5176.] The Book of the Balance of Wisdom. 513 
and everything, with even a superfluity of renunciation for 
the sake of acquiring that ; and yet are ever longing for the 
third stream* to stuff their bellies with the dust ?” 
This passage is a sample of the simplicity of much of the 
“ Book of the Balance of Wisdom and, occurring in the 
midst of the purely scientific demonstrations and data, is 
peculiarly refreshing ; the author’s testimony to that in- 
explicable peculiarity of gold which renders it the special 
objeCt of avarice, leads us to conjecture that had he lived in 
modem times he would have proved a warm champion of 
“ hard money” doCtrines. 
The second table of specific gravities contains the deter- 
minations of various precious stones; it is not possible in 
every case to identify the stones, and hence some uncertainty 
obtains with regard to the values : — 
Specific Gravities. 
Substances. , * 
Celestial hyacinth .... 
Al-Khazini. 
3*96* 
Modern Authorities. 
4'83 
Red hyacinth 
3 ' 85 + 
3*99 
[Ruby] of Badakhshan 
3'58 
— _ 
Emerald ....... 
275 
2*68 to 277 
Lapis Lazuli ...... 
2*69 
2*90 
Fine pearl 
2'6o 
2*68 
Cornelian 
2-56 
2*62 
Coral 
2-56 
2*69 
Onyx and crystal .... 
2-50 
2*63! to 2*88§ 
Pharaoh’s glass 
2-49 
2 '45 II to 3 '44** 
Al-Khazini gives detailed 
accounts 
of these precious 
stones, of which we quote a few brief extracts. He says : — 
“Emerald and chrysolite are interchangeable names, whether 
applied to one and the same thing, or to two things of which 
one has no real existence,” a passage which shows that 
mineralogical terminology was afflicted with superfluous 
synonyms at an early day. Of the cornelian he says : — 
“ Men have long tired of the cornelian, so that it has ceased 
to be used as a stone for seal-rings ; even for the hands of 
common people, to say nothing of the great.” Of the “ fine 
pearl,” he writes : — “ The pearl is not a stone at all, but only 
the bone of an animal, and not homogeneous in its parts.” 
* Alluding, say the editors, to the traditional saying of the Arabians : “ If 
the son of Adam were to possess two flowing rivers of gold and silver, doubt- 
less he would desire a third.” 
* Oriental sapphire. § Rock crystal 2*68 to 2‘88. 
+ Oriental ruby. || English mirror glass. 
\ Onyx 2’63 to 2’8 i . ** English flint glass. 
VOL. VI. (N.S.) 
2 U 
