132 Beginnings of Porcelain 



directly results from the supposed cold nature of crystal; and murra, 

 being the outcome of heat, must be well adapted for holding hot drinks, 

 or, as the case may be, for cool liquids. The distinction here made 

 by Pliny seems to me to add another weight of proof adverse to the 

 opinion that the murrines were of stone; it is not probable, at least, 

 that any stone cups served for hot beverages, while pottery, and heavily 

 glazed pottery in particular, is a material well suited to such a purpose. 

 Aside from the main chapter, Pliny devotes a brief sentence to the 

 subject (XXXIII, 2, § 5), in his notice on gold, by saying that "from 

 the same earth [where gold and silver are mined] we dug up murrine 

 and crystal vessels, the very fragility of which is deemed to enhance 

 their price" (murrina ex eadem tellure et crystallina effodimus, quibus 

 pretium f aceret ipsa f ragilitas) . The passage has materially contributed 

 to the notion that murra, in the same manner as crystal, should 

 be a natural substance extracted from under the ground. "Here," 

 F. Thiersch (p. 460) remarks, "crystallina evidently does not mean 

 crystal bowls and cups, since the latter are not dug out of the soil, 

 but crystal masses from which they are made; and for this reason the 

 parallelism of the words murrina et crystallina, as well as the application 

 of ejjodere and invenire, compel us to assume that murrina is likewise 

 used in Pliny with regard to the substance of the vessels, the murra; 

 and Pliny means to say that the murra, in the same manner as crystal, 

 is found beneath the earth and dug up." This conclusion is artificial, 

 and by no means cogent. We all know that not only minerals, but 

 also objects manufactured by human hand, are dug up from the soil; 

 and there seems no valid objection why Pliny's words could not be 

 construed to mean that murrine and crystal vases have been turned 

 up from the soil as the result of excavations. This was not neces- 

 sarily Pliny's own opinion, but it may have been the outcome of a 

 story transplanted directly from the Orient; and in part this report 

 may well have had a foundation in fact. The passage may signify 

 also that the mineral substances employed in the manufacture of the 

 murra were dug up from the soil. It must be directly connected with 

 the sentence, "Umorem sub terra putant calore densari," discussed 

 above. The pottery vessels were baked in an underground kiln, 



amber, as has been translated above; or to the previously mentioned murrines 

 and crystals, with the inclusion of amber. The following priora ilia would seem 

 strongly to favor the latter point of view. In that case, Pliny would say that mur- 

 rines, crystal, and amber enjoy the same consideration or esteem as precious stones. 

 It cannot be read, of course, into this context, that the three materials were classified 

 among gemmae, and that for this reason murra was a precious stone; on the con- 

 trary, the passage means that this in fact was not the case, and only that the three 

 were regarded as of the same value as precious stones. 



