452 PLINY'S IfATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXXV IL 



ments, and even goes so far as to say that it is highly beneficial 

 to be rubbed with it on tlie field of battle. There is another 

 stone of the same class, called " menui" by the people of 

 India, and " xanthos"^^ by the Greeks : it is of a whitish, tawny 

 colour. 



CHAP. 61. — ID^I DACTYLI. ICTEETAS. JOYIS GEMMA. INDICA. 



ION. 



The stones called Idsei dactyli,^° and found in Crete, are of 

 an iron colour, and resemble the human thumb in shape. The 

 colour of icterias^^ 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^^ is a white stone, very light, and soft : another name 

 given to it is " drosolithos." ^ Indica^* retains the name of 

 the country that produces it : it is a stone of a reddish colour, 

 and yields a purple liquid^^ when rubbed. There is another 

 stone also of this name, white, and of a dusty appearance, 

 lon^^ 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. LEFCOPCE- 



CILOS. LIBANOCHKTJS. LIMONIATIS. LIPAREA. LYSIMACHOS. 

 LEUCOCHRYSOS. 



Lepidotis" 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. Leu- 

 cophthalmos,^^ which in other respects is of a reddish hue, 

 presents all the appearance of an eye, in white and black. 



^9 " Yellow" stone. See Chapter 45. 



^0 " Idaean fingers." These were probably Belemnites, so called from 

 their long, tapering shape, and being first observed, perhaps, on Mount 

 Ida in Crete. Belemnites are the shells of fossil Cephalopods, and are 

 commonly known as " thunder stones." ^^ " Jaundice stone." 



«2 " Gem of Jove." ^^ u j)^^ stone." ^* " Indian stone." 



«» It is just possible that he may be thinking of Indigo here, which he 

 has before called by the same name. See B. xxxiii. c, 57. 



66 «' Violet-coloured." e7 u gcale stone." A fossil, probably. 



«8 "White eye.'' Cat's eye chalcedony, perhaps. See " Astrobolos" in 

 Chapter 48, and •' BeU oculus" in Chapter 55, of this Book. 



