Page:Theophrastus - History of Stones - Hill (1774).djvu/161

 I have before oberved, in the Note on the Alabater, that that Stone had, from its imilar Ue among the Antients, alo the Name of this Gem; and that great Errors had been occaioned, by later Authors not undertanding always which of the two they meant. But this is not all the Confuion there has been in regard to this Stone; for the Antients have, many of them, decribed it o looely and indeterminately, that it is carce poible, from their Writings, to fix any Characteritic, or ay determinately what their Onyx was: And we find, in conequence of this, many different Stones decribed as Onyxes by the Writers ince. It is to the Honour of Theophratus, however, to be oberved, that he has trictly and exactly determined what this Stone was; and that if the late Writers had conulted him, intead of being led into a thouand Mazes by the les cientific Authors ince, they would never have decribed Carnelians, and a multitude of other different Stones, under this Name; but have known, that the Onyx was as much a ditinct Stone with him, as the Emerald or the Amethyt, and as different from many of thoe they have decribed under its Name, as they from one another.

From his Account we are to determine, then, that the Onyx is a Stone of a whitih Ground, variegated with Zones of brown: And uch are the true and genuine Onyxes we ee at preent. What may farther be added to its Decription is, that its Ground is often of the Colour of the human Nail, bright and hining; the Zones are laid in perfect Regularity, and do not, according to the Judgment of the nicet Ditinguihers of the preent Times, exclude it from the Onyx Clas, of whatoever Colour they are, except red, in which cae it takes the Name of Sardonyx: The Colour of the Ground, and Regularity of the Zones, are therefore the ditinguihing Characteritics of this Stone: And in the lat, particularly, it differs from the Agate, which often has the ame Colours, but placed in irregular Clouds, Veins, or Spots.

We have our Onyxes both from the Eat and Wet Indies; as alo from Spain, Italy, and Germany; and there have been tolerably fine ones found in England. alternately; and the Amethyt, which reembles Red-wine in Colour.

LVIII. The Agate alo is an elegant