XXXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES (part 1 of 2)

XXXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES (part 1 of 2)

CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE FIRST USE OF PRECIOUS STONES.

That nothing may be wanting to the work which I have undertaken, it still remains for me to speak of precious stones: a subject in which the majestic might of Nature presents itself to us, contracted within a very limited space, though, in the opinion of many, nowhere displayed in a more admirable form. So great is the value that men attach to the multiplied varieties of these gems, their numerous colours, their constituent parts, and their singular beauty, that, in the case of some of them, it is looked upon as no less than sacrilege to engrave them, for signets even, the very purpose for which, in reality, they were made. Others, again, are regarded as beyond all price, and could not be valued at any known amount of human wealth; so much so that, in the case of many, it is quite sufficient to have some single gem or other before the eyes, there to behold the supreme and absolute perfection of Nature’s work.

We have already[2889] stated, to some extent, when speaking on the subject of gold and rings, how the use of precious stones first originated, and from what beginnings this admiration of them has now increased to such an universal passion. According to fabulous lore, the first use of them was suggested by the rocks of Caucasus, in consequence of an unhappy interpretation which was given to the story of the chains of Prometheus: for we are told by tradition, that he enclosed a fragment of this stone in iron, and wore it upon his finger;[2890] such being the first ring and the first jewel known.

CHAP. 2.—THE JEWEL OF POLYCRATES.

With a beginning such as this, the value set upon precious stones increased to such a boundless extent, that Polycrates,[2891] the tyrant of Samos, who ruled over the islands and the adjacent shores, when he admitted that his good fortune had been too great, deemed it a sufficient expiation for all this enjoyment of happiness, to make a voluntary sacrifice of a single precious stone; thinking thereby to balance accounts with the inconstancy of fortune, and, by this single cause for regret, abundantly to buy off every ill-will she might entertain. Weary, therefore, of his continued prosperity, he embarked on board a ship, and, putting out to sea, threw the ring which he wore into the waves. It so happened, however, that a fish of remarkable size, one destined for the table of a king, swallowed the jewel, as it would have done a bait; and then, to complete the portentous omen, restored it again to the owner in the royal kitchen, by the ruling hand of a treacherous[2892] fortune.

The stone in this ring, it is generally agreed, was a sardonyx,[2893] and they still show one at Rome, which, if we believe the story, was this identical stone. It is enclosed in a horn of gold, and was deposited, by the Emperor Augustus, in the Temple of Concord, where it holds pretty nearly the lowest rank among a multitude of other jewels that are preferable to it.

CHAP. 3.—THE JEWEL OF PYRRHUS.

Next in note after this ring, is the jewel that belonged to another king, Pyrrhus, who was so long at war with the Romans. It is said that there was in his possession an agate,[2894] upon which were to be seen the Nine Muses and Apollo holding a lyre; not a work of art, but the spontaneous produce of Nature,[2895] the veins in it being so arranged that each of the Muses had her own peculiar attribute.

With the exception of these two jewels, authors make no mention of any others that have been rendered famous. We only find it recorded by them, that Ismenias the flute-player[2896] was in the habit of displaying great numbers of glittering stones, a piece of vanity, on his part, which gave occasion to the following story. An emerald,[2897] upon which was engraved a figure of Amymone,[2898] being offered for sale in the Isle of Cyprus at the price of six golden denarii, he gave orders to purchase it. The dealer however, reduced the price, and returned two denarii; upon which, Ismenias remarked—“By Hercules! he has done me but a bad turn in this, for the merit of the stone has been greatly impaired by this reduction in price.”

It seems to have been this Ismenias who introduced the universal practice among musicians of proclaiming their artistic merit by this kind of ostentation. Thus Dionysodorus, for instance, his contemporary and rival, imitated his example, in order that he might not appear to be his inferior in skill; whereas, in reality, he only held the third rank among the musicians of that day. Nicomachus, too, it is said, was the possessor of great numbers of precious stones, though selected with but little taste. In mentioning these illustrations, by way of prelude to this Book, it is by no means improbable that they may have the appearance of being addressed to those, who, piquing themselves upon a similar display, become puffed up with a vanity which is evidently much more appropriate to a performer on the flute.

CHAP. 4.—WHO WERE THE MOST SKILFUL LAPIDARIES. THE FINEST SPECIMENS OF ENGRAVING ON PRECIOUS STONES.

The stone of the ring[2899] which is now shown as that of Polycrates, is untouched and without engraving. In the time of Ismenias, long[2900] after his day, it would appear to have become the practice to engrave smaragdi even; a fact which is established by an edict of Alexander the Great, forbidding his portrait to be cut upon this stone by any other engraver than Pyrgoteles,[2901] who, no doubt, was the most famous adept in this art. Since his time, Apollonides and Cronius have excelled in it; as also Dioscurides,[2902] who engraved a very excellent likeness of the late Emperor Augustus upon a signet, which, ever since, the Roman emperors have used. The Dictator Sylla, it is said, always made use of a seal[2903] which represented the surrender of Jugurtha. Authors inform us also, that the native of Intercatia,[2904] whose father challenged Scipio Æmilianus,[2905] and was slain by him, was in the habit of using a signet with a representation of this combat engraved upon it; a circumstance which gave rise to the well-known joke of Stilo Præconinus,[2906] who naively enquired, what he would have done if Scipio had been the person slain?

The late Emperor Augustus was in the habit, at first, of using the figure of a Sphinx[2907] for his signet; having found two of them, among the jewels of his mother, that were perfectly alike. During the Civil Wars, his friends used to employ one of these signets, in his absence, for sealing such letters and edicts as the circumstances of the times required to be issued in his name; it being far from an unmeaning pleasantry on the part of those who received these missives, that the Sphinx always brought its enigmas[2908] with it. The frog, too, on the seal of Mæcenas, was held in great terror, by reason of the monetary imposts which it announced. At a later period, with the view of avoiding the sarcasms relative to the Sphinx, Augustus made use of a signet with a figure upon it of Alexander the Great.

CHAP. 5.—THE FIRST DACTYLIOTHECÆ AT ROME.

A collection of precious stones bears the foreign name of “dactyliotheca.”[2909] The first person who possessed one at Rome was Scaurus,[2910] the step-son of Sylla; and, for a long time, there was no other such collection there, until at length Pompeius Magnus consecrated in the Capitol, among other donations, one that had belonged to King Mithridates; and which, as M. Varro and other authors of that period assure us, was greatly superior to that of Scaurus. Following his example, the Dictator Cæsar consecrated six dactyliothecæ in the Temple of Venus Genetrix; and Marcellus, the son of Octavia,[2911] presented one to the Temple of the Palatine Apollo.

CHAP. 6.—JEWELS DISPLAYED AT ROME IN THE TRIUMPH OF POMPEIUS MAGNUS.

But it was this conquest by Pompeius Magnus that first introduced so general a taste for pearls and precious stones; just as the victories, gained by L. Scipio[2912] and Cneius Manlius,[2913] had first turned the public attention to chased silver, Attalic tissues, and banquetting-couches decorated with bronze; and the conquests of L. Mummius had brought Corinthian bronzes and pictures into notice.

(2.) To prove more fully that this was the case, I will here give the very words of the public Registers[2914] with reference to the triumphs of Pompeius Magnus. On the occasion of his third triumph, over the Pirates and over the Kings and nations of Asia and Pontus that have been already enumerated in the Seventh Book[2915] of this work, M. Fiso and M. Messala being consuls,[2916] on the day before[2917] the calends of October, the anniversary of his birth, he displayed in public, with its pieces, a chess-board,[2918] made of two precious stones, three feet in width by two in length—and to leave no doubt that the resources of Nature do become exhausted, I will here observe, that no precious stones are to be found at the present day, at all approaching such dimensions as these; as also that there was upon this board a moon of solid gold, thirty pounds in weight!—three banquetting-couches; vessels for nine waiters, in gold and precious stones; three golden statues of Minerva, Mars, and Apollo; thirty-three crowns adorned with pearls; a square mountain of gold, with stags upon it, lions, and all kinds of fruit, and surrounded with a vine of gold; as also a musæum,[2919] adorned with pearls, with an horologe[2920] upon the top of it.

There was a likeness also in pearls of Pompeius himself, his noble countenance, with the hair thrown back from the forehead, delighting the eye. Yes, I say, those frank features, so venerated throughout all nations, were here displayed in pearls! the severity of our ancient manners being thus subdued, and the display being more the triumph of luxury than the triumph of conquest. Never, most assuredly, would Pompeius have so long maintained his surname of “Magnus” among the men of that day, if on the occasion of his first[2921] conquest his triumph had been such as this. Thy portrait in pearls, O Magnus! those resources of prodigality, that have been discovered for the sake of females only! Thy portrait in pearls, refinements in luxury, which the Roman laws would not have allowed thee to wear even! And was it in this way that thy value must be appreciated? Would not that trophy have given a more truthful likeness of thee which thou hadst erst erected upon the Pyrenæan[2922] mountain heights? Assuredly such a portrait as this had been no less than a downright ignominy and disgrace, were we not bound to behold in it a menacing presage of the anger of the gods, and to see foreshadowed thereby the time when that head, now laden with the wealth of the East, was to be displayed, severed from the body.[2923]

But in other respects, how truly befitting the hero was this triumph! To the state, he presented two thousand millions of sesterces; to the legati and quæstors who had exerted themselves in defence of the sea coast, he gave one thousand millions of sesterces; and to each individual soldier, six thousand sesterces. He has rendered, however, comparatively excusable the Emperor Caius,[2924] who, in addition to other feminine luxuries, used to wear shoes adorned with pearls; as also the Emperor Nero, who used to adorn his sceptres with masks worked in pearls, and had the couches, destined for his pleasures, made of the same costly materials. Nay, we have no longer any right, it would seem, to censure the employment of drinking-cups adorned with precious stones, of various other articles in daily use that are similarly enriched, and of rings that sparkle with gems: for what species of luxury can there be thought of, that was not more innocent in its results than this on the part of Pompeius?

CHAP. 7.—AT WHAT PERIOD MURRHINE VESSELS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED AT ROME. INSTANCES OF LUXURY IN REFERENCE TO THEM.

It was the same conquest, too, that first introduced murrhine[2925] vessels at Rome; Pompeius being the first to dedicate, at the conclusion of this triumph, vases and cups, made of this material, in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus: a circumstance which soon brought them into private use, waiters, even, and eating-utensils made of murrhine being in great request. This species of luxury, too, is daily on the increase, a single cup, which would hold no more than three sextarii, having been purchased at the price of seventy thousand sesterces. A. person of consular rank, who some years[2926] ago used to drink out of this cup, grew so passionately fond of it, as to gnaw its edges even, an injury, however, which has only tended to enhance its value: indeed there is now no vessel in murrhine that has ever been estimated at a higher figure than this. We may form some opinion how much money this same personage swallowed up in articles of this description, from the fact that the number of them was so great, that, when the Emperor Nero deprived his children of them, and they were exposed to public view, they occupied a whole theatre to themselves, in the gardens beyond the Tiber; a theatre which was found sufficiently large even, for the audience that attended on the occasion when Nero[2927] rehearsed his musical performances before his appearance in the Theatre of Pompeius. It was at this exhibition, too, that I saw counted the broken fragments of a single cup, which it was thought proper to preserve in an urn and display, I suppose, with the view of exciting the sorrows of the world, and of exposing the cruelty of fortune; just as though it had been no less than the body of Alexander the Great himself!

T. Petronius,[2928] a personage of consular rank, intending, from his hatred of Nero, to disinherit the table of that prince, broke a murrhine basin, which had cost him no less than three hundred thousand sesterces. But Nero himself, as it was only proper for a prince to do, surpassed them all, by paying one million of sesterces for a single cup: a fact well worthy of remembrance, that an emperor, the father of his country, should have drunk from a vessel of such costly price!

CHAP. 8.—THE NATURE OF MURRHINE VESSELS.

Murrhine vessels come from the East, in numerous localities of which, remarkable for nothing else, they are to be found. It is in the empire of the Parthians, more particularly, that they are met with, though those of the very finest quality come to us from Carmania.[2929] It is generally thought that these vessels are formed of a moist substance, which under ground becomes solidified by heat.[2930] In size they never exceed a small waiter,[2931] and, as to thickness, they rarely admit of being used as drinking-cups, so large as those already[2932] mentioned. The brightness of them is destitute of strength, and it may be said that they are rather shining than brilliant.[2933] But the chief merit of them is the great variety of their colours, and the wreathed veins, which, every here and there, present shades of purple and white, with a mixture of the two; the purple gradually changing, as it were, to a fiery red, and the milk-white assuming a ruddy hue. Some persons praise the edges of these vessels more particularly, with a kind of reflection in the colours, like those beheld in the rain-bow. Others, again, are more pleased with them when quite opaque, it being considered a demerit when they are at all transparent, or of a pallid hue. The appearance, too, of crystals[2934] in them is highly prized, and of spots that look like warts; not prominent, but depressed, as we mostly see upon the human body. The perfume,[2935] too, of which they smell, is looked upon as an additional recommendation.

CHAP. 9—THE NATURE OF CRYSTAL.

It is a diametrically opposite cause to this that produces crystal,[2936] a substance which assumes a concrete form from excessive congelation.[2937] At all events, crystal is only to be found in places where the winter snow freezes with the greatest intensity; and it is from the certainty that it is a kind of ice, that it has received the name[2938] which it bears in Greek. The East, too, sends us crystal, there being none preferred to the produce of India. It is to be found, also, in Asia, that of the vicinity of Alabanda,[2939] Orthosia,[2940] and the neighbouring mountains, being held in a very low degree of esteem. In Cyprus, also, there is crystal, but that found upon the Alpine heights in Europe is, in general, more highly valued. According to Juba, there is crystal in a certain island of the Red Sea, opposite the coast of Arabia, called “Necron;”[2941] as, also, in another neighbouring island[2942] which produces the precious stone known as the “topazus;” where a block of crystal was extracted, he says, by Pythagoras, the præfect of King Ptolemæus, no less than a cubit in length.

Cornelius Bocchus informs us that in Lusitania, there have been blocks of crystal found, of extraordinary weight, in sinking shafts in the Ammiensian[2943] mountains there, to a water-level for the supply of wells. It is a marvellous fact, stated by Xenocrates of Ephesus, that in Asia and in the Isle of Cyprus, crystal is turned up by the plough; it having been the general belief that it is never to be found in terreous soils, and only in rocky localities. That is much more probable which the same Xenocrates tells us, when he says that the mountain streams often bring down with them fragments of crystal. Sudines says, that crystal is only to be found in localities that face the south, a thing that is known to be really the fact: indeed, it is never found in humid spots, however cold the climate may be, even though the rivers there freeze to the very bottom. Rain-water and pure snow are absolutely necessary for its formation,[2944] and hence it is, that it is unable to endure heat, being solely employed for holding liquids that are taken cold. From the circumstance of its being hexagonal[2945] and hexahedral, it is not easy to penetrate this substance; and the more so, as the pyramidal terminations do not always have the same appearance. The polish on its faces is so exquisite, that no art can possibly equal it.

CHAP. 10.—LUXURY DISPLAYED IN THE USE OF CRYSTAL. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CRYSTAL.

The largest block of crystal that has ever been beheld by us, is the one that was consecrated by Julia Augusta in the Capitol, and which weighed about one hundred and fifty pounds.[2946] Xenocrates speaks of having seen a vase of crystal, which held one amphora,[2947] and we find other writers mentioning a vessel from India which held four sextarii. For my own part, I can positively say, that there is crystal amid the crags of the Alps, so difficult of access, that it is usually found necessary to be suspended by ropes in order to extract it. Persons who are experienced in the matter detect its presence by certain signs and indications.

Crystal is subject to numerous defects, sometimes presenting a rough, solder-like, substance, or else clouded by spots upon it; while occasionally it contains some hidden humour[2948] within, or is traversed by hard and brittle knurrs,[2949] which are known as “salt grains.”[2950] Some crystal, too, has a red rust upon it, while, in other instances, it contains filaments that look like flaws, a defect which artists conceal by engraving it. But where crystals are entirely free from defect, they are preferred uncut; in which case, they are known as “acenteta,”[2951] and have the colour, not of foam, but of limpid water. In the last place, the weight of crystals is a point which is taken into consideration.

I find it stated by medical men that the very best cautery for the human body is a ball of crystal acted upon by the rays of the sun.[2952] This substance, too, has been made the object of a mania; for, not many years ago, a mistress of a family, who was by no means very rich, gave one hundred and fifty thousand sesterces for a single basin made of crystal. Nero, on receiving tidings that all was lost, in the excess of his fury, dashed two cups of crystal to pieces; this being his last act of vengeance upon his fellow-creatures, preventing any one from ever drinking again from these vessels. Crystal, when broken, cannot by any possibility be mended. Vessels in glass have been brought to a marvellous degree of resemblance to crystal; and yet, wonderful to say, they have only tended to enhance the value of crystal, and in no way to depreciate it.

CHAP. 11.—AMBER: THE MANY FALSEHOODS THAT HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT IT.

Next in rank among the objects of luxury, we have amber;[2953] an article which, for the present, however, is in request among women[2954] only. All these three last-mentioned substances hold the same rank, no doubt, as precious stones; the two former for certain fair reasons; crystal, because it is adapted for taking cool drinks, and murrhine vessels, for taking drinks that are either hot or cold. But as for amber, luxury has not been able, as yet, to devise any justification for the use of it. This is a subject which affords us an excellent opportunity of exposing some of the frivolities and falsehoods of the Greeks; and I beg that my readers will only have patience with me while I do so, it being really worth while, for our own practical improvement, to become acquainted with the marvellous stories which they have promulgated respecting amber.

After Phaëthon had been struck by lightning, his sisters, they tell us, became changed into poplars,[2955] which every year shed their tears upon the banks of the Eridanus, a river known to us as the “Padus.” To these tears was given the name of “electrum,”[2956] from the circumstance that the Sun was usually called “elector.” Such is the story, at all events, that is told by many of the poets, the first of whom were, in my opinion, Æschylus, Philoxenus, Euripides, Satyrus, and Nicander; and the falsity of which is abundantly proved upon the testimony of Italy itself.[2957] Those among the Greeks who have devoted more attention to the subject, have spoken of certain islands in the Adriatic Sea, known as the “Electrides,” and to which the Padus,[2958] they say, carries down electrum. It is the fact, however, that there never were any islands there so called, nor, indeed, any islands so situate as to allow of the Padus carrying down anything in its course to their shores. As to Æschylus placing the Eridanus in Iberia, or, in other words, in Spain, and giving it the name of Rhodanus; and as to Euripides and Apollonius representing the Rhodanus and the Padus as discharging themselves by one common mouth on the shores of the Adriatic; we can forgive them all the more readily for knowing nothing about amber when they betray such monstrous ignorance of geography.

Other writers, again, who are more guarded in their assertions, have told us, though with an equal degree of untruthfulness, that, at the extremity of the Adriatic Gulf, upon certain inaccessible rocks there, there are certain trees[2959] which shed their gum at the rising of the Dog-Star. Theophrastus[2960] has stated that amber is extracted from the earth in Liguria;[2961] Chares, that Phaëthon died in the territory of Hammon, in Æthiopia, where there is a temple of his and an oracle, and where amber is produced; Philemon, that it is a fossil substance, and that it is found in two different localities in Scythia, in one of which it is of a white and waxen colour, and is known as “electrum;” while in the other it is red, and is called “sualiternicum.” Demostratus calls amber “lyncurion,”[2962] and he says that it originates in the urine of the wild beast known as the “lynx;” that voided by the male producing a red and fiery substance, and that by the female an amber of a white and less pronounced colour: he also informs us that by some persons it is called “langurium,” and that in Italy, there are certain wild beasts known as “languri.” Zeuothemis, however, calls these wild beasts “langæ,” and gives the banks of the river Padus as their locality. Sudines says, that it is a tree in reality, that produces amber, and that, in Etruria, this tree is known by the name of “lynx;” an opinion which is also adopted by Metrodorus. Sotacus expresses a belief that amber exudes from certain stones in Britannia, to which he gives the name of “electrides.” Pytheas says that the Gutones,[2963] a people of Germany, inhabit the shores of an estuary of the Ocean called Mentonomon, their territory extending a distance of six thousand stadia; that, at one day’s sail from this territory, is the Isle of Abalus, upon the shores of which, amber is thrown up by the waves in spring, it being an excretion of the sea in a concrete form; as, also, that the inhabitants use this amber by way of fuel, and sell it to their neighbours, the Teutones. Timæus, too, is of the same belief, but he has given to the island the name of Basilia.[2964]

Philemon says that electrum does not yield a flame.[2965] Nicias, again, will have it, that it is a liquid produced by the rays of the sun; and that these rays, at the moment of the sun’s setting, striking with the greatest force upon the surface of the soil, leave upon it an unctuous sweat, which is carried off by the tides of the Ocean, and thrown up upon the shores of Germany. He states, also, that in Egypt it is similarly produced, and is there called “sacal;”[2966] that it is found in India, too, where it is held as a preferable substitute for frankincense; and that in Syria the women make the whirls of their spindles of this substance, and give it the name of “harpax,”[2967] from the circumstance that it attracts leaves towards it, chaff, and the light fringe of tissues. According to Theochrestus, amber is thrown up by the tides of the Ocean, at the foot of the Pyrenæan range; an opinion adopted also by Xenocrates. Asarubas, who has written the most recently upon these subjects, and is still living, informs us, that near the shores of the Atlantic is Lake Cephisis, known to the Mauri by the name of “Electrum;” and that when this lake is dried up by the sun, the slime of it produces amber, which floats upon the surface. Mnaseas speaks of a locality in Africa called Sicyon, and of a river Crathis there, which discharges itself from a lake into the Ocean, the banks of which are frequented by birds which he calls “meleagrides”[2968] and “penelopes:” it is here that, according to him, electrum is produced, in manner above mentioned. Theomenes says that near the Greater Syrtis are the Gardens of the Hesperides, and Lake Electrum: on the banks, he says, are poplars, from the summits of which amber falls into the water below, where it is gathered by the maidens of the Hesperides.

Ctesias asserts that there is in India[2969] a river called Hypobarus, a word which signifies “bearer of all good things;” that this river flows from the north into the Eastern Ocean, where it discharges itself near a mountain covered with trees which produce electrum; and that these trees are called “siptachoræ,” the meaning of which is “intense sweetness.” Mithridates says, that off the shores of Germany there is an island called “Serita,”[2970] covered with a kind of cedar, from which amber falls upon the rocks. According to Xenocrates, this substance is called, in Italy, not only “succinum,” but “thieum” as well, the Scythian name of it, for there also it is to be found, being “sacrium:” others, he says, are of opinion that it is a product of Numidia. But the one that has surpassed them all is Sophocles, the tragic poet; a thing that indeed surprises me, when I only consider the surpassing gravity of his lofty style, the high repute that he enjoyed in life, his elevated position by birth at Athens, his various exploits, and his high military command. According to him, amber is produced in the countries beyond India, from the tears that are shed for Meleager, by the birds called “meleagrides!”[2971] Who can be otherwise than surprised that he should have believed such a thing as this, or have hoped to persuade others to believe it? What child, too, could possibly be found in such a state of ignorance as to believe that birds weep once a year, that their tears are so prolific as this, or that they go all the way from Greece, where Meleager died, to India to weep? “But then,” it will be said, “do not the poets tell many other stories that are quite as fabulous?” Such is the fact, no doubt, but for a person seriously to advance such an absurdity with reference to a thing so common as amber, which is imported every day and so easily proves the mendacity of this assertion, is neither more nor less than to evince a supreme contempt for the opinions of mankind, and to assert with impunity an intolerable falsehood.

(3.) There can be no doubt that amber is a product of the islands of the Northern Ocean, and that it is the substance by the Germans called “glæsum;”[2972] for which reason the Romans, when Germanicus Cæsar commanded the fleet in those parts, gave to one of these islands the name of Glæsaria,[2973] which by the barbarians was known as Austeravia. Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the pine[2974] genus, like gum from the cherry, and resin from the ordinary pine. It is a liquid at first, which issues forth in considerable quantities, and is gradually hardened by heat or cold, or else by the action of the sea, when the rise of the tide carries off the fragments from the shores of these islands. At all events, it is thrown up upon the coasts, in so light and voluble a form that in the shallows it has all the appearance of hanging suspended in the water. Our forefathers, too, were of opinion that it is the juice of a tree, and for this reason gave it the name of “succinum:”[2975] and one great proof that it is the produce of a tree of the pine genus, is the fact that it emits a pine-like smell when rubbed, and that it burns, when ignited, with the odour and appearance of torch-pine wood.

Amber is imported by the Germans into Pannonia, more particularly; from whence the Veneti, by the Greeks called Eneti, first brought it into general notice, a people in the vicinity of Pannonia, and dwelling on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. From this it is evident how the story which connects it with the Padus first originated; and at the present day we see the female peasantry in the countries that lie beyond that river wearing necklaces of amber, principally as an ornament, no doubt, but on account of its remedial virtues as well; for amber, it is generally believed, is good for affections of the tonsillary glands and fauces, the various kinds of water in the vicinity of the Alps being apt to produce disease in the human throat.[2976]

From Carnuntum in Pannonia, to the coasts of Germany from which the amber is brought, is a distance of about six hundred miles, a fact which has been only very recently ascertained; and there is still living a member of the equestrian order, who was sent thither by Julianus, the manager of the gladiatorial exhibitions for the Emperor Nero, to procure a supply of this article. Traversing the coasts of that country and visiting the various markets there, he brought back amber, in such vast quantities, as to admit of the nets, which are used for protecting the podium[2977] against the wild beasts, being studded[2978] with amber.

The arms too, the litters,[2979] and all the other apparatus, were, on one day, decorated with nothing but amber, a different kind of display being made each day that these spectacles were exhibited. The largest piece of amber that this personage brought to Rome was thirteen pounds in weight.

That amber is found in India too, is a fact well ascertained. Archelaüs, who reigned over Cappadocia, says that it is brought from that country in the rough state, and with the fine bark still adhering to it, it being the custom there to polish it by boiling it in the grease of a sucking-pig. One great proof that amber must have been originally in a liquid state, is the fact that, owing to its transparency, certain objects are to be seen within, ants for example, gnats, and lizards. These, no doubt, must have first adhered to it while liquid, and then, upon its hardening, have remained enclosed within.[2980]

CHAP. 12.—THE SEVERAL KINDS OF AMBER: THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.

There are several kinds[2981] of amber. The white is the one that has the finest odour;[2982] but neither this nor the wax-coloured amber is held in very high esteem. The red amber is more highly valued; and still more so, when it is transparent, without presenting too brilliant and igneous an appearance. For amber, to be of high quality, should present a brightness like that of fire, but not flakes resembling those of flame. The most highly esteemed amber is that known as the “Falernian,” from its resemblance to the colour of Falernian wine; it is perfectly transparent, and has a softened, transparent, brightness. Other kinds, again, are valued for their mellowed tints, like the colour of boiled honey in appearance. It ought to be known, however, that any colour can be imparted to amber that may be desired, it being sometimes stained with kid-suet and root of alkanet; indeed, at the present day, amber is dyed purple even. When a vivifying heat has been imparted to it by rubbing it between the fingers, amber will attract chaff, dried leaves, and thin bark, just in the same way that the magnet attracts iron. Pieces of amber, steeped in oil, burn with a more brilliant and more lasting flame than pith of flax.[2983]

So highly valued is this as an object of luxury, that a very diminutive human effigy, made of amber, has been known to sell at a higher price than living men even, in stout and vigorous health. This single ground for censure, however, is far from being sufficient; in Corinthian objects of vertu, it is the copper that recommends them, combined with silver and gold; and in embossed works it is the skill and genius of the artist that is so highly esteemed. We have already said what it is that recommends vessels of murrhine and of crystal; pearls, too, are of use for wearing upon the head, and gems upon the fingers. In the case of all other luxuries, in fact, it is either a spirit of ostentation or some utility that has been discovered in them that pleads so strongly in their behalf; but in that of amber we have solely the consciousness that we are enjoying a luxury, and nothing more. Domitius Nero, among the other portentous extravagances of his life, bestowed this name upon the ringlets of his wife Poppæa, and, in certain verses of his, he has even gone so far as to call them “succini.” As fine names, too, are never wanting for bodily defects, a third tint has been introduced of late for hair among our ladies, under the name of “amber-colour.”

Amber, however, is not without its utility in a medicinal point of view; though it is not for this reason that the women are so pleased with it. It is beneficial for infants also, attached to the body in the form of an amulet; and, according to Callistratus, it is good for any age, as a preventive of delirium and as a cure for strangury, either taken in drink or attached as an amulet to the body. This last author, too, has invented a new variety of amber; giving the name of “chryselectrum”[2984] to an amber of a golden colour, and which presents the most beautiful tints in the morning. This last kind attracts flame, too, with the greatest rapidity, and, the moment it approaches the fire, it ignites. “Worn upon the neck, he says, it is a cure for fevers and other diseases, and, triturated with honey and oil of roses, it is good for maladies of the ears. Beaten up with Attic honey, it is good for dimness of sight: and the powder of it, either taken by itself or with gum mastich in water, is remedial for diseases of the stomach. Amber, too, is greatly in request for the imitation of the transparent precious stones, amethystos in particular: for, as already stated, it admits of being dyed of every colour.

CHAP. 13.—LYNCURUIM: TWO ASSERTED REMEDIES.

The pertinacity that has been displayed by certain authors compels me to speak of lyncurium[2985] next; for even those who maintain that it is not a variety of amber, still assure us that it is a precious stone. They assert, too, that it is a product of the urine of the lynx and of a kind of earth, the animal covering up the urine the moment it has voided it, from a jealousy that man should gain possession of it; a combination which hardens into stone. The colour of it, they inform us, like that of some kinds of amber, is of a fiery[2986] hue, and it admits, they say, of being engraved. They assert, too, that this substance attracts[2987] to itself not only leaves or straws, but thin plates of copper even or of iron; a story which Theophrastus even believes, on the faith of a certain Diocles.

For my own part, I look upon the whole of these statements as untrue, and I do not believe that in our time there has ever been a precious stone seen with such a name as this. I regard, too, the assertions that have been made as to its medicinal properties, as equally false; to the effect that, taken in drink, it disperses urinary calculi, and that, taken in wine, or only looked at, it is curative of jaundice.

CHAP. 14.—THE VARIOUS PRECIOUS STONES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR PRINCIPAL COLOURS.

We will now proceed to speak of the various kinds of precious stones, the existence of which is generally admitted, beginning with those which are the most highly esteemed. Nor shall we content ourselves with doing this only; but, with the view of consulting the general welfare of mankind, we shall also refute the infamous lies that have been promulgated by the magicians: for it is with reference to precious stones, more particularly, that they have circulated most of their fabulous stories, stepping, under that most alluring guise of ascertaining remedial virtues, beyond all bounds, and entering the region of the marvellous.

CHAP. 15. (4.)—ADAMAS: SIX VARIETIES OF IT. TWO REMEDIES.

The substance that possesses the greatest value, not only among the precious stones, but of all human possessions, is adamas;[2988] mineral which, for a long time, was known to kings only, and to very few of them. Such was the name given to a nodosity of gold,[2989] sometimes, though but rarely, found in the mines, in close proximity with gold, and only there to be found, it was thought. The ancients supposed that adamas was only to be discovered in the mines of Æthiopia,[2990] between the Temple of Mercury and the island of Meroë; and they have informed us that it was never larger than a cucumber-seed, or differing at all from it in colour.

At the present day, for the first time, there are no less than six different varieties of it recognized. The Indian adamas is found, not in a stratum of gold, but in a substance of a kindred nature to crystal; which it closely resembles in its transparency and its highly polished hexangular and hexahedral[2991] form. In shape it is turbinated, running to a point at either extremity, and closely resembling, marvellous to think of, two cones united at the base. In size, too, it is as large even as a hazel-nut. Resembling that of India, is the adamas[2992] of Arabia, which is found in a similar bed, but not so large in size. Other varieties have a pallid hue like that of silver, and are only to be found in the midst of gold of the very finest quality. These stones are tested upon the anvil, and will resist the blow to such an extent, as to make the iron rebound and the very anvil split asunder.[2993] Indeed its hardness is beyond all expression, while at the same time it quite sets fire at defiance[2994] and is incapable of being heated; owing to which indomitable powers it is, that it has received the name which it derives from the Greek.[2995]

One kind, about as large as a grain of millet in size, has been called “cenchros,”[2996] and another,[2997] that is found in the gold mines at Philippi, is known as the “Macedonian” adamas: this last is about as large as a cucumber-seed in size. We next come to the Cyprian[2998] adamas, so called from its being found in the Isle of Cyprus: it is of a colour somewhat inclining to that of copper, but, in reference to its medicinal virtues, of which we shall have to make further mention, it is the most efficacious of them all. Next in succession to this we have siderites,[2999] a stone which shines like iron, and is more ponderous than any of the others, but differs in its properties from them all. For it breaks when struck by the hammer, and admits of being perforated by other kinds of adamas; a thing which is the case, also, with that of Cyprus: in short, these two are degenerate stones, and only bear the name of “adamas” for the purpose of enhancing their value.

Now with reference to those affinities and repugnances which exist between certain objects, known to the Greeks as “sympathia” and “antipathia,” phænomena to which we have endeavoured[3000] to draw attention throughout these books, they nowhere manifest themselves with greater distinctness than here. This indomitable power, in fact, which sets at nought the two most violent agents in Nature, fire, namely, and iron, is made to yield before the blood of a he-goat.[3001] The blood, however must be no otherwise than fresh and warm; the stone, too, must be well steeped in it, and then subjected to repeated blows: and even then, it is apt to break both anvils and hammers of iron, if they are not of the very finest temper. To what spirit of research, or to what accident, are we indebted for this discovery? or what conjecture can it have been, that first led man to experiment upon a thing of such extraordinary value as this, and that, too, with the most unclean[3002] of all animals? Surely a discovery, such as this, must have been due solely to the munificence of the gods, and we must look for the reason of it in none of the elementary operations of Nature, but wholly in her will.

When, by good fortune, this stone does happen to be broken, it divides into fragments so minute as to be almost imperceptible. These particles are held in great request by engravers, who enclose them in iron, and are enabled thereby, with the greatest facility, to cut[3003] the very hardest substances known. So great is the antipathy borne by this stone to the magnet, that when placed near, it will not allow of its attracting iron; or if the magnet has already attracted the iron, it will seize the metal and drag it away from the other.[3004] Adamas, too, overcomes and neutralizes poisons, dispels delirium, and banishes groundless perturbations of the mind; hence it is that some have given it the name of “ananchites.”[3005] Metrodorus of Scepsis is the only author, that I know of, who says that this stone is found also in Germany, and in the island of Basilia,[3006] where amber is found. He says, too, that this is preferable to the stone of Arabia; but can there be any doubt that his statement is incorrect?

CHAP. 16.—-SMARAGDUS.

Next[3007] in esteem with us are the pearls of India and Arabia, of which we have already spoken in the Ninth Book,[3008] when treating of the marine productions.

(5.) The third rank, for many reasons, has been given to the smaragdus.[3009] Indeed there is no stone, the colour of which is more delightful to the eye; for whereas the sight fixes itself with avidity upon the green[3010] grass and the foliage of the trees, we have all the more pleasure in looking upon the smaragdus, there being no green in existence of a more intense colour[3011] than this. And then, besides, of all the precious stones, this is the only one that feeds the sight without satiating it. Even when the vision has been fatigued with intently viewing other objects, it is refreshed by being turned upon this stone; and lapidaries know of nothing that is more gratefully soothing to the eyes, its soft green tints being wonderfully adapted for assuaging lassitude, when felt in those organs.

And then, besides, when viewed from a distance, these stones appear all the larger to the sight, reflecting as they do, their green hues upon the circumambient air. Neither sunshine, shade, nor artificial light effects any change in their appearance; they have always a softened and graduated brilliancy; and transmitting the light with facility, they allow the vision to penetrate their interior; a property which is so pleasing, also, with reference to water. In form they are mostly concave, so as to re-unite the rays of light and the powers of vision: and hence it is, that it is so universally agreed upon among mankind to respect these stones, and to forbid their surface[3012] to be engraved. In the case, however, of the stones of Scythia and Egypt, their hardness is such, that it would be quite impossible to penetrate them. When the surface of the smaragdus is flat, it reflects the image of objects in the same manner as a mirror. The Emperor Nero used to view[3013] the combats of the gladiators upon a smaragdus.

CHAP. 17.—TWELVE VARIETIES OF THE SMARAGDUS.

Of this stone there are no less than twelve different kinds; of which the finest is the Scythian[3014] smaragdus, so called from the country where it is found. None of them has a deeper colour than this, or is more free from defects: indeed, in the same degree that the smaragdus is superior to other precious stones, the Scythian smaragdus is superior to the other varieties. Next in esteem to this, as also in locality, is the smaragdus of Bactriana.[3015] These stones are collected, it is said, in the fissures of rocks, when the Etesian[3016] winds prevail; a period at which the earth that covers them is removed, and the stones are detected by their brightness, the sands being greatly agitated by the action of the winds. These last, however, are much inferior, they say, to those of Scythia in size. The third rank is held by the stones of Egypt,[3017] which are extracted from the hills in the vicinity of Coptos, a city of Thebais.

All the other kinds are found in copper-mines, and hence it is that, of these varieties, the smaragdus of Cyprus holds the highest rank. The merit of them consists in their clear colour, which has nothing thin or diluted in it, but presents a rich and humid transparency, closely resembling the tints of the sea, in fact. Hence it is that these stones are at once diaphanous and shining, or, in other words, reflect their colours and allow the vision to penetrate within. They say that in this island, upon the tomb of a petty king named Hermias, near the fisheries[3018] there, there was formerly a lion in marble, with eyes made of smaragdi; the brilliancy of which penetrated the sea to such a degree, as to alarm the tunnies and put them to flight: a novel circumstance, which for a long time excited wonder in the fishermen, till at last the stones in the statue were changed for others.

CHAP. 18.—DEFECTS IN THE SMARAGDUS.

It will be only proper, too, seeing that the prices of these stones are so exorbitant, to point out their defects. Some defects, no doubt, are common to all of them, while others, again, like those found in the human race, are peculiar only to those of a certain country. Thus, for example, the stones of Cyprus are not all green alike, and in the same smaragdus some parts are more or less so than others, the stone not always preserving that uniform deep tint which characterizes the smaragdus of Scythia. In other instances, a shadow runs through the stone, and the colour becomes dulled thereby; the consequence of which is, that its value is depreciated; and even more so, when the colour is thin and diluted.

In consequence of the defects[3019] in these stones, they have been divided into several classes. Some of them are obscure, and are then known as “blind” stones; some have a certain density, which impairs their transparency; others, again, are mottled, and others covered with a cloud. This cloud, however, is altogether different from the shadow above mentioned; for it is a defect which renders the stone of a whitish hue, and not of a transparent green throughout; presenting, as it does, in the interior or upon the surface, a certain degree of whiteness which arrests the vision. Other defects, again, in these stones, are filaments, salt-like[3020] grains, or traces of lead ore, faults which are mostly common to them all.

Next after the kinds above described, the smaragdus of Æthiopia is held in high esteem; being found, as Juba tells us, at a distance of twenty-five days’ journey from Coptos. These are of a bright green, but are seldom to be met with perfectly clear or of an uniform colour. Democritus includes in this class the stones that are known as “herminei,” and as “Persian” stones; the former of which are of a convex, massive shape, while the latter are destitute of transparency, but have an agreeable, uniform colour, and satisfy the vision without allowing it to penetrate them; strongly resembling, in this respect, the eyes of cats and of panthers, which are radiant without being diaphanous. In the sun, he says, they lose their brilliancy, but they are radiant in the shade, the brightness of them being seen at a greater distance than in the case of other stones. One other fault, too, in all these stones is, that they often have a colour like that of honey or rancid oil, or else are clear and transparent, but not green.

These defects exist in the smaragdi of Attica,[3021] more particularly, which are found in the silver-mines there, at a place known by the name of Thoricos.[3022] These last are never so massive as the others, and are always more pleasing to the sight when viewed from a distance: lead ore, too, is often to be detected in them, or, in other words, they have a leaden appearance when looked at in the sun.[3023] One peculiarity in them is, that some of them become impaired by age, gradually lose their green colour, and are even deteriorated by exposure to the sun. Next to the stones of Attica come those of Media, a variety which presents the most numerous tints of all, and sometimes approaches sapphiros[3024] in colour. These stones are wavy,[3025] and represent various natural objects, such as poppy-heads, for example, birds, the young of animals, and feathers: all of them appear naturally of a green colour, but become improved by the application of oil. No stones of this species are of a larger size than these.

I am not aware that any of these stones[3026] are still in existence at Chalcedon, the copper mines of that locality being now exhausted: but be this as it may, they were always the smallest in size and the most inferior in value. Brittle, and of a colour far from distinctly pronounced, they resembled in their tints the feathers that are seen in the tail of the peacock or on the necks of pigeons.[3027] More or less brilliant, too, according to the angle at which they were viewed, they presented an appearance like that of veins and scales. There was another defect, also, peculiar to these stones, known as “sarcion,” from the circumstance that a kind of flesh[3028] appeared to attach itself to the stone. The mountain near Chalcedon, where these stones were gathered, is still known by the name of “Smaragdites.” Juba informs us that a kind of smaragdus, known as “cloras,”[3029] is used in Arabia as an ornament for buildings, as also the stone which by the people of Egypt is called “alabastrites.” On the same authority, too, we learn that there are several varieties of the smaragdus in the neighbouring mountains, and that stones like those of Media are found in Mount Taygetus,[3030] as also in Sicily.

CHAP. 19.—THE PRECIOUS STONE CALLED TANOS. CHALCOSMARAGDOS.

Among the smaragdi is also included the precious stone known as “tanos.”[3031] It comes from Persia, and is of an unsightly green, and of a soiled colour within. There is the chalcosmaragdos[3032] also, a native of Cyprus, the face of which is mottled with coppery veins. Theophrastus relates that he had found it stated in the Egyptian histories, that a king of Babylon once sent to the king of Egypt a smaragdus[3033] four cubits in length by three in breadth. He informs us, also, that in a temple of Jupiter in Egypt there was an obelisk made of four smaragdi, forty cubits in length, and four in breadth at one extremity, and two at the other. He says, too, that at the period at which he wrote, there was in the Temple of Hercules at Tyrus a large column made of a single smaragdus;[3034] though very possibly it might only be pseudo-smaragdus, a kind of stone not uncommonly found in Cyprus, where a block had been discovered, composed, one half of smaragdus, and one half of jasper,[3035] and the liquid in which had not as yet been entirely transformed. Apion, surnamed “Plistonices,”[3036] has left a very recent statement, that there was still in existence, in his time, in the Labyrinth of Egypt, a colossal statue of Serapis made of a single smaragdus, nine cubits in height.

CHAP. 20.—BERYLS: EIGHT VARIETIES OF THEM. DEFECTS IN BERYLS.

Beryls, it is thought, are of the same[3037] nature as the smaragdus, or at least closely analogous. India[3038] produces them, and they are rarely to be found elsewhere. The lapidaries cut all beryls of an hexagonal[3039] form; because the colour, which is deadened by a dull uniformity of surface, is heightened by the reflection resulting from the angles. If they are cut in any other way, these stones have no brilliancy whatever. The most esteemed beryls are those which in colour resemble the pure green of the sea;[3040] the chrysoberyl[3041] being next in value, a stone of a somewhat paler colour, but approaching a golden tint. Closely allied to this last in its brilliancy, but of a more pallid colour, and thought by some to constitute a separate genus, is chrysoprasus.[3042] In the fourth rank are reckoned the hyacinthine beryls; and in the fifth, those known as “aëroides.”[3043] Next, we have the wax-coloured beryls, and, after them, the oleaginous beryls, so called from the resemblance of their colour to that of oil. Last of all, there are the stones which closely resemble crystal in appearance; mostly disfigured by spots and filaments, and of a poor, faint, colour as well; all of them so many imperfections in the stone.

The people of India are marvellously fond of beryls of an elongated[3044] form, and say that these are the only precious stones they prefer wearing without the addition of gold: hence it is that, after piercing them, they string them upon the bristles of the elephant. It is generally agreed, however, that those stones should not be perforated which are of the finest quality; and in this case they only enclose the extremities of them in studs of gold. They prefer, too, cutting the beryls in a cylindrical form, instead of setting them as precious stones; an elongated shape being the one that is most highly esteemed. Some are of opinion that beryls are naturally angular,[3045] and that when pierced they become improved in colour; the white substance being thus removed that lies within, and their brilliancy heightened by the reflection of the gold in which they are set; or, at all events, their transparency being increased by this diminution in their thickness. In addition to the defects already[3046] mentioned, and which are pretty nearly the same as those to which the smaragdus is subject, beryls are affected with cloudy spots,[3047] like those on the finger-nails in appearance. In our own part of the world, it is thought that they are sometimes found in the countries that lie in the vicinity of Pontus.[3048] The people of India, by colouring crystal, have found a method of imitating various precious stones, beryls in particular.

CHAP. 21. (6.)—OPALS: SEVEN VARIETIES OF THEM.

Opals[3049] are at once very similar to, and very different from, beryls, and only yield to the smaragdus in value. India, too, is the sole[3050] parent of these precious stones, thus completing her glory as being the great producer of the most costly gems. Of all precious stones, it is opal that presents the greatest difficulties of description, it displaying at once the piercing fire of carbunculus,[3051] the purple brilliancy of amethystos, and the sea-green of smaragdus, the whole blended together and refulgent with a brightness that is quite incredible. Some authors have compared the effect of its refulgence to that of the colour known as Armenian[3052] pigment, while others speak of it as resembling the flame of burning sulphur, or of flame fed with oil. In size, the opal is about as large as a hazel-nut,[3053] and, with reference to it, there is a remarkable historical anecdote related. For there is still in existence a stone of this class, on account of which Antonius proscribed the senator Nonius, son of the Nonius Struma, whom the poet Catullus[3054] was so displeased at seeing in the curule chair, and grandfather of the Servilius Nonianus, who in our own times was consul.[3055] On being thus proscribed, Nonius took to flight, carrying with him, out of all his wealth, nothing but this ring, the value of which, it is well known, was estimated at two millions of sesterces. How marvellous must have been the cruelty, how marvellous the luxurious passion of Antonius, thus to proscribe a man for the possession of a jewel! and no less marvellous must have been the obstinacy of Nonius, who could thus dote upon what had been the cause of his proscription; for we see the very brutes even tear off the portion of their body for the sake of which they know their existence to be imperilled,[3056] and so redeem themselves by parting with it.

CHAP. 22.—DEFECTS IN OPALS: THE MODES OF TESTING THEM.

Defects in opal are, a colour inclining to that of the flower called heliotropium,[3057] or to that of crystal or of hailstones; salt-like grains intervening; roughness on the surface; or sharp points, presenting themselves to the eye. There is no stone that is imitated by fraudulent dealers with more exactness than this, in glass, the only mode of detecting the imposition being by the light of the sun. For when a false[3058] opal is held between the finger and thumb, and exposed to the rays of that luminary, it presents but one and the same transparent colour throughout, limited to the body of the stone: whereas the genuine opal offers various refulgent tints in succession, and reflects now one hue and now another, as it sheds its luminous brilliancy upon the fingers.

This stone, in consequence of its extraordinary beauty, has been called “pæderos”[3059] by many authors; and some who make a distinct species of it, say that it is the same as the stone that in India is called “sangenon.” These last-mentioned stones, it is said, are found in Egypt also, Arabia, and, of very inferior quality, in Pontus. Galatia, too, is said to produce them, as also Thasos and Cyprus. The finest in quality of them have all the beauty of opal, but they are of a softer brilliancy, and are mostly rough on the surface. Their colour is a mixture of sky-blue and purple, and the green hues of the smaragdus are wanting: those, too, are preferred, which have their brilliancy deepened by a vinous hue, rather than those which have their colours diluted, as it were, with water.

CHAP. 23.—SARDONYX; THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT. DEFECTS IN THE SARDONYX.

Thus far we have spoken in reference to the stones, which, it is generally agreed, belong to the highest rank; in obedience, more particularly, to a decree[3060] that has been passed by the ladies to that effect. There is less certainty with respect to those upon which the men as well have been left to form a judgment; seeing that the value of each stone depends more particularly upon the caprice of the individual and the rivalry that exists in reference thereto; as, for example, when Claudius Cæsar was so much in the habit of wearing the smaragdus and the sardonyx.[3061] The first Roman who wore a sardonyx, according to Demostratus, was the elder Africanus, since whose time this stone has been held in very high esteem at Rome: for which reason, we shall give it the next place after the opal. By sardonyx, as the name[3062] itself indicates, was formerly understood a sarda with a white ground beneath it, like the flesh beneath the human finger-nail; both parts of the stone being equally transparent. Such, according to Ismenias, Demostratus, Zenothemis, and Sotacus, is the sardonyx of India; the last two giving the name of “blind” sardonyx to all the other stones of this class which are not transparent, and which have now entirely appropriated the name to themselves. For, at the present day, the Arabian sardonyx presents no traces whatever of the Indian sarda,[3063] it being a stone that has been found to be characterized by several different colours of late; black or azure for the base, and vermilion, surrounded with a line of rich white, for the upper part, not without a certain glimpse[3064] of purple as the white passes into the red.[3065]

We learn from Zenothemis that in his time these stones were not held by the people of India in any high esteem, although they are found there of so large a size as to admit of the hilts of swords being made of them. It is well known, too, that in that country they are exposed to view by the mountain-streams, and that in our part of the world they were formerly valued from the fact that they are nearly the only ones[3066] among the engraved precious stones that do not bring away the wax when an impression is made. The consequence is, that our example has at last taught the people of India to set a value upon them, and the lower classes there now pierce them even, to wear them as ornaments for the neck; the great proof, in fact, at the present day, of a sardonyx being of Indian origin. Those of Arabia are remarkable for their marginal line of brilliant white, of considerable breadth, and not glistening in hollow fissures in the stone or upon the sides, but shining upon the very surface, at the margin, and supported by a ground intensely black beneath. In the stones of India, this ground is like wax in colour,[3067] or else like cornel, with a circle also of white around it. In some of these stones, too, there is a play of colours like those of the rainbow, while the surface is redder even than the shell of the sea-locust.[3068]

Those stones which are like honey in appearance, or of a fæculent[3069] colour—such being the name given to one defect in them—are generally disapproved of. They are rejected also when the white zone blends itself with the other colours, and its limits are not definitely marked; or if, in like manner, it is irregularly intersected by any other colour; it being looked upon as an imperfection if the regularity of any one of the colours is interrupted by the interposition of another. The sardonyx of Armenia is held in some esteem, but the zone round it is of a pallid hue.

CHAP. 24.—ONYX: THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT.

We must give some account also of onyx,[3070] because of the name which it partly shares in common with sardonyx. This name, though in some places[3071] given to a marble, is here used to signify a precious stone. Sudines says, that in this stone there is a white portion which resembles the white of the human-finger nail, in addition to the colours of chrysolithos, sarda, and iaspis. According to Zenothemis, there are numerous varieties of the Indian onyx, the fiery-coloured, the black, and the cornel, with white veins encircling them, like an eye as it were, and in some cases running across them obliquely.[3072] Sotacus mentions an Arabian onyx, which differs from the rest; that of India, according to him, presenting small flames,[3073] each surrounded by one or more white zones; in a manner altogether different from the Indian sardonyx, which presents a series of white specks, while in this case it is one continuous circle. The Arabian onyx, on the other hand, is black, he says, with a white zone encircling it.

Satyrus says, that there is an onyx in India of a flesh colour,[3074] partly resembling carbunculus, and partly chrysolithos and amethystos; a variety, however, which he altogether disapproves of. The real onyx, according to him, has numerous veins of variegated colours, interspersed with others of a milk-white hue; the shades of which, as they pass into one another, produce a tint which surpasses all description, and blends itself into one harmonious whole, of a most beautiful appearance.

Not unlike sardonyx, too, is sarda,[3075] a stone which also has, in part, a kindred name with it; but before passing on to it, we must first take some notice of all those precious stones which have a brilliancy like that of flame.

CHAP. 25. (7.)—CARBUNCULUS: TWELVE VARIETIES OF IT.

In the first rank among these is carbunculus,[3076] so called from its resemblance to fire; though in reality it is proof against the action of that element:[3077] hence it is that some persons call these stones “acaustoi.”[3078] There are various kinds of carbunculus, the Indian and the Garamantic, for example, which last has been also called the Carchedonian,[3079] in compliment to the former opulence of Great Carthage.[3080] To these are added the Æthiopian and the Alabandic stones, the latter of which are found at Orthosia[3081] in Caria, but are cut and polished at Alabanda.[3082] In addition to this, each kind is subdivided into the male carbunculus and the female, the former of which is of a more striking brilliancy, the brightness of the latter being not so strong. In the male varieties too, we see some in which the fire is clearer than in others; while some, again, are of a darker[3083] hue, or else have their brilliancy more deeply seated, and shine with a more powerful lustre than others when viewed in the sun.

The most highly esteemed, however, is the amethyst-coloured[3084] stone, the fire at the extremity of which closely approaches the violet tint of amethystos: next in value to which, are the stones known as “syrtites,” radiant with a wavy, feathery,[3085] refulgence. They are found more particularly, it is said, where the reflection is most powerful of the rays of the sun. Satyrus says that the carbunculus[3086] of India has no lustre, that it is mostly soiled, and that in all cases its brilliancy is of a tawny complexion. The Æthiopian stones, he says, are dense, emit no lustre, and burn with a concentrated flame. According to Callistratus, the refulgence of this stone should be of a whitish hue, and, when placed upon a table, it should heighten by its lustre other stones placed near it that are clouded at the edge. Hence it is, that many writers speak of this stone as the white carbunculus, while the Indian stone, with its comparatively feeble lustre, is known by the name of “lignyzon.”[3087] The Carchedonian stones, they say, are of much smaller size than the others; but those of India admit of being hollowed out, and making vessels that will hold as much as one sextarius[3088] even.

According to Archelaüs, the Carchedonian carbunculus is of a more swarthy appearance than the others, but, when exposed to the light of the fire or sun, and viewed obliquely, the brilliancy of it is much more intense than that of the rest. He says, too, that this stone, when overshadowed by a roof, has a purple tint; that when viewed in the open air, it is of a flame colour; and that, when exposed to the rays of the sun, it scintillates. He states also that wax, if sealed with these stones, in the shade even, will melt. Many authors have asserted that the Indian stones are paler than the Carchedonian, and that, quite the converse of these last, they are all the less brilliant when viewed obliquely; as also, that in the male Carchedonian stone there are luminous points like stars within, while, in the case of the female stone, the whole of its refulgence is thrown beyond it. The stones of Alabanda too, it is said, are darker than the other kinds, and rough on the surface. In the vicinity also of Miletus, there are stones of this description found in the earth, resembling those of Alabanda in colour, and proof against the action of fire.

According to Theophrastus,[3089] these stones are to be found also at Orchomenus in Arcadia and in the Isle of Chios;[3090] the former[3091] of which are of a darker hue, and are used for making mirrors. He says too, that at Trœzen they are found of various colours and mottled with white spots, those found at Corinth being of a more pallid, whitish, hue. He states also, that they are sometimes imported from Massilia. Bocchus informs us in his writings, that these stones are extracted from the ground at Olisipo;[3092] at the cost of great labour, however, in consequence of the parched, argillaceous, nature of the soil.

CHAP. 26.—DEFECTS IN CARBUNCULUS, AND THE MODE OF TESTING IT.

Nothing is more difficult than to distinguish the several varieties of this stone, so great an opportunity do they afford to artistic skill of compelling them to reflect the colours of substances placed beneath. It is possible, they say, to heighten the brilliancy of dull stones, by steeping them for fourteen days in vinegar, this adventitious lustre being retained by them as many months. They are counterfeited, too, with great exactness in glass; but the difference may be detected with the touchstone; the same being the case also with other artificial stones, as the material is always of a softer nature and comparatively brittle. When thus tested by the stone, hard knots, too, are detected in them; and the weight of the glass counterfeit is always less. In some cases, too, they present small blisters within, which shine like silver.

CHAP. 27.—AHTHRACITIS.[3093]

There is also a fossil stone found in Thesprotia, known as “anthracitis,”[3094] and resembling a burning coal[3095] in appearance. Those who have stated that it is a native also of Liguria, are mistaken, in my opinion, unless perhaps it was to be found there in their time. Some of these stones, they say, are surrounded with a vein of white. Like those which we have mentioned above, they have a fiery colour, but there is this peculiarity in them, that when thrown into the fire they have all the appearance of becoming quenched and deadened; while, on the other hand, if they are drenched with water, they become doubly glowing.[3096]

CHAP. 28.—SANDASTROS. SANDARESOS.

Of a kindred nature, too, is sandastros,[3097] known as “garamantites” by some: it is found in India, at a place of that name, and is a product also of the southern parts of Arabia. The great recommendation of it is, that it has all the appearance of fire placed behind a transparent substance, it burning with star-like scintillations within, that resemble drops of gold, and are always to be seen in the body of the stone, and never upon the surface. There are certain religious associations, too, connected with this stone, in consequence of the affinity which it is supposed to bear with the stars; these scintillations being mostly, in number and arrangement, like the constellations of the Pleiades and Hyades; a circumstance which had led to the use of it by the Chaldæi in the ceremonials which they practise.

Here, too, the male stones are distinguished from the female, by their comparative depth of colour and the vigorousness of the tints which they impart to objects near them: indeed the stones of India, it is said, quite dim the sight by their brilliancy. The flame of the female sandastros is of a more softened nature, and may be pronounced to be lustrous rather than brilliant. Some prefer the stone of Arabia to that of India, and say that this last bears a considerable resemblance to a smoke-coloured chrysolithos. Ismenias asserts that sandastros, in consequence of its extreme softness, will not admit of being polished, a circumstance which makes it sell all[3098] the dearer: other writers, again, call these stones “sandrisitæ.” One point upon which all the authorities are agreed is, that the greater the number of stars upon the stone, the more costly it is in price.

The similarity of the name has sometimes caused this stone to be confounded with that known as “sandaresos,” and which Nicander calls “sandaserion,” and others “sandaseron.” Some, again, call this last-mentioned stone “sandastros,” and the former one “sandaresos.” The stone[3099] that is thus mentioned by Nicander, is a native of India as well as the other, and likewise takes its name from the locality where it is found. The colour of it is that of an apple, or of green oil, and no one sets any value on it.

CHAP. 29.—LYCHNIS: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.

To the same class of flame-coloured stones belongs that known as “lychnis;”[3100] so called from its lustre being heightd by the light of the lamp, under which circumstances its tints are particularly pleasing. It is found in the vicinity of Orthosia, throughout the whole of Caria, and in the neighbouring localities; but the most approved stones are those that come from India. Some writers have given the name of “deadened”[3101] carbunculus to a lychnis of second-rate quality, and similar in colour to the flower known as the “flower of Jove.”[3102] I find other varieties also mentioned, one with a purple radiance, and another of a scarlet[3103] tint. It is asserted, too, that these stones, when heated or rubbed between the fingers, will attract[3104] chaff and filaments of paper.

CHAP. 30.—CARCHEDONIA.

Carchedonia,[3105] too, is said to have the same property, though far inferior in value to the stones already mentioned. It is found in the mountains among the Nasamones,[3106] being produced, the natives think, by showers sent for the purpose from heaven. These stones are found by the light of the moon, more particularly when at full: in former days, Carthage was the entrepôt for them. Archelaüs speaks of a brittle variety being found in the vicinity of Thebes also, in Egypt, full of veins, and similar to dying embers in appearance. I find it stated, too, that in former times, drinking-vessels used to be made of this stone and of lychnis:[3107] all these kinds of stone, however, offer the most obstinate resistance to the graver, and, if used for seals, are apt to bring away a part of the wax.

CHAP. 31.—SARDA: FIVE VARIETIES OF IT.

Sarda,[3108] on the other hand, is remarkably useful for this purpose; a stone which shares its name, in part, with sardonyx. It is a common stone, and was first found at Sardes, but the most esteemed kind is that of the vicinity of Babylon. When certain quarries are being worked, these stones are found, adhering, like a kind of heart, to the interior of the rock. This mineral, however, is said to be now extinct in Persia; though it is to be found in numerous other localities, Paros and Assos, for example.

In India[3109] there are three varieties of this stone; the red sarda, the one known as “pionia,” from its thickness, and a third kind, beneath which they place a ground of silver tinsel. The Indian stones are transparent, those of Arabia being more opaque. There are some found also in the vicinity of Leucas in Epirus, and in Egypt, which have a ground placed beneath them of leaf gold. In the case of this stone, too, the male stone shines with a more attractive brilliancy than the female, which is of a thicker substance, and more opaque. Among the ancients there was no precious stone in more common use than this; at all events, it is this stone that is made so much parade of in the comedies of Menander and Philemon. No one, too, among the transparent stones is tarnished more speedily by exposure to moisture than this; though of all liquids, it is oil that acts the most readily upon it. Those stones which are like honey in colour, are generally disapproved of, and still more so, when they have the complexion of earthenware.[3110]

CHAP. 32. (8.)—TOPAZOS: TWO VARIETIES OF IT.

Topazos[3111] is a stone that is still held in very high estimation for its green tints: indeed, when it was first discovered, it was preferred to every other kind of precious stone. It so happened that some Troglodytic pirates, suffering from tempest and hunger, having landed upon an island off the coast of Arabia known as Cytis,[3112] when digging there for roots and grass, discovered this precious stone: such, at least, is the opinion expressed by Archelaüs. Juba says that there is an island in the Red Sea called “Topazos,”[3113] at a distance of three hundred stadia from the main land; that it is surrounded by fogs, and is often sought by navigators in consequence; and that, owing to this, it received its present name,[3114] the word “topazin” meaning “to seek,” in the language of the Troglodytæ. He states also, that Philon, the king’s præfect, was the first to bring these stones from this island; that, on his presenting them to Queen Berenice, the mother of the second Ptolemæus, she was wonderfully pleased with them; and that, at a later period, a statue, four cubits in height, was made of this stone,[3115] in honour of Arsinoë, the wife of Ptolemæus Philadelphus, it being consecrated in the temple known as the “Golden Temple.”

The most recent writers say that this stone is found also in the vicinity of Alabastrum, a city of Thebais, and they distinguish two varieties of it, the prasoïdes[3116] and the chrysopteron;[3117] which last is similar to chrysoprasus,[3118] all the shades of it tending, more or less, to resemble the colouring principle of the leek. Topazos is the largest of all the precious stones, and is the only one among those of high value that yields to the action of the file, the rest being polished by the aid of stone of Naxos.[3119] It admits, too, of being worn by use.

CHAP. 33.—CALLAINA.

With this stone we must also couple another, which resembles it more closely in appearance than in value, the stone known as “callaina,”[3120] and of a pale green colour. It is found in the countries[3121] that lie at the back of India, among the Phycari, namely, who inhabit Mount Caucasus, the Sacæ, and the Dahæ. It is remarkable for its size, but is covered with holes and full of extraneous matter; that, however, which is found in Carmania is of a finer quality, and far superior. In both cases, however, it is only amid frozen and inaccessible rocks that it is found, protruding from the surface, like an eye in appearance, and slightly adhering to the rock; not as though it formed an integral part of it, but with all the appearance of having been attached to it. People so habituated as they are to riding on horseback, cannot find the energy and dexterity requisite for climbing the rocks to obtain the stones, while, at the same time, they are quite terrified at the danger of doing so. Hence it is, that they attack the stones with slings from a distance, and so bring them down, moss and all. It is with this stone that the people pay their tribute, and this the rich look upon as their most graceful ornament for the neck.[3122] This constitutes the whole of their wealth, with some, and it is their chief glory to recount how many of these stones they have brought down from the mountain heights since the days of their childhood. Their success, however, is extremely variable;[3123] for while some, at the very first throw, have brought down remarkably fine specimens, many have arrived at old age without obtaining any.

Such is the method of procuring these stones; their form being given them by cutting, a thing that is easily effected. The best of them have just the colour of smaragdus, a thing that proves that the most pleasing property in them is one that belongs of right to another stone. Their beauty is heightened by setting them in gold, and there is no stone to which the contrast of the gold is more becoming. The finest of them lose their colour by coming in contact with oil, unguents, or undiluted wine even; whereas those of a poorer quality preserve their colour better. There is no stone, too, that is more easily counterfeited in glass. Some writers say, that this stone is to be found in Arabia also, in the nest of the bird known as the “melancoryphus.”[3124]

CHAP. 34.—PRASIUS; THREE VARIETIES OF IT.

There are numerous other kinds also of green stones. To the more common class belongs prasius;[3125] one variety of which is disfigured with spots[3126] like blood, while another kind is marked with three streaks of white. To all these stones chrysoprasus[3127] is preferred, which is also similar to the colouring matter of the leek, but varies in tint between topazos and gold. This stone is found of so large a size as to admit of drinking-boats[3128] even being made of it, and is cut into cylinders very frequently.

CHAP. 35.—NILION.

India, which produces these stones, produces nilion[3129] also, a stone that differs from the last in its dull, diminished lustre, which, when steadily looked upon, soon fades from the sight. Sudines says that it is to be found also in the Siberus, a river of Attica. In appearance it resembles a smoke-coloured topazos, or, in some cases, a topazos with a tint like honey. According to Juba, Æthiopia produces it, upon the shores of the river known to us as the Nilus; to which circumstance, he says, it owes its name.

CHAP. 36.—MOLOCHITIS.

Molochitis[3130] is not transparent, being of a deeper green, and more opaque than smaragdus; its name is derived from the mallow,[3131] which it resembles in colour. It is highly esteemed for making seals, and it is endowed by Nature with medicinal properties which render it a preservative for infants against certain dangers which menace them. This stone is a native of Arabia.[3132]

CHAP. 37.—IASPIS; FOURTEEN VARIETIES OF IT. DEFECTS FOUND IN IASPIS.

Iaspis,[3133] too, is green, and often transparent; a stone which, if surpassed by many others, still retains the renown which it acquired in former times. Many countries produce this stone: that of India is like smaragdus in colour; that of Cyprus is hard, and of a full sea-green; and that of Persia is sky-blue, whence its name, “aërizusa.”[3134] Similar to this last is the Caspian iaspis. On the banks of the river Thermodon the iaspis is of an azure colour; in Phrygia, it is purple; and in Cappadocia of an azure purple, sombre, and not refulgent. Amisos[3135] sends us an iaspis like that of India in colour, and Chalcedon,[3136] a stone of a turbid hue.

But it is of less consequence to distinguish the several localities that furnish it, than it is to remark upon the degrees of excellence which they present. The best kind is that which has a shade of purple, the next best being the rose-coloured, and the next the stone with the green colour of the smaragdus; to each of which the Greeks have given names[3137] according to their respective tints. A fourth kind, which is called by them “boria,”[3138] resembles in colour the sky of a morning in autumn; this, too, will be the same that is known as “aërizusa.”[3139] There is an iaspis also which resembles sarda[3140] in appearance, and another with a violet tint. Not less numerous, too, are the other kinds that are left undescribed; but they are all blue to a fault,[3141] or else resemble crystal in appearance, or the tints of the myxa[3142] plum. There is the terebenthine[3143]-coloured iaspis also; improperly so called, in my opinion, as it has all the appearance of being a composition of numerous gems of this description.

The best of these stones are set in an open bezel, the gold of which only embraces the margins of the stone, leaving the upper and lower surfaces uncovered. One great defect in them is a subdued lustre, and a want of refulgence when viewed from a distance. Grains also like salt appear within the stone, and all the other defects which are common[3144] to precious stones in general. Sometimes they are imitated in glass; a fraud, however, which may be easily detected, from the material throwing out its refulgence, instead of concentrating it within itself. To this class also belongs the stone called “sphragis,”[3145] which is only reckoned as belonging to the domain of precious stones, from the circumstance that it is the best of all for making signets.[3146]

(9.) Throughout all the East, it is the custom, it is said, to wear iaspis by way of amulet. The variety of this stone which resembles smaragdus in colour is often found with a white line running transversely through the middle; in which case it is known as “monogrammos:”[3147] when it is streaked with several lines, it is called “polygrammos.”[3148] Here, too, I may take the opportunity of exposing the falsehoods[3149] of the magicians, who pretend that this stone is beneficial for persons when speaking in public. There is a stone also that is formed of iaspis and onyx combined, and is known as “iasponyx.”[3150] Sometimes this stone has a clouded appearance; sometimes it has spots upon the surface like snow;[3151] and sometimes it is stellated with red spots.[3152] One kind resembles salt of Megara[3153] in appearance, and another is known as capnias,[3154] and looks as if it had been smoked. We have seen in our day an iaspis[3155] fifteen inches in length, of which a figure of Nero was made, armed with a cuirass.

CHAP. 38.—CYANOS; THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT.

We must also give a separate account of cyanos,[3156] a name which, until very recently, was given to a species of iaspis, on account of its cærulean colour. The best kind is that of Scythia,[3157] the next best being the produce of Cyprus, and, last of all, that of Egypt. An artificial[3158] kind is much in use, that is prepared by dyeing other substances; and this invention is looked upon as one of the great glories of the kings of Egypt, the name of the king who first discovered it being still preserved in their annals. This stone, too, is divided into male and female, and sometimes it has the appearance of being powdered with a golden dust, in much the same way as sapphiros.

CHAP. 39.—SAPPHIROS.

For sapphiros,[3159] too, is refulgent with spots[3160] like gold. It is also of an azure colour, though sometimes, but rarely, it is purple; the best kind being that which comes from Media. In no case, however, is this stone diaphanous; in addition to which, it is not suited for engraving when intersected with hard particles of a crystalline[3161] nature. Those among them that have the colour of cyanos are generally thought to be the male stones.

CHAP. 40.—AMETHYSTOS; FOUR VARIETIES OF IT. SOCONDION. SAPENOS. PHARANITIS. APHRODITES BLEPHARON, ANTEROS, OR PÆDEROS.

We will now commence with another class of precious stones, those of a purple colour, or whose tints are derived from purple. To the first rank belongs the amethystos[3162] of India; a stone which is also found in the part of Arabia that adjoins Syria and is known as Petra, as also in Lesser Armenia, Egypt, and Galatia; the very worst of all, and the least valued, being those of Thasos and Cyprus. The name which these stones bear, originates, it is said, in the peculiar tint of their brilliancy, which, after closely approaching the colour of wine, passes off into a violet without being fully pronounced; or else, according to some authorities, in the fact that in their purple there is something that falls short of a fiery colour, the tints fading off and inclining to the colour of wine.

All these stones are transparent and of an agreeable violet colour, and are easy[3163] to engrave. Those of India have in perfection the very richest shades of purple, and it is to attain this colour that the dyers[3164] in purple direct all their endeavours; it presenting a fine mellowed appearance to the eye, and not dazzling the sight, as in the case with the colours of the carbunculus. Another variety approaches more nearly the hyacinth in colour: the people of India call this tint “socon,” and the stone itself “socondion.” A third stone of this class is of a more diluted colour, and is known as “sapenos,” being identical with “pharanitis,” so called from a country[3165] on the frontiers of Arabia that produces it. Of a fourth kind, the colour is like that of wine; and in a fifth it borders very closely upon that of crystal, the purple gradually passing off into white. This last kind is but little valued; for a fine amethyst should always have, when viewed sideways[3166] and held up to the light, a certain purple refulgence, like that of carbunculus, slightly inclining to a tint of rose.

Some prefer giving these stones the name of “pæderos”[3167] or of “anteros,”[3168] while to many they are known as “Venus’[3169] eyelid,” a name which would seem to be particularly appropriate to the colour and general appearance of the gem. The falsehoods of the magicians would persuade us that these stones are preventive of inebriety, and that it is from this that they have derived[3170] their name. They tell us also, that if we inscribe the names of the sun and moon upon this stone, and then wear it suspended from the neck, with some hair of the cynocephalus[3171] and feathers of the swallow, it will act as a preservative against all noxious spells. It is said too, that worn in any manner, this stone will ensure access to the presence of kings; and that it will avert hail and the attacks of locusts, if a certain prayer is also repeated which they mention. They make similar promises, too, in reference to the smaragdus, if graven with the figure of an eagle or of a scarabæus: statements which, in my opinion, they cannot have committed to writing without a feeling of contempt and derision for the rest of mankind.

CHAP. 41.—HYACINTHOS.

Very different from this stone is hyacinthos,[3172] though partaking of a colour that closely borders upon it. The great difference between them is, that the brilliant violet which is so refulgent in the amethystos, is diluted in the other stone. Though pleasing at first sight, its beauty fades before the eye is satiated; indeed, so far is it from satisfying the sight, that it almost wholly fails to attract the eye, its lustre disappearing more rapidly than the tints of the flower[3173] known by the same name.

CHAP. 42.—CHRYSOLITHOS: SEVEN VARIETIES OF IT.

Æthiopia, which produces hyacinthos, produces chrysolithos[3174] also, a transparent stone with a refulgence like that of gold. The stones of India are the most highly esteemed, as also those found among the Tibareni,[3175] provided these last are not of a mottled hue. The worst in quality are those of Arabia, the colour of them being turbid and mottled, and their brilliancy interrupted by cloudy spots: even too, when they happen to be limpid, they have all the appearance of being full, as it were, of a peculiar dust. The best stones are those which, when placed by the side of gold, impart to it a sort of whitish hue, and so give it the appearance of silver. When this is the case, they are set in a bezel that is open on either side; but when the stone is of inferior quality, a ground of aurichalcum[3176] is placed beneath.

CHAP. 43.—CHRYSELECTRUM.

Though it has now altogether gone out of use for jewellery, there is a precious stone known as “chryselectrum,”[3177] the colour of which inclines to that of amber;[3178] but only when viewed by a morning[3179] light. The stones of Pontus are known by their lightness. Some of them are hard and reddish, while others, again, are soft and of a soiled appearance. According to Bocchus, these stones are found in Spain as well; in a spot where, according to him, fossil crystal has been discovered, in sinking to the water-level for wells.[3180] He tells us also that he once saw a chrysolithos twelve[3181] pounds in weight.

CHAP. 44.—LEUCOCHRYSOS: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.

There is also a stone known as “leucochrysos,”[3182] with a white vein running across it. To this class, too, belongs capnias;[3183] a stone also which resembles glass in appearance; and another which reflects a tint like that of saffron. These stones are imitated in glass, to such a degree of perfection, that it is impossible to distinguish them by the eye. The touch, however, detects the difference, the imitation being not so cold as the real stone.

CHAP. 45.—MELICHRYSOS. XUTHON.

To this class also belongs melichrysos,[3184] a stone which has all the appearance of pure honey, seen through transparent gold. India produces these stones, and, although hard, they are very brittle, but not unpleasing to the sight. The same country, too, produces xuthon,[3185] a stone much used by the lower classes there.

CHAP. 46.—PÆDEROS, SANGENON, OR TENITES.

At the very head of the white stones is pæderos;[3186] though it may still be questionable to which of the colours it in reality belongs. As to the name, it has been so much bandied about among other precious stones of conspicuous beauty, that it has quite assumed the privilege of being a synonymous term[3187] for all that is charming to the eye. Still, however, there is one[3188] stone in particular which fully merits all the commendation that might be expected for a stone with so prepossessing a name: for in itself it reunites the transparency of crystal, the peculiar green of the sky, the deep tints of purple, and a sort of bright reflex, like that of a golden-coloured wine; a reflex, indeed, that is always the last to meet the eye, but is always crowned with the lustrous hues of purple. The stone, in fact, has all the appearance of having been bathed in each of these tints, individually, and yet in the whole of them at once. There is no precious stone either that has a clearer water than this, or that presents a more pleasing sweetness to the eye.

Pæderos of the finest quality comes from India, where it is known as “sangenon;” the next best being that of Egypt, called “tenites.” That of third-rate quality is found in Arabia, but it is rough upon the surface. Next, we have the stone of Pontus, the radiance of which is softer than in that of Thasos, which, in its turn, is of a more mellowed colour than the stones of Galatia, Thrace, and Cyprus. The defects commonly found in these stones are, a want of brilliancy, a confusion with colours which do not properly belong to them, and the other imperfections which are found in stones in general.[3189]

CHAP. 47.—ASTERIA.

Next among the white stones is “asteria,”[3190] a gem which holds its high rank on account of a certain peculiarity in its nature, it having a light enclosed within, in the pupil of an eye as it were. This light, which has all the appearance of moving within the stone, it transmits according to the angle of inclination at which it is held; now in one direction, and now in another. When held facing the sun, it emits white rays like those of a star, and to this, in fact, it owes its name.[3191] The stones of India are very difficult to engrave, those of Carmania being preferred.

CHAP. 48.—ASTRION.

Of a similar white radiance is the stone that is known as “astrion,”[3192] closely resembling crystal in its nature, and found in India and upon the coasts of Pallene.[3193] In the centre of it there shines internally a brilliant star, with a refulgence like that of the moon when full. Some will have it that this stone receives its name from the fact that, when held opposite to the stars, it absorbs the light they emit and then returns it. The finest stones, they say, are those of Carmania, there being none more entirely free from all defects. They add, also, that a stone of inferior quality is known as “ceraunia,”[3194] and that, in the worst of all, the light is very similar to that given by a lamp.

CHAP. 49.—ASTRIOTES.

Astriotes,[3195] too, is a stone that is highly esteemed, and Zoroaster, they say, has sung its wondrous praises as an adjunct of the magic art.

CHAP. 50.—ASTROBOLOS.

Sudines says, that astrobolos[3196] resembles the eye of a fish in appearance, and that it has a radiant white refulgence when viewed in the sun.

CHAP. 51.—CERAUNIA; FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.

Among the white stones also, there is one known as “ceraunia,”[3197] which absorbs the brilliancy of the stars. It is of a crystalline formation, of a lustrous azure colour, and is a native of Carmania. Zenothemis admits that it is white, but asserts that it has the figure of a blazing star within. Some of them, he says, are dull, in which case it is the custom to steep them for some days in a mixture of nitre and vinegar; at the end of which period the star makes its appearance, but gradually dies away by the end of as many months.

Sotacus mentions also two other varieties of ceraunia, one black and the other red; and he says that they resemble axes in shape. Those which are black and round,[3198] he says, are looked upon as sacred, and by their assistance cities and fleets are attacked and taken: the name given to them is “bætyli,” those of an elongated form being known as “cerauniæ.”[3199] They make out also that there is another kind, rarely to be met with, and much in request for the practices of magic, it never being found in any place but one that has been struck by lightning.[3200]

CHAP. 52.—IRIS; TWO VARIETIES OF IT.

The next name mentioned by these authors is that of the stone called “iris;”[3201] which is found, in a fossil state, in a certain island of the Red Sea, forty miles distant from the city of Berenice. It is partly composed of crystal, and hence it is that some have called it “root of crystal.” It takes its name “iris” from the properties which it possesses; for, when struck by the rays of the sun in a covered spot, it projects upon the nearest walls the form and diversified colours of the rainbow; continually changing its tints, and exciting admiration by the great variety of colours which it presents. That it is hexahedral in form, like crystal, is generally agreed; but some say that it is rough on the sides and of unequal angles; and that, when exposed to a full sun, it disperses the rays that are thrown upon it, while at the same time, by throwing out a certain brightness[3202] before it, it illumines all objects that may happen to be adjacent. The stone, however, as already stated, only presents these colours when under cover; not as though they were in the body of the stone itself, but, to all appearance, as if they were the result of the reflected light upon the surface of the wall. The best kind is the one that produces the largest arcs, with the closest resemblance to the rainbow.

“Iritis” is the name of another stone, similar to the last in all other respects, but remarkable for its extreme hardness. Horus says, in his writings, that this stone, calcined and triturated, is a remedy for the bite of the ichneumon, and that it is a native of Persia.

CHAP. 53.—LEROS.

The stone called “leros”[3203] is similar in appearance, but does not produce the same effects. It is a crystal, with streaks of white and black running across it.

CHAP. 54.—ACHATES; THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT. ACOPOS; THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT. ALABASTRITIS; THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT. ALECTORIA. ANDRODAMAS. ARGYRODAMAS. ANTIPATHES. ARABICA. AROMATITIS. ASBESTOS. ASPISATIS. ATIZÖE. AUGETIS. AMPHIDANES OR CHRYSOCOLLA. APHRODISIACA. APSYCTOS. ÆGYPTILLA.

Having now described the principal precious stones, classified according to their respective colours, I shall proceed to mention the rest of them in their alphabetical order.

(10.) Achates[3204] was a stone formerly in high esteem, but now held in none. It was first found in Sicily, near a river of that name; but has since been discovered in numerous other localities. In size it exceeds any other stones of this class, and the varieties of it are numerous, the name varying accordingly. Thus, for example, we have iaspachates,[3205] cerachates,[3206] smaragdachates,[3207] hæmachates,[3208] leucachates,[3209] dendrachates,[3210] marked with small shrubs, as it were; autachates,[3211] which when burnt has a smell like that of myrrh; and coralloachates,[3212] spotted all over, like sapphiros, with drops of gold, and commonly found in Crete, where it is also known as “sacred” achates. This last, it is thought, is good for wounds inflicted by spiders and scorpions; a property which I could really believe to belong to the stones of Sicily, for, the moment they breathe the air of that province, scorpions lose their venom.

The stones, too, that are found in India are possessed of similar properties, and of other great and marvellous properties as well; for they present the appearance in them of rivers,[3213] woods,[3214] beasts of burden, and forms even, like ivy[3215] and the trappings of horses. Medical men, too, make grinding-hones[3216] of these stones, and indeed the very sight of them is beneficial for the eyes: held in the mouth, they allay thirst. Those found in Phrygia have no green in them, and those of Thebes in Egypt are destitute of red and white veins. These last are good as a counterpoison to the venom of the scorpion, and the stones of Cyprus are held in similar repute. Some persons set the highest value upon those stones which present a transparency like that of glass. They are found also in Trachinia, in the vicinity of Mount Œta, upon Mount Parnassus, in the Isle of Lesbos, in Messene, where they resemble the flowers that grow in the hedges, and at Rhodes.

The magicians make other distinctions in reference to these stones: those, they tell us, which have spots upon them like the spots on the lion’s skin, are efficacious as a protection against scorpions; and in Persia, they say, these stones are used, by way of fumigation, for arresting tempests and hurricanes, and for stopping the course of rivers, the proof of their efficacy being their turning the water cold, if thrown into a boiling cauldron. To be duly efficacious, they must be attached to the body with hairs from a lion’s mane. The hair, however, of the hyæna is held in abomination for this purpose, as being a promoter of discord in families. The stone that is of an uniform colour renders athletes invincible, they say: the way of testing it is to throw it, along with colouring matter, into a pot full of oil; after being kept for a couple of hours gently on the boil, if genuine, it will impart an uniform colour of vermilion to the mixture.

Acopos[3217] is a stone like nitre[3218] in appearance, porous, and starred with drops of gold: gently boiled with oil and applied as an unguent, it relieves lassitude, if we choose to believe it. Alabastritis[3219] is a stone which comes from Alabastron in Egypt and Damascus in Syria: it is of a white colour, spotted with various other tints. Calcined with fossil salt and pulverized, it is a cure for affections of the mouth and teeth, it is said. Alectoria[3220] is the name given to a stone that is found in the crop of poultry, like crystal in appearance, and about as large as a bean in size: Milo[3221] of Crotona, some will have it, was thought to be in the habit of carrying this stone about him, a thing that rendered him invincible in his athletic contests. Androdamas[3222] has the shining colour of silver, like adamas;[3223] it is always quadrangular, like small cubes in shape. The magicians are of opinion that it was thus named from the fact that it subdues anger and violence in man. Whether argyrodamas[3224] is the same stone or not, authors do not inform us. Antipathes[3225] is a black stone, and not transparent: the mode of testing it, is by boiling it in milk, to which, if genuine, it imparts a colour like that of myrrh. A person might probably expect to find some extraordinary virtues in this stone, seeing that, among so many other substances possessed of antipathetic properties, it is the only one that bears this name. The magicians will have it that it possesses the power of counteracting fascinations.

Arabica[3226] is a stone which closely resembles ivory in appearance, and, indeed, might easily be taken for it, were it not for its superior hardness: persons who have this stone about them, it is thought, will experience a cure of diseases of the sinews. Aromatitis,[3227] too, is a stone that is found in Arabia, as also in the vicinity of Phiræ in Egypt: it is always full of small stones, and like myrrh in colour and smell, a thing that makes it much in request with ladies of rank.[3228] Asbestos[3229] is found in the mountains of Arcadia, and is of an iron colour. Democritus informs us that aspisatis[3230] is a native of Arabia, that it is of a fiery colour, and that patients should wear it attached to the body with camels’ dung; he says, too, that it is found in the nests of certain birds[3231] in Arabia. The same writer also mentions another stone of this name, that is found at Leucopetra in the same country, of a silver colour, radiant, and an excellent preservative against delirium. In India, he says, and on Mount Acidane in Persia, there is a stone found that is known as “atizoë,”[3232] of a silver lustre, three fingers in length, like a lentil in shape, possessed of a pleasant smell, and considered necessary by the Magi at the consecration of a king. Augetis[3233] is thought by many to be identical with callaina.[3234] Amphidanes,[3235] which is also known as “chrysocolla,”[3236] is a stone found in that part of India where the ants[3237] throw up gold, and in it there are certain square pieces, like gold in appearance. The nature of this stone, it is asserted, is similar to that of the magnet; in addition to which, it is said to have the property of increasing gold.

Aphrodisiaca[3238] is a stone of a reddish white colour. Apsyctos,[3239] when heated by fire, retains the warmth so long as seven days; it is black and ponderous, and is streaked with red veins. It is good too, it is thought, as a preservative against cold. According to Iacchus, Ægyptilla[3240] is a kind of white and black sarda, intersected with veins; but the stone commonly known by that name is black at the lower part, and azure on the surface. It takes its name from the country that produces it.

CHAP. 55.—BALANITES. BATRACHITIS. BAPTES. BELI OCULUS. BELUS. BAROPTENUS OR BARIPPE. BOTRYITIS. BOSTRYCHITIS. BUCARDIA. BRONTEA. BOLOS.

Of balanites[3241] there are two kinds, the one of a greenish hue, and the other like Corinthian bronze in appearance; the former comes from Coptos, and the latter from Troglodytica. They are both of them intersected by a flame-like vein, which runs through the middle. Coptos, too, sends us batrachitis;[3242] one kind of which is like a frog in colour, another has the tint of ebony, and a third is blackish inclining to red. Baptes[3243] is a soft stone, and of a most excellent smell. Beli oculus[3244] is a stone of a whitish hue, surrounding a black pupil in the middle, which shines amid a lustre like that of gold. This stone, in consequence of its singular beauty, has been consecrated to the deity[3245] held in the highest veneration by the people of Assyria. According to Democritus, there is also a stone called belus, and found at Arbela; it is about the size of a walnut, and looks[3246] like glass. Baroptenus or barippe is black, and covered with knots of a white and blood-red colour: the use of it as an amulet is avoided, as being apt to produce monstrosities.

Botryitis[3247] is sometimes black and sometimes purple-red,[3248] and resembles a bunch of grapes[3249] in form, when making its first appearance. Zoroaster says, that bostrychitis[3250] is a stone which is more like the hair of females than anything else. Bucardia[3251] resembles an ox-heart in appearance, and is only found at Babylon. Brontea[3252] is a stone like the head of a tortoise, which falls with thunder, it is supposed: if too, we are to believe what is said, it has the property of quenching the fire in objects that have been struck by lightning. Bolos[3253] is the name of a stone found in Iberia,[3254] similar to a clod of earth in appearance.

CHAP. 56.—CADMITIS. CALLAIS. CAPNITIS. CAPPADOCIA. CALLAICA. CATOCHITIS. CATOPTRITIS. CEPITIS OR CEPOLATITIS. CERAMITIS. CINÆDIA. CERITIS. CIRCOS. CORSOÏDES. CORALLOACHATES. CORALLIS. CRATERITIS. CROCALLIS. CYITIS. CHALCOPHONOS. CHELIDONIA. CHELONIA. CHELONITIS. CHLORITIS. CHOASPITIS. CHRYSOLAMPIS. CHRYSOPIS. CEPONIDES.

Cadmitis differs only from the stone that is known as ostracitis[3255] in being sometimes surrounded with blisters of an azure colour. Callais[3256] is like sapphiros[3257] in colour, only that it is paler and more closely resembles the tint of the water near the sea-shore in appearance. Capnitis,[3258] in the opinion of some, is a peculiar species of stone: it is covered with numerous spiral streaks, of a smoky colour, as already[3259] stated in the appropriate place. Cappadocia[3260] is a native of Phrygia, and resembles ivory in appearance. Callaica[3261] is the name given to a stone like a clouded callaina;[3262] a number of them are always found united, it is said. Catochitis[3263] is a stone found in Corsica, of larger size than the other precious stones; and of a more wonderful nature, if the story is true, that it retains the hand like gum, when placed upon it. Catoptritis[3264] is found in Cappadocia, and, from its whiteness, reflects figures like a mirror. Cepitis[3265] or cepolatitis is a white stone, with veins upon it uniting together. Ceramitis[3266] has a colour like that of earthenware.

Cinædia[3267] is a stone found in the brain of a fish[3268] of a corresponding name. It is white and oblong, and possessed of marvellous virtues, if we are to put faith in what is said, that it announces before-hand whether the sea will be tranquil or stormy.[3269] Ceritis[3270] is a stone like wax: circos[3271] resembles the plumage of the hawk: corsoides[3272] is like white hair in appearance. Coralloachates[3273] is very similar to coral, marked with drops of gold; and corallis, a native of India and Syene, resembles minium[3274] in appearance. Crateritis[3275] is in colour a medium between chrysolithos[3276] and amber, and is remarkable for its hardness. Crocallis[3277] is a gem like the cherry in its tints. Cyitis[3278] is a stone found in the vicinity of Coptos; it is white, and to all appearance has an embryo stone within, the rattling of which may be heard on shaking it. Chalcophonos[3279] is a black stone, but when struck it clinks like brass: tragic actors are recommended to carry it about them. Of chelidonia[3280] there are two varieties, both resembling the swallow in colour: one of them is purple on one side, and the other is purple besprinkled with black spots. Chelonia[3281] is the eye of the Indian tortoise, and is the most marvellous of all the stones, if we believe the lying stories told by the magicians. For, according to them, this stone, placed upon the tongue after rinsing the mouth with honey, will ensure power of divination, if this is done at full moon or new moon, for one whole day. If, however, this plan is adopted while the moon is on the increase, the power of divination will be acquired before sun-rise only, and if upon other days, from the first[3282] hour to the sixth.

Chelonitis,[3283] too, is a stone that resembles the tortoise[3284] in appearance, and the many virtues of which are talked of for calming storms and tempests. As to the one that has all the appearance of being sprinkled with spots of gold, if thrown with a scarabæus into boiling water, it will raise a tempest, they say. Chloritis[3285] is a stone of a grass-green colour: according to the magicians, it is found in the crop of the motacilla,[3286] being engendered with the bird. They recommend also that it should be set in iron, for the purpose of working certain portentous marvels which they promise, as usual. Choaspitis is a stone so called from the river Choaspes,[3287] of a brilliant, golden colour mixed with green. Chrysolampis[3288] is a native of Æthiopia, and is pale by day, but of a fiery lustre by night. Chrysopis[3289] has all the appearance of gold.[3290] Ceponides[3291] is found at Atarna, a borough, and once a city, of Æolis. It is transparent, presents numerous tints, and has sometimes the appearance of glass, sometimes of crystal, and sometimes of iaspis. Indeed, the stones of this kind that are tarnished even, are possessed of such singular brilliancy as to reflect objects like a mirror.

CHAP. 57.—DAPHNEA. DIADOCHOS. DIPHYES. DIONYSIAS. DRACONITIS.

Daphnea[3292] is mentioned by Zoroaster as curative of epilepsy. Diadochos[3293] is a stone that resembles the beryl. Of diphyes[3294] there are two kinds, the white and the black, male and female, with a line dividing the characteristics of either sex. Dionysias[3295] is hard and black, and covered with red spots. Triturated in water, this stone imparts to it the flavour of wine, and it is generally thought to be a preservative against intoxication. Draconitis[3296] or dracontia is a stone produced from the brain of the dragon;[3297] but unless the head of the animal is cut off while it is alive, the stone will not assume the form of a gem, through spite on the part of the serpent, when finding itself at the point of death: hence it is that, for this purpose, the head is cut off when it is asleep.[3298]

Sotacus, who tells us that he once saw a stone of this kind in the possession of a king, says that persons go in search of it in a chariot drawn by two horses; and that, the moment they see the serpent, they strew narcotic drugs in its way, and then cut off its head when asleep. According to him, this stone is white and pellucid, and admits of no polishing or engraving.

CHAP. 58.—ENCARDIA OR ARISTE. ENORCHIS. EXEBENUS. ERYTHALLIS. EROTYLOS. AMPHICOMOS, OR HIEROMNEMON. EUMECES. EUMITHRES. EUPETALOS. EUREOS. EUROTIAS. EUSEBES. EPIMELAS.

The stone encardia[3299] is also called “ariste.”[3300] There are three varieties of it; one of a black colour, with a figure in relief upon it like a heart; a second of a green colour, and like a heart in shape; and a third, with a black heart upon it, the rest of the stone being white. Enorchis[3301] is a white stone, the fragments of which, when it is split asunder, resemble the testes in shape. Exebenus, Zoroaster tells us, is a white, handsome stone, employed by goldsmiths for polishing gold. Erythallis,[3302] though a white stone, assumes a red hue when viewed at an inclined angle. Erotylos,[3303] also known as “amphicomos”[3304] and “hieromnemon,”[3305] is highly praised by Democritus for its use in the art of divination.

Eumeces[3306] is a stone of Bactriana, like silex in appearance; placed beneath the head, it produces visions in the night of an oracular description. Eumithres[3307] is called by the Assyrians “gem of Belus,”[3308] the most sacred of all their gods; it is of a leek-green colour, and greatly in request for superstitious purposes. Eupetalos[3309] is a stone that has four different tints, azure, fiery, vermilion, and apple-colour. Eureos[3310] is similar to an olive-stone in form, streaked like a shell, and moderately white. Eurotias[3311] has all the appearance of concealing its black colour beneath a coat of mould. Eusebes[3312] is the stone, it is said, of which the seat was made in the Temple of Hercules at Tyrus, from which the pious [only] could raise themselves without difficulty. Epimelas[3313] is a white gem, with a black hue reflected from its surface.

CHAP. 59.—GALAXIAS. GALACTITIS, LEUCOGÆA, LEUCOGRAPHITIS, OR SYNNEPHITIS. GALLAICA. GASSINADE. GLOSSOPETRA. GORGONIA. GONIÆA.

Galaxias,[3314] by some called “galactitis,”[3315] is a stone that closely resembles those next mentioned, but is interspersed with veins of blood-red or white. Galactitis[3316] is of the uniform colour of milk; other names given to it are, leucogæa,[3317] leucographitis,[3318] and synnephitis,[3319] and, when pounded in water, both in taste and colour it marvellously resembles milk. This stone promotes the secretion of the milk in nursing women, it is said; in addition to which, attached to the neck of infants, it produces saliva, and it dissolves when put into the mouth. They say, too, that it deprives persons of their memory: it is in the rivers Nilus and Acheloüs that it is produced. Some persons give the name of “galactitis” to a smaragdus surrounded with veins of white. Gallaica is a stone like argyrodamas,[3320] but of a somewhat more soiled appearance; these stones are found in twos and threes clustered together. The people of Media send us gassinade,[3321] a stone like orobus in colour, and sprinkled with flowers, as it were: it is found at Arbela. This stone, too, conceives,[3322] it is said; a fact which it admits when shaken; the conception lasting for a period of three months. Glossopetra,[3323] which resembles the human tongue, is not engendered, it is said, in the earth, but falls from the heavens during the moon’s eclipse; it is considered highly necessary for the purposes of selenomancy.[3324] To render all this however, still more incredible, we have the evident untruthfulness of one assertion made about it, that it has the property of silencing the winds. Gorgonia[3325] is nothing but a coral, which has been thus named from the circumstance that, though soft in the sea, it afterwards assumes the hardness of stone: it has the property of counteracting fascinations,[3326] it is said. Goniæa,[3327] it is asserted, and with the same degree of untruthfulness, ensures vengeance upon our enemies.

CHAP. 60.—HELIOTROPIUM. HEPHÆSTITIS. HERMUAIDOION. HEXECONTALITHOS. HIERACITIS. HAMMITIS. HAMMONIS CORNU. HORMISCION. HYÆNIA. HÆMATITIS.

Heliotropium[3328] is found in Æthiopia, Africa, and Cyprus: it is of a leek-green colour, streaked with blood-red veins. It has been thus named,[3329] from the circumstance that, if placed in a vessel of water and exposed to the full light of the sun, it changes to a reflected colour like that of blood; this being the case with the stone of Æthiopia more particularly. Out of the water, too, it reflects the figure of the sun like a mirror, and it discovers eclipses of that luminary by showing the moon passing over its disk. In the use of this stone, also, we have a most glaring illustration of the impudent effrontery of the adepts in magic, for they say that, if it is combined with the plant[3330] heliotropium, and certain incantations are then repeated over it, it will render the person invisible who carries it about him.

Hephæstitis[3331] also, though a radiant stone, partakes of the properties of a mirror in reflecting objects. The mode of testing it is to put it into boiling water, which should immediately become cold. If exposed to the rays of the sun, it should instantly cause dry fuel to ignite:[3332] Corycus[3333] is the place where it is found. Hermuaidoion[3334] is so called from the resemblance to the male organs which it presents, on a ground that is sometimes white, sometimes black, and sometimes of a pallid hue, with a circle surrounding it of a golden colour. Hexecontalithos[3335] receives its name from the numerous variety of colours which, small as it is, it presents: it is found in Troglodytica.[3336] Hieracitis[3337] is entirely covered with mottled streaks, resembling a kite’s feathers alternately with black. Hammitis[3338] is similar in appearance to the spawn of fish: there is also one variety of it which has all the appearance of being composed of nitre,[3339] except that it is remarkably hard. Hammonis cornu[3340] is reckoned among the most sacred gems of Æthiopia; it is of a golden colour, like a ram’s horn in shape, and ensures prophetic dreams, it is said.

Hormiscion[3341] is one of the most pleasing stones to the sight; it is of a fiery colour, and emits rays like gold, tipped at the extremity with a whitish light. Hyænia[3342] is derived from the eyes of the hyæna, it is said, the animal being hunted to obtain it; placed beneath the tongue, if we believe the story, it will enable a person to prophesy the future. Hæmatitis,[3343] of the very finest quality, comes from Æthiopia, but it is found in Arabia and Africa as well. It is a stone of a blood-red colour, and we must not omit to mention the assurance given [by the magicians], that the possession of it reveals treacherous designs on the part of the barbarians. Zachalias of Babylon, in the books which he dedicated to King Mithridates, attributing the destinies of man to certain properties innate in precious stones, is not content with vaunting the merits of this stone as curative of diseases of the eyes and liver, but recommends it also as ensuring success to petitions addressed to kings. He also makes it play its part in lawsuits and judgments, and even goes so far as to say that it is highly beneficial to be rubbed with it on the field of battle. There is another stone of the same class, called “menui” by the people of India, and “xanthos”[3344] by the Greeks: it is of a whitish, tawny colour.

CHAP. 61.—IDÆI DACTYLI. ICTERIAS. JOVIS GEMMA. INDICA. ION.

The stones called Idæi dactyli,[3345] and found in Crete, are of an iron colour, and resemble the human thumb in shape. The colour of icterias[3346] resembles that of livid skin, and hence it is that it has been thought so excellent a remedy for jaundice. There is also another stone of this name, of a still more livid colour; while a third has all the appearance of a leaf. This last is broader than the others, almost imponderous, and streaked with livid veins. A fourth kind again is of the same colour, but blacker, and marked all over with livid veins. Jovis gemma[3347] is a white stone, very light, and soft: another name given to it is “drosolithos.”[3348] Indica[3349] retains the name of the country that produces it: it is a stone of a reddish colour, and yields a purple liquid[3350] when rubbed. There is another stone also of this name, white, and of a dusty appearance. Ion[3351] is an Indian stone, of a violet tint: it is but rarely, however, that it is found of a deep, full, colour.

CHAP. 62.—LEPIDOTIS. LESBIAS. LEUCOPHTHALMOS. LEUCOPŒCILOS. LIBANOCHRUS. LIMONIATIS. LIPAREA. LYSIMACHOS. LEUCOCHRYSOS.

Lepidotis[3352] is a stone of various colours, and resembles the scales of fish in appearance. Lesbias, so called from Lesbos which produces it, is a stone found in India as well. Leucophthalmos,[3353] which in other respects is of a reddish hue, presents all the appearance of an eye, in white and black. Leucopœcilos[3354] is white, variegated with drops of vermilion of a golden hue. Libanochrus[3355] strongly resembles frankincense, and yields a liquid like honey. Limoniatis[3356] would appear to be the same as smaragdus; and all that we find said about liparea[3357] is, that employed in the form of a fumigation, it allures all kinds of wild beasts. Lysimachos resembles Rhodian marble, with veins of gold: in polishing it, it is reduced very considerably in size, in order to remove all defects. Leucochrysos[3358] is a kind of chrysolithos interspersed with white.

CHAP. 63.—MEMNONIA. MEDIA. MECONITIS. MITHRAX. MOROCHTHOS. MORMORION OR PROMNION. MURRHITIS. MYRMECIAS. MYRSINITIS. MESOLEUCOS. MESOMELAS.

What kind of stone memnonia[3359] is, we do not find mentioned. Medea[3360] is a black stone, said to have been discovered by the Medea[3361] of fable: it has veins of a golden lustre, and yields a liquid like saffron in colour and with a vinous flavour. Meconitis[3362] strongly resembles poppies. Mithrax[3363] comes from Persia and the mountains of the Red Sea: it is of numerous colours, and reflects various tints when exposed to the sun.[3364] Morochthos[3365] is a stone of a leek-green colour, from which a milk exudes. Mormorion[3366] is a transparent stone from India, of a deep black colour, and known also as “promnion.” When it has a mixture of the colour[3367] of carbunculus, it is from Alexandria; and when it shares that of sarda,[3368] it is a native of Cyprus. It is found also at Tyrus and in Galatia; and, according to Xenocrates, it has been discovered at the foot of the Alps. These stones are well adapted for cutting in relief.[3369] Murrhitis[3370] has just the colour of myrrh, and very little of the appearance of a gem: it has the odour also of an unguent, and smells like nard when rubbed. Myrmecias[3371] is black, and has excrescences upon it like warts. Myrsinitis[3372] has a colour like that of honey, and the smell of myrtle. “Mesoleucos”[3373] is the name given to a stone when a white line runs through the middle; and when a black vein intersects any other colour, it is called “mesomelas.”[3374]

CHAP. 64.—NASAMONITIS. NEBRITIS. NIPPARENE.

Nasamonitis is a blood-red stone, marked with black veins. Nebritis, a stone sacred to Father Liber,[3375] has received its name from its resemblance to a nebris.[3376] There is also another stone of this kind, that is black. Nipparene[3377] bears the name of a city and people of Persia, and resembles the teeth of the hippopotamus.

CHAP. 65.—OICA. OMBRIA OR NOTIA. ONOCARDIA. ORITIS OR SIDERITIS. OSTRACIAS. OSTRITIS. OPHICARDELON. OBSIAN STONE.

Oica is the barbarian name given to a stone which is pleasing for its colours, black, reddish yellow, green, and white. Ombria,[3378] by some called “notia,”[3379] falls with showers and lightning, much in the same manner as ceraunia[3380] and brontea,[3381] the properties of which it is said to possess. There is a statement also, that if this stone is placed upon altars it will prevent the offerings from being consumed. Onocardia[3382] is like kermesberry in appearance, but nothing further is said about it. Oritis,[3383] by some called “sideritis,”[3384] is a stone of globular form, and proof against the action of fire. Ostracias,[3385] or ostracitis, is a testaceous stone, harder than ceramitis,[3386] and similar in all respects to achates,[3387] except that the latter has an unctuous appearance when polished: indeed, so remarkably hard is ostracitis, that with fragments of it other gems are engraved. Ostritis[3388] receives its name from its resemblance to an oyster-shell. Ophicardelon is the barbarian name for a stone of a black colour, terminated by a white line on either side. Of Obsian[3389] stone we have already spoken in the preceding Book. There are gems, too, of the same name and colour, found not only in Æthiopia and India, but in Samnium as well, and, in the opinion of some, upon the Spanish shores that lie towards the Ocean.

CHAP. 66.—PANCHRUS. PANGONUS. PANEROS OR PANERASTOS. PONTICA; FOUR VARIETIES OF IT. PHLOGINOS OR CHRYSITIS. PHŒNICITIS. PHYCITIS. PERILEUCOS. PÆNITIS OR GÆANIS.

Panchrus[3390] is a stone which displays nearly every colour. Pangonus[3391] is no longer than the finger: the only thing that prevents it from being taken for a crystal, is, its greater number of angles. What kind of stone paneros[3392] is, Metrodorus does not inform us; but he gives some lines, by no means without elegance, that were written upon this stone by Queen Timaris, and dedicated to Venus; from which we have reason to conclude that certain fecundating virtues were attributed to it. By some writers it is called panerastos.[3393] Of the stone called “pontica”[3394] there are numerous varieties: one is stellated, and presents either blood-red spots, or drops like gold, being reckoned in the number of the sacred stones. Another, in place of stars, has streaks of the same colour, and a fourth presents all the appearance of mountains and valleys.

Phloginos,[3395] also called “chrysitis,”[3396] strongly resembles Attic ochre,[3397] and is found in Egypt. Phœnicitis[3398] is a stone so called from its resemblance to a date. Phycitis receives its name from its resemblance to sea-weed.[3399] Perileucos[3400] is the name given to a gem, in which a white colour runs down from the margin of the stone to the base. Pæanitis,[3401] by some called “gæanis,”[3402] conceives, it is said, and is good for females at the time of parturition: this stone is found in Macedonia, near the monument[3403] of Tiresias there, and has all the appearance of congealed water.

CHAP. 67.—SOLIS GEMMA. SAGDA. SAMOTHRACIA. SAURITIS. SARCITIS. SELENITIS. SIDERITIS. SIDEROPŒCILOS. SPONGITIS. SYNODONTITIS. SYRTITIS. SYRINGITIS.

Solis gemma[3404] is white, and, like the luminary from which it takes its name, emits brilliant rays in a circular form. Sagda is found by the people of Chaldæa adhering to ships, and is of a leek-green colour. The Isle of Samothrace gives its name to a stone[3405] which it produces, black and imponderous, and similar to wood in appearance. Sauritis[3406] is found, they say, in the belly of the green lizard, cut asunder with a reed. Sarcitis[3407] is a stone, like beef in appearance. Selenitis[3408] is white and transparent, with a reflected colour like that of honey. It has a figure within it like that of the moon, and reflects the face of that luminary, if what we are told is true, according to its phases, day by day, whether on the wane or whether on the increase: this stone is a native of Arabia, it is thought. Sideritis[3409] is a stone like iron, the presence of which in lawsuits creates discord. Sideropœcilos,[3410] which is a variety of the same stone, is a native of Æthiopia, and is covered with variegated spots.

Spongitis has its name from its resemblance to sponge. Synodontitis is a stone found in the brain of the fish known as “synodus.”[3411] Syrtitis is a stone that used formerly to be found on the shores of the Syrtes,[3412] though now it is found on the coasts of Lucania as well: it is of a honey colour, with a reflected tint of saffron, and contains stars of a feeble lustre within. Syringitis[3413] is hollow throughout, like the space between the two joints in a straw.

CHAP. 68.—TRICHRUS. THELYRRHIZOS. THELYCARDIOS OR MULC. THRACIA; THREE VARIETIES OF IT. TEPHRITIS. TECOLITHOS.

Trichrus[3414] comes from Africa: it is of a black colour, but yields three different liquids, black at the lower part, blood-red in the middle, and of an ochre colour at the top. Thelyrrhizos[3415] is of an ashy or russet colour, but white at the lower part. Thelycardios[3416] is like a heart in colour, and is held in high esteem by the people of Persia, in which country it is found: the name given to it by them is “mulc.” Of thracia[3417] there are three varieties; a green stone, one of a more pallid colour, and a third with spots like drops of blood. Tephritis[3418] is crescent-shaped, with horns like those of the new moon, but it is of an ashy colour. Tecolithos[3419] has all the appearance of an olive stone: it is held in no estimation as a gem, but a solution of it will break and expel urinary calculi.

CHAP. 69.—VENERIS CRINES. VEIENTANA.

Veneris crines[3420] is the name given to a stone that is remarkably black and shining, with an appearance like red hair within. Veientana is an Italian stone, found at Veii: it is black, divided by a line of white.

CHAP. 70.—ZATHENE. ZMILAMPIS. ZORANISCÆA.

Zathene, according to Democritus, is a native of Media. It is like amber in colour, and, if beaten up with palm-wine and saffron, it will become soft like wax, yielding a very fragrant smell. Zmilampis is found in the river Euphrates: it resembles marble of Proconnesus in appearance, and is of a sea-green colour within. Zoraniscæa is found in the river Indus: it is a stone used by magicians, it is said, but I find no further particulars relative to it.

CHAP. 71. (11.)—PRECIOUS STONES WHICH DERIVE THEIR NAMES FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY. HEPATITIS. STEATITIS. ADADUNEPHROS. ADADUOPHTHALMOS. ADADUDACTYLOS. TRIOPHTHALMOS.

There is also another method of classifying stones; according to the resemblance which they bear to various other objects. Thus, for example, the different parts of the body give the following names to stones:—Hepatitis[3421] is so called from the liver; and steatitis[3422] from its resemblance to the fat of various animals. Adadunephros, adaduophthalmos, and adadudactylos, mean “kidney of Adad,” “eye of Adad,” and “finger of Adad,” a god[3423] of the Syrians so called. Triophthalmos[3424] is a stone found in conjunction with onyx, which resembles three human eyes at once.

CHAP. 72.—PRECIOUS STONES WHICH DERIVE THEIR NAMES FROM ANIMALS. CARCINIAS. ECHITIS. SCORPITIS. SCARITIS. TRIGLITIS. ÆGOPHTHALMOS. HYOPHTHALMOS. GERANITIS. HIERACITIS. AETITIS. MYRMECITIS. CANTHARIAS. LYCOPHTHALMOS. TAOS. TIMICTONIA.

Other stones, again, derive their names from various animals. Carcinias[3425] is so called from the colour of the sea-crab; echitis,[3426] from the colour of the viper; scorpitis,[3427] from either the colour or the shape of the scorpion; scaritis, from the fish called scarus;[3428] triglitis, from the sur-mullet;[3429] ægophthalmos, from the eye of the goat; hyophthalmos, from the eye of the swine; geranitis, from the neck of the crane; hieracitis, from the neck of the hawk; and aëtitis, from the colour of the white-tailed eagle. Myrmecitis[3430] presents the appearance of an ant crawling within, and cantharias,[3431] of a scarabæus. Lycophthalmos[3432] is a stone of four different colours; on the exterior it is ruddy and blood-red, and within it is black, surrounded with a line of white, closely resembling the eye of the wolf in every respect. Taos[3433] is a stone with colours like those of the peacock. Timictonia, I find, is the name of a stone, like the asp in colour.

CHAP. 73.—PRECIOUS STONES WHICH DERIVE THEIR NAMES PROM OTHER OBJECTS. HAMMOCHRYSOS. CENCHRITIS. DRYITIS. CISSITIS. NARCISSITIS. CYAMIAS. PYREN. PHŒNICITIS. CHALAZIAS. PYRITIS. POLYZONOS. ASTRAPÆA. PHLOGITIS. ANTHRACITIS. ENHYGROS. POLYTHRIX. LEONTIOS. PARDALIOS. DROSOLITHOS. MELICHRUS. MELICHLOROS. CROCIAS. POLIAS. SPARTOPOLIAS. RHODITIS. CHALCITIS. SYCITIS. BOSTRYCHITIS. CHERNITIS. ANANCITIS. SYNOCHITIS. DENDRITIS.

Hammochrysos[3434] resembles sand in appearance, but sand mixed with gold. Cenchritis[3435] has all the appearance of grains of millet scattered here and there. Dryitis[3436] resembles the trunk of a tree, and burns like wood. Cissitis,[3437] upon a white, transparent surface, has leaves of ivy running all over it. Narcissitis[3438] is distinguished by veins on the surface, and has a smell like that of the narcissus. Cyamias[3439] is a black stone, but when broken, produces a bean to all appearance. Pyren[3440] is so called from its resemblance to an olive-stone: in some cases it would appear to contain the back-bone[3441] of a fish. Phœnicitis[3442] resembles a palm-date in form. Chalazias[3443] resembles a hailstone, both in form and colour: it is as hard as adamant, so much so, indeed, that in the fire even it retains its coolness, it is said. Pyritis,[3444] though a black stone, burns the fingers when rubbed by them. Polyzonos[3445] is a black stone traversed by numerous zones of white.

Astrapæa[3446] has rays like flashes of lightning, running across the middle on a ground of white or blue. In phlogitis,[3447] there is, to all appearance, a flame burning within, but not reaching the surface of the stone. In anthracitis,[3448] there are sometimes sparks, to all appearance, flying to and fro. Enhygros[3449] is always perfectly round, smooth, and white; but when it is shaken a liquid is heard to move within, just like the yolk within an egg. Polythrix[3450] presents the appearance of hair upon a green surface; but it causes the hair to fall off, it is said. Leontios and pardalios[3451] are names given to stones, from their resemblance to the skin of the lion and panther. Drosolithos[3452] has received its name from its colour. Melichrus is a honey-coloured stone, of which there are several varieties. Melichloros[3453] is a stone of two colours, partly honey-coloured, partly yellow. Crocias[3454] is the name given to a stone which reflects a colour like that of saffron; polias, to a stone resembling white hair in colour; and spartopolias, to a stone more thinly sprinkled with white.

Rhoditis is like the rose in colour, chalcitis resembles copper, and sycitis[3455] is in colour like a fig. Bostrychitis[3456] is covered with branches of a white or blood-red colour, upon a ground of black; and chernitis[3457] has, on a stony surface, a figure like that of two hands grasping each other. Anancitis[3458] is used in hydromancy, they say, for summoning the gods to make their appearance; and synochitis,[3459] for detaining the shades from below when they have appeared. If white dendritis[3460] is buried beneath a tree that is being felled, the edge of the axe will never be blunted, it is asserted. There are many other stones also, of a still more outrageously marvellous nature, to which, admitted as it is that they are stones, barbarous names have been given: we have refuted, however, a quite sufficient number of these portentous lies already.

CHAP. 74. (12.)—PRECIOUS STONES THAT SUDDENLY MAKE THEIR APPEARANCE. COCHLIDES.

New species of precious stones are repeatedly brought into existence, and fresh ones are found all at once, destitute of names. Thus, for example, there was a stone formerly discovered in the gold-mines of Lampsacus, which, on account of its extraordinary beauty, was sent to King Alexander, as we learn from Theophrastus.[3461] Cochlides,[3462] too, which are now so common, are rather artificial productions than natural, and in Arabia there have been found vast masses of them; which are boiled, it is said, in honey, for seven days and nights without intermission. By doing this, all earthy and faulty particles are removed; after which, the mass, thus cleansed and purified, is adorned by the ingenuity of artists with variegated veins and spots, and cut into such shapes as may be most to the taste of purchasers. Indeed, these articles, in former times, were made of so large a size, that they were employed in the East as frontals for the horses of kings, and as pendants for their trappings.[3463]

All precious stones in general are improved in brilliancy by being boiled in honey, Corsican honey more particularly; but acrid substances are in every respect injurious to them. As to the stones which are variegated, and to which new colours are imparted by the inventive ingenuity of man, as they have no name in common use, they are usually known by that of “physis;”[3464] a name which claims for them, as it were, that admiration which we are more ready to bestow upon the works of Nature. But really, these artificial stones have names without end, and I could never think of recounting the infinite series of them, coined as they have been by the frivolous tendencies of the Greeks.

Having already described the more noble gems, and indeed those of inferior quality which are found among the stones that are held in high esteem, I must content myself with knowing that I have pointed out those kinds which are the most deserving of mention. It will be as well, however, for the reader to bear in mind, that, according to the varying number of the spots and inequalities on their surface, according to the numerous intersections of lines and their multiplied tints and shades, the names of precious stones are subject to repeated changes; the material itself, for the most part, remaining just the same.

CHAP. 75.—THE VARIOUS FORMS OF PRECIOUS STONES.

We will now make some observations in reference to precious stones in general, following therein the opinions that have been expressed by various authors. Stones with a level surface are preferred to those which are concave or protuberant on the face. An oblong shape is the one that is most approved of, and, next to that, the lenticular[3465] form, as it is called. After this, the stone with a plane surface and circular is admired, those which are angular being held in the least esteem. There is considerable difficulty in distinguishing genuine stones from false; the more so, as there has been discovered a method of transforming genuine stones of one kind into false stones of another.[3466] Sardonyx, for example, is imitated by cementing together three other precious stones, in such a way that no skill can detect the fraud; a black stone being used for the purpose, a white stone, and one of a vermilion[3467] colour, each of them, in its own way, a stone of high repute. Nay, even more than this, there are books in existence, the authors of which I forbear to name,[3468] which give instructions how to stain crystal in such a way as to imitate smaragdus and other transparent stones, how to make sardonyx of sarda, and other gems in a similar manner. Indeed, there is no kind of fraud practised, by which larger profits are made.

CHAP. 76. (13.)—THE METHODS OF TESTING PRECIOUS STONES.

On the contrary, we will make it our business to point out the methods of detecting these false stones, seeing that it is only proper to put luxury even on its guard against fraud. In addition to the particulars which we have already given, when treating of each individual kind of precious stone, it is generally agreed that transparent stones should be tested by a morning light, or even, if necessary, so late as the fourth[3469] hour, but never after that hour. The modes of testing[3470] stones are numerous: first, by their weight, the genuine stone being the heavier of the two; next, by their comparative coolness, the genuine stone being cooler than the other to the mouth; and, next to that, by their substance; there being blisters perceptible in the body of the fictitious stone, as well as a certain roughness on the surface; filaments, too, an unequal brilliancy, and a brightness that falls short before it reaches the eye. The best[3471] mode of testing is to strike off a fragment with an iron saw; but this is a thing not allowed by the dealers, who equally refuse to let their gems be tested by the file. Dust of Obsian[3472] stone will not leave a mark upon the surface of a genuine stone: but where the gem is artificial, every mark that is made will leave a white scratch upon it. In addition to this, there is such a vast diversity in their degrees of hardness, that some stones do not admit of being engraved with iron, and others can only be cut with a graver blunted at the edge. In all cases, however, precious stones may be cut and polished by the aid of adamas[3473] an operation which may be considerably expedited by heating the graver. The rivers which produce precious stones, are the Acesinus[3474] and the Ganges; and, of all countries, India is the most prolific of them.

CHAP. 77.—A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF NATURE AS SHE APPEARS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE COMPARATIVE VALUES OF THINGS.

Having now treated of all the works of Nature, it will be as well to take a sort of comparative view of her several productions, as well as the countries which supply them. Throughout the whole earth, then, and wherever the vault of heaven extends, there is no country so beautiful, or which, for the productions of Nature, merits so high a rank as Italy, that ruler and second parent of the world; recommended as she is by her men, her women, her generals, her soldiers, her slaves, her superiority in the arts, and the illustrious examples of genius which she has produced. Her situation, too, is equally in her favour; the salubrity and mildness of her climate; the easy access which she offers to all nations; her coasts indented with so many harbours; the propitious breezes, too, that always prevail on her shores; advantages, all of them, due to her situation, lying, as she does, midway between the East and the West, and extended in the most favourable of all positions. Add to this, the abundant supply of her waters, the salubrity of her groves, the repeated intersections of her mountain ranges, the comparative innocuousness of her wild animals, the fertility of her soil, and the singular richness of her pastures.

Whatever there is that the life of man ought not to feel in want of, is nowhere to be found in greater perfection than here; the cereals, for example, wine, oil, wool, flax, tissues, and oxen. As to horses, there are none, I find, preferred to those of Italy for the course;[3475] while, for mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron, so long as it was deemed lawful to work them,[3476] Italy was held inferior to no country whatsoever. At the present day, teeming as she is with these treasures, she contents herself with lavishing upon us, as the whole of her bounties, her various liquids, and the numerous flavours yielded by her cereals and her fruits. Next to Italy, if we except the fabulous regions of India, I would rank Spain, for my own part, those districts, at least, that lie in the vicinity of the sea.[3477] She is parched and sterile in one part, it is true; but where she is at all productive, she yields the cereals in abundance, oil, wine, horses, and metals of every kind. In all these respects, Gaul is her equal, no doubt; but Spain, on the other hand, outdoes the Gallic provinces in her spartum[3478] and her specular stone,[3479] the products of her desert tracts, in her pigments that minister to our luxuries, in the ardour displayed by her people in laborious employments, in the perfect training of her slaves, in the robustness of body of her men, and in their general resoluteness of character.

As to the productions themselves, the greatest value of all, among the products of the sea, is attached to pearls: of objects that lie upon the surface of the earth, it is crystals that are most highly esteemed: and of those derived from the interior, adamas,[3480] smaragdus,[3481] precious stones, and murrhine,[3482] are the things upon which the highest value is placed. The most costly things that are matured by the earth, are the kermes-berry[3483] and laser;[3484] that are gathered from trees, nard[3485] and Seric tissues;[3486] that are derived from the trunks of trees, logs of citrus[3487]-wood; that are produced by shrubs, cinnamon,[3488] cassia,[3489] and amomum;[3490] that are yielded by the juices of trees or of shrubs, amber,[3491] opobalsamum,[3492] myrrh,[3493] and frankincense;[3494] that are found in the roots of trees, the perfumes derived from costus.[3495] The most valuable products furnished by living animals, on land, are the teeth of elephants; by animals in the sea, tortoise-shell; by the coverings of animals, the skins which the Seres[3496] dye, and the substance gathered from the hair of the she-goats of Arabia, which we have spoken of under the name of “ladanum;”[3497] by creatures that are common to both land and sea, the purple[3498] of the murex. With reference to the birds, beyond plumes for warriors’ helmets, and the grease that is derived from the geese of Commagene,[3499] I find no remarkable product mentioned. We must not omit, too, to observe, that gold, for which there is such a mania with all mankind, hardly holds the tenth rank as an object of value, and silver, with which we purchase gold, hardly the twentieth!

HAIL to thee, Nature, thou parent of all things! and do thou deign to show thy favour unto me, who, alone of all the citizens of Rome, have, in thy every department,[3500] thus made known thy praise.[3501]

SUMMARY.—Facts, narratives, and observations, one thousand three hundred.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,[3502] the Register of the Triumphs,[3503] Mæcenas,[3504] Iacchus,[3505] Cornelius Bocchus.[3506]

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—King Juba,[3507] Xenocrates[3508] the son of Zeno, Sudines,[3509] Æschylus,[3510] Philoxenus,[3511] Euripides,[3512] Nicander,[3513] Satyrus,[3514] Theophrastus,[3515] Chares,[3516] Philemon,[3517] Demostratus,[3518] Zenothemis,[3519] Metrodorus,[3520] Sotacus,[3521] Pytheas,[3522] Timæus[3523] the Sicilian, Nicias,[3524] Theochrestus,[3525] Asarubas,[3526] Mnaseas,[3527] Theomenes,[3528] Ctesias,[3529] Mithridates,[3530] Sophocles,[3531] King Archelaüs,[3532] Callistratus,[3533] Democritus,[3534] Ismenias,[3535] Olympicus,[3536] Alexander[3537] Polyhistor, Apion,[3538] Horus,[3539] Zoroaster,[3540] Zachalias.[3541]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is in the last six Books of Pliny, and those only, we regret to say, that we are enabled to avail ourselves of the new readings of the Bamberg MS., which has been so admirably collated by M. Ian. In a vast number of passages previously looked upon as hopelessly corrupt, or else not at all suspected of being in a mutilated state, this MS. supplies words and clauses, the existence of which in the original was hitherto unknown; indeed by its aid the indefatigable Sillig has been enabled, if we may be allowed the term, almost to rewrite the last six Books of Pliny. From a perusal of these new readings, as Dr. Smith has justly remarked, we have reason to infer “that the text of the earlier Books is still in a very defective state, and that much of the obscurity of Pliny may be traced to this cause.”

[2] The Echeneis remora of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 41.

[3] He alludes to the “rostra,” or metal beaks, with which the prows of the ships of war were furnished.

[4] An absurd tradition, no doubt, invented, probably, to palliate the disgrace of his defeat.

[5] From the delay caused by the stoppage of the prætorian ship.

[6] Caligula.

[7] For Astura and Antium, see B. iii. c. 9.

[8] And well it might surprise him. If there was any foundation at all for the story, there can be little doubt that a trick was played for the purpose of imposing upon Caligula’s superstitious credulity, and that the rowers as well as the diving sailors were privy to it.

[9] “Limax.” A singular comparison, apparently.

[10] In B. ix. c. 41.

[11] See B. ix. c. 41, where he is speaking of a murex, a fish which bears no such affinity to the remora as to warrant our author’s expression, “Idem valere omnia ea genera.”

[12] Properly meaning “delay.” “Remora” is another reading, and perhaps a better one, as the word is found in Plautus.

[13] In B. ix. c. 41.

[14] From λύειν τὰς ὠδίνας, “to release from the pains of childbirth.”

[15] See B. ix. c. 67.

[16] Ajasson remarks that it was owing probably to this opinion that it was formerly the belief, that by holding the breath a person could render himself proof against the shock of the torpedo; a precaution recommended by Kæmpfer, in his “Amenitates Exoticæ,” p. 514. Ed. 1712.

[17] “Quâdam aurâ sui corporis adficiat membra” seems a preferable reading to “Quâdam aurâ corporis sui adficiat membra,” as given by the Bamberg MS., and adopted by Sillig.

[18] See B. ix. c. 72, and the Note.

[19] A fabulous story, Ajasson remarks, but one that was commonly believed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gessner, however, a conscientious enquirer into the mysteries of Nature, asserts (de Aquatilibus, p. 563) that, to his own knowledge, the sight of this fish was productive of the symptoms here mentioned. Beckmann reckons the Aplysia depilans (with which the Sea-hare of the ancients is identified) in the number of the animal poisons, and remarks that (as we find stated by Cœlius Rhodiginus, B. xxvi. c. 30) the Emperor Titus was dispatched by the agency of this poison, administered to him by the direction of his brother Domitian. Hist. Inv. vol. I. p. 51. Bohn’s Ed.

[20] Athenæus says, B. viii., that the Scarus pursues it and devours it.

[21] “Quibus impactus est.” A curious expression; if indeed it is the correct reading.

[22] See B. ix. c. 72.

[23] Mituli. See B. ix. c. 74.

[24] “Cetos.”

[25] Ajasson remarks, in confutation of this story, that there are few rivers in Arabia of such a breadth.

[26] See B. xi. c. 34.

[27] Of this work, began by Ovid during his banishment in Pontus, and probably never completed, only a fragment of one hundred and thirty-two lines has come down to us. Pliny again makes reference to it, in the last Chapter of the present Book.

[28] Or “Treatise on Fishes.”

[29] See B. ix. c. 69, and B. xi. c. 61.

[30] Quoted from the Halieuticon.

[31] The wolf fish. The Perca labrax of Linnæus. See B. ix. cc. 24, 28, 74, 79, and B. x. c. 89.

[32] From the Halieuticon of Ovid.

[33] See B. ix. cc. 14, 35, 39, 48, 74, 79, 81.

[34] From the Halieuticon.

[35] From the Halieuticon.

[36] See B. ix. cc. 21, 26, 67.

[37] From the Halieuticon.

[38] From the Halieuticon. See Note 31 above, if indeed the same fish is meant. See also B. xxxi. c. 44, and the Note.

[39] From the Halieuticon.

[40] See B. ix. c. 85.

[41] In B. ix. c. 39. Aristotle, however, as there stated, was not of the same opinion.

[42] See B. xx. c. 98.

[43] “Novacula piscis.” Pliny is the only ancient author that mentions this fish. There are numerous varieties of it, among which the best known are the Coryphæna novacula of Linnæus, the Rason of the Mediterranean, highly esteemed as an article of food, and the Coryphæna pentedactyle of Bloch, identical with the Hemiptéronote à cinq taches, of Lacépède.

[44] An absurdity, owing, no doubt, to its name.

[45] Or “globe-fish.” The Mola, orbis marinus, or sun-fish of modern Natural History, the Lune de mer, or poisson-lune of the French. Though the skin is harsh and tough, there is no firmness in its flesh, which is of a gluey consistency.

[46] In reality it has scales, but they are almost imperceptible, from their minuteness.

[47] Or rather, as Dalechamps observes, “all belly.”

[48] See B. ix. cc. 44, 45, and B. xviii. c. 87.

[49] See B. ix. cc. 1, 21 and c. 53 of the present Book. There are two varieties of it, the Xiphias gladius of Bloch and Lacépède, and the Xiphias machæra of Shaw.

[50] See B. v. c. 1.

[51] Martial, B. iv. Ep. 30, speaks of this being the case at the fishponds of Baiæ, where the Emperor’s fish were in the habit of making their appearance when called by name.

[52] A village of Caria, celebrated for its sanctuary of Zeus Stratios. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 30, says that there was a spring of clear water, within the sanctuary, which contained fish with golden necklaces and rings.

[53] “Inaures.” He probably means ornaments suspended from the gills, a thing which, in the case of eels, might be done.

[54] “Senum delubrum.” Ælian speaks of tame fish in the Old Men’s Harbour (λιμὴν) at Chios.

[55] In B. xxxi. c. 22.

[56] The seat of the worship of the half-fish goddess Addirga, Atergatis, Astarte, or Derceto. See B. v. c. 19. The original names of Hierapolis (the Holy City) were Bambyce and Mabog.

[57] See B. iii. c. 9.

[58] A Greek name signifying “black-tails.” See c. 53 of this Book. Holland translates it “the black-tailed ruffe” or “sea-bream.”

[59] See B. v. c. 38.

[60] See B. v. c. 31, and B. xxxi. c. 43.

[61] See B. iii. c. 14.

[62] See B. v. cc. 3, 4.

[63] See B. iii. cc. 16, 26.

[64] Ajasson thinks that this may possibly be true to some small extent.

[65] Identical with the fish called “orbis,” already mentioned in c. 5 of this Book. Ajasson remarks that though these fish have been known to weigh as much as three hundred pounds, there are many others which grow to a larger size, the sturgeon, and the silurus, for instance.

[66] Ajasson thinks that this notion may possibly have been derived from the name, which not improbably was given to it from the spongy and oleaginous nature of the flesh.

[67] See B. iii. c. 16.

[68] Owing, perhaps, to the moisture of the atmosphere.

[69] We learn from Festus, that he prohibited the use also of the scarus, a fish with scales.

[70] “Ad pulvinaria.” Literally, “At the cushions;” in reference to the practice of placing the statues of the gods upon pillows at the Lectisternia, which were sacrifices in the nature of feasts, at which images of the gods were placed reclining on couches, with tables and food before them, as if they were really partaking of the things offered in sacrifice. Livy, B. v. c. 13. gives an account of a Lectisternium celebrated with great pomp, which he asserts to have been the first instance of the practice.

[71] In B. ix. c. 54.

[72] See B. iii. c. 11.

[73] Theophrastus reckons coral among the precious stones, and the Pseudo-Orpheus among the minerals. Pliny would seem to be at a loss whether to consider it as an animal or a vegetable. In reality it is the production of marine organized bodies of an arborescent habit, known as Corallina, with jointed stems, supported on a kind of root divided into branches, which are likewise jointed.

[74] Because κειρεῖται, it is “cut short” in the sea, a far-fetched derivation, apparently.

[75] Solinus informs us that Zoroaster attributed certain mysterious properties to coral.

[76] A practice still retained, though the original intention of it has been lost sight of. As to the form of the coral now used by infants, see Note 2171 to B. xxviii. c. 7.

[77] In reality, the Pastinaca or Sting-ray is not venomous; but the wounds inflicted by the sting in its tail are highly dangerous, from their tendency to gangrene.

[78] In B. ix. c. 72. As Ajasson remarks, it is quite possible that the sting of the Pastinaca might penetrate to the heart of a young tree, and so kill it; but that is no proof of its being poisonous. See also B. ix. cc. 40, 67.

[79] Or Mustela, the sea-weasel, mentioned in B. ix. c. 29, and in c. 37 of the present Book. See also Note 2407 to B. ix. c. 29. Ajasson is of opinion that under the names of “Galeos” and “Mustela,” the ancients confounded the Squalus galeus and the Squalus mustelus of Linnæus.

[80] See B. xix. c. 15, and B. xxii. c. 49.

[81] As water, and are consequently amphibious.

[82] The Castoreum of the ancients, the “castor” of our Materia Medica, is not in reality produced from the testes of the beaver, as was supposed by the ancients, but from two oval pouches situate near the anus of the animal of either sex. There are four of these pouches in all, two containing a species of fat, and two larger ones including in their membranous cells a viscous fetid substance, which forms the castor of medicine. It is considered to be an antispasmodic.

[83] “Folliculos.” A very appropriate term, as Ajasson remarks.

[84] See B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxxiv. c. 14.

[85] See B. xxv. c. 70.

[86] Castor is still given to females to inhale, when suffering from hysteria.

[87] See B. xx. c. 54.

[88] See B. xxiv. c. 38.

[89] See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28.

[90] See B. xxix. c. 32.

[91] See B. viii. c. 35, and B. xvi. c. 80.

[92] See B. xx. c. 81; B. xxii. c. 13; B. xxiii. c. 23, and B. xxiv. c. 73.

[93] See B. xii. c. 57.

[94] Or Mistletoe; see B, xvi. c. 92.

[95] As to the identity of the “nitrum” of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46 and the Notes.

[96] See B. xx. c. 76.

[97] Under the head of “testudines,” he includes the tortoises, terrapenes, and turtles, which form an order of reptiles, known in Natural History as Chelonia, and characterised by the body being enclosed between a double shield or shell, out of which protrude the head, tail, and four extremities.

[98] See B. ix. cc. 11, 12.

[99] Our tortoises so called.

[100] Our Chelonides, or turtles.

[101] The Emydes and Trionyches of Modern Natural History.

[102] Or turtle.

[103] See B. x. c. 86.

[104] To make it of a yellow or golden colour, Dalechamps says.

[105] Identified by Ajasson with the Emys lutaria of Modern Natural History.

[106] Our Houseleek. See B. xxv. c. 102.

[107] Because it is then powerless, and can make no effort to rise.

[108] An absurd story, founded, no doubt, on the extremely slow pace of the tortoise. Ajasson remarks that it is the fresh-water tortoise, more particularly, that is so slow in its movements.

[109] In B. xxi. c. 44.

[110] Or Gilt-head. “Aurata.” See B. ix. c. 25.

[111] In B. viii. c. 38. See also B. xxviii. c. 30.

[112] Among others, in B. vii. c. 13, and B. xxviii. c. 23.

[113] In B. xxviii. c. 23.

[114] As to this point, see c. 12 of this Book, and the Notes.

[115] He must mean the Sea-dragon, mentioned in B. ix. c. 43, and in c. 53 of the present Book; for he has already stated in B. xxix. c. 20, that the serpent called “draco” is destitute of venom. See also B. viii. cc. 13, 14, 22, 41, and B. x. cc. 5, 92, 95, 96.

[116] See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29.

[117] See B. ix. cc. 71, 86, and c. 53 of the present Book.

[118] See Note 115 above.

[119] Rondelet asserts, B. vi. c. 19, that he himself had cured the sting of the sea-dragon by an application of the liver of that fish.

[120] See B. xxix. c. 32.

[121] See B. viii. c. 35, B. xi. c. 43, and B. xvi. c. 80.

[122] See B. xxiii. c. 29.

[123] Nicander, in his Theriaca, classes the Elops among the innocuous serpents. In B. ix. c. 27, we are informed that one name given to the Acipenser was “Elops.” But see the remark made in c. 54 of this Book.

[124] See B. xxiii. c. 80.

[125] From c. 53 of the present Book, we learn that the Sarda was a kind of Pelamis, or young tunny, which was pickled, like our Anchovy.

[126] See Note 115 above.

[127] Tunny cut into slices, and pickled. See B. ix. c. 18.

[128] See B. ix. cc. 40, 67, 74, 83.

[129] See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. cc. 19, 76, 116, B. xxv. c. 76.

[130] See B. x. c. 86.

[131] Under the name “magi,” he is probably speaking here, not of the ordinary magicians, but the Magi of the East, from whom Democritus largely borrowed.

[132] A piece of wit on the part of our author, in which he seldom indulges.

[133] See B. xi. c. 76.

[134] From “rubus,” a “bramble.”

[135] In B. viii. c. 48. It is not improbable that the “rubetæ” of the ancients were toads.

[136] Projections of the bones in which the eyes are set, as Dalechamps remarks.

[137] “Plenæ veneficiorum.” It was long a matter of doubt whether the toad is really poisonous, but it has been recently ascertained that the pustules on the skin contain a most active poison.

[138] “Solium” and “oleum” are the readings here, but we adopt the conjecture of M. Ian, and substitute “ollam.”

[139] “Averting dogs.”

[140] The Enhydris, probably. See B. xxx. c. 8.

[141] See B. xxvi. c. 33.

[142] “Cancri fluviatiles.” Our crawfish, the Potamobios of Leach.

[143] See B. xix. cc. 31, 36, 44, and B. xx. c. 48.

[144] It is difficult to say whether he means the shrew-mouse here, the bite of which was supposed to be poisonous, or the serpent called Scytale, mentioned by Lucan, B. ix. l. 717.

[145] See Note 143 above.

[146] The Crab. This is giving the serpent credit for too much wisdom; an acquaintance, in fact, with the fantastic names which mankind have bestowed upon the signs of the Zodiac.

[147] See B. ix. c. 32.

[148] The same as the Orbis or Orthagoriscus of Chapters 5 and 9 of this Book, the Mola or sun-fish of the Mediterranean. See B. ix. c. 17.

[149] Or sting-ray. See B. ix. c. 72.

[150] There is considerable truth in this observation.

[151] The sea-horse, the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 1.

[152] See B. xxi. c. 105.

[153] The same, probably, as the “opocarpathon” of B. xxviii. c. 45, a substance which does not appear to have been identified with any degree of certainty. See also c. 31 of the present Book.

[154] B. ix. c. 79.

[155] Ajasson remarks that these statements are consistent with fact.

[156] “Deep-sea” oysters.

[157] In Asia Minor. See B. v. c. 32, where it is called “Grynia.”

[158] In Lemnos. See B. iv. c. 23, and B. v. c. 32.

[159] This is an error: the statement is made, not in B. ix., but in B. ii. c. 109.

[160] See B. ix. c. 74. It is at the spawning season that this milky liquid is found in the oyster; a period at which the meat of the fish is considered unwholesome as food. We have a saying that the oyster should never be eaten in the months without an r; that the same, too, was the opinion in the middle ages is proved by the Leonine line:

“Mensibus erratis vos ostrea manducatis.”

“In the r’d months you may your oysters eat.”

[161] See B. iii. c. 9. Horace speaks of the oysters of Circeii, B. ii. Sat. 4. l. 33.

[162] There has been considerable discussion among the commentators as to the meaning of the word “spondylus” here. We are inclined to adopt the opinion of Venette, and to think that it means the so-called “meat” of the oyster. It must be short, and consequently plump and comparatively destitute of beard, and it must not be fleshy, as that would imply a degree of toughness not desirable in an oyster. The words “nec fibris laciniata ac tota in alvo,” only seem to be an amplification of the preceding ones, “spondylo brevi et non carnoso.”

[163] Literally, “Having beautiful eyebrows.”

[164] See B. ix. c. 79.

[165] See B. v. c. 40.

[166] See B. iii. c. 9.

[167] “Dulciora.”

[168] Those of Rutupæ, the present Richborough in Kent, were highly esteemed by the Romans. See Juvenal, Sat. 4. l. 141.

[169] “Suaviora.”

[170] The district in the vicinity of Bordeaux, now called Medoc. The oysters of Medulæ are mentioned in terms of praise by Ausonius, Epist. vii. and Epist. cxliii.

[171] “Acriora.”

[172] See B. iii. c. 4.

[173] See B. v. c. 32.

[174] See B. iii. c. 23.

[175] See B. iii. c. 9.

[176] They probably gave the name of “oyster” to some other shell-fish of large size. In Cook’s Voyages we read of cockles in the Pacific, which two men were unable to carry.

[177] From τρὶς, “thrice,” and δάκνω, “to bite.”

[178] Ajasson remarks that many persons are unable to digest oysters, in an uncooked state.

[179] Ajasson remarks that calcined oyster-shells formed an ingredient in the famous lithontriptic of Mrs. Stephens, a so-called remedy which obtained for her a considerable reward, voted by the English Parliament in the middle of last century.

[180] A statement purely imaginary, Ajasson thinks; the liquid of this class of shell-fish containing no element whatever to fit it for an antidote.

[181] Or antidote.

[182] In B. xxvi. c. 66.

[183] Many varieties of sea-weed are now known, Ajasson says, to possess this property, and are still used by savage nations for colouring the body. In Europe, the use of indigo, madder, and other tinctorial plants of a more decided character, has caused them to be entirely neglected for dyeing purposes.

[184] Probably the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 1.

[185] As to the Nitrum of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[186] Or Cuttlefish. See B. ix. c. 44.

[187] See B. ix. c. 35.

[188] See c. 17 of the present Book.

[189] This seems to be the meaning of “conchyliorum” here, though in most instances Pliny uses it as synonymous with the purple. See B. ix. cc. 60, 61, 64.

[190] See B. xxv. c. 70.

[191] This assertion reminds us of the healing effects of the fish with which Tobit cured his father’s blindness. See Tobit, c. xi. v. 13.

[192] See c. 13 of this Book.

[193] Identified by Ajasson with the white Rascasse of the Mediterranean. Hardouin combats the notion that this was the fish, the gall of which was employed by Tobit for the cure of his father, and is inclined to think that the Silurus was in reality the fish; a notion no better founded than the other, Ajasson thinks.

[194] In his “Messenia,” for instance. The fragment has been preserved by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xiii. c. 4. Ajasson remarks that the ancients clearly mistook the swimming bladder of the fish for the gall.

[195] Or “heaven-gazer.”

[196] The original has “ab oculo quem,”—but we have adopted the reading suggested by Dalechamps, “Ab oculis quos in superiore capite.” Ajasson says that the white rascasse has the eyes so disposed on the upper part of the head as to have the appearance of gazing upwards at the heavens. Hence it is that at Genoa, the fish is commonly known as the prête or “priest.”

[197] See B. ix. c. 32.

[198] See Chapter 17 of the present Book.

[199] “Albugines.”

[200] Meaning, literally, “Fallen from Jupiter,” in reference to their supposed descent from heaven in showers of rain.

[201] Cortex.

[202] See B. xxxiv. cc. 22, 23.

[203] “Ossiculo.”

[204] Literally, “fish-glue.” We can hardly believe Pliny that any fish was known by this name. Hardouin takes the fish here spoken of to be identical with that mentioned in B. ix. c. 17, as being caught in the Borysthene, and destitute of bones. It is most probable, however, that the “ichthyocolla” of the ancients, or “fish-glue,” was the same as our isinglass, and that it was prepared from the entrails of various fish, the sturgeon more particularly, the Acipenser huso of Linnæus.

[205] The best isinglass still comes from Russia.

[206] “Nativi coloris.” See B. viii. c. 23. Beckmann says, in reference to the present passage: “We manufacture the wool of our brown sheep in its natural colour, and this was done also by the ancients.”—Hist. Inv. vol. ii. p. 110, Bohn’s Ed.

[207] The “calamites” above mentioned, so called from “calamus,” a reed.

[208] The Bryonia Cretica of Linnæus; see B. xxiii. c. 16.

[209] An eminent surgeon, born at Sidon in Phœnicia, who practised at Rome, probably in the first century B.C.

[210] “Mutis,” “silent,” or “voiceless” frogs, as suggested by Gessner, Hist. Anim. B. ii., would almost seem to be a preferable reading here to “multis,” “many.”

[211] Another reading is “tænia,” a fish mentioned by Epicharmus, Athenæus informs us, and considered by Ajasson to be probably identical with the Cepola rubescens, or Cepola tænia of Linnæus.

[212] The same as the Batis of the Greeks, Hardouin thinks, the Raia batis, a kind of skate.

[213] See B. ix. c. 28.

[214] See the preceding Chapter.

[215] See c. 13 of the present Book.

[216] See B. ix. c. 71.

[217] As to “nitrum,” see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[218] See B. xxxi. c. 43.

[219] See Note 189 to Chapter 23 of this Book.

[220] “Canicula.” See B. ix. cc. 11, 70.

[221] Or sting-ray.

[222] Tunny cut in slices. See B. ix. c. 18.

[223] See end of B. xxxi.

[224] For the purpose, probably, of assuaging the pain of tooth-ache by their coolness.

[225] See B. ix. cc. 40, 67.

[226] “Cetum.” See B. ix. cc. 40, 74.

[227] Ajasson is of opinion that here and in c. 19 Pliny has mistaken the otter for a serpent, the mammiferæ only having eye or canine teeth. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. i., calls the otter by the name of “Enhydris.” See B. xxx. c. 8, where Pliny speaks of the “Enhydris” as a “male white serpent.”

[228] Or seal. See B. ix. c. 15.

[229] See B. ix. c. 42. Holland calls the mæna the “cackerel.”

[230] Or sting-ray.

[231] See B. ix. c. 1.

[232] Much like the cod-liver oil, held in such high repute at the present day.

[233] “Icthyocolla.” See Chapter 24 of the present Book.

[234] Of course this assertion as to the nest of the kingfisher is altogether fabulous, and the sea-productions here described by Pliny were long considered, though destitute of leaves, flowers, and fruit, to belong to the vegetable kingdom. Peyssonnel, however, made the discovery that they belong to the animal kingdom, and that they owe their origin to a species of polyp.

[235] Or kingfisher. See B. x. c. 47.

[236] “Oculorum cicatrices.”

[237] See end of B. xx.

[238] See end of B. viii.

[239] See B. ix. c. 42.

[240] See B. ix. cc. 40, 67. The Bamberg MS. has here “rhine,” (the fish again mentioned in Chapter 53 of this Book) instead of “rana;” a reading which Sillig rejects. Hardouin conjectures that “raia” is the correct reading, the sea-frog having no sting or stickle in the tail.

[241] See B. ix. c. 67.

[242] Or sea-lizard, a fish again mentioned in Chapter 53 of this Book. Ælian also speaks of it, Hist. Nat. B. xii. c. 25; but it has not been hitherto identified.

[243] See c. 25 of this Book.

[244] See c. 13 of this Book.

[245] See B. xxxi. c. 43.

[246] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[247] It is not clear whether he means the gum ammoniac of B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxiv. c. 14, or the sal ammoniac of B. xxxi. c. 39.

[248] “Saliva.” See the recipe of Sallustius Dionysius in Chapter 26 of this Book.

[249] The Dryophites of Rondelet, Dalechamps says.

[250] Identical with the Strombus of cc. 39, 46, and 53 of this Book.

[251] See B. ix. c. 1.

[252] Littré remarks that Pliny here seems to speak of the “Tethea” as a mollusk; whereas in c. 31, from his expression “Fungorum verius generis quam piscium,” he would appear to be describing a zoophyte.

[253] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[254] See B. ix. cc. 24, 48, 67, 74, 75.

[255] See B. xx. c. 38.

[256] A rock fish, according to Athenæus, B. vii. Rondelet, B. vi. c. 7, identifies it with the fish called girello by the people of Liguria, the donzella of other districts.

[257] Sliced tunny. See B. ix. c. 18.

[258] A genus which comprises the “myes,” mentioned in B. ix. c. 56, according to Dalechamps.

[259] See B. ix. c. 60.

[260] See B. xxi. c. 105.

[261] See B. xxviii. c. 45, and Chapter 20 of the present Book.

[262] Identical with our mussel, probably.

[263] Holland identifies this with the cockle, but it is probably a smaller kind of mussel.

[264] See B. xxxiv. c. 50.

[265] We learn from Chapter 53 of this Book, that one class of the “Chamæ,” or gaping cockles, was known as “Pelorides.” Horace also mentions them.

[266] See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[267] See Note 251 above. Sillig would here read “tetheum,” apparently, in the singular.

[268] Described in B. xxvii. c. 29.

[269] A city not far from the Canopic branch of the Nile.

[270] “Dantur” seems a preferable reading to “datur.”

[271] See B. ix c. 42.

[272] Our crawfish, the Astacus potamobios of Leach.

[273] See Chapter 13 of this Book.

[274] See B. xix. c. 27, and B, xxv. c. 64.

[275] See B. ix. cc. 23, 77.

[276] See end of B. xxxi.

[277] See B. ix. cc. 20, 24, 36.

[278] See B. ix. cc. 24, 48, 67, 74, 75.

[279] “Rhombus.” See B. ix. cc. 20, 36, 67, 79.

[280] See Chapters 23, 34, 30 and 53 of this Book.

[281] Rondelet, B. vi. c. 19, suggests “capite”—“in the head”—but the present reading is supported by the text of Plinius Valerianus, B. ii. c. 39, and of Marcus Empiricus, c. 28.

[282] As to the identity of the Enhydris, see Chapters 19 and 26 of the present Book: also B. xxx. c. 8.

[283] Probably the Βλεννὸς of Oppian, B. i. c. 108. Dalechamps identifies it with the mullet called “myxon,” apparently the same fish as the “bacchus” mentioned in Chapter 25 of this Book. Rondelet appears to identify it with some other sea-fish, small, and extremely rare. On the other hand, the fish mentioned by Oppian is thought by Littré to be the “gobius” of the Latins, (“gobio” or “cobio,” mentioned by Pliny in B. ix. c. 83, and in c. 53 of the present Book), which is generally considered the same as our gudgeon, and was a worthless fish, “vilis piscis,” as Juvenal says. One of the Linnæan orders of fishes is called “Blennius,” the blenny.

[284] See B. ix. c. 28.

[285] See B. ix. c. 68.

[286] Or sea-lungs. See B. ix. c. 71, and B. xviii. c. 85.

[287] Or crawfish.

[288] “Pectines.” See B. ix. cc. 51, 52, 68, 74, 112.

[289] Athenæus adds a fourth name, “solen;” and a fifth was “dactylus,” see B. ix. c. 87. According to Dalechamps, the name “donax” was given to one kind of scallop, from its fancied resemblance to a thick, hollow, river-reed, and that of “onyx” from the resemblance of its colour to that of the finger-nails.

[290] It is not improbable that he may mean the same animal that has been mentioned in cc. 19 and 26 of this Book, the Enhydris. See also B. xxx. c. 8.

[291] See B. xxix. c. 22.

[292] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[293] See B. ix. c. 42, and Chapter 27 of this Book.

[294] See B. ix. cc. 18, 19, and Chapter 53 of this Book.

[295] Salted tunny. See B. ix. c. 18.

[296] See B. ix. cc. 24, 48, 74, 75.

[297] Our crawfish.

[298] See B. ix. cc. 24, 32.

[299] See B. ix. c. 24.

[300] See Chapters 23, 24, 30, 32, and 53 of the present Book. Also B. xx. c. 53.

[301] See B. ix. c. 42.

[302] “Perca.” See B. ix. c. 24.

[303] See Note 294 above.

[304] See B. ix. c. 14.

[305] In B. ix. c. 14.

[306] Ajasson remarks that many writers have identified the Smaris with the Sardine or the Anchovy. In his opinion, however, it is neither; but he thinks that under this head were included seven or eight varieties of the Pickerel, the principal of which are, the Sparus smaris of Linnæus and Lacépède, the Sparus mana of Linnæus, or Sparus mendola of Lacépède, and the Sparus haffara of Lacépède and Linnæus.

[307] See Chapter 22 of the present Book.

[308] See B. ix. c. 1.

[309] Literally, the “little serpent.” Some think that it is the Ophidium barbatum of Linnæus. Rondelet identifies it, B. xiv. c. 2, with the small fish called donzella by the people of Montpellier. See c. 31, Note 256.

[310] See B. xxx. c. 22.

[311] See B. xiv. c. 8.

[312] “Rubetæ.” See c. 18 of this Book; also B. viii. c. 48; B. xi. cc. 19, 76, 116, and B. xxv. c. 76.

[313] See B. ix. c. 72; B. xxv. c. 77, and Chapter 3 of this Book.

[314] Or seal-skin. See B. viii. c. 49, and B. ix. c. 15.

[315] In B. xxvii. c. 33.

[316] In B. xxvi. c. 66.

[317] Or “sea-lungs.” See B. ix. c. 71, B. xviii. c. 5, and Chapters 32, 46, and 52 of the present Book. Ajasson remarks that this is still the common name of many kinds of Medusæ.

[318] Our crawfish.

[319] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[320] “Mituli.” See Chapter 31 of the present Book.

[321] In B. viii. c. 49.

[322] See Note 314 above.

[323] See Chapter 13 of the present Book.

[324] See B. ix. c. 29.

[325] See B. ix. cc. 35, 76.

[326] See B. ix. c. 1.

[327] See B. ix. c. 28.

[328] See B. ix. c. 24.

[329] “Ablatis unguibus.”

[330] “Rubeta.”

[331] Our crawfish.

[332] Because the nightingale sings at night, instead of sleeping.

[333] See B. ix. cc. 2, 5, 6, 7, 15.

[334] Or seal.

[335] “Spondylus.”

[336] See Chapter 29 of this Book.

[337] See Chapters 30 and 31 of the present Book.

[338] See B. xviii. c. 19.

[339] “Crebriore anhelitu.”

[340] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[341] Or sting-ray. See B. ix. cc. 37, 40, 67, 72.

[342] Ichthyocolla. See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[343] See Chapter 13 of this Book.

[344] See B. ix. c. 30.

[345] See B. ix. c. 46.

[346] This seems to be the meaning of “naturâ dissidente,” if it is the correct reading. That, however, suggested by Dalechamps would seem to be preferable, “naturâ retinente,”—“it being the nature of its flesh to cling to the knife.”

[347] See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[348] “Calami.”

[349] “Bloodsuckers.”

[350] “Cucurbitæ medicinales.”

[351] This does not appear to be considered the case at the present day.

[352] A method still employed.

[353] See B. x. c. 27.

[354] “Invehunt virus remedio verso.” The reading is probably corrupt, but the meaning is pretty evident.

[355] See B. xxix. c. 17, and c. 47 of this Book.

[356] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.

[357] See B. ix. c. 17. Ajasson says that it is also found of enormous size, in the Danube and in the Theisse.

[358] See B. xxxiv. c. 33.

[359] See B. ix. c. 42.

[360] See Note 356 above.

[361] “Cunila capitata.” See B. xx. c. 65.

[362] See B. xxxiv. c. 55.

[363] Tunny sliced and salted; see B. ix. c. 18.

[364] See B. xxxi. c. 44.

[365] See B. ix. cc. 24, 32.

[366] See B. ix. c. 30.

[367] See B. ix. c. 67.

[368] See Note 359 above.

[369] “Thymia.”

[370] Ajasson thinks that the ancients knew but one kind of sea-scorpion, but in different states, the Cottus scorpius, probably, of Linnæus.

[371] See Chapter 34 of this Book.

[372] See Note 364 above.

[373] See Note 359 above.

[374] This fish has not been identified. It is possible, however, that it may be the same as the “glaucus” mentioned in B ix. c. 25.

[375] See Note 371 above.

[376] See B. xxvi. c. 92.

[377] See B. ix. cc. 14, 40, 67.

[378] An asserted remedy, founded, as Ajasson remarks, upon nothing but a pun, the resemblance between δελφὶς, a “dolphin,” and δελφὺς, the “womb.”

[379] See Chapters 29 and 39 of this Book.

[380] See B. ix. c. 42.

[381] See B. xx. c. 65.

[382] In other words, seal-oil.

[383] Or sea-lungs. See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[384] Or crawfish.

[385] See B. ix. c. 17; also Chapter 43 of this Book.

[386] Meaning Egypt, probably; see the passages referred to in the preceding note.

[387] De Morb. Mulier. I. 128.

[388] We would adopt the suggestion of M. Ian, and read “quinis cum,” in preference to “cum quinis;” “fire crabs with roots of lapathum and rue.”

[389] See B. xx. c. 85.

[390] See Chapter 13 of the present Book.

[391] See B. xii. c. 57.

[392] See B. ix. cc. 24, 48, 74, 75.

[393] Or sting-ray. See B. ix. c. 72.

[394] The callosity is here meant, Hardouin supposes, which covers the purple in the shell. See Chapter 41 of this Book.

[395] “Salis flore.” See B. xxxi. c. 42.

[396] “Cedrium.” See B. xvi. c. 21, and B. xxiv. c. 11.

[397] See end of B. xxviii.

[398] Or “sea-lungs.” See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[399] See B. ix. c. 67.

[400] See B. ix. c. 68.

[401] See Note 392 above.

[402] In Chapter 24 of this Book.

[403] See the preceding Note.

[404] See Chapter 42 of this Book.

[405] In the case of infants, probably.

[406] “Canicula.” See B. ix. cc. 11, 70.

[407] Or “crawfish.”

[408] “Crebro humefacto” seems a preferable reading to “cerebro humefacto” though supported by the Bamberg MS.

[409] See B. xxii. c. 29, and B. xxx. c. 47.

[410] See B. ix. c. 30.

[411] Identified with the “erythinus” of B. ix. c. 23, and mentioned in the next Chapter.

[412] See B. ix. c. 1.

[413] Or Remora. See B. ix. c. 41.

[414] See B. viii. c. 39.

[415] See Note 392 above.

[416] See B. ix. c. 23.

[417] See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[418] See B. ix. c. 1.

[419] “Rubeta.” See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. cc. 19, 76, 116, B. xxv. c. 76, and c. 18 of this Book.

[420] See B. xv. c. 36, and B. xx. c. 22.

[421] “Remedies for lassitude.” See B. xxiii. cc. 45, 80; B. xxvii. c. 13, and B. xxix. cc. 13, 37.

[422] See B. xvi. c. 66, and B. xxiv. c. 50.

[423] See B. xvi. c. 66, and B. xxiv. c. 50.

[424] See B. xxiv. c. 50.

[425] See B. ix. cc. 20, 44, 74, 78.

[426] “Ablato priore lumine.” Hardouin justly ridicules this assertion. This ink, as Ajasson remarks, is intensely black.

[427] See B. ix. c. 71, and Chapter 36 of this Book.

[428] This seems to be the meaning of “adeo ut baculum ita præluceat.”

[429] Some MSS. have here “164,” the Bamberg MS. and others “144.” Owing to the corrupt state of the text in many parts of this Chapter, it is impossible to say which reading is correct.

[430] “Invenire non potuimus” seems a preferable reading to “invenire potuimus.”

[431] Modern Ceylon. See B. vi. cc. 23, 24, B. vii. c. 2, and B. ix. c. 54.

[432] “Quæ nascuntur certa sunt.” A bold assertion. The various fishes now known amount to many thousands; and there are still vast numbers, no doubt, with which science has not hitherto become acquainted.

[433] “Belluæ.”

[434] He may possibly allude to the plants mentioned in B. xiii. cc. 48, 49, 50, 51, and 52; though Hardouin seems to think it impossible to discover what he means, seeing that he is speaking of sea-monsters, beings with animal life. See also B. ix. c. 3.

[435] See B. ix. c. 3.

[436] See B. ix. cc. 2, 5.

[437] See B. ix. c. 3; probably the same as the “pristis” of B. ix. c. 2.

[438] See B. ix. c. 4.

[439] See B. ix. c. 4.

[440] See B. ix. c. 4.

[441] “Homines marini.” See B. ix. c. 4.

[442] See B. ix. c. 3.

[443] See B. ix. c. 5.

[444] See B. ix. c. 4.

[445] See B. ix. c. 88, and B. xi. c. 62.

[446] See B. ix. c. 67.

[447] See B. ix. c. 7.

[448] See B. ix. c. 15.

[449] Odyssey, B. iv. l. 436.

[450] Turtles. See B. ix. c. 13.

[451] See Chapter 13 of this Book.

[452] See B. viii. c. 47; also Chapters 26 and 32 of this Book.

[453] See B. ix. c. 70.

[454] The name of a fish unknown. Sillig conjectures that Pliny may have had in view the fish called “dromades” by Aristotle. “Dromones” is another reading, a sort of small crab.

[455] Littré translates this “horned ray.”

[456] “Gladii.” See B. ix. cc. 1, 21; the same, probably as the “xiphias” mentioned at the end of this Chapter.

[457] See B. ix. c. 1.

[458] See B. viii. c. 39.

[459] See B. viii. c. 37.

[460] See B. ix. c. 18, 20. Holland says, “Some take ‘thynni’ for the milters and ‘thynnides’ for the spawners.” In this translation, however, he identifies the “thynnides” with the “pelamides,” or young tunnies, mentioned in this Chapter and in B. ix. c. 18.

[461] See B. ix. cc. 17, 25.

[462] See B. ix. cc. 24, 32.

[463] “Percæ.” See B. ix. c. 24.

[464] See B. ix. c. 27.

[465] “Aurata.” See B. ix. c. 25.

[466] See B. ix. cc. 25, 28.

[467] Considered by some to be the whiting. Littré identifies it with the Perca labrax of Linnæus.

[468] See B. ix. c. 74; where it is called “apua.”

[469] The “sea-fox.” See B. ix. c. 67.

[470] “Anguilla.” See B. ix. cc. 2, 37, 38.

[471] Or sea-spider. See B. ix. c. 72.

[472] The same as the bogue of the coasts of Narbonne, according to Rondelet, B. v. c. 11.

[473] See Chapter 25 of the present Book.

[474] See B. ix. c. 28.

[475] Or frog-fish. See B. ix. c. 40.

[476] “Sea-needles.” Identified by some with the horn-fish, horn-back, or needle-fish.

[477] “Needle-fish.”

[478] “Acorn-fish.” A shell-fish, according to Rondelet, B. i. c. 30, which frequents the clefts of rocks.

[479] “Sea-raven.” According to some authorities, identical with the Trigla hirundo of Linnæus. Hardouin says that it is the fish called capone by the people of Rome.

[480] See B. ix. c. 71.

[481] The same, probably, as the “gobio,” mentioned in B. ix. c. 83.

[482] See B. ix. c. 28.

[483] See B. ix. cc. 25, 28.

[484] Thought by some to be a kind of mackerel, by others to be a tunny. Rondelet says, B. viii. c. 8, that it is a fish still called coguiol by the people of Marseilles.

[485] In the Hellespont.

[486] Or Sexis, according to Pintianus.

[487] Or “sea-lizards.”

[488] See B. ix. c. 18. He surely does not intend to include this among his “one hundred and seventy-six different kinds of aquatic animals”!

[489] Or young tunny. See B. ix. c. 18.

[490] See B. ix. c. 18.

[491] Rondelet says, B. v. c. 4, that it is a fish still known (in his time) as cantheno, by the people of Narbonne. Ovid, in his Halieuticon, l. 103, speaks of the unpleasant flavour of its juices.

[492] See Chapter 24 of the present Book.

[493] Of course, as Hardouin says, he does not include the shell-fishes in this assertion. The fish with this uncomplimentary name has not been identified.

[494] “Urtica.” See B. ix. c. 68.

[495] See B. ix. c. 51.

[496] Or “chamæ;” different varieties of gaping cockles.

[497] Or “monster” cockles.

[498] Or “sweet” cockles.

[499] See Chapter 27 of this Book.

[500] See B. ix. c. 54.

[501] Or “cochli.” As to the various kinds of cochleæ, see B. ix. c. 51.

[502] “Five-fingered.” So called from some peculiarity in their shape.

[503] Considered by some to be the striated mussel, the Pecten of Linnæus.

[504] “Radii.”

[505] This is not improbably the meaning of the very elliptical sentence, “Quibus radii cantant.”

[506] See B. ix. c. 1.

[507] The “dog’s-face,” literally. This fish has not been identified: indeed the reading is doubtful.

[508] A kind of crab or crayfish. See B. xxvii. c. 2.

[509] Literally, the “dog’s right hand.” This fish has not been identified: Hardouin suggests that it may have been a zoöphyte.

[510] See B. ix. c. 43, and Chapters 17 and 26 of this Book.

[511] Or “little dragon.”

[512] The sea-scorpion, probably.

[513] See B. ix. c. 23; also Chapters 31 and 50 of this Book.

[514] Or Remora. See B. ix. c. 41; also Chapter 1 of this Book.

[515] See B. ix. cc. 14, 74.

[516] See B. ix. c. 32.

[517] See Chapter 46 of the present Book.

[518] See B. ix. c. 67.

[519] Possibly the same as the “Conger” of B. ix. c. 24.

[520] A fish similar, most probably, to the “gerricula” previously mentioned. Holland calls it a “pilchard” or “herring.”

[521] A kind of squalus. See B. ix. c. 70.

[522] See B. xxxi. c. 43.

[523] Or “horse.” The crab, probably, mentioned in B. ix. c. 51.

[524] See B. ix. c. 24.

[525] Or sea-swallow. See B. ix. c. 43.

[526] “Lungs of the sea.” The same as the Pulmones, or sea-lungs mentioned in B. ix. c. 71, and in Chapter 36 of this Book.

[527] See B. ix. c. 1.

[528] Or “sea-liver.” A sort of rock-fish, according to Athenæus.

[529] The same as the “milvus” or “sea-kite,” mentioned in B. ix. c. 43.

[530] See Chapter 31 of this Book. Instead of this fish and the preceding one, most of the editions mention the “elacatenes,” a cetaceous fish, according to Athenæus, much used for salting.

[531] “Sea-lizards.”

[532] See B. ix. c. 45.

[533] “Locusta.” See B. ix. c. 50.

[534] “Lucerna.” See B. ix. c. 43.

[535] Neither this fish nor the “larinus” has been identified.

[536] See B. ix. c. 72, and Chapter 3 of this Book.

[537] See B. ix. c. 51.

[538] See B. ix. c. 30.

[539] See B. ix. c. 20.

[540] See B. ix. c. 26.

[541] See Chapter 8 of this Book. Holland translates this—“The blacke taile perch, (which some take for a ruffe, others for a sea-breame).”

[542] See B. ix. c. 42.

[543] A fish of the Nile, according to Ælian. “Meryx” is another reading, a kind of Scarus, it is thought.

[544] See B. ix. c. 23.

[545] A shell-fish. See B. ix. c. 56.

[546] See Chapter 31 of this Book.

[547] See Chapter 31 of this Book.

[548] See B. ix. c. 61.

[549] The “eye-fish.” A kind of lamprey has been suggested.

[550] See Chapter 35 of this Book.

[551] See B. ix. c. 21.

[552] “Sea-ears.” A kind of oyster, Holland says.

[553] See B. ix. c. 20.

[554] He speaks of it as a kind of Pelamis, a little further on.

[555] The sun-fish. See Chapter 5 of this Book.

[556] The same, probably, as the “orbis.” See Chapters 5 and 9 of the present Book.

[557] Or phagrus. See B. ix. c. 24.

[558] See B. ix. c. 42.

[559] A young tunny. See B. ix. c. 20.

[560] A “choice bit.” See B. ix. c. 20.

[561] See B. ix. c. 17.

[562] This fish has not been identified.

[563] See B. ix. c. 36.

[564] Or sting-ray. See B. ix. c. 40.

[565] See B. ix. c. 48.

[566] See B. ix. c. 51.

[567] See B. v. c. 39.

[568] Probably the place of that name in Sicily, mentioned in B. ii. c. 94, and B. iii. c. 14.

[569] See B. iii. c. 26.

[570] See B. iii. c. 22.

[571] “Pectunculus.” See Note 566 above.

[572] See B. ix. c. 60.

[573] An unknown fish. The reading is doubtful.

[574] See B. ix. c. 66.

[575] See B. ix. c. 66.

[576] See B. ix. c. 40.

[577] “Rhombus.” See B. ix. c. 36.

[578] See B. ix. c. 29.

[579] See B. ix. c. 36.

[580] See B. ix. c. 30.

[581] The same, perhaps, as the “pinnotheres” of B. ix. c. 66, a kind of shrimp.

[582] See Chapter 17 of this Book.

[583] See B. ix. c. 18.

[584] See B. ix. c. 19.

[585] See B. ix. c. 32.

[586] Considered by Sillig to be the same as the “Saurus” of Chapter 28 of this Book; the “sea-lizard,” apparently.

[587] It does not seem to have been identified; though Rondelet says that it is the same as the Rascasse of the Mediterranean.

[588] See B. xx. c. 53, and Chapters 23, 30, 32, 34, and 35 of this Book.

[589] This fish has not been identified; indeed the reading is very doubtful.

[590] See B. ix. c. 24.

[591] A fish similar to the preceding one, probably; some kind of ombre, Littré thinks.

[592] See B. ix. c. 67.

[593] Probably the same as the “Myrus” of B. ix. c. 39.

[594] See B. ix. c. 45.

[595] See Chapter 30 of this Book.

[596] See Chapter 32 of this Book.

[597] A sort of mollusk, Littré thinks. There is a shell-fish known as the Spondylus gæderopus of Linnæus.

[598] See Chapters 34, 45, and 46, of this Book.

[599] See B. ix. c. 86.

[600] See B. ix. c. 69.

[601] See B. ix. c. 20.

[602] A sort of tunny, probably.

[603] See Chapter 6 of this Book. Probably the same as the “gladius” of this Chapter, and of B. ix. cc. 1, 21.

[604] Considered by Littré to be the Shad.

[605] See B. ix. c. 67.

[606] See Chapter 30 of this Book.

[607] See B. ix. c. 18.

[608] See B. ix. c. 18.

[609] See B. ix. c. 52, and Chapter 1 of this Book.

[610] See B. ix. c. 1, and c. 49 of this Book.

[611] See Note 603 above.

[612] The Halieuticon, already mentioned in Chapter 5 of this Book.

[613] At the town of Tomi, whither he was banished by Augustus Cæsar.

[614] See B. ix. c. 24.

[615] See B. ix. cc. 23, 77, and Chapters 31, 50, of this Book.

[616] The same, probably, as the “iulis” mentioned in the preceding Chapter.

[617] The “golden brow.” The same as the “Aurata” or “dorade” of B. ix. c. 25, and Chapters 16 and 53 of this Book.

[618] An unknown fish; the reading is doubtful.

[619] The “goat-fish.” It does not appear to have been identified.

[620] Literally, the “black tail.” See the preceding Chapter.

[621] According to Rondelet, a fish resembling the Coracinus.

[622] See B. ix. c. 23.

[623] See B. ix. c. 25.

[624] See B. ix. c. 47.

[625] See B. ix. c. 42.

[626] See B. ix. c. 27. Ajasson is of opinion that the “helops” is the Russian sturgeon, the “acipenser,” the common sturgeon.

[627] Resembling a “stake” in appearance. It bee been suggested that this is the Esox sphyræna.

[628] “Perna.” Hardouin says that from the diminutive of this, “pernula,” the modern word “pearl” is derived.

[629] A sort of “tursio,” Dalechamps says. See B. ix. c. 11.

[630] See B. iii. c. 12.

[631] See end of B. xix.

[632] See end of B. viii.

[633] See end of B. xii.

[634] See end of B. xviii.

[635] See end of B. xii.

[636] See end of B. ix.

[637] According to Suetonius, Fescennius Iacchus was a grammarian who taught in Cisalpine Gaul. See also B. xxxvii. c. 54.

[638] See end of B. xxxi.

[639] See end of B. v.

[640] See end of B. xx.

[641] See end of B. xxviii.

[642] See end of B. xxx.

[643] See end of B. xxxi.

[644] See end of B. xxviii.

[645] See end of B. ii.

[646] See end of B. viii.

[647] We now enter upon the Sixth division of Pliny’s work, containing an account of mineral substances of all descriptions.—Dr. Bostock.

[648] “Ipsæ opes.” The metals were looked upon by the ancients as the only true riches. It is in this sense that Ovid says, Metam. B. i.: “Effodiuntur opes, irritamenta malorum.” Pliny applies the term “pretia rerum” to metals, as forming the unit of value.

[649] Electrum is described in c. 23, as gold mixed with a certain quantity of silver. The word “electrum” is also used to signify amber, as in B. iii. c. 30.—B.

[650] “Æs;” by “æs” is here probably meant copper, as the author is speaking of what is dug out of the earth; it is more fully described in the first two Chapters of the next Book. According to the analysis of Klaproth, the æs of the ancients, when employed in works of art, cutting instruments, statues, vases, &c., was the “bronze” of the moderns, a mixture of copper and tin, in which the proportion of tin varied, from a little more than 2 to 1.14 per cent, according as the object was to procure a flexible or a hard substance. Agricola speaks of “æs” as synonymous with “cuprum,” and Pliny will be found several times in the present Book, speaking of “æs Cyprium,” meaning probably the finest kind of copper, and that without alloy.—B.

[651] Pliny has already referred to this topic in B. ii. c. 63.—B.

[652] Or shades below.

[653] “Illa quæ non nascuntur repente.”

[654] “Chrysocolla” is fully described in Chapter 26 of this Book.—B.

[655] Meaning “gold glue,” or “gold solder.”

[656] There is considerable variation in the text of this passage, as found in the different editions. In that of Dalechamps, the Variorum, and those of De Laet and Sillig, the sentence concludes with the words “nomen ex auro custodiens;” while in those of Valpy, Lemaire, Poinsinet, Ajasson, and others, we find substituted for them the words. “Non natura,” “Nomen natura,” “Nomine natura,” or “Nomen naturam.”—B. The first reading is warranted by the Bamberg MS.

[657] “Auri sanies.” More properly speaking, “the corrupt matter discharged by gold.” See Chapter 26.

[658] “Minium” is treated of in Chapter 36 of this Book.—B.

[659] “Pretia rerum.” The value of the raw material.

[660] Pliny here refers both to the art of producing figures in relief on drinking vessels made of the precious metals, and also of giving them particular forms. A well-known line of Juvenal, Sat. ii. l. 96, affords a striking illustration of the depraved taste which existed in his time.—B. Lampridius also speaks of vessels of silver “defiled with representations of a most libidinous character;” and Capitolinus speaks of “phallovitroboli,” glass drinking vessels shaped like a phallus.

[661] “Murrhina” or “myrrhina.” are described in B. xxxvii. c. 8; they were, perhaps, onyxes or opals, though possibly the term was not strictly confined to these substances, but signified any transparent minerals, that exhibited a variety of colours. Salmasius, however, ridicules the idea of their being onyxes, and is of opinion that these vessels were made of porcelain; Exer. Plin. p. 144.—B.

[662] See B. xxxvii. c. 9.

[663] He alludes to the cups known as “chrysendeta,” adorned with circlets of gold, exquisite chasings, and groups of precious stones. See Juvenal, Sat. v. l. 42.

[664] The “Smaragdus” is described in B. xxxvii. c. 13.

[665] “Et aurum jam accessio est.”

[666] “Sacrum famæ.” This is the reading given by the Bamberg MS. in substitution for “aurum, sacra fames” and other readings of a similar nature, in which Pliny was thought by the commentators to allude to the famous lines of Virgil—

“Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, Auri sacra fames!”

Had he alluded to the passage of Virgil, it is not probable that he would have used the expression in the plural, “celeberrimi auctores.”

[667] Il. B. vii. ll. 472-5.—B.

[668] Il. B. vi. l. 236.

[669] We may infer that this was the reason why the figure of an ox or other animal was impressed on the earliest Roman coins.—B.

[670] As Hardouin remarks, “This story is told by others, of Gyges, and not of Midas.” He refers to Cicero, De Off. B. iii. c. 9, in confirmation of his assertion.—B. Both Gyges and Midas were noted for their wealth.

[671] “Sinistræ.” The play here upon the word “sinister” cannot be so well transferred into the English language; but it bears reference to the double meaning of the word, “on the left hand,” and “unlucky,” “ill-omened,” or, as we say “sinister.” We may remark, that rings were very generally employed by the Romans, not merely as ornaments, but as indications of office and rank.—B.

[672] From Corinth, it was said: Damaratus of Corinth being the father of the first Tarquin. See B. xxxv. c. 5.

[673] On the subject of “Bullæ,” golden balls, worn by the children of the nobles, see Dr. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. p. 168.—B.

[674] As to the “Toga prætexta,” see B. viii. c. 74.

[675] “Lorum.” This word literally signifies a leather strap or thong, and Pliny is supposed by Hardouin to mean simply, that, in this latter case the strap was worn without the bulla, which was in other cases attached to it. Juvenal, Sat. v. l. 164, speaks of the “lorum” of the children of the poor.—B.

[676] Δακτύλιον, from δάκτυλος, a “finger.”

[677] Festus says that this was the Oscan name for a ring. It would appear to be allied to the word “unguis,” which means a nail of the finger or toe, and would perhaps signify a “nail ornament.”

[678] As meaning a seal or signet, for which purpose, as we shall find explained in the sequel, the ring was used.

[679] This seems to be the meaning of “Vulgoque sic triumphabant.”

[680] As to these crowns, see B. xxi. c. 4.

[681] As to some other particulars connected with this usage, see the end of B. xxviii. c. 7.

[682] And yet, as Hardouin remarks, before his time, when Scipio was besieging Carthage, the bodies of the Roman tribunes, when selected for burial by Hasdrubal, were distinguished by their rings of gold. The object of Marius, no doubt, was to ingratiate himself with the upper classes.

[683] A.U.C. 651.

[684] Known as the “anulus pronubus,” or “engaged ring,” according to Dalechamps.

[685] “Codicillos.” Il. B. vi. l. 168.

[686] See B. xiii. c. 21.

[687] Od. B. viii. ll. 424, 443, 447.

[688] See the Iliad, B. iii. and B. vii. l. 175, et seq.

[689] His meaning is, that although κληρὸι were used, lots or balls made of earth, we do not read that the impressions on them were made by the aid of signet-rings.

[690] “Fabricæ deûm.” He alludes to the forge of Vulcan, described in the Eighteenth Book of the Iliad, l. 400, et seq.

[691] This seems to be the meaning of “In primordio factitâsse.”

[692] The “fibulæ” were the brooches of the ancients, consisting of a pin, and of a curved portion furnished with a hook. See Dr. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. p. 417.

[693] As the meaning of this passage has been the subject of much discussion with commentators, we give it in full, as found in the Edition of Sillig. “Et quisquis primus instituit, cunctanter id fecit, lævis manibus latentibusque induit, cum, si honos securus fuisset, dextrâ fuerit ostentandus. Quodsi impedimentum potuit in eo aliquod intelligi, etiam serior is usus argumentum est, et majus in lævâ fuisset, quâ scutum capitur.” Sillig is of opinion that Pliny is here alluding to the reason given by Ateius Capito (quoted in Macrobius, Saturn. B. vii. c. 13), for wearing the ring on the left hand. It was so worn, he says, from an apprehension that the precious stone with which it was set, might receive injury from the continual use made of the right hand.

[694] Under the folds of the toga.

[695] Il. B. xvii. l. 52.

[696] The reading in most MSS. is the “fourth consulship.” This, however, is an error which has been rectified by the Bamberg and some other MSS. Pompey was but thrice consul. M. Crassus was the person generally accused of the act of robbery here alluded to.

[697] Who took the golden torc (torques) from the Gaul whom he slew; whence his name.

[698] “Cum auro pugnare solitos.”

[699] “Quod equidem in augurio intellectum est, cum Capitolinus duplum reddidisset.” The meaning of this passage is obscure, and cannot with certainty be ascertained. Holland renders it, “To the light and knowledge whereof we come by means of revelation from Augurie, which gave us to understand, that Jupiter Capitolinus had rendered again the foresaid summe in duple proportion.” Littré gives a similar translation. Ajasson translates it, “This, at least, is what we may presume, from the fact of there being discovered double the amount expected;” following the explanation given by Hardouin.

[700] The “ædituus,” or “temple keeper.” See B. xxxvi. 4.

[701] Beneath which there was poison concealed, Hardouin says. Hannibal killed himself in a similar manner; also Demosthenes, as mentioned in the next Chapter.

[702] The adopted son of the great Marius. This event happened in his consulship, B.C. 82. After his defeat by Sylla at Sacriportus, he retired into the fortified town of Præneste, where he had deposited the treasures of the Capitoline temple. The temple, after this conflagration, was rebuilt by order of Sylla.

[703] Called the “Fasti;” probably because this was the first word of the title.

[704] “Dies fasti.” These were the days on which the courts sat, and the Prætor, who was the chief judge, gave his decisions. The word “fasti” is derived from the ancient Latin “for,” or from the old Greek word φάω, both signifying “to speak:” consequently the “dies fasti” were “the speaking days,” and the “dies nefasti” the “non-speaking days,” in allusion to the restrictions put upon the judgments of the Prætor.

[705] This complex state of the Roman Calendar long remained one of the sources from which the priesthood and the patrician order derived their power and influence over the plebeians. Having no other method of ascertaining what days were “fasti,” and what were “nefasti,” the lower classes were obliged either to apply to the priests and nobles for information, or to await the proclamation by the priests of the various festivals about to take place.

[706] Appius Claudius Cæcus, the Censor and jurisconsult, who constructed the Appian Way.

[707] A.U.C. 440, or B.C. 314.

[708] In the war, probably, with the twelve nations of Etruria, who were conquered by the Consul Fabius A.U.C. 444. See Livy, B. ix.

[709] The father of the former C. Pœtilius Libo, was Consul A.U.C. 428: the father of the latter, Cneius Domitius Calvinus, was Consul A.U.C. 432.

[710] “Anulos abjectos.”

[711] The “phaleræ” were bosses of metal, often gold, attached to the harness of the horse. See B. vii. c. 29.

[712] He would probably imply hereby that, as he states subsequently, at this period gold rings were not as yet worn by all the members of the senate.

[713] A.U.C. 449.

[714] “Ædiculam æream”—of brass or bronze.

[715] For the explanation of this term, see B. vii. c. 60.

[716] See B. x. c. 2. Livy tells us that this shrine or temple was built in the area or place of Vulcan.

[717] Livy, B. xxiii. speaks of one modius as being the real quantity. Florus, B. ii. c. 16, says two modii: but Saint Augustin, De Civit. Dei. B. iii. c. 19, and most other writers, mention three modii.

[718: Q. Servilius Cæpio. He and M. Livins Drusus had been most intimate friends, and each had married the other’s sister. The assassination of Drusus was supposed by some to have been committed at the instigation of Cæpio. The latter lost his life in an ambush, B.C. 90.

[719: See B. xxviii. c. 41.

[720: See B. ii. c. 85.

[721: M. Calpurnius Flamma. See B. xxii. c. 6.

[722: A patrician family; branches of which were the Cincinnati, the Capitolini, the Crispini, and the Flaminini.

[723: This is an erroneous assertion, both as to the East, and as to Egypt. See instances to the contrary in Genesis, c. xli. v. 42; and in Esther, c. iii. verses 10, 12, and c. viii. verses 2, 8, 10.

[724: “Literis contenta solis.”

[725: The Thirty-seventh Book. See also his remarks in B. ii. c. 63: “We tear out earth’s entrails in order to extract the gems with which we may load our fingers. How many hands are worn down that one little joint may be ornamented!” Martial, Epigr. B. v. Ep. 11, speaks of his friend Stella as wearing on the joint of one finger sardonyxes, emeralds, and jaspers.

[726] “Violari.” See B. xxxvii. c. 1.

[727] A fashion much followed at the present day.

[728] This also is a not uncommon fashion at the present day.

[729] From the “Trinummus” of Plautus, A. iv. s. 4, we learn that the ring worn by slaves was called “condalium.” From the “Truculentus” of Plautus we learn also that these rings were sometimes made of bronze. The “jus anuli,” or right of wearing a gold ring, was never conceded to slaves.

[730] See B. iv. c. 23. In the Origines of Isidorus Hispalensis, B. xix. c. 32, we find mention made of “A Samothracian gold ring, with an iron bezil, so called from the place of its invention.” Pliny has already made allusion to the luxurious habits of the slaves, in B. xiii. c. 4; and B. xviii. c. 2; a subject upon which Juvenal enlarges in his Third Satire.

[731] The reasons are mentioned by Ateius Capita, as quoted by Macrobius, Saturnal. B. vii. c. 13: also by Apion the Grammarian, as quoted by Aulus Gellius, B. x. c. 10.

[732] The ring of each finger had its own appropriate name.

[733] The “dactyliotheca,” or “ring-box.”

[734] Juvenal, Sat. i. l. 26, et seq., speaks of the summer rings of the Roman fops, and their fingers sweating beneath the weight.

[735] Martial, Epigr. B. xiv., speaks of the numerous accidents to which a weighty ring was liable.

[736] Hannibal, too, for instance, as mentioned in Note 701 to the preceding Chapter.

[737] He alludes, probably, to forgeries perpetrated through the agency of false signets.

[738] Plautus, Cicero, Horace, and Martial, each in his own age, bears testimony to the truth of this statement.

[739] Or remembrancer; a slave whose duty it was to remind his master of the name of each member of his household; see B. xxix. c. 8. Athenæus, B. vi., speaks of as many as twenty thousand slaves belonging to one household. Demetrius, the freedman of Pompey, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 58, had a retinue of slaves equal to an army in amount.

[740] Meaning “Marci puer,” or “Luci puer”—“Marcius’ boy,” or “Lucius’ boy.”

[741] Suetonius says, c. 73, that Tiberius, in his last illness, awoke after a long lethargy, and demanded his signet-ring, which his son-in-law, Caligula, had removed from his finger, under the supposition that he was dead. Macro, to avoid any unpleasant results in the way of punishment, caused the emperor to be smothered with the pillows and bedclothes.

[742] This famous and somewhat improbable story of the ring of Polycrates is told by Valerius Maximus, B. vi. c. 9; Herodotus, B. iii.; and Cicero, De Finibus, B. iv. Pliny again mentions it in B. xxxvii. cc. 2, 4.

[743] He was crucified by Oroetes, the Persian satrap of Sardis.

[744] “Anulo exsiliente.”

[745] In Chapter 13 of this Book.

[746] The laticlave tunic. See B. viii. c. 73, and B. ix. c. 63.

[747] “Præcones.”

[748] See the list of writers at the end of B. ix.

[749] “Equus militaris.”

[750] See B. xxix. c. 8. The “Decuriæ” of “judices,” or “judges,” were so called, probably, from ten (decem) having been originally chosen from each tribe. As to the Decuriæ of the judices, see Smith’s Dict. Antiq. pp. 531-2. The account given by Pliny is confused in the extreme.

[751] “Turmæ.” Squadrons of thirty “equites” or horsemen; ten of which squadrons were attached to each legion.

[752] Before the time of Augustus, there were but three decuries.

[753] A law introduced by Aurelius Cotta, B.C. 70, enacted that the Judices should be chosen from the three classes—of Senators, Equites, and Tribuni ærarii, or Tribunes of the treasury, these last being taken from the body of the people, and being persons possessed of some property.

[754] Members selected by lot.

[755] “Nongenti.”

[756] Tacitus says that this took place the year before, in the consulship of C. Sulpicius, and D. Haterius. See the Annales, B. iii. c. 86.

[757] Brother of the Emperor Galba.

[758] “Aucupatus.”

[759] Suetonius says that Tiberius instructed the ædiles to prohibit stews and eating-houses: from which we may conclude, Hardouin says, that C. Sulpicius Galba was an ædile.

[760] Or, in other words, belonging to the equestrian order. The Roman equites often followed the pursuits of bankers, and farmers of the public revenues.

[761] A law passed in the time of Julius Cæsar, B.C. 69, which permitted Roman equites, in case they or their parents had ever had a Census equestris, to sit in the fourteen rows fixed by the Lex Roscia Theatralis.

[762] Caligula.

[763] Conjointly with L. Vitellius.

[764] Or farmers of the public revenues; the “publicans” of Scripture. In reality, they were mostly members of the equestrian order, and the words “equites” and “publicani” are often used as synonymous.

[765] “This passage seems to be the addition of some ignorant copyist. It is indeed a remarkable fact, that we have no inscription in which we see the Equites named after the people as well as the Senate.”—Laboulaye, Essai sur les lois Criminelles des Romains: Paris, 1845, p. 224.

[766] According to Livy, B. i. c. 15, the Celeres were three hundred Roman knights whom Romulus established as a body-guard. Their name, probably, was derived from the Greek κέλης, a “war-horse,” or “charger,” and the body consisted, no doubt, of the patricians in general, or such of them as could keep horses. Another origin assigned to the appellation is “Celer,” the name of a chieftain, who was a favourite of Romulus. The adjective “celer,” “swift,” owes its origin, probably, to the title of these horsemen.

[767] A title derived, possibly, as Delafosse suggests, “a flectendis habenis,” from “managing the reins.”

[768] Called “Trossum” or “Trossulum,” it is supposed. The remains of a town are still to be seen at Trosso, two miles from Montefiascone in Tuscany. The Greek word τρωξαλλὶς, a “cricket,” and the Latin “torosulus,” “muscular,” have been suggested as the origin of this name. Ajasson suggests the Latin verb “truso,” to “push on,” as its origin.

[769] See the end of this Book.

[770] From the ambiguous nature of the name, it being in later times an expression of contempt, like our word “fop,” or “beau.” In this latter sense, Salmasius derives it from the Greek τρυσσὸς, “effeminate.”

[771] This concluding passage is omitted in most editions.

[772] See B. vii. c. 29.

[773] Dionysius of Halicarnassus is therefore probably wrong in his assertion that torcs of gold were given to Siccius Dentatus, a Roman citizen, as the reward of valour.

[774] See B. vii, c. 29.

[775] On this subject, see B. xvi. c. 3, and B. xxi. c. i.

[776] A.U.C. 323, or 431 B.C.

[777] Situate about fourteen miles from Rome, and on the road to the town called La Colonna.

[778] A.U.C. 479, and B.C. 275. In the following year Merenda himself was consul, with Manius Curius Dentatus.

[779] “Testamento prælegavit.” Properly speaking, “prælegare” was “to bequeath a thing to be given before the inheritance was divided.” The crown thus left by Piso was to be three pounds in weight.

[780] Oxen, namely. The smaller victims had the head encircled with chaplets.

[781] The clasps by which the “sagum” or military cloak was fastened on the shoulders.

[782] See the beginning of Chapter 4 of the present Book.

[783] Isidorus Hispalensis, Orig. B. xix. c. 30, says that bracelets were formerly so called from the circumstance of being conferred on warriors as the reward of bravery—“ob virtutem.” Scævola, Ulpian, and others speak of “viriolæ” as ornaments worn by females.

[784] See B. xxxvii. c. 6.

[785] In allusion to the use of gold as an ornament for the shoes and sandal-ties.

[786] A dress worn over the tunic, and which came as low as the ankles or feet. The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman matrons of rank; other females being restricted to the use of the toga, which did not reach so low.

[787] Between the matrons of rank whose feet were not to be seen at all, and the plebeian females, whose feet were seen, but comparatively unadorned.

[788] In the same way that the gold ring was the distinguishing mark of the Equites, so would the gold ankle-jewels be the characteristic of this new order of females. In the use of the word “Equestrem,” Ajasson absolutely detects an indelicate allusion, and rallies our author on thus retaining “the aroma of the camp!”

[789] “Pædagogiis.” The origin of our word “page.” The pages of the Romans were decorated with gold ankle-jewels and other ornaments for the legs.

[790] Or Horus, the god of silence. Ajasson is of opinion that this impression on the seal was symbolical of the secrecy which ought to be preserved as to written communications.

[791] To the Emperor’s presence.

[792] The first crime having been committed by him who introduced the use of gold rings. See the beginning of c. 4 of this Book.

[793] The golden denarius was known also as the “aureus” or “gold coin.” It was worth 25 silver denarii. As to the modern value of the money used by the ancients, see the Introduction to Vol. III. The golden denarius is mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 17, and in B. xxxvii. c. 3.

[794] A.U.C. 479.

[795] Meaning, literally, the “little pound,” in reference to the diminished weight of the “as.”

[796] Meaning “two pounds,” or in other words, “two asses.” See B. xxxiv. c. 2. As to the weight of the “libra,” or pound, see the Introduction to Vol. III.

[797] “Brasse bullion, or in masse.”—Holland.

[798] “Money weighed out,” i.e. “expenses.”

[799] “Money weighed out for the payment of interest.”

[800] “To weigh out money for payment,” i.e. “to pay.”

[801] “A weight of money.”

[802] “Weighers-out;” meaning “keepers of accounts,” or “paymasters.”

[803] “Weighers-out” of the soldiers’ wages; i.e. “paymasters.”

[804] From “pecus,” a sheep. See B. xviii. c. 3.

[805] “Pounds” or “asses.”

[806] The third of an “as.”

[807] The fourth of an “as.”

[808] Or ounces; being one-fourth of the “as,” of one “libra” in weight. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[809] A.U.C. 663.

[810] The same as the quinarius, one-half of the denarius. In B. xx. c. 100, it is mentioned as a weight. See also the Introduction to Vol. III.

[811] As, originally, there were 288 “scripula,” or scruples, to the “libra” or pound, this would appear to give 5760 sestertii to the pound of gold, and not 900 merely. Though this apparent discrepancy has generally puzzled the commentators, the solution, as suggested by M. Parisot, in the Notes to Ajasson’s Translation, appears equally simple and satisfactory. He suggests that in the “as,” or “libra,” of two ounces, there were 288 scruples. Now, the scruple remaining the same, when the as or libra was reduced to one ounce, it would contain but 144 of these scruples. Then, on making the as the sixteenth part of a denarius instead of the tenth, it would lose three-eighths of its value in scruples, or in other words, 54 scruples, thus making it worth but 90 scruples. Then again, as above stated, by the Papirian Law, the weight or value of the libra or as was reduced one-half, making its value in scruples only 45; or, in other words, five thirty-seconds of its original value, when worth two unciæ or ounces. This number of scruples to the libra would give, at the rate of twenty sesterces to the scruple of gold, exactly 900 sesterces to the libra of gold.

[812] Or “aurei.”

[813] “Fames auri.” Similar to the words of Virgil, “Auri sacra fames.” “The curst greed for gold.” See Note 666 to Chapter 3 of this Book.

[814] Another version of this story was, that he extracted the brain, and inserted lead in its place.

[815] See B. xiv. c. 16.

[816] In B.C. 88, M. Aquilius proceeded to Asia Minor as one of the consular legati to prosecute the war against Mithridates. On being defeated near Protomachium, he was delivered up to Mithridates by the inhabitants of Mytilene, and after being treated in the most barbarous manner, was put to death by pouring molten gold down his throat.

[817] “Insperso.” Sillig is of opinion that Pliny is here speaking of the work now known by Italian artists as tausia or lavoro all’ agemina.

[818] Hardouin thinks that Pliny is here making allusion to the Greek word “chrysendeta,” vessels “encircled with gold.” It is frequently used in Martial’s works.

[819] See B. xv. c. 38.

[820] It is against such practices as these that Martial inveighs, B. i. Ep. 28, and B. ix. Ep. 12.

[821] A slave only; and not by any of his brother patricians. Antony was rendered infamous by his proscriptions.

[822] Appian and Livy mention the fine as consisting of ten thousand talents in all, or in other words, eight hundred thousand pounds of silver (at eighty pounds to the talent). Sillig is therefore of opinion that Pliny is in error here in inserting the word “annua.” The payment of the ten thousand talents, we learn from the same authorities, was spread over fifty years.

[823] Asia Minor.

[824] “Folia.” Hardouin prefers the reading “solia,” meaning “thrones,” or “chairs of state,” probably.

[825] Ajasson refuses to place credit in this statement.

[826] This vase of Semiramis was her drinking bowl, in much the same sense that the great cannon at Dover was Queen Elizabeth’s “pocket pistol.”

[827] The country to which, in previous times, the Argonauts had sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece, or in other words in search of gold, in which those regions were probably very prolific.

[828] See B. vi. c. 4.

[829] This story of the defeat of the great Ramses-Sesostris by a petty king of Colchis, would almost appear apocryphal. It is not improbable, however, that Sesostris, when on his Thracian expedition, may have received a repulse on penetrating further north, accustomed as his troops must have been, to a warmer climate.

[830] Of the amphitheatre.

[831] Covered, probably, with plates of silver.

[832] “Pegma.” A scaffold with storeys, which were raised or depressed, to all appearance, spontaneously. Caligula is the emperor meant.

[833] Another reading is “seven” pounds in weight, and “nine” pounds; which would appear to be more probable than seven thousand, and nine thousand, as given by the Bamberg MS. It is just possible, however, that the latter may have been the united weights of all the coronets contributed by Spain and Gaul respectively, the word “inter” being an interpolation.

[834] See B. iv. c. 31, B. xi. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 20.

[835] Hence known as the “Golden Day,” according to Dion Cassius, B. lxiii.

[836] For further particulars as to the Golden Palace, see B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[837] A.U.C. 597.

[838] Or Marsic War. See B. ii. c. 85.

[839] There is an error in this statement, probably, unless we understand by it the small libra or pound of two ounces, mentioned in c. 13 of this Book.

[840] This remark is confirmatory of the incorrectness of the preceding statement.

[841] The reading here is doubtful.

[842] A.U.C. 612.

[843] See B. xix. c. 6.

[844] Chapter 57.

[845] In fact, no colour at all.

[846] In this climate, the light of most of the stars has the complexion, not of gold, but of silver.

[847] The topaz, for instance.

[848] For ductility and malleability, both which terms may perhaps be included in the “facilitas” of Pliny, gold is unrivalled among the metals. As to weight, it is heavier than lead, the specific gravity of gold being 19.258, and that of lead 11.352. Pliny is therefore wrong in both of these assertions.

[849] He forgets asbestus here, a substance which he has mentioned in B. xix. c. 4.

[850] Chlorine, however, and nitro-muriatic acid corrode and dissolve gold, forming a chloride of gold, which is soluble in water. Ajasson remarks, that gold becomes volatilized by the heat of a burning-glass of three or four feet in diameter; and that when it acts as the conductor of a strong current of electricity, it becomes reduced to dust instantaneously, presenting a bright greenish light.

[851] The gold thus tested was called “obrussum,” “obryzum,” or “obrizum,” from the Greek ὄβρυζον, meaning “pure gold.”

[852] See B. xviii. c. 23, where he calls the chaff used for this purpose by the name of “acus.”

[853] The present mode of assaying the precious metals, is by fusing them upon a cupel with lead.

[854] For which purpose, lead was used, no doubt, in drawing the lines in the MSS. of the ancients. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 339. Bohn’s Ed.

[855] This is far surpassed at the present day, its malleability being such that it may be beaten into leaves not more than one two hundred and eighty thousandth of an inch in thickness, and its ductility admitting of one grain being drawn out into five hundred feet of wire. For further particulars as to the gold leaf of the ancients, and the art of gilding, as practised by them, see Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 391, et seq. Bohn’s Edition.

[856] See B. xxxvi. c. 64.

[857] He alludes to what are now known as pepitas, oval grains of river-gold. “Striges” is the reading in the Bamberg MS., “strigiles” in the former editions.

[858] “Massa.” As we should say at the present day, “nuggets.”

[859] “Ramentum.”

[860] The contrary is now known to be the case; gold is sometimes, though rarely, found in an oxidized state.

[861] As to the solvents of gold, see Note 850 above. Stahl says that three parts of sub-carbonate of potash, dissolved in water, and heated with three parts of sulphur and one part of gold, will yield a complete solution of the metal.

[862] Aldrovandus relates, in his “Museum Metallicum,” that the grave of the Emperor Honorius was discovered at Rome about the year 1544, and that thirty-six pounds’ weight of gold were procured from the mouldering dress that covered the body. See, on the subject of gold threads, Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. Bohn’s Edition.

[863] The “cloth of gold” of the present day, is made of threads of silk or hair, wound round with silver wire flattened and gilded.

[864] “Paludamento.”

[865] See B. viii. c. 74. Beckmann is of opinion, from a passage of Silius Italicus, B. xiv. l. 661, that the cloth of Attalus was embroidered with the needle. See this subject fully discussed in his Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. See also Dr. Yates’s “Textrinum Antiquorum,” pp. 371, 464.

[866] “Without entering into any research respecting the minerals employed for this cement, called ‘leucophoron,’ one may readily conceive that it must have been a ferruginous ochre, or kind of bole, which is still used as a ground. Gilding of this kind must have suffered from dampness, though many specimens of it are still preserved.”—Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 294. Bohn’s Edition.

[867] B. xxxv. c. 17.

[868] Literally, “fluid silver.” “The first name here seems to signify native quicksilver, and the second that separated from the ore by an artificial process.” Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 72.

[869] In Chapters 32 and 41 of this Book.

[870] As to the identity of the “alumen” of Pliny, see B. xxxv. c. 52.

[871] In the preceding Chapter.

[872] See B. xi. c. 36.

[873] See B. vii. c. 2.

[874] See B. iv. c. 17.

[875] Ajasson remarks, that the Castilians still call the surface earth of auriferous deposits by the name of segullo. He also doubts the correctness of Pliny’s assertion as to the produce of the mines of Dalmatia.

[876] See B. xxxiv. c. 47.

[877] We learn from Ajasson that numerous pits or shafts are still to be seen in Spain, from which the Romans extracted gold. At Riotento, he says, there are several of them.

[878] Both meaning “channel gold.”

[879] “Marmoris glareæ.” Under this name, he no doubt means quartz and schist.

[880] See B. xxxvii. c. 39.

[881] See B. xxxvi. c. 13.

[882] “Channel-gold” or “trench-gold.”

[883] Becoming volatilized, and attaching itself in crystals to the side of the chimney.

[884] Or “sweat.” This “sweat” or “silver” would in reality be a general name for all the minerals that were volatilized by the heat of the furnace; while under the name of “scoria ” would be comprised pyrites, quartz, petrosilex, and other similar substances.

[885] The cupel or crucible is still known in Spain by the name of tasco.

[886] Who were said to have heaped one mountain on another in their war with the gods.

[887] Deep mines in Spain are still called arrugia, a term also used to signify gold beneath the surface. According to Grimm, arruzi was the ancient High German name for iron.

[888] See B. xxiii. c. 27.

[889] The breaking-machines, used for crushing the silex.

[890] “Cædunt” is certainly a preferable reading to “cadunt,” though the latter is given by the Bamberg MS.

[891] A similar method of washing auriferous earth or sand in the mines, is still employed in some cases.

[892] “The bringing of water into one channel.”

[893] Or as Holland quaintly renders it, “Some flying spirit or winged devill of the air.”

[894] Magnesian carbonate of lime, or dolomite, Ajasson thinks.

[895] From the Greek, ἀγωγὴ.

[896] It does not appear to have been identified; and it can hardly be the same as the Ulex Europæus of modern Natural History, our Furze or Gorse.

[897] That of sinking shafts, described already in this Chapter.

[898] All these names, no doubt, are of Spanish origin, although Salmasius would assign them a Greek one.

[899] In B. iii. c. 24.

[900] See B. iii. c. 21.

[901] “Auripigmentum.” Yellow sulphuret of arsenic. See B. xxxiv. c. 56.

[902] “Lapis specularis.” See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[903] Caligula.

[904] It was accidently mixed with the ore of arsenic, no doubt, unless, indeed, the emperor was imposed upon.

[905] This is almost, but not quite, universally the case.

[906] In Spain. See B. iii. c. 4, B. iv. c. 34, and B. ix. c. 2. The locality alluded to is now unknown.

[907] A name also given by the ancients to amber. Artificial “electrum,” or gold alloyed with silver, was known in the most ancient times.

[908] The gold found by sinking shafts. See Chapter 21.

[909] See B. ix. c. 65.

[910] Od. B. iv. l. 71.

[911] Pliny no doubt has been imposed upon in this instance.

[912] “Solid hammer-work,” in opposition to works in metal, cast and hollow within.

[913] In B. v. c. 20, most probably. See also B. xvi. c. 64.

[914] The worship of Anaïtis was probably a branch of the Indian worship of Nature. The Greek writers sometimes identify this goddess with their Artemis and their Aphrodite.

[915] Holland has strangely mistaken the meaning of the veteran’s reply; “Yea, sir, that it is; and that methinks you should know best, for even now a leg of his you have at supper, and all your wealth besides is come unto you by that saccage.” He then adds, by way of Note, “For Augustus Cæsar defeited Antonie, and was mightily enriched by the spoile of him.”

[916] In Sicily. According to Valerius Maximus and other writers, a statue of solid gold was erected by the whole of Greece, in the temple at Delphi, in honour of Gorgias, who was distinguished for his eloquence and literary attainments. The leading opinion of Gorgias was, that nothing had any real existence.

[917] The ninetieth Olympiad, about the year 420 B.C., is much more probably the correct reading; as it was about the seventieth Olympiad, or somewhat later, that Gorgias was born.

[918] See B. xxxiv. c. 29.

[919] See B. xxix. c. 38. and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38.

[920] Or gith. See B. xx. c. 71.

[921] Similar to the notion still prevalent, that the application of pure gold will remove styes on the eyelids.

[922] It has been supposed by some, that the “Chrysocolla” of the ancients, as well as the “Cæruleum,” mentioned in c. 57 of this Book, were the produce of cobalt; but the more generally received opinion is that “chrysocolla” (gold-solder) was green verditer, or mountain-green, carbonate and hydrocarbonate of copper, green and blue, substances which are sometimes found in gold mines, but in copper mines more particularly. It must not be confounded with the modern chrysocolla or Borax.

[923] In Chapter 21 of this Book.

[924] The “Reseda luteola,” Dyer’s weed, or Wild woad. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 478-481, where the identity of the Chrysocolla of the ancients is discussed at considerable length.

[925] As to the identity of this substance, see B. xxxv. c. 52.

[926] These drugs have not been identified.

[927] “Elutam.” Though this is the reading given by the Bamberg MS., “luteam” seems preferable; a name owing, probably, to its being coloured with the plant “lutum,” as mentioned at the end of this Chapter.

[928] So called, probably, from being made up into little balls resembling the “orobus” or vetch.

[929] A powder, probably, prepared from “cæruleum.” See the end of the present Chapter, and Chapter 57 of this Book. Littré renders the words “in lomentum,” kept “in the form of powder,” without reference to the peculiar pigment known as “lomentum.”

[930] “Sudore resolutis.”

[931] A strong proof that chrysocolla was a preparation from copper, and not cobalt. Copper owes its name to the Isle of Cyprus, in which it was found in great abundance. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 480. Bohn’s Edition.

[932] The colour now known by painters as Emerald green.

[933] As a “trigarius.” See B. xxviii. c. 72, and B. xxix. c. 5. From Suetonius, c. 18, we learn that the Emperor Caligula, also, had the Circus sanded with minium and chrysocolla. Ajasson is of opinion that the chrysocolla thus employed was a kind of yellow mica or talc.

[934] “Arenosam.” He alludes, probably, to the kind previously mentioned as “aspera” or “rough chrysocolla.”

[935] For its identification, see B. xxxiv. cc. 26, 32.

[936] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 18.

[937] Making a spurious kind of “lomentum,” possibly, a pigment mentioned in c. 57 of this Book. This passage seems to throw some light, upon the words “in lomentum,” commented upon in Note 929 above.

[938] As to durability, probably.

[939] It was the mineral, probably, in an unprepared state.

[940] Gold-glue or gold-solder.

[941] See B. xxxi. c. 46, as to the “nitrum” of Pliny. Galen, in describing the manufacture of “santerna,” omits the nitre as an ingredient.

[942] “Argentosum.” The “electrum,” probably, mentioned in c. 23.

[943] As to the “cadmia” of Pliny, see B. xxxiv. c. 22.

[944] “Plumbum album.” Tin, most probably. See B. xxxiv. cc. 47, 48, 49. Also Beckmann’s Hist. Inv., Vol. II. p. 219, Bohn’s Edition.

[945] Of doubtful identity. See B. xxxiv. c. 48.

[946] See Chapter 19 of this Book.

[947] “Thracius lapis.” This stone, which is mentioned also by Nicander, Galen, Simplicius, and Dioscorides, has not been identified. Holland has the following Note on this passage] “Which some take for pit-cole, or sea-cole rather, such as commeth from Newcastle by sea; or rather, a kind of jeat (jet).” In either case, he is probably wide of the mark, neither coal nor jet igniting on the application of water.

[948] Or mistletoe.

[949] In due succession to gold.

[950] See B. xxxiv. cc. 47, 53.

[951] “Plumbum nigrum”—“Black lead,” literally] so called by the ancients, in contradistinction to “plumbum album,” “white lead,” our “tin,” probably.

[952] Lead ore; identified with “molybdæna” in B. xxxiv. c. 53. Native sulphurate of lead is now known as “galena.” See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 211, where this passage is commented upon.

[953] This Beckmann considers to be the same as the “galena” above mentioned; half-vitrified lead, the “glätte” of the Germans.

[954] The specific gravity of lead is 11.352, and of silver only 10.474.

[955] From the words μετ’ ἄλλα, “one after another.”

[956] It is supposed that these shafts were in the neighbourhood of Castulo, now Cazlona, near Linares in Spain. It was at Castulo that Hannibal married his rich wife Himilce; and in the hills north of Linares there are ancient silver mines still known its Los Pozos de Anibal.

[957] A mile and a half.

[958] The proper reading here, as suggested by Sillig, is not improbably “aquatini,” “water-carriers.” That, however, found in the MSS. is “Aquitani;” but those were a people, not of Spain, but of Gaul. Hardouin suggests that “Accitani” may be the correct reading, a people of that name in Spain being mentioned in B. iii. c. 5.

[959] Meaning “raw” silver, apparently.

[960] “Alumen.” See B. xxxv. c. 52.

[961] Kircher speaks of this being still the case in his time.

[962] See Chapter 19 of this Book.

[963] “Vomica liquoris æterni.” Mercury or quicksilver becomes solidified and assumes a crystalline texture at 40° below zero. It is found chiefly in the state of sulphuret, which is decomposed by distillation with iron or lime. It is also found in a native state.

[964] “Argentum vivum,” “living silver.”

[965] Ajasson thinks that this is not to be understood literally, but that Pliny’s meaning is, that mercury is a universal dissolvent.

[966] “Permanans tabe dirâ.”

[967] The specific gravity of mercury is 13.598, that of hammered gold 19.361. Platinum is only a recent discovery.

[968] “Id unum ad se trahit.”

[969] “The first use of quicksilver is commonly reckoned a Spanish invention, discovered about the middle of the sixteenth century; but it appears from Pliny, that the ancients were acquainted with amalgam and its use, not only for separating gold and silver from earthy particles, but also for gilding.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv., Vol. I. p. 15. Bohn’s Edition.

[970] See the description of the mode of gilding, given in Chapter 20 of this Book. Beckmann has the following remarks on the present passage: “That gold-leaf was affixed to metals by means of quicksilver, with the assistance of heat, in the time of Pliny, we are told by himself in more passages than one. The metal to be gilded was prepared by salts of every kind, and rubbed with pumice-stone in order to clean it thoroughly (see Chapter 20), and to render the surface a little rough. This process is similar to that used at present for gilding with amalgam, by means of heat, especially as amalgamation was known to the ancients. But, to speak the truth, Pliny says nothing of heating the metal after the gold is applied, or of evaporating the quicksilver, but of drying the cleaned metal before the gold is laid on. Had he not mentioned quicksilver, his gilding might have been considered as that with gold leaf by means of heat, dorure en feuille à feu, in which the gold is laid upon the metal after it has been cleaned and heated, and strongly rubbed with blood-stone, or polished steel. Felibien (Principes de l’Architecture. Paris, 1676, p. 280) was undoubtedly right when he regretted that the process of the ancients, the excellence of which is proved by remains of antiquity, has been lost.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 294, 295. Bohn’s Edition.

[971] Beckmann finds considerable difficulties in this description—“I acknowledge that this passage I do not fully comprehend. It seems to say that the quicksilver, when the gold was laid on too thin, appeared through it, but that this might be prevented by mixing with the quicksilver the white of an egg. The quicksilver then remained under the gold: a thing which is impossible. When the smallest drop of quicksilver falls upon gilding, it corrodes the noble metal, and produces an empty spot. It is, therefore, incomprehensible to me how this could be prevented by using the white of an egg. Did Pliny himself completely understand gilding? Perhaps he only meant to say that many artists gave out the cold-gilding, where the gold-leaf was laid on with the white of an egg, as gilding by means of heat.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 295.

[972] Chapter 42 of this Book. See also Chapter 20, in Note 868, to which it has been mentioned as artificial quicksilver.

[973] He is speaking of Antimony.

[974] From its whiteness.

[975] Under the name of “female stimmi,” Ajasson thinks that pure, or native, antimony is meant, more particularly the lamelliform variety, remarkable for its smoothness. He thinks it possible, also, that it may have derived its Greek name “larbason,” or “larbasis,” from its brittleness.

[976] Ajasson thinks that under this name, crude antimony or sulphuret of antimony may have been included; as also sulphuret of lead, sulphuret of antimony and copper, and sulphuret of antimony and silver; the last of which is often found covered with an opaque pellicle.

[977] “Globis.” The fracture of sulphuret of antimony is, in reality, small subconchoïdal.

[978] “Eye dilating.” Belladonna, a preparation from the Atropa belladonna, is now used in medicine for this purpose. A similar effect is attributed in B. xxv. c. 92, to the plant Anagallis. In reality, the application of prepared antimony would contract the eyelids, and so appear to enlarge the eyes. This property is peculiar, Ajasson remarks, to sulphuret of antimony, and sulphuret of antimony and silver.

[979] Preparations “for beautifying the eyebrows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxv. c. 56. Omphale, the Lydian queen, who captivated Hercules, is represented by the tragic poet Ion, as using “stimmi” for the purposes of the toilet. It was probably with a preparation of antimony that Jezebel “painted her face, and tired her head.” 2 Kings, ix. 30. The “Kohl” used by the females in Egypt and Persia is prepared from antimony.

[980] “Spuma argenti.” See the next Chapter.

[981] According to Dioscorides, it was prepared as a cosmetic by enclosing it in a lump of dough, and then burning it in the coals till reduced to a cinder. It was then extinguished with milk and wine, and again placed upon coals, and blown till ignition.

[982] As to the “nitrum” of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[983] “Flos”—literally the “flower.”

[984] “From this passage we may infer that the metal antimony was occasionally seen by the ancients, though not recognized by them as distinct from lead.”—Dana’s System of Mineralogy, p. 418. New York, 1850.

[985] Pliny has here mistaken the sense of the word στέαρ, which in the passage of Dioscorides, B. v. c. 99, borrowed probably from the same source, evidently means dough, and not grease.

[986] From ἕλκω, “to drag”—in consequence of its viscous consistency, Hardouin says.

[987] In B. xxxiv. c. 53.

[988] Cerates, adipose or oleaginous plasters. See B. xxiii. c. 81.

[989] “Spuma argenti.” This he uses as a general name for fused oxide of lead, the Litharge of commerce.

[990] Ajasson thinks it possible that the “chrysitis,” or “golden” litharge, may have been the yellow deutoxide of lead; the argyritis, or “silver” litharge, the white variety of the same deutoxide; and the “molybditis,” or “leaden” litharge, a general name for sulphuret of lead and silver; of lead and antimony; of lead, antimony, and bismuth; and of lead, antimony, and copper. Or perhaps, he thinks, they may have been the respective names of yellow or golden litharge, white or silver litharge, and terne. With the latter opinion Delafosse seems to coincide.

[991] “Tubulis.” These cakes were probably made in a tubular form.

[992] “Vena;” meaning the ore probably in its raw state, and mixed with earth. All these distinctions are probably unfounded.

[993] See B. xxxiv. c. 53.

[994] Of “Puteolana.”

[995] The litharge.

[996] The scoria.

[997] Nothing whatever is known as to the identity of these varieties of litharge. Indeed the words themselves are spelt in various ways in the respective MSS.

[998] In B. xxxiv. c. 53, where he identifies it with “galena,” mentioned in Chapter 31 of this Book.

[999] See B. xviii. c. 13, B. xvi. c. 61, and B. xxii. c. 66.

[1000] Sal gem, or common salt.

[1001] In this Chapter. See note 987 above.

[1002] The minium spoken of in this and the following Chapter is our Cinnabar, a bisulphurate of mercury. This ore is the great source of the mercury of commerce, from which it is obtained by sublimation. When pure, it is the same as the manufactured vermilion of commerce.

[1003] Intended, no doubt, to be typical of blood and carnage; and indicative of a very low state of civilization.

[1004] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[1005] See B. v. c. 31.

[1006] See B. xvi. c. 12, and B. xxiv. c. 4.

[1007] The same as the miltos mentioned below, “miltos” being the word used by Homer, Il. II. 637. This substance is totally different from the minium of the preceding Chapters, and from that mentioned in c. 40. It is our red ochre, peroxide of iron, mixed in a greater or less degree with argillaceous earth.

[1008] See B. xxix. c. 8; where he speaks of the mistake made by the physicians in giving mineral vermilion or minium to their patients instead of Indian cinnabar. The latter substance is probably identical with that which is now used for varnishes, being imported from India, and still known as “dragons’ blood,” the resin of the Ptero-carpus draco, or Calamus palm.

[1009] In B. viii. c. 12.

[1010] In Chapter 41.

[1011] The dragon’s blood, mentioned in the preceding Chapter.

[1012] “Single colour paintings.” See B. xxxv. cc. 5, 11, 34, 36.

[1013] Mentioned in Chapter 37.

[1014] The “miltos” of the preceding Chapter. See Note 1007 above.

[1015] In B. xxxv. c. 13, et seq.

[1016] He is here speaking of our cinnabar, or vermilion, mentioned in Chapter 36.

[1017] See B. vi. cc. 27, 28, 32.

[1018] See B. iii. c. 3, Vol. I. p. 163. He alludes to the district of Almaden, in Andalusia, still famous for its quicksilver mines.

[1019] When sold by the “publicani,” or farmers of the revenue.

[1020] Of the publicani.

[1021] Red oxide of lead, a much inferior pigment to cinnabar, or the minium of Chapter 36.

[1022] In Chapter 32 of this Book.

[1023] Dana informs us that minium is usually associated with galena and with calamine. Syst. Mineral, p. 495.

[1024] “Steriles.” Barren of silver, probably; though Hardouin thinks that it means “barren of lead.” Holland renders it “barraine and void of the right vermilion.”

[1025] In Chapter 37.

[1026] B. xxxv. c. 24.

[1027] When hired by the job for colouring walls or objects of art. See B. xxxv. c. 12.

[1028] See B. xvi. c. 12, and B. xxiv. c. 4.

[1029] “Candelis.” The Abate Requeno thinks that these “candelæ” were used as a delicate cauterium, simply to keep the wax soft, that it might receive a polish from the friction of the linen.

[1030] Hence the use of it in the middle ages; a reminiscence of which still exists in our word “rubric.”

[1031] Or artificial quicksilver. In reality, hydrargyrus is prepared from the genuine minium of Pliny, the cinnabar mentioned in Chapter 36] it being obtained by the sublimation of sulphuret of mercury.

[1032] In Chapters 20 and 32.

[1033] This, probably, is the meaning of “lubrico humore compluere.”

[1034] See the end of Chapter 38.

[1035] Artificial quicksilver is still used for this purpose. See Note 971 to Chapter 32 of this Book; also Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 295. Bohn’s Edition.

[1036] In Chapter 32. He alludes to the use of glair of eggs.

[1037] Literally “whetstone.” He is speaking of the stone known to us as Touchstone, Lydian stone, or Basanite—“a velvet-black siliceous stone or flinty jasper, used on account of its hardness and black colour for trying the purity of the precious metals. The colour left on the stone after rubbing the metal across it, indicates to the experienced eye the amount of the alloy.”—Dana, Syst. Mineral., p. 242.

[1038] In Lydia. See B. v. cc. 30, 31.

[1039] As a test. At the present day, concentrated nitric acid is dropped on the mark left by the metal; and the more readily the mark is effaced, the less pure is the metal.

[1040] This seems to be the meaning of “si sudet protinus.”

[1041] A very far-fetched explanation, and very wide of the mark.

[1042] “Paulum propulsa.”

[1043] Which he supposes a concave surface to do.

[1044] This passage is noticed by Beckmann, in his account of Mirrors; Vol. II. p. 58. Bohn’s Edition.

[1045] Distorting the image reflected, by reason of the irregularities of the surface. See Seneca, Nat. Quæst. B. i. c. 5.

[1046] “Parma Thræcidica.”

[1047] He probably means, whether the surface is made convex or concave at these different angles.

[1048] A subject to which he returns in various parts of B. xxxvi.

[1049] See B. xxxiv. c. 48.

[1050] As to the identification of “stannum,” on which there have been great differences of opinion, see B. xxxiv. cc. 47, 48, and the Notes.

[1051] For some account of this artist, see Chapter 55 and the Notes at the end of this Book.

[1052] “Silver mirrors were known long before this period, as is proved by a passage in the Mostellaria of Plautus, A. 1, S. 3, l. 101, where they are distinctly mentioned. To reconcile this contradiction, Meursius remarks that Pliny speaks only of his countrymen, and not of the Greeks, who had such articles much earlier, though the scene in Plautus is at Athens.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 62. Bohn’s Edition.

[1053] “Nuper credi cœptum certiorem imaginem reddi auro opposito aversis.”—“Of what Pliny says here I can give no explanation. Hardouin (qy. if not Dalechamps?) is of opinion that mirrors, according to the newest invention, at that period were covered behind with a plate of gold, as our mirrors are with an amalgam. But as the ancient plates of silver were not transparent, how could the gold at the back of them produce any effect in regard to the image? May not the meaning be that a thin plate of gold was placed at some distance before the mirror, in order to throw more light upon its surface? Whatever may have been the case, Pliny himself seems not to have had much confidence in the invention.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 62.

[1054] Dr. Watson (Chemical Essays, Vol. IV. p. 246) seems to think that Pliny is here speaking of glass mirrors: “If we admit that Pliny was acquainted with glass mirrors, we may thus understand what he says respecting an invention which was then new, of applying gold behind a mirror. Instead of an amalgam of tin, some one had proposed to cover the back of the mirror with an amalgam of gold, with which the ancients were certainly acquainted, and which they employed in gilding.” See Chapter 20 of the present Book. On the above passage by Dr. Watson, Beckmann has the following remarks: “This conjecture appears, at any rate, to be ingenious; but when I read the passage again, without prejudice, I can hardly believe that Pliny alludes to a plate of glass in a place where he speaks only of metallic mirrors; and the overlaying with amalgam requires too much art to allow me to ascribe it to such a period without sufficient proof. I consider it more probable, that some person had tried, by means of a polished plate of gold, to collect the rays of light, and to throw them either on the mirror or the object, in order to render the image brighter.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 72.

[1055] The dog-headed divinity. The seat of his worship was at Cynopolis, mentioned in B. v. c. 11. Under the Empire his worship became widely spread both in Greece and at Rome.

[1056] Under the word “pingit,” he probably includes the art of enamelling silver.

[1057] “Fulgoris excæcati.”

[1058] “Chaplet” copper.

[1059] He either alludes to the practice of clipping the coin, or else to the issue of forged silver denarii, short of weight.

[1060] During the prætorship of Marius Gratidianus. He was on terms of great intimacy with Cicero, and was murdered by Catiline in a most barbarous manner during the proscriptions of Sylla.

[1061] By public enactment probably; samples of the false denarius being sold for the purpose of showing the difference between it and the genuine coin.

[1062] Twenty times one hundred thousand, &c.

[1063] As signifying a “debt owing to another.”

[1064] “The Rich.”

[1065] This seems the best translation for “decoxisse creditoribus suis,” which literally means that he “boiled” or “melted away” his fortune from his creditors. In this remark Pliny is more witty than usual.

[1066] The Triumvir. The first person mentioned in Roman history as having the cognomen “Dives,” is P. Licinius Crassus, the personage mentioned in B. xxi. c. 4. As he attained the highest honours of the state, and died universally respected, he cannot be the person so opprobriously spoken of by Pliny.

[1067] The meaning appears to be doubtful here, as it is not clear whether “sesterces,” or “sestertia,” “thousands of sesterces,” is meant.

[1068] Who cut off his head after his death, and poured molten gold down his throat.

[1069] Originally the slave of Antonia, the mother of Claudius. Agrippina, the wife of Claudius, admitted him to her embraces, and in conjunction with her he for some time ruled the destinies of the Roman Empire. He was poisoned by order of Nero, A.D. 63.

[1070] C. Julius Callistus, the freedman of Caligula, in whose assassination he was an accomplice. The physician Scribonius Largus dedicated his work to Callistus.

[1071] A freedman of the Emperor Claudius, whose epistolary correspondence he superintended. He was put to death on the accession of Nero, A.D. 54.

[1072] In which case it would be dangerous to speak of them.

[1073] A.U.C. 746.

[1074] According to some authorities, he was a Lydian. He derived his wealth from his gold mines in the neighbourhood of Celænæ in Phrygia, and would appear, in spite of Pliny’s reservation, to have been little less than a king. His five sons accompanied Xerxes; but Pythius, alarmed by an eclipse of the sun, begged that the eldest might be left behind. Upon this, Xerxes had the youth put to death, and his body cut in two, the army being ordered to march between the portions, which were placed on either side of the road. His other sons were all slain in battle, and Pythius passed the rest of his life in solitude.

[1075] “Stipem spargere.”

[1076] A.U.C. 568.

[1077] In performance of a vow made in the war with King Antiochus. See Livy, B. xxxix.

[1078] So called from the silversmiths who respectively introduced them. The Gratian plate is mentioned by Martial, B. iv. Epigr. 39.

[1079] “Etenim tabernas mensis adoptamus.”

[1080] “Anaglypta.” Plate chased in relief. It is mentioned in the Epigram of Martial above referred to.

[1081] “Asperitatemque exciso circa liniarum picturas,”—a passage, the obscurity of which, as Littré remarks, seems to set translation at defiance.

[1082] He alludes, probably to tiers of shelves on the beaufets or sideboards—“repositoria”—similar to those used for the display of plate in the middle ages. Petronius Arbiter speaks of a round “repositorium,” which seems to have borne a considerable resemblance to our “dumb waiters.” The “repositoria” here alluded to by Pliny were probably made of silver.

[1083] “Interradimus.”

[1084] “Carrucæ.” The “carruca” was a carriage, the name of which only occurs under the emperors, the present being the first mention of it. It had four wheels and was used in travelling, like the “carpentum.” Martial, B. iii. Epig. 47, uses the word as synonymous with “rheda.” Alexander Severus allowed the senators to have them plated with silver. The name is of Celtic origin, and is the basis of the mediæval word “carucate,” and the French carrosse.

[1085] So called from his victory over the Allobroges.

[1086] In allusion to the case of P. Cornelius Rufinus, the consul, who was denounced in the senate by the censors C. Fabricius Luscinus and Q. Æmilius Rufus, for being in possession of a certain quantity of silver plate. This story is also referred to in B. xviii. c. 8, where ten pounds is the quantity mentioned.

[1087] This is said ironically.

[1088] Sextus Ælius Pœtus Catus, Consul B.C. 198.

[1089] “Prandentem.”

[1090] L. Paulus Æmilius.

[1091] It being lent from house to house. This, no doubt, was said ironically, and as a sneer at their poverty.

[1092] Now Arles. It was made a military colony in the time of Augustus. See B. iii. c. 5, and B. x. c. 57.

[1093] “Pellitum.” There has been considerable doubt as to the meaning of this, but it is most probable that the “privilege of the fur,” or in other words, a license to be clad in certain kinds of fur, was conferred on certain men of rank in the provinces. Holland considers it to be the old participle of “pello,” and translates the passage “banished out of the country and nation where his father was born.”

[1094] “Triclinia.” The couches on which they reclined when at table.

[1095] See B. ix. c. 13.

[1096] This pattern, whatever it may have been, is also spoken of by Cicero, pro Murenâ, and by Valerius Maximus, B. vii. c. 1.

[1097] “Lances.”

[1098] “Dispensator.”

[1099] “Conservi”—said in keen irony.

[1100] Giants, at least, one would think.

[1101] Over the party of Marius.

[1102] See B. ix. c. 13.

[1103] “Compacta;” probably meaning inlaid like Mosaic.

[1104] See B. xiii. c. 29, B. xv. c. 7, and B. xvi. cc. 26, 27, 84.

[1105] Meaning, “drum sideboards,” or “tambour sideboards,” their shape, probably, being like that of our dumb waiters.

[1106] The name given to which was “lanx,” plural “lances.”

[1107] His age and country are uncertain. We learn, however, from Chapter 55 of this Book, that he flourished before the burning of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, B.C. 356. He is frequently mentioned in the classical writers. See also B. vii. c. 39.

[1108] He includes, probably, under this name both Asia Minor and Syria. See a similar passage in Livy, B. xxxix.

[1109] This passage is rejected by Sillig as a needless interpolation.

[1110] Asia Minor.

[1111] King of Pergamus.

[1112] Over King Antiochus.

[1113] He alludes to the destruction of Corinth, by L. Mummius Achaïcus.

[1114] A drinking cup with handles, sacred to Bacchus. See B. xxxiv. c. 25.

[1115] Bacchus.

[1116] In allusion to the plebeian origin of C. Marius, who was born at the village of Cereatæ, near Arpinum. It is more than probable that the story that he had worked as a common peasant for wages, was an invention of the faction of Sylla.

[1117] “Ille arator Arpinas, et manipularis imperator.”

[1118] Meaning the first king of that name. He was son of Mithridates IV., king of Pontus.

[1119] Appian says that there “was a gold statue of this Mithridates, exhibited in the triumph of Pompey, eight cubits in height.” Plutarch speaks of another statue of the same king, exhibited by Lucullus, six feet in height.

[1120] “Compedes.” See Chapter 12 of this Book.

[1121] The translation of this passage is somewhat doubtful. We will, therefore, subjoin that of Holland, who adopts the other version. “As we may see by our proud and sumptuous dames, that are but commoners and artizans’ wives, who are forced to make themselves carquans and such ornaments for their shoes, of silver, because the rigour of the statute provided in that case will not permit them to weare the same of gold.”

[1122] A rhetorician who taught at Rome in the reign of Augustus. The poet Ovid was one of his pupils. His rival in teaching declamation was Porcius Latro.

[1123] Of an improper intimacy with his pupils.

[1124] Rings of silver being passed through the prepuce. This practice is described by Celsus, B. vii. c. 25.

[1125] “Videret hinc dona fortium fieri, aut in hæc frangi.”

[1126] In B. vii. c. 39, and in Chapter 53 of this Book.

[1127] “Quatuor paria ab eo omnino facta sunt.” Sillig, in his Dictionary of Ancient Artists, finds a difficulty in this passage. “The term ‘omnino’ seems to imply that the productions in question, all of which perished, were the only works executed by this artist; but we find several passages of ancient writers, in which vases, &c. engraved by Mentor, are mentioned as extant. Thus, then, we must conclude, either that the term ‘omnino’ should be understood in the sense of ‘chiefly,’ ‘pre-eminently,’ or that the individuals claiming to possess works of Mentor, were themselves misinformed, or endeavoured to deceive others.” If, however, we look at the word “paria” in a strictly technical sense, the difficulty will probably be removed. Pliny’s meaning seems to be that Mentor made four pairs, and no more, of some peculiar kind of vessel probably, and that all these pairs were now lost. He does not say that Mentor did not make other works of art, in single pieces. Thiersch, Act. Acad. Monac. v. p. 128, expresses an opinion that the word “omnino” is a corruption, and that in it lies concealed the name of the kind of plate that is meant.

[1128] See B. vii. c. 39.

[1129] His age and country are unknown.

[1130] From Pausanias we learn that he was a statuary and engraver on plate, born at Carthage; but Raoul Rochette thinks that he was a native of Chalcedon. He is mentioned also by Cicero, In Verrem, 4. 14, and in the Culex, l. 66, ascribed by some to Virgil.

[1131] His country is uncertain. According to the statements of Pausanias, B. i. c. 28, he must have been a contemporary of Phidias, about Olymp. 84, B.C. 444. He is mentioned also by Propertius, Martial, and Statius.

[1132] His birth-place is unknown, but he probably lived about the time of Phidias, and we learn from Pausanias that he was living when the plague ceased at Athens, in B.C. 429. He is mentioned also by Cicero, Ovid, Quintilian, Lucian, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

[1133] Nothing further is known of this artist.

[1134] “Collocavisse verius quam cælasse.”

[1135] “Phiala.”

[1136] He lived probably about Olymp. 126; but his country is unknown. He is mentioned by Athenæus. See also B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1137] Nothing whatever is known of him, unless indeed he is identical with the Tauriscus mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 5.

[1138] Nothing is known of his age or country. He is also mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1139] His age and country are unknown. See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1140] Nothing further is known of him. See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1141] See the end of this Book.

[1142] Beyond the mention made of him in B. xxxiv. c. 19, no particulars relative to him are known.

[1143] Other readings of this name are “Lædus Stratiotes,” “Ledis Thracides,” “Hieris Thracides,” and “Lidistratices.” The Bamberg MS. has “Hedys Trachides.” Salmasius, Hardouin, and Sillig propose “Leostratides,” and Thiersch “Lysistratides.”

[1144] Nothing further is known of him.

[1145] For the murder of his mother Clytæmnestra.

[1146] Nothing is known of this artist.

[1147] From Troy.

[1148] “Coquos,” literally, “cooks.”

[1149] “Cooks in miniature.”

[1150] By the process of moulding, probably.

[1151] “Crustarius.” Of this artist nothing further is known.

[1152] Yellow or brown Ochre, probably. Ajasson thinks that under this name may be included peroxide of iron, hydroxide of iron in a stalactitic and mamillary form, and compact peroxide of iron, imparting a colour to argillaceous earth.

[1153] “Scaly and ochrey brown iron ore are decomposed earthy varieties, often soft like chalk; yellow ochre is here included.”—Dana, Syst. Mineral, p. 436.

[1154] “Marmorosum.”

[1155] “Lucidum.”

[1156] “Abacos.” Small compartments or partitions in a square form on the walls of rooms.

[1157] See B. vii. c. 57, where he is called an Athenian, whereas he was a native of Thasos. He was one of the most eminent painters of antiquity, and flourished in the age of Pericles. See a further account of him in B. xxxv. c. 35.

[1158] Son of Phanochus, and contemporary of Polygnotus. See B. xxxv. c. 25, where it is stated that in conjunction with Polygnotus, he either invented some new colours, or employed them in his paintings on a better plan than that previously adopted.

[1159] “It is possible that the ‘cæruleum’ of the ancients may in some cases have been real ultramarine, but properly and in general, it was only copper ochre.”—Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 472. Bohn’s Edition. Delafosse identifies it with blue carbonate and hydrocarbonate of copper, one of the two azurites.

[1160] “Candidiorem nigrioremve, et crassiorem tenuioremve.”

[1161] Beckmann thinks that Pliny is here alluding to an artificial kind of “cæruleum.” “Pliny clearly adds to it an artificial colour, which in my opinion was made in the same manner as our lake; for he speaks of an earth, which when boiled with plants, acquired their blue colour.”—Hist. Inv., Vol. II. p. 480.

[1162] Supposed by Hardouin to have been “glastum” or “woad,” the Isatis tinctoria of Linnæus, mentioned in B. xxii. c. 2.

[1163] “In suâ coquitur herbâ.”

[1164] A blue powder; see Chapter 27 of this Book. Beckmann has the following remarks on this and the preceding lines: “The well-known passage of Pliny in which Lehmann thinks he can with certainty discover cobalt, is so singular a medley that nothing to be depended on can be gathered from it. The author, it is true, where he treats of mineral pigments, seems to speak of a blue sand which produced different shades of blue paint, according as it was pounded coarser or finer. The palest powder was called lomentum, and this Lehmann considers as our powder-blue. I am, however, fully convinced that the cyanus of Theophrastus, the cæruleum of Pliny, and the chrysocolla (see Chapter 26), were the blue copper earth already mentioned, which may have been mixed and blended together.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. I. pp. 480, 481. Bohn’s Edition.

[1165] According to Vitruvius, B. vii. c. 11, the manufactory of Vestorius was at Puteoli, now Pozzuoli. This was probably the same C. Vestorius who was also a money-lender and a friend of Atticus, and with whom Cicero had monetary transactions. He is mentioned as “Vestorium meum,” in the Epistles of Cicero to Atticus.

[1166] For colouring surfaces of clay or cretaceous earth. This kind was also manufactured by Vesturius, most probably.

[1167] “Idem et Puteolani usus, præterque ad fenestras.” “The expression here, usus ad fenestras, has been misapplied by Lehmann, as a strong proof of his assertion; for he explained it as if Pliny had said that a blue pigment was used for painting window-frames; but glass windows were at that time unknown. I suspect that Pliny meant to say only that one kind of paint could not be employed near openings which afforded a passage to the light, as it soon decayed and lost its colour. This would have been the case in particular with lake, in which there was a mixture of vegetable particles.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 480.

[1168] “Indian” pigment. Probably our “indigo.” It is again mentioned, and at greater length, in B. xxxv. c. 27. See also Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 259, 267. Bohn’s Edition.

[1169] This is probably a more correct reading than “seven.”

[1170] See B. xxxv. c. 19. Vitruvius, B. vii. c. 14, describes an exactly similar method adopted by dyers for imitating the colour of Attic sil, or ochre, mentioned in Chapter 56.

[1171] A quarter in the city of Capua, inhabited by druggists and perfumers; see B. xvi. c. 18, and B. xxxiv. c. 25.

[1172] In some MSS. the reading here is “Domitius,” and in others the name is omitted altogether. We learn from the writings of Suetonius, that the Emperor Domitian devoted himself to literary pursuits in his younger days, and Quintilian and the younger Pliny speak of his poetical productions as equal to those of the greatest masters. Sillig expresses an opinion that Pliny may possibly have borrowed something from his works, and inserted his name, with a view of pleasing the young prince and his father, the Emperor Vespasian.

[1173] He is quoted in Chapter 9 of this Book, where it appears that he took his cognomen on account of his friendship for C. Gracchus. He wrote a work, “De Potestatibus,” which gave an account of the Roman magistrates from the time of the kings. A few fragments of this work, which was highly esteemed by the ancients, are all that remain.

[1174] See end of B. ii.

[1175] See end of B. iii.

[1176] See end of B. ii.

[1177] Valerius Messala Corvinus. See end of B. ix.

[1178] See end of B. vii.

[1179] Calvus Licinius Macer was the son of C. Licinius Macer, a person of prætorian rank, who, on being impeached of extortion by Cicero, committed suicide. We learn from our author, B. xxxiv. c. 50, that in his youth he devoted himself to study with the greatest zeal, and applied himself with singular energy to intellectual pursuits. His constitution, however, was early exhausted, and he died in his 35th or 36th year, leaving behind him twenty-one orations. We learn from Cicero and Quintilian that his compositions were carefully moulded after the models of the Attic school, but were deficient in ease and freshness. As a poet he was the author of many short pieces, equally remarkable for their looseness and elegance. He wrote also some severe lampoons on Pompey and Cæsar, and their respective partisans. Ovid and Horace, besides several of the prose writers, make mention of him.

[1180] See end of B. ii.

[1181] See end of B. ii.

[1182] Cornelius Bocchus. See end of B. xvi.

[1183] Annius or Annæus Fetialis. See end of B. xvi.

[1184] See end of B. viii.

[1185] See end of B. vii.

[1186] See end of B. xx.

[1187] See end of B. xii.

[1188] See end of B. iii.

[1189] See end of B. ii.

[1190] See end of B. v.

[1191] The person mentioned in Chapter 13 of this Book, is probably different from those of the same name mentioned at the end of Books ii. and iv. If so, no further particulars are known of him.

[1192] It seems impossible to say which of the physicians of this name is here alluded to. See end of Books iv. and xii.

[1193] See end of B. xx.

[1194] See end of B. xii.

[1195] See end of B. xiii.

[1196] See end of B. xii.

[1197] See end of B. xii.; and for Sallustius Dionysius, see end of B. xxxi.

[1198] See end of B. xxix.

[1199] See end of B. xii.

[1200] See end of B. xii.

[1201] As King Attalus was very skilful in medicine, Hardouin is of opinion that he is the person here meant; see end of B. viii.

[1202] A different person, most probably, from the writer of Pliny’s age, mentioned in B. xxxvii. c. 2. The Xenocrates here mentioned is probably the same person that is spoken of in B. xxxv. c. 36, a statuary of the school of Lysippus, and the pupil either of Tisicrates or of Euthycrates, who flourished about B.C. 260.

[1203] There were two artists of this name, prior to the time of Pliny; a sculptor, mentioned by him in B. xxxiv. c. 19, and a painter, contemporary with Apelles, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 36. It is impossible to say which of them, if either, is here meant.

[1204] See end of B. iii.

[1205] See end of B. xii.

[1206] It is impossible to say which writer of this name is here meant. See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.

[1207] A statuary, sculptor, and chaser in silver, who flourished at Rome about B.C. 60. He was a native of Magna Græcia, in the south of Italy. He is not only mentioned in Chapter 55 of the present Book, but also in B. xxxv. c. 45, as an artist of the highest distinction. His narrow escape from a panther, while copying from nature, is mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 4. His five Books on the most celebrated works of sculpture and chasing were looked upon as a high authority in art. He was also the head of a school of artists.

[1208] A writer on painting of this name is mentioned by Diogenes Laertius, B. vii. c. 12. He is probably the same as the person here mentioned, and identical with the Greek sculptor mentioned by Pliny in B. xxxiv. c. 19, who probably flourished about 240 B.C. The Toreutic Art, “Toreutice,” was the art of making raised work in silver or bronze, either by graving or casting: but the exact meaning of the word is somewhat uncertain.

[1209] Menæchmus of Sicyon, probably; see end of B. iv., also B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1210] If he is really a different person from the Xenocrates mentioned above, nothing is known of him.

[1211] See end of B. vii.

[1212] Possibly one of the persons mentioned at the end of Books viii., xix., and xxxi. If not, nothing whatever is known of him.

[1213] An Athenian writer, surnamed “Periegetes.” The work here mentioned, is alluded to by other writers under different names. From a passage in Athenæus, he is supposed to have lived after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.

[1214] See end of B. iii.

[1215] The present Book is translated by the late Dr. Bostock, the translation being corrected by the readings of the Bamberg MS., which do not appear to have come under his notice. Some Notes by Dr. Bostock will be also found at the commencement of Books 33 and 35; they are distinguished by the initial B.

[1216] “Æris Metalla.” The word “Æs” does not entirely correspond to our word “brass;” the brass of the moderns being a compound of copper and zinc, while the “Æs” of the ancients was mostly composed of copper and tin, and therefore, would be more correctly designated by the word “bronze.” But this last term is now so generally appropriated to works of art, that it would seem preferable to employ in most cases the more general terms “copper” or “brass.” For an excellent account of the “Æs” of the ancients, see Smith’s Dict. Antiq. “Æs.”—B. Mr. Westmacott, in the above-mentioned article, says that the ancient “Æs” has been found, upon analysis, to contain no zinc, but in nearly every instance to be a mixture of copper and tin, like our bronze. Beckmann says, on the other hand, that the mixture of zinc and copper now called “brass,” first discovered by ores, abundant in zinc, was certainly known to the ancients. “In the course of time, an ore, which must have been calamine, was added to copper while melting, to give it a yellow colour.” Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 32, 33. Bohn’s Edition. There can be little doubt that the native Cadmia of Chapter 22 of this Book was our Calamine, hydrosilicate of zinc, or carbonate of zinc, or else copper ore impregnated with calamine.

[1217] In B. xxxiii. c. 13.

[1218] “Stipis auctoritas.” The standard in money payments.

[1219] These terms must have come into use when brass, “æs,” was the ordinary medium, of circulation.—B. Their meaning is, “soldiers’ pay,” “tribunes of the treasury,” the “public treasury,” “made bondmen for debt,” and “mulcted of their pay.”

[1220] In B. xxxiii. c. 13.—B.

[1221] “Collegium” The colleges of the priests and of the augurs being the first two associated bodies.—B.

[1222] In B. xxxiii. c. 31, where we have an account of the ores of silver.—B.

[1223] Pliny again refers to this mineral in the 22d Chapter. We have no means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance to which this name was applied by the ancients. The ores of copper are very numerous, and of various chemical constitutions] the most abundant, and those most commonly employed in the production of the pure metal, are the sulphurets, more especially what is termed copper pyrites, and the oxides. It has been supposed, by some commentators, that the Cadmia of the ancients was Calamine, which is an ore of zinc; but we may be confident that the Æs of the ancients could not be produced from this substance, because, as has been stated above, the Æs contains no zinc. I must, however, observe that the contrary opinion is maintained by M. Delafosso.—B. See Note 1216 above.

[1224] The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo.—B. See B. iii. c. 21.

[1225] Aristotle gives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus. Chalcitis is also spoken of by Dioscorides, as an ore of copper.—B. See further as to “Chalcitis,” in Chapter 29 of this Book.

[1226] There has been much discussion respecting the nature of this substance, and the derivation of the word. Hardouin conceives it probable that it was originally written “orichalcum,” i.e. “mountain brass” or “copper.”—B. Ajasson considers it to be native brass, a mixture of copper and zinc. In the later writers it signifies artificial brass. The exact composition of this metal is still unknown, but there is little doubt that Hardouin is right in his supposition as to the origin of the name.

[1227] Possibly so called from Sallustius Crispus, the historian, who was one of the secretaries of Augustus.

[1228] There is some doubt respecting the locality of these people; they are enumerated by Pliny among the inhabitants of the mountainous districts of Savoy, B. iii. c. 24, and are referred to by Ptolemy.—B.

[1229] Livia.

[1230] It was named “Marian,” after the celebrated Marius, and “Corduban,” from the place whence it was procured; probably the mountains near Corduba, in Spain, well known as the birth-place of the two Senecas and of Lucan.—B. See B. iii. c. 3, and B. xix. c. 43.

[1231] No light is thrown upon the nature either of Cadmia or Aurichalcum by this statement; we only learn from it that different compounds, or substances possessing different physical properties, went under the common appellation of Æs, and were, each of them, employed in the formation of coins.—B.

[1232] “Dupondiariis.” The “as,” it must be remembered, originally weighed one pound. See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and the Introduction to Vol. III.

[1233] He alludes to the ancient works of art in this compound metal.

[1234] The art of making compound metals.

[1235] Vulcan, namely.

[1236] No one has accidentally stumbled upon the art of making this composite metal.

[1237] We have an account of the destruction of Corinth, and the accidental formation of this compound, in Florus, B. ii. c. 16. Although this account was generally received by the ancients, we may venture to assert, that it cannot be correct; we cannot conceive the possibility of such a fusion taking place during the destruction of the city, or of the complete union of the components, in the mode in which they have been found to exist.—B.

[1238] B.C. 146.—B.

[1239] “Trulleos.” In an epigram of Martial, B. ix. Ep. 97, the word “trulla” signifies a chamber-pot.

[1240] From the Greek ἥπαρ, “the liver.”

[1241] The Delian brass is mentioned by Cicero, in his oration “Pro Roscio Amerino,” s. 46, and in his Fourth oration “In Verrem,” s. 1.—B. Pausanias, in his “Eliaca,” says that the Spanish copper, or copper of Tartessus, was the first known.

[1242] Or Cattle Market: in the Eighth Region of the City. See B. xxxv. c. 7, and Chapter 16 of this Book.

[1243] A distinguished statuary and engraver on silver. He lived in Olympiad 87. Further mention is made of him by Cicero, Ovid, Strabo, and Pausanias. See also Chapter 19 of this Book.

[1244] There were several artists of this name. The elder Polycletus, a native either of Sicyon or of Argos, is probably the one here referred to. For further particulars of him, see Chapter 19.

[1245] The words in the original are, respectively candelabra, superficies, and scapi.—B.

[1246] Probably a proverbial expression at Rome, as it is employed by Juvenal, in an analogous manner, upon another occasion; Sat. iii. l. 132.—B.

[1247] Plutarch speaks of the Geganii as an ancient noble family at Rome.

[1248] See B. xxxiii. c. 53.

[1249] A.U.C. 585; we have an account of it in Livy, B. xiv. c. 42.—B.

[1250] This building is referred to by Velleius Paterculus, in the beginning of the Second Book of his History.—B. According to Aurelius Victor, it was situated in the Ninth Region of the City.

[1251] The Temple of Vesta is described by Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. l. 265, et seq.—B.

[1252] C. Camillus probably, the Roman jurist and friend of Cicero.

[1253] See end of B. ii.

[1254] “Triclinia,” “abaci,” and “monopodia;” these appear to have been couches for dining-tables, tables furnished with cupboards, and tables standing on a single foot. Livy, B. xxxix. c. 6, informs us, that Cneius Manlius, in his triumphal procession, introduced into Rome various articles of Asiatic luxury; “Lectos æratos, vestem stragulam preciosam, monopodia, et abacos.” We are not to suppose that the whole of these articles were made of brass, but that certain parts of them were formed of this metal, or else were ornamented with brass.—B.

[1255] See end of B. ii.

[1256] “Cortinas tripodum.” These articles of furniture consisted of a table or slab, supported by three feet, which was employed, like our sideboards, for the display of plate, at the Roman entertainments.—B.

[1257] “Lychnuchi pensiles;” this term is applied by Suetonius, Julius, s. 37; we may conceive that they were similar to the modern chandeliers.—B.

[1258] This temple was dedicated by Augustus A.U.C. 726. The lamps in it, resembling trees laden with fruit, are mentioned by Victor in his description of the Tenth Quarter of the City.—B.

[1259] See B. v. c. 32.

[1260] We have an account of this event in Livy, B. ii. c. 41, in Valerius Maximus, and in Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—B.

[1261] “Iconicæ,” “portrait statues,” from εἴκων, of the same meaning. This term is employed by Suetonius, in speaking of a statue of Caligula, c. 22.—B.

[1262] Pisistratus. These statues are mentioned in the 19th Chapter of this Book, as being the workmanship of Praxiteles.—B.

[1263] See B. vii. cc. 31, 34: B. viii. c. 74: and B. ix. c. 63.

[1264] Near the Temple of Janus, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[1265] The Luperci were the priests of Pan, who, at the celebration of their games, called Lupercalia, were in the habit of running about the streets of Rome, with no other covering than a goat’s skin tied about the loins.—B.

[1266] “Pænula.” See B. viii. c. 73.

[1267] We are informed by Cicero, De Off. B. iii. c. 30, and by Valerius Maximus, B. ii. c. 7, that Marcinus made a treaty with the Numantines, which the senate refused to ratify, and that he was, in consequence, surrendered to the enemy. We may suppose that he regarded the transaction as redounding more to the discredit of the senate than of himself.—B.

[1268] See end of B. xviii.

[1269] In the First Region of the City, near the Capenian Gate.

[1270] “Celetes;” this appellation is derived from the Greek word κέλης, “swift,” and was applied to those who rode on horseback, in opposition to the charioteers—B.

[1271] Poinsinet remarks that Pliny has forgotten the gilded chariot, with six horses, which Cneius Cornelius dedicated in the Capitol, two hundred years before Augustus; he also refers to an ancient inscription in Gruter, which mentions chariots of this description.—B.

[1272] Mænius was consul with Furius Camillus, A.U.C. 416; we have an account of his victories over the Latins and other neighbouring nations in Livy, B. viii. c. 14.—B.

[1273] We have an account of this transaction in Livy, B. viii. c. 14. This trophy is also mentioned by Florus, B. i. c. 11. The “Suggestus” was an elevated place, formed for various purposes, the stage from which the orators addressed the people, the place from which the general addressed his soldiers, and the seat occupied by the emperor at the public games.—B.

[1274] Florus, B. ii. c. 2, gives an account of the arrangements and equipment of the Carthaginian fleet, the victory of Duillius, and the rostral monument erected in its commemoration.—B.

[1275] See B. xviii. c. 4.

[1276] “Unciariâ stipe;” the uncia was the twelfth part of the “as,” and the word stips was regarded as equivalent to as, as being the usual pay of the soldiers.—B. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[1277] See B. xv. c. 20.

[1278] This circumstance is mentioned by Cicero in his Defence of Milo, § 90-1.—B.

[1279] We have some account of Hermodorus in Cicero’s Tusc. Quæs. B. v. c. 36.—B.

[1280] See B. x. c. 2, B. xviii. c. 3, and B. xxxiii. c. 7.

[1281] Livy, B. ii. c. 10, and Valerius Maximus, B. iii. c. 2, give an account of this event. A. Gellius incidentally mentions the statue, and its position in the Comitium, B. iv. c. 5.—B.

[1282] We are informed by Dion Cassius, that there were eight statues in the Capitol, seven of which were of the kings, and the eighth of Brutus, who overthrew the kingly government; at a later period the statue of Cæsar was placed by the side of that of Brutus.—B.

[1283] Suetonius, speaking of this temple, remarks, that though dedicated to the brothers Castor and Pollux, it was, only known as the Temple of Castor.—B.

[1284] We have an account of the victory of Tremulus over the Hernici, and of the statue erected in honour of him, in Livy, B. ix. c. 43.—B.

[1285] This event is referred to by Cicero, Philipp. ix., 5.—B.

[1286] Florus, B. ii. c. 5, gives an account of the murder of P. Junius and T. Coruncanius.—B.

[1287] In the Bamberg MS. the reading is “unum se. verbum.” Gronovius is probably right in his conjecture that the word is “senatus consulti.”

[1288] By one Leptines, at Laodicea.

[1289] “Oculatissimo.” The place where there was “the most extended eyeshot.” It is to this singular expression, probably, that Pliny alludes.

[1290] “Quod campum Tiberinum gratificata esset ea populo.”

[1291] A.U.C. 441.

[1292] See B. vii. c. 31.

[1293] His life has been written by Diogenes Laertius, and he is mentioned by Cicero, de Fin. B. v. c. 19, and by Strabo.—B.

[1294] In B. xxxiii. c. 46.

[1295] We have an account of the exploit of Clælia in Livy, B. ii. c. 13, and in Valerius Maximus, B. iii. c. 2: there is a reference to this statue in Seneca, de Consol. c. 16.—B.

[1296] To King Porsena.

[1297] See end of B. xvi.

[1298] Plutarch says that it was uncertain whether the statue was erected to Clælia or to Valeria.—B.

[1299] A.U.C. 596.—B.

[1300] See Chapter 9.

[1301] “In Octaviæ operibus.” These were certain public buildings, erected in Rome by Augustus, and named by him after his sister Octavia; they are mentioned by Suetonius.—B.

[1302] Valerius Maximus refers to this event, but he names the individual Statius Servilius, B. i. c. 8, § 6.—B.

[1303] See B. xxxiii. cc. 50, 54.

[1304] We have an account of the attack by Hannibal on Rome in the twenty-sixth Book of Livy, but we have no mention of the particular circumstance here referred to.—B.

[1305] “Forum Boarium.” See Chapter 5.

[1306] Livy, B. i. c. 19, informs us, that Numa made Janus of a form to denote both peace and war.—B.

[1307] The mode in which the fingers were placed, so as to serve the purpose here indicated, is supposed to have been by their forming the letters which were the Roman numerals for the figures in question. We are informed that some MSS. of Pliny give the number three hundred and fifty-five only, and there is reason to believe that, in the time of Numa, this was considered to be the actual number of days in the year. Some of the commentators, however, are disposed to read three hundred and sixty-five; and this opinion derives some support from Macrobius, who refers to this statue as indicating this latter number with its fingers.—B. The Bamberg MS. gives three hundred and sixty-five.

[1308] See end of B. iii.

[1309] “Misoromæus”—“Roman-hater.” See end of B. iii.

[1310] Pliny himself informs us, in B. xxxv. c. 45, that the statue of Jupiter in the Capitol, erected by Tarquinius Priscus, was formed of earth.—B.

[1311] The art of moulding or modelling in argillaceous earth; see B. xxxv. cc. 43, 45.

[1312] See B. xxxvi. c. 2, where he informs us that this theatre was hardly one month in use.—B.

[1313] Hardouin gives several quotations illustrative of his liberality in bestowing ornaments in the City, and his inattention to his domestic concerns.—B.

[1314] The brothers Lucius and Marcus, the former of whom triumphed in the Mithridatic, the latter in the Macedonian War.—B.

[1315] See end of B. ii.

[1316] See B. vii. c. 38.

[1317] The absolute number of statues assigned to Lysippus differs considerably in the different editions, as is the case in almost every instance where figures are concerned. Pliny gives a further account of his works in the next two Chapters and in the following Book.—B.

[1318] “Aureum.” See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and B. xxxvii. c. 3.

[1319] In their attack upon Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian; A.U.C. 822.

[1320] See B. iv. c. 27.

[1321] It was a statue of Jupiter.

[1322] Better known by the name of Q. Fabius Maximus; he acquired the soubriquet of Verrucosus from a large wart on the upper lip.—B.

[1323] The Colossus of Rhodes was begun by Chares, but he committed suicide, in consequence of having made some mistake in the estimate; the work was completed by Laches, also an inhabitant of Lindos.—B.

[1324] It remained on the spot where it was thrown down for nearly nine hundred years, until the year 653 A.D., when Moavia, khalif of the Saracens, after the capture of Rhodes, sold the materials; it is said that it required nine hundred camels to remove the remains.—B.

[1325] Demetrius Poliorcetes. See B. xxxv. c. 36.

[1326] He is mentioned by Columella, in his Introduction to his work De Re Rusticâ, in connexion with the most celebrated Grecian artists.—B.

[1327] Suetonius, in describing the temple which Augustus dedicated to Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, speaks of the Portico with the Latin and Greek library.—B.

[1328] This victory took place A.U.C. 461; we have an account of it in Livy, the concluding Chapter of the Tenth Book.—B.

[1329] This was a statue of Jupiter, placed on the Alban Mount, twelve miles from Rome. At this place the various states of Latium exercised their religious rites in conjunction with the Romans; it was sometimes called Latialis.—B. See B. iii. c. 9, and Notes; Vol. I. p. 205.

[1330] The designer of the Colossus at Rhodes.

[1331] Decius is said by Hardouin to have been a statuary, but nothing is known respecting him or his works.—B. He probably lived about the time of the Consul P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, A.U.C. 697.

[1332] His country is unknown.

[1333] See B. iv. c. 33.

[1334] St. Jerome informs us, that Vespasian removed the head of Nero, and substituted that of the Sun with seven rays. Martial refers to it in the Second Epigram De Spectaculis, and also B. i. Ep. 71.—B.

[1335] “Parvis admodum surculis.” There is, it appears, some difficulty in determining the application of the word surculis to the subject in question, and we have no explanation of it by any of the commentators. Can it refer to the frame of wicker work which contained the model into which the melted metal was poured?—B.

[1336] This observation has been supposed to imply, that Zenodotus cast his statues in a number of separate pieces, which were afterwards connected together, and not, as was the case with the great Grecian artists, in one entire piece.—B.

[1337] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1338] The term signum, which is applied to the Corinthian figures, may mean a medallion, or perhaps a seal-ring or brooch; we only know that it must have been something small, which might be carried about the person, or, at least, easily moved from place to place.—B. Statuette, probably.

[1339] Her riddle, and its solution by Œdipus, are too well known to need repetition here.

[1340] In the following Chapter.

[1341] Consul A.U.C. 787.

[1342] The “Avenger.” In the Forum of Augustus, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[1343] “Regia.” The palace of Minerva, also in the Forum of Augustus.—B.

[1344] See B. vii. c. 39, B. xxxv. c. 34, and B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[1345] We have an account of this statue, and of the temple in which it was placed, by Pausanias, B. v. There is no work of Phidias now in existence; the sculptures in the Parthenon were, however, executed by his pupils and under his immediate directions, so that we may form some judgment of his genius and taste.—B. There is a foot in the British Museum, said to be the work of Phidias.

[1346] An Athenian; see B. xxxvi. c. 5. He is spoken of in high terms by Pausanias and Valerius Maximus.

[1347] Tutor of Ptolichus of Corcyra, and highly distinguished for his statues of the slayers of the tyrants at Athens. He is mentioned also by Lucian and Pausanias.

[1348] The reading is uncertain here, the old editions giving “Nestocles.” We shall only devote a Note to such artists as are mentioned by other authors besides Pliny.

[1349] An Athenian; mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1350] There were probably two artists of this name; one an Argive, tutor of Phidias, and the other a Sicyonian, the person here referred to.

[1351] A native of Ægina, mentioned by Pausanias. There is also a statuary of Elis of the same name, mentioned by Pausanias, and to whom Thiersch is of opinion reference is here made.

[1352] See Chapter 5 of this Book.

[1353] An Argive, mentioned by Pausanias.

[1354] See Chapter 5 of this Book.

[1355] Again mentioned by Pliny, as a native of Rhegium in Italy.

[1356] A native of Paros, mentioned also by Pausanias and Strabo.

[1357] Probably “Perillus,” the artist who made the brazen bull for Phalaris, the tyrant of Agrigentum. The old reading is “Parelius.”

[1358] This and the following word probably mean one person—“Asopodorus the Argive.”

[1359] Perhaps the same person that is mentioned by Pausanias, B. vi. c. 20, as having improved the form of the starting-place at the Olympic Games.

[1360] Mentioned by Pausanias as an Arcadian, and son of Clitor.

[1361] A native of Clitorium in Arcadia, and mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1362] He is said by Pausanias and Athenæus to have been the son, also, of Myron.

[1363] Son of Motho, and a native of Argos. He was brother and instructor of the younger Polycletus, of Argos. He is mentioned also by Pausanias and Tatian.

[1364] He is once mentioned by Pausanias, and there is still extant the basis of one of his works, with his name inscribed.

[1365] It is supposed that there were two artists of this name, both natives of Sicyon, the one grandson of the other. They are both named by Pausanias.

[1366] Probably a Sicyonian; he is mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1367] As Pliny mentions two artists of this name, it is impossible to say to which of them Pausanias refers as being an Athenian, in B. vi. c. 4.

[1368] The elder artist of this name. He was an Athenian, and his sister was the wife of Phocion. He is also mentioned by Plutarch and Pausanias.

[1369] An Athenian; he is mentioned also by Vitruvius, Pausanias, and Tatian. Winckelmann mentions an inscription relative to him, which, however, appears to be spurious.

[1370] He is mentioned also by Pausanias, and is supposed by Sillig to have been a Theban.

[1371] Praxiteles held a high rank among the ancient sculptors, and may be considered as second to Phidias alone; he is frequently mentioned by Pausanias and various other classical writers. Pliny gives a further account of the works of Praxiteles in the two following Books.—B.

[1372] He was also an eminent painter, and is also mentioned by Quintilian, Dio Chrysostom, and Plutarch.

[1373] Another reading is “Echion.”

[1374] See B. xxxv. cc. 32, 36.

[1375] This great artist, a native of Sicyon, has been already mentioned in B. vii. c. 39, and in the two preceding Chapters of the present Book; he is again mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 39.—B. See note 1344 above.

[1376] Also a native of Sicyon. He is mentioned by Tatian.

[1377] Mentioned also by Pausanias, Plutarch, Strabo, and Appian. The next two names in former editions stand as one, “Euphronides.”

[1378] Supposed to have been an architect, and builder of the Pharos near Alexandria: see B. xxxvi. c. 18. The same person is mentioned also by Strabo, Lucian, and Suidas.

[1379] An Athenian. He is mentioned also by Pausanias, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, and Tatian.

[1380] See B. xxxv. c. 36.

[1381] A Sicyonian, pupil of Lysippus. He is also mentioned by Pausanias; see also B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[1382] Son and pupil of Lysippus. He is mentioned also by Tatian, and by some writers as the instructor of Xenocrates.

[1383] Sillig thinks that this is a mistake made by Pliny for “Daïppus,” a statuary mentioned by Pausanias.

[1384] Son of Praxiteles, and mentioned by Tatian in conjunction with Euthycrates. The elder Cephisodotus has been already mentioned. See Note 1368.

[1385] Another son of Praxiteles. He is also alluded to by Pausanias, though not by name.

[1386] His country is uncertain, but he was preceptor of Mygdon of Soli. See B. xxxv. c. 40.

[1387] Mentioned also by Tatian; his country is unknown.

[1388] It is doubtful whether Pausanias alludes, in B. vi. c. 4, to this artist, or to the one of the same name mentioned under Olymp. 102. See Note 1367.

[1389] Sillig suggests that this word is an adjective, denoting the country of Polycles, in order to distinguish him from the elder Polycles.

[1390] We learn from Pausanias that he worked in conjunction with Timarchides. The other artists here mentioned are quite unknown.

[1391] Sillig, in his “Dictionary of Ancient Artists,” observes that “this passage contains many foolish statements.” Also that there is “an obvious intermixture in it of truth and falsehood.”

[1392] This is universally admitted to have been one of the most splendid works of art. It is celebrated by various writers; Pausanias speaks of it in B. i. See also B. xxxvi. c. 4.—B.

[1393] As being made for the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.

[1394] Probably “Callimorphos,” or “Calliste.” We learn from Pausanias that it was placed in the Citadel of Athens. Lucian prefers it to every other work of Phidias.

[1395] A figure of a female “holding keys.” The key was one of the attributes of Proserpina, as also of Janus; but the latter was an Italian divinity.

[1396] “Ædem Fortunæ hujusce diei.” This reading, about which there has been some doubt, is supported by an ancient inscription in Orellius.

[1397] “Artem toreuticen.” See Note at the end of B. xxxiii.

[1398] Pliny has here confounded two artists of the same name; the Polycletus who was the successor of Phidias, and was not much inferior to him in merit, and Polycletus of Argos, who lived 160 years later, and who also executed many capital works, some of which are here mentioned. It appears that Cicero, Vitruvius, Strabo, Quintilian, Plutarch, and Lucian have also confounded these two artists; but Pausanias, who is very correct in the account which he gives us of all subjects connected with works of art, was aware of the distinction; and it is from his observations that we have been enabled to correct the error into which so many eminent writers had fallen.—B.

[1399] Derived from the head-dress of the statue, which had the “head ornamented with a fillet.” Lucian mentions it.

[1400] The “Spear-bearer.”

[1401] “Canon.” This no doubt was the same statue as the Doryphoros. See Cicero, Brut. 86, 296.

[1402] Or “strigil.” Visconti says that this was a statue of Tydeus purifying himself from the murder of his brother. It is represented on gems still in existence.

[1403] “Talo incessentem.” “Gesner (Chrestom. Plin.) has strangely explained these words as intimating a person in the act of kicking another. He seems to confound the words talus and calx.”—Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1404] “The players at dice.” This is the subject of a painting found at Herculaneum.—B.

[1405] The “Leader.” A name given also to Mercury, in Pausanias, B. viii. c. 31. See Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1406] “Carried about.” It has been supposed by some commentators, that Artemon acquired this surname from his being carried about in a litter, in consequence of his lameness; a very different derivation has been assigned by others to the word, on the authority of Anacreon, as quoted by Heraclides Ponticus, that it was applied to Artemon in consequence of his excessively luxurious and effeminate habits of life.—B. It was evidently a recumbent figure. Ajasson compares this voluptuous person to “le gentleman Anglais aux Indes”—“The English Gentleman in India!”

[1407] See Note 1397 above.

[1408] “Quadrata.” Brotero quotes a passage from Celsus, B. ii c. 1, which serves to explain the use of this term as applied to the form of a statue; “Corpus autem habilissimum quadratum est, neque gracile, neque obesum.”—B. “The body best adapted for activity is square-built, and neither slender nor obese.”

[1409] “Ad unum exemplum.” Having a sort of family likeness, similarly to our pictures by Francia the Goldsmith, and Angelica Kaufmann.

[1410] Myron was born at Eleutheræ, in Bœotia; but having been presented by the Athenians with the freedom of their city, he afterwards resided there, and was always designated an Athenian.—B.

[1411] This figure is referred to by Ovid, De Ponto, B. iv. Ep. 1, l. 34, as also by a host of Epigrammatic writers in the Greek Anthology.

[1412] See the Greek Anthology, B. vi. Ep. 2.

[1413] “Player with the Discus.” It is mentioned by Quintilian and Lucian. There is a copy of it in marble in the British Museum, and one in the Palazzo Massimi at Home. The Heifer of Myron is mentioned by Procopius, as being at Rome in the sixth century. No copy of it is known to exist.

[1414] Seen by Pausanias in the Acropolis at Athens.

[1415] Or “Sawyers.”

[1416] In reference to the story of the Satyr Marsyas and Minerva, told by Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. l. 697, et seq.

[1417] Persons engaged in the five contests of quoiting, running, leaping, wrestling, and hurling the javelin.

[1418] Competitors in boxing and wrestling.

[1419] Mentioned by Cicero In Verrem, Or. 4. This Circus was in the Eleventh Region of the city.

[1420] See the Anthology, B. iii. Ep. 14, where an epigram on this subject is ascribed to Anytes or Leonides; but the Myro mentioned is a female. See Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1421] She was a poetess of Teios or Lesbos, and a contemporary of Sappho.

[1422] “Multiplicasse veritatem.” Sillig has commented at some length on this passage, Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1423] See Note 1418 above.

[1424] There is a painter of this name mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 43. The reading is extremely doubtful.

[1425] Mentioned by Plato, De Legibus, B. viii. and by Pausanias, B. vi. c. 13. He was thrice victorious at the Olympic Games.

[1426] Python.

[1427] From the Greek word Δικαιὸς, “just,” or “trustworthy.”—B.

[1428] Diogenes Laertius mentions a Pythagoras, a statuary, in his life of his celebrated namesake, the founder of the great school of philosophy.—B. Pausanias, B. ix. c. 33, speaks of a Parian statuary of this name.

[1429] See Note 1395 above.

[1430] See end of B. vii.

[1431] Cicero remarks, Brut. 86, 296, “that Lysippus used to say that the Doryphoros of Polycletus was his master,” implying that he considered himself indebted for his skill to having studied the above-mentioned work of Polycletus.—B.

[1432] In Chapter 17 of this Book.—B.

[1433] The same subject, which, as mentioned above, had been treated by Polycletus.—B.

[1434] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1435] Ἀποξυόμενος, the Greek name of the statue, signifying one “scraping himself.”

[1436] The head encircled with rays.

[1437] The lines of Horace are well known, in which he says, that Alexander would allow his portrait to be painted by no one except Apelles, nor his statue to be made by any one except Lysippus, Epist. B. ii. Ep. 1, l. 237.—B.

[1438] This expression would seem to indicate that the gold was attached to the bronze by some mechanical process, and not that the statue was covered with thin leaves of the metal.—B.

[1439] This story is adopted by Apuleius, in the “Florida,” B. i., who says that Polycletus was the only artist who made a statue of Alexander.

[1440] A large group of equestrian statues, representing those of Alexander’s body-guard, who had fallen at the battle of the Granicus.

[1441] A.U.C. 606.

[1442] See the Greek Anthology, B. iv. Ep. 14, where this subject is treated of in the epigram upon his statue of Opportunity, represented with the forelock.

[1443] Which is a word of Greek origin, somewhat similar to our word “proportion.”

[1444] At Lebadæa in Bœotia.

[1445] Hardouin seems to think that “fiscina” here means a “muzzle.” The Epigram in the Greek Anthology, B. iv. c. 7, attributed to King Philip, is supposed by Hardouin to bear reference to this figure.

[1446] The circumstance here referred to is related by Q. Curtius, B. ix. c. 5, as having occurred at the siege of the city of the Oxydracæ; according to other historians, however, it is said to have taken place at a city of the Malli.—B.

[1447] See Note 1417, above.

[1448] Κατάγουσα; a figure of Ceres, probably, “leading back” Proserpine from the domains of Pluto. Sillig, however, dissents from this interpretation; Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1449] Or Bacchus.

[1450] See Pausanias, B. i. c. 20. Sillig says, “Pliny seems to have confounded two Satyrs made by Praxiteles, for that here named stood alone in the ‘Via Tripodum’ at Athens, and was quite different from the one which was associated with the figure of Intoxication, and that of Bacchus.”—Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1451] “Much-famed.” Visconti is of opinion that the Reposing Satyr, formerly in the Napoleon Museum at Paris, was a copy of this statue. Winckelmann is also of the same opinion.

[1452] In the Second Region of the city. According to Cicero, in Verrem. vi., they were brought from Achaia by L. Mummius, who took them from Thespiæ, A.U.C. 608.

[1453] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[1454] A woman plaiting garlands.

[1455] A soubriquet for an old hag, it is thought.

[1456] A female carrying wine.

[1457] According to Valerius Maximus, B. ii. s. 10, these statues were restored, not by Alexander, but by his successor Seleucus.—B. Sillig makes the following remark upon this passage—“Pliny here strangely confounds the statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton, made by Praxiteles, with other figures of those heroes of a much more ancient date, made by Antenor.”

[1458] From σαυρὸς a “lizard,” and κτείνω, “to kill.” This statue is described by Martial, B. xiv. Ep. 172, entitled “Sauroctonos Corinthius.”—B. Many fine copies of it are still in existence, and Winckelmann is of opinion that the bronze at the Villa Albani is the original. There are others at the Villa Borghese and in the Vatican.

[1459] In her worthless favours, probably. Praxiteles was a great admirer of Phryne, and inscribed on the base of this statue an Epigram of Simonides, preserved in the Greek Anthology, B. iv. Ep. 12. She was also said to have been the model of his Cnidian Venus.

[1460] This artist is mentioned also by Cicero, Pausanias, Propertius, and Ovid, the two latter especially remarking the excellence of his horses.—B. See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1461] The mother of Hercules.—B.

[1462] See B. xxxvi. c. 4. Having now given an account of the artists most distinguished for their genius, Pliny proceeds to make some remarks upon those who were less famous, in alphabetical order.—B.

[1463] The “highly approved.”

[1464] Or “Lioness.” See B. vii. c. 23.

[1465] The reading is doubtful here. “Iphicrates” and “Tisicrates” are other readings.

[1466] The same story is related by Athenæus, B. xiii., and by Pausanias.—B.

[1467] Pisistratus and his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus.

[1468] A lioness.

[1469] She having bitten off her tongue, that she might not confess.

[1470] Hardouin has offered a plausible conjecture, that for the word “Seleucum,” we should read “Salutem,” as implying that the two statues executed by Bryaxis were those of Æsculapius and the Goddess of Health.—B.

[1471] Already mentioned as a son of Lysippus.

[1472] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1473] This reading appears preferable to “Cresilas,” though the latter is supported by the Bamberg MS.

[1474] Ajasson quotes here the beautiful words of Virgil—“Et dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos”—“Remembers his lov’d Argos, as he dies.”

[1475] Dalechamps supposes that Pericles was here represented in the act of addressing the people; Hardouin conceives that this statue received its title from the thunder of his eloquence in debate, or else from the mighty power which he wielded both in peace and war, or some of the other reasons which Plutarch mentions in the Life of Pericles.—B.

[1476] It is doubtful to which of the artists of this name he alludes, the elder or the younger Cephisodotus, the son of Praxiteles. Sillig inclines to think the former—Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1477] The “Deliverer.”

[1478] The elder Canachus, probably.

[1479] The “Lovely.” Brotero says that this is believed to be the Florentine Apollo of the present day. It stood in the Temple at Didymi, near Miletus, until the return of Xerxes from his expedition against Greece, when it was removed to Ecbatana, but was afterwards restored by Seleucus Nicator.

[1480] See B. v. c. 31.

[1481] “Alterno morsu calce digitisque retinentibus solum, ita vertebrato dente utrisque in partibus ut a repulsu per vices resiliat.” He seems to mean that the statue is so made as to be capable of standing either on the right fore foot and the left hind foot, or on the left fore foot and the right hind foot, the conformation of the under part of the foot being such as to fit into the base.

[1482] The following are the words of the original: “Ita vertebrato dente utrisque in partibus.” I confess myself unable to comprehend them, nor do I think that they are satisfactorily explained by Hardouin’s comment.—B.

[1483] The “Riders on horseback.”

[1484] It is supposed by Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists, that this is the same person as the Cresilas, Ctesilas, or Ctesilaüs, before mentioned in this Chapter, and that Pliny himself has committed a mistake in the name.

[1485] A figure of a man “brandishing a spear.” See Note 1400 above.

[1486] He is mentioned by Quintilian as being more attentive to exactness than to beauty; also by Diogenes Laertius, B. v. c. 85. Sillig supposes that he flourished in the time of Pericles. Pausanias, B. i., speaks of his Lysimache.

[1487] The Athenians in their flattery, as we learn from Seneca, expressed a wish to affiance their Minerva Musica to Marc Antony. His reply was, that he would be happy to take her, but with one thousand talents by way of portion.

[1488] He is mentioned by Xenophon, according to whom, he dedicated the brazen statue of a horse in the Eleusinium at Athens. He was probably an Athenian by birth.

[1489] Son of Patroclus, who is previously mentioned as having lived in the 95th Olympiad. He was a native of Sicyon, and flourished about B.C. 400. Several works of his are also mentioned by Pausanias.

[1490] Or “strigil.” See Note 1435 above.

[1491] The first Grecian slain at Troy.

[1492] Famous also as a painter. See B. xxxv. c. 40.—B. Paris, the son of Priam, was known by both of these names.

[1493] Q. Lutatius Catulus.

[1494] “Bonus Eventus;” Varro, de Re Rustica, B. i. c. 1, applies this term to one of the deities that preside over the labours of the agriculturist. His temple was situate near the Baths of Agrippa.—B.

[1495] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1496] See Note 1395, page 171.

[1497] Pausanias, B. vi., speaks of a statue of Ancient Greece, but the name of the artist is not mentioned.—B.

[1498] See B. iv. c, 8.

[1499] Brotero informs us, from Ficoroni, that there is a gem still in existence on which this design of Eutychides is engraved.—B.

[1500] Thiersch considers him to be identical with the elder Hegesias. He is mentioned also by Pausanias, B. viii. c. 42.

[1501] See Note 1483, above.

[1502] Dedicated by Augustus on the Capitoline Hill, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[1503] Sillig distinguishes three artists of this name.

[1504] See B. v. c. 40, and B. vii. c. 2.

[1505] The “Sacrificers of the ox.”

[1506] The son also.

[1507] Martial expresses the same idea in his Epigram, B. i. Ep. 7; but he does not refer to this statue.—B. Two copies of this Ganymede are still in existence at Rome.

[1508] Pausanias informs us, B. i. and B. ix., that he saw this statue in the Prytanæum of Athens.—B. Autolycus obtained this victory about the 89th or 90th Olympiad.

[1509] It was in honour of a victory gained by him in the pentathlon at the Great Panathenæa, that Callias gave the Symposium described by Xenophon.

[1510] Martial, B. ix. Ep. 51, where he is pointing at the analogy between his poems and 95the works of the most eminent sculptors, probably refers to this statue:—

“Nos facimus Bruti puerum, nos Lagona vivum.”—B.

The reading “Lagonem,” or “Langonem,” certainly seems superior to that of the Bamberg MS.—“Mangonem,” a “huckster.”

[1511] For some further mention of him, see end of B. iv.

[1512] Delafosse has pointed out the resemblance between this statue and one of the works of Michael Angelo, representing David kneeling on Goliath, and pressing back the giant’s neck.—B.

[1513] A native of Argos, who flourished in the 95th Olympiad. He was the son of Motho, and brother and instructor of the younger Polycletus of Argos. Several of his statues are mentioned by Pausanias and Tatian.

[1514] Ajasson thinks that three statues in the Royal Museum at Paris may possibly be copies of this Discobolus of Naucydes.

[1515] The Goddess of Health, and daughter of Æsculapius. Niceratus was a native of Athens, and is also mentioned by Tatian.

[1516] A “Female sacrificing.” The reading is very doubtful.

[1517] The “Man cooking entrails.” For some further account of this statue, see B. xxii. c. 20. This artist is unknown, but Thiersch suggests that he may have been the father of Cleomenes, whose name appears on the base of the Venus de Medicis.

[1518] The master of the Gymnasium.

[1519] He is twice mentioned by Pausanias: more particularly for the excellence of his horses and oxen. His country is unknown.

[1520] “The beautiful-legged.” This statue has been mentioned at the end of Chapter 18, as having been greatly admired by Nero.

[1521] This, it is supposed, is the statue to which Martial alludes in his Epigram, mentioned in Note 1510 above.—B.

[1522] There were two artists of this name, both natives of Samos. The present is the elder Theodorus, and is mentioned by Pausanias as having been the first to fuse iron for statues. He is spoken of by numerous ancient authors, and by Pliny in B. vii. c. 57, B. xxxv. c. 45, and B. xxxvi. c. 19, where he is erroneously mentioned as a Lemnian.

[1523] At Crete: Athenagoras mentions him in conjunction with Dædalus.

[1524] See B. vii. c. 21. Hardouin thinks that this bears reference to the conquest of the younger Marius by Sylla, mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 5. Müller and Meyer treat this story of the brazen statue as a fiction.

[1525] Probably the same author that is mentioned at the end of B. xxxiii. See also B. xxxv. c. 36.

[1526] The Galli here spoken of were a tribe of the Celts, who invaded Asia Minor, and afterwards uniting with the Greeks, settled in a portion of Bithynia, which hence acquired the name of Gallo-Græcia or Galatia.—B.

[1527] See end of B. xxxiii. Attalus I., king of Pergamus, conquered the Galli, B.C. 239. Pyromachus has been mentioned a few lines before, and Stratonicus, in B. xxxiii. c. 55, also by Athenæus.

[1528] A native of Carthage. A work of his is mentioned by Cicero, in Verrem 4, 14, and in the Culex, l. 66, attributed to Virgil. See also B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1529] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1530] We are informed by Pausanias, B. x., that Nero carried off from Greece 500 bronze statues of gods and men.—B.

[1531] See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[1532] See B. xxxv. c. 55.

[1533] Mentioned by Pausanias, B. vi. Many of these artists are altogether unknown.

[1534] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1535] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1536] See B. xxxiii. c. 56, and B. xxxv. c. 35.

[1537] Probably the same artist that has been mentioned in the preceding page.

[1538] The artist already mentioned as having been represented by Silanion.

[1539] Pausanias, B. iii., speaks of his statue of Cynisca, a female who was victor at the Olympic games. Indeed, the victors at these games were frequently represented in a posture resembling that of adoration.

[1540] A man “scraping himself,” probably. See Note 1435, page 175. The “Tyrannicides” were Harmodius and Aristogiton.

[1541] Tatian mentions an artist of this name.

[1542] Sillig thinks that this was Seleucus, king of Babylon, B.C. 312.

[1543] See Note 1485 above.

[1544] Pausanias, B. viii., gives an account of a statue of Diana, made of Pentelican marble, by this Cephisodotus, a native of Athens; he is supposed to have flourished in the 102nd Olympiad. In the commencement of this Chapter, Pliny has enumerated a Cephisodotus among the artists of the 120th Olympiad.—B.

[1545] Bacchus.

[1546] The elder artist of this name. See B. xxxv. c. 34.

[1547] A native of Sicyon; Pausanias, B. v. cc. 17, 21, informs us that Cleon made a statue of Venus and two statues of Jupiter; he also mentions others of his works in B. vi.—B.

[1548] A native of Megara. He made a statue of Diagoras the pugilist, who was victor at the Olympic games, B.C. 464. He is mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1549] Probably the same with the “Laïppus” mentioned in the early part of this Chapter. Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists, considers “Daïppus” to be the right name.

[1550] See Note 1540 above.

[1551] A native of Sicyon, and pupil of Pison, according to Pausanias, B. vi. c. 3. He flourished about the 100th Olympiad.

[1552] Works of his at Athens are mentioned by Pausanias, B. i. c. 2, who also states that he was father of Euchir, the Athenian.

[1553] A statuary of Syracuse, son of Niceratus. He made two statues of Hiero II., king of Syracuse, who died B.C. 215. He must not be confounded with the painter and statuary of the same name, mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 56, and B. xxxv. c. 35. He is mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1554] An Athenian, son of Euctemon. He is mentioned also by Tatian, and is supposed by Sillig to have flourished about B.C. 420.

[1555] Called Dinomache by Plutarch.

[1556] Already mentioned as a successful pupil of Lysippus.

[1557] He was probably a native of Agrigentum, and flourished about B.C. 560. The brazen bull of Perillus, and his unhappy fate, are recorded by many of the classical writers, among others by Valerius Maximus, B. ix. cc. 2, 9, and by Ovid, Art. Am. B. i. ll. 653-4.—B.

[1558] See B. vii. c. 57.

[1559] Mentioned at the commencement of this Chapter.

[1560] A statuary of Ægina, mentioned also by Pausanias, B. v. c. 27, in connexion with Dionysius of Argos. He flourished about Olymp. 76.

[1561] Already mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 55, and previously in this Chapter.

[1562] “Scopas uterque.” Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists, expresses an opinion that these words are an interpolation; but in his last edition of Pliny, he thinks with M. Ian, that some words are wanting, expressive of the branch in which these artists excelled. See also B. xxxvi. cc. 5, 14.

[1563] He is previously mentioned in this Chapter. See p. 179.

[1564] An Athenian artist, son of Eubulides. He is also mentioned by Pausanias.

[1565] A Lacedæmonian artist, also mentioned by Pausanias.

[1566] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[1567] Mentioned also by Pausanias, B. i. c. 3.

[1568] Probably not the Athenian statuary mentioned by Pausanias, B. ix. c. 7. See Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.

[1569] A native of Phocis, mentioned also by Vitruvius.

[1570] Also a Dithyrambic poet; mentioned by Diodorus Siculus.

[1571] In B. xxxv. c. 36.

[1572] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1573] Mentioned by Tatian as having made the statue of Eutychis. See Pliny, B. vii. c. 3.

[1574] He executed a statue of Hephæstion; and an inscription relative to him is preserved by Wheler, Spon, and Chishull.

[1575] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[1576] A native of Sardis; mentioned by Pausanias.

[1577] An Athenian, mentioned also by Pausanias.

[1578] Strabo mentions some of his productions in the Temple at Ephesus.

[1579] “Fritterer away of his works.” He was also an engraver on gold, and a painter. He is spoken of in high terms by Vitruvius, Pausanias, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

[1580] We have an account of Cato’s honourable conduct on this occasion in Plutarch.—B. See also B. xxix. c. 30.

[1581] “Inane exemplum.” Hardouin thinks that this is said in reference to his neglect of the example set by his grandfather, Cato the Censor, who hated the Greeks. See B. vii. c. 31.

[1582] In the poisoned garment, which was the eventual cause of his death.—B.

[1583] The general who conducted the war against Mithridates.—B.

[1584] See B. xxxiii. c. 46. “Chaplet” copper.

[1585] “Bar” copper, or “malleable.”

[1586] It is very improbable that this effect could be produced by the cause here assigned; but without a more detailed account of the process employed, we cannot explain the change of colour.—B.

[1587] Πυρωπὸς, “sparkling like fire.” Similar to, if not identical with, our tinsel.

[1588] “Cast brass.”

[1589] See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. Bohn’s Edition.

[1590] In the former Editions the whole of the next ten lines, from this word down to “sun” is omitted. It is evident that it has been left out by accident, in consequence of the recurrence of the word “Campano.” The hiatus has been supplied from the Bamberg MS., and the reading is supported by the text of Isidorus, Orig. B. xvi. c. 20, s. 9.

[1591] “Collectanei.”

[1592] “Formalis.”

[1593] “Plumbi nigri”—“black lead,” literally, but not what we mean by that name.

[1594] The “Grecian” colour. It does not appear to have been identified, nor does it appear what it has to do with moulds.

[1595] “Pot” copper, or brass.

[1596] Beckmann is of opinion that this “plumbum argentarium” was a mixture of equal parts of tin and lead. Hist. Inv. Vol. II, p. 220. Bohn’s Edition.

[1597] Most of these preparations are in reality highly dangerous. Oxides, however, or salts of copper, have been employed internally with success, acting by alvine evacuation and by vomiting. The Crocus Veneris of the old chemists was an oxide of copper. It is still used by the peasants of Silesia, Ajasson says.

[1598] It is obvious that the “cadmia” here described must be an essentially different substance from the “cadmia” mentioned in the second Chapter of this Book, that being a natural production, possibly calamine or hydrosilicate or carbonate of zinc; while the “cadmia” of this Chapter is a furnace-calamine, a product of the fusion of the ore of copper, or zinc.—B. It is evident, too, that copper ores, impregnated with zinc or calamine, also passed under this name. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 33-35, Bohn’s Edition, where this subject is discussed at considerable length: also the treatise by Delafosse, in Lemaire’s Edition of Pliny.

[1599] The metal known to us as “cadmium” was discovered by Professor Stromeyer in 1818: it is either associated in its ores with zinc, or forms a native sulphuret.

[1600] “Smoky residue.” None of these substances formed in smelting are preserved for medicinal purposes at the present day. Tutty is an impure oxide of zinc.

[1601] “Cluster residue.” From its resemblance to a bunch of grapes.

[1602] “Caked residue.”

[1603] “Shell-formed residue.”

[1604] See B. xiv. c. 16.

[1605] See end of B. iii.

[1606] See end of B. xii.

[1607] We have the same account of the medicinal effects of Cadmia, and the other preparations mentioned in this Chapter, given by Dioscorides.—B.

[1608] For an account of the “alumen” of the ancients, see B. xxxv. c. 52.

[1609] See B. xxxiii. c. 21, and B. xxxvi. c. 13.

[1610] See B. xxxiii. c. 37.

[1611] “Æris flos.” Ajasson makes some correct remarks upon the difference between the “scoria” and the “flower” of the metal. The former may be considered as consisting of the metal, mixed with a certain proportion of heterogeneous matter, which has been separated during the fusion of the ore, while the latter consists of the pure metal in a state of mechanical division.—B.

[1612] From the Greek λεπὶς, “husk,” or “scale.”

[1613] Ajasson describes this substance as consisting merely of the pure metal in a state of minute mechanical division; it would appear, therefore, to be scarcely, if at all, different from the articles described in the last Chapter. The word Στόμωμα means a “hard substance,” or “hard scales,” therefore the application of this term to a substance like down, “lanugo,” is perhaps not very appropriate.—B.

[1614] Beckmann comments at some length on this passage; Vol. I. p. 328. Bohn’s Edition.

[1615] “Seplasiæ.” The druggists dwelling in the Seplasia. See B. xxxiii. c. 58.

[1616] In Chapters 22 and 23, as applied to Cadmia and Cyprian copper, respectively.—B.

[1617] “Ærugo.” The researches of modern chemists have ascertained the composition of verdigris to be a diacetete of copper; the sesquibasic acetate and the triacetate are also to be considered as varieties of this substance; we have an exact analysis of these salts in the “Elements” of the late Dr. Turner, the Sixth Edition, edited by Professor Liebig and Mr. W. Turner, pp. 931, 2. Most of the processes described in this Chapter are mentioned by Dioscorides.—B. See also Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 171, et seq., Bohn’s Edition.

[1618] According to Brotero, this is the process generally adopted in France, in preference to the employment of vinegar in a pure state.—B.

[1619] The form of copper which was termed “coronarium” has been already described in Chapter 22.—B.

[1620] “Atramento sutorio.” “Shoemakers’ black.” See Chapters 27 and 32 of this Book.

[1621] Until it assumes an ashy colour, Dioscorides says.—B.

[1622] See B. xii. cc. 30, 32.

[1623] According to Celsus, this substance obtained its name from the person who invented or compounded it; he calls it “Collyrium of Hierax.”—B.

[1624] “Atramenti sutorii, quod chalcanthum vocant.” We may presume that this substance was somewhat different from the “atramentum sutorium” mentioned in the last Chapter: the word “chalcanthum” means “flower of copper;” χαλκοῦ ἄνθος.—B. Delafosse identities it with blue vitriol, sulphate, or hydro-trisulphate of copper. See Chapter 32.

[1625] See Chapter 31.

[1626] From the Greek σκωλὴξ, “a worm,” “Vermicular Verdigris.”—“The accounts of this substance in ancient authors seem to some commentators to be obscure; but in my opinion we are to understand by them that the ingredients were pounded together till the paste they formed assumed the appearance of pieces or threads like worms. For the same reason the Italians give the name of vermicelli to wire-drawn paste of flour used in cookery.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 173, Bohn’s Edition.

[1627] In B. xxxiii. c. 29.—B.

[1628] The name, no doubt, of a copper ore which has not been identified. Delafosse suggests that it may have been an ore of iron and copper pyrites in combination with a silky copper malachite. See Chapter 2 of this Book, and B. xxxv. c. 52.

[1629] Brongniart is of opinion that the “sory” of Pliny is the sulphate of copper, probably with an excess of acid. He informs us that he has received a specimen of a native sulphate of copper from Cuença, in Spain, which possesses all the characteristics of “sory” as here described. He considers it more difficult to ascertain the chemical composition of “misy,” but is disposed to consider it as a mixed sulphate of iron and copper.—B.

[1630] In the next two Chapters.—B.

[1631] We have a similar account of its medicinal virtues given us by Dioscorides; Celsus also enumerates chalcitis among the corrosives, or cauteries, “quæ exedunt corpus.” He also recommends it for affections of the eyes.—B.

[1632] “Sore ointment.”

[1633] See Note 1629 above.

[1634] See Note 1629 above. Hardouin calls this substance “yellow copperas,” or “Roman vitriol.”

[1635] “In scrobibus.” The mineral alluded to is Chalcitis, mentioned in Chapter 29.—B.

[1636] Χαλκοῦ ἄνθος. “Flower of copper.”—B.

[1637] “Atramentum sutorium.” It was thus called from its being used for colouring leather. Under this name he probably includes green vitriol, or sulphate of the protoxide of iron, and blue vitriol, or sulphate, and hydro-trisulphate of copper, the former of which is, properly, our copperas. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 181, et seq. Bohn’s Edition. See also Note 1624 above.

[1638] In reality, the “chalcanthum” of Dioscorides was the small scales separated from molten copper by the application of water. See Chapters 24 and 25 above.

[1639] Of this kind, probably. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 182.

[1640] From this vitreous appearance of the crystals of vitriol, it is most probable that vitriol derives its name. See Beckmann, Vol. I. p. 184.

[1641] “Drop,” or “globule” chalcanthum.

[1642] Possibly a corruption of “leucoion,” “violet white.”

[1643] He has described the mode of procuring salt, by evaporating the brine in shallow pits, in B. xxxi. c. 39.—B.

[1644] It is difficult to ascertain the exact nature of the substances treated of in this Chapter. Ajasson has some judicious remarks upon them, in which he points out what appear to be inconsistencies in the account given of them, and of their relation to each other.—B. Ajasson says that there is no doubt that a mammose or terreous carbonate of copper is meant under these names. These substances are no longer known, but our tutty, or impure oxide of zinc, bears some resemblance to them.

[1645] See B. xix. c. 4, and Chapters 34 and 52 of this Book.

[1646] A Greek word, signifying “ashes,” or the residuum after combustion.—B.

[1647] From the corresponding passage in Dioscorides, there is some doubt whether the account of this process here given is correct.—B.

[1648] So called from Laurium, a district in Attica, in which there were silver mines. See Pausanias, B. i.—B.

[1649] Meaning “Substitute for spodos.”

[1650] See B. xxiii. cc. 38, 63.

[1651] See B. xxi. c. 26, and B. xvi. c. 20.

[1652] See B. xxi. c. 95.

[1653] See B. xi. c. 94.—B.

[1654] “Detersive composition.”

[1655] From Δὶς φρυγέσθαι.—“being twice calcined.”—B.

[1656] The Scoriæ, Cadmia, and Flos, which are described in Chapters 22, 23 and 24.—B.

[1657] A Roman coin, equal to the third part of the “as.”—B.

[1658] We most fully coincide with Pliny in this sentiment, but we are constrained to differ from him in giving credit to the alleged fact, as he appears to have done.—B.

[1659] See the list of authors at the end of this Book.

[1660] “Arbusta:” trees on which vines were trained. See B. xvii. c. 35.

[1661] Holland has the following Note upon this passage: “O Pliny, what wouldst thou say, if thou didst see and hear the pistols, muskets, culverines, and cannons in these days.” Vol. II. p. 513.—B.

[1662] The charge that death is always the work of Nature.—B.

[1663] Or “stylus.”

[1664] See Ovid, Metam. B. iv. l. 467, et seq.; and Fasti, B. vi. l. 489, et seq.—B.

[1665] An artist mentioned also by Ovid and Pausanias.—B. And by Virgil.

[1666] “Mars Ultor.” In the Forum of Augustus, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[1667] The Isle of Elba, which has been celebrated for the extent and the richness of its iron mines both by the ancients and the moderns.—B. Ajasson remarks that it appears to be a solid rock composed of peroxide of iron.

[1668] “Clavis caligariis.” See B. viii. c. 44, B. ix. c. 33, and B. xxii. c. 46.

[1669] There have been numerous opinions on the meaning of this word, and its signification is very doubtful. Beckmann has the following remarks in reference to this passage:—“In my opinion, this was the name given to pieces of steel completely manufactured and brought to that state which rendered them fit for commerce. At present steel comes from Biscay in cakes, from other places in bars, and both these were formerly called ‘stricturæ,’ because they were employed chiefly for giving sharpness to instruments, or tools, that is, for steeling them. In speaking of other metals, Pliny says that the finished productions at the works were not called ‘stricturæ’ (the case, for example, with copper), though sharpness could be given to instruments with other metals also. The words of Pliny just quoted are read different ways, and still remain obscure. I conjecture that he meant to say, that some steel-works produced things which were entirely of steel, and that others were employed only in steeling—‘ad densandas incudes malleorumve rostra.’ I shall here remark that these ‘stricturæ ferri’ remind us of the ‘striges auri,’ (see B. xxxiii. c. 19), such being the name given to native pieces of gold, which, without being smelted, were used in commerce.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 327. Bohn’s Edition.

[1670] “A stringendâ acie.” The iron was probably formed into thin, long bars, in thickness resembling a steel used for sharpening. The French word acier, meaning “steel,” may possibly come from the Latin “acies”—“edge,” as Beckmann has suggested.

[1671] Situate at the spot now known as “Bambola,” near Calatayud. The river Salo ran near it, the waters of which, as here mentioned, were celebrated for their power of tempering steel. The poet Martial was a native of this place.

[1672] Supposed to be the modern Tarragona.

[1673] See B. iii. c. 21.

[1674] See B. vi. cc. 20-24, B. vii. c. 2, and B. xii. cc. 1, 41. This Seric iron has not been identified. Ctesias, as quoted by Photius, mentions Indian iron. Sec Beckmann, Vol. II. p. 228. Bohn’s Edition.

[1675] Thought by Beckmann, quoting from Bottiger, possibly to bear reference to a transfer trade of furs, through Serica, from the North of Asia. See Vol. II. p. 307. As to the Seric tissues, see B. xxxvii. c. 77.

[1676] Or “Persian.” The steel of Damascus had in the middle ages a high reputation.

[1677] See B. iii. cc. 24, 27. Horace speaks of the “Norican sword” on two occasions.—B.

[1678] See B. iii. cc. 9, 17.

[1679] See B. xviii. c. 67, and B. xxxvi. c. 38.

[1680] B. xxxvi. c. 25.

[1681] Properly “bubbles,” or “beads.”

[1682] See B. xxxvi. c. 66. In the account of the loadstone referred to above, he informs us that this mineral was employed in the formation of glass.—B. Beckmann is of opinion that Manganese is here alluded to. See Vol. II. p. 237.

[1683] Another reading is “Dinochares,” or “Dinocrates,” for an account of whom, see B. v. c. 11, and B. vii. c. 38.

[1684] Wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus. See B. vi. c. 33, and B. xxxvi. c. 14.

[1685] Some accounts state that the statue was to be of brass, and the head of iron. It is said that the same thing was attempted with respect to the statue of Mahomet, in his tomb at Medina.—B.

[1686] We learn from Bowles that the celebrated mine of Sommorostro is still worked for this metal.

[1687] See B. iv. c. 34.—B.

[1688] Both the reading and the meaning of this passage are very doubtful.

[1689] See B. v. c. 21.—B.

[1690] We may presume that Pliny supposed that the ancient links had been protected by some of the substances mentioned above, although this is not distinctly stated.—B. Or rather by some religious ceremony as above alluded to.

[1691] “Nocturnas lymphationes.”—B.

[1692] The actual cautery, as it is termed, is occasionally employed, in certain diseases, by the moderns, but I am not aware that it has been tried in hydrophobia.—B. This precaution is sometimes used by country practitioners, at all events.

[1693] I cannot agree with Delafosse in his remark that “this remedy also is much in use for cœliac and other affections at the present day.”—B. It is still recommended by old women in the country, for children more particularly.

[1694] There are two versions of this story. In B. xxv. c. 19, Pliny says that Achilles cured Telephus by the application of a plant, which from him received its name. According to the other account, the oracle had declared, that the wound of Telephus, which had been inflicted by Achilles, could only be cured by means of the same weapon which had caused it.—B.

[1695] All the statements in this Chapter are to be found in Dioscorides, B. v. c. 93.—B.

[1696] The scaly excrescences beaten from iron in the forges, Hardouin says.—B.

[1697] From the Greek ὕγρον πλαστρὸν.—B.

[1698] See B. xxxv. c. 57.—B.

[1699] It is most probable that the “black lead” of Pliny was our lead, and the “white lead” our tin. Beckmann has considered these Chapters at great length, Vol. II. p. 209, et seq. Bohn’s Edition.

[1700] Supposed to have been derived from the Oriental word Kastîra.

[1701] What is here adduced as a fabulous narrative is not very remote from the truth; the Scilly Isles and Cornwall being the principal sources of the tin now employed in Europe. Small boats, corresponding to the description here given, were very lately still in use among the inhabitants of some parts of the south-west coast of England [and on the Severn]. Pliny has already spoken of these boats in B. vii. c. 57.—B. See also B. iv. c. 30, as to the coracles of the ancient Britons.

[1702] The ores of tin are known to exist in Gallicia; but the mines in that country are very scanty compared to those of Cornwall.—B.

[1703] “Talutium” is mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 21.

[1704] Tin ore is among the heaviest of minerals, though the specific gravity of the metal is small. M. Hæfer is of opinion that these pebbles contained platinum.

[1705] Or tin. The greater fusibility of the tin producing this separation.—B.

[1706] We may conclude that the “plumbum nigrum,” or “black lead” of Pliny is the Galena or sulphuret of lead of the moderns; it is frequently what is termed argentiferous, i.e. united with an ore of silver, and this in such quantity as to cause it to be worked for the purpose of procuring the silver.—B. See Beckmann, Vol. II. p. 210.

[1707] “Instead of oil, workmen use at present ‘colophonium,’ or some other resin.”—Beckmann, Vol. II. p. 223. See also B. xxxiii. c. 20.

[1708] Iliad, xi. 25, and xxiii. 561.—B.

[1709] Ajasson considers this to be Bismuth; but it is more probable that Beckmann is right in his conclusion, supported by Agricola, Entzel, Fallopius, Savot, Bernia, and Jung, that it was a compound metal, the Werk of the German smelting-houses] a metal not much unlike our pewter, probably. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 209, 212, 224. Bohn’s Edition.

[1710] See B. xxxiii. c. 31, and c. 53 of this Book.

[1711] A compound metal, probably, somewhat like pewter. See Note 1709 above. He evidently alludes to the process of “tinning.”

[1712] In B. xxxiii. c. 45: where he says that the best mirrors were formerly made of a mixture of stannum and copper.—B. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 60-62, 72.

[1713] Or tin.

[1714] “Silver mixture.”

[1715] Such a mixture as this would in reality become more valuable than “argentarium,” as the proportion would be two-thirds of tin and one of lead. How then could the workmen merit the title of dishonest? Beckmann suggests that the tinning ought to have been done with pure tin, but that unprincipled artists employed tin mixed with lead. It is most probable, however, that Pliny himself has made a mistake, and that we should read “equal parts of black lead” (our lead); in which case the mixture passed off as “argentarium,” instead of containing equal parts of tin and lead, would contain five-sixths of lead. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 221. Bohn’s Edition.

[1716] All these readings are doubtful in the extreme.

[1717] As being too brittle, probably; the reason suggested by Beckmann, Vol. II. p. 221.

[1718] Literally, “inboiled,” being coated by immersion in the molten tin.

[1719] Supposed by Hardouin to have been the town of Alise, in Auxois.

[1720] See B. iv. c. 33.

[1721] The names of various kinds of carriages, the form of which is now unknown.

[1722] Both tin and lead can be fused in paper, when it is closely wrapped around them.

[1723] In reality India did and does possess them both; but it is possible that in those days it was not considered worth while to search for them.

[1724] The “lead” of the moderns.

[1725] Mr. T. Wright, the eminent antiquarian, is of opinion that the extensive Roman lead mines at Shelve, in Shropshire, are here alluded to. See the Illustrated London News, Oct. 4, 1856.

[1726] Probably from Ovetum, the modern Oviedo.—B.

[1727] So called from the island of Capraria. See B. iii. cc. 11, 12, and B. vi. c. 37.

[1728] See B. iii. c. 12.

[1729] Not in Bætica, as Brotero remarks, but in Lusitania, or Portugal; the modern Santarem.—B.

[1730] See Introduction to Vol. III.

[1731] This circumstance is mentioned by Suetonius, c. 20.—B.

[1732] Hardouin observes, that these insects are never met with in mines; but probably this may depend more upon other causes, than upon the vapours which are supposed to proceed from the metals.—B.

[1733] See B. xxxiii. cc. 33, 34.

[1734] See B. xx. c. 81, and B. xxiv. c. 73.

[1735] “Charta.” See B. xxiv. c. 51.

[1736] This, according to Ajasson, is the protoxide, or probably, in some cases, the arseniate of lead.—B.

[1737] From σποδὸς, “ashes.”—B.

[1738] See Chapter 34 of this Book.—B.

[1739] This was probably lead ore in its primary state, when only separated from the stannum, and before it was subjected to fusion for the purpose of obtaining pure lead.—See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 211. Bohn’s Edition. Ajasson identifies it with litharge, or fused oxide of lead, known as gold and silver litharge, from its colour.

[1740] See B. xxxiii. c. 31, and Chapter 47 of this Book.—B.

[1741] In Cilicia: see B. v. c. 22. He is speaking, no doubt, of the “metallic,” or artificial kind.

[1742] A kind of ointment. See B. xxiii. c. 81, and B. xxxiii. c. 35.

[1743] Our Litharge. See B. xxxiii. c. 35.

[1744] According to Ajasson, this substance is properly a sub-carbonate of lead, commonly called white lead.—B.

[1745] Scoria of lead and molybdæna.—B.

[1746] Preparations of lead are still used in cosmetics for whitening the complexion.

[1747] The Realgar of the moderns, red orpiment, or red sulphuret of arsenic. Pliny has in numerous places spoken of it as a remedy for certain morbid states both of animals and vegetables, B. xvii. c. 47, B. xxiii. c. 13, B. xxv. c. 22, and B. xxviii. c. 62, but he has not previously given any account of its origin and composition.—B.

[1748] Dioscorides, B. v. c. 122, informs us, with respect to this effect of sandarach, that it was burned in combination with resin, and that the smoke was inhaled through a tube.—B.

[1749] The substance here mentioned, though its name is the foundation of our word “arsenic,” is not the arsenic of modern commerce, but probably a sulphuret of arsenic containing a less proportion of sulphur than the Sandarach of the last Chapter.—B.

[1750] The other two mentioned species naturally divide into laminæ, while this kind is disposed to separate into fine fibres.—B.

[1751] By this process a considerable portion of the sulphur is expelled, so as to cause the orpiment to approximate to the state of arsenic.—B.

[1752] See end of B. ii.

[1753] See end of B. ii.

[1754] See end of B. iii.

[1755] See end of B. ii.

[1756] See end of B. ii.

[1757] A different person from the Messala mentioned at the end of B. ix. He is mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 14, B. xxxv. c. 2, and in Chapter 38 of this Book; but nothing further seems to be known of him.

[1758] See end of B. vii. and Note 1315 to B. vii. c. 53.

[1759] Domitius Marsus, a poet of the Augustan age, of whom few particulars are known, except that he wrote an epitaph on the poet Tibullus, who died B.C. 18. He is mentioned by Ovid and Martial, from the latter of whom we learn that his epigrams were distinguished for their wit, licentiousness, and satire.

[1760] See end of B. xvi.

[1761] See end of B. xx.

[1762] See end of B. xii.

[1763] See end of B. vii.

[1764] See end of B. ii.

[1765] See end of B. iii.

[1766] See end of B. iv.

[1767] See c. 19 of this Book, Note 1525, page 184.

[1768] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1769] See end of B. vii.

[1770] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1771] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1772] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1773] See end of B. iii.

[1774] See end of B. xii.

[1775] See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.

[1776] See end of B. xx.

[1777] See end of Books iv., and xii.

[1778] See end of B. xii.

[1779] See end of B. xiii.

[1780] See end of B. xii.

[1781] See end of B. xii.

[1782] See end of B. xxix.

[1783] See end of B. xii.

[1784] See end of B. xii.

[1785] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1786] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1787] “Officinarum tenebræ;” probably in reference to the ignorance displayed by the compounders of medicines, as pointed out in B. xxxiii. c. 38, and in B. xxxiv. c. 25.—B.

[1788] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[1789] See B. xxxiv. c. 9.

[1790] See B. xxxiii. c. 36.

[1791] See B. xxxvi. c. 8.

[1792] See B. v. c. 29.

[1793] “Surdo figurarum discrimine.”

[1794] We are informed by Suetonius, that this practice existed in the time of Tiberius.—B. See also Note 18, p. 196.

[1795] Which he is ready to employ in carrying away his plunder.

[1796] “Ceromata;” this is properly a Greek term, signifying an ointment used by athletes, composed of oil and wax.—B.

[1797] This practice is referred to by Cicero, De Finib. B. v.—B.

[1798] In reality, his birth-day was not on the twentieth day of any month; but, for some reason which is not known, he fixed upon this day.—B. He was born on the seventh day of the month Gamelion.

[1799] From the Greek εἰκὰς, the “twentieth” day of the month.

[1800] In obedience to the maxim of Epicurus, Λάθε βιῶσας—“Live in obscurity.”

[1801] See B. xxi. c. 49, and Note 2139, p. 346.

[1802] This appears to have been the usual practice at the funerals of distinguished personages among the Romans: it is referred to by Tacitus, Ann. B. ii. c. 73, in his account of the funeral of Germanicus.—B.

[1803] “Tabulina.” Rooms situate near the atrium.

[1804] A cognomen of the Gens Valeria at Rome, from which the family of the Messalæ had also originally sprung.

[1805] So called from his father-in-law Pomponius, a man celebrated for his wealth, and by whom he was adopted. It would appear that Scipio Pomponianus adopted Scipio Salvitto, so called from his remarkable resemblance to an actor of mimes. See B. vii. c. 10.

[1806] They were probably, like the Scipios, a branch of the Gens Cornelia. Suetonius speaks in very derogatory terms of a member of this family, who accompanied Julius Cæsar in his Spanish campaign against the Pompeian party.

[1807] In the Greek Anthology, B. v., we have the imaginary portrait of Homer described at considerable length.—B.

[1808] Hardouin supposes that this work was written by Cicero, and that he named it after his friend Atticus; but, as Delafosse remarks, it is clear from the context that it was the work of Atticus.—B.

[1809] M. Deville is of opinion that these portraits were made in relief upon plates of metal, perhaps bronze, and coloured with minium, a red tint much esteemed by the Romans.

[1810] “Clypei.” These were shields or escutcheons of metal, with the features of the deceased person represented either in painting or in relief.

[1811] Hardouin informs us that there are some Greek inscriptions given by Gruter, p. 441, and p. 476, from which it appears that public festivals were celebrated on occasions of this kind.—B.

[1812] A.U.C. 671.—B. See B. vii. c. 54.

[1813] See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[1814] It is scarcely necessary to refer to the well-known description of the shield of Achilles, in the Iliad, B. xviii. l. 478 et seq., and of that of Æneas, Æn. B. viii. l. 626, et seq.—B.

[1815] He implies that the word is derived from the Greek γλύφειν, “to carve” or “emboss” and not from the old Latin “cluo,” “to be famous.” Ajasson suggests the Greek καλύπτω “to cover.”

[1816] Cneius and Publius Scipio, who had been slain by Hasdrubal.—B. As to L. Marcius, see B. ii. c. 3.

[1817] See B. xxxiii. c. 5.

[1818] “Lustrations.” Periods at the end of the census, made by the censors every five years. The censors were the guardians of the temples, and consequently these bucklers would come under their supervision.

[1819] This period for the invention of painting by the Egyptians is evidently incorrect; but still there is sufficient reason for concluding that there now exist specimens of Egyptian art, which were in existence previous to the time of the earliest Grecian painters of whom we have any certain account.—B.

[1820] All the ancients who have treated of the history of the art agree, that the first attempt at what may be considered the formation of a picture, consisted in tracing the shadow of a human head or some other object on the wall, the interior being filled up with one uniform shade of colour.—B.

[1821] From the Greek μονοχρώματον, “single colouring.”—B.

[1822] He is mentioned also by Athenagoras, Strabo, and Athenæus.

[1823] Called “graphis,” by the Greeks, and somewhat similar, probably, to our pen and ink drawings.

[1824] In Chapter 43 of this Book.—B.

[1825] Ajasson remarks, that a great number of paintings have been lately discovered in the Etruscan tombs, in a very perfect state, and probably of very high antiquity.—B.

[1826] There would appear to be still considerable uncertainty respecting the nature of the materials employed by the ancients, and the manner of applying them, by which they produced these durable paintings; a branch of the art which has not been attained in equal perfection by the moderns.—B.

[1827] Caligula.

[1828] See B. iii. c. 8.

[1829] We have already remarked that painting was practised very extensively by the Egyptians, probably long before the period of the Trojan war.—B.

[1830] Or “Health.” It was situate on the Quirinal Hill, in the Sixth Region of the City.

[1831] “Forum Boarium.” In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1832] Holbein and Mignard did the same.

[1833] Q. Pedius was either nephew, or great nephew of Julius Cæsar, and had the command under him in the Gallic War; he is mentioned by Cæsar in his Commentaries, and by other writers of this period.—B.

[1834] Originally the palace of Tullus Hostilius, in the Second Region of the City.

[1835] Asiaticus, the brother of the elder Africanus.—B.

[1836] It was before the decisive battle near Mount Sipylus, that the son of Africanus was made prisoner. King Antiochus received him with high respect, loaded him with presents, and sent him to Rome.—B.

[1837] He was legatus under the consul L. Calpurnius Piso, in the Third Punic War, and commanded the Roman fleet. He was elected Consul B.C. 145.

[1838] The younger Scipio Africanus.

[1839] We learn from Valerius Maximus, that C. Pulcher was the first to vary the scenes of the stage with a number of colours.—B.

[1840] See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[1841] We have an amusing proof of this ignorance of Mummius given by Paterculus, B. i. c. 13, who says that when he had the choicest of the Corinthian statues and pictures sent to Italy, he gave notice to the contractors that if they lost any of them, they must be prepared to supply new ones. Ajasson offers a conjecture which is certainly plausible, that Mummius might possibly regard this painting as a species of talisman.—B.

[1842] In the eleventh Region of the City.

[1843] “Sub Veteribus;” meaning that part of the Forum where the “Old Shops” of the “argentarii” or money-brokers had stood.

[1844] We have an anecdote of a similar event, related by Cicero, as having occurred to Julius Cæsar, De Oratore, B. ii. c. 66.—B.

[1845] See B. vii. c. 39.

[1846] We have had this Temple referred to in B. ii. c. 23, B. vii. c. 39, B. viii. c. 64, and B. ix. c. 57: it is again mentioned in the fortieth Chapter of this Book, and in B. xxxvii. c. 5.—B.

[1847] In the “Vaporarium,” namely.—B. The Thermæ of Agrippa were in the Ninth Region of the City.

[1848] According to Hardouin, this was done after the battle of Actium, in which Augustus subdued his rival Antony.—B.

[1849] By adoption. The Temple of Julius Cæsar was in the Forum, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[1850] See B. vii. c. 22, B. x. c. 60, and B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[1851] In Chapter 36 of this Book.—B.

[1852] See B. vii, cc. 45, 54, 60, and B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[1853] See B. vii. c. 54, B. xv. c. 20, B. xxxiii. c. 6, and B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[1854] This was the personification of the Nemean forest in Peloponnesus, where Hercules killed the Lion, the first of the labours imposed upon him by Eurystheus.—B.

[1855] See Chapter 40 of this Book.

[1856] “Inussisse;” meaning that he executed it in encaustic. The Greek term used was probably ΕΝΕΚΑΥΣΕ.

[1857] Hemsterhuys is of opinion that he was the brother of Æschines, the orator, contemptuously alluded to by Demosthenes, Fals. Legat. Sec. 237, as a painter of perfume pots. If so, he was probably an Athenian, and must have flourished about the 109th Olympiad.

[1858] In Chapter 40 of this Book.

[1859] In B. xxxiii. c. 39. He alludes to cinnabaris, minium, rubrica, and sinopis.

[1860] Meaning “new painting,” probably. The reading, however, is doubtful.

[1861] “Splendor.” Supposed by Wornum to be equivalent to our word “tone,” applied to a coloured picture, which comprehends both the “tonos” and the “harmoge” of the Greeks. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[1862] “Tone,” says Fuseli, (in the English acceptation of the word) “is the element of the ancient ‘harmoge,’ that imperceptible transition, which, without opacity, confusion, or hardness, united local colour, demitint, shade, and reflexes.”—Lect. I.

[1863] “Austeri aut floridi.”

[1864] Because of their comparatively great expense.

[1865] See B. xxxiii. cc. 30, 37. Under this name are included Sulphuret of mercury, and Red oxide of lead.

[1866] See B. xxxiii. cc. 38, 39.

[1867] See B. xxxiii. c. 26. “Indicum” and “purpurissum” will be described in the present Book.

[1868] Or “rubrica Sinopica;” “red earth of Sinope,” a brown red ochre, or red oxide of iron. Dioscorides identifies it with the Greek μιλτὸς, which indeed seems to have embraced the cinnabaris, minium, and rubricæ of the Romans.

[1869] “Splendorem.” See Note 1861 above.

[1870] So called from its deep grey brown colour, like that of the “cicer” or chick-pea.

[1871] The sense of this passage seems to require the insertion of “quæ,” although omitted by the Bamberg MS.

[1872] “Pressior.”

[1873] Those parts of the walls, probably, which were nearer to the ground, and more likely to become soiled.

[1874] Red ochre, or red oxide of iron. See B. xxxiii. c. 38, and B. xxxiv. c. 37.

[1875] See B. xxxiii. cc. 36, 37.

[1876] Ajasson thinks that this was an hydroxide of iron, of a greenish yellow or brown colour.

[1877] Whence our word “ochre.” See “Sil,” in B. xxxiii. cc. 56, 57.

[1878] Theophrastus, on the contrary, says that it is “ochra” that is burnt, in order to obtain “rubrica.”

[1879] See B. xxxiii. cc. 56, 57.

[1880] A white earth from the Isle of Melos. See Chapter 19.

[1881] See B. xxxiii. c. 20. “One may readily conceive that this must have been a ferruginous ochre, or kind of bole, which is still used as a ground, poliment, assiette.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 294. Bohn’s Edition.

[1882] A white, much used for fresco painting. Ajasson is of opinion, that Pliny, in this Chapter, like the other ancient authors, confounds two earths that are, in reality, totally different.—Hydrosilicate of magnesia, or Steatite, and Rhomboidical carbonate of lime.

[1883] See B. v. c. 6.

[1884] Ajasson thinks that possibly our compact magnesite, meerschaum, or sea-foam, may be the substance here alluded to.

[1885] See Chapter 57 of this Book.

[1886] See B. iv. c. 33. Tournefort says that this earth is exactly similar to the Cimolian earth, described in Chapter 57.

[1887] See B. xxxiii. c. 57, and Chapter 21 of this Book.

[1888] In B. xxxiv. c. 54.

[1889] Ceruse, white lead, or carbonate of lead, is prepared in much the same manner at the present day. Ajasson is of opinion that the native pigment discovered on the lands of Theodotus, was native carbonate of lead, the crystals of which are found accompanied by quartz.

[1890] “Burnt” ceruse. This was, in fact, one of the varieties of “minium,” red oxide of lead, our red lead. Vitruvius and Dioscorides call it “sandaraca,” differing somewhat from that of Pliny.

[1891] In Chapter 10.

[1892] See B. xxxiii. cc. 56, 57.

[1893] It was possibly owing to this that the colour known as “umber” received its name, and not from Ombria, in Italy. Ajasson says that shadows cannot be successfully made without the use of transparent colours, and that red and the several browns are remarkably transparent.

[1894] See B. iv. c. 21.

[1895] As to both of these artists, see Chapter 36.

[1896] To the chest.

[1897] See B. vi. c. 34, and B. xxxvii. c. 32.

[1898] In B. xxxiv. c. 55. “Pliny speaks of different shades of sandaraca, the pale, or massicot, (yellow oxide of lead), and a mixture of the pale with minium. It also signified Realgar, or red sulphuret of arsenic.”—Wornum, in Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Colores.

[1899] Sir H. Davy supposes this colour to have approached our crimson. In painting, it was frequently glazed with purple, to give it an additional lustre.

[1900] Ecl. iv. l. 45. “Sponte suâ sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos.” Ajasson thinks that “Sandyx” may have been a name common to two colouring substances, a vegetable and a mineral, the former being our madder. Beckmann is of the same opinion, and that Virgil has committed no mistake in the line above quoted. Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 110. Bohn’s Edition. See also B. xxiv. c. 56.

[1901] The form “sand,” in these words, Ajasson considers to be derived either from “Sandes,” the name of Hercules in Asia Minor, or at least in Lydia] or else from Sandak, the name of an ancestor of Cinyras and Adonis.

[1902] In B. xxxiii. c. 40. According to Aetius, syricum was made by the calcination of pure ceruse, (similar to the “usta” above mentioned). He states also that there was no difference between sandyx and syricum, the former being the term generally used by medical men.

[1903] “Black colouring substance.”

[1904] “Carbones infectos.” The reading is very doubtful. It may possibly mean “charred bones tainted with dirt.” This would make an inferior ivory-black. The earth before-mentioned is considered by Ajasson to be a deuto-sulphate of copper, a solution of which, in gallic acid, is still used for dyeing black. The water near copper-mines would very probably be also highly impregnated with it. Beckmann considers these to have been vitriolic products. Vol. II. p. 265.

[1905] Our Lamp-black. Vitruvius describes the construction of the manufactories above alluded to.

[1906] Probably, our Chinese, or Indian ink, a different substance from the indicum of Chapter 27.

[1907] From τρύξ, “grape-husks” or “wine-lees.”

[1908] Indian ink is a composition of fine lamp-black and size.

[1909] See B. ii. c. 29. Sepia, for sepic drawing, is now prepared from these juices.

[1910] In Chapter 12 of this Book.

[1911] Plate powder. See B. xvii. c. 4, and Chapter 58 of this Book.

[1912] See B. ix. c. 60.

[1913] See B. ix. c. 65, and B. xxi. cc. 38, 97. According to Vitruvius, it is a colour between scarlet and purple. It may possibly have been made from woad.

[1914] See B. iii. c. 16.

[1915] See B. xxxiii. c. 57.

[1916] White of egg, probably.

[1917] Indigo, no doubt, is the colour meant. See B. xxxiii. c. 57.

[1918] It is the produce of the Indigofera tinctoria, and comes from Bengal more particularly. Beckmann and Dr. Bancroft have each investigated this subject at great length, and though Pliny is greatly mistaken as to the mode in which the drug was produced, they agree in the conclusion that his “indicum” was real indigo, and not, as some have supposed, a pigment prepared from isatis, or woad.

[1919] This passage, similar in many respects to the account given by Dioscorides, is commented on at great length by Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 263. Bohn’s Edition.

[1920] See Chapter 56 of this Book.

[1921] See Chapter 30 of this Book.

[1922] “Armenium.” Armenian bole is still used for colouring tooth-powder and essence of anchovies.

[1923] See B. xxxiii. c. 26.

[1924] So called, probably, either from the place where it was made, or from the person who first discovered it. Some commentators have suggested that it should be “apian” green, meaning “parsley” colour.

[1925] So called from “anulus,” a “ring,” as mentioned below.

[1926] “Quo muliebres picturæ illuminantur.” The meaning of this passage is obscure. It would seem almost to apply to paintings, but Beckmann is of opinion that the meaning is, “This is the beautiful white with which the ladies paint or ornament themselves.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 261. Bohn’s Edition.

[1927] Beckmann suggests that it was so called from its being one of the sealing earths, “anulus” being the name of a signet ring. Vol. II. p. 260.

[1928] “Cretulam.”

[1929] See B. xxxiii. c. 57.

[1930] See Chapter 39, where this process is more fully described. “‘Ceræ,’ or ‘waxes,’ was the ordinary term for painters’ colours among the Romans, but more especially encaustic colours, which were probably kept dry in boxes, and the wet brush or pencil was rubbed upon them when colour was required, or they were moistened by the artist previous to commencing work. From the term ‘ceræ’ it would appear that wax constituted the principal ingredient in the colouring vehicle used; but this does not necessarily follow, and it is very improbable that it did; there must have been a great portion of gum or resin in the colours, or they could not have hardened. Wax was undoubtedly a most essential ingredient, since it apparently prevents the colours from cracking. ‘Ceræ’ therefore might originally simply mean colours which contained wax, in contradistinction to those which did not; but was afterwards applied generally by the Romans to the colours of painters.”—Wornum, Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[1931] Called “Inceramenta navium,” in Livy, B. xxviii. c. 45. See also Chapters 39 and 41 of this Book.

[1932] Pliny here commits a mistake, which may have arisen from an imperfect recollection, as Sir. H. Davy has supposed, of a passage in Cicero (Brutus, c. 18), which, however, quite contradicts the statement of Pliny. “In painting, we admire in the works of Zeuxis, Polygnotus, Timanthes, and those who used four colours only, the figure and the lineaments; but in the works of Echion, Nicomachus, Protogenes, and Apelles, everything is perfect.” Indeed Pliny contradicts himself, for he speaks of two other colours used by the earliest painters, the testa trita, or ground earthenware, in Chapter 5 of this Book; and “cinnabaris,” or vermilion, in B. xxxiii. c. 36. Also, in Chapter 21 of this Book he speaks of Eretrian earth as having been used by Nicomachus, and in Chapter 25 of ivory black as having been invented by Apelles.

[1933] These painters will all be noticed in Chapter 36.

[1934] See Chapter 19 of this Book.

[1935] See B. xxxiii. c. 56.

[1936] Blue is here excluded altogether, unless under the term “atramentum” we would include black and blue indicum, or in other words, Indian ink and indigo.

[1937] See Chapter 27 of this Book.

[1938] In allusion to “Dragon’s blood.” See B. xxxiii. c. 38.

[1939] In Chapter 2 of this Book.

[1940] From the construction of the passage, it is difficult to say whether he means to say that such colossal figures were till then unknown in painting, or whether that the use of canvass in painting was till then unknown. If the latter is the meaning, it is not exactly correct, though it is probable that the introduction of canvass for this purpose was comparatively late; there being no mention of its being employed by the Greek painters of the best periods.

[1941] See B. iii. c. 9, B. xiv. c. 3, and B. xvi. c. 91.

[1942] “Torcutæ.” For the explanation of this term, see end of B. xxxiii.

[1943] In reality he was cousin or nephew of Phidias, by the father’s side, though Pausanias, B. v. c. 11, falls into the same error as that committed by Pliny. He is mentioned likewise by Strabo and Æschines.

[1944] See B. xxxvi. c. 55.

[1945] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1946] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[1947] See B. vii. c. 39.

[1948] Paintings with but one colour. “Monochromata,” as we shall see in Chapter 36, were painted at all times, and by the greatest masters. Those of Zeuxis corresponded with the Chiariscuri of the Italians, light and shade being introduced with the highest degree of artistic skill.

[1949] These several artists are quite unknown, being mentioned by no other author.

[1950] It is pretty clear, from vases of a very ancient date, that it is not the sexual distinction that is here alluded to. Eumarus, perhaps, may have been the first to give to each sex its characteristic style of design, in the compositions, draperies, attitudes, and complexions of the respective sexes. Wornum thinks that, probably, Eumarus, and certainly, Cimon, belonged to the class of ancient tetrachromists, or polychromists, painting in a variety of colours, without a due, or at least a partial, observance of the laws of light and shade. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[1951] He is mentioned also by Ælian. Böttiger is of opinion that he flourished about the 80th Olympiad. It is probable, however, that he lived long before the age of Polygnotus; but some time after that of Eumarus. Wornum thinks that he was probably a contemporary of Solon, a century before Polygnotus.

[1952] “Catagrapha.”

[1953] This picture was placed in the Pœcile at Athens, and is mentioned also by Pausanias, B. i. c. 15, and by Æschines, Ctesiph. s. 186.

[1954] See B. vii. c. 57. (Vol. II. p. 233), where he is mentioned as an Athenian. It is not improbable that he became a citizen of Athens in the seventy-ninth Olympiad, B.C. 463, when Thasos was brought under the power of Athens, and, as Sillig suggests, at the solicitation of Cimon, the son of Miltiades. It is generally supposed that he flourished about the eightieth Olympiad.

[1955] Belonging to the Theatre of Pompey, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[1956] With scenes from the Trojan War, and the adventures of Ulysses.

[1957] Or “Variegated;” from its various pictures.

[1958] See B. xxxiii. c. 56.

[1959] See B. vii. c. 37.

[1960] She is again mentioned in Chapter 40.

[1961] He was a native of Thasos, and father and instructor of Polygnotus. As Pliny has already stated that Polygnotus flourished before the ninetieth Olympiad, there is an inconsistency in his making mention of the son as flourishing before the father. Hence Sillig, with Böttiger, is inclined to think that there were two artists of this name, one about the seventieth, and the other about the ninetieth Olympiad, the former being the father of Polygnotus.

[1962] “Primusque gloriam penicillo jure contulit.” Wornum considers that “the rich effect of the combination of light and shade with colour is clearly expressed in these words.”—Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting. This artist, who was noted for his arrogance, is mentioned by other ancient writers.

[1963] “Penicillus.” This was the hair-pencil or brush, which was used by one class of painters, in contradistinction to the stylus or cestrum used for spreading the wax-colours. Painters with the brush used what we should term “water-colours;” oil-colours, in our sense of the word, being unknown to the ancients.

[1964] In “Magna Græcia,” near Crotona, it is supposed. Tzetzes styles him as an Ephesian.

[1965] This is probably the meaning of the words—“Artem ipsis ablatam Zeuxim ferre secum.” It is doubtful whether “ipsis” or “ipsi” is the correct reading.

[1966] King of Macedonia.

[1967] Μωμήσεταί τις μᾶλλον ἢ μιμήσεται. This line is attributed by Plutarch to Apollodorus.

[1968] Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus say that this picture was executed at Crotona, and not at Agrigentum. It is generally supposed to have been the painting of Helena, afterwards mentioned by Pliny.

[1969] “Ex albo.” “That is, in grey and grey, similar to the Chiaríscuri of the Italians.”—Wornum, in Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[1970] “Figlina opera.” It is not improbable that this may allude to the painting of fictile vases.

[1971] A.U.C. 666. As to this expedition of Fulvius Nobilior, see Livy, B. xxxviii.

[1972] Of Philippus Marcius, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[1973] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[1974] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1975] See end of B. xxxiii. and B. xxxiv.

[1976] The antithesis seems to require here the reading “inexorabilem,” instead of “exorabilem.”

[1977] “Navarchum.”

[1978] The “Chief of the Galli,” or high priest of Cybele.

[1979] See end of B. x.

[1980] Possibly the person mentioned in B. xi. c. 9, or perhaps the Tragic writer of this name, mentioned in the present Chapter.

[1981] Bacchus.

[1982] “Hoplites.” A runner in panoply, or complete armour, at the Olympic Games.

[1983] The “Liver in luxury.” Athenæus, B. xii., confirms this statement, and gives some lines which Parrhasius wrote under certain of his works.

[1984] Of Achilles, which were awarded to Ulysses in preference to Ajax.

[1985] We learn from Suetonius that Tiberius possessed a Meleager and Atalanta by Parrhasius, of this nature.

[1986] Said by Eustathius to have been a native of Sicyon, but by Quintilian, of Cythnos.

[1987] Cicero, for instance, De Oratore, c. 22, s. 74.

[1988] Menelaüs.

[1989] Agamemnon.

[1990] Built near the Forum, by Vespasian, according to Suetonius.

[1991] A native of Thebes. A full account of him will be given in the course of this Chapter.

[1992] Or “Grecian.”

[1993] He was a native of Amphipolis in Macedonia.

[1994] Phlius was the chief town of Phliasia, in the north-east of Peloponnesus. It seems to be quite unknown to what events Pliny here alludes.

[1995] Possibly the naval victory gained by the Athenians under Chabrias near Naxos, in the first year of the 101st Olympiad.

[1996] Which would make the course of study, as M. Ian says, extend over a period of twelve years.

[1997] “Graphice;” equivalent, perhaps, to our word “drawing.” “The elementary process consisted in drawing lines or outlines with the graphis, (or stylus) upon tablets of box; the first exercise was probably to draw a simple line.”—Wornum, in Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[1998] See end of B. xxxiii.

[1999] Both of whom are mentioned as statuaries, in the early part of B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2000] Bacchus.

[2001] The generality of Greek writers represent him as a native either of Ephesus, or of Colophon.

[2002] “Venustas.” This word, it has been remarked, will hardly bear a definition. It has been rendered “grace,” “elegance,” “beauty.”

[2003] “Venerem.” The name of the Goddess of Beauty.

[2004] “Gracefulness.”

[2005] “Secuit.” Possibly meaning that he drew another outline in each of these outlines. The meaning, however, is doubtful, and has occasioned much trouble to the commentators. Judging from the words used by Apelles and Protogenes, each in his message, it is not unlikely that the “linea” or outline drawn by each was a profile of himself, and that the profile of Protogenes was drawn within that of Apelles; who, on the second occasion, drew a third profile between the other two, but with a still finer line than either of them. In Dr. Smith’s Dictionary of Biography, art. Apelles, it is thus explained: “The most natural explanation of this difficult passage seems to be, that down the middle of the first line of Apelles, Protogenes drew another, so as to divide it into two parallel halves, and that Apelles again divided the line of Protogenes in the same manner.”

[2006] The Latin form of which, as given by Erasmus, is “Nulla dies abeat, quin linea ducta supersit.” “Let no day pass by, without an outline being drawn, and left in remembrance.”

[2007] “In pergulâ.”

[2008] “Ne sutor ultra crepidam.” Equivalent to our saying, “Let not the shoemaker go beyond his last.”

[2009] In B. vii. c. 38.

[2010] Also known as “Campaspe,” and “Pacate.” She was the favourite concubine of Alexander, and is said to have been his first love.

[2011] “Venus rising out of the waters.” Athenæus says, B. xiii., that the courtesan Phryne was his model, whom, at the festival of Neptune, he had seen enter the sea naked at Eleusis.

[2012] See Matthew xiii. 57; Mark vi. 4. “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.”

[2013] “Physiognomists.”

[2014] “Vocatores”—more literally, his “inviting officers.”

[2015] Strabo mentions a portrait of Antigonus in the possession of the inhabitants of Cos.

[2016] See Note 2011 above. Propertius mentions this as his greatest work. B. III. El. 9, l. 11. “In Veneris tabulâ summam sibi ponit Apelles.” “In his picture of Venus, Apelles produces his masterpiece.” It is mentioned also by Ovid, Tristia, B. II. l. 527, and Art. Amor. B. III. l. 401. The line in B. III. l. 224 is also well known—

“Nuda Venus madidas exprimit imbre comas.”

“And naked Venus wrings her dripping locks.”

[2017] In the Forum, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[2018] His father by adoption.

[2019] There are several Epigrams descriptive of it in the Greek Anthology.

[2020] This, probably, is the meaning of “Tali opere dum laudatur victo sed illustrato,” words which have given much trouble to the commentators.

[2021] Nothing further seems to be known of him.

[2022] “Cois.” The first one was also painted for the people of Cos, by whom it was ultimately sold to Augustus.

[2023] See Chapter 32 of this Book. That this is an erroneous assertion, has been shown in Note 1932 above.

[2024] Probably the weight of the panel, frame, and ornamental appendages.

[2025] This word was probably a title, meaning “Keeper of the temple.” Strabo tells us that the “megabyzi,” or as he calls them, the “megalobyzi,” were eunuch priests in the Temple of Artemis, or Diana, at Ephesus.

[2026] The favourite of Alexander, by whom he was afterwards slain.

[2027] Probably the name of a rich sensualist who lived at Argos. A son of the Attic orator Lycurgus, one of the sophists, also bore this name.

[2028] This name is supposed by Sillig to have been inserted erroneously, either by Pliny, or by his transcribers.

[2029] Either the Argonaut of that name, who was killed by the Caledonian Boar, or else, which is the most probable, a King of the Leleges in Samos, with whom, according to the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, originated the saying, “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip;” in reference to his death, by a wild boar, when he was about to put a cup of wine to his mouth.

[2030] Shown in his forbearing to appropriate them to his own use.

[2031] Anna Perenna, probably, a Roman divinity of obscure origin, the legends about whom are related in the Fasti of Ovid, B. iii. l. 523. et seq. See also Macrobius, Sat. I. 12. Her sacred grove was near the Tiber, but of her temple nothing whatever is known. “Antoniæ” is another reading, but no such divinity is mentioned by any other author.

[2032] Sillig (Dict. Anc. Art.) is of opinion that the reading is corrupt here, and that the meaning is, that Apelles “painted a Hero and Leander.”

[2033] Or Demigod.

[2034] One of the followers of Alexander, ultimately slain by Eumenes in Armenia.

[2035] King of Macedonia.

[2036] Odyss. B. vi. l. 102, et seq.

[2037] Sir Joshua Reynolds discovers in the account here given “an artist-like description of the effect of glazing, or scumbling, such as was practised by Titian and the rest of the Venetian painters.”—Notes to Du Fresnoy.

[2038] “Lapis specularis.” See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[2039] He was son of Aristodemus, and brother and pupil of Nicomachus, in addition to Euxenidas, already mentioned in this Chapter. He, Pausanias, and Nicophanes, excelled, as we learn from Athenæus, B. xiii., in the portraits of courtesans; hence their name, πορνόγραφοι.

[2040] It has been well remarked by Wornum, in the article so often quoted, that “expression of the feelings and passions cannot be denied to Polygnotus, Apollodorus, Parrhasius, Timanthes, and many others.”

[2041] See B. iv. c. 12.

[2042] Meaning, “Her who has ceased” to live. The reference is to Byblis, who died of love for her brother Caunus. See Ovid’s Metam. B. ix. l. 455, et seq.

[2043] Or Bacchus. Already mentioned in Chapter 8 of this Book, in reference to the Roman general Mummius.

[2044] In the Eleventh Region of the City.

[2045] In the Tenth Region of the City.

[2046] Celebrated on the 3rd of July.

[2047] In reference to the age of Apelles, whom he is supposed to have survived.

[2048] In Caria, near to Lycia. Suidas says that he was born at Xanthus in Lycia.

[2049] Or Vestibule.

[2050] Supposed by Sillig to have been an allegorical painting representing two of the sacred ships of the Athenians; but to have been mistaken in later times for a picture of Ulysses and Nausicaa, a subject taken from the Odyssey, B. vi. l. 16, et seq. As to Paralus, said to have been the first builder of long ships, or ships of war, see B. vii. c. 57.

[2051] Or “long ships.”

[2052] Son of Cercaphus and Cydippe or Lysippe, and grandson of Apollo. He is said to have been the founder of the town of Ialysus, mentioned in B. v. c. 36.

[2053] “These four times most probably were, the dead colouring, a first and a second painting, and lastly, scumbling with glazing.”—Wornum, Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[2054] See Chapter 40 in this Book.

[2055] “Poppyzonta.” “Smacking with his lips.” Somewhat similar to the s—s—s—s of our grooms and ostlers.

[2056] Poliorcetes.

[2057] “In repose.”

[2058] Phæstis, or Phæstias by name.

[2059] In B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2060] A native of Athens, ranked by Plutarch with Euphranor and Nicias.

[2061] Tyrant of Elaten, mentioned already in this Chapter. See Note 2041.

[2062] Supposed by Sillig to have been a native of Thebes.

[2063] Or “Youth;” in the Eighth Region of the City.

[2064] See B. xiii. c. 5.

[2065] A round, closely-fitting skull cap, made of felt. St. Jerome, Epist. 120, speaks of Ulysses as being thus represented in paintings. Statues of him with the “pileus” are still to be seen.

[2066] See B. ii. c. 6.

[2067] A contemporary of Philip of Macedon.

[2068] A dithyrambic poet, born at Selinus. He flourished B.C. 398. Only a few lines of his works remain.

[2069] “Breviores etiamnum quasdam picturæ compendiarias invenit.” Delafosse is of opinion that paintings in grotesque are probably meant.

[2070] His country is uncertain, but he probably lived about the time of Apelles.

[2071] In Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2072] He belonged, as Wornum remarks, to the class of genre-painters, or peintres du genre bas, as the French term them. His age and country are unknown.

[2073] “Painter of low subjects.” This term is equivalent in meaning, probably, to our expression—“The Dutch style.”

[2074] “Mæniana.” Balustrades or balconies, said to have been so called from one Mænius, who built them.

[2075] See Chapter 8 of this Book. They are mentioned also in the “Curculio” of Plautus, A. iv. s. i. l. 19. Nothing further is known of Serapio.

[2076] His country is unknown, but he is supposed to have lived in the first century B.C. See also Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2077] “Painter of men.”

[2078] Mentioned also by Varro. He probably lived in the time of Alexander the Great.

[2079] A native of Egypt, compared by many to the most eminent artists. He is spoken of in high terms by Quintilian, B. xii. c. 10. See also Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2080] Built by Augustus in the Ninth Region of the City, in honour of his sister Octavia.

[2081] See Chapter 36.

[2082] Bacchus.

[2083] And so caused his death by falling from his chariot. See the “Hippolytus” of Euripides.

[2084] Near the Theatre of Pompey, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[2085] “Caricatures.” Sillig thinks it not unlikely that Gryllus was painted with a pig’s face, that animal being signified by the Greek word γρυλλὸς.

[2086] See Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2087] See Chapter 6 of this Book.

[2088] In the original, as given by Sillig, “Plautiu, Marcus Cleœtas.” That commentator supposes him to have been a Greek by birth, and adopted into the Plautian family, on being made a citizen of Rome.

[2089] “Euripi.” See B. ii. c. 100, B. viii. c. 40, and B. ix. cc. 22, 80. The landscape paintings on the interior walls of houses at Herculaneum and Pompeii may be taken as specimens of this artist’s style.

[2090] “Succollatis sponsione mulieribus.” This passage appears to be a mass of confusion, in spite of Sillig’s attempts to amend and explain it. The meaning can only be guessed at, not given with any degree of certainty: of Ludius himself, no further particulars are known.

[2091] The “hypæthra” or promenades.

[2092] Most editions give “Famulus.” Nothing further is known of him.

[2093] See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[2094] Both in the First Region of the City, near the Capenian Gate.

[2095] See Chapter 41 of this Book, where the difficulties attending this description will be considered.

[2096] See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2097] See Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2098] Possibly the artist of that name mentioned by Athenæus, B. x., as a tutor of Apelles. If so, he must have flourished about the ninety-seventh Olympiad.

[2099] Elasippus “inburned” this picture, i.e. executed it in encaustic. From the Attic form of this word, it has been concluded that he was an Athenian. The spelling of his name is very doubtful.

[2100] See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2101] Two paintings of his at Epidaurus are mentioned by Pausanias, B. ii. c. 27.

[2102] And not in encaustic; though, as we shall see in Chapter 41, the brush was sometimes used in this branch.

[2103] The “One day” picture.

[2104] See B. xxi. c. 3.

[2105] The “Chaplet-wearer.” See B. xxi. c. 3.

[2106] The “Chaplet-seller.”

[2107] A “correct” copy.

[2108] “In confracto.” Meaning probably the group of the surrounding spectators, on which the shadow of the animal’s body was thrown. It is evident that this artist excelled in his effect of light and shade, enhanced by contrasts, and strong foreshortenings.”—Wornum, Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[2109] A.U.C. 678. See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[2110] Mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2111] Praised by Pausanias, B. i. It was in this combat, he says, that Gryllus, the son of Xenophon, and Epaminondas the Theban, first distinguished themselves.

[2112] “Carne.” Beef, according to Plutarch, was the flesh mentioned.

[2113] The dress of the Greek philosophers, more particularly.

[2114] Born in the island of Cythnos, one of the Cyclades. He is supposed to be the artist mentioned by Theophrastus, De Lapid. c. 95.

[2115] It is supposed by Sillig, from Dio Cassius, B. liii. c. 27, that this painting was transferred by M. Vipsanius Agrippa, to the Portico of Neptune.

[2116] See Chapter 20 of this Book, where he is mentioned as having been the first artist who used “usta” or burnt ceruse. From Pausanias we learn that his remains were interred at Athens, in the road leading to the Academia.

[2117] Chiaroscuro.

[2118] In Chapter 10 of this Book.

[2119] Bacchus.

[2120] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[2121] Spoken of by Pausanias, B. iii. c. 19.

[2122] In the Forum at Rome.

[2123] See Chapter 36 of this Book, Note 2025, p. 261.

[2124] “Place of the prophecies of the dead;” in reference to the description of the Infernal Regions in the Fourth Book of the Odyssey.

[2125] See Chapter 37 of this Book.

[2126] See B. iv. c. 18.

[2127] Supposed by Hardouin to be the writer mentioned at the end of B. vii. and B. x.: or perhaps, “a chief” of an Athenian tribe.

[2128] A “group of kindred.”

[2129] A disciple of Carneades. See the list of writers at the end of this Book.

[2130] B.C. 168.

[2131] Represented in a sitting posture, as mentioned by Ovid, Trist. II. 525, and by Philostratus, Vit. Apol. B. II. c. 10. The Medea is described in an Epigram in B. iv. of the Greek Anthology, imitated by Ausonius, Epigr. 22.

[2132] See Note 2116 above.

[2133] Medusa, slain by Perseus.

[2134] In the former editions, “Mecophanes.”

[2135] Or ochre. See B. xxxiii. c. 56.

[2136] Health, Brightness, and All-heal.

[2137] Greek for “sluggard.”

[2138] Probably, from the context, a pupil, also, of Pausias.

[2139] In pencil painting, and in encaustic.

[2140] Probably the same painter that is mentioned in Chapter 37.

[2141] An effect for which Schalken is famous.

[2142] “Shading his eyes.”

[2143] Son and pupil of Aglaopho, and brother of Polygnotus. He was probably a native of Thasos.

[2144] See Chapter 36, Note 2029, page 261.

[2145] “Dolus.” An emblematical picture evidently, probably representing the events just prior to the capture of Troy.

[2146] A famous diver, mentioned by Herodotus, B. viii. c. 8, Pausanias, B. x. c. 19, and Strabo, B. ix.

[2147] Probably the wife of Seleucus, given by him to his son Antiochus. See B. vii. c. 37, Note 1165.

[2148] That they should rebuild the walls of Troy.

[2149] His contest with Corragus the Macedonian, whom he defeated, is mentioned also by Ælian, Diodorus Siculus, Athenæus, and Quintus Curtius.

[2150] Gained “without raising the dust,” i.e. without any difficulty.

[2151] This is perhaps the meaning of “stemmata;” “heraldic pictures,” probably. See Juvenal, Sat. viii. l. 2.

[2152] Suidas seems to mention him, under the name of “Ctesiochus,” as the brother of Apelles.

[2153] Who was said to have been born from the thigh of Jove.

[2154] Or cap; see Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2155] By Hercules, when he demanded Iole of her father Eurytus, king of Œchalia.

[2156] See Note 2147 above.

[2157] Several Cratini were distinguished as Comic writers, but we do not read in any other author of any one of them being a painter. The reading is doubtful.

[2158] A building at the entrance into Athens, whence the “pompæ,” or solemn processions, set out.

[2159] Hardouin thinks that this was the victory gained by Aratus of Sicyon over Aristippus, the Tyrant of Argos. If so, Leontiscus must have flourished about Olymp. 136.

[2160] Caused by the anger of Juno. In this fit of insanity he slew his wife Megara and her children.

[2161] See also Chapter 36. From Plutarch we learn that he was greatly in favour with Aratus of Sicyon.

[2162] According to Brotero, a representation of the Ass and Crocodile was found in the pictorial embellishments at Herculaneum.

[2163] See B. xvii. c. 36, B. xviii. c. 56, and B. xix. c. 24.

[2164] “Theodoras” in most of the editions.

[2165] See Chapter 36 of this Book, page 252.

[2166] See the Æneid, B. II. c. 403, et seq.

[2167] Poliorcetes.

[2168] A native of Samos, mentioned by Quintilian, B. xii. c. 10, as one of the painters between the time of Philip and that of the successors of Alexander.

[2169] After the murder of his mother.

[2170] See B. vii. c. 57.

[2171] Or player with the discus.

[2172] Against his brother Eteocles.

[2173] Who assisted Polynices in his siege of Thebes.

[2174] Helen, Castor, and Pollux.

[2175] See B. vii. c. 37.

[2176] Mentioned in Chapter 36, as having been commenced for the people of Cos, but never finished.

[2177] See B. xxxiv. cc. 19, 39. Sillig is of opinion that the picture mentioned by Pausanias, B. I. c. 1, in honour of Leosthenes, killed in the Lamina War, B.C. 323, was by this artist.

[2178] Poliorcetes, who began to reign B.C. 306.

[2179] Already mentioned in this Chapter, at greater length.

[2180] See B. xxxiv. c. 40.

[2181] See Chapter 36 of this Book, and the present Chapter. Of the greater part of these artists nothing further is known.

[2182] See Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2183] Previously mentioned in this Chapter.

[2184] Or stylus—“cestrum.”

[2185] Probably the same painter as the one mentioned in Chapter 37 of this Book.

[2186] See Chapter 39 of this Book. Pausias painted in wax with the cestrum.

[2187] Wornum is of opinion that this must have been a species of drawing with a heated point, upon ivory, without the use of wax. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. Painting.

[2188] This method, as Wornum remarks, though first employed on ships, was not necessarily confined to ship-painting; and it must have been a very different style of painting from the ship-colouring of Homer, since it was of a later date even than the preceding methods.

[2189] Though he says nothing here of the use of the “cauterium,” or process of burning in, its employment may certainly be inferred from what he has said in Chapter 39. Wornum is of opinion that the definition at the beginning of this Chapter, of two methods apparently, “in wax and on ivory,” is in reality an explanation of one method only, and that the ancient modes of painting in encaustic were not only three, but several.

[2190] Or Temple of the Nymphs. The daughter of Butades is called “Core” by Athenagoras.

[2191] See B. xxxiv. c. 3.

[2192] Son of Philæus. He is mentioned by Pausanias, B. viii. c. 14, and by Herodotus, B. iii. c. 60, as the architect of a fine temple at Samos, and, with Smilis and Theodorus, of the Labyrinth at Lemnos.

[2193] Mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 19. Pliny is in error here in using the word “plastice;” for it was the art of casting brass, and not that of making plaster casts, that these artists invented.

[2194] See Chapter 5 of this Book. He is said by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, B. iii., to have been a member of the family of the Bacchiadæ.

[2195] A different person, probably, from the one of the same name mentioned in B. vii. c. 56.

[2196] Terra cotta figures.

[2197] See B. xxxiv. c. 19. Tatian mentions a statue of Melanippe by Lysistratus.

[2198] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2199] In the Eleventh Region of the City. This Temple of Ceres, Bacchus, and Proserpine, in the Circus Maximus, was vowed by A. Posthumius, the Dictator, A.U.C. 258, and dedicated by the consul Cassius, A.U.C. 261, or B.C. 493.

[2200] See B. xxxiv. c. 16.

[2201] Sillig (Dict. Anc. Art.) is of opinion that this Chalcosthenes is not identical with the artist of that name mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19; the name “Ceramicus” probably being of far earlier origin than the formation of the statues of Comedians.

[2202] “Et.” The insertion of this word seems to militate against Sillig’s position.

[2203] The “Pottery.”

[2204] See also B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2205] See Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2206] “Crater.” A vase in which wine and water were mixed for drinking.

[2207] See B. xxxiii. c. 55, B. xxxvi. c. 4, and end of B. xxxiii.

[2208] See B. xxxiii. c. 36.

[2209] In B. viii. c. 4, for instance.

[2210] The “Hercules fictilis.” It is mentioned by Martial, B. xiv. Ep. 178.

[2211] See B. xxxiii. c. 2, and B. xxxvii. cc. 7, 8, 11.

[2212] “Simpuvia.”

[2213] See B. xxxi. c. 31.

[2214] “Mammatis.” The exact meaning of this word is unknown. The passage is evidently in a corrupt state.

[2215] As to the Roman “Collegia,” see B. viii. c. 42, and B. xxxiv. c. 1.

[2216] “Solia.”—The same name is given also to a kind of sitting or reclining-bath, often mentioned by Pliny.

[2217] Asia Minor.

[2218] See B. iii. c. 18.

[2219] A service of three dishes.

[2220] See B. ix. c. 39.

[2221] See B. ix. cc. 24, 28, 74, 79.

[2222] In B. x. c. 72.

[2223] See Note 2211 above.

[2224] See B. xxiii. c. 47, and the end of this Book.

[2225] Martial speaks of this practice, B. iii. Epigr. 81.

[2226] Nothing further seems to be known of this personage, or of the grounds of his invective. Pliny may possibly allude to some abominable practices, with which Vitellius is charged by Suetonius also.

[2227] The “Opus Signinum” was a plaster or cement much used for making pavements. It took its name from Signia, in Italy, celebrated for its tiles. See B. iii. c. 9.

[2228] The floors of the Roman houses were seldom boarded.

[2229] “Pulvis.” See B. iii. c. 9, B. xvi. c. 76, and B. xxxvi. c. 14. He alludes to the cement made of volcanic ashes, now known as “Pozzuolane.”

[2230] See B. iv. c. 17.

[2231] It being the practice to rub the bodies of the athletes with sand.

[2232] This circumstance is mentioned also by Suetonius, in his life of Nero. Patrobius was slain by order of the Emperor Galba.

[2233] Ajasson says that they are called tapias at the present day in Spain.

[2234] See B. ii. c. 73.

[2235] “Rubrica.”

[2236] See B. xxxi. c. 28.

[2237] Which was, as a measure, nearly three inches in breadth. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[2238] See B. v. c. 32.

[2239] Ajasson says that these bricks have been imitated by Fabroni, with a light argillaceous earth, found in the territory of Sienna. Delafosse thinks that a place called “Cala,” in the Sierra Morena, probably marks the site of the cities above mentioned.

[2240] See B. iv. c. 5, and B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2241] “Gerusia.”

[2242] See B. iii. c. 19.

[2243] In B. iii. c. 6.

[2244] See B. xviii. c. 29.

[2245] “Untouched by fire.” Native sulphur.

[2246] “Gleba.”

[2247] Sulphur has been always considered highly useful for the cure of cutaneous affections.

[2248] From ἅρπαζω, “to carry away.”

[2249] Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” speaks of purifying houses with eggs and sulphur.

[2250] See B. xxxi. c. 32.

[2251] There are three distinct kinds of bitumen. 1. Naphtha, also known as petroleum, or rock-oil, inflammable, volatile, soluble in alcohol, and found in France and Italy. 2. Asphalt, or bitumen of Judæa, solid, insoluble in alcohol, and found in Lake Asphaltites in Syria, more particularly. 3. Pissasphalt, of a medium consistency between the other substances, of which it appears to be composed. See B. xxiv. c. 25.

[2252] In B. v. c. 15.

[2253] Naphtha, most probably.

[2254] See B. xxiv. c. 25.

[2255] Chapter 109.

[2256] As to the “nitrum” of Pliny, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2257] “Asphalt plaster,” probably.

[2258] Or mint. See B. xix. c. 47, and B. xx. c. 53.

[2259] See B. xxxii. c. 13.

[2260] In B. xxxiv. c. 9.

[2261] Beckmann is of opinion that our alum was not known to the Greeks or Romans, and that what the latter called “alumen” was green vitriol, or sulphate of the protoxide of iron, in an impure state. Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 180. Bohn’s Edition. Dr. Pereira remarks, however, that “there can be little doubt that Pliny was acquainted with our alum, but did not distinguish it from sulphate of iron, for he informs us that one kind of alum was white, and was used for dyeing wool of bright colours.” Materia Medica, Vol. I, Delafosse identifies the “alumen” of Pliny with double sulphate of alum and iron.

[2262] “Salsugo terræ.”

[2263] See Note 2261 above.

[2264] For gilding, Hardouin says.

[2265] The Roman provinces in Africa, other than Egypt.

[2266] Now Strombolo. See B. iii. c. 14.

[2267] Herodotus, B. ii., mentions the fact that King Amasis sent the people of Delphi a thousand talents of this substance, as his contribution towards rebuilding their temple.

[2268] “Fruitful,” or “useful.”

[2269] “Adulterated.”

[2270] See B. xx. c. 71.

[2271] “Split” alum. Probably iron alum, the French alum de plume; of a flaky, silky appearance.

[2272] “Hairy alum.”

[2273] See B. xxxiv. cc. 2, 29.

[2274] So called, according to Dioscorides, from the “round” form of the pieces.

[2275] He has previously said that the most esteemed kind was the Egyptian, that of Melos being the next best.

[2276] Στυπτηρία, the “styptic.”

[2277] “Sero picis.” Hardouin is of opinion that under this name pisselæon is intended. See B. xv. c. 7, B. xxiv. cc. 11, 24, and B. xxv. c. 22.

[2278] At the beginning of this Chapter in part.

[2279] Aluminous silicates, as Delafosse remarks, more or less combined with other minerals. Though employed for various purposes in the arts, they are now but little used in medicine.

[2280] Probably because it was the more extensively employed of the two, in “collyria,” or compositions for the eyes.

[2281] “Star” earth, apparently.

[2282] From Eretria, in Eubœa. See B. iv. c. 21.

[2283] In Chapter 21 of this Book.

[2284] It appears to be a matter of doubt whether it was found at Selinus, in Sicily, or the place of that name in Cilicia. See B. iii. c. 14, and B. v. c. 22.

[2285] Agricola is of opinion that this earth had its name from the place called Pnigeum, in the Libyan Mareotis. Other commentators would have it to be derived from πνίγω, “to suffocate,” such being its effect if taken internally.

[2286] See the next Chapter.

[2287] So called from ἀμπέλος, a “vine;” either because it was applied to vines to kill the insects, or because its admixture with the soil was favourable to the cultivation of the vine.

[2288] “Washes for beautifying the eye-brows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxiii. c. 34.

[2289] Cimolian earth, known in modern chemistry as Cimolite, is not a cretaceous earth, but an aluminous silicate, still found in the island of Kimoli, or Argentiera, one of the Cyclades; See B. iv. c. 23. Tournefort describes it as a white chalk, very heavy, tasteless, and dissolving in water. It is found also at Alexandrowsk in Russia.

[2290] See Chapter 25 of this Book.

[2291] See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2292] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2293] See B. v. c. 28.

[2294] Beckmann thinks that this may have been our common chalk. Vol. II. p. 105.

[2295] This seems to be the meaning of “crescit in macerando.”

[2296] A.U.C. 535, it is supposed.

[2297] As a plebiscitum.

[2298] “Desquamatur.” This is most probably the meaning of the word, though Beckmann observes “that it was undoubtedly a term of art, which cannot be further explained, because we are unacquainted with the operation to which it alludes.”—Vol II. p. 104. Bohn’s Edition.

[2299] “Funditur sulphure.” The meaning of these words is very doubtful. Beckmann proposes to read “offenditur,” but he is not supported by any of the MSS. He has evidently mistaken the meaning of the whole passage.

[2300] Probably because it was too calcareous, Beckmann thinks.

[2301] See B. iv. c. 3, and B. xxxvi. c. 59.

[2302] Plate powder; from “argentum,” “silver.” See B. xvii. c. 4.

[2303] Whitening, or chalk washed and prepared, is still used for this purpose.

[2304] The goal for the chariots.

[2305] This reading is restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS., but no particulars are known relative to the person alluded to; unless, indeed, as Sillig suspects to be the case, he is identical with Publius Syrus, the writer of mimes, mentioned in B. viii. c. 77.

[2306] Supposed by some to have been the Manilius who was author of the poem called “Astronomica,” still in existence. It is more probable, however, that he was the father of the poet, or perhaps the grandfather; as it is clear from a passage in Suetonius, that Staberius Eros taught at Rome during the civil wars of Sylla, while the poem must have been written, in part at least, after the death of Augustus.

[2307] Being afterwards manumitted. Sillig thinks that they may have arrived in Rome about B.C. 90.

[2308] “Catasta.” A raised platform of wood on which the slaves were exposed for sale.

[2309] “Rectorem.” For an explanation of this allusion, see B. xxviii. c. 14.

[2310] A native of Gadara in Syria, according to Josephus. Seneca speaks of him as being more wealthy than his master.

[2311] Or Menodorus, who deserted Sextus Pompeius and went over to Octavianus.

[2312] Who remained faithful to Pompeius, and died in his cause.

[2313] He is probably speaking in reference to her paramour, the freedman Pallas. See B. xxxiii. c. 47.

[2314] As to the earths of Galata and Clypea, see B. v. c. 7. The others are mentioned in B. iii. c. 11.

[2315] See end of B. ix.

[2316] See end of B. xxxiv.

[2317] See end of B. viii.

[2318] See end of Books vii. and xiv.

[2319] See end of B. ii.

[2320] See end of B. iii.

[2321] See end of B. ii.

[2322] See end of B. x.

[2323] See end of B. ii.

[2324] See end of B. vii.

[2325] See end of B. xvi.

[2326] A native of Longula in Latium. Though of dissolute character, he was famous as an orator and satirical writer. It was he who accused Nonius Asprenas of poisoning, as mentioned in Chapter 46 of this Book. He died in exile at the island of Seriphos, about A.D. 33. His works were at first proscribed, but were afterwards permitted by Caligula to be read.

[2327] See end of B. vii.

[2328] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2329] The painter, mentioned at great length in Chapter 36 of this Book, and elsewhere.

[2330] A painter of Sicyon, mentioned in Chapters 32 and 36 of this Book.

[2331] Probably the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2332] The artist mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19, and in Chapter 40 of the present Book.

[2333] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2334] Possibly the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2335] See end of B. ii.

[2336] See end of B. iii.

[2337] See end of B. xxx.

[2338] See end of B. iii.

[2339] See end of B. xii.

[2340] See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.

[2341] See end of B. xx.

[2342] See end of Books iv. and xii.

[2343] See end of B. xii.

[2344] See end of B. xiii.

[2345] See end of B. xii.

[2346] See end of B. xii.

[2347] See end of B. xxix.

[2348] See end of B. xii.

[2349] See end of B. xii.

[2350] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2351] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2352] See B. xxxvii. cc. 7, 8, 11.

[2353] See the lines of Juvenal, Sat. x. l. 151, et seq.

[2354] He alludes to vessels made of crystal, which, as Dalechamps remarks, was long supposed to be nothing but ice in a concrete form. See B. xxxvii. c. 9.

[2355] See B. viii. c. 82.

[2356] “Glandia.”

[2357] See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[2358] See Chapter 8 of this Book.

[2359] In the Eleventh Region of the City.

[2360] See B. xxxv. cc. 43, 45.

[2361] See B. xvii. c. 1.

[2362] These two artists are invariably mentioned together. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 14, and B. iii. c. 17, speaks or them as the pupils or sons of Dædalus; only intimating thereby, as Sillig thinks, that they were the first sculptors worthy of being associated with the father of artists. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 22, mentions ebony statues by them.

[2363] In the time of the Telchines, before the arrival of Inachus in Argolis.

[2364] Pausanias says that this statue was completed by their pupils. Clemens Alexandrinus mentions other works of theirs.

[2365] Another reading is “Anthermus.” Of many of these sculptors, no further particulars are known.

[2366] Another cause of the quarrel is said to have been the refusal of Bupalus to give his daughter in marriage to Hipponax. This quarrel is referred to in the Greek Anthology, B. iii. Epigr. 26.

[2367] See B. xiv. c. 9.

[2368] See B. iv. c. 20.

[2369] Dedicated by Augustus, in the Tenth Region of the City.

[2370] Λύχνος being the Greek for a “lamp.”

[2371] See B. iii. c. 8: now known as the marble of Massa and Carrara, of a bluish white, and a very fine grain.

[2372] A similar case has been cited, in the figure of St. Jerome, to be seen on a stone in the Grotto of Our Saviour at Bethlehem, and in a representation of the Crucifixion, in the Church of St. George, at Venice. A miniature resembling that of the poet Chaucer is to be seen on the surface of a small stone in the British Museum.

[2373] See B. xxxv. c. 44.

[2374] See B. xxxv. cc. 37, 40.

[2375] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2376] “In the Gardens.” A suburb of Athens, in which there was a temple of Venus, or Aphrodite Urania.

[2377] He is mentioned also by Pausanias and Strabo.

[2378] The Goddess of Retribution. Pausanias, B. i. c. 33, says that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was made of Parian marble, which the Persians had brought into Attica for the purpose of erecting a trophy. Strabo, however, in B. ix., says that it was the work of Agoracritus and Diodotus (an artist otherwise unknown), and that it was not at all inferior to the production of Phidias. Tzetzes again, Suidas, and Photius, say that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was presented by him to his favourite pupil, Agoracritus. Sillig rejects the story of the contest, and the decision by the suffrages of the Athenian people. Some modern writers have doubted also, whether a statue of Venus could be modified so as to represent Nemesis; but not with sufficient reason, Sillig thinks.

[2379] See B. iv. c. 11.

[2380] A statue, Sillig supposes, of the goddess Cybele.

[2381] “Pandoras Genesis.”

[2382] Sillig is of opinion that this passage is corrupt, and is inclined to think, with Panofka, that the reading should be “nascenti adstantes,”—gods “standing by the new-born” Pandora.

[2383] In B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2384] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2385] “Velatâ specie.” There has been much discussion about the meaning of these words; and Sillig is of opinion that the figure was represented draped in a garment, which, while it seemed designed to hide the person, really exposed it to view. This dress would not improbably recommend it additionally to the inhabitants of Cos, who were skilled in making the Coæ vestes, garments which, while they covered the body, revealed its naked charms. See further mention of them in B. ix. c. 26.

[2386] Visconti thinks that a statue still preserved in the Royal Museum at Paris, is a copy of the Coan Venus. It has, however, a figure of Cupid associated with it, which, as Sillig observes, militates against the supposition.

[2387] The ancient writers abound in praises of this wonderful statue. Lucian, however, has given the most complete and artistic description of it. It was supposed by the ancients, to represent Venus as standing before Paris, when he awarded to her the prize of beauty; but it has been well remarked, that the drapery in the right hand, and the vase by the side of the figure, indicate that she has either just left or is about to enter the bath. The artist modelled it from Phryne, a courtesan or hetæra of Athens, of whom he was greatly enamoured. It was ultimately carried to Constantinople, where it perished by fire in the reign of Justinian. It is doubtful whether there are any copies of it in existence. There is, however, a so-called copy in the gardens of the Vatican, and another in the Glyptothek, at Munich. A Venus in the Museo Pio-Clementino, at Rome, is considered by Visconti and others to have been a copy of the Cnidian Venus, with the addition of drapery. It is supposed that Cleomenes, in making the Venus de Medici, imitated the Cnidian Venus in some degree.

[2388] There are numerous Epigrams in reference to this statue in the Greek Anthology; the most striking line in any of which is the beautiful Pentameter:

Φεῦ! φεῦ! ποῦ γυμνὴν εἶδε με Πραξιτέλης;

“Alas! where has Praxiteles me naked seen?”

[2389] Lucian, Valerius Maximus, and Athenæus, tell the same improbable story, borrowing it from Posidippus the historian.

[2390] Bacchus.

[2391] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2392] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2393] Pliny is mistaken here: for in the time of Cicero, as we find in Verr. 4, 2, 4, the Thespian Cupid was still at Thespiæ, in Bœotia, where it had been dedicated by Phryne, and was not removed to Rome till the time of the emperors. It was the Parian Cupid, originally made for the people of Parium, that, after coming into the possession of Heius, a rich Sicilian, was forcibly taken from him by Verres.

[2394] Where it was destroyed by fire in the reign of Titus. See B. xxxiv. c. 37.

[2395] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2396] Frantic Bacchantes.

[2397] Sacrificing Bacchantes.

[2398] The name given in architecture to figures of females employed as columns in edifices. The Spartans, on taking the city of Carya, in Laconia, massacred the male inhabitants, and condemned the females to the most bitter servitude, as “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” Hence the memorials of their servitude thus perpetuated in architecture.

[2399] Or companions of Bacchus. See B. xxxv. c. 36.

[2400] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2401] “Symplegma.”

[2402] Also mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2403] Pausanias, B. I., speaks of three figures sculptured by Scopas; Erôs, Himeros, and Pothos. It is doubtful, however, whether they are identical with those here spoken of.

[2404] Or “Desire.” The name of “Phaëthon” is added in most of the editions, but Sillig rejects it as either a gloss, or a corruption of some other name.

[2405] “Campteras.” This, which is probably the true reading, has been restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS. The καμπτὴρ was the bend or turning, round the goal in the race-course for chariots; and as Vesta was symbolical of the earth, these figures, Sillig thinks, probably represented the poles, as goals of the sun’s course.

[2406] Figures of Virgins, carrying on their heads baskets filled with objects consecrated to Minerva.

[2407] Dedicated to Neptune by Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[2408] “Et” appears a preferable reading to the “aut” of the Bamberg MS.

[2409] “Hippocampi.” It is pretty clear that by this name he cannot mean the small fish so called in B. xxxii. cc. 20, 23, 27, 30, 35, 38, 50, and 53, and alluded to in B. ix. c. 1; the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus.

[2410] A sea-divinity.

[2411] “Pistrices.” See B. ix. cc. 2, 3, 15.

[2412] Conqueror of Callæcia. See B. iv. c. 35. This temple was dedicated to Mars.

[2413] A statue of Apollo, Hardouin thinks, which was originally brought from Seleucia by C. Sosius, the quæstor of M. Lepidus. See B. xiii. c. 5.

[2414] Ajasson says that this work is identical with the group representing Niobe and her children, now at Florence. It was found in 1535, or, as some say, 1583, near the Lateran Gate at Rome; upon which, it was bought by Ferdinand de Medici, and placed in the park of one of his villas. More recently, the Emperor Leopold purchased it, and had it removed to Florence.

[2415] The Temple of Janus, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[2416] Probably by neither of them, as Janus was essentially an Italian Divinity. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. I.

[2417] See B. xxxv. c. 37.

[2418] A large upper garment, reaching to the ankles.

[2419] Both Liber and Libera were originally Italian Divinities, who presided over the vine and the fields. Pliny, however, always identifies the former with Bacchus, and other writers the latter with Persephone, or Proserpina, the daughter of Demeter or Ceres. Ovid, Fasti, B. iii. l. 512, calls Ariadne, “Libera.”

[2420] See B. xvi. c. 76.

[2421] A disciple of Marsyas, and a famous player on the flute. See p. 319.

[2422] All these figures have been found copied in the frescoes of Herculaneum.

[2423] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2424] It is doubtful whether this is the same artist that is mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2425] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2426] Hence, too, the use of the word “Mausoleum,” as meaning a splendid tomb.

[2427] He means, probably, the extent of the colonnade or screen which surrounded it. The Mausoleum was erected at Halicarnassus.

[2428] Facing east and west.

[2429] Or “wing.” The “ptera,” or “pteromata,” properly speaking, were the two wings at the sides of a building. See Note 2431 below.

[2430] She only survived her husband two years.

[2431] Another reading, and perhaps a preferable one, is “one hundred” feet. The account given by Pliny is very confused, and Littré has taken some pains to explain the construction of this building. He is of opinion that in the first place, a quadrangular main building was erected, 63 feet in length on the north and south, the breadth of the east and west faces being shorter, some 42 feet perhaps. Secondly, that there was a screen of 36 columns surrounding the main building, and 411 feet in circumference. (He adopts this reading in preference to the 440 feet of the Bamberg MS.) That the longer sides of this screen were 113.25 feet in extent, and the shorter 92.125 feet. That between the main building and this screen, or colonnade, there was an interval of 25.125 feet. Thirdly, that the colonnade and the main buildings were united by a vaulted roof, and that this union formed the “Pteron.” Fourthly, that rising from this Pteron, there was a quadrangular truncated pyramid, formed of twenty-four steps, and surmounted with a chariot of marble. This would allow, speaking in round numbers, 37½ feet for the height of the main body of the building, 37½ feet for the pyramid, and twenty-five feet for the height of the chariot and the figure which it doubtless contained.

[2432] Supposed to be the person alluded to by Horace, 1 Sat. 3, 90.

[2433] He is mentioned also by Tatian, and is supposed to have lived about the time of Alexander the Great.

[2434] “Charites.”

[2435] “Porch,” or “Vestibule” of the Citadel at Athens.

[2436] Mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 40. The present Socrates is identified by Pausanias, B. i. c. 22, and B. ix. c. 25, and by Diogenes Laertius, B. ii. c. 19, with the great Athenian philosopher of that name, son of the statuary Sophroniscus: but the question as to his identity is very doubtful. Diogenes Laertius adds, that whereas artists had previously represented the Graces naked, Socrates sculptured them with drapery.

[2437] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2438] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2439] Or Muses of Thespiæ, in Bœotia.

[2440] There have been several distinguished sculptors, all of this name. A statuary, son of Apollodorus the Athenian, made the celebrated Venus de Medici. It is the opinion of Visconti and Thiersch, that the artist here mentioned flourished before the destruction of Corinth.

[2441] This name is doubtful, and nothing is known relative to the artist.

[2442] “Hippiades” is the old reading, which Dalechamps considers to mean “Amazons.” The Appiades were Nymphs of the Appian Spring, near the temple of Venus Genetrix, in the Forum of Julius Cæsar. See Ovid, Art. Am. B. i. l. 81, and B. iii. l. 451; and Rem. Am. l. 659.

[2443] From an inscription on a statue still extant, he is supposed to have been a pupil of Pasiteles, and consequently to have flourished about B.C. 25.

[2444] Figures in which the form and attributes of Hermes, or Mercury, and Eros, or Cupid, were combined, Hardouin thinks.

[2445] In B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[2446] In Caria: see B. v. c. 29.

[2447] Or “Xenias”—“Presiding over hospitality,” or “Protector of strangers.”

[2448] The story was, that Zethus and Amphion bound Dirce, queen of Thebes, to the flanks of an infuriated bull, in revenge for the death of their mother, Antiope, who had been similarly slain by her. This group is supposed still to exist, in part, in the “Farnese Bull,” which has been in a great measure restored. Winckelmann is of opinion, however, that the Farnese Bull is of anterior date to that here mentioned, and that it belongs to the school of Lysippus.

[2449] Probably a native of Rhodes. No further particulars of this artist appear to be known.

[2450] Bacchus.

[2451] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2452] A different person, probably, from the painter, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 40.

[2453] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2454] Supposed by Sillig not to be the early statuary of Argos of that name, who flourished, probably, B.C. 476.

[2455] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2456] “Pasiteles” would appear to be a preferable reading; for Pliny would surely have devoted more space to a description of these works of Praxiteles.

[2457] The same artist that is previously mentioned, Sillig thinks.

[2458] Of Jupiter.

[2459] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2460] “Symplegma.” See Note 2401, page 314.

[2461] The first being in a stooping posture, washing herself.

[2462] In B. xxxiii. c. 55, and B. xxxiv. c. 18.

[2463] A sculptor of the age of Alexander the Great. He is also mentioned by Tatian. For an account of Callisthenes, see end of B. xii.

[2464] Winckelmann supposes that these artists lived in the time of Lysippus; but, as may be discovered from an attentive examination of the present passage, Lessing and Thiersch are probably right in considering them to have been contemporaries of the Emperor Titus. This group is generally supposed to have been identical with the Laocoön still to be seen in the Court of the Belvedere, in the Vatican at Rome; having been found, in 1506, in a vault beneath the spot known as the Place de Sette Sale, by Felix de Fredi, who surrendered it, in consideration of a pension, to Pope Julius II. The group, however, is not made of a single block, which has caused some to doubt its identity: but it is not improbable, that when originally made, its joints were not perceptible to a common observer. The spot, too, where it was found was actually part of the palace of Titus. It is most probable that the artists had the beautiful episode of Laocoön in view, as penned by Virgil, Æn. B. II.; though Ajasson doubts whether they derived any inspiration from it. Laocoön, in the sublime expression of his countenance, is doing any thing, he says, but—

“Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit.”

“Sending dire outcries to the stars of heaven.”

[2465] This was an ancient and hideous idol, probably. Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Plautus, Lactantius, Arnobius, and Isidorus, all concur in saying that it was Saturn in honour of whom human victims were immolated.

[2466] “Ad Nationes.” A portico built by Augustus, and adorned with statues representing various nations.

[2467] “Thespiades.” They were brought by Mummius from Thespiæ, in Bœotia. See B. xxxiv. c. 19, and Note 2439, above.

[2468] See B. xxxv. c. 45, and end of B. xxxiii.

[2469] Magna Græcia.

[2470] Built by Metellus Macedonicus.

[2471] “Navalia.” This was the name of certain docks at Rome, where ships were built, laid up, and refitted. They were attached to the Emporium, without the Trigeminian Gate, and were connected with the Tiber.

[2472] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2473] In the Ninth Region of the City. These figures are mentioned also by Suetonius, C. 46.

[2474] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2475] A singular combination of names, as they mean “Lizard” and “Frog.” No further particulars of these artists are known, but they appear to have lived in the time of Pompey.

[2476] Of Juno and Apollo.

[2477] “Spiræ.” See Chapter 56 of this Book.

[2478] Winckelmann, in Vol. II. p. 269, of the Monumenti Antichi ined., gives the chapiter of an Ionic column, belonging to the church of San Lorenzo, without the walls, at Rome, on the volutes of which are represented a frog and a lizard.

[2479] The old reading is adopted here, in preference to that of the Bamberg MS., which does not appear reconcileable to sense in saying that this temple of Jupiter was originally made in honour of Juno; for in such case there could be no mistake in introducing the emblems of female worship.

[2480] A sculptor of Miletus. See B. vii. c. 21.

[2481] A Lacedæmonian artist. See B. vii. c. 21.

[2482] As well as that of Paros.

[2483] Only completed in the time of the Emperor Adrian.

[2484] Cebriones, the charioteer of Hector. See Il. B. xvi. l. 735.

[2485] See B. xxxiii. c. 23.

[2486] This is generally explained as meaning ordinary stone, but covered with elaborate paintings, as was then the practice in the magnificent villas that were built at Tibur, the modern Tivoli. See, however, Chapter 48, and Note 2784.

[2487] As applied to the decorations of the walls of houses.

[2488] This date does not agree with that given to Scopas, one of the artists who worked at the Mausoleum, in the early part of B. xxxiv. c. 19. Sillig, however, is inclined to think that there were two artists named Scopas, and would thus account for the diversity of about seventy years between the dates.

[2489] See end of B. ii.

[2490] Owing to the liberality of Cæsar, he amassed great riches. He is repeatedly attacked by Catullus (Carm. xxix., xliii., lvii.), and accused of extortion, and other vices. Horace also speaks of him in terms of ridicule, I Sat. 5, 37.

[2491] See B. iv. c. 21.

[2492] See Chapter 4 of this Book.

[2493] The black marbles, Ajasson remarks, are comparatively rare. He is of opinion that the colour of the Lucullan marble was the noir antique of the French, and says that it is to be found at Bergamo, Carrara, Prato in Tuscany, and near Spa in Belgium.

[2494] “Chios” is another reading.

[2495] “Thundering Jupiter.” This temple was built by Augustus.

[2496] Ajasson says that his remarks on the choice of the sand for this purpose, are very judicious.

[2497] A recommendation worse than useless, Ajasson remarks.

[2498] For this purpose, at the present day, granular corindon, or yellow emery, is used, as also a mixture composed of the oxides of lead and of tin; the substance being repeatedly moistened when applied.

[2499] See Chapters 13 and 43 of this Book.

[2500] A city in Crete where the stone was prepared for use.

[2501] “Cotes.”

[2502] Books III. IV. V. and VI.

[2503] The modern Ophite, both Noble, Serpentine, and Common.

[2504] From the Greek ὄφις, a “serpent.”

[2505] This would appear to be a kind of Apatite, or Augustite, found in crystalline rocks.

[2506] A superstition, owing solely to the name and appearance of the stone.

[2507] From the Greek τέφρα, “ashes.” The modern Tephroite is a silicate of manganese.

[2508] Memphis, in Egypt.

[2509] A variety of the modern Porphyry, possibly; a compact feldspathic base, with crystals of feldspar. Ajasson refuses to identify it with porphyry, and considers it to be the stone called Red antique, of a deep uniform red, and of a very fine grain; which also was a production of Egypt.

[2510] “Small stone.”

[2511] Of porphyrites.

[2512] “Procurator.”

[2513] See B. xxxvi. c. 38. See also the Lydian stone, or touchstone, mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 43.

[2514] From Βάσανος, a “touchstone.”

[2515] Philostratus gives a short account of this group, and copies of it are to be seen in the Vatican, and in the grounds of the Tuilleries.

[2516] See B. v. c. 10.

[2517] The Egyptians called it, not Memnon, but Amenophis, and it is supposed that it represented a monarch of the second dynasty. This is probably the statue still to be seen at Medinet Abou, on the Libyan side of the Nile, in a sitting posture, and at least 60 feet in height. The legs, arms, and other parts of the body are covered with inscriptions, which attest that, in the third century of the Christian era, the priests still practised upon the credulity of the devotees, by pretending that it emitted sounds. It may possibly have been erected for astronomical purposes, or for the mystic worship of the sun. The Greek name “Memnon” is supposed to have been derived from the Egyptian Mei Amun, “beloved of Ammon.”

[2518] Ajasson remarks that under this name the ancients meant, first, yellow calcareous Alabaster, and secondly, Chalcedony, unclassified.

[2519] See end of the present Book.

[2520] See B. vi. cc. 27, 28, 32.

[2521] “Variatum est.”

[2522] Ajasson thinks that these columns, in reality, were made, in both instances, of yellow jasper, or else yellow sardonyx, a compound of sard and chalcedony.

[2523] Erected A.U.C. 741.

[2524] See B. xxxiii. c. 47.

[2525] The reading here is doubtful, and it is questionable whether he considers the two stones as identical.

[2526] Probably calcareous Alabaster, Ajasson thinks. See B. xxxvii. c. 54.

[2527] See B. xiii. c. 3.

[2528] Plaster of Paris is made of gypsum or alabaster, heated and ground.

[2529] A feature both of jasper and of sardonyx.

[2530] By some persons it has been considered to be the same with the “lychnitis,” or white marble, mentioned in Chapter 4 of this Book. Ajasson is of opinion that it has not been identified.

[2531] Ajasson is in doubt whether this stone was really a marble or a gypsic alabaster. It received its name from the river Curalius or Coural, near which it was found; and it was also known as Sangaric marble. Ajasson thinks that the ancient milk-white marble, still found in Italy, and known to the dealers in antiquities as Palombino, may have been the “corallitic” stone. He also mentions the fine white marble known as Grechetto.

[2532] See B. v. c. 29. Sulphuret of manganese is now known as Alabandine; it is black, but becomes of a tarnished brown on exposure to the air. It is not improbable that this manganese was used for colouring glass, and that in Chapter 66 of this Book Pliny again refers to manganese when speaking of a kind of “magnet” or load-stone. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 237-8, Bohn’s Edition; who thinks, that in the present passage Pliny is speaking of a kind of marble. It is the fact, however, that Pyrolusite, or grey ore of manganese, is used, at a red heat, for discharging the brown and green tints of glass. See also B. xxxiv. c. 42, and the Note.

[2533] Syenite is the name still given to feldspar, hornblende, and quartz, passing into each other by insensible gradations, and resembling granite.

[2534] “Varied with red spots,” similar to our red granite.

[2535] “Obelisci.” So called from ὀβελισκὸς, a “small spit,” in consequence of their tapering form.

[2536] Meaning, probably, that in the Egyptian language, the same word is used as signifying a “spit” and a “ray” of light; for it is generally agreed that the word “obeliscus” is of Greek origin.

[2537] He does not appear to have been identified; and the correct reading is doubtful.

[2538] Heliopolis, or On. See B. v. c. 11.

[2539] These figures or hieroglyphics did not denote the phonetic language of Egypt, but only formed a symbolical writing.

[2540] Perhaps the same as “Sesostris.” The former reading is “Sothis.”

[2541] Ajasson identifies him with Rameses III., a king of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned B.C. 1561. This was also one of the names of Sesostris the Great.

[2542] The name of the bull divinity worshipped by the people of On, or Heliopolis; while by the people of Memphis it was known as Apis.

[2543] This, Hardouin says, was the same obelisk that was afterwards erected by Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, in the Circus Maximus at Rome; whence it was removed by Pope Sextus V., in the year 1588, to the Basilica of the Lateran.

[2544] This name is probably mutilated: there are about twenty different readings of it.

[2545] This name is also very doubtful. One reading is “Eraph,” and Hardouin attempts to identify him with the Pharaoh Hophra of Jeremiah, xliv. 30, the Ouafres of the Chronicle of Eusebius, and the Apries of Herodotus.

[2546] The Nectanabis, probably, of Plutarch, in his Life of Agesilaüs, and the Nectanebus of Nepos, in the Life of Chabrias.

[2547] Callixenus of Rhodes was a contemporary of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and was the author of a description of Alexandria, and of a catalogue of painters and sculptors.

[2548] Egyptian talents, probably. See. B. xxxiii. c. 15.

[2549] Evidently a stupendous monument, or rather aggregate of buildings, erected by Ptolemy II., Philadelphus, in memory of his wife and sister, Arsinoë. See B. xxxiv. c. 42.

[2550] Caligula.

[2551] See B. xvi. c. 76, and B. xxxv. c. 47.

[2552] Or Circus Maximus; in the Eleventh Region of the City. According to Kircher, it was this obelisk that Pope Sextus V. had disinterred, and placed before the church of the Madonna del Popolo.

[2553] There are sixteen various readings to this name.

[2554] Diogenes Laertius says that he arrived in Egypt in the reign of King Amasis.

[2555] Boscovich and Brotero would read here “eighty-two feet and three quarters,” which is more in accordance with its height, as measured by Kircher.

[2556] After being long buried in ruins, it was disinterred, but not re-erected, by Pope Benedict XIV. When thus brought to light, it was found to be broken asunder. On it there was an inscription stating that the Emperor Augustus had “presented it to the Sun”—“Soli donum dedit.”

[2557] Twelve o’clock in the day.

[2558] After the summer solstice.

[2559] The one that is mentioned above as having been removed from Alexandria by Caligula.

[2560] This obelisk was transferred by Pope Sextus V. from the Circus Vaticanus to the place of the Cathedral of St. Peter.

[2561] So called because it was laid out on some gardens which had belonged to one Vaticanus.

[2562] Caligula.

[2563] There are nine or ten readings of this name. Bunsen suggests “Menophtheus,” the Egyptian king Meneph-Pthah.

[2564] In Egypt, probably.

[2565] Ajasson thinks that they were intended as places of sepulture for the kings, but for the concealment, also, of their treasures.

[2566] See B. v. c. 9.

[2567] In Chapter 19 of this Book.

[2568] See B. v. c. 9. Herodotus says that these pyramids were built by King Mœris, in the middle of the lake, towering fifty paces above the surface of the water. Diodorus Siculus says that they were built by him in honour of himself and his wife.

[2569] Or left-hand side to those coming down the stream. He alludes to the three great Pyramids of Ghizeh, not far from Cairo. There are numerous other pyramids to be seen in Egypt.

[2570] In B. v. c. 9.

[2571] It still exists, though the face is mutilated. It was disinterred from the sand by Belzoni, but is now again nearly covered. According to Cavaglia, the signature of the Historian Arrian was found inscribed on one of the fore-paws, when it was disinterred.

[2572] This reading is, perhaps, preferable to the LXI. s, (61½) of the Bamberg MS. The head and neck, when uncovered, were found to be 27 feet in height.

[2573] Built by King Cheops, according to Herodotus, B. ii.

[2574] All these writers are mentioned in the list of authors at the end of the present Book.

[2575] For the use of the workmen. There is, probably, no foundation for a statement so exact as this; as it would be very singular that such a fact should continue to be known, and the names of the builders be buried in oblivion.

[2576] According to modern measurement, the sides of its base measure at the foundation 763 feet 4 inches, and it occupies a space of more than 13 acres. Its perpendicular height is 480 feet.

[2577] Other readings are 883, and 783.

[2578] Differing very considerably from the modern measurement. These variations may possibly arise, however, from a large portion of the base being covered with sand.

[2579] It was entirely coated with marble from the Thebaid; which, however, was removed by the Arabs in the middle ages. In the vicinity there is a fourth pyramid, but of such small dimensions that some of the Egyptian obelisks exceed it in height.

[2580] “Nitrum.” See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2581] From this reason being given, it would almost appear that these “bridges” in reality were aqueducts, for conveying the water, in order to melt the mounds of salt and nitre.

[2582] A very improbable story, as Ajasson remarks; as if the method of ascertaining the heights of edifices was unknown to the sages of Egypt, and the constructors of the Pyramids!

[2583] Herodotus, B. ii. cc. 134, 5, takes great pains to prove the absurdity of this story; and there is little doubt that the beautiful courtesan has been confounded with the equally beautiful Egyptian Queen, Nitocris, who is said by Julius Africanus and Eusebius to have built the third pyramid. As to the courtesan having been a fellow-slave of the fabulist, Æsop, it is extremely doubtful.

[2584] The greater harbour, there being two at Alexandria.

[2585] Ptolemy Lagus.

[2586] Supposed by Thiersch to have been the same person as the statuary mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2587] A risk that is now obviated, if, indeed, there is such a risk, by the use of revolving lights and coloured lights.

[2588] See B. v. c. 9.

[2589] The site of this labyrinth has not been traced, but Sir G. Wilkinson is inclined to think that it was at Howarah el Soghaïr in the Faiöum.

[2590] Similar, probably, to the one at Hampton Court.

[2591] Most modern writers, and some of the ancients, have altogether denied the existence of the Cretan Labyrinth; but, judging from the testimony of Tournefort and Cockerell, it is most probable that it really did exist, and that it was a vast natural grotto or cavern, enlarged and made additionally intricate by human ingenuity. There are many caverns of this nature in Crete, and one near Gortyna, at Hagios-Deka, is replete with galleries and intricate windings similar to those ascribed to the Labyrinth of Dædalus.

[2592] See Chapter 13 of this Book. He is surprised that the people of Egypt, a country which abounded in exquisite marbles, should have used that of another country in preference to their own.

[2593] As to the meaning of this word, see B. v. c. 9.

[2594] See Chapter 5 of this Book.

[2595] “Ulnæ.” See Introduction to Vol. III.

[2596] The ἄρουρα was a Greek square measure, containing 2500 square feet.

[2597] See Chapter 11 of this Book.

[2598] As to the meaning of this word, see Chapter 4 of this Book, page 317, and Note 2429.

[2599] “Circummon” is a more common reading.

[2600] Or acacia. See B. xxiv. c. 65.

[2601] Welcker remarks that it is uncertain whether this Labyrinth was erected as a temple of the Cabiri, or whether it had any connection with the art of mining.

[2602] Smilis lived, probably, 200 years before Rhœcus and Theodorus, and was a native of Ægina, not Lemnos. Sillig, however, is inclined to think that there were two artists of this name; the elder a contemporary of Dædalus, and the maker of several wooden statues.

[2603] See B. xxxv. c. 43.

[2604] See B. iii. c. 8.

[2605] A round, broad-brimmed hat, such as we see represented in the statues of Mercury.

[2606] Where two brazen vessels were erected on a column, adjoining to which was the statue of a boy with a whip; which, when agitated by the wind, struck the vessels, and omens were drawn from the tinkling noise produced, significant of future events, it was supposed.

[2607] A building like this, as Niebuhr says, is absolutely impossible, and belongs to the “Arabian Nights.” The description in some particulars resembles that of a Chinese pagoda.

[2608] Probably of Babylon, which were built on terraces raised on arches.

[2609] His meaning is, that it was built upon arches.

[2610] Asia Minor.

[2611] The Hotel de Ville at Brussels is said to have been built upon a stratum of hides.

[2612] See Chapter 4 of the present Book. Sillig, in his “Dictionary of Ancient Artists,” suggests a reading which would make the passage to mean that Scopas was jointly architect with Chersiphron. The latter, however, was not the architect of the second temple at Ephesus, but flourished nearly four hundred years before.

[2613] Strabo says that, in conjunction with his son Metagenes, he began the first Temple at Ephesus. Thiersch is of opinion that he lived about the first Olympiad, He is mentioned also in B. vii. c. 38.

[2614] “Epistylia.” See B. xxxv. c. 49.

[2615] Which must have been above the bags and at the summit of the inclined plane.

[2616] See B. v. c. 40.

[2617] “Lapis Fugitivus.”

[2618] A public place where the Prytanes or chief magistrates assembled, and where the public banquets were celebrated.

[2619] Or “Narrow” gate, apparently. Dion Cassius, B. 74, tells a similar story nearly, of seven towers at Byzantium, near the Thracian Gate; and “Thracia” is given by the Bamberg MS. It is most probable that the two accounts were derived from the same source.

[2620] Ἑπτάφωνον, “seven times vocal.” Plutarch also mentions this portico.

[2621] Βουλευτήριον, the “senate house” or “council-chamber.”

[2622] It was the most ancient of the bridges at Rome, and was so called from its being built upon “sublices,” or wooden beams. It was originally built by Ancus Martius, and was afterwards rebuilt by the Pontifices or pontiffs. We learn from Ovid, Fasti, B. v. l. 621, that it was still a wooden bridge in the reign of Augustus. In the reign of Otho it was carried away by an inundation. In later times it was also known as the Pons Æmilius, from the name of the person probably under whose superintendence it was rebuilt.

[2623] See B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[2624] L. Æmilius Paulus, who was consul with C. Marcellus, A.U.C. 703. His Basilica, a building which served as a court of law and as an exchange, was erected in the Eighth Region of the City, at the cost of 1500 talents; which were sent to him by Cæsar, Plutarch says, as a bribe to gain him over from the aristocratical party. It was surrounded with an open peristyle of columns of Phrygian marble.

[2625] “Diribitorium.” See B. xvi. c. 76.

[2626] Scribonius Libo, who was Ædile during the consulship of Cicero.

[2627] “Mound,” or “Terrace.” See B. iii. c. 9, where it is ascribed to Tarquinius Superbus; but Strabo seems to attribute its foundation to Servius Tullius.

[2628] Thebes, in Egypt. See Chapter 20 of this Book.

[2629] A.U.C. 721. He alludes probably to the cleansing of the sewers beneath the city, which took place, Dion Cassius informs us, in the ædileship of Agrippa.

[2630] As Hardouin remarks, the story of the Milesian Virgins, as related by Aulus Gellius and Plutarch, is very similar.

[2631] A.U.C. 676.

[2632] Caligula. The Palace of Caligula was situate on the Palatine Hill] that of Nero extended from the Palatine Hill to the Esquiline, nearly the whole of which was covered by it. It was left unfinished by Nero, but the Emperor Otho completed it. Martial, Spectac. Ep. 2, speaks in terms of indignation of there being now “but one house in all the City;” but, unfortunately, he gives utterance to it with a view of flattering Domitian.

[2633] Whence its name, “Aurea,” the “golden” Palace.

[2634] “Sellaria.”

[2635] By this mode of expression, he probably means that they were “birds of a feather”—one as bad as the other.

[2636] His mother, Metella Cæcilia, became the wife of Sylla.

[2637] He forgets the Pyramids and the Labyrinth of Egypt, which he has so recently described.

[2638] See B. xvii. c. 1, and Chapter 3 of the present Book. L. Crassus is the person alluded to.

[2639] “Four” is the number mentioned in B. xvii. c. 1.

[2640] In Chapter 2 of this Book.

[2641] In B. xxxiv. c. 17.

[2642] “Cavea.” The place where the spectators sat, much like the “pit” of our theatres.

[2643] See B. xxxiii. c. 19.

[2644] “Choragio.”

[2645] He was defeated and slain in Africa by Juba and P. Attius Varus.

[2646] And, consequently, of more strict manners, and more strict morals.

[2647] “Tabulis.” The wooden frames, probably, which formed the margin of one side of each theatre, and which, when they were brought together, would make a diameter running through the circle which they formed. Hardouin thinks that these theatres are alluded to in Virgil, Georg. B. III. l. 22, et seq.

[2648] In allusion, probably, to the addresses delivered by Curio, when tribune, from the Rostra, in favour of Cæsar.

[2649] “Pensiles.” Pliny not improbably intends a pun here, this word meaning also “suspended,” or “poised”—in reference, probably, to their suspension on the pivots in Curio’s theatres.

[2650] Between Cæsar and Pompey, which he is supposed to have inflamed for his own private purposes.

[2651] He was prætor B.C. 144; and, in order that he might complete his aqueduct, his office was prolonged another year.

[2652] This aqueduct was begun by Appius Claudius Cæcus, the censor, and was the first made at Rome; B.C. 313.

[2653] See B. iii. c. 17. It was commenced by M. Curius Dentatus, B.C. 273, the water being brought a distance of 43 miles. It was afterwards known as the “Anio Vetus,” to distinguish it from another aqueduct from the same river, mentioned in this Chapter, and called the “Anio Novus.” The former was constructed of Peperino stone, and the water-course was lined with cement. Considerable remains of it are still to be seen.

[2654] The Aqua Tepula was constructed B.C. 127; so that it is doubtful if Pliny is not here in error.

[2655] The Aqua Marcia was brought a distance of upwards of 60 miles, from the vicinity of Sublaqueum, now Subiaco, and was of such elevation that water could be supplied to the loftiest part of the Capitoline Hill. A considerable number of the arches are still standing. In the vicinity of the city it was afterwards united with the Aqua Tepula and the Aqua Julia; the watercourse of the last being above that of the Aqua Tepula, and that above the course of the Aqua Marcia. See B. xxxi. cc. 24, 25.

[2656] See B. xxxi. cc. 24, 25.

[2657] See B. xxxi. c. 25.

[2658] See end of B. iii.

[2659] Victor mentions 856 public baths at Rome.

[2660] Caligula.

[2661] Anio Novus.

[2662] Nero.

[2663] See B. ii. c. 106, and B. iii. c. 17. In order to check the sudden rise of its waters, a design was entertained by Julius Cæsar to construct a subterranean canal from the lake into the valley of the Liris, which, unfortunately, was frustrated by his death. Claudius, however, executed the work, by cutting a gallery upwards of an English mile and a half through the limestone rock; a work which, according to Suetonius, occupied thirty thousand workmen continually for eleven years. On opening it with a mock naval combat, an accident happened in which many persons lost their lives, and Claudius himself but narrowly escaped. The emissary answered its purpose for some time, and, though Nero suffered the works to fall into decay, they were repaired by Hadrian. In the middle ages, however, the work fell in, and has not since been restored.

[2664] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2665] “Magnes.”

[2666] In Chapter 23 of this Book.

[2667] “Iron earth;” from σίδηρος, “iron.” The magnet, or loadstone itself, is an oxide of iron, known as Oxidulated iron, or Ferroso-ferric oxide; sometimes in combination with quartz or alumine.

[2668] From Heraclea, in Lydia, or in Thessaly, according to some accounts. It is not improbable, however, that it was so called after “Heracles,” or Hercules, on account of its powerful influence upon iron ores.

[2669] Isidorus says, “India,” in B. 16 of the “Origines.”

[2670] See the list of authors at the end of this Book.

[2671] Varieties, no doubt, of oxide of iron.

[2672] An absurd distinction, as Ajasson remarks; based, probably, on Eastern notions, and with reference to the comparative powers of attraction.

[2673] From αἷμα, “blood.” He alludes to Specular iron, red ochre, or red hematite, another oxide of iron.

[2674] Sometimes it has, but in a very slight degree.

[2675] Ajasson remarks that most probably the possessors of this pretended variety knew the distinction between the two poles of the magnet, and took care, when it was their interest to do so, to place the opposite pole towards that of the other loadstone.

[2676] It was the belief of the Duke of Noya Caraffa, that this stone was identical with Tourmaline: but, as Beckmann says, tourmaline, when heated, first attracts iron, and then repels it. Hist. Inv. Vol. I. pp. 87, 88. Bohn’s Edition. Ajasson is of opinion that the Theamedes was neither more nor less than the ordinary loadstone, with the negative pole presented, by designing persons, towards another magnet.

[2677] In B. ii. c. 98, and B. xx. c. 1.

[2678] See B. iv. c. 23.

[2679] See B. ii. c. 106, Vol. I. p. 137, and Note 687. There is little doubt that this was a volcanic, porous product.

[2680] From σάρξ, “flesh,” and φάγω, “to eat.” See B. ii. c. 98. Ajasson identifies it with Alunite, or Alum stone, in its several varieties.

[2681] Both of them varieties of calcareous tufa, Ajasson thinks.

[2682] Or Sarcophagus: see the preceding Chapter.

[2683] Democritus, amongst the ancients, and Savonarola and Cardan, in more recent times, have attributed to stones the powers of reproduction. Vivès speaks of certain diamonds which conceive and fructify; and Avicenna speaks of the selenite or moon-stone of Arabia, which, when suspended from a tree, generates other stones of a similar nature. Tournefort also entertained similar opinions.

[2684] Fossil teeth of mammiferæ, probably.

[2685] Fossil animal remains, no doubt.

[2686] Cneius Pompeius. See B. iii. c. 3.

[2687] “Palmati.” This is more probably the meaning, than the “human palm,” as Littré renders it. They were fossil impressions of leaves, in all probability.

[2688] See Chapter 43 of this Book: also B. iv. cc. 7, 8.

[2689] Stones so called, possibly, from being found in the vicinity of Cora in Italy: See B. iii. c. 9. These stones are also mentioned by Isidorus, Orig. B. xvi. c. 4.

[2690] Identified by Ajasson and Desfontaines? with Quartz molar agate, very abundant in this volcanic region of Italy.

[2691] “Molares.” “Millstone.”

[2692] Or Serpentine. See Chapter 11 of this Book.

[2693] Not the Pyrites of modern Mineralogy, combinations of sulphur with various mineral ores.

[2694] The Greek for “fire” being πῦρ.

[2695] Sulphate of copper, probably, our Chalcopyrite, or yellow copper pyrites.

[2696] See B. v. c. 35.

[2697] Or “quick,” “vivos.” Ajasson identifies these with the quartz agates that form our gun-flints, a Chalcedonic variety of Silica.

[2698] Amadue, or German tinder.

[2699] Fossil shells of oysters and bivalve mollusks, combined, probably, with Fahlunite or Hydrous Iolite.

[2700] This is the most delicate variety of Asbestus, a kind of Hornblende: it presents the lustre of satin. As to Asbestus, see B. xix. c. 4, where Pliny has evidently taken it to be a vegetable production.

[2701] See B. xxxv. c. 52.

[2702] “Earthy” stone. These are either nodules of iron-stone, hollow in the centre, or else round, inorganic masses, hollow, and lined with crystals within. These latter are mostly of a silicious nature.

[2703] It was, probably, a yellow, argillaceous earth, and it is more probable that it derived its name from μελὶ, “honey,” in consequence of its colour than by reason of its supposed sweet juices. The Mellite, Mellitite, or Honey-stone of modern Mineralogy, also known as Mellate of Alumina, has its name from its honey-yellow colour. It is found in Thuringia, Moravia, and Bohemia; but most probably was unknown in the days of Pliny.

[2704] See B. xx. cc. 6, 21.

[2705] Our jet, which somewhat resembles cannel-coal, and is found in clay soils.

[2706] See B. v. c. 28, where a place called “Gagæ” is mentioned. In Note 3900 to that Chapter, “gagates” is erroneously rendered “agate.”

[2707] See B. v. c. 26.

[2708] This comparison is not inapt, as it is closely akin to Lignite, or brown coal.

[2709] A bituminous and animal odour, Ajasson says, quite peculiar to itself.

[2710] He has borrowed this erroneous assertion, probably, from Nicander, who, with Pliny, says the same of the “Thracian stone,” which has not been identified, but is supposed to have been a sort of coal. See B. xxxiii. c. 30.

[2711] This is, probably, the meaning of “sonticus morbus,” a disease, which, according to the jurists, excused those affected with it, from attending in courts of justice.

[2712] Albertus Magnus, De Mineral. B. ii., says that if it is given in water to a female, it will have a diuretic effect immediately, if she is not in a state of virginity, and that the contrary will be the case if she is.

[2713] See B. xxx. c. 5. According to Dalechamps, this was practised by placing the jet upon a hatchet at a red heat.

[2714] “Stone-macerater.” From τήκω, to “macerate,” and λιθὸς, “a stone.”

[2715] Dioscorides says that it was found in Cappadocia also; and both he and Galen attribute to it certain medicinal properties. It was used either for colouring, or else, like fuller’s earth, for taking the grease out of wool and cloth. Ajasson is inclined to think that it was either a volcanic scoria or a Peperite, also of volcanic origin.

[2716] Or “blood-stone,” mentioned already in Chapter 25 of this Book.

[2717] He is evidently speaking here of the red peroxide of iron.

[2718] Vermilion. See B. xxxiii. c. 37.

[2719] Literally, “split” stone; so called, probably, from its laminated form. Ajasson identifies it with yellow or brown iron ore, known in Mineralogy as Limonite, or Brown Hematite.

[2720] “Explendis oculorum lacunis.”

[2721] Mentioned in Chapter 25 of this Book.

[2722] Mentioned also in Chapter 25. Probably Red peroxide of iron, in a massive form.

[2723] “All-serviceable,” or “all-heal.”

[2724] “Man-subduing.”

[2725] The colour of Specular iron, or red peroxide of iron, being of a dark steel-grey or iron-black, this is probably another variety of it. Ajasson thinks that it includes compact or massive red oxide of iron, and scaly red iron, or red iron froth, which leaves red marks upon the fingers.

[2726] See Chapter 11 of this Book. Its alleged attraction of silver and copper is fabulous, no doubt.

[2727] This is probably the Limonite, or Hydrous peroxide of iron, mentioned in the preceding Chapter. See Note 2719 above.

[2728] Identified by Ajasson with Red ochre, or Reddle, a red peroxide of iron, used for red crayons in drawing.

[2729] “Liver-stone.” Not to be confounded with the Hepatite of modern Mineralogy, or Sulphate of Barytes.

[2730] “Spleen-stone.”

[2731] See B. xxxv. c. 14.

[2732] Identified by Ajasson with Laminated protoxide of iron. It has probably an affinity to the variety noticed above, in Notes 2719 and 2727.

[2733] Owing solely, in all probability, to its name, “blood-stone.”

[2734] Ajasson is at a loss to know whether this is our Anthracite, a non-bituminous coal, or some kind of bituminous coal. Delafosse takes it to be pit-coal.

[2735] Or “eagle-stone.” It is a Geodes, mentioned in Chapter 23 of this Book, a globular mass of clay iron-stone. Sometimes it is hollow within, and sometimes it encloses another stone, or a little water, or some mineral dust.

[2736] Chapter 4.

[2737] See B. iv. c. 2.

[2738] A kind of pumice, Ajasson thinks, or porous feldspathic scoria from volcanos.

[2739] In B. xxxv. c. 53.

[2740] In Chapter 37 of this Book.

[2741] See B. xxiii. cc. 45, 80.

[2742] Probably of a similar nature to the Samian stone.

[2743] Pumice is still used as the basis of a dentifrice, but it destroys the enamel of the teeth.

[2744] See Note 2739 above.

[2745] Or “temples of the Muses:” evidently grottos in the present instance.

[2746] In allusion to the line, “Aridâ modo pumice expolitum”—“Just polished with dry pumice-stone.” Ep. I. l. 2. Both the backs of books and the parchment used for writing were rubbed with pumice.

[2747] Sec B. v. c. 36.

[2748] See B. xxxiv. c. 22.

[2749] Hist. B. ix. c. 18.

[2750] As a preventive of vomiting.

[2751] “Musta.” Grape-juice in the process of being made into wine.

[2752] Delafosse suggests that this may have been grey-spotted granite. The name is doubtful, as “Edesian” and “Ephesian” are other readings.

[2753] In Chapter 13 of this Book.

[2754] “Golden stone.” A variety, perhaps, of the Thebaic stone with gold spots, mentioned in Chapter 13 of this Book.

[2755] Possibly so called from Χάλαζα, “hail,” it being, perhaps, a granite with spots like hailstones.

[2756] Sec Chapters 11 and 33 of this Book.

[2757] In consequence of its extreme hardness.

[2758] Phœnician stone and Tænarian stone do not appear to have been identified. Parian stone may probably have been white Parian marble.

[2759] See Chapter 12 of this Book.

[2760] Serpentine. See Chapters 11 and 30.

[2761] See B. iv. cc. 22, 23.

[2762] Ajasson identifies it with Ollar stone, talc, or soap-stone, a hydrous silicate of magnesia, and nearly allied to the Ophites of Chapters 11 and 30.

[2763] He being a native of that part of Italy.

[2764] The Green Colubine Ollar stone; or soap-stone of Italy.

[2765] See B. iii. c. 21.

[2766] Identified by Brotero with our Free-stone or grit-stone.

[2767] So called from its resemblance to the spots on a peacock’s tail. He alludes, probably, to the mode of roofing with tiles cut in the form of scales, still much employed on the continent, and in Switzerland more particularly.

[2768] Or “Mirror-stone.” Transparent Selenite or gypsum; a sulphate of lime.

[2769] Now Segorba, in Valentia.

[2770] Ajasson is of opinion that various kinds of mica and talc are the minerals here alluded to.

[2771] From φεγγὸς, “brightness.” Beckmann is of opinion that this was a calcareous or gypseous spar (Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 66); but Ajasson seems to think that it was very similar to Parian marble, which was sometimes called by this name.

[2772] This is more likely to apply to a white marble than to a calcareous or gypseous spar. Suetonius says, c. 14, that Domitian, when he suspected that plots were forming against him, caused the porticos in which he walked to be lined with Phengites, which by its reflection showed what was going on behind his back.

[2773] See B xviii. c. 2.

[2774] See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[2775] Beckmann says, in reference to this passage, supposing that a kind of spar is meant by the word phengites—“It is probable that the openings of the walls of the building where the windows used to be, were in this instance filled up with phengites. which, by admitting a faint light, prevented the place from being dark, even when the doors were shut.”— Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 66. Bohn’s Edition.

[2776] In Chapter 10 of this Book.

[2777] See B. v. cc. 22, 35, for two places of this name.

[2778] A Celtic word, probably.

[2779] See B. iii. c. 2.

[2780] Identical, probably, with the Tufa of modern Mineralogy, which thence derives its name, a Carbonate of lime.

[2781] Thus reversing the order of things with the Romans, who put the lime on their houses, and the pitch in their wines. See B. xiv. cc. 3, 24, 25.

[2782] See B. xiv. c. 24.

[2783] A white tufa, Vitruvius says, B. i. c. 7.

[2784] It was in reference, possibly, to this stone that Cicero made the remark, mentioned in Chapter 5 of this Book; the heat of Chios being so great, perhaps, that the Tiburtine stone could not have endured it.

[2785] A general name for Silica, Flint, or Quartz, and the several varieties.

[2786] See B. iii. c. 8.

[2787] See B. ii. c. 96, B. iii. c. 9, and B. xiv. c. 8.

[2788] Ajasson thinks that Travertine is meant; a tufa, or carbonate of lime, which is common in Tuscany.

[2789] “Built of stones of equal size.”

[2790] “Built of stones of unequal sizes.”

[2791] “Filled up work,” apparently.

[2792] The reading is very doubtful here: for the word seems to mean, in Greek, “From one wall to another.” “Diamicton”—“Mixed up,” is another reading.

[2793] Where the outer face of each stone forms an exact square; the pointings consequently having a netlike or reticulated appearance.

[2794] The vertical pointings or junctures lying one over the other.

[2795] De Re Rust. c. 38.

[2796] See Chapters 29 and 30 of this Book.

[2797] To which Pozzuolane belongs.

[2798] For making mortar.

[2799] Pounded marble mixed with quicklime.

[2800] “Lacte et croco” appears to be a preferable reading to “late e croco,” as given by the Bamberg MS.

[2801] It seems difficult to understand whether by the word “spiræ” he means astragals, or bases. It would almost appear, by the use of the word “subditæ,” that it is “bases” for the shafts. It is just possible, however, that the meaning may be that the “spiræ” were placed beneath the capitals which were added.

[2802] A different thing altogether from the Maltha or Pissasphalt of B. ii. c. 108. Festus describes it as a mixture of pitch and wax; and Palladius, in B. i. c. 17, speaks of it as being composed of tar, grease, and lime boiled; and in c. 35 he describes Maltha caldaria as a mixture of hammoniacum, figs, tow, tar, and melted suet. It was probably a general name for several kinds of cement. Heineccius says that it was employed for sealing, but on what authority does not appear. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 141. Bohn’s Edition.

[2803] This is perhaps the meaning of “duplici lenimento.” The reading, however, is doubtful.

[2804] The name now given to Sulphate of lime, including the varieties of Alabaster and Selenite. Plaster of Paris is prepared from it.

[2805] The method of preparing plaster of Paris.

[2806] See B. iv. c. 3.

[2807] See B. iv. c. 3.

[2808] The same thing, strictly speaking. See Chapter 12 of this Book.

[2809] See Chapter 45 of this Book.

[2810] See B. vii. c. 46.

[2811] Dioscorides says, B. v. c. 134, that, taken internally, it produces suffocation.

[2812] “Lithostrota.”

[2813] His age and country are unknown.

[2814] “The house that has no sweeping.”

[2815] “Subtegulanea.”—“Undercover;” in contradistinction to the “subdialia” of next Chapter.

[2816] “Pavimentum,” from “pavio,” to “beat down.”

[2817] “Scutulatum.”—Having figures in the shape of a lozenge or rhombus.

[2818] The line is,

“Arte pavimenti atque emblemate vermiculato;”

literary compositions being compared by him to the artificial construction of a pavement.

[2819] “Subdialia;” more literally, “open-air pavements.”

[2820] Or “kernel;” so called because it lay in the middle. Vitruvius says that it was composed of one part lime, and three parts pounded pottery.

[2821] “Quercus.”

[2822] “Spicata testacea.” These pavements were probably so called because the bricks were laid at angles to each other (of about forty-five degrees), like the grains in an ear of wheat; or like the spines projecting from either side of the back-bone of a fish.

[2823] “Lithostrota.”

[2824] In Chapter 24 of this Book.

[2825] See B. v. c. 17.

[2826] See B. v. c. 19.

[2827] A mineral alkali, Beckmann thinks; for it could not possibly be our saltpetre, he says. See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2828] Beckmann discredits this story, because sand, he says, is not so easily brought to a state of fusion. Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 496. Bohn’s Edition.

[2829] “Magnes lapis.” See B. xxxiv. c. 42, and Chapter 25 of this Book. Beckmann is of opinion that an ore of Manganese is meant, a substance which has a resemblance to the magnet, and is of the greatest utility in making glass. Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 237.

[2830] This appears to be the meaning of “Quoniam in se liquorem vitri quoque ut ferrum trahere creditur.”

[2831] In the description given by Isidorus in the “Origines,” which in other respects is similar, these words are omitted, and it is possible that they are a gloss by some one who was better acquainted with the Old Testament than with Pliny. On the other hand, as Sillig remarks, the Phœnicians may, at an early period, have imported into Greece a substance which they called “nitre of Ophir.”

[2832] See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 84.

[2833] “Excogitaverat.” Beckmann would seem to give this word the force only of “thought of,” for he gives it as his opinion that attempts were made at Sidon to form glass mirrors, but that the experiments had not completely succeeded. “Had this invention formed an epoch in the art of making mirrors, Pliny, in another place (B. xxxiii. c. 45), where he describes the various improvements of it so fully, would not have omitted it: but of those experiments he makes no further mention.” He also expresses an opinion that the Sidonian mirrors consisted of dark-coloured glass, resembling obsidian stone.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 69, 70. Bohn’s Edition.

[2834] Knowles says, in his Turkish History, p. 1273, that in 1610, among other rare presents sent to the King of Spain from the Sophy of Persia, there were six drinking-glasses, made of malleable glass so exquisitely tempered that they could not be broken.

[2835] Dion Cassius and Suetonius tell a similar story; and, according to one account, Tiberius ordered the artist to be put to death.

[2836] This reading is doubtful. It would appear to mean “stone handled.” Another reading is “pterotos,” “with winged handles.”

[2837] Volcanic glass, feldspar in a more or less pure state, our Obsidian, is probably meant; a word derived from the old reading, Obsidius, corrected by Sillig to Obsius.

[2838] He is speaking of the stone, not the glass that resembled it.

[2839] A thing very difficult to be done, as Beckmann observes, by reason of its brittleness.

[2840] The present Portugal.

[2841] “Blood-red” glass.

[2842] See B. xxxvii. cc. 7, 8, 11. This glass was probably of an opal colour, like porcelain.

[2843] This passage is commented upon by Beckmann, Vol. II. p. 75, in connexion with a similar passage in Isidorus, Orig., which is probably corrupt.

[2844] See B. xxxvii. c. 10. He was not aware, apparently, that in such case they act as convex burning-glasses, and that ice even may be similarly employed.

[2845] This is, probably, the meaning of “in guttas;” a new reading, which is only found in the Bamberg MS.

[2846] See B. xxxiv. c. 2.

[2847] See B. xxxiv. c. 47.

[2848] “Improba” seems to be used here in much the some sense in which Virgil has said “Labor improbus”—“Unremitting labour.”

[2849] He alludes, probably, to eclipses of the sun.

[2850] Acacia charcoal is still recommended as a valuable tonic, and as good for internal ulcerations and irritations of the mucous membrane.

[2851] In B. xxvi. c. 4.

[2852] “Querneus.”

[2853] It is much more likely that he was the son of Tarquin himself, who not improbably, if indeed there ever was such a person, invented the story, to escape the wrath of Queen Tanaquil. This absurd story is mentioned also by Ovid, Arnobius, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

[2854] See B. iii. c. 9, and B. xix. c. 4.

[2855] See end of B. ii. L. Cælius Antipater.

[2856] See end of B. ii.

[2857] Probably Sulpicius Galba, who devoted his time to literary pursuits, and rose to no higher office than the prætorship, He was grand-father of the Emperor Galba, and wrote a historical work.

[2858] Another reading is “Ictius,” but nothing is known of either.

[2859] See end of B. ii.

[2860] See end of B. ii.

[2861] See end of B. ii.

[2862] See end of B. ii. and end of B. xviii.

[2863] See end of B. vii.

[2864] See end of B. xvi.

[2865] See end of B. ii. and end of B. xviii.

[2866] See end of B. vi.

[2867] See end of B. iii.

[2868] See end of B. xvi.

[2869] See end of B. iii.

[2870] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2871] See end of B. v.

[2872] See end of B. viii.

[2873] All that we know of him is, that he wrote on Precious Stones. Apollonius Dyscolus mentions an author who wrote on the same subject, whose name was “Tacus;” and possibly the same person is meant.

[2874] Mentioned in this and the next Book, as a writer on Precious Stones.

[2875] Cornelius Alexander. See end of B. iii.

[2876] See end of B. xxx.

[2877] See end of B. xx.

[2878] See end of B. vii.

[2879] See end of B. ii.

[2880] A Sicilian author of the time of Alexander. In his “Sacred History,” he interpreted the legends of the popular religion as based upon historical facts, and taught that the gods of Mythology were only deified men. His system has been compared with the rationalism of some German theologians, and Euhemerists were still to be found at the close of last century. Diodorus Siculus, Polybius, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus have followed in his track; and the poet Ennius translated his work, which is now lost.

[2881] A Greek writer on Egypt. He is often quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, who says that he was not much younger than Plato. He is mentioned as a writer on the Pyramids of Egypt, in Chapter 17 of this Book.

[2882] See end of B. xii.

[2883] See end of B. ii.

[2884] From the mention made of him in Chapter 17 of this Book, he must have lived in the first century before, or the first century after Christ.

[2885] Possibly Antisthenes of Rhodes, a historian who lived about 200 B.C.

[2886] Possibly the author mentioned by Athenæus, B. xv. as having written on Egypt. He is mentioned in Chapter 17 of this Book.

[2887] Hardouin thinks that he is the same person as Hermateles, mentioned by Tertullian, De Spectaculis, c. 8, as having written on Obelisks.

[2888] A native of Naucratis, in Egypt, who wrote a work on that country, mentioned by Athenæus, and some Poems.

[2889] In B. xxxiii. c. 4.

[2890] This being imposed as a punishment on him, in remembrance of his sacrilegious crimes, when released by Jupiter from the rock. Prometheus and Vulcan, as Ajasson remarks, are personifications of fire, employed for artistic purposes.

[2891] See B. xxxiii. c. 6.

[2892] For ultimately, Oroetes, the satrap of Sardes, contrived to allure him into his power, and had him crucified, B.C. 522. Fuller, in his Worthies, p. 370, tells a very similar story of the loss and recovery of his ring by one Anderson, a merchant of Newcastle-on-Tyne; and Zuinglius gives a similar statement with reference to Arnulph, duke of Lorraine, who dropped his ring into the Moselle, and recovered it from the belly of a fish.

[2893] See Chapter 23. According to Herodotus, Pausanias, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Suidas, the stone was an emerald; and Lessing thinks that there was no figure engraved on it. See Chapter 4 of this Book. Without vouching for the truth of it, we give the following extract from the London Journal, Vol. xxiii. No. 592. “A vine-dresser of Albano, near Rome, is said to have found in a vineyard, the celebrated ring of Polycrates.—The stone is of considerable size, and oblong in form. The engraving on it, by Theodore of Samos, the son of Talikles, is of extraordinary fineness and beauty. It represents a lyre, with three bees flying about; below, on the right, a dolphin; on the left, the head of a bull. The name of the engraver is inscribed in Greek characters. The upper surface of the stone is slightly concave, not highly polished, and one corner broken. It is asserted that the possessor has been offered 50,000 dollars for it.”

[2894] “Achates.” A variegated chalcedony. It was probably what is called, from its radiated streaks, a fortification agate. See Chapter 54 of this Book.

[2895] Ajasson remarks that there can be little doubt that Nature had at least been very extensively seconded by Art.

[2896] “Choraules.” One who accompanies the chorus on the pipe or flute.

[2897] “Smaragdus.”

[2898] One of the Danaïdes.

[2899] This is said with reference to the one in the Temple of Concord, mentioned in Chapter 2.

[2900] But see Exodus xxvii. 9, et seq., where it is shown that the practice existed many hundreds of years before.

[2901] See B. vii. c. 38; where marble is the substance named. There are still two gems in existence said to have been engraved by this artist; but by some they are thought to be spurious.

[2902] There are many precious stones with his name, still extant: but only six appear to have been really engraved by him.

[2903] This signet is mentioned also by Plutarch and Valerius Maximus.

[2904] See B. iii. c. 4.

[2905] The younger Africanus. This circumstance is mentioned in the Epitome of Livy, B. xlviii.

[2906] See B. xxxiii. c. 5, and end of Book ix.

[2907] In reference to the ambiguous part which he acted, Ajasson thinks, in the early part of his career.

[2908] In reference to the story of Œdipus and the Sphinx.

[2909] A Greek word, signifying a “repository of kings.”

[2910] See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[2911] The sister of Augustus.

[2912] See B. xxxiii c. 53.

[2913] See B. xxxiv. c. 8.

[2914] “Acta.”

[2915] Chapter 7.

[2916] A.U.C. 693.

[2917] 30th of September.

[2918] “Alveum lusorium.”

[2919] Probably meaning a shrine dedicated to the Muses.

[2920] See B. ii. c. 78, and B. vii. c. 60.

[2921] That of Africa.

[2922] See B. vii. c. 27.

[2923] As was the case, after the murder of Pompey in Egypt.

[2924] Caligula.

[2925] Modern writers differ as to the material of which these vessels were composed. Some think that they were of variegated glass, and others of onyx; but the more general opinion is, that they were Chinese porcelain, and we have the line in Propertius, B. iv. El. 5, l. 26. “And murrhine vessels baked on Parthian hearths.” Ajasson is of opinion, from the description given by Pliny, that these vessels were made of Fluor spar, or fluate of lime. “Myrrhine” is another reading of the word.

[2926] “Ante hos annos.” Sillig is of opinion that the reading here should be “L. Annius,” and that L. Annius Bassus, who was Consul suffectus in the year 70 A.D., is the person referred to; or possibly, T. Arrius Antoninus, who was Consul suffectus, A.D. 69.

[2927] The Gardens of Nero, in the Fourteenth Region of the City.

[2928] He had been formerly a sharer in the debaucheries of Nero. Tacitus called him “Caius.”

[2929] See B. vi. cc. 27, 28, 32.

[2930] Ajasson is of opinion that this passage bears reference to crystallization. Both he and Desfontaines see in the present Chapter a very exact description of Fluor spar; and there is certainly great difficulty in recognizing any affinity between murrhine vessels, as here described, and porcelain.

[2931] “Abacus.”

[2932] In the preceding Chapter.

[2933] Meaning that they are semitransparent, Ajasson thinks. One great characteristic of Fluor spar is its being subtranslucent.

[2934] This would appear to be the meaning here of “sales.” See p. 396.

[2935] One of the grounds, Ajasson says, on which may be based the opinion that they were artificial.

[2936] Colourless crystals, quartz, or rock crystal; called “white stone” in jewellery.

[2937] See B. xxxvi. c. 45. This was a very general opinion of the ancients with respect to crystal.

[2938] Κρύσταλλος, from κρύος, “cold.”

[2939] See B. v. c. 29.

[2940] In Caria, see B. v. c. 29.

[2941] The Island “of the dead.” Brotero supposes it to be the island of Maceira.

[2942] See B. vi. c. 34. As Ajasson remarks, there could be no snow or ice here.

[2943] See B. iv. c. 35.

[2944] Dioscorides attributes the hardening of crystal to the action of the sun.

[2945] “Its shape is rhombohedral, and hemihedral in some of its modifications. The planes on the angles between the prism and pyramidal terminations, incline sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left, and the crystals are termed right and left-handed crystals.”—Dana, System of Mineralogy, Art. Quartz.

[2946] Ajasson remarks that blocks have been found in Switzerland, weighing above eight hundred pounds.

[2947] Forty-eight sextarii. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[2948] This “vomica,” Ajasson says, is either water, azote, rarified oxygen, or water in combination with naphtha.

[2949] “Centra,” knots, or flaws. See B. xvi. c. 76, where he speaks of the “centra” in marble. See also Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 471. Bohn’s Edition.

[2950] “Sale.” See Note 2934 above.

[2951] “Without flaw.”

[2952] See B. xxxvi. c. 67.

[2953] “Succinum.” It is of vegetable origin, and, according to Göppert, was originally the viscous resin of a tree named by him Pinites succinifer.

[2954] It is used by men, more particularly, at the present day, as a mouthpiece for pipes.

[2955] As to the vegetable origin of amber, there is no doubt that the ancients were right.

[2956] Most probably from ἥλιος, the “sun.” Phaëthon was fabled to have been the son of Apollo. See the story in Ovid’s Met. B. ii. l. 340, et seq.

[2957] Where amber was not to be found.

[2958] In reality, these “Amber Islands” were situate at the mouth of the Vistula, into which the Radanus discharged itself; a river whose name was afterwards confounded with “Eridanus,” the ancient name of the Padus, or Po. See B. iv. cc. 27, 30, as to the produce of amber in the Baltic.

[2959] Another reference to its vegetable origin.

[2960] De Lapid. n. 53.

[2961] In confirmation of this, Ajasson remarks that amber is found at Saint Paulet in the Department Du Gard, and at Aix, in the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, regions not very distant from the territory of ancient Liguria.

[2962] It has been supposed by some that this in reality was Tourmaline, and Woodward has identified it with Belemnites. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 86. Bohn’s Edition. See further as to “Lyncurium,” B. viii. c. 57, and Chapter 13 of this Book.

[2963] See B. iv. c. 28.

[2964] See B. iv. c. 27.

[2965] Said in reference to the electric spark, Ajasson thinks.

[2966] In Hebrew, this word means “a stone.”

[2967] From the Greek ἁρπάζω, “to drag.”

[2968] See B. x. c. 38.

[2969] All this is based, Ajasson thinks, upon the stories of Hindoo mythology.

[2970] The old reading is “Osericta:” Ajasson identifies it with the island of Oësel in the Baltic.

[2971] See B. x. c. 38.

[2972] See B. iv. cc. 27, 30, and the Notes.

[2973] See B. iv. c. 30.

[2974] It is just possible that the Pinites succinifer may have still existed, to some extent, eighteen hundred years ago. See Note 2953 above.

[2975] From “succus,” “juice.”

[2976] Goitre, for example.

[2977] The projecting part in the Circus or Amphitheatre, next the arena, and immediately in front of the place occupied by the emperor and nobles.

[2978] The knots, probably, were adorned with studs or buttons of amber.

[2979] “Libitina.” Meaning the litters on which the slain gladiators were carried away from the arena.

[2980] Martial has three Epigrams on Insects enclosed in amber; B. iv. Ep. 32 and 59, and B. vi. Ep. 15.

[2981] These so-called kinds or varieties are mostly accidental variations only in appearance.

[2982] Which is perceptible on its being rubbed: in some cases the odour of amber is very fine, in others it is perfectly fetid; though in the latter case, as Ajasson remarks, it is doubtful whether it may be considered to be genuine amber.

[2983] “Lini.” Salmasius suggests “pini,” “pith of pine.”

[2984] “Golden amber.” Brotero thinks that this must have been Hyacinth or Zirconite of a yellowish white colour. Ajasson says that the description would equally apply to Idocrase, Meionite, or Harmotome.

[2985] See Note 2962, above. Brotero identifies it with orange-coloured Hyacinth; Ajasson and Desfontaines with Tourmaline. Ajasson suggests, also, that the first syllabic in its name—Lync, may have been derived from the Sanscrit Lanka, the name of Ceylon, one of the localities where the Tourmaline is chiefly found.

[2986] Ajasson thinks that Rubellite or Red Tourmaline is here alluded to.

[2987] This is the case with tourmaline when subjected to heat.

[2988] We may here remark, that throughout this Book, in all cases where there is any doubt as to the identification of the substance, the ancient name is retained. Hence our words “adamant” and “diamond.” If Pliny means the latter, which is doubtful, it still maintains the rank here assigned to it. The word “adamas” is supposed to be derived from the Greek ἀ, privative, and δαμάω, “to subdue,” it being supposed to be invincible by fire. The diamond is pure carbon crystallized, and is thought to have been of vegetable origin. Dana has the following remarks upon the word “adamas.”—“This name was applied by the ancients to several minerals differing much in their physical properties. A few of these are quartz, specular iron ore, emery, and other substances of rather high degrees of hardness, which cannot now be identified. It is doubtful whether Pliny had any acquaintance with the real diamond.”—System of Mineralogy, Art. Diamond. We may also add, from the same authority, that the method of polishing diamonds was first discovered in 1456, by Louis Berquen, a citizen of Bruges, previous to which time the diamond was only known in its native uncut state.

[2989] This statement cannot apply to the “diamond” as known to us, though occasionally grains of gold have been found in the vicinity of the diamond.

[2990] Ajasson is of opinion that the Æthiopia here mentioned is in reality India, and that the “Temple of Mercury” means the Brahmaloka, or Temple of Brahma.

[2991] The diamond, as known to us, is octahedral.

[2992] Though found in comparative abundance in India, the diamond is not found in Arabia.

[2993] This is not the case with the diamond; for on being struck under such circumstances, it will break.

[2994] In reality, the diamond will burn, and, at a temperature of 14° Wedgewood, is wholly consumed, producing carbonic acid gas.

[2995] See Note 2988, above.

[2996] “Millet-seed.”

[2997] Ajasson says, that no doubt this adamas was Adamantine, or limpid Corundum.

[2998] Ajasson suggests that this may have been Dichroite, or Cordierite, known also as Iolite, or Water sapphire.

[2999] Possibly the Siderite, sparry iron, or spathic iron of modern Mineralogy. Ajasson is inclined to think that it is Corundum, of a dark hue.

[3000] See B. xx. c. 1, B. xxviii. cc. 23, 41, and B. xxxii. c. 12.

[3001] Brotero thinks that this was a story invented by the dealers, with a view of concealing the real method of breaking the stone.

[3002] Said, probably, with reference to the rank, nauseous smell of the he-goat.

[3003] This is true with reference to the diamond, and, in a less degree, several other crystalline substances, emery and quartz, for example.

[3004] Ajasson remarks, that if the diamond is placed in the magnetic line or current of the loadstone, it attracts iron equally with the loadstone, and consequently neutralizes the attractive power of the loadstone in a considerable degree.

[3005] The reading is very doubtful here. This word, as it is here given, would appear to be derived from the Greek ἀ privative, and ἄγχομαι, “to strangle oneself,” and to mean, “preventive of suicide.”

[3006] See B. iv. c. 27, and Chapter 11 of this Book.

[3007] At the present day the ruby is next in esteem to the diamond.

[3008] Chapter 54, et seq.

[3009] The Emerald, and various other green precious stones, were included under this name.

[3010] “Virentes” seems a very preferable reading to “silentes,” as given by the Bamberg MS.

[3011] The emerald is supposed to derive this colour from a minute portion of oxide of chrome.

[3012] Engraved emeralds are but seldom found among collections of ancient gems. In 1593, there was one found in the tomb of Maria, daughter of Stilicho, in the Vatican, with the head of Honorius, her husband, engraved upon it.

[3013] “It may here be objected that real emeralds are too small to admit of being used as mirrors; but the ancients speak of some sufficiently large for that purpose, and also of artificial ones; so that we may with certainty conclude, that they classed among the emeralds fluor spar, green vitrified lava, or the green Icelandic agate, as it is called, green jasper, and also green glass.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 67. Bohn’s Edition. It has also been suggested, with reference to this passage, that Nero was short-sighted, and that this emerald was formed like a concave lens. The passage, however, will hardly support such a construction. Ajasson thinks that it must have been a Dioptase or Siberian emerald; or else a green Corundum.

[3014] Ajasson is of opinion that the Dioptase, Siberian emerald, or Malachite emerald is meant.

[3015] Ajasson thinks that this may be the Dioptase or Achirite of Chinese Bucharia; and that the merchant Achir Mahmed, from whom it takes its name, was by no means the first to introduce it, or to circulate his wonderful stories as to its formation.

[3016] See B. ii. cc. 47, 48, and B. xviii. c. 74.

[3017] Mount Zalora. in Upper Egypt, still produces emeralds, and was probably the only locality of the genuine stone that was known to the ancients.

[3018] “Cetarias.”

[3019] Ajasson remarks that the greater part of the defects here described belong in reality to the Dioptase.

[3020] “Sal.” See Chapters 8, 10, 22, and 37, of this Book.

[3021] Ajasson is of opinion that Diallage is here meant, known also by the names of Bronzite, schillerspath, schillerstein, and omphasite.

[3022] See B. iv. c. 11.

[3023] “In sole” seems a preferable reading to “in solo,” “on the ground,” as given by the Bamberg MS.

[3024] See Chapter 39 of this Book; where it will be shown that this probably is not the modern Sapphire.

[3025] Ajasson suggests that these may have been Quartz agates of the dendritic or arborized kind.

[3026] He probably alludes here to some variety of the Chalcedony or Opal quartz.

[3027] Said with reference to Chrysoprase, Ajasson thinks; a leek-green chalcedony, coloured by nickel.

[3028] Probably the Cacholong of modern mineralogy, a variety of opal, nearly opaque, and of a porcelain or bluish white colour.

[3029] Ajasson and Brotero identify this with milk-white chalcedony; but on what authority, does not appear.

[3030] See B. iv. c. 8.

[3031] Supposed by Ajasson to be the Euclase, a brittle green stone, composed of silica, alumina, and glucina. Haüy gave it this name from the Greek words εὖ, “easily” and κλάω, “to break.” According to Dana, however, Euclase was first brought from Peru: if such is the fact, we must, perhaps, look for its identification in Epidote, a green silicate of alumina.

[3032] “Brazen smaragdus.” It was probably Dioptase, combined with copper Pyrites. See Notes 3013, 3014, and 3015, above.

[3033] With reference to this statement and the others in this Chapter, Ajasson remarks that these stones can have been nothing but prases, green jaspers, fusible spaths, emerald quartz, and fluates of lime.

[3034] Herodotus mentions this smaragdus and the temple, B. ii. c. 44, as having been seen by himself.

[3035] “Iaspis.” See Chapter 37 of this Book.

[3036] Meaning “the conqueror of many,” probably; in reference to his contentious disposition. See end of B. xxx.

[3037] The Beryl and the Emerald are only varieties of the same species, the latter owing its colour to oxide of chrome, the former to oxide of iron.

[3038] The best Beryls are found in Siberia, Hindostan, Brazil, and the United States.

[3039] The crystals are naturally hexagonal.

[3040] Hence the name of the sky-blue, or mountain-green beryl, aquamarine.

[3041] Or “golden beryl,” The modern Chrysoberyl is altogether a different stone from the one here described, which probably is identical with Chrysoprase or leek-green Chalcedony, the stone next mentioned.

[3042] “Leek-green and gold.”

[3043] “Sky-coloured.”

[3044] The largest specimen of Beryl known, belonged to Don Pedro. It was not cylindrical in form, but shaped like the head of a calf, and weighed 225 ounces troy.

[3045] Which is the case.

[3046] In Chapter 18 of this Book.

[3047] “Pterygia.”

[3048] In the Uralian Mountains, for example.

[3049] Opals are hydrated silica, the amount of water varying.

[3050] On the contrary, precious Opal is found in Hungary, at Frankfort, and in Honduras, and other varieties in numerous parts of the world, including the East Indies.

[3051] See Chapter 25 of this Book.

[3052] See B. xxxv. c. 28.

[3053] The largest opal known is in the Imperial cabinet at Vienna. It is the size of a man’s fist, and weighs 17 ounces, but is full of fissures.

[3054] See Carm. 53 of the Poems of Catullus.

[3055] A.U.C. 788.

[3056] See B. viii. c. 47. He alludes to the story of the Beaver.

[3057] See B. xxii. c. 29.

[3058] This is the case with common opal, as distinguished from precious opal.

[3059] “Lovely youth.”

[3060] Said ironically. There is a somewhat similar remark in B. xxxiii. c. 12.

[3061] A mixture of brown-red and white chalcedony.

[3062] From the Greek Σάρδιον, “sard,” and ὄνυξ, a “finger nail.”

[3063] His meaning seems to be that it does not present the bright transparent red of the Indian Sarda or Carnelian. See Chapter 31 of this Book.

[3064] “Quâdam spe.” Un soupçon, as the French would say.

[3065] This would appear, from the description, to be an Agate, or variegated Chalcedony.

[3066] He probably intends to include the Sarda or Carnelian here.

[3067] A variety, probably, of common Chalcedony.

[3068] See B. ix. cc. 74, 88, and B. xxxii. c. 53.

[3069] “Fæculentæ,” of the colour of wine-lees.

[3070] So called from ὄνυξ, a “finger-nail.” It is a variety of the Chalcedony, resembling Agate, but the colours are arranged in flat horizontal planes.

[3071] See B. xxxiv. c. 22, and B. xxxvi. c. 12.

[3072] It is pretty clear that the Onyx of Pliny included not only our Onyx, but several other varieties of the Chalcedony.

[3073] “Igniculos.”

[3074] “Carnosas.” It is somewhat doubtful whether our Carnelian, or Cornelian, take its name from this word, or from “cornus,” a cornel-berry.

[3075] See Chapter 31.

[3076] Literally meaning a “red-hot coal.” The carbunculus of Pliny is supposed to include not only the red, or Iron and Iron-lime garnet, but the Spinelle ruby also, or Oriental ruby.

[3077] There is some truth in this, as some few kinds both of the Garnet and Ruby are infusible. Of the ruby, the red varieties change to brown, black, and opaque even, as the temperature increases, and on cooling become first green, and then nearly colourless, but at last resume their red colour.

[3078] From the Greek; meaning “incombustible.”

[3079] From Καρχήδων, the Greek name for Carthage.

[3080] Carthago Magna, so called in contradistinction to Carthage Nova, or New Carthage, in Spain.

[3081] See B. v. c. 29.

[3082] In the vicinity of Orthosia. It is from this place that one kind of garnet is now called “Almandine.” There is also the Almandine, or violet-coloured ruby. Sec Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 238. Bohn’s Edition. It is probable that Carthage was the great entrepôt for the carbunculi of the Garamantes and Æthiopia, where Red sapphire, Red corundum, or Oriental ruby, was probably found.

[3083] A variety, perhaps, of Iron garnet, or Iron-lime garnet.

[3084] Desfontaines suggests that this may have been the Balas ruby, or possibly the Syrian Garnet, of a violet purple colour. Not improbably it is the Almandine ruby.

[3085] “Pinnato fulgore.” This mottled appearance is to be seen in the interior of some red garnets.

[3086] Common garnets, probably.

[3087] Sillig suggests that this may be from λιγνὺς, “soot.” The reading, however, is extremely doubtful.

[3088] See Introduction to Vol. III. If this is the truth, they were made of some of the crystals of the garnet, probably.

[3089] De Lapid. see 61.

[3090] “Pliny has here committed a gross mistake, which has not been observed by Hardouin. Theophrastus, in the passage alluded to, does not speak of a ruby, but the well-known black marble of Chio; though he calls both carbunculus, a name given to the ruby, on account of its likeness to a burning coal, and to the black marble on account of its resemblance to a quenched coal or cinder; and the latter, as well as the Obsidian stone, was sometimes used for mirrors.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 67, 68. Bohn’s Edition.

[3091] “Illos.” He should have said “hos”—“the latter.”

[3092] See B. iv. c. 35; the present Lisbon.

[3093] Dalechamps thinks that this is the same as the “anthracites” mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 38, and identifies it either with our Anthracite, or else with pit-coal or bituminous coal. It is much more likely, however, that a precious stone is meant; and, in conformity with this opinion, Brotero and Ajasson have identified it with the Spinelle or scarlet Ruby, and the Balas or rose-red ruby, magnesiates of alumina.

[3094] Sec B. iv. c. 1.

[3095] “Carbo.” This word may mean either a “burning coal” or “charcoal” hence the confusion that has arisen in identifying the mineral substance that is meant.

[3096] See Note 3077, to Chapter 25.

[3097] “Sandaresus” and “Sandasiros” are other readings. This stone has not been identified, but Ajasson is inclined to think that it may have been Aventurine quartz, and is the more inclined to this opinion, as that mineral is found in Persia, and sandastra or tchandastra is purely a Sanscrit word. The description, however, would hardly seem to apply to Aventurine.

[3098] Littré suggests that the reading here probably might be “ob id non magno”—“sell not so dear.”

[3099] It has not been identified.

[3100] From λυχνὸς, a “lighted lamp” or “torch.” Brotero is of opinion that this is the Cherry-coloured ruby, that the Ionian stone is the Purple ruby, and that the kermes-berry coloured stone is the Scarlet or Spinelle ruby. From the distinct reference made to its electric nature, Ajasson identifies it with Tourmaline, a Silicate of alumina. Beckmann is of the same opinion; Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 88. Bohn’s Edition.

[3101] “Remissiorem.”

[3102] See B. xxi. cc. 33, 39, where the “Flos Jovis” is mentioned in juxtaposition with the flower called “lychnis,” either the Umbel’d Campion rose, or the Common red rose Campion.

[3103] “Coccum.” “Kermes-berry coloured.” These kinds probably were, Indicolite or Blue tourmaline, and Rubellite or Red tourmaline.

[3104] As Beckmann remarks, he should have said that it first attracts, and then repels them; such being the case with Tourmaline.

[3105] Not identical, most probably, with the Carchedonian or Carthaginian stone mentioned in Chapter 25, which was probably a garnet or a ruby. Ajasson has no doubt that it is identical with jasper quartz, including the varieties called Striped or Riband jasper, and Egyptian jasper.

[3106] See B. v. c. 5, and B. vii. c. 2.

[3107] Tourmaline, probably, in combination with other mineral substances.

[3108] Carnelian, a variety of Chalcedony. It is originally grey, or greyish red, which afterwards turns to a rich, deep, red, on exposure to the sun’s rays, and subsequently to artificial heat.

[3109] Which supplies the best carnelians at the present day.

[3110] From their mixture, Ajasson says, with argillaceous earth.

[3111] Under this name Pliny evidently speaks of the stone known to us as Chrysolite, and possibly of green agate as well. Our Topaz cannot be easily recognized in this Chapter, at all events.

[3112] See B. vi. c. 34.

[3113] See B. vi. c. 34.

[3114] Τοπάζω in Greek, signifies “to conjecture.”

[3115] It was agate, most probably.

[3116] “Leek-green.” Ajasson and Desfontaines think that this must have been either Oriental Chrysolite or Oriental Peridote.

[3117] Some would identify this with Oriental topaz or yellow corundum, a variety of the Sapphire; while others would see in it the genuine Topaz; and others, again, think it synonymous with the Chrysoprase. The name “chrysopteron” means “golden-wing.”

[3118] “Leek-green and gold.” An apple or leek-green Chalcedony, coloured by nickel. See Chapters 20, 34, and 73, of this Book.

[3119] See B. xxxvi. c. 10.

[3120] Dana thinks this identical with the Turquois. Ajasson and Desfontaines identify it with Oriental Peridote.

[3121] Turquois is found in large quantities in a mountainous district of Persia, not far from Nichabour; where it occurs in veins which traverse the mountains in all directions.

[3122] Isidorus says, B. xvi. c. 17, that they wore it in the ears. The Shah of Persia, it is said, retains for his own use all the larger and more finely tinted specimens of turquois that are found in his dominions.

[3123] This story is now regarded as fabulous.

[3124] See B. x. cc. 44, 79.

[3125] The stone now known as “Prase” is a vitreous, leek-green, variety of massive quartz.

[3126] This may possibly have been Plasma, a faintly translucent Chalcedony, approaching jasper, having a greenish colour, sprinkled with yellow and whitish dots, and a glistening lustre. Or, perhaps, Bloodstone or Heliotrope, a kind of jasper.

[3127] See the preceding Chapter, and Note 3118.

[3128] “Cymbia.” Drinking vessels shaped like a boat.

[3129] Or “Nile-stone.” Egyptian jasper, or Egyptian pebble, a kind of quartz.

[3130] Our Malachite, a green carbonate of copper. See B. xxxiii. c. 26.

[3131] Called μολόχη or μαλάχη in Greek.

[3132] Also of Siberia, Shetland, the United States, and numerous other localities.

[3133] Meadow-green jasper.

[3134] Salmasius erroneously takes this to be the Turquoise. It is our sky-blue jasper, no doubt. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 471, Bohn’s Edition.

[3135] See B. vi. c. 2.

[3136] The Bamberg MS. gives “Calchedon” here.

[3137] Namely, πορφυρίζουσα, ῥοδίζουσα, and σμαραγδίζουσα.

[3138] “Northern,” apparently.

[3139] “Sky-blue,” mentioned above.

[3140] See Chapter 31. Red jasper, or perhaps Red porphyry.

[3141] “Aut” appeals to be a preferable reading to the “ut” of the Bamberg MS.

[3142] See B. xv. cc. 12, 13.

[3143] “Terebinthizusa.” Yellow jasper, Ajasson says.

[3144] See Chapter 18 of this Book.

[3145] “Seal-stone.” A kind of carnelian, probably.

[3146] “Publico gemmarum dominio iis tantum dato, quoniam optime signent.” The above is the sense given to the passage by Holland, Ajasson, and Littré; but another translation may also be suggested—“A stone to which alone, by general consent, is awarded the custody of precious stones, from the fact that it makes the best impression as a seal.” In reference to the custom of putting a seal on the dactyliothecæ, or jewel-caskets. See page 80 of this Book.

[3147] “Single-lined.”

[3148] “Many-lined.”

[3149] Albertus Magnus, De Mineral. B. ii., has several other stories respecting it of a similar nature.

[3150] Jasper onyx.

[3151] Identified by Ajasson with snow-flake chalcedony.

[3152] Spotted jasper onyx.

[3153] See B. xxxi. c. 41.

[3154] Smoked jasper onyx.

[3155] It is still used for making vases, boxes, knife-handles, and other articles, and is much used in the manufacture of Florentine mosaics. We may also remark, that the “iaspis” of Pliny probably included some stones not of the jasper kind.

[3156] “Azure stone;” generally supposed to have been a species of Lapis lazuli or azure. Beckmann is of opinion that it was a mineral or mountain blue, tinged with copper.

[3157] It is found in China, Persia, Siberia, and Bucharia.

[3158] Ultramarine is prepared from Lapis lazuli, and an artificial kind is extensively in use, which equals the native in permanency and brilliancy of colour, and is very extensively employed in the arts. Theophrastus, De Lapid. sec. 55, speaks of this artificial ultramarine.

[3159] This must not be taken for the Sapphire of the present day, but was most probably Lapis lazuli, and identical, perhaps, with Cyanos. Beckmann has devoted considerable attention to this subject; Hist. Inv. Vol. I. pp. 468-473. Bohn’s Edition.

[3160] Particles of iron pyrites, probably, which are frequently to be seen in Lapis lazuli.

[3161] Quartz, probably, according to some authorities.

[3162] So called, according to some authorities, from ἀ, “not,” μεθύω, “to intoxicate,” on account of its being a supposed preservative against inebriety. Ajasson is of opinion that Pliny does not here speaks of the Quartz Amethyst of modern mineralogy, but only the Oriental Amethyst, violet Sapphire, or violet Corundum. It is not improbable, however, that he includes them all, as well as violet Fluor spar, and some other purple stones; inclusive, possibly, of the Garnet.

[3163] He is probably speaking here of violet Fluor spar; Oriental amethyst, or violet sapphire, it is next to impossible to engrave.

[3164] See B. ix. c. 62.

[3165] The city of Pharan, mentioned by St. Jerome and Eusebius.

[3166] “In suspectu.” See B. xxi. c. 22.

[3167] “Lovely youth.” The Opal has been thus called in Chapter 22.

[3168] “Avenger of slighted love.”

[3169] “Veneris gena;” called in Greek “Aphrodites blepharon.”

[3170] Which is most probable; however untrue the story itself may be. See Note 3162 above.

[3171] A kind of Baboon. See B. vi. c. 35, B. vii. c. 2, and B. viii. c. 80.

[3172] It is considered very doubtful whether the modern Hyacinth or Zircon is one of the number of stones that were called “Hyacinthus” by the ancients. Jameson appears to have thought that they gave this name to the oriental amethyst or violet sapphire.

[3173] See B. xxi. c. 38.

[3174] Generally supposed to be the Oriental topaz, yellow Sapphire or yellow Corundum. We have already seen, in Chapter 32, that the “Topazos” of the ancients was in all probability the modern Chrysolite.

[3175] In Pontus: see B. vi. c. 4.

[3176] See B. xxxiv. c. 2.

[3177] Supposed to be yellow-white Hyacinth. See Chapter 12 of this Book.

[3178] “Electrum.”

[3179] See Chapter 76 of this Book.

[3180] See Chapter 9 of this Book.

[3181] Yellow quartz crystal probably, or False topaz.

[3182] “White gold stone.” It has not been identified.

[3183] “Smoke-stone.” A jasper has been so called in Chapter 37.

[3184] “Honey gold stone.” Some are of opinion that this was the Honey-coloured Hyacinth. Others, again, identify it with the yellow, honey-coloured Topaz; an opinion with which Ajasson coincides.

[3185] “Xanthon” is another reading. See Chapter 60 of this Book.

[3186] “Lovely youth.” See Chapter 22, where it has been already mentioned. He here reverts to the Opals.

[3187] See Chapter 40, for example, where it is given to a variety of the Amethyst.

[3188] The Opal, which he is about to describe.

[3189] See Chapter 18 of this Book.

[3190] The vitreous Asteriated crystals of Sapphire are still called by this name. Ajasson, however, and Desfontaines, identify this gem with Girasol opal or fire opal. See Note 3147.

[3191] From ἀστερ, a star.

[3192] “Star-stone.” Ajasson identifies this stone with the Asteriated Sapphire or Corundum, mentioned in Note 3190 above.

[3193] See B. iv. cc. 10, 17.

[3194] “Lightning darting.”

[3195] “Star-like.” Ajasson thinks, that it is identical with the stone next mentioned.

[3196] “Planet-stricken.” It is not improbable that this was Cat’s-eye, a translucent Chalcedony, presenting a peculiar opalescence, or internal reflections, when cut en cabochon. The colour is either bright-greenish grey, or else yellow, red, or brownish.

[3197] See Note 3194 above. Parisot thinks that these must have been Aërolites or Meteorites.

[3198] Brotero thinks that these were petrified shells, to which the magicians imputed marvellous properties.

[3199] Brotero is of opinion that those were Belemnites, more commonly known as “thunderstones.” The reading “bætyli” is doubtful; but Parisot says, on what authority does not appear, that “Betylus” meant “Great father,” and that this name, as well as “Abaddir” of similar signification, was given by magicians to aërolites or meteorites used in their enchantments.

[3200] A meteoric stone or aërolite, evidently.

[3201] “Rainbow.” Opinion seems divided as to whether this is Hyalin quartz iridized internally, or prismatic crystals of Limpid quartz, which decompose the rays of the sun.

[3202] The reading and meaning of this passage are very doubtful.

[3203] The reading is doubtful, “zeros” and “erros” being given by some MSS. Ajasson hazards a conjecture that it may have been a variety of quartz, formed of a concretion of agates united by a cement of a similar nature.

[3204] A general name for Agate, and possibly some other stones not now included under the name.

[3205] “Jasper agate.”

[3206] “Wax agate.” The modern Orange agate, probably.

[3207] “Smaragdus agate.” Emerald-coloured agate.

[3208] “Blood agate.” Agate sprinkled with spots of red jasper.

[3209] “White agate.”

[3210] “Tree agate.” Moss agate or Mocha stone, coloured by oxide of iron.

[3211] Probably the reading should be “Stactachates,” “Myrrh agate.”

[3212] “Coralline agate.” See Chapter 56.

[3213] Undulated agate.

[3214] Moss agate, probably. See Note 3210 above.

[3215] Sillig is of opinion that the reading here is corrupt.

[3216] “Coticulas.” Stones for grinding drugs.

[3217] “Refreshing” stone. Hardly any of these stones appear to be identified.

[3218] As to the “nitrum” of Pliny, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[3219] Probably the same as the Alabastrites of B. xxxv. c. 12.

[3220] From the Greek, ἀλέκτωρ, a “cock.”

[3221] See B. vii. c. 19.

[3222] “Man-subduing.” Identified by some with Marcasite, or White iron pyrites.

[3223] See Chapter 15 of this Book.

[3224] “Silver-subduing.”

[3225] “Counteracting-stone.”

[3226] Probably the stone mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 41.

[3227] “Aromatic stone.” Cæsalpinus is of opinion that this is grey or clouded amber.

[3228] “Reginis.”

[3229] See B. xix. c. 4, and B. xxxvi. c. 31.

[3230] The reading is doubtful.

[3231] Called “melancoryphi” in Chapter 33.

[3232] Ajasson thinks that the reading should be “Aeizoe,” from the Greek ἀειζώη, “long lived.”

[3233] “Shining stone,” apparently.

[3234] See Chapter 33 of this Book.

[3235] The reading is doubtful.

[3236] See B. xxxiii. c. 2: where a fossil Chrysocolla is also mentioned.

[3237] See B. xi. c. 36, and B. xxxiii. c. 21.

[3238] “Gem of Aphrodite” or “Venus.” Thought by Dalechamps and Hardouin to have been a kind of agate.

[3239] “Which never grows cold.”

[3240] A kind of Onyx, Dalechamps thinks.

[3241] “Acorn stone.” Like an olive in appearance, and now known as “Jew stone,” probably, a fossil.

[3242] “Frog-stone.” Varieties of quartz, probably.

[3243] “Dipped stone.” Dalechamps says that it was amber stained with alkanet, but on what authority does not appear.

[3244] “Eye of Belus.” Supposed by Ajasson and Desfontaines to be Cat’s eye Chalcedony. See Chapter 50, Note 3196.

[3245] Belus, the father of Ninus, the “Bel” of Scripture. See Chapter 58.

[3246] A kind of Tecolithos, Dalechamps says. See B. xxxvi. c. 35, and Chapter 68 of this Book.

[3247] “Grape-cluster stone.”

[3248] “Puniceus” seems to be a preferable reading to “pampineus,” “like a vine-tendril,” given by the Bamberg MS.

[3249] Possibly it may have been Datholite or Borate of lime, a variety of which is known as Botryolite.

[3250] “Hair-stone.” This was probably either Iron alum, known also as Alun de plume; Alunogen, known also as Feather Alum or hair salt; or Amianthus, also called satin Asbestus. See B. xxxvi. c. 31.

[3251] “Ox-heart.” Supposed to be a sort of Turquois, Hardouin says.

[3252] “Thunder-stone.”

[3253] “Clod-stone.” It may possibly have been a kind of Geodes. See B. xxxvi. c. 32. Dalechamps, however, identifies it with Crapaudine, Toad-stone, or Bufonite, supposed in former times to be produced by the toad, but in reality the fossil tooth of a fish.

[3254] See B. iii. c. 4.

[3255] See B. xxxiv. c. 22, and Chapter 65 of this Book.

[3256] Identical, probably, with the Callaina of Chapter 33, our Turquois.

[3257] Lapis lazuli.

[3258] “Smoke-stone.” Identical with the jasper called “capnias,” in Chapter 37.

[3259] In Chapter 37 of this Book.

[3260] “Cappadocian stone.”

[3261] Like the “callaina” or “callais.”

[3262] See Chapter 33 of this Book.

[3263] “Attractive stone.” A large rocky stone, according to Solinus. Dalechamps thinks that it must have been a kind of amber or bitumen, an opinion with which Desfontaines coincides.

[3264] “Looking-glass stone,” or “mirror stone.” A variety of Specular stone, probably.

[3265] “Onion stone.” A kind of agate, according to Dalechamps. It had its name probably from the union of its streaks like those on the neck of an onion.

[3266] “Pottery stone.”

[3267] See B. xxix. c. 38, Vol. V. p. 415.

[3268] The Cinædus. See B. xxxii. c. 53.

[3269] By its clear or clouded colour, it was said.

[3270] “Wax stone.”

[3271] From κίρκος, a “hawk” or “falcon.”

[3272] “Hair-like;” from κόρση, the “hair.”

[3273] “Coral agate.” See Chapter 54 of this Book.

[3274] Vermilion. See B. xxxiii. cc. 37, 40.

[3275] “Strong stone”—from κρατερὸς, “strong.” Supposed by some to have been amber-coloured Hyacinth.

[3276] Oriental topaz, probably. See Chapters 42 and 43 of this Book.

[3277] “Saffron-coloured,” probably. If this is the meaning of the name, it may be supposed to have resembled the bigaroon cherry.

[3278] “Pregnant stone. An aëtites or geodes, probably. See B. xxx. c. 44, and B. xxxvi. c. 39.

[3279] “Sounding like brass.” Probably Clinkstone or Phonolite, a compact feldspathic rock of a greyish colour, clinking under the hammer when struck, somewhat like a metal.

[3280] “Swallow-stone.”

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