Note 91 — I Magic Stones and Electric Gems

Pliny, “Naturalia historia,” Lib. xxxvii, cap. 29. In his recently published “Curious Lore of Precious Stones” the present writer suggested that Pliny’s lychnis might have been a spinel, but while some of these “ardent stones” may have been spinels, those displaying the phenomenon of attraction must have been tourmalines.