Book on Fossil Objects, Stones, and Gems

Bb 3

...namely, those that are similar to some natural object: such as the Glossopetra original: glossopetra; literally "tongue-stone," these were actually fossilized shark teeth, though Gesner’s era debated their origin., Lithodendrum original: lithodendrum; "stone-tree," a term used for coral or petrified wood., Hieracites original: hieracites; "hawk-stone," so named for its resemblance to a hawk’s feathers or eyes., and Enorchis original: enorchis; "orchid-stone," named for its resemblance to orchid tubers or testicles.. Others are named from their shape, or the foundations of shape—such as lines—a practice which ought not to be approved, as in the case of the Mesoleucus original: mesoleucus; "middle-white," a stone with a white streak in the center., the Polygrammos original: polygrammos; "many-lined.", and others. Since these names are adjectives and describe a specific shape, they are poorly assigned as proper names, as they could just as easily apply to other stones if the same shape or the same lines were found in them. In the same way, names derived from color and other "accidents" In the 16th century, an "accident" referred to a non-essential quality of an object, like its color or texture, which does not change its fundamental nature. are not to be praised.

Erasmus Stella Erasmus Stella (c. 1460–1520) was a German physician and historian. His work on gems, Interpretamenti gemmarum libellus, was one of the first printed gemstone treatises of the Renaissance.—a diligent and learned man who was the first in our century to illuminate the history of gems in literature—records that names often vary even within the same substance. This happens because of the various ways that spots and "warts" of lines original: verrucis linearum increase within gemstones, affecting the gem with multiple patterns and colors.

Girolamo Cardano original: Hier. Cardanus; (1501–1576) an Italian polymath. His work De Subtilitate (On Subtlety) was a massive encyclopedia of natural philosophy., in the seventh book of On Subtlety in which he writes about stones, marvels at that kind of shapes and images in stones which always appear in them, as if by na- The text breaks here; the word is likely "nature" (natura).