The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Gypsum Crystal [ARK00055]
Attached People: Collector (major) - Bargrave, John (1610-1680)Location(s): Current location at - Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives (Library and/or Archive) -> Canterbury Cathedral (Institution)
Annotation:[Canterbury Catalog: Lozenge shaped shard of crystal (gypsum) from land near Puteoly (Pozzuoli). In hand-sized samples, it can vary from transparent to opaque. A very fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum is called alabaster, which is prized for ornamental work of various sorts. In arid areas, gypsum can occur in a flower-like form typically opaque with embedded sand grains called desert rose. "Some of the floore of brimstone from that horrid sulfurious mountain ... called Sulfaterra, near Puteoly ... ". Solfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, and is part of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulphurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulphur", or "sulfur earth". It was formed around 4000 years ago and last erupted in 1198 with what was probably a phreatic eruption - an explosive steam-driven eruption caused when groundwater interacted with magma. The crater floor was a popular tourist attraction having many fumaroles and mud pools. The vapours have been used for medical purposes since the Roman period.] (undated)