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COMMENTARY
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ancient gems of zircon have been found, and since they occur principally in Ceylon, it is unlikely that the ancient Greeks could have been acquainted with them.
Though the hardness and transparency ascribed to lyngourion, as well as its use for seals, suggest that it was a kind of precious or semiprecious stone, certain of its qualities, as described by Theophrastus, show that it was not an inorganic material at all. In particular the phrase καθάπερ λίθος ("like stone"), used with reference to its hardness, definitely indicates that it was not a stone, and the electrostatic properties ascribed to it, though they could apply to a polished gem, point to a more easily electrified substance such as amber, which is of vegetable origin.
The explicit statements of Strabo, Dioscorides, and Pliny on the nature of this substance have not been sufficiently considered in many of the attempts to identify it. In his discussion of the territory of the Ligurians, Strabo170 remarks: "The lingourion,171 too, is plentiful in their country, and some call this amber." Dioscorides says that "the urine of the lynx, which is called lyngourion,172 is believed to be transformed into a stone as soon as it is voided, and so it has a foolish story connected with it; for this is what some people call the amber that attracts feathers . . . ."173 In his discussion of the various names given to amber, Pliny says:
"Demostratus lyncurium vocat. . . alios id dicere langurium . . . "174 (Demostratus calls it lyncurium . . . ; others call it langurium . . . ). After discussing the varieties, properties, and uses of amber, Pliny adds this statement: "De lyncurio proxime diet cogit auctorum pertinacia, quippe, etiamsi non electrum id, tamen gemmam esse» contendunt, fieri autem ex urina quidem lyncis, sed et genere terrae, protinus eo animali urinam operiente, quoniam invideat homini, ibique lapidescere. esse autem, qualem in sucinis, colorem igneum, scalpique nee folia tantum aut stramenta ad se rapere, sed aeris etiam ac ferri lamnas, quod Diocli cuidam Theophrastus quoque credit, ego falsum id totum arbitror nee visam in aevo nostro gemmam ullam ea appellatione."175 (The obstinacy of authors compels me to speak next of lyncurium, for even though they state that it is not amber but a precious stone, yet they assure us that it is formed from die urine of the lynx, though it also contains a kind
170 iv, 6, 2.
171 λΐ77οι5ριοι>.
172 \vyyoipiov.
173II, ioo (Wellmann ed., II, 8i, 3).
174 XXXVII, 34.
175XXXVII, 52-53.
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• III ·
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