614, 
_ Opalus, yet their iuftreisnothing fo lively andlightfome, andfeldomethallyoumeet withany ~ 5 
The feven and thirtieth Booke ; 
| Cuan vi 
2& of the pretiows flone Opalus, and all the fandrie kinds, The fanlsin them and 
the means to trie which be good, Alfa divers forts of other 
gems and pretiows flones. 
He ftones called Opales, differ little ornothing otherwhiles from Beryls ; and yet the fame 
-§ fometime are nothing ar all like them : neither is there a gem that they will give place un- 
“~ to,unleffe it be the Emeraud : India land is the onely mother of them: lapidaries therfore 
and thofe who have written books of pretious ftones, have given unto them the name and glo- 
rie of the greateft price, but efpecially for the difficultie in finding them out and chufing of them 
which is inenarrable: for in the Opall, you fhall fee the burning fire ofthe Carbuncle or Rubie, 
the glorious purple of the Amethyft, the greene fea of the Emeraud, and all glittering togither 
mixed after an incredible maner.Some Opals cariefuch a refplendent luftre with them that they 
are ableto match the braveft and richeft colours of painters; others reprefentthe flaming fire 
of brimftone, yea-and the bright blaze of burning oile. The Opall is ordinarilyasbiggas afil- = 
berd nut. And heere commethto my mind an hiftorie among usastouching the Opall,worthie = 
ofremembrance: for there is at this day to be feene one of thefe Opals, forthe which gem Mar- 
cus Antonius profcribed and outlawed Nonivs a Senatour of Rome the fonne of thar St#ama 
Nonius{at whome the flomacke of Catullus the Poét didrife fo much, feeinghim(ashedid) fir 
ina ftately chaire of yvoriecalled Curulis} and grandfather to that Ser-vilins Nonianus whome —} — 
I my (elfe have feene Confull. Nowthe faid Senatour when hee was driventoflieupon this pro- — 
{cription, tooke no more with him of all the goods which hee had, but only aring wherein this 
Opall was fet, which (as itis well knowne) had been valewed fometime at twentie thoufandfe- _ 
{terces. Butas the cxuell andinordinat appetite of atonie (who fora jewell onely outlawedand 
banifhed a Romane Senatour) was woonderfull on the one fide, fo the peevifhnefle and contu- 
macie of Nowivs was as ftraunge on the other fide, who was fo farrein love of that gem which 
coft him his profcription, and rather than to pare with it fuffered himfelfe to bee turned out of » 
houfe and home: and yet the verie wild beafts are better advifed than fo, who are content to 
bite offthofe parts of their bodie and leave them behind them for the hunters, for which they 
fee themfelves in daungerof death. Inthe Opale, therebe obferved alfodivers blemifhesand «K 
imperfections as well as in other ftones ;namely, if the colourtefemble the floure of that hearbe f 
~ whichis called Heliotropium, ideft; Turnefole: alfoif it looke like’ cryftall or haile :likewife if 
there bea {pot comming betweene in manner of a grain orkernell of fale:if itberoughinhans =~ 
dling, and ifthere be certaine {mall pricks or {pots reprefentedto the eyes:neither isthereiany = 
pretious ftone thatthe Indianscan counterfeit fo well by the means of glafle,asthis;infomuch 
as hardly a man thall difcerne the natural] Opall from the falfe; when they have done withall: 
butthe onely triall is by the Sunne, for ifa man hold an Opall betwixt his thumbe and finger a- 
gainft the beams of the Sunne, ifitbea counterfeit, hee fhall find thofe' divers colours:which 
{hewed therein,to run all into one and the fame tranfparent colour, and fo toreft in the bodie of 
the {tone ; whereas the brightnefle of the true Opall eftfoones doth chaunge,and fendeth foorth 
the luftretoo and fro more andlefle, yea and the glittering of the lightfhineth alfo:upon the 
fingers. This gem, for the rate and incomparable beautie and grace thatisinit, moft.writers 
have called Pederos. ) mu 
There is alfo another kind of Opalos apart by itfelfe, according tothe opinion of fome,who 
fay that it is called by the Indians Sangenon.Ic is faid,tharthere be Opalsin EgyptandinAra- 
bia, like as in the kingdome alfo of Pontus, but fuch of all other beare the loweft price. In'Ga- 
Jatia likewife,and in the Ifles Thrafos and Cyprus: for albeitthey have the lovely beautie of the 
ofthem that isnot rugged: their chiefe colours:{tand mucharpon brafle'and'purple:theftehh = 
verdure of the greene Emeraud isaway, which the true Opaleidoth participa. This isgcnerally jy 
held, that they are more commendable which be*hadowedasit werewith thecolour of wine, 
than delaied with the cleareneffe of water. 2)!i1q0) 07 baw so, e oueleanccky fae 
Thus farre foorth have] written of gems and pretious {tones which bee efteemed principal 
and moft rich, according to the decree generally fet downe and pronounced by our nice and > 
coftly a 
