A survey of all references to stones, gems and natural materials contained in his two poems, as well as of the testimonies by Greek and Latin authors, suggests that Nicander of Colophon (fl. 2nd century BC) cannot be forgotten when studying the development of mineral studies during antiquity. He is the main, if not the only evidence remaining of the Hellenistic research carried out on minerals and on the artificial products derived from them, as well the first witness for a changing trend in their use: from raw materials for metal extraction, or for direct use because of peculiar technical properties, to ingredients in drugs and potionsi.e., pharmaceutical applications. Nicander anticipates Dioscorides and Galen in dealing with such an use of inorganic materials; furthermore, in contrast to Pliny, he is still entirely free of the bad practice of relating the supposed amazing properties of stones to either magic or astrology, thus free of a trend that lasted from Greco-Roman times till well into the 17th century AD.