Of a kindred nature, too, is sandastros,[3097] known as “garamantites” by some: it is found in India, at a place of that name, and is a product also of the southern parts of Arabia. The great recommendation of it is, that it has all the appearance of fire placed behind a transparent substance, it burning with star-like scintillations within, that resemble drops of gold, and are always to be seen in the body of the stone, and never upon the surface. There are certain religious associations, too, connected with this stone, in consequence of the affinity which it is supposed to bear with the stars; these scintillations being mostly, in number and arrangement, like the constellations of the Pleiades and Hyades; a circumstance which had led to the use of it by the Chaldæi in the ceremonials which they practise.
Here, too, the male stones are distinguished from the female, by their comparative depth of colour and the vigorousness of the tints which they impart to objects near them: indeed the stones of India, it is said, quite dim the sight by their brilliancy. The flame of the female sandastros is of a more softened nature, and may be pronounced to be lustrous rather than brilliant. Some prefer the stone of Arabia to that of India, and say that this last bears a considerable resemblance to a smoke-coloured chrysolithos. Ismenias asserts that sandastros, in consequence of its extreme softness, will not admit of being polished, a circumstance which makes it sell all[3098] the dearer: other writers, again, call these stones “sandrisitæ.” One point upon which all the authorities are agreed is, that the greater the number of stars upon the stone, the more costly it is in price.
The similarity of the name has sometimes caused this stone to be confounded with that known as “sandaresos,” and which Nicander calls “sandaserion,” and others “sandaseron.” Some, again, call this last-mentioned stone “sandastros,” and the former one “sandaresos.” The stone[3099] that is thus mentioned by Nicander, is a native of India as well as the other, and likewise takes its name from the locality where it is found. The colour of it is that of an apple, or of green oil, and no one sets any value on it.
CHAP. 29.—LYCHNIS: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.
To the same class of flame-coloured stones belongs that known as “lychnis;”[3100] so called from its lustre being heightd by the light of the lamp, under which circumstances its tints are particularly pleasing. It is found in the vicinity of Orthosia, throughout the whole of Caria, and in the neighbouring localities; but the most approved stones are those that come from India. Some writers have given the name of “deadened”[3101] carbunculus to a lychnis of second-rate quality, and similar in colour to the flower known as the “flower of Jove.”[3102] I find other varieties also mentioned, one with a purple radiance, and another of a scarlet[3103] tint. It is asserted, too, that these stones, when heated or rubbed between the fingers, will attract[3104] chaff and filaments of paper.
CHAP. 30.—CARCHEDONIA.
Carchedonia,[3105] too, is said to have the same property, though far inferior in value to the stones already mentioned. It is found in the mountains among the Nasamones,[3106] being produced, the natives think, by showers sent for the purpose from heaven. These stones are found by the light of the moon, more particularly when at full: in former days, Carthage was the entrepôt for them. Archelaüs speaks of a brittle variety being found in the vicinity of Thebes also, in Egypt, full of veins, and similar to dying embers in appearance. I find it stated, too, that in former times, drinking-vessels used to be made of this stone and of lychnis:[3107] all these kinds of stone, however, offer the most obstinate resistance to the graver, and, if used for seals, are apt to bring away a part of the wax.
CHAP. 31.—SARDA: FIVE VARIETIES OF IT.
Sarda,[3108] on the other hand, is remarkably useful for this purpose; a stone which shares its name, in part, with sardonyx. It is a common stone, and was first found at Sardes, but the most esteemed kind is that of the vicinity of Babylon. When certain quarries are being worked, these stones are found, adhering, like a kind of heart, to the interior of the rock. This mineral, however, is said to be now extinct in Persia; though it is to be found in numerous other localities, Paros and Assos, for example.
In India[3109] there are three varieties of this stone; the red sarda, the one known as “pionia,” from its thickness, and a third kind, beneath which they place a ground of silver tinsel. The Indian stones are transparent, those of Arabia being more opaque. There are some found also in the vicinity of Leucas in Epirus, and in Egypt, which have a ground placed beneath them of leaf gold. In the case of this stone, too, the male stone shines with a more attractive brilliancy than the female, which is of a thicker substance, and more opaque. Among the ancients there was no precious stone in more common use than this; at all events, it is this stone that is made so much parade of in the comedies of Menander and Philemon. No one, too, among the transparent stones is tarnished more speedily by exposure to moisture than this; though of all liquids, it is oil that acts the most readily upon it. Those stones which are like honey in colour, are generally disapproved of, and still more so, when they have the complexion of earthenware.[3110]