in the natural history of the ancients; the name of the stone used by way of touchstone for the trial of gold and silver, and called by some Heraclius lapis; both of which names were also applied by the ancients to the load-stone; and hence has arisen no small misunderstanding of their works. Pliny has observed, that both the load-stone and touch-stone were at times called Lydius and Heraclius lapis.

The true lapis Lydius, or the touchstone, was assiduously found only in the river Tmolus; but was afterwards found in many other places, and is now very common in many of the German rivers. The ancients give us very remarkable and circumstantial accounts of the uses they made of it; and it is plain they were able to discern the alloys of gold by means of it with very great exactness. We at present use several different stones under this name, and for the same purpose. In Italy, a green marble called verdello, is most frequently used; and with us, very frequently small pieces of the bafalter, the same with that vast piece of black marble called the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. See Basalt; Giant's Causeway; Iceland, p. 53; Staffa; and Volcano.