[2941] The Island “of the dead.” Brotero supposes it to be the island of Maceira.
[2942] See B. vi. c. 34. As Ajasson remarks, there could be no snow or ice here.
[2943] See B. iv. c. 35.
[2944] Dioscorides attributes the hardening of crystal to the action of the sun.
[2945] “Its shape is rhombohedral, and hemihedral in some of its modifications. The planes on the angles between the prism and pyramidal terminations, incline sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left, and the crystals are termed right and left-handed crystals.”—Dana, System of Mineralogy, Art. Quartz.
[2946] Ajasson remarks that blocks have been found in Switzerland, weighing above eight hundred pounds.
[2947] Forty-eight sextarii. See Introduction to Vol. III.
[2948] This “vomica,” Ajasson says, is either water, azote, rarified oxygen, or water in combination with naphtha.
[2949] “Centra,” knots, or flaws. See B. xvi. c. 76, where he speaks of the “centra” in marble. See also Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 471. Bohn’s Edition.