Sec. I, Ch. 3: Precious Stones & Their Uses in Bygone Times

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	12 Precious Stones and their uses in bygone times. knowledge of the origin of both common and Precious Stones, and of their natural forms. It is certain that Aristotle had knowledge of a still larger number of Precious Stones, and that he was acquainted with some of their special properties. His scholar, Theophrastus, has left us a small work on this subject. The little treatise of Theophrastus, Περί rûv Αιθυν, was written before the year 300 B.C., and notwithstanding its brevity, is of special interest as being the earliest Greek work devoted to Mineralogy which has come down to modern times. It is true there exists a curious Greek poem on Precious Stones, Αιθίκα, by the pseudo-Orpheus, but this is of very little value from a scientific point of view, and its date is a matter on which the opinion of scholars is divided. But though we have no other early Greek treatises on minerals, we find references to Precious Stones occasionally interspersed through the pages of other writers. Didorus mentions the Topaz found in the Serpent Island of the Arabian Sea, probably what we now call Chrysolite. Dionysius Periegetes refers to the clear and brilliant Diamond, the beautiful Asterios (a star-stone, either. Sapphire or Ruby) that glitters like a star, the Lychnis with the colour of fire, the blue Beryl, the dull Jasper, the pure bluish and greenish Topaz, and the lovely Amethyst with its soft, purple sheen. In the time of Alexander the Great, and still more so in the time of the luxurious Diadochi, there was a great increase in the use of Precious Stones as articles of luxury. They were used not only for signet rings, but also in ornamenting many articles of use and luxury, being set round the feet and other parts of the drinking vessels and candelabra of the period.

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