And if a traveller meet you as ye go,
Beware no greeting on him ye bestow;
But offered to the gods on your return
Let fragrant spices on their altars burn.

These rites performed: all future things I know—
What airy birds by all their warblings show;

What beasts of prey as through the woods they prowl
Denote while answering with responsive howl."

Lyncurius is of three kinds; one fiery, like a Carbuncle, another dark saffron, the third green. They come from Germany, and cure the colic, jaundice, and king's-evil.

Ligurius is like the Alectorius, and attracts straws. It cures pains in the bowels, fluxes, jaundice, and sharpens the sight: hence by some physicians it is used in eye-salves. (This name is evidently a corruption of Lyncurium, and means some kind of Jargoon or Jacinth.)

Nicolus, if of good colour, has a blue surface, and the under part black; sometimes it is entirely black. Some consider it to be a kind of Calcedony. It is said to take its name from the Greek (Nikoλaoç). Its virtue is to render the wearer victorious, and beloved by his people. (Here we may notice the early use of the name Nicolo for this stone, and its strange derivation from the Greek to suit the virtue ascribed to it, as if it meant Victor of Nations. It is curious that Camillo, both in this place and in speaking of the Sapphire and Turquois, uses flavus as synonymous with cælestis, azure. Hence the German, Blau.)

Opal is good against all diseases of the eyes, and preserves and strengthens the sight. It is not unfitting to ascribe so many properties to this stone, which shows itself the partaker of the colours and nature of so many different gems. (The most extravagant laudation ever passed upon any gem is to be found in the description of an Opal given by Petrus Arlensis, writing in 1610, whose words are as follows:- "The various colours in the Opal tend greatly to the delectation of the sight; nay, more, they have the very greatest efficacy in cheering the heart and the inward parts, and specially rejoice the eyes of the beholders. One in particular came into my hands, in which such beauty, loveli

ness, and grace shone forth, that it could truly boast that it forcibly drew all other gems to itself, while it surprised, astonished, and held captive, without escape or intermission, the hearts of all who beheld it. It was of the size of a filbert, and clasped in the claws of a golden eagle wrought with wonderful art, and had such vivid and various colours that all the beauty of the heavens might be viewed within it. Grace went out from it, majesty shot forth from its almost divine splendour. It sent forth such bright and piercing rays that it struck terror into all beholders. In a word, it bestowed upon the wearer the qualities granted by Nature to itself, for by an invisible dart it penetrated the souls and dazzled the eyes of all who saw it; appalled all hearts, however bold and courageous; in fine, it filled with trembling the bodies of the by-standers, and forced them by a fatal impulse to love, honour, and worship it. I have seen, I have felt, I call God to witness, of a truth such a stone is to be valued at an inestimable amount!")

Obtalmius, said by some to be a stone of many colours, is of wonderful virtue in preserving the eyes from all complaints: it sharpens the sight of the wearer, but clouds that of the bystanders so that they cannot see him, if it be set with a bay-leaf under it, and with the proper incantation-a most admirable property!

Okitokius is a smaller stone than the Echites, but like it rattles inwardly; it is smooth to the touch and easily broken. If dissolved in the juice of the herb Ocyma (basil), and the blood of an Okiteris (swift), and a head of Omis and a little water, this mixture set in a glass vessel will be able to give a proof of its virtue. For if you dip your fingers therein and so anoint the strongest wood, metal, or stone, you will immediately break it.

Quirinus is a magical stone found in the nest of the Hoopoe; it has the virtue that if placed on the breast of a person asleep it will force him to confess his crimes.

The origin and the virtues of the Coral are thus given by Orpheus in one of the most poetical passages of his work (v. 505):

"The Coral too, in Perseus' story famed,

Against the scorpion is for virtue named;

This also a sure remedy will bring

For murd'rous asps, and blunt their fatal sting.
Above all gems in potency 't is raised

By bright-haired Phoebus, and its virtues praised :
For in its growth it shews a wondrous change—
True is the story though thou 'lt deem it strange.
A plant at first it springs not from the ground,
The nurse of plants, but in the deeps profound.
Like a green shrub it lifts its flowery head
Midst weeds and mosses of old Ocean's bed.
But when old age its withering stem invades,
Nipped by the brine its verdant foliage fades;
It floats amid the depths of Ocean tossed,
Till roaring waves expel it on the coast.
Then in the moment that it breathes the air
They say, who 've seen it, that it hardens there.
For as by frost congeal'd and solid grown,

The plant is stiffened into perfect stone;

And in a moment in the finder's hands

Late a soft branch, a flinty coral stands.
Yet still the shrub its pristine shape retains,
Still spread its branches, still the fruit remains.
A sweet delight to every gazer's eye,
My heart its aspect fills with speechless joy.
My longing gaze its beauty never tires
But yet the prodigy with awe inspires.-
Though to the legend I full credit give,
Scarce do I hope it credence will receive :
But yet to men, I ween, no lying fame
Has sung the terrors of the Gorgon's name;
No idle tale the feat of Perseus, high
On airy wings careering through the sky.
Or how the hero slew 'neath Atlas' rocks
The dire Medusa tressed with snaky locks:
Monster invincible, with eyes of Hell,
Fatal to all on whom her glances fell;
Who under that intolerable eye
To marble statues stiffen as they die.

E'en Pallas shrunk, indomitable Maid,
To meet the terrors of that look afraid;
And warned her brother of the golden glaive
To avert his eyes as he the death-blow gave.
Hence by a wile he won the monster's head,
And severed from the neck her serpents dread,
And stealing from behind, with crafty skill,
Drew round her neck the curved Cyllenian steel.
Though slain the Gorgon, yet her face retains
Its ancient terrors, and its force remains,
And many yet were fated through its might
The realms to enter of eternal night.
Dripping with blood the hero seeks the shore;
And while he cleanses from his hands the gore,
Still warm, still quivering, lays his trophy down
On the green sea-weeds all around him strown.
Whilst, tired by toil and by his weary way,
His limbs he strengthens in the cooling sea,
Pressed 'neath the head the plants upon the shore
Soaked by the stream, grow drunk with dripping gore.
The rushing breezes, daughters of the flood,
Upon the boughs congeal the clotted blood,
And so congeal they seem a real stone;
Nor only seem, to real stone they are grown.
What, of its softness though no trace remains,
The withered plant its pristine form retains:
Tinged by the blood that from the trophy flows,
Instead of green, with blushing red it glows.
Struck with surprise the dauntless hero stares,
E'en wise Minerva his amazement shares,
And that her brother's fame may last for aye
Gives lasting virtue to the coral spray,

Ever its ancient nature thus to change.

She next endows the stone with influence strange :

For to the gem protective force she lent
To guard mankind on toilsome journeys bent;
Whether by land their weary way they keep,
Or brave in ships the perils of the deep:

Of furious Mars to 'scape the lightning sword,
Or murderous onslaught of the robber horde:
Or when vexed Nereus tosses all his waves,
The potent Coral trembling sailors saves.
If they with vows the warlike, blue-eyed Maid,
Invoke, and claim in deep distress her aid.
The hid pollution which brings ruin down
On all the house, e'en to its lord unknown,
All baleful practice wrought by sorcery dire
Against thy weal when envious foes conspire;
For all these evils by benignant heaven,
The Coral surest antidote is given.

Pound this, and mix it when thou sowest thy grain
It shall avert all damage from the plain :
The drought which parches with destruction sere
The milky juices of the swelling ear;

The million darts which, flung by driving hail,
With hopeless wound thy smiling crops assail;
Destructive insects too it scares away,
The caterpillars' troop, the worms' array;
The rust which, falling on thy corn from high,
Reddens the ear, and burns its substance dry;
The host of flies, the locust's countless swarms,
E'en Jove's dread lightnings from thy land it charms;
Such honour pays he to the glorious deed

Of his great son, and grants the worthy meed.
And this, returning from earth's furthest shore,
His choicest boon to man sage Hermes bore:
But thou, still mindful of the powerful charm,
Drink this in wine and murderous asps disarm."

Amber has the same virtues as Jet, but in a higher degree. It is a preservative against all complaints of the throat, for which reason the ancients made their women and children wear amber necklaces. If placed upon the left breast of your wife when she is asleep, it will force her to confess all the naughty things she has committed. Its fumes drive away venomous animals. If you wish to know whether a woman has been debauched, steep