Sulphur.
2. Sulphur.—Sulphur is the next ingredient, in regard to importance, as being the most inflammable material we are acquainted with. It exists in three states, in all of which it is occasionally employed in fire-works; the first is that brought from the neighbourhood of volcanoes, and is called native sulphur, but more commonly sulphur vivum, though (it may be observed,) what is sold in the shops under this name is a drossy powder, the refuse left after purification. The second is that in the roll, called roll sulphur, or stone brimstone. The third is the sublimed sulphur, or as it is commonly called flower of sulphur; this when genuine is the purest, and is found to answer best for all nice and delicate articles, and from its being already in a state of powder it is by far the most convenient, as the others require to be ground or mealed previous to their being used. The first kind is the cheapest, and answers pretty well for all large and coarse articles, but as it is most frequently mixed with earthy matter and other impurities, the use of it we would not very much recommend. The second is found to be the strongest, and which is mostly used, particularly for most of the ordinary articles; but such is the desire of gain, that this article of sulphur is not suffered to pass through the hands of dealers without its quality being reduced by adulteration, which they effect by mixing with it rosin, flour, &c.; when pure it is of a bright yellow colour, dense but not too heavy, easily cracks with the heat of the hand, and the broken parts look bright and crystallized. There is another kind of sulphur (though not generally known among dealers) which does not burn like the others, and what is rather singular, it emits no sulphurous smell, for being put upon the fire it melts just like common wax; this sort is found in great abundance in Iceland near Mount Hecla, and Carniola. This sulphur is commonly of a reddish colour, like that found in the straits of Heildesheim, where it is likewise of several colours, as pale yellow and green, and generally adheres to the surface of stone and rocks, from which it may be easily broken off and collected; that which is perfectly yellow of each kind is the best. That of our first description, or sulphur vivum, is sometimes called quick sulphur from its undergoing no change by fire, since its productions by nature; and in some countries it is called virgin sulphur, because the women and girls in Campania frequently make a kind of paint of it, for no less delicate purpose than that of beautifying the face. Should either kind be met with in an impure state the following method may be applied for the purpose of purification.