* Purpura cans 
defcente, 
 * Ant lafie ru- 
H befcente, 
* Some read 
Neerdn, 
*\Which fome 
take for Chry- 
folire. 
eyOT Nepos, 
* 
The feven and thirtieth Bocke 
butmoft within the kingdome of Parthia :howbeit,the principall come from out of Carmania, 
The ftone whereof thele veflels be made, is thoughtto be acertaine humour thickened and ba- 
ked as it were within the ground by the naturall heat thereof. In no placefhallaman meet with 
any of thefe ftones larger than {mall rablements of pillars or counting-bourds sand feldome are 
they fo thickeastoferve forfucha drinking cup as I have {poken of alreadie:refplendent they 
arein fome fort, but that brightnefle is not pearcing , and to fay a truth, it may bee called rather 
a polifhed gloffe or luftre, thana radiant and tranfparent clearenefle : but that which maketh 
them fo much efteemed, isthe varietie of colours;for in thefe ftonesa man fhall perceive cer- 
taine veins or {pots, which as they be turned about refermble divers colours enclining partly to 
purple and partly co a white: hee fhall feethem alfo ofa third colour compofed of them both,re- 
fembling the fame of fire: Thus they pafle from one to another asa man holdeththem; info 
much as their * purple feemeth to ftand much upon white, and * theirmilkie white to beare as 
much upon the purple. Someefteemed thofe Caffidoine or Murthine tones richeft, which re- 
prefent as it were certaine reverberations of {undrie colours meeting all togither abouttheir ed- 
ges and extremities, {uch as wee obferve in rainbowes: others are delighted with certainefattie 
{pots appearing in them and no account ismade ofthem which fhew eitherpale or tranfpa- 
rent in any part of them, for thefe be reckned great faults and blemifhes. In like manner,if there 
be feene in the Caffidoine any fpots like corns or graines of fale: if it containe refemblances of 
weits, although they beare not up butlie flatas they doe many times in.our bodies: finally,the 
Caffidoine ftones are commended in fome fort alfo for the fmell that they doe yeeld. 
As touching Cryftall, it proceedeth of a contrarie caufe, namely of cold; foraliquoritis © 
congealedby extreame froft in manner of yce sand for proofe hereof,you fhall find cryftall inno 
place els but where the winter fnowis frozen hard : fo as we may boldly fay, itis verie yce and no- 
thing elfe, whereupon the Greeks have give it the right name Cryftallos,z. Yce, We have this 
cryftall likewife out of the Eaft parts, but there is none better than that which India fendeth unto 
us. Ingendred itis alfoin Afia, and namely about Alabanda, Ortofia, and the mountains adjoy- 
ning, but in requeft it isnot no more than that whichis found in Cyprus :howbeit, there is ex- 
cellent cryftall within Europe, and namely vpon the crefts of the Alps. King 6a writeth, that 
in a cercaine Ifland lying within the red fea over-againft Arabia named * Neron, there groweth 
eryftoll : as alfo in another thereby, which yeeldeth the * Topafe pretious flone where, Pytha- 
Goras (lieutenant or governour under king Ptolome) digged forth a peece which carried acubit 
inlength. Cornelius * Bocchvs affirmeth, that in Portugall upon certaine exceeding high moun- 
taines, where they finke pits for the levell of the water, there bee found greatcryftall quartets or 
mafies of a woonderfull weight. But marveilous is that which Xenocrates the Ephefian repor- 
teth namely, that in Afia and Cyprusthere be pecces of cryftall turned up with the verie plough, 
fo ebb it lieth within the ground; an incredible thing, confidering that before-time no man be- 
Jeeved that ever it could bee found in any place ftanding upon an earthly fubftance , but onely 
among cliffes and craggs. It foundeth yet more like a truth, which the fame X¢nocrates writeth, 
namely, that often times it is caried downe the {treame running from the mountains.As for Sa- 
dines hee faith confidently, that cryftall is not engendred but in places expofed onely to the 
South : and verely this is moft true, for you {hall never meet with it in waterifh countries lying 
Northerly, be the climat never fo cold, no though the rivers be frozen to an yce evento the ve- 
rie bottame, VWce muft conclude therefore of neceffitie, that certaine coeleftiall humours, to - 
wit, ofraine and fome {mall {now togither,doe concurreto the making of cry{tall:and hereupon 
itcommeth, thatimpatient itis of heat, and unleffe it be for to drinke water or other liquor actu- 
ally cold,itis altogither rejeGted : but ftraunge it is,thatit fhould growasit doth, fix angled: nei- 
ther is ican eafie matter to affigne a found reafon thereof, the rather for that the points beenot 
all ofone fafhion ;and the fides betweene each cornerarefo abfolute even and {moorh,as nola- 
pidarie in the world with all his skill can polifhany ftonefo plaine. The greateft and moft weigh- 
tie peece of cryftall that ever I could fee, was that which Zia Auguflathe Emprefle dedicated 
in the Capicoll, which weighed about fiftie pounds. Xenecrates mine authourabove-named, al- 
firmeth, that there was feene a veffell of cryftall as mu¢hasan amphore :and fome befides him 
doe fay, that there have beene brought out of India, cryftall glaffes containing foure fextars 
apeece. Thus muchl dare my felfe avouch, that cryftall groweth within certaine rockes upon 
the Alps,andthofe fo fteepe and inacceflible, chat forthe moft part they are confirained ro hang 
. ay re by 
G 
. 
: 
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“he 
