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BOOK II
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35
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had not appealed to them more.12 Sil is
the color of clay and is comÂmonly used by painters instead of
orpiment, according to Theophrastus, who writes that there is no
difference in their colors. Just as sil and orpiment have
similar colors, the tawny earth that has no name is similar in color to
realgar although they differ widely in other propÂerties. Ocherous
earths occur abundantly not only in mines but also in distinctive
veins. A variety from Athens is the best. The Athenian deposits,
related to silver mines, were not worked in the time of Vitru-vius
because of the scarcity of slaves. Today this earth comes from a
portion of Hungary formerly called Dacia; Raetia; the silver mines of
Germany; and from Hildesheim, between that city and a cave named for
dwarfs, where it occurs in crusts. It is found between Alfeld and
Em-becca where it often has the appearance of sea shells. This earth
has the appearance of pipes in a deposit in Hildesheim on the road
between Hasda and Sarsteda. The painters of Hanover burn the ocher
found in limestone quarries and use this instead of red ocher. Red
ocher is made from purple ocher by first burning it and then when it is
red hot quenching it with vinegar. Ocher has an acrid taste. It is used
in medicine to cure tumors, mumps, and to retard swellings. Mixed with
wax it fills hollows in the flesh and retards stiffening of the joints.
12 Pliny uses the name sil for yellow ocher.
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