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Cressa . . . nota: with a white mark. Creta in the phrase for chalk, terra creta (from cernere, to sift), was by a popular etymology confused with Cressa, Cretan, partly because a much used variety of chalk came from Kimolos, an island in the Cretan Sea. Lucky days were proverbially marked with a white line or stone. Cf. Cat. 68. 148; Pers. 2. 1; Otto, s.v. calculus.


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