X. The Method of making Sal Armoniac in Egypt. SAL ARMONIAC is made of dung, of which camels is esteemed the strongest and best. The little boys and girls run about the streets of Kairo, with baskets in their hands, picking up the dung, which they carry and sell to the keepers of the bagnios; or, if they keep it for their own burning, they afterwards sell the soot at the place where the Sal Armoniac is made. Also the villages round about Kairo, where they burn little else than dung, bring in their quota; but the best is gathered from the bagnios, where it crusts upon the wall, about half a finger's breadth. They mix it all together, and put it into large globular glasses, about the size of a peck, having a small vent like the neck of a bottle, but shorter. These glasses are thin as a wafer, but are strengthened by a treble coat of dirt, the mouths of them being luted with a piece of wet cotton. They are placed over the furnace, in a thick bed of ashes, nothing but the neck appearing, and kept there two days and a night, with a continual strong fire. The steam swells up the cotton, and forms a paste at the vent-hole, hindering thereby the salts from evaporating, which, being confined, stick to the top of the bottle, and are, upon breaking it, taken out in those large cakes, which they send to England. XI. An Account of the Weather at Alexandria in Egypt, in the months of January and February, A. D. 1639. JAN. 1. Faire, the wind little, and southerly. 2. Faire. 3. Faire, at night it rained a little. 4. Clowdy and rainy in the afternoon, and at night. 5. Clowdy, rainy and windy, N. W. 6. Very rainy and windy, N. W. day and all night. 7. Rainy 7. Rainy and windy. N. W. all day and night. 8. Rainy in the morning, very windy all day and night, at the latter end of the night very rainy, the wind was N. W. 9. The morning very rainy and windy, at night very rainy and windy. N. W. 10. All day very rainy and windy. N. W. The rain falls in sudden gusts, afterwards a little fair, then again clowdy and rainy. At night it rained very much, and in the morning snowed. 11. Friday, it rained, the afternoon fair, at night rainy. N. W. 12. Saturday in the morning rainy, the afternoon fair, and at Night little wind. 13. Sunday faire, a little wind. N. N. W. 14. Monday little wind S. E. faire. 15. Faire, little wind. S. E. the air full of vapours, so that although no Clowds, yet the body of the sun shined not bright. 16. Faire, little wind. S. E. 17. Faire, little wind. S. E. These four days, especially the two last, though no clouds, yet a caligo all day and night, so that the sun gave but a weak shadow, and the stars little light. This caligo or hazy weather arose partly from the rains that fell before, and partly from the usual overflowing of Nilus, 18. Friday like Thursday, or rather worse, the E. S. E. wind being great. 19. Saturday like Friday. 20. Sunday the wind N. and cloudy, night faire. 21. Monday the wind N. W. faire. 22. Tuesday faire, the wind N. W. it rained a little towards night, the wind 23. Wednesday fair, day and night, the wind N. W. The wind somewhat great. 24. Cloudy, at night it rained much. N. W. 25. Sometimes faire, sometimes cloudy. N. W. about 4 P. M. it rained, so likewise at night very much. 26. Saturday very windy. N. W. and often rainy. 27. In the day very windy. N. W. sometimes rainy, at night faire; no great wind but full of vapours; so that the polestar, nor the yards could be clearly seen. 28. In the day a dusky sky all over, yet not many clouds, the sun could not be seen, so at night, in the night it rained a little, the wind east. 29. The 29. The sky full of vapours, but not so obscure as the 28. a quarter of an hour before sun set, the sun being immerst in the vapours, about the horizon seemed for a while like burning iron, or like the moon, as I have seen sometimes in an eclipse, as she grew low or half, more or less appeared, and so by degrees, till the upper edge, at last she was quite lost, though not below the horizon. This may something serve to shew the manner of these vapours above 4 P. M. the N. N. W. begun to blow, all night faire. 30. Faire, N. N. W. 31. Faire, so till 10 at night, then it grew dusky from store of vapours by the east wind. Febr. 1. Clowdy at night, faire, sometimes clowdy, a very great N. W. wind and some rain. 2. Clowdy, faire, rainy, N. N. W. wind greate, Saturday at night.... 3. Very windy. N. N. W. often rainy day and night, very cold. 4. Monday very windy N. N. W. day and night, often rainy, very cold. 5. Tuesday very windy and clowdy. 6. Wednesday little wind N. at night obscure. 7. Thursday obscure and dusky, little wind. 8. Faire, little wind, at night the wind northerly, and it rained much. 9. Saturday morning rainy, afternoon fair, wind E. at night. 10. Very faire day and night, wind N. 21. Obscure, at night it rained much; being at Shimoone, a great village, some 50 miles from Cairo, on the outside of the riyer for fear of rogues; and there I saw boats of leather, and 2 men sailing upon 225 pots. An An Account of the same, A. D.1633. The merid. altitude of the sunne taken by my brasse quadrant of 7 feet, and sometimes by the brasse sextans of 4 feet, without respect to refraction or parallax. Decem. 3d. Having well rectified my instru ments. Quadr. 35 2c5 3001 191 Sext. 35 4. St. Vet. Tuesday the observat. very Quadr. 35 good. 52 35.30 TT Sext. 35 151 10. Clowdy, at night windy and rainy. Qu. 35 124 11. It was windy, clowdy and rainy, I obs. well in the break ing up of a clowd. 12. Clowdy and rainy. 13. Clowdy. 14. Very windy, in the morning it rained much. Qu. 35. 136 15. Clowdy. 23. The obs. good, at 3 o'clock, and in the night it rained much, the wind westerly. Qu. 35. 28< 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. It rained exceedingly day and night, with great winds from the W. N. W. The The observations which were hitherto made of the sunne by the brasse quadrant, were by taking of the shadow on the top of the ruler by the other sight or top at the end. These which follow, were taken by letting the shadow of the cylindar fall upon one of the faces, which is thus marked. Dec. 31. St. Vet. the wind northerly, the obs. good. Jan. 2. St. Vet. 3. St. Vet. 4. St. Vet. (58.55.) Jan. 25. St. Vet. the quadrant with the rular, the cylindar being broken, the obs. good. N. W. Qu. 42. 206 Nummi nonnulli ab auctore in Africa collecti, quique in ea regione cusi fuisse videntur. 1. REX IVBA *. Caput Juba, diadematum. Crocodilus +. VOL. II. 3D 2. D. *Juba, quem exhibet hic nummus, secundus fuit istius nominis, qui uxorem duxit Cleopatram t, cognomine Selenen, Antonii triumviri et Cleopatræ Ægypti reginæ filiam. Filium habuit Ptolemæum, regum Numidarum ultimum, qui a Caligula interfectus fuit Porro Juba hic noster fuit Jubæ I. filius, Hiempsalis nepos, Gaudæ pronepos, Masinisæ pronepotis nepos. Ita enim se habet series illa regum Numidarum, quam in R. Reineccio (de Famil. Tab. 43. p. 329.) interruptam videmus, ut fidem facit inscriptio hæc sequens antiqua, quam in arce Carthaginis Novæ apud Hispaniam invenit mecumque communicavit V. R. Pa Ximenes. REGI IVBAE REGIS IVBAE FILIO REGIS IEMPSALIS N. REGIS GAVD. PRONEPOTIS NEPOTI VIR QVIINQ PATRONO + Crocodilus, utpote Niloticum animal, symbolum fuit Ægypti, unde Clepatra duxit originem. |