[ 395 ] 
c£ deep-red colour ; and required no fmall labour to* 
tc polifli it.” The reft of c Tbeophraftus ' s defcription 
is taken up with the fabulous account of the genera- 
tion of this ftone, ‘ £ that it is formed by the urine of 
<c the lynx, which the animal, as foon as it parts 
tc with it, hides, and fcrapes the earth together over 
<c it; and that the ftones vary according to the fex 
tc and difpofition of the animal.” 
Diofcorides *, in his hiftory of the Lyncurium , 
gives us only the fabulous hiftory of its generation, 
before mentioned by Lheophrajius ; and fubjoins, that 
it is called by fome ' HA exlpou 7r%pvyo<popov ; that is, 
amber, which attracts feathers to it. 
Pliny, in his hiftory Tj difbelieves both the fabu- 
lous account of the generation of the Lyncurium , as 
well as its attractive quality, related both by Diocles 
and Lheophraftus , and confiders the whole as a falfity; 
though he is candid enough to confefs, that neither 
himfelf, nor any one elfe in that age, had feen a gem 
of that appellation. 
1 Lbeopbraftus , though more ancient, is, in moft 
particulars, more to be depended upon than either 
Diofcorides or Fliny. He ought to be confidered 
much more of an original author, and one who wrote 
from his own knowlege, than the others, who, va- 
luable as they are, muft be regarded, in moft refpeCts, 
as compilers. His account, then, of the appearance 
and properties of the Lyncurium muft be confidered, 
in order to examine, if any fubftance, known in our 
* Lib. II. cap. c. 
f Plin. Hift. lib. XXXVII. cap. iii. Ego falfum id totum arbi- 
tor, nec vifum in aevo noftro gemmain ullam ea appellatione. 
E e e 2 time, 
