XVI
REMINISCENCES OF ANCIENT PHARMACY
At the Renaissance of letters at first everything had to give
place to the books of the ancients; nothing was good or true
except what was found in Aristotle or Galen. Instead of studying
plants as they grew, they were only studied in the works of Pliny
and Dioscorides; and nothing is so frequent in the writings of
those times than to find the existence of a plant doubted for
the simple reason that Dioscorides has not spoken of it.
J. J. Rousseau: Dictionary of Botany.
Precious Stones.
Marvellous virtues were attributed by the ancients to the precious stones known to them, but rather perhaps in their character of amulets than as medicines. One of the so-called hymns of Orpheus, composed probably about 500 B.C., is "On Stones," and describes the properties of many of these highly esteemed minerals. Four lines (taken from a translation in the Rev. C. W. King's "Natural History of Precious Stones") will serve as a sample:—
With its complexion of a lovely boy
The opal fills the hearts of gods with joy;
Whilst by the mild effulgence of its light
Its healing power restores the fading sight.
Coral, according to the same authority, acquired its special properties from Minerva. This substance was
