§2.8#2μαρτυρεῖ δʼ ἡ γένεσις αὐτή· δόξειε γὰρ ἄν ὑπὸ πυρὸς ἅπαντα ταῦτα μεταβαλεῖν, εἴπερ ὁμοίαν ἢ παραπλησίαν δεῖ τὴν ἐνταῦθα τῇ φυσικῇ νομίζειν.
And the generation itself bears witness; for all these things would seem to change under the influence of fire, if indeed one must consider the art here to be similar or near to the natural process.
ἔστι δὲ, ὥσπερ καὶ μίλτος ἡ μὲν αὐτόματος ἡ δὲ τεχνικὴ, καὶ κύανος ὁ μὲν αὐτοφυὴς ὁ δὲ σκευαστὸς ὥσπερ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ.
And there is, just as also red ochre is partly natural and partly artificial, so too kyanos is partly natural and partly prepared, as in Egypt.
γένη δὲ κυάνου τρία, ὁ αἰγύπτιος καὶ σκύθης καὶ τρίτος ὁ κύπριος.
And there are three kinds of kyanos: the Egyptian, the Scythian, and thirdly the Cyprian.
βέλτιστος δʼ ὁ αἰγύπτιος εἰς τὰ ἄκρατα λειώματα ὁ δὲ σκύθης εἰς τὰ ὑδαρέστερα.
The Egyptian is best for undiluted washes, and the Scythian for more watery ones.
σκευαστὸς δʼ ὁ αἰγύπτιος.
And the Egyptian is prepared.
καὶ οἱ γράφοντες τὰ περὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς καὶ τοῦτο γράφουσι, τίς πρῶτος βασιλεύς ἐποίησε χυτὸν κύανον μιμησάμενος τὸν αὐτοφυῆ, δῶρά τε πέμπεσθαι παρʼ ἄλλων τε καὶ ἐκ Φοινίκης φόρον κυάνου, τοῦ μὲν ἀπύρου τοῦ δὲ πεπυρωμένου.
And those who write the histories of the kings also record this, namely, which king first made melted kyanos in imitation of the natural kind, and that gifts were sent by others, and from Phoenicia a tribute of kyanos, part of it unburnt, part of it burnt.
φασὶ δὲ οἱ τὰ φάρμακα τρίβοντες τὸν μὲν κύανον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ ποιεῖν χρώματα τέτταρα, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκ τῶν λεπτοτάτων λεπτότατον, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἐκ παχυτάτων μελάντατον.
And those who grind pigments say that kyanos of itself produces four colors: the first, the finest from the finest parts; the second, the darkest from the coarsest parts.
ταῦτά τε δὴ τέχνῃ γίνεται καὶ ἔτι τὸ ψιμύθιον.
These then are produced by art, and also white lead.
τίθεται γὰρ μόλυβδος ὑπὲρ ὄξους ἐν πίθοις ἡλίκον πλίνθος.
For lead as large as a brick is placed over vinegar in jars.
ὅταν δὲ λάβῃ πάχος, λαμβάνει δὲ μάλιστα ἐν ἡμέραις δέκα, τότʼ ἀνοίγουσιν, εἶτʼ ἀποξύουσιν ὥσπερ εὐρῶτά τινα ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάλιν, ἕως ἄν καταναλώσωσι.
And when it has acquired thickness—and it acquires this especially in ten days—then they open them, and then scrape off a kind of mold from it, and do so again, until they have consumed it.
τὸ δʼ ἀποξυόμενον ἐν τριπτῆρι τρίβουσι καὶ ἀφηθοῦσιν ἀεὶ, τὸ δʼ ἔσχατον ὑφιστάμενόν ἐστι τὸ ψιμύθιον.
They grind the scraped-off material in a mortar and filter it continually, and that which finally settles at the bottom is white lead.
παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ ὁ ἰὸς γίνεται· χαλκὸς γὰρ ἐρυθρὸς ὑπὲρ τρυγὸς τίθεται καὶ ἀποξύεται τὸ ἐπιγινόμενον αὐτῷ· ἐπιφαίνεται γὰρ ὁ ἰός.
And verdigris is produced in a similar way; for red copper is placed over wine-dregs, and what forms upon it is scraped off; for verdigris appears on it.
γίνεται δὲ καὶ κιννάβαρι τὸ μὲν αὐτοφυὲς τὸ δὲ κατʼ ἐργασίαν.
And cinnabar also occurs, partly natural and partly by preparation.
αὐτοφυὲς μὲν τὸ περὶ Ἰβηρίαν σκληρὸν σφόδρα καὶ λιθῶδες, καὶ τὸ ἐν Κόλχοις.
The natural kind is that of Iberia, which is very hard and stony, and that in Colchis.
τοῦτο δέ φασιν εἶναι (ἐπὶ) κρημνῶν ὃ καταβάλλουσι τοξεύοντες.
This latter, they say, is on cliffs, from which they bring it down by shooting arrows.
τὸ δὲ κατʼ ἐργασίαν ὑπὲρ Ἐφέσου μικρὸν ἐξ ἑνὸς τόπου μόνον.
The prepared kind is found a little above Ephesus, from one place only.
ἔστι δʼ ἄμμος ἣν συλλέγουσι λαμπυρίζουσαν καθάπερ ὁ κόκκος· ταύτην δὲ τρίψαντες ὅλως ἐν ἀγγείοις λιθίνοις λειοτάτην πλύνουσιν ἐν χαλκοῖς τὸ δʼ ὑφιστάμενον πάλιν λαβόντες πλύνουσι καὶ τρίβουσιν, ἐν ᾧπέρ ἐστι τὸ τῆς τέχνης οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου πολὺ περιποιοῦσιν, οἱ δʼ ὀλίγον ἢ οὐθέν· ἀλλὰ πλύσματι (τῷ) ἐπάνω χρῶνται ἓν πρὸς ἓν ἀλείφοντες.
It is a sand which they collect, shining like cochineal; and having thoroughly ground this in stone vessels until it is very fine, they wash it in bronze ones; and taking what settles, they wash and grind it again; and in this lies the skill of the art: for some make a great deal from an equal amount, others little or nothing; but they use the washings on top, smearing it one to one.
γίνεται δὲ τὸ μὲν ὑφιστάμενον κάτω κιννάβαρι, τὸ δʼ ἐπάνω καὶ πλεῖον πλύσμα.
And that which settles below becomes cinnabar, while that on top and more abundant is the wash.
καταδεῖξαι δέ φασι καὶ εὑρεῖν τὴν ἐργασίαν Καλλίαν τινὰ Ἀθηναῖον ἐκ τῶν ἀργυρείων, ὃς οἰόμενος ἔχειν τὴν ἄμμον χρυσίον διὰ τὸ λαμπυρίζειν ἐπραγματεύετο καὶ συνέλεγεν.
And they say that a certain Callias of Athens from the silver mines showed and discovered this process; who, thinking that the sand contained gold because of its shining, worked on it and collected it.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἤσθετο ὅτι οὐκ ἔχει τὸ δὲ τῆς ἄμμου κάλλος ἐθαύμαζε διὰ τὴν χρόαν οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν ἦλθε ταύτην.
But when he realized that it did not, but admired the beauty of the sand because of its color, he thus came to this process.
οὐ παλαιὸν δʼἐστὶν ἀλλὰ περὶ ἔτη μάλιστʼ ἐνενήκοντα εἰς ἄρχοντα Πραξίβουλον Ἀθήνῃσι.
And it is not ancient, but about ninety years ago, in the archonship of Praxibulus at Athens.
φανερὸν δʼ ἐκ τούτων ὅτι μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν ἡ τέχνη, τὰ δʼ ἴδια ποιεῖ, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν χρήσεως χάριν τὰ δὲ μόνον φαντασίας ὥσπερ τὰς ἄλπεις ἔνια δὲ ἴσως ἀμφοῖν ὥσπερ χυτὸν ἄργυρον.
It is clear from these things that art imitates nature, but also makes its own unique things, and of these some are for the sake of utility, others only for display, such as cosmetics, and some perhaps for both, like liquid silver.
ἔστι γάρ τις χρεία καὶ τούτου.
For there is also a certain use for this.
ποιεῖται δὲ ὅταν τὸ (κιννάβαρι) τριφθῇ μετʼ ὄξους ἐν ἀγγείῳ χαλκῷ καὶ δοίδυκι χαλκῷ.
And it is made when cinnabar is ground with vinegar in a bronze vessel and with a bronze pestle.
τὰ μὲν οἦν τοιαύτα τάχʼ ἄν τις λάβοι πλείω.
Perhaps one might find more such things.