SIR HANS SLOANE. 63 



hundred feet on each side, enclosing a court, and 

 three front rooms had tables set along the middle, 

 which were spread over with cases filled with all 

 sorts of precious stones, in their natural beds or 

 state, as they are found in the earth, except the 

 first, that contained stones formed in animals, which 

 are so many diseases of the creature that bears 

 them ; as the most beautiful pearls, which are but 

 warts in the shell- fish, the bezoar, concretions in 

 the stomach, and stones generated in the kidney 

 and bladder, of which man wofully knows the 

 effects ; but the earth, in her bosom, generates 

 the verdant emerald, the purple amethyst, the 

 golden topaz, the azure sapphire, the crimson 

 garnet, the scarlet ruby, the brilliant diamond, 

 the glowing opal, and all the painted varieties 

 with which Flora herself might wish to be 

 decked ; here the most magnificent vessels of 

 cornelian, onyx, sardonyx, and jasper, delighted 

 the eye, and raised the mind to praise the great 

 Creator of all things." 



" When their royal highnesses had viewed one 

 room, and entered another, the scene was shifted ; 

 for when they returned, the same tables were 

 covered for a second course, with all sorts of 

 jewels, polished and set after the modern fashion, 

 or with gems carved or engraved, the stately and 

 instructive remains of antiquity. For the third 

 course, the tables were spread with gold and 



