Quantcast
  Due to a new server, slow response may occur for which we apologize Portal logo
Login/Register
Bactrian Gold Treasure from Afghanistan, coming soon....
/gemstones/king-natural-history/page_193 - 2
 

Crystallus, Rock-crystal

Crystallus, Rock-crystal Page of 453 Crystallus, Rock-crystal Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
184
CRYSTALLUS.
" Streams which a stream in kindred prison chain, Which water were, and water still remain, What art hath bound ye, by what wondrous force Hath ice to stone congeal'd the limpid source ? What heat the captive saves from winter hoar, Or what warm zephyr thaws the frozen core ? Say in what hid recess of inmost earth, Prison of floating tides, thou hadst thy birth ? What power thy substance fix'd by icy spell, Then loosed the prisoner in his lucid cell ? "
It equally excited the admiration of the mediœval philosopher, Marbodus devoting a separate section to a description of the mystery which he owns himself unable to explain. It is the modern opinion, however, that the liquid, instead of being imprisoned in its "lucid dungeon" at the time of the Crystal's formation, and being the residuum of its subject-matter, has rather subsequently infiltrated into the cavity through the pores of the stone. It is said that the miners in California often come upon huge quartz-nodules filled with water, and are poisoned occasionally by drinking it, from the quantity of silica it holds in solution.
Such Enhydrous Crystals are not unfrequently to be met with in jewels of the Cinque-cento. They are somewhat dangerous ornaments, sometimes exploding with great violence on the sudden application of heat, an instance of which is on record when a person had his palate severely lacerated by placing one in his mouth ; and Barbot mentions a similar explosion happen­ing within his knowledge on a jeweller's soldering a ring set with such a " pregnant gem."
The ancients do not appear to have attached any medicinal virtue to the Crystal—Orpheus, the prime source of all such notions, only recommending it as a burning lens for sacrificial purposes ; but Marbodus, on the authority of Evax, prescribes the powder of it to be taken in mulsum (wine and honey) by women suckling as a sure means for increasing their supply of milk.
In addition to all these wonders, tho Crystal played an impor­tant part in magic. A sphere, some three inches in diameter, apparently one of that ancient sort already described, was the far-famed " show-stone " of Dr. Dee, wherein that " egregious
Crystallus, Rock-crystal Page of 453 Crystallus, Rock-crystal
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page