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Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica

Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Page of 251 Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
BOOK V
101
Myites, because it is not striated, resembles a mouse. There are two species both oblong and rounded like a scallop. One, colored gray, is found in Hesse near the fortified city of Spangenberg associated with trochites and in the quarries of Hildesheim, Saxony, as already mentioned. The other species, sometimes gray sometimes light yellow, is found in the moat on the north side of Hildesheim.
Onychites has an odor similar to finger-nails which the Greeks call onyx. It resembles them in both color and form and is found in the quar­ries near Hildesheim.
Ostracites (fossil ostrea shells) is a stone that takes its name from oslreum which it resembles. There are two species, the larger found in the moat on the north side of Hildesheim has a cleavage similar to selenite. The smaller species is found not far from Hanover on a cliff near the vil­lage of Linda in an unctuous light green earth.
Porphyroides with a gray color and shaped like the pointed stinger of the purple fish is found in the same moat of Hildesheim but it is not cone-shaped as is the purple fish. A similar substance is found in this same place without the point but having instead transverse striae.
Conchites is found in the same moat. It has curved ridges running back to the shoulder and decorated with armatura of a golden color. It is com­monly six inches long and three inches wide. Marine shells, according to Paulanias, are scattered throughout the stone at Megara and for that rea­son the stone is called conchites.
Since philogynos is also covered with armatura it has been called chry-sites. It is found in Egypt, according to Pliny, and resembles the oyster of Athens. Valerius Cordus, who recently suffered a most untimely death in Rome, has brought me a very large number of stones from Hildesheim. This young man not only made an intensive study of these natural objects but also studied a great many herbs. But I have said enough about this genus of stones and shall now take up the rest.
Stelechites has the appearance of the trunk of a tree from which the branches have been cut. It is found with a gray color in Hesse near the fortified city of Spangenberg on the Cnorenberg hill. Belemnites has the shape of an arrow and for that reason the Saxons call it by a name com­pounded from ephialtis and sagitta. When drunk it is said to cure night­mare and hallucinations and prevent bewitchment. Certain physicians have and use this stone today instead of lyncurium (amber). This is neither congealed urine of the lynx nor any similar substance. The older writers have called amber by this name as I have said because they believed it to be of this origin. If anyone has seen the lyncurium of the Greeks at any time which was not amber I believe that he has seen belemnites. Some has the color of Falernian amber and is transparent. Some will attract chaff and other light objects as does amber. It is found in Germany in many places, in Saxony in the west moat of Hildesheim and on the banks of the Lanus river near Neustadt, a town about twelve miles from Han-
Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Page of 251 Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica
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