Hill, who speaks of "remarkable earths dug out of pits." Though the original meaning is attractive, the use of the preposition kv does seem to suggest a place, and for this reason the translation "earth-pits" has been adopted.481
61. And all sorts of colors are obtained from them owing to the differences of the matter they contain . . . . The phrase immediately preceding this corrupt passage refers to substances caused by "some conflux and separation of matter which is purer and more uniform than that of the other kinds"; it is a recapitulation of what was said before, especially in section 2. This passage appears to be a similar recapitulation of what was said at the beginning of section 50. Though it is impossible to emend this passage with any certainty, what Theophrastus says in section 50 about the differences in savors may supply a hint. Turnebus changed ουντων to ποιούντων, and four of the editors, including Hill, followed him. He also inserted καί after υποκείμενων. Schneider suggested και δίηθούντων, referring to matter "filtering through" or "percolating."
61. some of them are softened and others are ground and melted, and in this way the stones that are brought from Asia are constructed.
That μαλάττοντ€ς ("softening") really means fusing or sintering in this context, and that τήκοντι-ς ("melting") means dissolving or leaching, seems more than likely from the use made of these words by Aristotle and Theophrastus.482 Though the word order suggests that the material was ground after it was dissolved or leached, it is highly probable that the grinding was done first. If so, Theophrastus is merely reversing the natural order of words, following the construction known in Greek as "hysteron proteron," just as he did in section 58 (πλννουσι καϊ τρίβονσιν).
Actually μαλάττοντβς is Schneider's emendation for μελαντώνTes, which appears in the manuscripts and makes no sense. But the emendation seems to be correct, especially as a contrast is again
481 "jije Etymologicum Magnum includes the noun yeai<t>ai>eior, which it describes as a place where there is a mine of earth (χωρίον iarlv ev φ 77js etrai μέταΧΚον).
482 Cf. the notes on sec. 48.
