Many interesting facts about precious stones do not properly refer either to their talismanic or curative powers, and yet serve in not a few cases to indicate more or less clearly the reasons which have determined popular fancy or superstition in attributing particular virtues to a given stone.

As an instance of the strange vagaries of belief in the influence exerted by certain of these stones, we may take the statement that powdered agate dissolved in beer was used by the Bretons as a test of virginity. If a young girl were unable to retain this delectable mixture on her stomach, she was supposed to be impure.^[661] The ability to stand this test seems rather to prove the possession of a strong stomach than a clear conscience.

Rainbow Agate is a name appropriately applied to agates showing a beautiful prismatic effect. These are composed of quartz and chalcedony in very fine layers. The writer secured a splendid specimen of this type of agate set in a jewel which had formed part of an old Saxon collection; it may possibly have come from India. The prismatic play of color differs from that observed in quartz iris, in that the iridescence is due to the minute interference lines and not, as with the iris, to internal fractures.

The greatest interest was manifested in the eighteenth century in these agates, one of which was described in a special pamphlet under the title, “Regenbogen Achat,” and illustrated with a colored plate. The effect was that of a spectrum rather than the iris effect of the crystalline quartz. This iris was also highly valued, and great favor was set upon brilliant examples of what was in reality rock-crystal fractured, the small fracture-planes causing the breaking up of the light and producing the rainbow or iris effect. In fact it was a spectrum produced by the mixture of quartz between the chalcedonic layers.

Cellini has a marvellous story to tell of a luminous carbuncle. A certain Jacopo Cola, a vine-grower, going into his vineyard one night noticed what appeared to be a bit of glowing coal at the foot of one of the vines, but on reaching the spot he was unable to locate the source of this radiance. Very wisely he retraced his steps to the spot whence he had first observed the light, which became again apparent, and when he now very carefully approached the vine he found that the gleam proceeded from a rough little stone, which he joyfully picked up and carried off with him. He showed it to a number of his friends and among them chanced to be a Venetian envoy, an expert on precious stones, who immediately recognized that the find was a carbuncle. Thereupon taking a base advantage of the finder’s ignorance, he succeeded in buying the stone for only ten scudi, and then hastened away from Rome, lest his deception should be discovered. Not long afterwards this same Venetian went to Constantinople and sold the stone to the Sultan of the time for 100,000 scudi, a profit of 10,000 per cent.^[662] The fact that the vintner could only see the gleam from a given spot is in itself sufficient proof that what he noted was merely the reflection of some distant light striking a smooth surface of the stone at a certain angle.

Among the many virtues credited to carnelian by the Mohammedans may be noted its power to preserve the equanimity and gravity of the wearer in the midst of disputes or inordinate laughter. A special and peculiar utilization of this material was to employ splinters of it as toothpicks. Their use not only whitened the teeth but also prevented bleeding of the gums. The Prophet, according to tradition, asserted that the wearer of a carnelian ring would never cease to be happy and blessed.^[663]

The chrysolite is now regarded as a semi-precious stone only, yet Shakespeare presented this gem as the type of excellence in its kind when he wrote (“Othello,” Act V, Scene 2):

It is interesting to note that this appreciation of the beauty of the chrysolite is also shown in an old Greek glossary of alchemical terms, where occur the words: Ιερὸς λίθος ἐστὶ Χρυσόλιθος, “Sacred stone means the chrysolite.”^[664]

Such was the sacred quality ascribed to strings of coral beads in some parts of Africa, not long since, that they were regarded as the most precious gifts a ruler could bestow. If the favored recipient were so unfortunate as to lose this royal donation—which was a mark of high rank—he himself, as well as all involved in the theft, incurred the penalty of death. A writer of the seventeenth century, Palisot de Beauvais, relates that in Benin human victims were sacrificed at a “coral festival,” when the corals of the king and royal family were dipped in the victim’s blood, so as to placate the coral fetish and ensure a further supply of the precious material.^[665] Possibly human blood was believed to strengthen the special virtue supposed to be inherent in this red substance.

There is a note of republican simplicity in the reported wearing of coral ornaments on ceremonial occasions by the present Queen of Italy. Indeed, the assertion that this is done to stimulate the coral industry in Italy may be true, as nothing would better tend to do this than such an example of royal favor for coral. Certainly this is in marked contrast with the almost exclusive use of pearl ornaments of all kinds so characteristic of Queen Margarita, whose devotion to the pearl, now perhaps the most costly of gems, had a poetic appropriateness for one bearing her name, and we can scarcely imagine the Pearl of Savoy without her splendid parures and necklaces of pearls. Still, undoubtedly this new departure renders it possible for all Italian women, rich or poor, to loyally follow the example set by their Queen Helena, and there is little danger that the rich will ever neglect to avail themselves of the exclusive privilege they possess of owning and wearing diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, which surpass coral as much in beauty as they do in price.

A comparatively recent attempt to use diamond dust as a poison is said to have been made in 1874 on Colonel Phayre, British Resident at the court of the then reigning Gaikwar of Baroda. The colonel was in the habit of refreshing himself after his morning walk with a glass of sugared water flavored with a little lime-juice. One day, on taking a sip of his customary beverage, he noted that it had a strange taste, and instead of drinking it he saved it up and had it analyzed. The analysis revealed the presence of arsenic in quantity sufficient to cause death, and of diamond dust as well. Here, as in the case of Sir Thomas Overbury, the really innocuous diamond material was accompanied by an actual poison. The current belief in the poisonous quality of the diamond is reflected in the words “mortal as diamond dust,” used by Horace Walpole in one of his letters to the Countess of Ossory.^[666]

A German writer of the seventeenth century quotes with admiration a wonderful tale told by Johannes Bustamantius to the effect that he had seen a marriage of two diamonds, the two crystals being so firmly drawn toward each other by mutual sympathy that when they were put in one place they would cling to one another, as with an “unending kiss,” as though one were a man and the other a woman, and he asserts that the union was blessed with offspring. This curious idea has been repeatedly put forth by certain of the older writers as we have had occasion to note elsewhere.^[667]

After expatiating on the mechanical skill displayed by the Indians of the New World, an early Spanish traveller gives the following details regarding their success as gem-cutters:^[668]

Yet all that we have said is surpassed by the ingenuity of the Indians in working emeralds, with which they are supplied from the coast of Manta and the countries dependent on the government of Atacames, Coaquis or Quaques. But these mines are now entirely lost, very probably through negligence. These curious emeralds are found in the tombs of the Indians of Manta and Atacames; and are, in beauty, size and hardness superior to those found in the district of Santa Fé; but what chiefly raises the admiration of the connoisseur is, to find them worked, some in spherical, some cylindrical, some conical, and of various other figures; and all with a perfect accuracy. But the unsurmountable difficulty here is, to explain how they could work a stone of such hardness, it being evident that steel and iron were utterly unknown to them. They pierced emeralds and other gems, with all the delicacy of the present times, furnished with so many tools; and the direction of the hole is also very observable; in some it passes through the diameter, in others only to the centre of the stone, and coming out at its circumference they formed triangles at a small distance from one another, and thus the figure of the stone to give it relief was varied with the direction of the holes.

The existence of emeralds in the region near Berenice is vouched for by Ptolemy. The mines of emerald here were duly entered in the map of the patriarch and the Arabs are said to have dug for them; but, Pocock writes, “As all stones that may be found belong to the Grand Signior, the Arabs are very well satisfied that the presence of emeralds should not be suspected, because he would have the profit, and the inhabitants might be obliged to work in the mines for a very small consideration.”^[669]

The number of ancient hematite artefacts found in the United States indicates that this material was more largely used within its territorial limits for implements and ornaments than in any other part of the world;^[670] indeed the somewhat sweeping statement has been ventured that it does not seem to have been used outside of this section of the New World; however, some exceptions to this rule must be admitted. That certain of these ornaments were used as amulets is highly probable, and they were undoubtedly regarded as objects of great value, since with the primitive tools at his command the Indian cutter must have found his task a very hard one, requiring the expenditure of much time and patience. In the Andover Collection there is an exceptionally fine specimen from Ross County, Ohio. It is of heavy pure hematite, which has been worked into the form of a pendant; notches have been made at both ends, as a form of decoration, and on the lower, broad end, fourteen lines have been incised; the edges are slightly beveled and the patina indicates the antiquity of the work. The lines have evidently been made by a flint cutting-implement.^[671] Another probable hematite amulet is a rudely fashioned fish effigy. Here the appearances of eye and gill (only on one side) are evidently merely natural irregularities of surface, which it has been conjectured determined the cutter to add a mouth and round off the material so as to approximate a fish-form; the hematite is black and of fine quality. This relic comes from Cole Camp, Benton County, Missouri.^[672] The larger number of these hematite artefacts are from Missouri, southern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, and considerable numbers have been turned up in Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin, and parts of Arkansas. Only a relatively small number were taken out of burials or graves, the majority of specimens having been secured on or near the surface.

Shah Jehangir relates in his memoirs that Mûnis Khân, son of Mihtar Khân, presented him with a jug of jasper (jade), which had been made in the reign of Mîrzâ Ulugh Beg Gûrgân, in the honored name of that prince. It was a very delicate rarity and of a beautiful shape. Its stone was exceedingly white and pure. Around the neck of the jar were carved characters expressing the auspicious name of the Mîrzâ and the Hijra year. Jehangir ordered them to inscribe his name and the auspicious name of Akbar on the edge of the lip of the jar.^[673]

Jade ornaments of ancient workmanship have been found in Syria, and it is quite likely that in many cases where the designation plasma is used by ancient writers, true jade, or nephrite, was the material. As there was no specific designation for jade, the different varieties were assimilated to other stones of like color and appearance, so that, among others, the names jasper, plasma and even smaragdus were used to denote jade.

Mortuary tablets of jade have been used from time immemorial in China for the reception of historic inscriptions, the toughness and durability of the material making it especially desirable for this purpose. In the case of rulers, such tablets not only bore the names of the deceased sovereign but also an epitome of the leading events of his reign, and additions were made to this record from time to time so that in historic value they may be compared with the clay tablets of Babylonia and Assyria. One of these interesting monuments found its way to San Francisco, after the looting of the Forbidden City by the international army of relief in 1901. On it appeared a record of the treaty between the United States and China in 1868, and the other records went back to the death of Shun Chi in 1661. Probably owing to exposure to the weather the earlier inscriptions were not very legible.

At all important Chinese marriage ceremonies the priest carries what is known as a “marriage sword.” This is usually about twelve or thirteen inches in length and the sheath is often studded with various pink stones, cut en cabochon. The stones most favored for this decoration are pink tourmaline, rubellite from the Shan Mountains, or rose-quartz, and the natural color of these gems is often intensified by placing a pink paste or foil beneath them; occasionally the coloration of the stones is enhanced by dipping them in a pink aniline solution. A piece of green jade is usually set as a boss at the hilt of this symbolical sword. In one remarkable specimen the guard consisted of a piece of white jade with the figure of a dragon carved in relief upon it; the sword-blade was of bronze. At the marriage ceremony the bridegroom is given the sword to hold, and the bride the sheath; as the wedding ring is placed upon the bride’s finger, sword and sheath are brought together.

Among the innumerable forms of jade decoration or carving, produced by the indefatigable and painstaking Chinese artists, is a small curved wand often having a trefoil termination; sometimes the entire wand is of jade, and at other times it is of teakwood adorned with jade medallions, frequently showing birds and flowers. This wand was used as a kind of sceptre of office, and the official entitled to bear it would hold it in both hands when standing before the emperor. Its name, ju-i, means “may all be,” and is to be taken as a wish that everything may turn out fortunately. In modern times the ju-i is carried as a lucky charm, although its official significance is not forgotten. This form of wand is said to have been introduced into China from India, at the time of the Buddhist propaganda, and in representations of Buddhist priests they are sometimes shown carrying one of them. In ancient India it was taught to be one of the seven precious objects, the septa-ratna, mentioned in the Vedas.^[674] This Indian origin is, of course, highly probable, but it is strange that in ancient Egypt also, curved wands of a somewhat different type, made of ivory and embellished with symbolical figures, possessed the same blended significance of marks of official dignity and magic wands.

A large mass of lapis lazuli was found in one of the Inca graves of Peru by Señor Emilio Montés, and was exhibited by him in the Centennial Exhibition of 1913. With the exception of one corner that has been chipped off, the block is of symmetrical form, the dimensions being, in inches, 24 × 14 × 9, and the weight 312 pounds. The smoothed surface gives evidence of careful and fairly successful polishing by the native lapidaries. This exceptionally fine specimen of lapis lazuli is now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.^[675] Evidently in ancient Peru as in the Old World the “celestial hue” of lapis lazuli was thought to render it most appropriate for use as a memorial offering to the dead or as a talisman by the aid of which their heavenward journey might be made easier.

The so-called “black onyx” has almost entirely replaced jet. This is a chalcedony impregnated with a carbonic matter, such as blood or a solution of sugar, the carbonate of which is charred by sulphuric acid, giving a rich, velvety, black hue to the stone, which takes a high polish. However, a certain limited amount of the old “Whitby Jet” once so highly favored is still mined and worked up into ornaments in the neighborhood of Whitby on the northeast coast of England, in the district of Leeds, although but fifty persons are now engaged in this industry which fifty years ago gave employment to 1500 workers. Some Spanish jet is also used, a material harder and more brittle than that found in England.

The story was current that Pope Leo X (1475–1521) had a precious stone, probably some type of “moonstone,”^[676] which grew brighter as the moon waxed, exhibiting the soft, silvery brilliance of our satellite, and then gradually lost its brightness as the moon waned, growing paler and dimmer and becoming quite obscure as the moon’s disk ceased to be illumined by the sun. As a mate to this, Pope Clement VII (1475–1534) was reputed to have in his possession a stone with a golden spot which moved across the surface in exact accord with the apparent motion of the sun across the heavens from sunrise to sunset.^[677] These are undoubtedly fables that were circulated intentionally, or more probably through pure love of exaggeration, in order to enhance the merit of two exceptionally fine specimens of moonstone and sunstone in the papal treasury.

In the eighteenth century the collection of the Duke of Brunswick contained a magnificent ancient drinking-cup, of the kind used in sacrificial ceremonies, cut from a single piece of onyx; this cup was said to have formed part of the rich spoils taken from Mithridates by the Romans under Pompey. It was valued in the duke’s inventory at 150,000 thalers, and Catherine II of Russia is stated to have offered four times that sum, or 600,000 thalers ($400,000) for this unique cup.^[678]

In the symbolism of the Manichean sect, an early Christian heresy owing its origin to a direct and predominant influence of Persian ideas, pearls occupy a prominent place. A legendary or poetic pearl called “the bright moon” was the symbol of compassion, and one of the treatises ends with the words: “Our heart has received the majestic splendor of the pearl granting every wish.” We are also told of “a diamond pillar” which sustains humanity, and the Messenger of Light is likened to a perfumed mountain entirely composed of a mass of jewels.^[679]

The recital of two Arab travelers, Hasan ibn Vazid and Sulaiman, who visited India in the ninth century, contains a curious theory of the formation of pearls or rather of the pearl-oyster. The primal matter is assumed to be a gelatinous moss, analogous to that of a species of algæ. This floats upon the water and attaches itself to the keels of ships, where it hardens, develops a shell, and finally drops off to sink into the depths of the sea. The formation of the pearl itself is then discussed and the theory noted in Pliny’s Natural History and so often repeated after his time, namely, that pearls are formed from the “dew of heaven,” is cited; but the writer adds: “Others say that they [the pearls] are produced in the oysters themselves. This appears more probable and is confirmed by experience; for the greater part of those observed in the oysters are firmly attached there and are immovable. Those which are mobile are called by the merchants seed-pearls.” As a true Mohammedan the writer concludes with the pious ejaculation: “God knows how the matter really stands!”^[680]

The same travellers relate the story of the discovery of a pearl under very singular conditions. An Arab came to Bassora with a very fine pearl. He took it to a druggist whom he knew and asked the latter how much it was worth. The merchant estimated it at a hundred pieces of silver, to the great surprise of the Arab, who demanded whether anyone could be found willing to pay so much. Without hesitation the merchant declared that he was ready to give the price himself, and immediately paid over the money. He then took his purchase to Bagdad, where he secured a large profit on his investment. On concluding his sale the Arab told the Bassora druggist how he had secured his pearl. One day, while walking along the Bahrein coast, he saw on the sands a dead fox, whose mouth was tightly compressed by a strange object. On closer observation this proved to be an enormous pearl-oyster shell. Evidently the fox had thrust his snout into the shell while the valves were open so that he might devour the soft contents, but the valves suddenly closed upon him and he had died of suffocation. On prying open the shell the Arab found therein the pearl which was destined to bring him what he regarded as a fabulous sum.^[681]

The women of the Arab town occupying a site close to that on which stood the Babylon of ancient times, wore, as a favorite adornment, nose-rings of gold set with a pearl and a turquoise. The English traveller, John Eldred, who traversed Mesopotamia in 1583, found this custom so general that he writes: “This they doe be they never so poore.”^[682]

For years a statement has been going through the press that pearls are liable to become diseased and die, and that the famous necklace of pearls presented by President Thiers of France to his wife, and bequeathed by Mme. Thiers to the French Government, had lost their lustre and died, perhaps owing to the death of the owner. For there is an old belief that pearls, as well as opals and turquoises, lose some of their lustre when the owner or wearer becomes ill, and change to a dull and lifeless hue when the owner dies. An examination of the necklace by the writer showed that the pearls were in good condition, and to confirm his statement to this effect he had the director of the Louvre Museum write him a letter. In this official communication the director not only states that the pearls had not sickened and died, but that they were in as “healthy” a condition as they had ever been.

The invariable experience of the writer has been that whenever pearls have been said to have suffered in this way, the true explanation has been that they were old and poor at the time of their purchase, and that this romance was started on its travels as an excuse to cover up the defect of such pearls and to arouse the belief that they had been remarkably beautiful and valuable when they were originally acquired.

As though to make amends to the Queen Gem for such disadvantageous rumors, considerable publicity has recently been given to a report that, in the Musée de Monaco, there was a luminous pearl whose beauties were revealed by an inner light, so that darkness had no power to dim its lustre. In a thoroughly impartial spirit, the writer went to the fountain-head for information in this matter, and received as answer from the director of the museum that there was no such pearl in the collection and that he had absolutely no faith in the luminosity of pearls.

As has been seen, both of these legends must be set aside as false, and we fear there is just as little truth in a report that a genuine “pearl-powder” is now used by the fair ladies of Paris and by their numerous imitators. The story goes that the Arab workmen engaged in pearl-piercing in India are noted for the clearness—we can hardly say, the lightness—of their complexions, and that this is supposed to be attributable to the fact that, when resting from their difficult task, they are in the habit of taking up some of the pearl-dust that has fallen on the floor and rubbing their faces with it. As the conditions under which these men work are eminently unsanitary, those who noted the clearness and smoothness of their complexions came to the conclusion that there must be something especially beneficial in pearl-dust, and brought the matter to the notice of a French chemist. The latter proceeded to utilize the suggestion and compounded a new cosmetic. He did not, however, pin his faith to the pearl-dust alone, but wisely added a number of other ingredients.

Still another mythical tale in reference to pearls has to be refuted. For some time past numerous specimens of a so-called “cocoanut-pearl” have been brought from the East. These are very white pearls, resembling in hue the hard meat of the cocoanut, and said to have been produced in the cocoanut, just as other pearls are produced in certain species of mollusks. However, the writer has always found them to be pearls secreted by the gigantic mollusk Ostrea Singapora.

A strange poetic fancy regarding the transmutation of parts of the human form into gems of the sea appears in Ariel’s song in Shakespeare’s “Tempest”:

Some natives of the Sulu Archipelago believe that the nautilus pearl is a most unlucky object to possess, for should a man engage in a fight while wearing such a pearl he would inevitably be killed. Hence, when a native by chance comes across one of them, he very quickly throws it away, as a probable bringer of ill-luck. Occasionally, however, such pearls fall into the hands of those who are less influenced by superstition, and one weighing 72 grains was given, in 1884, to an Australian gentleman, by Mohammed Beddreddin, brother-in-law of the Sultan of Sulu. This was a perfect, pear-shaped pearl of a creamy-white hue and somewhat translucent; it is composed of the porcelanous, not of the nacreous constituent of the shell.^[683]

It has been stated that this Sulu superstition is not shared by the natives of Celebes Island, near Borneo, for here such pearls are kept as charms and talismans. One of an irregular pear-shape, weighing 27½ grains, has been found on the northern coast of the island.^[684] The finding of a nautilus pearl by a Chinese woman in Borneo is noted by Rumphius, who describes it as being as large as a bean and white as a piece of alabaster, hard and bright, but of very irregular shape. The finder put it in a closed box, and was not a little surprised to discover when she opened the box after a time that the original pearl had engendered another one the size of a lentil; later it had two other, smaller offspring. The woman carefully treasured her find as a lucky stone which would bring her good fortune in her search for mussels. Rumphius shrewdly conjectures that the smaller concretions had broken off the larger one while it was enclosed in the box.^[685]

The well-known lines in Shakespeare’s “Othello”:

have been explained in many different ways by the commentators, one of whom (Steevens) saw in them a reference to the following story current in Venice in the sixteenth century. A Jew, after long and perilous wanderings in the East, succeeded in bringing with him to Venice a great number of fine pearls. These he disposed of there at satisfactory prices, with the exception of one pearl of immense size and extraordinary beauty, upon which he set a price so high that no one was willing to pay it. Finally, the Jew invited all the leading gem-dealers to meet him on the Rialto, and when as many of them as answered his call had assembled, he once more, and for the last time, offered his peerless pearl for sale, detailing all its perfections in eloquent terms. However, he made no concession in the price, and the dealers unanimously refused to purchase it, probably expecting that the Jew would at last be forced to make a reduction, but to their amazement, instead of doing this, he threw his pearl before their very eyes into the waters of the canal, preferring rather to lose it than to cheapen it.^[686]

The belief that the growth of pearls in the pearl-oyster was due to rain-drops is perpetuated in the Arab proverb: “The rain of the month of Nisan brings forth pearls in the sea and wheat on the land.”^[687] This spring month was, and is still, the period when pearl-fishing begins in the Orient. Another pearl proverb repeats the evangelical saying in this form: “Do not throw pearls under the feet of swine.”

A Tonquinise legend of the origin of pearls represents them as springing from the blood of a young princess who was slain by the king, her father, because she had betrayed to her husband the secret of a magic bow, whose death-dealing arrows always flew to their mark. In his anger at his daughter’s act, the father drew his scimitar and beheaded her, but with her last breath she prayed that her blood might be turned to pearls. Her prayer was heard and now the finest pearls of this land are found in the waters about the place where she died.^[688]

From blue sapphires the color may be extracted so that they become white, in such sort that they excellently imitate the diamond, so well, indeed, that the fraud can only be detected by an expert jeweller. This art was known at an early period, and no doubt induced many writers to ascribe certain of the qualities of the diamond to the sapphire. As illustrating this, a Rabbinical author states that a certain man went to Rome to sell a sapphire. The purchaser said to him: “I will buy it provided I may first test it.” He placed it on an anvil and struck it with a hammer; the anvil was split and the hammer was broken to pieces but the stone remained in its place uninjured.^[689]

The virtues of the sapphire are enumerated at length by Bartolomæus Anglicus, the old scholastic philosopher, who flourished in the first half of the thirteenth century and taught theology in the famous University of Paris.^[690] After noting the old dictum according to which the sapphire was the “gem of gems” and one worthy to adorn the fingers of kings, Bartolomæus proceeds to instruct his readers in regard to the wonderful curative powers of this beautiful gem. These appear always to be connected with its supposed calming and cooling influence. Thus it reduced the temperature in fevers and checked the flow of blood; for instance, if attached to the temples it stopped nose-bleed; if the heart were unduly excited, this agitation could be controlled by the power of the sapphire. Too profuse perspiration was also checked if a sapphire were worn. It shared with the diamond the virtue of reconciling discord. Its power as an antidote to poison was believed to be proved by an experiment in which a spider was placed in a box with a sapphire. After a short time the poor spider expired, done to death by the supreme virtue of the celestial stone. A like story was told by ancient writers in regard to the emerald. Of course, the chastening virtues of the sapphire are not forgotten, virtues which have caused it to be selected as especially appropriate for the rings of cardinals and high church dignitaries; this belief arose from the association of purity with the color of the heavens, the pure, unadulterated blue of the cloudless sky.

One of the rarest and most beautiful of the corundum gems of Ceylon is locally known there by the name padparasham. It is of a most rare and delicate orange-pink hue, the various specimens showing many different blendings of the pink and orange. The significance of the Cinghalese name seems to be somewhat obscure, but a probable conjecture explains it to mean “hidden ray of light”; another etymology would see in the first syllable, pad, an abbreviation of padma, lotus, the petals of this flower often having a soft orange tint. In this case the meaning would be “hidden lotus,” as though the very color-essence of the flower were enclosed within and shone through the gem.^[691]

A Persian treatise on precious stones was composed by Mohammed Ben Mansur^[692] in the thirteenth century of our era. This work was written for Sultan Abu Naçr Behadirchan, and consists of two divisions, the first treating of precious stones and the second of metals. It is interesting to note in this treatise the recognition of the essential likeness of the Oriental ruby, sapphire, topaz, etc.; these varieties of corundum are all grouped under the single designation “yakut.” Ben Mansur writes:^[693]

The yakut is six-fold: 1, the red; 2, the yellow; 3, the black; 4, the white; 5, the green or peacock-hued; 6, the blue or smoky-hued. Some divide the yakut into four classes: red, yellow, dark, and white, reckoning the peacock-hued and the blue among the dark. The yakut cuts all stones except carnelian and diamond.

Although the Oriental carnelian is hard and difficult to cut or polish only popular prejudice accounts for this statement, as it falls far short of the diamond in hardness.

Pseudo-Aristotle, writing some time from the seventh to the ninth century A.D., was the first to define clearly the three leading varieties of the corundum gems (yakut) as the same mineral substance, and differing only in color. These are the ruby, the Oriental topaz (jacinthus citrinus) and the sapphire. Instead of according different medicinal or talismanic virtues to these three precious stones, this writer states that each and all of them, when set in rings or worn suspended from the neck, protected the wearer from danger in epidemics, gave him the honor and good will of his fellow-men, and also the privilege of having his petitions accorded.^[694]

The great Athenian comic poet, Aristophanes (c. 448–c. 385), makes Strepsiades, one of his characters in the “Clouds,” assert to Socrates that he knows of a stone having the virtue of saving him from the payment of a claim of five talents, for which suit has been brought against him. This stone, called ὓαλος in Greek, was to be found in the stock of those who dealt in medicines; it was transparent and with it fire could be kindled. The philosopher, although he knows the stone well enough, fails to see how it could be made to help the defendant in a suit at law, and asks Streposiades what he proposes to do with it. The latter is not at a loss for an answer and declares that when the clerk proceeds to write down the charge on his waxen tablet, he, Streposiades, will hold the stone in the sun’s rays so that its beam of light will fall upon the tablet and melt the wax, thus quite literally “wiping out the charge.”^[695]

Rock-crystal was so highly prized in Roman times that one of the greatest treasures preserved in the Capitol was a mass of this stone, weighing fifty pounds, that had been dedicated by Livia, wife of Augustus Cæsar. Vessels of great size were also made from this material, one of the largest being a bowl owned by Lucius Verus, the colleague of Marcus Aurelius, the dimensions of which were so great that the stoutest toper of the time could not empty it at a single draught. If we can trust a statement of Mohammed Ben Mansur, the Arabs and Persians of a later age must have far surpassed the Romans in the size of their crystal vessels, for he says that a Mauritanian merchant owned a basin of rock-crystal within which four men could seat themselves at the same time. It is true that this basin was composed of two pieces of the material.^[696]

The Chinese word for crystal, ching, was originally represented by the symbol ; that is, three suns, an attempt to figure the refraction and dispersion of light by the crystal.^[697] The soui che stone of the Chinese which is said to quench thirst if it be placed in the mouth, is almost certainly rock-crystal, for the Chinese, in common with the ancient Greeks and Romans, believed this substance to be a transformation of water, a kind of fossil ice. A similar power was attributed by Pliny to one of the varieties of agate.^[698]

Labrets of quartz are used in Central Africa and we have a very interesting description by M. A. Lacroix regarding these ornaments as worn by the natives of a part of the French possessions. In the land of the Bandas the natives highly prize a piece of rock-crystal so shaped that it can be introduced into the lower lip. This usage is confined to the basins of the Ombella, the Kemo and the Tomi, affluents of the Oubanghi.

The following description of the labrets was communicated to M. Lacroix by M. Lucien Fourneau, Administrator of the Colonies:

These objects, called baguérés, consist of hyaline quartz, perfectly transparent; they are very regularly cut, and measure from four to seven cm. (two to three inches) in length. Some have the form of a very elongated and pointed cone, without any protuberances, the greatest diameter being about one cm. (about half an inch); the others, thinner and sharper, have at the base a rim destined to hold them in place; in all cases a pad of thread constituting a kind of permanent plug, assures and completes their stability. Some women wear as many as three of these singular ornaments, thrust, point downwards, into the same lip.

The most regular quartz crystals are selected, and these are chipped off and roughly shaped by blows struck with a hard substance; the quartz is then set in a wooden handle, and the final shaping and polishing are accomplished by friction upon a round slab of quartzite or sandstone. These slabs show grooves along which the crystals have been rubbed. On an average the time required is four or five days of five hours. The completed ornament is valued at nine pounds of red wood worth about $1.20; sometimes one can be secured for three chickens, worth sixty cents.^[699] Those who cannot afford quartz labrets substitute wood, glass, or pewter. M. Lacroix draws our attention to the fact that a study of the processes employed in shaping and polishing these pieces of quartz is of great importance for the elucidation of the methods in use during the Stone Age.^[700]

A nose-jewel from the New Hebrides consists of a crystal of hyaline quartz reduced to a cylindrical form, one extremity having been pointed, while the other retains the natural faces of the crystal. This was passed through the septum of the nose, and was most likely worn as an amulet.^[701]

Rock-crystal has been used extensively in the past year with ornaments of ribbon-like or plaque-like effects. Sometimes all the parts are made into the exact shape of a bowknot, with a bordering of platinum and diamonds, or of platinum and diamonds with a calibre-cut onyx; that is, the rock-crystal material is cut into minute square or oblong stones, which are run into double triangular edges that hold them. The crystals are dulled, and frequently have the appearance of moonstones. At times, indeed, moonstones are used in their place. Sometimes these panels, or bits and pieces of rock-crystal, are drilled, diamonds set in platinum are inserted into the drill-holes, and the ornament is engraved in classic designs of Watteau-like effects.

The origin of Burmese rubies is thus explained in a Burmese legend current in the region of the Ruby Mines. According to this legend, in the first century of our era three eggs were laid by a female naga, or serpent; out of the first was born Pyusawti, a king of Pagan; out of the second came an Emperor of China, and out of the third were emitted the rubies of the Ruby Mines.^[702]

Dealing in precious stones was by no means an unusual occupation in Europe more than four hundred years ago, as is shown by the fact that a certain Peter, one of the secret agents of Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England in Henry VIII’s reign, was called in the secret correspondence of the conspirators, “The Merchant of the Ruby.” Such dealers frequently travelled from place to place, and usually offered their wares to princes and nobles; hence the statement in a letter that the Merchant of the Ruby “was not able to sell his wares in Flaunders” might not seem suspicious if the letter were intercepted and read, although the meaning was that the emissary had been unable to obtain succor in Flanders for the cause of the pretender.^[703] Probably this designation also contained a covert allusion to the Red Rose of York, for Perkin Warbeck gave himself out to be Richard, Duke of York.

A sixteenth-century traveller, the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, after saying that “the rubies grow in India,” proceeds to state that those of finest quality and greatest value were for the most part gathered in a river called Pegu and were named nir puce by the Malabars. As a test of their fineness, the Hindus would touch them with the tip of the tongue, the coldest (densest) being the best. When a superior ruby was thus picked out, the examiner would attach a little wax to its finest point, and so pick it up and look through it against a bright light; by this means any blemish would immediately become apparent. These rubies came not only from the river of Pegu but from other parts of the land of the same name, often being discovered in deep mountain clefts. However, they were not cut and polished in that country, but were merely cleaned and sent for cutting to “Palecote and the country of Narsynga.”^[704]

The balas-ruby (originally a spinel from Badakshan) was one of the most admired precious stones in medieval times, before the diamond was helped to its proud preëminence by having its beauties revealed through the exercise of the diamond-cutters’ skill. Almost all the large “rubies” of which we read, those of Europe at least, were balas-rubies, as were also by far the greater part of the so-called rubies in Oriental royal collections of that and later times. The great Italian poet Dante uses this stone (balascio) as a symbol of the glowing radiance of divine joy in the following lines from the Divina Commedia (Paradiso, ix, 67–69):