MODE I. MARBLE. 417 



be confined to this, and the following elegant 

 kind. 



Among the numerous marbles discovered in the Lumacheiia. 

 ruins of Rome, is said to be the beautiful luma- 

 chella, ridiculously styled of Astracan, a name 

 which has embarrassed Patrin, who discovered 

 none such in the regions around that city, so cele- 

 brated in the Orlando Furioso, and the romances 

 of the middle ages. If he had looked into Ferber 

 or Born, he would have seen that it is a mere cor- 

 ruption, owing to the omission of one letter, the 

 Italian being Castracana, not Astracana. One 

 kind, according to Born, is called castracana della 

 castcllina. This is of a yellowish white, spotted 

 with little grey dots *. 



The finest lumachella, reputed ancient, is of a 

 deep brown colour, and contains a number of 

 shells, which form little circles, or semicircles, of 

 a bright golden colour, or orange yellow, which 

 appear with the greater lustre from the contrast of 

 the base. This may be regarded as the most sin- 

 gular of all the marbles. Ferber also mentions 

 the following varieties : 



This Castracan is the Castravan of Woodward and Da Costa : 

 the Khesroan of d'Anville. The mountains of Castravan extend 

 behind Tripoli in Syria. See Pococke, ii. 92 ; and Maundrel's 

 ""ravels. They are also famous for a raarlite slate, with impression* 

 f fish and sea-stars : Mode VII. 



VOL. I. 2 E 



