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CHAP. 61.—IDÆI DACTYLI. ICTERIAS. JOVIS GEMMA. INDICA. ION.

The stones called Idæi dactyli,1 and found in Crete, are of an iron colour, and resemble the human thumb in shape. The colour of icterias2 resembles that of livid skin, and hence it is that it has been thought so excellent a remedy for jaundice. There is also another stone of this name, of a still more livid colour; while a third has all the appearance of a leaf. This last is broader than the others, almost imponderous, and streaked with livid veins. A fourth kind again is of the same colour, but blacker, and marked all over with livid veins. Jovis gemma3 is a white stone, very light, and soft: another name given to it is "drosolithos."4 Indica5 retains the name of the country that produces it: it is a stone of a reddish colour, and yields a purple liquid6 when rubbed. There is another stone also of this name, white, and of a dusty appearance. Ion7 is an Indian stone, of a violet tint: it is but rarely, however, that it is found of a deep, full, colour.

1 "Idæan fingers." These were probably Belemnites, so called from their long, tapering shape, and being first observed, perhaps, on Mount Ida in Crete. Belemnites are the shells of fossil Cephalopods, and are commonly known as "thunder stones."

2 "Jaundice stone."

3 "Gem of Jove."

4 "Dew stone."

5 "Indian stone."

6 It is just possible that he may be thinking of Indigo here, which he has before called by the same name. See B. xxxiii. c. 57.

7 "Violet-coloured."

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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    • A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AMULE´TUM
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