431 I'LINY'9 NATURAL IUSTOUY. [Kouk 



of " antcros,"" while to many they are known as " Venus'** 

 eyelid," a name which would seem to bo particularly appro- 

 priate to the colour and general appearance of the gem. The 

 falsehoods of the magicians would persuade us that these stones 

 are preventive of inebriety, and that it is from this that llu-y 

 have derived" 3 their name. They tell us also, that if we in- 

 scribe the names of the sun and moon upon this stone, and thru 

 war it suspended from the neck, with some hair of thecycoco- 

 phalus* 1 and feathers of the swallow, it will act as a preservative 

 against all noxious spells. It is said too, that worn in any 

 manner, this stone will ensure access to the presence of kings ; 

 and that it will avert hail and the attacks of locusts, if a certain 

 prayer is also repeated which they mention. They make similar 

 promises, too, in reference to the smaragdus, if graven with the- 

 nirure of an e:igle or of a scarubonis : statements which, in my 

 opinion, they cannot have committed to writing without a feel- 

 ing ot contempt and derision for the rest of mankind. 



CHAP. 41. IIYAC1N1HOS. 



Very different from this stone is hyacinthos,* 5 though par- 

 taking of a colour that closely borders upon it. The great 

 difference between them is, that the brilliant violet which is 

 s< refulgent in the amethystos, is diluted in the other stone. 

 Though pleasing at h'rst sight, its beauty fades before the eye 

 is satiated ; indeed, so far is it from satisfying the sight, that 

 it almost wholly fails to attract the eye, its lustre disappearing 

 more rapidly than the tints of the flower 5 * known by the same 

 n;i me. 



CHAP. -12. CIIKYSOLITI1OS I SEVEN VARIETIES OF IT. 



Ethiopia, which produces hyacinthos, produces chrysolithos 87 



>l " A vendor of slighted love." 



* '* Yeneris . na ;" called in Greek " Aphrodites blepharon." 

 ' Which is inns*, probable ; however untrue the story itself may b\ 

 Sec Note 7 ; 3 above. 



* 4 A kind of Bahoon. See T>. vi. c. 35, B. vii. c. 2, and B. viii. c. 80. 



*' It 13 considered very doubtful whether the modern Hyacinth or Xir- 

 o^n is one of the number of stones that were called " Hyaciiithus" by tlic 

 wn-ients. Jaiiifson appears to have thought that they gave tin's name to 

 the oruntal amt-ihyst <n~ \iulct sn]>phire. ' See B. xxi. c. "vS. 



v7 Generally supposed to be the Oriental top:/, y llo\v Sapphire or 

 v<-ll<\v Corundum. W> 'nave already s <-ii, in Chapter '}'!, that the '* To- 

 j;;i7o->" of ih- aiifivn'.s uas in all probability the moilcrii Cliry: oolite. 



