Translation Page 55



	TRANSLATION

	that it is smaller. In size the pearl is as big as a large fisheye],³⁵and it is produced in India and certain islands in the Red Sea.³⁶These are approximately the stones that are of unusual excellence. But there are some others, such as the fossil ivory which is 37 variegated with white and dark markings. And there is also the stone called sappheiros, which is dark and not very different from the male \yanos, and there is the prasitisf which has the color of verdigris. And the haimatitis³* also is of solid texture; it is dull in color, and in accordance with its name seems to be made of blood that has become firm and dry. The stone called xanthe³⁹is another variety, not really yellow in color but rather of a whitish tint, a color which the Dorians call xanthos. Coral, which is like a stone, is red in color and rounded like a 38 root, and it grows in the sea. And in a way the petrified Indian reed is not very different in its nature from coral. But this is a subject for another inquiry. There are also many varieties of stones which are obtained by 39 mining. Some of these contain gold and silver at the same time, but only the silver can be seen clearly. They are rather heavy in weight and have a strong odor. There is also natural Ratios, which contains chrysokplla, and there is another stone which is like glowing coals in color; and these stones are heavy. In general a great many unusual types of such stones are found 40 in mines; some of them are of an earthy nature, such as yellow ochre and red ochre, and some are sandy, like chryso\olla and kyanos, and others are powdery, such as realgar and orpiment and others that are like them. One could mention a number of peculiarities in such stones. Some stones also have the power of not submitting to treatment, 41 as we have mentioned before; for example, they cannot be cut with iron tools, but only with other stones. In general there is a great difference in the methods of working the larger stones; for some can be sawn, others can be carved, as has been stated, and odiers turned on a lathe, like the Magnesian stone. This is un- ³⁵ The words in brackets come from Athenaeus (III, 93). ³⁶ Probably the present Persian Gulf. ³⁷ An opaque green stone. For possible identification, see Commentary. ³⁸ Probably red jasper. ³⁹ Probably yellow jasper.

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