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106
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DE NATURA FOSSILIUM
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Cos (quartzite),
that is used to sharpen tools, is the next mineral to be considered.
Certainly every man has sharpened his knife on a whetstone as well as
the mower his scythe, the barber his razor and the carpenter his saw.
And what is more important all iron tools made or used by artisans are
sharpened on a whetstone. There are many species, some classified
according to the kind of liquid they require, others according to the
counÂtry where they are found. Oil is spread on some stones and these
produce the finest edge. They are called olearia. In Germany
these are used only by barbers for sharpening their razors. In Italy at
one time, according to Pliny, the men who did the mowing were in the
habit of carrying a horn of oil fastened to their leg and this was used
when sharpening their sythes. The finest of these stones is found today
in Germany in the district of that famous town which takes its name
from waters. Second quality stones are found in Saxony not far from
Garleba. The third quality are found in Bohemia. Pliny writes that for
a long time the finest were obtained from Crete and the second quality
from Laconia on Mt. Taygeta.
Certain whetstones are moistened with water and these are called aquaria. They
are found most abundantly along the rivers of Hesse, especially the
Lanus river near Marburg and the Eder near Francoberg. They were found
in Italy and beyond the Alps in Passernices according to Pliny. They
are found on Cyprus, Naxos, Arsinoe and in Armenia. At one time the
Naxos stones were considered to be the best, the Armenian, second.
A
third variety of whetstone is most efficient when moistened with both
water and oil. These come from Cilicia. A fourth variety is moistened
with saliva. According to Pliny these were used at one time by barbers
instead of the oil stones used today and he states that the finest of
these are the Flamin stones from Upper Spain.
Whetstones
vary in color. They are either black, as those from Saxony and some
from lower Germany, or green as are some of the Italian and many of the
Bohemian stones some of which have a distinctive white vein. Some of
the stones from Lower Germany have conspicuous alternating black and
white bands. Those found in the rivers of Hesse are usually dark
colored. The large blocks from which they make the drum-shaped
millÂstones have various colors, some being white or gray, others
whitish-gray, yellow or red. Regarding softness or hardness the oil
stones are soft, softer than the saliva stones used by most men. If
they slip from the hand and fall these usually break Water stones, on
the other hand are hard. The green stones from Bohemia are usually
harder than other oil stones and can be used for the same purposes as
the water stones. Stones are not discarded if the white veins running
through them have the same hardness as the rest of the stone. These
veins may be so soft that oil spread on the rest of the stone will
exude from them. Some stones have a natural cubic form. Some are long
and need only to be smoothed and perforated. When they are broad they
are cut into two or more stones. Each type is found
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