Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 57 



clear as the moon,' yiie ming chu ft tf\$%*)." Hirth 1 and Chavannes 2 

 have united a certain number of classical texts, in order to show that 

 the notion of precious stones, and especially carbuncles, shining at 

 night, was widely propagated in Greek and Roman times; the case, 

 however, deserves a more critical examination. It seems to me, first 

 of all, that a distinction must be made between ye kuang p'i and yiie 

 ming chu. These two different terms must needs refer to two diverse 

 groups of stones and correspondingly different traditions. It is not 

 difficult to identify the latter of the two, if we examine our Pliny. 

 This is Pliny's astrion, of which he says, "Of a like white radiance 8 is 

 the stone called astrion, cognate to crystal, and occurring in India and 

 on the littoral of Patalene. In its interior, radiating from the centre, 

 shines a star with the full brilliancy of the moon. Some account for 

 the name by saying that the stone placed opposite to the stars ab- 

 sorbs their refulgence and emits it again." 4 Pliny's "fulgore pleno 

 lunae " appears as the basis for the Chinese term yiie ming chu (literally, 

 "moon shining pearl") with reference to this precious stone, as found 

 in the anterior Orient. 6 Hirth (I. c.) refers us to Herodotus (II, 44), 

 who mentions a temple of Hercules at Tyre in Phoenicia with two pil- 

 lars, — one of pure gold, the other of smaragdos, — shining with great 

 brilliancy at night. Hirth takes this smaragdos for "emerald stone;" 

 it is certain, however, that the word in this passage does not mean 

 "emerald," but denotes a greenish building-stone of a color similar to 

 the emerald, 8 perhaps, as Blumner 7 is inclined to think, green porphyry. 

 This passage, accordingly, affords no evidence that the Chinese "stone 



1 China and the Roman Orient, pp. 242-244. 

 1 Toung Poo, 1907, p. 181. 



* With reference to the white stone asteria, dealt with in the preceding chapter. 

 4 Similiter Candida est quae vocatur astrion, crystallo propinqua, in India nascens 



et in Patalenes litoribus. Huic intus a centro stella lucet fulgore pleno lunae. 

 Quidam causam nominis reddunt quod astris opposita fulgorem rapiat et regerat 

 (xxxvn, 48, § 132). 



6 The much-discussed question as to the stone to be understood by Pliny's 

 astrion does not concern us here. The opinion that it is identical with what is now 

 called asteria ("star stone") is the most probable one (compare Blumner, Tech- 

 nologic, Vol. Ill, p. 234). The most detailed study of the subject, not quoted by 

 Krause or Blumner, is that by J. M. GUthe, tJber den Astrios-Edelstein des Cajus 

 Plinius Secundus (Munchen, 1810). Judging from the recent report of D. B. Ster- 

 rett (Gems and Precious Stones in 1913, p. 704, Washington, 1914), this stone seems 

 to become fashionable again in jewelry. Possibly also Pliny's selenitis (67, § 181), 

 which has within it a figure of the moon and day by day reflects her various phases, 

 may be sought in the Chinese "moonlight gem," as already supposed by D'Herbelot 

 (Bibliotheque orientale, Vol. IV, p. 398). 



• Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 37. 



7 Technologie, Vol. Ill, p. 240. 



