almost in the degree of fix'd Luna.
And on this occasion it may not be Impertinent to mention an Experiment, which I relate upon the Credit of a very Honest man, whom I purposely enquir'd of about it, being my self not very fond of making Tryals with Arsenick, the Experiment is this, That if you Colliquate Arsenick and Copper in a due proportion, the Arsenick will Blanch the Copper both within and without, which is an Experiment well enough Known; but when I enquir'd, whether or no this White mixture being skilfully kept a while upon the Cupel would not let go its Arsenick, which made Whiteness its prædominant Colour, and return to the Reddishness of Copper, I was assur'd of the Affirmative; so that among Mineral Bodyes, some of those that are White, may be far more capable, than those I am reasoning with seem to have known, of Eclipsing others, and of making their Colour Prædominant in Mixtures.
Of gold we have found perhaps but too many uses; but when the professor told us here at Bologna, that silver in the mine was commonly found mixed with arsenick, a corroding poison, or lead, a narcotic one; who could help being led forward to a train of thought on the nature and use and abuse of money and minerals in general.
The plot being thus formed, and success promising so fair, Franklin buys various poisons, White Arsenick, Mercury-Sublimate, Cantharides, Red-Mercury, with three or four other deadly ingredients, which he delivered to Weston, with instructions how to use them; who put them into his broth and meat, increasing and diminishing their strength according as he saw him affected; besides these, the Countess sent him by way of present, poisoned tarts and jellies: but Overbury being of a strong constitution, held long out against their influence: his body broke out in blotches and blains, which occasioned the report industriously propagated by Somerset, of his having died of the French Disease.
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