CHAP. 71. (11.)—PRECIOUS STONES WHICH DERIVE THEIR NAMES
FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY. HEPATITIS. STEATITIS.
ADADUNEPHROS. ADADUOPHTHALMOS. ADADUDACTYLOS.
TRIOPHTHALMOS.
There is also another method of classifying stones; according
to the resemblance which they bear to various other objects.
Thus, for example, the different parts of the body give the
following names to stones:—Hepatitis[1] is so called from the
liver; and steatitis[2] from its resemblance to the fat of various
animals. Adadunephros, adaduophthalmos, and adadudactylos,
mean "kidney of Adad," "eye of Adad," and "finger of
Adad," a god[3] of the Syrians so called. Triophthalmos[4] is a
stone found in conjunction with onyx, which resembles three
human eyes at once.
1. "Liver stone." Heavy spar, a sulphate of barytes, is sometimes called
Hepatite.
2. "Fat stone." Saponite or soapstone, a silicate of magnesia, is also
known as Steatite.
3. An ancient king of Syria, worshipped by the people of that country
and the inhabitants of Phrygia. According to Macrobius, the Assyriana
worshipped Jupiter and the Sun under this name.
4. "Three-eye stone." Some kind of Cat's eye chalcedony, probably.