404 pllnt's natueal history. [Book XXXVII. 



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 Callis- 

 tratus, 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"^ to an 

 amber of a golden colour, and which presents the most beauti- 

 ful 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. — lyncukittm: two asserted remedies. 



The pertinacity that has been displayed by certain authors 

 compels me to speak of lyncurium®^ 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 eai'th, 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, 



ys «' Golden amber." Brotero thinks that this must have been Hyacinth 

 or Zirconite of a yellowish white colour. Ajassou says that the description 

 would equally apply to Idocrase, Meionite, or llarmotome. 



'•^^ See Note 74, above. Brotero identifies it with orange-coloured 

 Hyacinth; Ajasson and Desfontaines with Tourmaline. Ajasson sun^gests, 

 also, that the first syllable 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. 



