of Pliniés Naturall Hiftorie. Gis> | 
A coftly dames: for wee may conclude upon this point more certainely; going by their fentence, 
than grounding upon the judgement of ment formen (kings efpecially and great men) make 
the price of each gem according to their feverall fancies, Clawdiws Cafar the Emperour made 
noreckoning of any but the Emeratid andthe Sardonyx, and thefe ordinarily he wore upon his 
fingers: but Scipio Africanus (as {aith*Demoftratw)tooke a liking to the Sardonyx before hin; 
and was the firftRoman that ufed its and ever fince this gem Hach berin grearrequeft ac Rome: 
inregard of whicheredic,I willraunge it next unto the Opall.In oldtimethe Sardonyx, as nvay 
_appeare by the verie name,was takett for the pretious {hone which feemed tobea * Gornalline * Sarde. 
upon white, thatis to fay, asif the ground under a mans naile were flefh, and both togither tran 
parent andcleare : and in verie truth,the Sardonyx of India is fuch, according to I/menias, De- 
B moftratus,Zenathemis, and Sotacus. As for thefe.twolaft named, they verely. doe name all the 
reft that are not cleare and fhewnot through them, Blind Sardonyches,frch as the Arabian be; 
and thefe have carried away the name of Onyx, without any mention or apparence at all of the 
Sarda or Cornalline: and thefeftones have begun of late to bee knowne and diftinguifhed by 
their fimdrie colours;fot fome of them have their ground blacke or muclrupon azure andthe 
naile of a mans hand; for it hathbeen generally thoughtand beleeved, tharfuch havea tinéture | 
of white, arid yetnot withouta fhew of purple, as if tlie faid’white eclinédto'a verautlon or... ~ A. 
Amethyft. Zeathemis writeth, that thefe ftones were not fet by among the Indians; nowwitli- 
ftanding otherwife they were folargeand bigg, as thereof they made ordinarily {word handles 
and dagger haftssand no marveile; for'certaine itis, that in thofe parts land flouds: comming 
C downewithaftreame from the hills}have difcovered{uch and brought them to light, Hee faith 
alfo,that they were atthe beginning highly accepted of in thofe parts; for that there is not in ‘oct 
mariner a ftone engraven,thac will imprint the feale upon wax cleanly without plucking the wax arbres 
away, but it: and through our perfuafions, the Indians alfo'gtew into‘a good conceit-of them, ote 
and tooke pleafurein wearing thefame:and verely, the cominion people of India make holes eral 10 
through them, and fo weare them enfiled as catkans and collars about their-neckés onely:And 
hereupon it commeth that thofe are taken to be Indian Sardotiyches or Cornallines which be 
thus bored through. Asfor the Arabicke, excellent they are thoughtto be which are enviro- 
ned witha white circle,and the fame verie brigitand moft flender:neither doth this circlefhine 
in theconcavitie or in the fall of the gem, but glittereth onely in the verie bofles, and befides,: 
D the verie ground thereof is moft blacke. True itis, that the ground of thefe Sardoins is found 
in the Indian {tones to refemble wax or horne, yea within the white circle, in fo muchas there is 
arefemblance in fome fort of arainbow, by means of certaine cloudie vapours feeming to pro- 
ceedfrom them ‘and verely the fuperficiall face of this {tone is redder than the {hells of Lobfters. 
Astouching thofe thatbe in colourlike to honey or lees (for this is taken to be an imperfection 
and fault in Cofnallines) they bee all rejected slikewife if the white circle that girdeth it about 
ipread and doe not gather round and compact togither : emblably,it is counted a great blemifh. 
inthis gem, if ithavea veine of any other colour (bur that which is naturall) growing out of 
{quare : for the nature of this {tone is fuch; like as of all things elfe, notto abide any ftraunge 
thing co difturbe the feat thereof. There be alfo Armeniacke Cornallines, which inall refpects 
E elfe are to be liked, but for the pale citcle thatclafpeth them. Gig 
By occafion of this ftone Sardonyx, I am putin mind for thenames fake, to write of the gens 
Onyxalfo: for notwithftanding there be a {torte fo called in Carmania(which is the Caffidoine) 
yet there goeth alfoa gem under thatname. Swdines faith, that the pretious {tone Onyx hath 
a white in it refembling the naile of a mans finger? it hath likewife (quoth hee) the colour of a 
Chryfelith otherwife calleda Topafe, of a Cornalline alfo,anda lafper. Zenathemis affirmeth, 
that the Indian Onyx is of divers and {undrie colouts to wit, of a fierie red, ablackea*horne ...4 <6 
grey shaving alfo otherwhiles certaine white fttakes or veines in fafhion of eyes compafling It haply they be 
about; and in fome of them you fhall fee white ftrakes or veins likewife to goecrofle and byas called Corna- 
betweene them. Sotacvs maketh mention moreover of an Arabian Onyx, burit differeth from “""* 
F others (faith hee) ia this refpe&t, That the Indian Onyx hath certaine {parkes init, andthe fame 
environed and compaffed about with white citcles either fingle or many fold, farre ocherwife 
than the Indian Sardonyx; for in the former, the white {eemed tobee pointed prickes, butin 
thefe they bee compleat circles, As for the Arabian Onyches, there bee found of them blacke, 
with white circles, Satyr reporteth furthermore, that the Indian Onyxis flefhi¢ ;thacin one 
Ggg jj part 
