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Show BOOKT. ...._~ HIS T R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. was and frill is great abundance on both coafis, and they w~re b~th paid in tribute to the. king of Mexico from many places of the empH·e. Amber they ufcd to fct in gold for ornament i afphaltum was employed jn certain inccnfc offerings, a's we !hall find hereafter·. . vVith rcfpeB: to precious frones there were, and ibll are, diamond thou O'h few in number i nmethyfrs, cats-eyes, turquoifes, cornelians, and fome green frond rcfembling emeralds, and not much inferior to them . and of all thefe frones, the Mixtecas, the Zapotecas, and ohuixcus 'in whofe mountains they were found, paid a tribute to the king: Of their plenty and eftimation with the Mex icans, and the manner in which they wrought them, we !ha~l fpeak more properly_ j 11 another place. The mountains which h1y on the co~fr of the gulf of Mexico, between the port of Vera Cruz and the nver Co~ltzacu~ lco, namely, thofe of Chinantla, and the province of M1xtecas, furni!hed them with cryftal; and the cities of Tochtepec, Cuetlachtlan, Cozamaloapan, and others, were obliged to contribute annually to the luxury of the court. Thefe mountains did not Iefs abound in various kinds of fl:one, valnable in architecture, fculpture, and other arts. There arc quarries of jafper, and marble of different colours in the mountains of alp.olalpan to the eaft of Mexico; in thofe which feparate the tw~ valhes of Mexico and Toloccan, now called Monte de los Cruz.es, and m thofe of the Zapotc:cas: of alabafter in Tecalco (at prefent Tecalt), a place in the neighbourhood of the province of Tepeyacac, and in the counrry of the Mixtecas : of Tezontli, in the vale itfelf of Mexico, and in many other places of the empire. The ftone Tetzontli is generally of a dark red colour, pretty hard, porous, and light, unites moll: firmly with lime and fand, and is therefore more in demand than any other for the buildings of the capital, where the foundation is madhy and unfolid. There are befides entire mountnins of loadftone, a!'ld among others one very confiderable between Teoitztlan and Chilapan, in the country of the Cohuixcas. Of ~tetza/itztli commonly known by the name of the nephritic ftone, the Mexicans formed various, and curious figures, fome of .which are prefQrved in different 11?-Ufeums C?f Europe.. Chima/tizatl, which is ·a kind of talc, is a tranfparent white ftone, dividing eafily into thin leaves ; on ] .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. on calcination gives a fine plaiil:er, which the ancient Mexicans ufed to whiten their paintings. There are bcfides infinite quantities o( plaill:cr and talc; but refj>ecting this laft we do not know what ufe it w:1.s put to. The Mezcuit/at!, that is, moon's-dung, belongs to that cla(s of ftones which, on account of their rciifl:ancc to the aCtion of fir·, are called by chemifts lajJides rifrczCfrzrii. It is tranfparent and of a rcddi(h gold colonr. But no ftone was more common with the Mexicans than the itztli, of which there is great abundance in many places of Mexico. It is femitranfj arcnt, of a glafiy fubfl:ance, and gen rally black, but it is found alfo white and blue; they made looking-glafi~·s of this ftonc, knives, lancets, razors, and fpears, as we !hall mention when we treat of their militia; and after the introduCtion of the gofpel they made "facred ftones of it which were much valued (p). However plentiful and rich the mineral kingdom of Mexico may be, the vegetable kingdom is ftill more various and abundant. The celebrated Dr. Hernandez, the Pliny of New Spain, defcribes in his Natural Ilifl:ory, about twelve hundred plants, natives of that c,ountry; but his de(cription, although large, being confined to medicinal plants, has hardly comprifed one part of what provident nature has produced there for the benefit of mortals. Of the medicinal plants we lhould give but an imperfect account if we applied to the medicine of the Mexicans. With regard to the other clafies of vegetables, fomc arc efreemed for their :flowers, fome for their fruit, fome for their leaves, fome for their root, fome for their trunk or their wood, an~ others for their gum, refin, oil, or juice (q). Among the many :flowers which embelli!h the meads and adorn the gardens of the Mexic:1ns, there are fome worthy to be mentioned, either from the fingular beallty of their colours, the exquifite fragrance which they exhale, or the extraordinarinefs of their form. The F/oripzmdio which, on account of its fize, merits the firfl: mention, is a beautiful white odoriferous :flower, monopctalous, or confifl:- (p) ltztli is known in South America by the name of the Pictm del Galinnzzo. The cclchrnted Mr. aylus proves, in a manufcript Dilfcrtati()n, which M1·. Bomare has cited, that the (16jitlio11a, of which the ancients made their vaji muri11i, which were fo much cilecmcd, was cn tiul y firnilar to this fionc. (tt) We have adopted this though imperfeCt divi.fion of plants, ;tS it appears the moll: fuit;( hlc and adapted to the plan of our hiftory. Vot. I. D mg I 17 .BOOK J. '---v--J SeCt. VT. Pl:lnts e!l-c mM ed for their flowers. |