_Sleck Stone, Meaning of_ (Vol. v., p. 140.).--I have just found a
passage in Burton's _Anatomy of Melancholy_ which proves that R. C. H.
was correct in the remarks he made on these words, viz. that they ought
to have been printed _sleek-stone_, and that they were the name of an
instrument used for _smoothing_ or _polishing_, and not for
_sharpening_:
"The ebon stone which goldsmiths use to sleeken their gold with,
born about or given to drink, hath the same properties, or not
much unlike."--_Anat. of Mel._, Part ii. sec. iv. mem. 1. subs. 4.
[Blake, one vol. 8vo. MDCCCXXXVI. P. 437.]
Lady Macbeth says:
"Come on;
Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks;
Be bright and jovial 'mong your guests to-night."
_Macbeth_, Act III. Sc. 2.