The agate, especially the eye agate, was reputed as a cure for tired eyes, also bestowing on the wearer strength and health, and inclining him to grace and eloquence. As one of the seven sea gems, a banded agate was credited with the power of taking away the terrors of the ocean, while to dream of one was held to denote a sea journey. Being astrologically connected with the death sign Scorpio, it was potent in seeking divine aid in this life and in the life to come. It rendered the wearer agreeable, gave him the favour of God, if he employed it as a holy instrument it turned the words of his enemies against themselves, rendered him—symbolically speaking—invisible, gave him victory and induced happy dreams. It was a charm against lightning, thunder, tempests, and all wars of the elements. Albertus Magnus gives it efficacy against eruptive skin diseases; the Mohammedans engraved on it the symbols of Hassan and Hussein, the grandsons of the Prophet of Islam, and placed it round the necks of children to protect them from falls and accident. They also mixed it, in powdered form, with certain fruit juices and administered it as a cure for insanity. It was also prescribed for haemorrhage, the spitting of blood, boils, ulcers, gravel and affections of the spleen and kidneys. Used as a powder it hardened tender gums and arrested bleedings. Some Arabian writers advise against the use of powdered agate as an internal medicine unless carefully blended with other substances. An agate worn about the neck banished fear, indigestion and lung troubles. It was recommended by Dioscorides as a charm against epidemics and pestilential diseases. It protected from the bites of serpents and insects, and was bound to the horns of oxen to induce a good harvest. It was said to have been the “fortune stone” of the Trojan hero Æneas, protecting him in war, voyages and storms. The agate is always adorned with a system of bands which exhibit variety in hue, shade and tint. The Chalcedony (See Chalcedony) is more compact and regular in colour, the two stones therefore being easily distinguishable. Swedenborg sets the agate down as the symbol of the spiritual love of good. It is astrologically attached to the martial sign Scorpio. ALABASTER “_Why should a man whose blood is warm within, Sit like his grandsire, cut in alabaster?_” SHAKESPEARE.