Natural History (Pliny) developed for counterfeit coins and proved very popular with the victims, mostly ordinary people. He deals with the liquid metal mercury, also found in silver mines. He records that it is toxic, and amalgamates with gold, so is used for refining and extracting that metal. He says mercury is used for gilding copper, while antimony is found in silver mines and is used as an eyebrow cosmetic. The main ore of mercury is cinnabar, long used as a pigment by painters. He says that the colour is similar to "scolecium", probably the kermes insect. The dust is very toxic, so
Cinnabar moth eggs. The larvae absorb toxic and bitter tasting alkaloid substances from the foodplants, and assimilate them, becoming unpalatable themselves. The bright colours of both the larvae and the moths act as warning signs, so they are seldom eaten by predators. An exception is among different species of Cuckoo which eat hairy and poisonous caterpillars including cinnabar moth larvae. Females can lay up to 300 eggs, usually in batches of 30 to 60 on the underside of ragwort leaves. When the caterpillars (larvae) hatch they feed on and around the area of the hatched eggs but as they get bigger and