Chap. 28.] CHEBNITES. 357 



which repels and rejects all kinds of iron. Of the attractive and 

 repulsive properties of iron, we have spoken^^ more than once. 



CHAP. 26. STONE OF SCYEOS. 



In the Isle of Scjtos'^ there is a stone,^^ they say, which floats 

 upon water when whole, but which falls to the bottom when 

 broken into fragments. 



CHAP. 27. (17.) SAECOPHAGUS, OE STONE OF ASSOS 1 TEN 



EEMEDIES. 



iVt Assos in Troas, there is found a stone of a laminated 

 texture, called '' sarcophagus."^^ It is a well-known fact, that 

 dead bodies, when buried in this stene, are consumed in the 

 course of forty days, with the sole exception of the teeth. 

 According to Mucianus, too, mirrors, body- scrapers, garments, 

 and shoes, that have been buried with the dead, become trans- 

 formed into stone. In Lycia, and in the East, there are certain 

 stones of a similar nature, which, when attached to the bodies 

 of the living even, corrode the flesh. 



CHAP. 28. CHEENITES. 



Less active in its properties is chernites,^^ a stone which 

 preserves bodies without consuming them, and strongly resem- 

 bles ivory in appearance : the body of King Darius, they say, 

 was buried in it. The stone that is known as " porus,"^^ is 

 similar to Parian marble in hardness and whiteness, but is not 

 so heavy. Theophrastus mentions also a transparent stone 

 that is found in Egypt, and is similar to stone of Chios in 

 appearance ; it is by no means improbable that it may have 

 existed in his time, for stones, we know, disappear, and new 

 kinds are discovered. The stone of Assos,^* which is saltish 

 to the taste, modifies the attacks of gout, the feet being placed 

 in a vessel made of it for the purpose ; in addition to which, 



than the ordinary loadstone, with the negative pole presented, by designing 

 persolis, towards another magnet. 



29 In B. ii. c. 98, and B. xx. c. 1. so See B. iv. c. 23. 



fi See B. ii. c. 106, Vol. I. p. 137, and Note 4. There is little doubt that 

 this was a volcanic, porous product. 



^■^ From o-a'p^, " Hcsh," and (pdyu), " to eat." See B. ii. c. 98. Ajasson 

 identifies it with Alunite, or Alum stone, in its several varieties. 



33 Both of them varieties of calcareous tufa, Ajasson thinks. 



2* Or Sarcophagus : see the preceding Chapter. 



