of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 
A. of it fheweth:Chalcites of braffe; and Sycites of a figge. 1 ee no proportion or reafonatall be- 
tweene the {tone Borfycites and that name ; this {tone is blacke and braunching, and the leaves 
are white, orred like bloud ; no morethan Idoe in Gemites, which reprefenteth (as it were) 
engraven in the tone, white hands clafped one within another. As for Anachitis,it isfaid, That 
fpirits may beraifed by itin the skill of Hydromantie :like as by Synochitis,che ghofts which are 
raifed,may be kept above ftill. What fhould I {peake of the white Dendritis,which ifit be buried 
in the ground under atree that is to bee fallen, the edge of the ax that heweth it,will hot tarne or 
631 
wax blunt. There beea number of other,and thofe in Nature more prodigiousthan the reft: fot 
which the Barbarians have devifed ftraunge names, profefling unto us,that they were ftones iné 
deed.For mine own part it fhall fuflice that I have difproved their lies in thefe abovenamed. 
Crar. xti 
2& Of new flones,and thofe naturall, Of [uch as be counterfeit and artificial, Of diverfe 
formes and {hapes of gems. 
Here grow ftill precious ftones unlooked fot every day, that bee new and have honames, 
fuch asthatin Lampfacus, where one was found itt the gold mines fo faire and beautifull, 
- tharicwas thought aprefent worth fending to K: Alexander the Great, asT heopbraflus wri- 
teth.As touching the ftones Cochlides,which now are moft common, they feeme rather artifi- 
ciall than naturall : and verely it isfaid, That in Arabia therebe found of them huge mafles which 
are fedden in honey feven dates and nights together continually; by which meanes,after that all 
the earthie and groflerefufe of this ftone is taken away,the {tone it {elfe remaineth pure and fine s 
and then comming underthe lapidaries hand, they bee divided into fundry veines, and reduced 
a 
into drawne or inlaid worke of Marquetage,as he will himfelie. And herein is {een the cunning of 
the cutter, forthat itis fo vendible,& every mans moncy.In old time they were made ofthat big- 
nefis,that the KK, of the Zaft had their horfes fet out therewith, not onely in their frontftals, bur 
alfo in the pendants of their caparifons. And verely,all otber precious {tones being decoted inv 
honey,looke faire and neat with a pleafant luftre : but principally the Corficks, which abhorre all 
things elsthat are more eager than hony.Moreover,this is to be noted, that our lapidaries have a 
tearme for thofe {tones which are of diverfe colours,and they call chem Phyfes,asif they had noc 
another ufuall name for them: and this they doe in the fubtiltie of their wit,to make them feeme 
more wonderfull by thefe ftrange words of art,as if they would venditat them forthe very wonders 
of Natures worke: whereas indeed there bee an infinit number of names,devifed all by the vaine 
Greeks,who knew not howto make an end,which Ipurpofe not to rehearfe;and verely,after 1 had 
difcourfed of the noble and rich ftones, I contented my felfe in fome fort to {pecifie thofe of a ba- 
fer degree,{uch1 mean as were more rare than others, & to diftinguith then that were moft wor- 
thieto bee treated of. Bucthis eftfoones would bee renembred, [hat one and the felfefame ftone 
changeth the name,according tothe fundry {pots,matks and werts that arife in them;according 
alfo to the manifold lines drawn inthem, the divers veines running betweene, and the varietie of 
colours therin obferved.[t remaineth nowtofzt downe fome generall obfervations indifferent to 
all forts of gems, and that aiter the opinion of the beft approved and experienced authors in this 
kand, Any {tones that beeither hollowand funk in,or bearing out in boffc or bellie, be nothing fo 
good as thofe whiclycarie an even and levell table The long fafhioned gems are moftclteemed ? 
nextunto them fuch as be formed like to Lentill feed: after them thofe that be round in manner 
of atarguer:and as forfach as be madewith many facesand angled, they bee of all other leaft ac- 
countedof, To diferne a fine andtrueftone froma falfe & counterfer,is very difficult, forafmuch 
asthere isan invention to transform true gems into the counterfeit of another kind, And in truth 
men have devifedtoiake Sardonches by fetting and glewing together the gems nained Cerau- 
niajadd that fo artificially,that it is unpoffible ro fee therein mans hand; fo handfomely are cou- 
_ chedgheblacke taken from this,the white fromthat,and the verinillion red from another,accor 
ding asthe richneffe of the ftonedoth require,and all thofe in their kind molt approved. Moreo- 
ver,therebe in my hands certaine bookes of authors extant, whom I will notnominat for all the 
good in the world, wherein is deciphered the manner and meanes how to give the tincture cf an 
Emeraud toa Cryftall, and howto fophifticat other tranfparent gems ; namely,howto make 3 
Sardonyx of a Cornalline,and in one word,to transforme one ftone into another. And to fay a 
eruth,there is notany fraud and deceit in the world turnethto greater gaine and profit aE this. 
Cnar, 
