According to Beckmann (Bohn, 1846, pp. 86–98) the real _tourmaline_ was first brought from Ceylon (where the natives called it _tournamal_), at the end of the seventeenth century or beginning of the eighteenth century (see A.D. 1707). It is classed by Pliny as a variety of carbuncle (lib. xxxvii. cap. vii.). John de Laet says (“De Gemmis,” 1647, 8vo, p. 155): “The description of the _lyncurium_ does not ill agree with the hyacinth of the moderns.” Watson thinks likewise (“Phil. Trans.,” Vol. LI. p. 394) and so does John Serapion-Serapio Mauritanus--Yuhanna Ibn Serapion Ben Ibrahim (alluded to by Gilbert, “De Magnete,” Book I. chap. i.) in his “Lib. de simplicibus medicinis,” Argent. 1531, fol. p. 263; and Anselm Boèce de Boot, Flemish naturalist (“Gem. et Lap. Hist.,” Leyden, 1636); while Epiphanius (“De Gemmis,” XII.) states that he could find in the Bible no mention of the _lyncurium_, which latter he also believes to have been the hyacinth. On the other hand, the Duke de Noya Caraffa (“Recueil de Mém. Æpinus,” Petersb. 1762, 8vo, p. 122) considers the _tourmaline_ to be identical with the _theamedes_ of the ancients (Pliny, lib. xx. 50, and xxxvi., 25; Cardan, “De Subtilitate,” lib. vii. p. 386). The _betylos_ has doubtless been likewise named in this connection. Strabo, Pliny, Helancius--all speak of the electrical or electro-magnetic power of the betyli. They were worshipped in the remotest antiquity in Egypt and Samothrace as magnetic stones “containing souls which had fallen from heaven,” and the priests of Cybelè wore a small _betylos_ on their bodies (Blavatsky, “Isis Unveiled,” Vol. I. p. 332). REFERENCES.--Enfield, “Dict. Phil.,” I. 152: Marbodeus Gallus, 1530–1531 Friburg, pp. 41 and 1539, Cologne, p. 39; Bostock’s “Pliny,” Book XXXVII. chap. xii.; Azuni, “Boussole,” 1809, p. 37; Venanson, “De l’invention de la Boussole Nautique,” Naples, 1808, pp. 27–29; Thomas, “Sc. An.,” 1837, p. 250. See also De Noya, “Encycl. Brit.,” 1855, VIII. p. 529, and Priestley, “History of Electricity,” 1775, p. 293; A. Cæsalpini, “De Metallicis,” Romæ, 1596; Th. Browne, “Pseudodoxia Epidemica,” 1650, p. 51; St. Isidore, “Originum,” lib. xvi. cap. 4; Corn. Gemma, “De Natura Divinis,” lib. i. cap. 7; Alb. Magnus, “De Mineral.,” lib. ii.; Joseph Ennemoser, “History of Magic,” Vol. II. pp. 27, 29, 51; Julius Solinus, “De Mirabilibus,” cap. 34; Johann S. T. Gehler, “Physik. Wörterbuch,” article “Magnetismus”; Joannes Langius, “Epistolarum Med.,” Epist. lxxv. For extract of Serapio’s work see Fernel’s “Coll. ... Greek Writers,” 1576. Consult likewise “Collection des anciens Alchimistes Grecs,” par M. Marcellin Berthelot, Paris, 1887, p. 252: _siderites_, _aimant_ ou _magnes_, _ferrum vivum_, mâle et femelle--with references to Dioscorides, Pliny and Lexicon Alch. Rulandi. For Pliny, see also “Manual of Classical Biography,” by Jos. Wm. Moss, London, 1837, Vol. I. pp. 473–504.