Cc 
of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 
king, chanced to {wallowit down as if ithad ben fome bait; which being afterwards caught by fi- 
thers, & thought to be of an extraordinarie bignefle,was broughtas a ptefent into the kings pal- 
lace,and fo fent into the kitchen;where the cooke found within the bellie therof the forefaid ring 
of his lords and mafters. Oh the fubriltie of flie Fortune, who all this while twifted the cord that 
another day fhould hang Po/ycrates! This ftone(as it is well known) was a Sardonyx;& if we may 
beleeve it,the veric fame itis which at Rome is (hewed in the temple of Concord, where 47Zu/ta 
the Emprefle dedicated itas an oblation,enchafed within a golden horne: and verely ifitbe the 
{ame,one of the leaft Sardonyches it is among many other there which be preferred before it. 
Nextto this ftone of Polycrates,there goeth a royall name of the gem which Pyrr/4ws K.of Al- 
banie had; him I mean,who warred againft the Romans : for(by report)an Agath he had,wher- 
ina man might fee the nine Mufes, and 4pol/o with his harpe, lively reprefented, not by art and 
mans hand,but even naturally im»printed: for the veins and ftrakes of the ftone were fo difpofed, 
that aman might diftinguifh every one of the Mufes afunder,and ech one diftinguifhed by their 
feveral] marks and ornaments.Setting afide thefe two gems above-named, we do not fead in au- 
thors, of any great reckoning made of fuch jewels ; unleffe wee {peake of one J/menias a famous 
minftrell, who had the name to weare many of them ordinarily about him, ahd thofe verie gay 
fome odd miaftrels. Batto re againe unto Pulycrates his gem, which at this day is to be feen 
D 
within theremple of Concord. And not onely in the time of J/menias, but alfo many yeers after, it 
OO! 
