THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES - by George F. Kunz 1913 

Being A Description of Their Sentiments and Folk 
Lore, Superstitions, Symbolism, Mysticism, Use 
in Medicine, Protection, Prevention, Reli- 
gion, and Divination, Crystal Gazing, 
Birthstones, Lucky Stones and 
Talismans, Astral, Zodical, 
and Planetary 

BY 

GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ 

A.M., PH.D., D.SC. 

WITH 86 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR, DOUBLETONE AND LINE 

HALCYON HOUSE : NEW YORK 

COPYRIGHT, 1913, BV J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

First Printing, November, 1913 
Second Printing, May, 1915 
April, 1917 
March, 1922 
December, 1926 
December, 1930 

Third Printing, 
Fourth Printing, 
Fifth Printing, 
Sixth Printing, 

HALCYON HOUSE EDITION, APRIL, 

Seventh Printing, April, 1938 

HALCYON HOUSE editions are published and 

distributed by Blue Ribbon Books , Inc., 

386 Fourth Avenue, New York City 

PRINTED AND BOUND BY THE CORNWALL PRESS, INC*, FOR 
BLUE RIBBON BOOKS, INC., 386 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY 

Printed in the United States of America 

WITH HEARTFELT APPRECIATION 1 OF THE NOBLE SPIRIT THAT CON- 
CEIVED AND FOUNDED THE MORGAN-TIFFANY COLLECTION OF GEMS 
AND THE MORGAN-BEMENT COLLECTIONS OP MINERALS AND METEOR* 
ITES OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OP NATURAL HISTORY, AND THE 
MORGAN COLLECTION OP THE MUSEB D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE OF 
PARIS, AND WHOSE KINDLY ADVICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE 
DONE SO MUCH FOR THE PRECIOUS STONE ART, THIS VOLUME 
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE 

J. PIERPONT MORGAN 

Ikefate 

love of precious stones is deeply implanted in 
the human heart, and the cause of this must be 
sought not only in their coloring and brilliancy but also 
in their durability. All the fair colors of flowers and 
foliage, and even the blue of the sky and the glory of the 
sunset clouds, only last for a short time, and are subject 
to continual change, but the sheen and coloration of 
precious stones are the same to-day as they were thou- 
sands of years ago and will be for thousands of years 
to come. In a world of change, this permanence has a 
charm of its own that was early appreciated. 

The object of this book is to indicate and illustrate 
the various ways in which precious stones have been 
used at different times and among different peoples, and 
more especially to explain some of the curious ideas and 
fancies that have gathered around them. Many of these 
ideas may seem strange enough to us now, and yet when 
we analyze them we find that they have their roots either 
in some intrinsic quality of the stones or else in an in- 
stinctive appreciation of their symbolical significance. 
Through manifold transformations this symbolism has 
persisted to the present day. 

The same thing may be said in regard to the various 
superstitions connected with gems. Our scientific knowl- 
edge of cause and effect may prevent us from accepting 
any of the fanciful notions of the physicians and as- 
trologers of the olden time; nevertheless, the possession 
of a necklace or a ring adorned with brilliant diamonds, 
fair pearls, warm, glowing rubies, or celestial-hued 
sapphires will to-day make a woman's heart beat faster 

vi PREFACE 

and bring a blush of pleasure to her cheek. Life will 
seem better worth living to her; and, indeed, this is no 
delusion, for life is what our thought makes it, and joy 
is born of gratified desire. Hence nothing that con- 
tributes to increasing the sum of innocent pleasures 
should be disdained ; and surely no pleasure can be more 
innocent and justifiable than that inspired by the posses- 
sion of beautiful natural objects. 

The author, who possesses what is believed to be the 
most comprehensive private library on this subject, has 
obtained many references from material which he has 
been gathering during the past twenty-five years. Many 
of the types exist in the collection of folk-lore precious 
stones exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in 
1893, and now in the Field Museum of Natural History 
in Chicago. Other types are drawn from the Morgan Col- 
lection exhibited at the Paris Expositions of 1889 and 
1900, which, with additions, is now in Morgan Hall, in the 
American Museum of Natural History, New York City. 
Other prominent references are the collection of pre- 
cious stones in the California Midwinter Memorial 
Museum, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; the 
Tiffany collection of precious stones, exhibited at the 
Atlanta Exposition of 1894, now in the National Museum 
in Washington; the collection exhibited at the Pan- 
American Exposition, and presented to the Musee 
d'Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, by the late J. Pierpont 
Morgan; the collection exhibited at the exposition held 
in Portland, Oregon, in 1905 ; and the collection of gems 
and precious stones exhibited" at the Jamestown Ex- 
position, 1907. All of these collections, either entirely 
or very largely, have been formed by the author. 

Some references to sentiment connected with precious 
stones are embodied in the little work, now in its 21st 

PREFACE vii 

edition, entitled! " Natal Stones, Sentiments and Super- 
stitions Associated with Precious Stones,' 7 compiled by 
the writer, who has examined nearly all the principal col- 
lections in the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and 
Asiatic Russia. 

For courtesies, information and illustrations, I am in- 
debted to the following, to whom my thanks are due: 

Prof. Taw Sein Ko, Superintendent of the Archaeo- 
logical Survey, of Burma; Dr. T. Wada, of Tokyo, Japan; 
Dr. G. 0. Clerc, President of the Societe Ouralienne des 
Amis des Sciences Naturelles, Ekaterinebourg, Russia; 
Dr. Charles Braddock, late Medical Inspector to the King 
of Siam ; Sir Charles Hercules Reed, Curator of Archae- 
ology, and Dr. Ernest A. Wallis Budge, Egyptologist, 
British Museum, London; A. W. Feavearyear, Esq., Lon- 
don ; Dr. Salomon Reinach, Director of the Archaeological 
Museum of St. Germain-en-Laye, France ; Prof. Giuseppe 
Belucci, of the University of Perugia; Dr. Peter Jessen, 
Librarian of the Kunstgewerbe Museum, of Berlin ; Miss 
Belle DaCosta Green; Dr. Frederick Hirth, Chinese Pro- 
fessor, Columbia University, New York; Dr. Clark 
"Wissler, Curator of Archaeology, Dr. L. P. Gratacap, 
Curator of Mineralogy, American Museum of Natural 
History; Dr. Berthold Laufer, Oriental Archaeologist, 
and Dr. Oliver C. Farrington, Curator of Geology and 
Mineralogy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; 
Hereward Carrington, Esq., Psychist, New York; Dr. W. 
Hayes Ward, Archaeologist and Babylonian Scholar; Mrs. 
Henry Draper, New York; H. W. Kent, Esq., Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, New York City; Consul General 
Moser, Colombo, Ceylon; W. W. Blake, Mexico City, who 
has done so much to encourage Mexican archaeological 
investigation; the late A. Damour, of Paris, the great 
pioneer of mineralogical archaeology; the late Dr. A. B. 

viii PREFACE 

Meyer, of Dresden, who, more than anyone else, proved 
that the Nephritfrage or the jade question was to be 
solved by chemical and mineralogical investigation; the 
late Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohan Tagore, of Calcutta; 
and Dr. A. M. Lythgoe, Egyptologist, Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. 

G. F. K. 
SEPTEMBER, 1913. 

Contents? 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 1 

II. ON THE USB OF PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES AS 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 19 

III. ON THE TALISMANIC USE OP SPECIAL STONES 51 

IV. ON THE USE OF ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS AS TALISMANS 115 
V. ON OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 143 

VI. ON CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 176 

VII. RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES, PAGAN, HEBREW, AND 

CHRISTIAN 225 

VIII. ON THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 275 

IX. BIRTH-STONES 307 

X. PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES OF PRECIOUS STONES 338 

XL ON THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS 

STONES 367 

illustration* 

COLOR PLATES 

PAGB 

PHENOMENAL GEMS (GEMS EXHIBITING PHENOMENA) Frontispiece. 

MAHARAJA RUNJIT SINGH, WITH PEARLS AND GEMS 40 

CARDINAL FARLEY'S RING, SAPPHIRE WITH DIAMONDS 104 

GEMS FROM THE MORGAN-TlFFANY COLLECTION 106 

SELF-PRINTS OF DIAMONDS, SHOWING PHOSPHORESCENCE 168 

CROSS, ATTACHED AS PENDANT TO THE CROWN OF THE GOTHIC KING 

RECCESviNTHTrs (649-672 A.D.) 292 

DOUBLETONES 

ROCK-CRYSTAL AMULET SET IN SILVER 16 

ROCK-CRYSTAL PLACQUE, ANCIENT MEXICAN 16 

NECKLACES FROM EGYPT. FIRST CENTURY 22 

MOSAICS OF TURQUOISE AND ENAMELLED CARNELIAN BEADS 26 

NECKLACES FROM EGYPT 32 

AFRICAN AGATE CHARMS 50 

AMBER ORNAMENTS 54 

CHALCEDONY VOTIVE CHARM FROM MEXICO 60 

CURIOUS ALTAR OF POWALAWA INDIANS OF ARIZONA 60 

KABYLE JEWELRY 68 

JASPER PENDANT 92 

PIECE OF NATURAL LOADSTONE FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES 92 

ARAGONITE PENDANT 92 

OBSIDIAN MASK, FROM THE FAYOUM, EGYPT 100 

TURQUOISE NECKLACE, THIBET 112 

PHOENICIAN SCARAB, WITH ENGRAVED SCORPION 128 

ANCIENT BABYLONIAN CYLINDER IMPRESSION, BEARING FIGURES OF THE 

GOD NEBO AND A WORSHIPPER, AND SYMBOLS OF SUN AND MOON. . . 128 
A SMALL JADE CELT ENGRAVED WITH GNOSTIC INSCRIPTIONS IN THE 

FOURTH CENTURY 128 

Moss AGATE MOCHA STONES, HINDOOSTAN 136 

AGATES USED AS VOTIVE CHARMS AND SET IN RINGS 152 

ROCK-CRYSTAL BALL PENETRATED BY CRYSTALS OF RUTILE 172 

GLASS BALL, PERFORATED AND MOUNTED IN METAL 180 

BALL OF JET, PERFORATED AND MOUNTED IN METAL 180 

EYE AGATE, SHOWING A NUMBER OF CIRCULAR MARKINGS 180 

DB. DEE'S SHEW STONE 188 

xi 

xii ILLUSTRATIONS 

OBSIDIAN MIRROR, WITH NATIVE TEXTILE STRING 188 

BOCK-CRYSTAL SPHERES AND NATURAL CROSS 196 

BABYLONIAN CYLINDERS AND PERSIAN BEADS 204 

ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERES WITH JAPANESE MOUNTINGS 212 

CRYSTAL BALL, SUPPORTED BY BRONZE DRAGON 216 

METHOD OF GRINDING CRYSTAL BALLS AND OTHER HARD STONE OBJECTS 

IN GERMANY AND FRANCE 218 

JAPANESE METHOD OF CHIPPING, GRINDING AND POLISHING ROCK- 
CRYSTAL BALLS 218 

ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERE WITH THREE-FIGURE MOUNTING 220 

"PHANTOM CRYSTAL" OF QUARTZ (ROCK-CRYSTAL) 228 

ROCK-CRYSTAL BALLS 228 

AMBER HEART-SHAPED AMULET 230 

AN INSCRIBED SCARAB OF THE TYPE KNOWN AS A HEART-SCARAB .... 230 

BABYLONIAN AXE HEAD 232 

MANI MALA, OR CHAIN OF GEMS 236 

SCULPTURED JADE MOUNTAIN WEIGHING 640 LBS 244 

VOTIVE ADZE OF JADEITB FROM MEXICO 252 

STATUE OF A MAORI WARRIOR, BY SIGURD NEANDROSS 260 

JADEITE CELTS 264 

STAUROLITE CRYSTALS (FAIRY STONES) 272 

FRONTISPIECE OF THE "VESTITUS SACERDOTUM HEBILEORUM," OF 

JOHANN BRAUN, AMSTERDAM, 1680 274 

SILVER CROSS WITH QUARTZ CAT'S~EYE 286 

SPECIMENS OF CHIASTOLITE (LAPIS CRUCIFER) 286 

FACSIMILE OF THE BETROTHAL RING OF THE VIRGIN IN THE CATHEDRAL 

OF PERUGIA 312 

Moss AGATES 328 

THE FIGURES OF THE PLANETS WITH THEIR SIGNIFICANT STONES 330 

THE ZODIACAL STONES WITH THEIR SIGNS 342 

NECKLACES (FIRST CENTURY, A.D., AND ANCIENT PERSIAN) 346 

STATUETTE KNOWN AS THAT OF SAINTE FOY, IN THE ABBEY-CHURCH 

AT CONQUES, DEPT. AVEYRON, FRANCE 358 

INSCRIPTION ON A SMALL PIECE OF LIMESTONE, IN CURSIVE EGYPTIAN 

WRITING AN ANCIENT PRESCRIPTION 366 

NECKLACES (1) CARNELIAN BEADS; (2) ONYX BEADS 370 

FACSIMILE PAGE OF ITALIAN VELLUM MANUSCRIPT TREATISE OF THE 

VIRTUES OF GEMS 378 

INITIALS FROM THE LAPIDARIO DE ALFONSO X 390 

ILLUSTRATIONS xiii 

LINE CUTS IN TEXT 

TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE POETICAL TREATISE ON 
PRECIOUS STONES BY MARBODUS, BISHOP OF RENNES, PRINTED 

IN FRIBURG, 1531 15 

TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE GREEK TREATISE BY ST. 
EPIPHANIUS ON THE GEMS OF THE BREASTPLATE, WITH A LATIN VER- 
SION 16 

TITLE PAGE OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST TREATISES ON PRECIOUS STONES 

PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND 17 

PEARL DEALER 42 

AN AIR-SHIP OF 1709 53 

THE TREE THAT EXUDES AMBER 56 

A PRACTICAL TEST OF THE VIRTUES OF THE BLOODSTONE TO PREVENT 

NOSE-BLEED 60 

CARNELIAN SEAL, WORN BY NAPOLEON I, NAPOLEON III, AND THE PRINCE 

IMPERIAL 64 

SPECIMEN PAGE OF ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT OF FOURTEENTH CENTURY. . 77 
OBSIDIAN MIRROR, FROM OAXACA, MEXICO. Now IN TROCADERO 

MUSEUM, PARIS 99 

ROCK-CRYSTAL SKULL, ANCIENT MEXICAN 100 

ENGRAVED HELIOTROPE 124 

ENGRAVED RED JASPER 124 

GNOSTIC GEMS 127 

ANTIQUE JADE CELT CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN 129 

MONOGRAM OF THE NAME OF CHRIST ENGRAVED ON AN ONYX GEM 136 

Two GOLD RINGS SET WITH ENGRAVED ONYX GEMS 138 

THE "ORPHANUS JEWEL" IN THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN 147 

TITLE PAGE OF ROBERT BOYLE'S WORK ON THE ORIGIN AND VIRTUES 

OF GEMS 169 

TITLE PAGE OF A GSOUP OF TREATISES BY VABIOUS AUTHORS, COL- 
LECTED AND EDITED BY CONRAD GESNER AT ZURICH IN 1565 258 

THE HEBREW HIGH-PRIEST ATTIRED WITH HIS VESTMENTS 279 

THE BREASTPLATE UNFOLDED, I, II; EPHOD WITH BREASTPLATE FOLDED 
AND ATTACHED, III 281 

xiv ILLUSTRATIONS 

TITLE PAGE OF THE EDITION OP MARBODUS ON PRECIOUS STONES, PUB- 
LISHED IN COLOGNE, 1539 290 

CARNELIAN, ENGRAVED WITH THE ZODIACAL SIGNS, TAURUS, LEO AND 
CAPRICORN; IN THE CENTRE A SIX-RATED STAR, THE FORM OF ONE OF 
THESE RATS DENOTING A COMET 322 

Ctmoug lore of Sreciotttf Atones? 

i 

atrt l^efr 

JpROM the earliest times in man's history gems and 
w precious stones have been held in great esteem. 
They have been found in the monuments of prehistoric 
peoples, and not alone the civilization of the Pharaohs, 
of the Incas, or of the Montezumas invested these bril- 
liant things from Nature's jewel casket with a signifi- 
cance beyond the mere suggestion of their intrinsic 
properties. 

The magi, the wise men, the seers, the astrologers of 
the ages gone by found much in the matter of gems that 
we have nearly come to forgetting. "With them each gem 
possessed certain planetary attractions peculiar to itself, 
certain affinities with the various virtues, and a zodiacal 
concordance with the seasons of the year. Moreover, 
these early sages were firm believers in the influence of 
gems in one's nativity, that the evil in the world could 
be kept from contaminating a child properly protected 
by wearing the appropriate talismanic, natal, and 
zodiacal gems. Indeed, folklorists are wont to wonder 
whether the custom of wearing gems in jewelry did not 
originate in the talismanic idea instead of in the idea of 
mere additional adornment. 

The influence exerted by precious stones was assumed 
in medieval times without question, but when the spirit 
of investigation was aroused in the Eenaissance period, 
an effort was made to find a reason of some sort for the 

1 

2 THE CUKIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

traditional beliefs. Strange as it may seem to us, there 
was little disposition to doubt that the influence existed ; 
this was taken for granted, and all the mental effort 
expended was devoted to finding some plausible explana- 
tion as to how precious stones became endowed with their 
strange and mystic virtues, and how these virtues acted 
in modifying the character, health, or fortunes of the 
wearer. 

When the existence of miracles is acknowledged, there 
will always be a tendency to regard every singular and 
unaccountable happening as a miracle; that is to say, 
as something that occurs outside of, or in spite of, the 
laws of nature. We even observe this tendency at work 
in our own time. As regards visual impressions, for in- 
stance, if a child of lively imagination enters a half- 
lighted room and sees a bundle of clothes lying in a 
corner, the indistinct outline of this mass may be trans- 
formed to his mind into the form of a wild animal. The 
child does not really see an animal, but his fear has given 
a definite outline and character to the indefinite image 
printed on the retina. 

The writer has always sought to investigate anything 
strange and apparently unaccountable which has been 
brought to his notice, but he can truly say he has never 
found the slightest evidence of anything transcending 
the acknowledged laws of nature. Still, when we con- 
sider the marvellous secrets that have been revealed to 
us by science and the yet more wonderful things that 
will be revealed to us in the future, we are tempted to 
think that there may be something in the old beliefs, 
some residuum of fact, susceptible indeed of explana- 
tion, but very different from what a crass scepticism 
supposes it to be. Above all, the results of the investi- 
gations now pursued in relation to the group of phe- 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIE SOUECES 3 

nomena embraced under the designation of telepathy, 
the subconscious influence of one mind over an absent or 
distant mind, and the wireless transmission of power 
in wireless telegraphy and telephony, may go far to make 
us hesitate before condemning as utterly preposterous 
many of the tales of enchantment and magical influence. 
If the unconscious will of one individual can affect the 
thoughts and feelings of another individual at a great 
distance and without the intervention of any known 
means of communication, as is confidently asserted by 
many competent investigators in the domain of tele- 
pathy, their claims being supported by many strange 
happenings, perhaps the result of coincidence, but pos- 
sibly due to the operation of some unknown law, does 
this not give a color of verity to the statements regarding 
the ancient magicians and their spells? 

Auto-suggestion, may also afford an explanation of 
much that is mysterious in the effects attributed to 
precious stones, for if the wearer be firmly convinced 
that the gem he is wearing produces certain results, this 
conviction will impress itself upon his thought and hence 
upon his very organism. He will really experience the 
influence, and the effects will manifest themselves just 
as powerfully as though they were caused by vibrations 
or emanations from the material body of the stone. 

All this may serve to explain the persistence of the 
belief in magic arts. A few hundred years ago, a Hun- 
garian woman was accused of having murdered two or 
three hundred young girls, and at her trial she confessed 
that her object was to use the blood of her victims to 
renew her youth and beauty, for the blood of innocent 
virgins was supposed to have wonderful properties. In 
some parts of England to-day there is a superstitious 
belief that an article of clothing worn by a person, or 

4 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

anything lie has habitually used, absorbs a portion of 
his individuality. Therefore, it sometimes happens that 
a handkerchief, for instance, will be stolen and pinned 
down beneath the waters of a stream on a toad, the pins 
marking the name of the enemy, the belief being that as 
this cloth wastes away, so will the body of him who had 
worn it. In medieval and later times this was the common 
practice of the sorcerers, although they frequently com- 
posed a wax figure rudely resembling the person against 
whom the spell was directed, and then thrust pins into 
this figure or allowed it to melt away before a slow fire. 
The enchantment of the sorcerer was supposed to have 
caused some essence of the personality to enter into the 
image, and therefore the living and breathing being felt 
sympathetically the effects of the ill-treatment inflicted 
upon its counterfeit. 

The persistence of the most cruel and unnatural prac- 
tices of old-time sorcery is illustrated by the fact that 
only a few years ago, in the island of Cuba, three women 
were condemned to death for murdering a white baby 
so as to use the heart and blood as a cure for diseases. 
Four other women were sentenced to from fourteen to 
twenty years 7 imprisonment as accomplices. When snch 
things happen in Cuba, it is not surprising that in half- 
civilized Hayti similar crimes are committed. Here the 
Voodoo priests and priestesses, papalois and mamalois 
(papa-kings and mama-queens) require from time to 
time a human sacrifice to appease their serpent-god. One 
strange case is related where a stupefying potion, in- 
ducing a state of apparent death, was secretly adminis- 
tered to a sick man. When the attending physician pro- 
nounced him dead, he was duly interred ; but, two days 
after, the grave was found open and the body had dis- 
appeared. The Voodoo worshippers had carried the man 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIB SOURCES 5 

away so as to revive him and then sacrifice him at their 
fearful rites. 

In a poem addressed to Marguerite de Valois, "La 
Marguerite des Marguerites," as she was called, by 
Jean de la Taille de Bondaroy, 1 we read of the diamond 
that it caine from gold and from the sun. But we are 
told that not only are precious stones endowed with life, 
they also are subject to disease, old age, and death; 
"they even take offence if an injury be done to them, and 
become rough and pale." The sickness of the pearl has 
been a theme for centuries, and in many cases is only 
fancied. It is but a subterfuge or deception for a lady 
to remark that her pearls have sickened ; by referring to 
this sickness, her friends are naturally led to believe that 
at one time her pearls were fine, perfect ones, when in 
reality they may never have been so. 

The opinion given in 1609, by Anselmus De Boot, 
court physician to Rudolph II of Germany, regarding the 
power inherent in certain precious stones, 2 embodies the 
ideas on this subject held by many of the enlightened 
minds of that period. 

The supernatural and acting cause is God, the good angel and the 
evil one; the good by the will of God, and the evil by His permission. 
. . . What God can do by Himself, He could do also by means of 
ministers, good and bad angels, who, by special grace of God and for 
the preservation of men, are enabled to enter precious stones and to 
guard men from dangers or procure some special grace for them. 
However, as we may not affirm anything positive touching the presence 
of angels in gems, to repose trust in them, or to ascribe undue powers 
to them, is more especially pleasing to the spirit of evil, who transforms 

1 Jean de la Taille de Bondaroy, "Le Blason de la Marguerite/' 
Paris, 1574. 

2 Be Boot, " Gemmarum et lapidum historia," lib. i, cap. 25, Lug. 
Bat., 1636, pp. 87, 91. 

6 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

himself into an angel of light, steals into the substance of the little 
gem, and works such wonders by it that some people do not place 
their trust in Grod but in a gem, and seek to obtain from it what they 
should ask of God alone. Thus it is perhaps the spirit of evil which 
exercises its power on us through the turquoise, teaching us, little by 
little, that safety is not to be sought from God but from a gem* 

In the next chapter of his work, De Boot, while ex- 
tolling the remedial power of a certain group of stones, 
insists upon the falsity of many of the superstitions 
regarding these objects. 3 

That gems or stones, when applied to the body, exert an action 
upon it, is so well proven by the experience of many persons, that 
any one who doubts this must be called over-bold. We have proof 
of this power in the carnelian, the hematite, and the jasper, all of 
which when applied, check hemorrhage. . . . However, it is very 
necessary to observe that many virtues not possessed by gems are 
falsely ascribed to them. 

Paracelsus, the gifted and brilliant thinker, scientist, 
and, we must probably add, charlatan of the sixteenth 
century, whose really extraordinary mental endowment 
was largely wasted in the effort to impress his followers 
with the idea that he had a mystic control over super- 
natural agencies, was the owner of a talismanic jewel 
which he asserted to be the dwelling-place of a powerful 
spirit named " Azoth." Some old portraits of the 
philosopher, or pseudo-philosopher, figure him wearing 
this jewel, in whose virtues we may fairly doubt that he 
himself believed, but which furnished part of the para- 
phernalia be freely employed to gain influence over the 
credulous. 4 

8 De Boot, ef Gemmarum et lapidum historia," lib. i, cap. 26, Lug. 
Bat., 1636, p. 103. 

*Mackey, "Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions," Lon- 
elon, n. d., p. 144. 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 7 

The following passage from the " Faithful Lapidary" 
of Thomas Nicols, 5 who wrote in the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, illustrates the prevailing opinion in Eng- 
land at that time as to the virtues of precious stones : 

Perfectionem effectus contineri in causa. But it cannot truly be 
so spoken of gemms and pretious stones, the effects of which, by 
Lapidists are said to be, the making of men rich and eloquent, to 
preserve men from thunder and lightning, from plagues and diseases, 
to move dreams, to procure sleep, to foretell things to come, to make 
men wise, to strengthen memory, to procure honours, to hinder fas- 
cinations and witchcrafts, to hinder slothfulness, to put courage into 
men, to keep men chaste, to increase friendship, to hinder difference 
and dissention, and to make men invisible, as is feigned by the Poet 
concerning Gyges ring, and affirmed by Albertus and others concerning 
the ophfhalmius lapis, and many other strange things are affirmed of 
them and ascribed to them, which are contrary to the nature of gemrns, 
and which they as they are materiall, mixt, inanimate bodies neither 
koow nor can effect, by the properties and faculties of their own consti- 
tutions: because they being naturall causes, can produce none other 
but naturall effects, such as are all the ordinary effects of gemms: 
that is, such effects as flow from their elementary matter, from their 
temper, form and essence; such as are the operations of hot and cold, 
and of all the first qualities, and all such accidents as do arise from the 
eommixtion of the first qualities: such as are hardnesse, heavineese, 
thicknesse, colour, and tast. These all are the naturall faculties of 
gemms, and these are the known effects of the union of their matter, 
and of the operation of the first qualities one upon another. 

The long-continued concentration of vision on an 
object tends to produce a partial paralysis of certain 
functions of the brain. This effect may be noted in the 
helplessness of a bird when its gaze is fixed upon the 
glittering eyes of a serpent, or in the unwilling obedience 
yielded by a lion or some other wild animal when forced 
to look into the intent eyes of its trainer. In the same 
way those who gaze for a long time and without inter- 

5 Nicols, " Faithful Lapidary," London, 1659, pp. 32, 33. 

8 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

ruption on a crystal or glass ball, on an opal, a moon- 
stone, a sapphire, or a cat's-eye, may become partially 
hypnotized or even fall into a profound sleep. The con- 
dition induced, whether it be that of semi-trance, of hyp- 
notism, or simply due to the imaginative workings of 
the brain, is believed to give an insight into the future, 
This hypnotic effect is probably caused by some gleam 
or point of light in the stone, attracting and fixing the 
beholder's gaze. The moonstone, the star sapphire, and 
the cat's-eye are all gems which possess a moving light, 
a moving line, or three crossed lines, and they are believed 
by the Orientals to be gems of good luck. Indeed, it is 
supposed in the East that a living spirit dwells within 
these stones, a spirit potent for good. 

Superstitious fancies bear the same relation to truth 
that the shadow of a form does to the form itself. We 
know that the shadow has no substantial existence, and 
yet we know equally well that it is cast by some real body; 
in the same way we may be sure that, however foolish 
a superstition may appear to be, it has some foundation 
in fact. Indeed, superstition is associated with the 
highest attribute of the human mind, imagination. The 
realities about us gain much of their charm from senti- 
ment, and all that is great in art and literature owes its 
being to the transforming energy of pure imagination. 
Morbid imagination, on the other hand, distorts and 
degrades the impressions it receives and produces only 
unlovely or ignoble forms and ideas. 

Sentiment may best be expressed as the feeling of 
one who, on a warm summer's day, is rowing along a 
shady brook or resting in some sylvan dell, with nothing 
to interfere with his tranquil mood and nothing to spur 
him on to action; thus he has only suggestions of hope 
and indulges in rosy views of life. Reality, on the other 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 9 

hand, may be likened to a crisp winter 's morning when 
one is filled with exhilaration, conscious of the tingle of 
the cold, but comfortable in the knowledge of wearing a 
tightly-buttoned garment which will afford protection 
should the elements become disturbing. Superstition, 
lastly, can be said to resemble a dark, cold, misty night, 
when the moon is throwing malevolent shadows which 
are weird and distorted, while the cold seems to seize 
one by the throat and arouse a passionate desire to free 
one's self from its grip in some way, to change a horrible 
nightmare into a pleasant dream. 

In the early part of the last century a series of very 
interesting experiments designed to demonstrate the 
effects produced upon a sensitive subject by the touch of 
precious stones and minerals, were made in the case of 
the "Seeress of Prevorst," Frederike Hauffe (b. 1801), 
a woman believed to possess remarkable clairvoyant 
powers. 6 When pieces of granite, porphyry, or flint were 
placed in her hand, she was not affected in any way* The 
finest qualities of fluorspar, on the other hand, had a 
marked action, relaxing the muscles, causing diarrhoea, 
and producing a sour taste in the mouth ; occasionally a 
somnambulistic state was induced. This latter condition 
was also produced by Iceland spar and by the sapphire. 
While the substances so far noted depressed the vital 
energy, sulphate of barium stimulated the muscles, 
produced an agreeable warmth of the body, and made 
the subject feel as though she could fly through the 
air. If the application of this material was long con- 
tinued, the pleasurable sensation found expression in 
laughter. In the case of witherite, a carbonate of barium, 

* Gorres, " Die chiistliehe Mystik," Regensburg, 1840, vol. iii, pp. 
190 sqq. 

10 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

this effect was produced to an even greater degree, for 
if water in which this mineral had been dipped were 
swallowed, spasms of laughter resulted. 

Bock-crystal also was found to possess a strongly 
stimulating influence, for if put in the hand, it aroused 
the subject from a half-slumber, and if placed on the pit 
of the stomach, it had the power to awaken the seeress 
from a somnambulistic trance, while at the same time an 
aromatic odor was diffused around. When, however, 
the application was continued for some time, the muscles 
stiffened, until finally an epileptic state ensued. In- 
deed, the rigidity produced was so great that the limbs 
resisted all attempts to bend them. The same effect, but 
in a much, less degree, was caused by glass, even by look- 
ing at it, or by the tones emitted by a glass object when 
struck. All colorless silicates, the diamond, and even 
gypsum, had a similar effect, as did also heliotrope and 
basalt, either of which caused a bitter taste in the mouth. 

The most powerful action was that exerted by hem- 
atite, the oxide of iron in this substance inducing a kind 
of paralysis, with a sensation of inner chill ; this condi- 
tion could only be relieved by the application of a piece 
of witherite. Octahedrons of magnetite (loadstone) 
caused a sensation of heaviness and convulsive move- 
ments of the limbs, even when the material, wrapped up 
in paper, was brought near the subject. Spinel, in whose 
composition oxide of chromium enters, caused the same 
symptoms as loadstone, except that in this case the force 
seemed to exert itself from the hand upward along the 
arm, while with the loadstone the action was downward 
along the arm to the hand, owing to the attractive quality 
of this magnetic iron. Ruby called forth a sensation of 
coldness in the tongue, and rendered this member so 
heavy that only incoherent sounds could be emitted; 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 11 

the fingers and toes also became cold, and the body was 
agitated by a violent shivering; but to all these bad symp- 
toms succeeded a sense of elasticity and well-being, not, 
however, without a vague fear that the stone might cause 
a renewal of the physical depression. When chrysoprase 
was used, chills and shivering resulted, beginning at the 
breast and spreading thence over the whole body. 

We have touched upon the hypnotic influence exer- 
cised by gems, but there can be no doubt that the subject 
has not been as carefully studied as it deserves to be. 
That the hypnotic state can be induced by gazing fixedly 
upon a bright object held just above the eyes is a well- 
known fact, but quite probably a similar though not so 
pronounced effect results from gazing on a bright object 
just before the gazer's eyes. In the case of colored 
precious stones, the effects of the various color-rays com- 
bine with the light effects and strengthen the impression 
upon the optic nerve. All this, however, concerns only 
the purely physical impression, but we know that very 
often the hypnotic state is produced by a mental impres- 
sion, by tEe belief, or the fear, that the state will super- 
vene. With precious stones as hypnotizing agents, the 
mental impression is widely different, for here the physi- 
cal impression is heightened by the consciousness of the 
value and rarity of the material. The fascination that a 
fine set of jewels, with all their sparkle and color, exer- 
cises upon the mind of a woman who sees them in their 
glorious radiance on the neck, the arms, and the head of 
another woman, is not only due to the beauty of the 
spectacle, but is largely owing to the consciousness that 
they are rare and valuable objects and are perhaps 
eloquent witnesses of the power of love. A dash of envy 
sometimes serves to render the emotion more complex. 

The names of precious stones and semi-precious 

12 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

stones are frequently used as adjectives, and when so 
employed convey something more to the mind than do the 
corresponding adjectives of color. We may instance the 
following expressions: the " Emerald Isle" and "em- 
erald meadows " ; " sapphire seas 7 7 and ' ' sapphire eyes 7 7 ; 
"ruby wine/' "ruby lips,' 7 and, in Shakespeare, "the 
natural ruby of your cheeks' 7 ; "coral lips" and "coral 
ears' 7 ; "pearly teeth" and "pearly skin"; "turquoise 
skies 77 ; "amethystine locks" and, in Roman times, 
"amber hair. 77 In all these cases the name of the prec- 
ious mineral is really used as a superlative of the adjec- 
tive, suggesting the choicest variety of the color or shade. 
The phrases "hard as adamant" and "clear as crystal" 
show a similar use of the name of a precious or orna- 
mental stone to express the highest grade of a given 
quality. 

Before the introduction of the "point 77 system in 
typography three of the grades of type bore the names 
of precious stones, namely, "diamond type, 77 "agate 
type, 77 and "emerald type 77 ; this latter designation is 
employed only in England, where "agate type" is called 
"ruby type. 77 Another size was denominated "pearl 
type. 77 

A fanciful tale written not long ago treats of the 
practical inconveniences which would result, could such 
metaphorical expressions find a realization in fact 7 At 
the birth-feast of a certain princess, one of the fairies 
was not invited; she, nevertheless, made her appearance. 
After the other fairies had endowed the child with many 
good qualities, the neglected fairy said, "I will give her 
vanity, and her vanity shall change her beauty to the 
things it is said to resemble. 77 However, a friendly fairy 

T Virna Sheard, "The Jewelled Princess/' in Canadian Magazine. 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 13 

came to the rescue, saying, "I will give her unselfishness, 
and by it she shall turn her beauty back to what she 
wishes it to be." 

The result can easily be imagined. As the little 
princess grew up, those who wished to flatter her vanity 
spoke of her "teeth of pearl," of her "golden hair," of 
her ' ' coral lips, ' ' and of her * * sapphire eyes. ' ' Upon this 
her teeth changed to pearls, her hair to spun gold, her 
lips to coral, and her eyes to two magnificent sapphires. 
However, beautiful as these were, they did not grant the 
power of sight, so that the unhappy princess became 
blind. Not long after this a revolution deprived the king 
and qneen of their throne and they were reduced to great 
poverty. In these straits the daughter sacrificed her 
"gold-hair" to relieve their wants, and immediately 
the spell was dissolved and she regained all her natural 
beauty. 

Shelley, who saw the world illumined by the rainbow 
hues of poetic fancy, wrote of "diamond eyes," "an 
emerald sky," "the emerald heaven of trees," "the sap- 
phire ocean," "sapphire-tinted skies," "the sapphire 
floods of interstellar air," and "the chrysolite of sun- 
rise." For some reason, he does not use the ruby, a 
favorite stone with many poets, and psychologists might 
find in this a proof that red appeals less strongly to the 
idealist than do the other colors. 

The principal literary sources for the talismanic and 
therapeutic virtues attributed to ornamental stones may 
be divided into several groups, at first more or less inde- 
pendent of each other, but combined to a greater or lesser 
extent by later writers. Pliny gives, sometimes rather 
grudgingly, a number of superstitions current in his time, 
but the Alexandrian literature of the second, third, and 
fourth Christian centuries provides a much richer field 

14 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

for these superstitions, as shown in the Orphic poem 
"Lithica," the "Cyrianides," attributed to Hermes 
Trismegistus, the little treatise " On Bivers," which bore 
the name of Plutarch, and last, but not least, in the work 
by Damigeron, which purported to be written by an Arab 
king named Evax, and sent by him to Tiberius or Nero. 
The influence exerted by the legends surrounding the 
stones of the high priest's breastplate, and those chosen 
as foundation stones for the New Jerusalem, will be 
treated of elsewhere. 

In the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, a new 
literature on this subject made its appearance, probably 
in Asia Minor. Some of the works were originally 
written in Syriac and later translated into Arabic. 
Others were composed in the latter language. This 
source was drawn upon for the production of the Lapi- 
darium of Alfonso X, of Castile. This compilation, 
although dating in its present Spanish form from the 
thirteenth century, is based upon a much older original 
in "Chaldee" (Syriac?). There can be little doubt that 
.many Hindu superstitions, no longer preserved for us in 
the literature of India, are reproduced in these Syrio- 
Arabic works, wherein we have also much that is of 
Alexandrian origin. This indeed is easily explained by 
history, for the Arabs, through their widely extended 
conquests, were led to absorb and amalgamate the date 
they secured, directly or indirectly, from the East and 
the West. 

While this literature was developing in the Moham- 
medan world, the tradition of Pliny and Solinus was 
transmitted to the Christian world of the seventh and 
succeeding centuries by Isidorus of Seville. This brings 
us to the remarkable poetical treatise on the virtues of 
precious stones by Marbodus, Bishop of Eennes, a work 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 15 

written at the end of the eleventh century, and often 
quoted as that of Evax; indeed, it purports to be by him 
and really contains a good part of the material com- 
posing the treatise of Damigeron or Evax. At the same 
time Marbodus drew freely upon Pliny, either directly 
or through Isidorus. For the Middle Ages this poem of 
Marbodus, already translated into Old French in the 
twelfth century, became known as the "Lapidario" par 
excellence, and furnished a 

great part of their material to TVyf A T> "D /"\ ^ 
medieval authors on this sub- ^ ** ."" -^ -*-* ^-^ 

. . _. . , J DEI GALLI POBTAE VE 

ject. boon, however, extracts 
from the Arabic sources be- 

came available, and the whole 

mass of heterogeneous ma- IWD J;[2? 

terial was worked over and 

recombined in a variety of 

Ways . Hue ucnikjotmcontoKtilk Wcr : 

This complex origin of the 
traditions explains their almost 
incomprehensible contradic- ANNO 

tions regarding the virtues as- 

flip rlifFpranf cfn-n^a Title page of the first edition of the 

Uie Ulireieni/ SCOneS, poetical treatise on precious stones by 

and also the fact that the 
qualities of one stone are fre- 
quently attributed to another one, so that, in the later 
works on this subject, it becomes quite impossible to pre- 
sent a satisfactory view of the distinguishing qualities 
and virtues of the separate stones. The habit of copying, 
without discrimination or criticism, whatever came to 
hand, and the aim to utilize as much of the borrowed ma- 
terial as possible, is scarcely less a characteristic of the 
seventeenth and eighteenth century writers than it is of 
those of a later date. This is in part an excusable and 

16 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

s ^f it c r r 

PATRIS 

PIPHANII 

SC.OPI CYPRI.AD DIO- 
dorutn Tyri cpi&opuni ^ DC X.I I, 

j, & crcgionc Latinos* 
iolaHicrotitantino irttcrpcctc; 
cum Corollano Conra* 
diGc&crL 

even an unavoidable defect, but it should be minimized as 
much as possible. 

The treatise known under the title " Cyrianides ' 7 was, 
as we have noted, a product of the Alexandrian school. 
It was asserted to be the work of Hermes Trismegistus, 
the name given by the Greeks to the Egyptian god Thoth. 

Here we have a specimen of 
the species of magic known as 
litteromancy, or divination by 
means of the letters of the 
alphabet, since a stone, a bird, 
a plant, and a fish, each begin- 
ning with the same letter and 
signifying the four elements, 
are given for each of the 
twenty-four letters of the Greek 
alphabet. These four objects 
were to be grouped together to 
form a talisman, the bird being 
usually engraved on the stone, 
while a portion of the fish and 
of the plant was placed in the 
bezel of the ring in which the 
stone was to be set. 8 Another, 
almost contemporary work, is 
the exceedingly curious and in- 
teresting treatise by St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Con- 
stantia, on the twelve gems on the * ' Breastplate of Judg- 
ment ' ' of the high priest (Ex., xxviii, 15-21) . This unique 
production is in the form of a letter addressed to Dio- 
dorus, Bishop of Tyre, and it is peculiarly valuable as the 

*De Mely, "Les lapidaires de Pantiquite et du moyen-age/ 7 vol. 
ii, "Les lapidaires grecs/' Paris, 1898, pp. 1-50. 

TI GYRt 

Title page of the first edition of the 
Greek treatise by St. Epiphanius on the 
Gema of the Breastplate, with a Latin 
version. Edited and issued at Zurich in 
1566 (1565) by Conrad Gesner. 

ROCK-CRYSTAL AMULET SET IN SILVER. 
Bohemian, tenth century. Field Museum of Natural History. 

ROCK-CRYSTAL PLACQUE, ANCIENT MEXICAN, 
Field Museum Collection, Chicago. 

SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIE SOURCES 17 

first of a long series of attempts to elucidate the question 
as to the identity of the twelve stones. The special virtues 
of each stone are also given, and this treatise may be 
regarded as the prototype of all the Christian writings 
on the symbolism of stones. 

A most interesting medieval treatise on the virtues 
of precious stones forms part of the De rerum natura of 
Thomas de Cantimpre (1201-1270), who was a pupil of 
Albertus Magnus and composed his 
work between 1230 and 1244. The TT r QS ^p A p v 
Latin text has never been printed, A! 1 O 1 \J 1\ Y 
but the book was translated into T ** 4 
German by Konrad von Megenberg I CWClS* 
about 1350. Strange to say, the 

, , T i j. ! ji , And of the Principal Riches of 

translator did not know the name of the EA$I and WEST. 
the writer and supposed when he 

, ,. , i j. IT -I -i j-i j i The Relation of Divefs of the 

began to translate the book that it Moft Famous Tiwfen of 

was by Albertus Magnus. In many 

, Attended 

cases Thomas de Cantimpre merely 
copies the statements of older au- 
thors, but occasionally he gives us 
new material, or at least a new ver- 
sion of his originals. 

rf.-j i ,-,. n 7 ., Title page of one of the earli^ 

The renOWned medieval pnil- eat treatises on precious stones 

osopher and theologian, Albertus published m England - 
Magnus (1193-1280), for a short time Bishop of Eatisbon, 
and who later taught theology in the University of 
Paris and had the great iSt Thomas Aquinas for a pupil, 
was not altogether free from the superstitious notions 
of his time, traces of which appear in certain of his 
numerous writings. Many years after his death some 
of this material was extracted from his works and, 
amplified by additions from other sources, was published 
under the title " Secrets des vertus des Herbes, Pierres 
2 

18 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

et Bestes." Of this there are two versions, one being 
an epitome of the other and termed respectively "Le 
Grand Albert and "Le Petit Albert. " These little 
books were often reprinted and widely circulated, and 
eventually enjoyed great popularity among the French 
peasants. Indeed, even to the present day they may 
still be met with in out-of-the-way parts of rural France. 
Among literary deceptions one of the boldest was that 
practised in the early part of the seventeenth century by 
Ludovico Dolce. This writer made, in 1565, a literal 
translation into Italian of the "Speculum lapidum" of 
Camillo Leonardo, printed in Venice in 1502, and he had 
the courage to issue it as his own work, under the 
title ' ' Trattato delle gemme che produce la natura. ' * In 
view of the general familiarity with Latin among the 
better classes at that period, and the numerous fine 
libraries existing in Venice at the time, it seems most 
extraordinary that Dolce should have been successful in 
palming off this work as his own, but even to-day cita- 
tions are made from Dolce *s "Trattato delle gemme " 
and from Leonardo's "Speculum lapidum," as though 
these were distinct works. 

II 

of $recfotig ana 
and 

use of precious stones in early times as amulets 
and talismans is shown in many ancient records, 
and several scholars have assumed that the belief in the 
magic efficacy of stones gave rise to their use as objects 
of personal adornment. It is, of course, very difficult 
either to prove or to disprove such a theory, for, even 
in the case of the oldest texts, we must bear in mind that 
they do not in the least represent primitive conditions, 
and that many thousands of years must have elapsed 
before a people could attain the grade of civilization 
necessary for the production of even the simplest litera- 
ture. For this reason, certain investigators have pre- 
ferred to seek for a solution of this problem in the cus- 
toms and habits of the so-called uncivilized peoples of 
our own time; but we must not forget that conditions 
which seem to us very rudimentary are, nevertheless, the 
result of a long process of development. Even if this 
development was arrested many centuries or millenniums 
ago, it must have required a very considerable period of 
time to evolve such usages and conventions as are found 
even among the lowest races. Indeed, many uncivilized 
peoples have very complicated rules and observances, 
testifying to considerable thought and reflection. 

Fetichism in all its forms depends upon an imperfect 
conception of what constitutes life and conscious being, 
so that will and thought are attributed to inanimate 

19 

20 THE CUEIOUS LOKE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

objects. We can observe this in the case of animals and 
very young children, who regard any moving object as 
endowed with life. In the case of stones, however, it 
seems probable that those supposed to be the abode of 
spirits, good or evil, were selected because their natural 
form suggested that of some animal or of some portion 
of the human body. On the other hand, the wearing of 
what we call precious stones is more likely to have been 
due to the attraction exercised by bright colors upon 
the eye of the beholder and to the desire to display some 
distinguishing mark that would command attention and 
admiration for the wearer. This tendency runs through 
the higher animal kingdom, and its workings have served 
as a foundation for the theory of natural selection. 

It seems likely that we have here the true explanation 
of the motive for the gathering, preserving, and wearing 
of precious stones. Since these objects are motionless, 
they can scarcely have impressed the mind of primitive 
man with the idea that they were alive; they were not 
imposing by their mass, as were large stones, and their 
crystalline form scarcely figured any known living shape. 
Hence their chief, we may even say their only attrac- 
tion was their color and brilliancy. What effect these 
qualities had upon the visual sense of primitive man 
may be safely inferred from the effect such objects pro- 
duce upon infants. The baby has no fear in regard to a 
small and brilliantly colored object which is shown to it, 
but will eagerly put out its hand to seize, hold, and gaze 
upon a bright-colored stone. As the object is quite pas- 
sive and easily handled, there is nothing to suggest any 
lurking power to harm, and therefore there is nothing to 
interfere with the pleasurable sensation aroused in the 
optic nerve by the play of color. In this naive admira- 
tion of what is brilliant and colored, the infant undoubt- 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 21 

edly represents for us the mental attitude of primitive 
man. 

Probably the first objects chosen for personal adorn- 
ment were those easily strung or bound together, for 
instance, certain perforated shells and brilliant seeds; 
the softer stones, wherein holes could be easily bored by 
the help of the simplest tools, probably came next, while 
the harder gems must have been hoarded as pretty toys 
long before they could be adjusted for use as ornaments. 

Unquestionably, when these objects had once been 
worn, there was a disposition to attribute certain hap- 
penings to their influence and power, and in this way 
there arose a belief in their efficacy, and, finally, the con- 
viction that they were the abodes of powerful spirits. In 
this, as in many other things, man's first and instinctive 
appreciation was the truest, and it has required cen- 
turies of enlightenment to bring us back to this love of 
precious stones for their esthetic beauty alone. Indeed, 
even to-day, we can see the power of superstitious belief 
in the case of the opal, which some timid people still 
fear to wear, although until three or four centuries ago 
this stone was thought to combine all the virtues of the 
various colored gems, the hues of which are united in its 
sparkling light. 

A proof that bright and colored objects were attrac- 
tive in themselves, and were first gathered up and pre- 
served by primitive man for this reason alone, may be 
found in the fact that certain birds, notable the Chlamy- 
dera of Australia, related to our ravens, after construct- 
ing for themselves pretty arbors, strew the floors with 
variegated pebbles, so arranged as to suggest a mosaic 
pavement. At the entrance of the arbors are heaped up 
pieces of bone, shells, feathers, and stones, which have 
often been brought from a considerable distance, this 

22 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

giving evidence that the birds have not selected these 
objects at random. It is strange that the attraction ex- 
ercised upon the sense of sight by anything brilliant 
and colored, which is at the same time easily portable 
and can be handled or worn, should be overlooked by 
those who are disposed to assert that all ornaments of 
this kind were originally selected and preserved solely 
or principally because of their supposed talismanic 
qualities. 

The theory that colored and brilliant stones were first 
collected by men because of their beauty rather than 
because of their talismanic virtues, is corroborated by 
the statement made that seals select with considerable 
care the stones they swallow, and observers on the fishing 
grounds have noted this and believe that pebbles of 
chalcedony and serpentine found there have been brought 
by the seals. 1 

The popular derivation of the word "amulet" from 
an Arabic word liamalat, signifying something suspended 
or worn, is not accepted by the best Arabic scholars, and 
it seems probable that the name is of Latin origin, in 
spite of the fact that no very satisfactory etymology can 
be given. Pliny's use of amuletum shows that with him 
the word did not always denote an object that was worn 
on the person, although this later became its meaning. 
The old etymology given by Varro (118-29 B.C.), who 
derived amuletum from the verb amoUri, "to remove," 
"to drive away," may not be quite in accord with modern 
philology, but still has something to recommend it as far 
as the sense goes, for the amulet was certainly believed 
to hold dangers aloof, or even to remove them. Talis- 

1 Lucas, " The Swallowing Stones by Seals," Science, K S., vol. xx, 
No. 512, pp. 537, 538; Report of Fur Seal Investigation, vol. iii, p. 68. 

1. Necklace of rock-crystal and amethyst beads, transparent and translucent; very pale; 

from Egypt. First century. 

2. Necklace of antique emeralds with gold beads and amazon stones; from Egypt. First 

century A.D. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 23 

man, however, a word not used in classical times, un- 
doubtedly comes from tlie Arabic tilsam, this being in 
turn derived from r&ea/ia, used in late Greek to signify 
an initiation, or an incantation. 

It has been remarked that in the earliest Stone Age 
there is no trace of either idols or images ; the art of this 
period being entirely profane. In the later Stone Age, 
however, entirely different ideas seem to have gained 
the ascendancy, for a majority of the objects of plastic 
art so far discovered have a religious significance. This 
has evidently proceeded from the conception that every 
image of a living object absorbs something of the essence 
of the object itself, and this conception, while a primitive 
one, still presupposes a certain degree of development. 
This rule applies more especially to amulets, which were 
therefore fashioned as beautifully as primitive art per- 
mitted, that they might become fitting abodes for the 
benevolent spirits believed to animate them and render 
them efficacious. 2 

A curious idol or talisman from Houailou, New Cale- 
donia, is in the collection of Signor Giglioli. This is a 
stone bearing naturally a rude resemblance to the human 
form. 3 We can easily understand that such an object 
was looked upon as the abode of some spirit, for similar 
strange natural formations have been regarded with a 
species of superstitious awe by peoples much more civil- 
ized than the natives of New Caledonia. 

For the Middle Ages and even down to the seven- 
teenth century, the talismanic virtues of precious stones 
were believed in by high and low, by princes and peas- 

8 Hoernes, " UrgeseMehte der bildenden Kunst," Wien, 1898, p. 108. 

* Giglioli, "Materiale per lo studio della 'Eta della Pietra/" 
Arcliivio per TAntropologia e 1'Etnologia, vol. raxi, p. 83, Firenze, 
1901. 

24 THE CUBIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

ants, by the learned as well as by the ignorant. Here 
and there, however, a note of scepticism was sometimes 
apparent, as in the famons reply of the court jester of 
Emperor Charles V, to the question, "What is the prop- 
erty of the turquoise?" "Why," replied he, "if you 
should happen to fall from a high tower whilst you were 
wearing a turquoise on your finger, the turquoise would 
remain unbroken." 

The doctrine of sympathy and antipathy found ex- 
pression in the belief that the very substance of certain 
stones was liable to modification by the condition of 
health or even by the thoughts of the wearer. In case of 
sickness or approaching death the lustre of the stones 
was dimmed, or else their bright colors were darkened, 
and unfaithfulness or perjury produced similar phe- 
nomena. Concerning the turquoise, the prosaic explana- 
tion can be offered that this stone is affected to a certain 
extent by the secretions of the skin ; but popular super- 
stition saw the same phenomena in the ruby, the dia- 
mond, and other stones not possessing the sensitiveness 
of the turquoise. Hence the true explanation is to be 
found in the prevailing idea that an occult sympathy 
existed between stone and wearer. The sentiment un- 
derlying the conception is well expressed by Emerson in 
the following lines from "The Amulet": 

Give me an amulet 

That keeps intelligence with you, 
Ked when you love, and rosier red, 

And when you love not, pale and blue. 

V A Persian legend of the origin of diamonds and pre- 
cious stones shows that in the East these beautiful ob- 
jects were looked upon as the source of much sin and 
sorrow. "We are told that when God created the world 
he made no useless things, such as gold, silver, precious 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 25 

stones, and diamonds; but Satan, who is always eager 
to bring evil among men, kept a close watch to spy out 
the appetites and passions of the human mind. To his 
great satisfaction he noted that Eve passionately loved 
the many-colored flowers that decked the Garden of 
Eden; he therefore undertook to imitate their brightness 
and color out of earth., and in this way were produced 
colored precious stones and diamonds. These in after 
time so strongly appealed to the greed and covetousness 
of mankind that they have been the cause of much crime 
and wretchedness. 4 

The present age could afford us nearly as many ex- 
amples of faith in talismans and amulets as any epoch 
in the past, if people were willing to confess their real 
beliefs. However, they are half -ashamed of their fond- 
ness for such objects, and fail to see that, back of all the 
folly and superstition that may find expression in this 
way, there is a deeper meaning in these talismans than 
we at first perceive. "We may be disposed to smile when 
we are told that many of the soldiers in the Austro-Prus- 
sian War of 1866 carried amulets of some kind upon their 
persons, and that the great Marshal Canrobert trusted 
to the protection of an amulet in the Crimean campaign. 
Of course the Eussian army, during the Eusso-Japanese 
War, was amply provided with amulets, religious medals 
or pictures to which a special virtue had been given by a 
priestly blessing. 

In all these cases, however, it is not the object itself, 
but the idea for which it stands and which it incorporates, 
that gives confidence to the wearer, and in this sense the 
wearing of a talisman is no more a proof of blind super- 
pose, "Handleiding tot de Kennis van diamanten," etc,, Am- 
sterdam, 1891, p. 110. 

26 THE CUKIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

stition than is the devotion to a flag, in itself only a few 
square feet of silk or bunting, but, nevertheless, the 
symbol of the noblest ideas and feelings, of patriotic de- 
votion to one's native land and to one's fellow-country- 
men. The tendency to give a substantial visible form to 
an abstract idea is so deeply rooted in humanity that it 
must be looked upon as responding to a human neces- 
sity. It is only very rarely that purely intellectual con- 
ceptions can satisfy us ; they must be given some exter- 
nal, palpable and visible form to exert their greater 
influences. 

Although it may bear a certain superficial likeness to 
fetichism, this use of signs and symbols is something 
entirely and radically different, for the idea is never lost 
sight of, it is only strengthened and vivified by tlie con- 
templation of the symbol. Hence, while we know quite 
well that the symbol is nothing in itself, we know just as 
well that it has a real power in its relation to the idea 
it typifies, and we can no more be indifferent to its injury 
or destruction than we could be indifferent to the injury 
or destruction of a cherished memento of one whom we 
have loved and lost. 

What super-subtle sense is it that enables some 
women to endow their gems with a certain individuality, 
and leads them to feel that these cold, inanimate objects 
partake of human emotion? A French writer, Mme. 
Catulle Mendes, gives expression to this when she says 
that she always wears as many of her rings as possible, 
because her gems feel slighted when she leaves them 
unworn. She continues : 

I have a ruby -which grows dull, two turquoises which become pale 
as death, aquamarines which look like siren's eyes filled with tears, 
when I forget them too long. How sad I should feel if precious 
stones did not love to rest upon me ! 

MOSAICS OF TURQUOISE AND ENAMELLED CARNELIAN BEADS, 

FROM THIBET. 
Field Museum, Chicago. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 27 

A very beautiful and curious object was found in 
the Australian opal-fields in 1909. This is a reptilean 
skeleton resembling a small serpent that has become 
opalized by natural processes. Perfect in all its de- 
tails, which are rendered more striking by the splendid 
play of color, this specimen of Nature's handiwork pos- 
sesses a beauty and an interest exceeding those to be 
found in any work of man. As an amulet it certainly 
is sui generis, and in ancient times would have been 
valued at an immense sum, for the figure of a serpent 
was a favorite symbol of medical science; even to-day 
there is little doubt that this strange object will be 
eagerly sought for by collectors, and will appeal more 
especially to all who are interested in occult science, and 
to all who appreciate the poetic and perhaps mystic sig- 
nificance of form, sign, and symbol. 

It is impossible to over-estimate the effect of color 
in determining the supposed influence of gems upon the 
fortunes or health of the wearers. When we gaze upon 
the beautiful play of light emitted by a fine ruby or sap- 
phire, we are all conscious of the aesthetic effect pro- 
duced ; but in earlier times, when scientific ideas were not 
yet prevalent, many other considerations combined to 
give a peculiar significance to these brilliant gems. Bar 
and costly as they were, they were supposed to possess 
mystic and occult powers and were thought to be the 
abode of spirits, sometimes benevolent and sometimes 
malevolent, but always endowed with the power to in- 
fluence human destinies for weal or woe. Coupled with 
this was the instinctive appreciation of the essential 
qualities of certain rays of light, and modern science, 
far from doing away with these ideas, has rather seemed 
to find a good reason for them. We all know the thera- 
peutic value of the ultra-violet rays, and when the unin- 

28 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

stmcted mind saw therein the embodiment of purity and 
chastity, it perhaps realized this health-giving and bene- 
ficent function. In the same way the idea of passion 
was associated with the red and radiant ruby, another 
concept the relative truth of which has been demon- 
strated by spectrum analysis, since the red rays are heat- 
giving and vivifying. But this was not the only source 
of these primitive ideas in regard to color; the thera- 
peutic effect was often sought and found in some fancied 
analogy between the color of the gem and the character 
of the malady or infirmity to be cured. Thus, yellow 
stones were supposed to be especially efficacious in cases 
of jaundice, an instance of instinctive homoeopathy, based 
on the dictum similia similibus curantur. Following out 
this train of thought, the red stones were endowed with 
the power of checking the flow of blood; especially the 
so-called bloodstone was prescribed for this use, and it 
was supposed that by its mere touch it could stop the 
most violent hemorrhages. Green was regarded as the 
color most beneficial for the sight, and to the emerald 
and other green stones was ascribed great curative power 
in this respect. Here, however, the simple influence of 
the color was later combined with its symbolical signifi- 
cance. In heathen mythology this showed itself in the 
ascription of the emerald to Venus, as the exponent of 
the reproductive energies of nature, while in the Chris- 
tian conception these stones became typical of the resur- 
rection, of the birth into a new and purer life. Nowhere 
can we find a better illustration of the transforming 
effect of distinct and diametrically opposite concepts 
upon the impressions made by natural objects. The 
pure and colorless and yet brilliant stones, such as the 
diamond and all other white stones, were naturally 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 29 

brought into connection with the moon, although, the 
diamond, because of its superior qualities and excep- 
tional brilliance and value, was frequently looked upon 
as the gem of the sun* All gems associated with the moon 
partook of its enigmatic character. Illuminating the 
witching hour of the night, when malevolent and treach- 
erous spirits were supposed to hold sway, the moon was 
sometimes regarded as baleful, as may be seen in the 
idea that associated lunacy with exposure to the bright 
rays of the moon ; at other times it was supposed to have 
the power to conjure these evil influences and to drive 
off the powers of darkness. 

The symbolical significance of the colors of precious 
stones is treated at considerable length by Giacinto 
Gimma, 5 who has gathered together a great quantity of 
material on the subject 

Yellow worn by a man denoted secrecy, and was ap- 
propriate for the silent lover; worn by a woman it indi- 
cated generosity. Golden yellow was, of course, the 
symbol of the sun and of Sunday. The precious stone 
was the chrysolite or the yellow jacinth. The animal 
connected with the color was the lion, doubtless from 
the association of the zodiacal sign Leo with the mid- 
summer sun. Of the seven ages of man yellow typified 
adolescence, Roman matrons covered their heads with 
a yellow veil to show their hope of offspring and happi- 
ness. Because garments of this color were a sign of 
grandeur and nobility, a golden vestment is assigned to 
the Queen of Heaven as a sign of her pre-eminence, as 
we read in Psalm slv, 9 : "Upon thy right hand did stand 
the queen in gold of Ophir." Gimma *s explanation of 

""Delia storia natnrale delle Gemme," Napoli, 1730, Vol. I, pp. 
131-137. 

30 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

this as referring to the Virgin Mary is in accord with 
the Catholic exegesis of his time. 

White signified for men friendship, religion, integ- 
rity; for women, contemplation, affability, and purity. 
It was associated with the moon and with Monday and 
was represented by the pearl. The animal having an 
affinity with white was quite naturally the ermine. The 
mystic number was seven, and white was the color of in- 
fancy. Among the ancients white was a sign of mourn- 
ing and sadness, and the Greek matrons attired them- 
selves in white on the death of their husbands. G-imma 
states that in his time, in Eome, widows used to wear 
white as mourning for their husbands, while throughout 
Italy a white band worn around, the head was a sign of 
widowhood. 

Bed garments on a man indicated command, nobility, 
lordship, and vengeance; on a woman, pride, obstinacy, 
and haughtiness. This was the color of the planet Mars 
and of Tuesday; it was represented by the ruby. Why 
the lynx should have been selected as the animal for red 
is rather difficult to understand, but, as the most vivid 
color, the choice of red as a type of full manhood need 
not surprise us. Its number was the potent nine, three 
multiplied by itself. The ancients covered with a red 
cloth the biers of those who had died valiantly in battle, 
as Homer 6 shows when he relates that the brothers and 
companions of Hector covered the urn containing the 
hero's ashes with soft purple (scarlet) robes. Plutarch 
asserts that the Lacedemonians clothed their soldiers in 
red to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies and 
to manifest a thirst for blood. We might perhaps, say 
much the same of the English " red-coats " to-day. The 

IL, ssiv, 795, 796. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 31 

Italian code of criminal laws known as the "Digesto 
Nuovo" was bound in red, to signify that a bloody death 
awaited thieves and murderers. 

Blue on a man's dress indicated wisdom and high and 
magnanimous thoughts; on a woman's dress, jealousy in 
love, politeness, and vigilance. Friday and Venus were 
represented by blue, and the celestial-hued sapphire was 
the stone in which this color appeared in all its beauty. 
Blue was a fit symbol of the age of childhood, but it is 
less easy to understand the choice of the goat as the 
animal associated with the color. The significant number 
was six. Natural science, the contemplation of the 
heavens and of the heavenly bodies, and the study of 
stellar influences were all typified by blue. 

Green signified for men joyousness, transitory hope, 
and the decline of friendship; for women, unfounded 
ambition, childish delight, and change. The early ver- 
dure of spring might be regarded as at once a symbol of 
hope and of eventual disappointment, for it must soon 
pass away. Mercury, and Wednesday, the day of Mer- 
cury, were both typified by green, the sly fox being 
selected as the animal is sympathy with the wily god. 
The typical green stone is the emerald, youth is the age 
of man represented by the color, and five the magic 
number expressing it. In ancient times green was used 
in the case of those who died in the flower of youth, an 
emerald being sometimes placed on the index-finger of 
the corpse, as a sign that the light of hope was spent, 
for the lower part of the torches used in religious cere- 
monies was marked with green. Fulvius Pellegrinus re- 
lates that, in the tomb of Tullia, the dearly-beloved 
daughter of Cicero, there was found an emerald, the most 
beautiful that had ever been seen. This passed into the 
hands of the Marchesana di Mantova, Isabella Gonzaga 

32 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

da Este. In Italy the graves of young virgins and of 
children were covered with green branches. When the 
Codex Justinianus was rediscovered and added to the 
other Pandects, it was bound in green to signify that 
these laws were rejuvenated. 

Black for men means gravity, good sense, constancy, 
and fortitude; for young women, fickleness and foolish- 
ness, but for married women, constant love and perse- 
verance. The planet Saturn and Saturday are denoted 
by black. Strange to say, the diamond, the white gem 
par excellence, was selected to represent this sombre 
hue. Perhaps to offset this the animal chosen was the 
hog. As black was a mourning color, we need not be sur- 
prised that it typified decrepitude. The number eight, 
the double square, was supposed to have some affinity 
with black. Black is a symbol of envy, for the thoughts 
which aim at another's injury cloud the soul and afflict 
the body. The book of laws treating of dispositions made 
in view of death was bound in black. The sinister sig- 
nificance of black is well illustrated by what is told of 
the ruthless Tartar Tamerlane. When he attacked a 
city, he caused a white tent to be pitched for himself on 
the first day of the siege, as a sign that mercy would be 
shown to the inhabitants if they immediately sur- 
rendered ; on the second day a red tent was substituted, 
signifying that if the city yielded, all the leaders would 
be put to death; on the third day, however, a black 
tent was raised, an ominous signal that no mercy 
would be shown and that all the inhabitants would be 
slaughtered. 

Violet for a man denoted sober judgment, industry, 
and gravity; for a woman, high thoughts and religious 
love. It was the color of the planet Jupiter and of 
Thursday. As with blue, the sapphire was conceived to 

.. A necklace of rock crystal, emeralds, hexagonal crystals, and amazon stones; from Egypt. 

!. A necklace of onyx and gold beads with the "Lucky Eye" agates; from Egypt. Carnelian, 

sard; blue and white, and black and white glass beads. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 33 

present violet most attractively. That the bull should 
be selected as the animal represented by this color prob- 
ably arose from some mythological connection with Jupi- 
ter, possibly the myth of Europa and the bull. Violet was 
the color of old age and was associated with the number 
three. 

The influence of color upon the nerves has been noted 
by some of the leading authorities on hypnotism. For 
example, Dr. Paul Ferez, finding that red light is stimu- 
lating and blue-violet calming, suggests that those who 
treat patients by means of hypnotism should have two 
rooms for their reception. In one of these rooms the 
curtains, wall-paper, chair-coverings, etc., would be red, 
while in the other they would be of a violet-blue hue. 
Those suffering from a lack of will-power or from lassi- 
tude and depression are to be received in the red room, 
and those who are a prey to over-excitability are intro- 
duced into the blue room. Moreover, according to Dr. 
Ferez, the sedative qualities of the violet-blue can be 
utilized in inducing the hypnotic state. For this pur- 
pose he recommends a violet-blue disk, which is to be 
rotated rapidly before the eyes of the patient, the move- 
ment serving to attract and hold his gaze better than any 
immovable object would do. 7 

Eed stones such as rubies, carbuncles, and garnets, 
whose color suggested that of blood, were not only be- 
lieved to confer invulnerability from wounds, but some 
Asiatic tribes have used garnets as bullets, upon the 
contrary principle that this blood-cblored stone would 
inflict a more deadly wound than would a leaden bullet. 
Such bullets were used by the rebellious Hanzas^ in 

7 Paper by Dr. Paul Ferez in the Eevue de PHypnotisme, Paris, 
No. 10, April, 1906, p. 306. 
3 

34 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

1892, during their hostilities with the British troops on 
the Kashmir frontier, and many of these precious mis- 
siles were preserved as curiosities. 

In his " Colloquy on Pilgrimages," Erasmus makes 
one of the speakers ask, "Dost thou not see how the 
artificer Nature delights to represent all things by colors 
and forms, but more especially in gems?" He then pro- 
ceeds to enumerate the various images of natural objects 
in stones. In the ceraunia appeared the thunder-bolt; 
in the pyrope, living fire; the chalazia (rock-crystal) 
preserved the form and coldness of the hailstone even 
if cast into the fire. In the emerald were shown the deep 
and translucent waves of the sea ; the carcinia imitated 
the form of crabs ; the echites, of vipers ; the hieracites, 
of hawks; the geranites, of cranes. The setites offered 
the image of an eagle with a white tail ; the taos had the 
form of a peacock ; the chelonites, of an asp ; while the 
myrmecites bore within the figure of an ant. 8 The stones 
bearing this latter name were probably specimens of 
amber containing ants. 

The Gr^ek names of these stones enumerated by 
Erasmus signify their real or supposed resemblance to 
certain natural objects, or to something characteristic 
of such objects. Many of them were fossils, preserving 
the form of some living organism; a few were entirely 
fabulous; still others owed their names to some legend 
or myth illustrating their fancied therapeutic virtues, as 
in the case of the setites (eagle-stone) said to be found 
in the eagle ? s nest. Evidently this was a quartz pebble. 

The oldest magic formulas that have been preserved 
for us are those of the Sumerians, the founders of the 

"Erasmi, " Colloquia," Lipsiae, 1713, pp. 597-8. Suggested by 
Pliny, lib. xxxvii, cap. 71-73. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 35 

ancient civilization of Babylonia. Some of them contain 
references to the use of precious stones as amulets, as 
appears in the following specimen: 

Cords of light-colored wool, 

Offered ( ?) with a pure hand, 

For jaundice of the eye, 

Bind on the right side (of the patient). 

A lululti ring, with sparkling stones 

Brought from his own land, 

For inflammation of the eye, 

On the little finger 

Of his left (hand), place. 9 

A curious Babylonian mythological text represents 
the solar diety Ninib, the son of Bel, as determining the 
fate of various stones by pronouncing a blessing or a 
curse upon them. For instance, the dolomite was blessed 
and declared to be fit material for the statues of kings, 
while a substance called the elu stone was cursed, pro- 
claimed to be unfit for working, and doomed to disin- 
tegration. Alabaster was favored by the god, but chal- 
cedony aroused his anger and was condemned. 10 

In these Sumero-Assyrian inscriptions, there is also 
mention of two stones, the aban rame and the aban la 
rdme, the < ' Stone of Love ' ' and the ' ' Stone of Hate ' > (lit. 
"non-love"). 11 Evidently these stones were believed to 
excite one or other of these contradictory passions in the 
hearts of the wearers, and they may be compared with 
the stones of memory and forgetfulness in the "Gesta 
Bomanorum." 

In an ancient Egyptian burial-place at Shech Abd el- 

'Morris Jastrow, "Die Religion Babylonians und Assyriens," vol. 
i, Giessen, 1905, p. 374. 

10 Morris Jastrow, 1. c., p. 462. 

n Delitzsch, " Assyrisches Worterbucb," Leipzig, 1896, p. 604. 

36 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Qurna, excavated by Passalaqua, was found the mummy 
of a young woman. Not only was it evident from the 
rich ornaments adorning the body that she had been of 
noble birth, but it was also apparent that she must have 
been exceedingly beautiful in form and feature, and must 
have died in the flower of her age. The hair was artis- 
tically braided and adorned with twenty bronze hair- 
pins. About her neck was a remarkably beautiful neck- 
lace composed of four rows of beads with numerous 
pendants representing divinities and sacred symbols. 
There were also two smaller necklaces with beads of 
gold, lapis-lazuli, and carnelian; two large jewelled ear- 
rings hung from her ears, and on the index-finger of her 
right hand was a ring set with a scarab; a gold belt 
garnished with lapis-lazuli and carnelians was bound 
about her waist and a gold bracelet adorned with semi- 
precious stones encircled her left wrist. In the sarco- 
phagus was a beautiful mirror of golden-yellow bronze, 
and three alabaster vases, one still containing some balm 
or perfume, and another some galena (native lead sul- 
phide) to be used as a cosmetic for the eyes, as well as a 
little ebony pencil for its application. All these objects 
are now in the Egyptian collection of the Berlin Museum, 
and they probably belong to the period of the XVIII 
Dynasty, about 1500 B.C. 

The principal necklace was undoubtedly regarded by 
the fair Egyptian as an amulet of great power, but it 
failed to protect her from an untimely end; perhaps, 
however, its virtues may have aided her soul in its pas- 
sage through the trials and tests imposed in the under- 
world. Of the numerous pendants which lent to the neck- 
lace its peculiar quality as an amulet, three, in carnelian, 
figure the god Bes; seven, also in carnelian, the hippo- 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 37 

potamus-goddess Toeris, of whom there are besides two 
representations in lapis-lazuli; then we have a heart of 
lapis-lazuli ; a cat of lapis-lazuli; four falcons of carne- 
lian; one crocodile of carnelian and two of lapis-lazuli; 
four fish of carnelian, as well as two others of a blackish- 
white and of a green stone, respectively, and two scor- 
pions of carnelian, and seven flower-forms of the same 
stone. The greater part of the beads in this necklace 
are of annular form, of gold, electrum, ivory, or lapis- 
lazuli ; there are a few larger annular or spherical beads 
of carnelian, chrysoprase, and malachite, and measuring 
up to 3.5 cm. in diameter. 12 

A necklace, from the time of the Old Empire (c. 3500 
B.C.), and having for its chief adornment a turquoise 
pendant rudely fashioned into the form of an ibex, was 
found by the G-erman Orient-G-esellschaft at Abusir el- 
Meleq in 1905. This necklace, the parts of which were 
found about the neck of a body, presumably that of a 
young man, was composed of rounded and annular beads 
of carnelian and shell, as well as of flat, perforated frag- 
ments of turquoise and almandine garnet and an ap- 
proximately lozenge-shaped bead of amethyst 1.7 cm. 
long and 1.4 cm. broad. The chief ornament was the 
turquoise ibex 1.7 cm. in length and 0.9 cm. high. 13 This 
figure suggests a comparison with the animal and bird 
forms fashioned out of turquoise that have been found 
in Indian graves in Arizona and New Mexico, and it 
probably had the quality of a fetich, or at least of a 

13 " Aegyptische Goldsehmiedearbeit," ed. by Heinriek Schaffer, 
Berlin, 1910, pp. 25-32; necklace figured on PL V, other objects on 
Pis. V-VIL 

18 Ibid., p. 14, PL II, figs. 3a, 3b. 

38 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

talisman, intended to guard the wearer of the necklace 
from harm. 

That there was in Egypt a strong inclination to use a 
certain particular stone for a given amulet, will be noted 
in the case of those inscribed with special chapters of 
the Book of the Dead. This is also true of amulets of 
certain forms. For instance, the head-rest amulet is 
usually of hematite as is also the carpenter's square. 
Of the heart amulets, numbering 47 in the rich collec- 
tions of the Cairo Museum, nine are of carnelian, four of 
hematite, two of lapis-lazuli, and two each of green 
porphyry and green jasper, carnelian being thus the most 
favored among the more precious materials. Amulets 
of animal form are plentifully represented in this collec- 
tion, figuring a large variety of members of the animal 
kingdom such as the hippopotamus, crocodile, lion, bull, 
cow, hare, dog-headed ape, cat, dog (somewhat doubtful), 
jackal, hedgehog, frog, hawk, cobra and fishes, to which 
list may be added a four-headed ram and a ram-headed 
sphinx. 14 

One of the special uses of amulets was for seafaring 
people, for, in ancient times especially, all who went 
down to the sea in ships were greatly in need of protec- 
tion from the fury of the elements when they embarked 
in their small sailing-vessels. A fragment of a Greek 
Lapidary, 15 probably written in the third or fourth cen- 
tury of our era, gives a list of seven amulets peculiarly 
adapted for this purpose. The number might suggest 
a connection with the days of the week, and the amulets 

"See Reisner, "Catalogue generale des antiquites egyptiennes du 
Musee du Caire: Amulets" Le Caire, 1907. 

"Pitra, "Specilegium Solesmense," Parisiis, 1855, vol. Hi, p. 393. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 39 

were perhaps regarded as most efficacious when used on 
the respective days. 

In the first were set a carbuncle and a chalcedony; 
this amulet protected sailors from drowning. The second 
had for its gem either of two varieties of the adamas, 
one, the Macedonian, being likened to ice (this was prob- 
ably rock-crystal), while the other, the Indian, of a silvery 
hue, may possibly have been our corundum; however, the 
Macedonian stone was regarded as the better. The third 
amulet bore the beryl, "transparent, brilliant, and of a 
sea-green hue," evidently the aquamarine beryl; this 
banished fear. The fourth had for its gem the druops, 
" white in the centre," probably the variety of agate so 
much favored as a protector against the spell of the Evil 
Eye. A coral was placed in the fifth amulet, and this 
was to be attached to the prow of the ship with strips 
of seal-skin ; it guarded the vessel from winds and waves 
in all waters. For the sixth amulet the ophiokiolus stone 
was selected, most probably a kind of banded agate, for 
it is said to have been girdled with stripes like the body 
of a snake ; whoever wore this had no need to fear the 
surging ocean. The seventh and last of these nautical 
amulets bore a stone called opsianos, apparently a 
resinous or bituminous material, possibly a kind of jet ; 
this came from Phrygia and Galatia, and the amulet 
wherein it was set was a great protection for all who 
journeyed by sea or by river. 

The ancient treatises on the magic art show that the 
nse of amulets was considered to be indispensable for 
those who dared to evoke the dark spirits of the nether- 
world, for without the protection afforded by his amulet 
the magician ran the risk of being attacked by these 
spirits. One of these texts gives directions for prepar- 
ing an amulet, or phylacterion, for the ^undertaking"; 

40 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

for this a " sweet-smelling " loadstone should be chosen, 
and should be cut heart-shaped and engraved with the 
figure of Hecate. 16 

A costly Chinese amulet consists of the diamond, the 
ruby, and the emerald, to which are added the pearl and 
coral; Oriental sapphire and topaz are classed with the 
ruby. An amulet containing these five substances is 
thought to combine the protecting influences of the dif- 
ferent deities presiding over them, and is supposed to 
lengthen the wearer 's life. Sometimes these five princely 
gems are wrapped up in a paper bearing the names of 
the respective divinities, to which is added the name of 
the moon, and those of the twenty-seven constellations, 
or houses of the moon. Such an amulet, suspended at 
the entrance of a house, is believed to afford protection 
to the inmates. 17 

In the language of the ancient Mexicans blood was 
called chalcMuhatl, or " water of precious stones, " as 
the quintessence of what were regarded as the most 
costly things. 18 Although such poetic designations are 
in modern times mere figures of speech, among primi- 
tive peoples they are more significant, and it is highly 
probable that with the Aztecs, as with other peoples, the 
wearing of precious stones was believed to enrich the 
blood and thus to promote health and vigor, for "the 
Jblopd is the life." 

"That gems had sex is asserted by the earliest writers 

16 Kropatsehek, "De amulet orum apud antiques usu/' GrypHae, 
1907, p. 24 (Paris papyrus, 2630). 

"Surindro Mohun Tagore, "Mani Mala/' Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, 
p. 943. 

18 Seler, " Codex Borgia : Eine altmexicanisehe Bilderschrif t," Ber- 
lin, 1904, vol. i, p. 16. 

H\ permission nf W. Griggs & Sons, Ltd., London. 

MAHARAJA RTTNJIT SINGH, RULER OF THE PUNJAB, 1791 TO 1839. 

Ht> holds :i "rosary" of emeralds, stones prized in the Orient as antidotes to poison, From a 
portrait byJhvan Rain, taken at Rupar in 1S!)1. From the Journal of Indian Art and Industry. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 41 

as well as by many of those of a later date. While this 
must usually be understood as a poetic way of indicating 
a difference in shade, the darker varieties being regarded 
as male and the lighter ones as female, Theophrastus, 
the earliest Greek writer on precious stones, clearly 
shows that this sexual distinction was sometimes seri- 
ously made, for he declares that, wonderful as it might 
seem, certain, gems were capable of producing offspring. 
This strange idea was still prevalent in the sixteenth 
century, and ingenious explanations were sometimes 
given of the cause of this phenomenon, as appears in 
the following account by Kueus of germinating dia- 
monds: 19 

It has recently been related to me by a lady worthy of credence, 
that a noblewoman, descended from the illustrious house of Luxemburg, 
had in her possession two diamonds which she had inherited, and 
which produced others in such miraculous wise, that whoever examined 
them at stated intervals judged that they had engendered progeny like 
themselves. The cause of this (if it be permissible to philosophize 
regarding such a strange matter) would seem to be that the celestial 
energy in the parent stones, qualified by some one as "vis adaman- 
tifica" first changes the surrounding air into water, or some similar 
substance, and then condenses and hardens this into the diamond gem. 

The pearl-fishers of Borneo are said to preserve 
carefully every ninth pearl they find, and place them 
in a bottle with two grains of rice for each pearl, be- 
lieving, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that these 
particular pearls have the power to engender and breed 
others. Custom and superstition require that each 
bottle shall have the finger of a dead man as a stopper. 

Talismanic influences are taken into account in the 

"Franeisci Ruei, " De gemmis," Tiguri, 1566, f. 4. 

42 THE CUBIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

wearing of jewelry by Orientals, two bracelets being 
frequently worn lest one member should become jealous 
of the other, thus disturbing the equilibrium of the 
whole organism. The piercing of the ears for ear-rings 
has been attributed to a desire to chastise the ear for 
its indiscretion in hearing secrets not intended to be 
heard, while costly and ornamental ear-rings are set in 

the ears to console those 
parts of our anatomy for 
the suffering caused by 
the operation of piercing. 
In the case of necklaces of . 
brilliant metal, adorned 
with pendants of glittering 
stones, the talismanic pur- 
pose is to attract the be- 
holder's gaze and thus 
ward off the mysterious 
and dangerous emana- 
tions set forth by the Evil 
Eye; the necklace, or its 
ornaments, are supposed 
to perform a similar ser- 
vice to that rendered by 
the lightning-rod in di- 
verting the electric dis- 
charge. 

At an early date the Christian Church registered its 
opposition to the practice of wearing amulets. At the 
Council of Laodicea, held in 355 A.D., it was decreed, in 
the thirty-fourth canon, that priests and clerks must be 
neither enchanters, mathematicians, nor astrologers, and 
that they must not make "what are called amulets," for 
these were fetters of the soul, and all who wore them 

PEARL DEALER. 

From the "Hortus Sanitatis" of Johannia 
de Cuba [Strassburg, Jean Pryss, ca. 1483]: De 
lapidibus, cap. Ixxviii. Author's library. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 43 

should be cast out of the church. 20 This emphatic con- 
demnation of the prevailing usage was not so much a 
protest against superstition per se as against pagan 
superstition, for almost if not all the amulets in use in 
the early centuries of our era bore heathen or heretical 
symbols or inscriptions. In later times the invincible 
tendency to wear objects of this character found expres- 
sion in the use of those associated with Christian belief, 
such, for instance, as relics of the saints, medallions 
blessed by the priest, etc. 

The amulets of the Jews differed in many respects 
from those used by Christians. The Mosaic prohibition 
of representations of human or animal forms imposed 
great restrictions upon the employment of engraved 
gems, and the Jew was only permitted to wear or carry 
those bearing merely characters of mystic or symbolic 
significance. In talmudic times amulets were sometimes 
hidden in a hollow staff, and they were believed to have 
more power when concealed from view in this way. 
They were like concealed weapons, and it was said that, 
as a father might give such an amulet to a son, so God 
had given the Law to Israel for its protection. 21 

In the Old French didactic poem, the Roman de la 
Rose, composed in the twelfth century, appear traces of 
the belief in the magic properties of precious stones. 
Chaucer translated this poem into English in the four- 
teenth century and we quote the following lines from 
his version. They describe the costume of the symbolical 
figure, Eiches. 

"Histoire critique des pratiques superstitieuses; par un pretre de 
1'Oratoire," Paris, 1702, p. 320. 

n Blum, " Das alt jiidische Zaiiberwesea/' Strassburs, 1898, p. 91. 

44 THE CUKIOUS LOBJB OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Richesse a girdle hadde upon 

The bokel of it was of a stoon 

Of Vertue greet, and mochel of might. 

That stoon was greetly for to love, 

And til a riehe mannes bihove 

Worth al the gold in Borne and Fryse. 

The mordaunt 22 wrought in noble wyse r 
Was of a stoon full precious, 
That was so f yn and vertuous, 
That hool a man it coude make 
Of palasye and of tooth-ake. 23 

At the trial, in 1232, of Hubert de Burgh, chief jus- 
ticiar, one of the charges brought against him was that 
he had surreptitiously removed from the English treas- 
ury an exceedingly valuable stone, possessing the virtue 
of rendering the wearer invincible in battle, and had 
given it to Llewellyn, King of Wales, the enemy of his 
own sovereign, Henry III of England ( 1207-1272 ). 24 
This must have taken place about 1228, when Henry was 
engaged in a war with the "Welsh. 

That precious stones could, under certain circum- 
stances, lose the powers inherent in them was firmly be- 
lieved in medieval times. If handled or even gazed upon 
by impure persons and sinners, some of the virtues of 
the stones departed from them. Indeed, there were those 
who held^that precious stones, in common with all created 
things, were corrupted by the sin of Adam. Therefore, 
in order to restore their pristine virtue it might become 

22 A projection serving to fasten down the belt. 

23 Compleat Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. Skeat, Oxford, 1849, 
vol. i, p. 139. 

34 Matthaei Paris, " Historia major," London, 1684, p. 318. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 45 

necessary to sanctify and consecrate them, and a kind of 
ritual serving this purpose has been preserved in several 
old treatises. The subject is sufficiently curious to war- 
rant here the repetition of one of these forms. The stones 
which required consecration were to be wrapped in a 
perfectly clean linen cloth and placed on the altar. Then 
three masses were to be said over them, and the priest 
who celebrated the third mass, clad in his sacred vest- 
ments, was to pronounce the following benediction: 25 

The Lord be with us. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Almighty 
God and Father, who manifestedst thy virtue to Elias by certain 
senseless creatures, who orderedst Moses, Thy servant, that, among 
the sacerdotal vestments, he should adorn the Rational of Judgment 
with twelve precious stones, and showedst to John, the evangelist, the 
famous city of Jerusalem, essentially constituted by the same stones, 
and who hadst the power to raise up sons to Abraham from stones, 
we humbly beseech Thy majesty since Thou hast elected one of the 
stones to be a dwelling-place for the majesty of Thy heart, that Thou 
wilt deign to bless and sanctify these stones by the sanctifieation and 
incarnation of Thy name, so that they may be sanctified, blessed, 
and consecrated, and may receive from Thee the effect of the virtues 
Thou hast granted to them, according to their Mnds, and which the 
experience of the learned has shown to have been given by Thee; so 
that whoever may wear them on him may feel the presence of Thy 
power and may be worthy to receive the gift of Thy grace and the 
protection of Thy power. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, in whom 
dwells all sanetification, benediction, and consecration; who lives with 
Thee and reigns as God for all eternity, Amen. Thanks be to God. 

Konrad of Megenburg also gives this benediction in 
Ms "Buch der Natur." 

Luther tells the following humorous tale of a Jew 
who was a vender of amulets : 

tt "Le Grand Lapidaire" of Jean de Mandeville, Vienna, 1862, 
pp. 126-128. 

46 THE CUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

There is sorcery among the Jews and their sorcerers think: "If 
we succeed, it is well for us; if we fail, a Christian is the sufferer; 
what care we for that?" . . . But Duke Albert of Saxony acted 
shrewdly. When a Jew offered him a button, inscribed with curious 
characters and signs, and asserted that this button gave protection 
from cuts, thrusts, and shots, the Duke answered: "I will test that 
upon thyself, Jew." Hereupon he led the man to the gate, hung 
the button at his neck, drew his own sword, and thrust the fellow 
through the body. " The same fate would have happened to me," said 
the Duke, " as has happened to thee." M 

Buskin, with his keen poetic insight into the working 
of natural laws, saw in the formation of crystals the 
action of both "force of heart" and " steadiness of pur- 
pose/' He thus found himself, consciously or uncon- 
sciously, in agreement with the old fancies which attrib- 
uted a species of personality to precious stones. Just 
as the Hindu regarded an imperfectly shaped crystal as 
a bringer of ill luck to the owner, so Ruskin sees in such 
a crystal the signs of an innate "immorality," if we may 
use this expression. Of a crystal aggregation of this 
type he writes as follows : 27 

Opaque, rough-surfaced, jagged on the edge, distorted in the 
spine, it exhibits a quite human image of decrepitude and dishonour; 
but the worst of all signs of its decay and helplessness is, that half-way 
up, a parasite crystal, smaller, but just as sickly, has rooted itself in 
the side of the larger one, eating out a cavity round its root, and then 
growing backwards, or downwards, contrary to the direction of the 
main crystal. Yet I cannot trace the least difference in purity of 
substance between the first most noble stone, and this ignoble and 
dissolute one. The impurity of the last is in its will or want of will. 

There is established a very pretty custom of assign- 
ing to the various masculine and feminine Christian 

28 Giidermann, "Das jiidische Unterriehtswesen," Wien, 1873, 
p. 225. 

* " Ethics of the Dust," New York, 1886, p. 96. 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 47 

names a particular gem, and such name-gems are often 
set together with natal and talismanic gems and with 
gems of one's patron saint. It is considered an exceed- 
ingly good omen when it happens that all three gems are 
of the same sort. 

GEMS FOB FEMININE NAMES. 

Adelaide Andalusite 

Agnes Agate 

Alice Alexandrite 

Anne Amber 

Beatrice Basalt 

Belle Bloodstone 

Bertha Beryl 

Caroline Chalcedony 

Catherine Cat's-eye 

Charlotte Carbuncle 

Clara Carnelian 

Constance Crystal 

Dorcas Diamond 

Dorothy Diaspore 

Edith Eye-agate 

Eleanor Elaeolite 

Elizabeth Emerald 

Ellen Essonite 

Emily Euclase 

Emma Epidote 

Florence Fluorite 

Frances Fire-opal 

Gertrude Garnet 

Gladys Golden Beryl 

Grace Grossularite 

Hannah Heliotrope 

Helen Hyacinth 

48 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Irene lolite 

Jane Jacinth 

Jessie Jasper 

Josephine Jadeite 

Julia Jade 

Louise Lapis-lazuli 

Lucy Lepidolite 

Margaret Moss-agate 

Martha Malachite 

Marie Moldavite 

Mary Moonstone 

Olive Olivine 

Pauline Pearl 

Rose Ruby 

Sarah Spodumene 

Susan Sapphire 

Therese Turquoise 

GEMS FOR MASCULINE NAMES. 

Abraham Aragonite 

Adolphus Albite 

Adrian Andalusite 

Albert Agate 

Alexander Alexandrite 

Alfred Almandine 

Ambrose Amber 

Andrew Aventurine 

Archibald Axinite 

Arnold Aquamarine 

Arthur Amethyst 

Augustus Agahnatolite 

Benjamin Bloodstone 

Bernard Beryl 

TALISMANS AND AMULETS 49 

Charles Chalcedony 

Christian Crystal 

Claude Cyanite 

Clement Chrysolite 

Conrad Croeidolite 

Constantine Chrysoberyl 

Cornelius Cat's-eye 

Dennis Demantoid 

Dorian Diamond 

Ednrund Emerald 

Edward Epidote 

Ernest Euclase 

Eugene Essonite 

Ferdinand Feldspar 

Francis Fire-opal 

Frederick Fluorite 

George Garnet 

Gilbert G-adolinite 

Godfrey Gagates 

Gregory Grossularite 

Gustavus Galactides 

Guy Gold quartz 

Henry Heliolite 

Herbert Hyacinth 

Horace Harlequin opal 

Hubert Heliotrope 

Hugh Heliodor 

Humphrey Hypersthene 

James Jade 

Jasper Jasper 

Jerome Jadeite 

John Jacinth 

Joseph Jargoon 

Julius Jet 

4 

50 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Lambert Labradoiite 

Lawrence Lapis-lazuli 

Leo Lepidolite 

Leonard Loadstone 

Mark Malachite 

Matthew Moonstone 

Maurice Moss-agate 

Michael Mierocline 

Nathan Natrolite 

Nicholas Nephrite 

Oliver Onyx 

Osborne Orthoelase 

Osmond Opal 

Oswald Obsidian 

Patrick Pyrope 

Paul Pearl 

Peter Porphyry 

Philip Prase 

Ralph Rubellite 

Raymond Rose-quartz 

Richard Rutile 

Robert Rock-crystal 

Roger Rhodonite 

Roland Ruby 

Stephen Sapphi 

ire 

Theodore Tourmaline 

Thomas Topaz 

Valentine Vesuvianite 

Vincent Verd-antique 

Walter Wood-opal 

William , Willemite 

AFRICAN AGATE CHARMS. 
Made of Brazilian agate at Oberstein, Germany, for African trade. Field Museum, Chicago, 

Ill 

t^e Caltemattic ajse of 

author of "Lithica" celebrates the merits of the 
agate in the following lines : 2 

Adorned with this, them woman's heart shall gain, 
And by persuasion thy desire obtain; 
And if of men thou aught demand, shalt come 
With all thy wish fulfilled rejoicing home. 

This idea is elaborated by Marbodus, Bishop of 
Bennes, in the eleventh century, who declares that agates 
make the wearers agreeable and persuasive and also give 
them the favor of GTod. 3 Still other virtues are recounted 
by Camillo Leonardo, who claims that these stones give 
victory and strength to their owners and avert tempests 
and lightning. 4 

The agate possessed some wonderful virtues, for its 
wearer was guarded from all dangers, was enabled to 
vanquish all terrestrial obstacles and was endowed with 
a bold heart ; this latter prerogative was presumably the 

x See also the writer's pamphlet: "The Folk-Lore of Precious 
Stones," Chicago, 1894; a paper read before the Folk-Lore Congress 
held at the World's Columbian Exhibition, and describing the Kurtz 
Collection exhibited in the Anthropological Building there. This col- 
lection is now in the Field Museum, Chicago. 

3 Bang's version in his "Natural History of Precious Stones," 
London, 1865, p. 392. 

'Marbodei, "De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, fol. 10. 

* Camilla Leonardi, "Speculum lapidum," Venetia, 1502, fol. 22. 

51 

52 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

secret of Ms success. Some of these wonder-working 
agates were black with white veins, while others again 
were entirely white. 5 

The wearing of agate ornaments was even believed to 
be a cure for insomnia and was thought to insure pleas- 
ant dreams. In spite of these supposed advantages, Car- 
dano asserts that while wearing this stone he had many 
misfortunes which he could not trace to any fault or 
error of his own. He, therefore, abandoned its use; 
although he states that it made the wearer more prudent 
in his actions. 6 Indeed, Cardano appears to have tested 
the talismanic worth of gems according to a plan of his 
own, namely, by wearing them in turn and noting the 
degree of good or ill fortune he experienced. By this 
method he apparently arrived at positive results based 
on actual experience; but he quite failed to appreciate 
the fact that no real connection of any kind existed be- 
tween the stones and their supposed effects. In another 
treatise this author takes a somewhat more favorable 
view of the agate, and proclaims that all varieties render 
those who wear them "temperate, continent, and cau- 
tious ; therefore they are all useful for acquiring riches. 7 
According to the text accompanying a curious print 
published in Vienna in 1709, the attractive qualities of 
the so-called coral-agate were to be utilized in art air- 
ship, the invention of a Brazilian priest. Over the head 
of the aviator, as he sat in the air-ship, there was a net- 
work of iron to which large coral-agates were attached. 

5 Albertus Magnus, "Le Grand Albert des secretz des vertus des 
Herbes, Pierres et Bestes. Et aultre livre des Merveilles du Monde, 
d'aulcuns effetz causez daulcunes bestes/ 7 Turin, Bernard du mont du 
Chat (e. 1515). Liv. ii, fol. 8 recto. 

* Cardani, " D0 subtilitate," Basilese, 1560, p. 460. 

T Cardani, "De gemmis/ 7 Basilese, 1585 ; p. 323. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PKECIOUS STONES 53 

These were expected to help in drawing up the ship, 
when, through the heat of the sun's rays, the stones had 
acquired magnetic power. The main lifting force was 

AN AIR-SHIP OF 1709. 

In the network above the figure were to be set coral-agates, supposed to possess such 
magnetic powers as to keep the craft aloft. From Valentin!, " Museum Museorum," Pt 
III, Franckfurt am Mayn. 1714, p. 35. Author's library. 

provided by powerful magnets enclosed in two metal 
spheres ; how the magnets themselves were to be raised 
is not explained. 8 

8 Valentini, "Museum museorum oder die vollstandige Sehau- 
Biikae," Franckfurt am Mayn, 1714, vol. ii, pt. 3, p. 34; figure of air- 
ship on p. 35. 

54 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

About the -middle of the past century, the demand for 

agate amulets was so great in the Soudan that the ex- 

tensive agate-cutting establishments at Idar and Ober- 

stein in Germany were almost exclusively busied with 

filling orders for this trade. Brown or black agates 

having a white ring in the centre were chiefly used for 

the fabrication of these amulets, the white ring being 

regarded as a symbol of the eye. Hence the amulets 

were supposed to neutralize the power of the Evil Bye, 

or else to be emblematic of the watchfulness of a 

guardian spirit. The demand for these amulets has 

fallen off greatly, but when it was at its height single 

firms exported them to the value of 40,000 thaler s ($30,- 

000) annually, the total export amounting to hundreds 

of thousands of thalers. Even at present a considerable 

trade in these objects is still carried on. That there is 

a fashion in amulets is shown by the fact that, while red, 

white, and green amulets are in demand on the west coast 

of Africa, only white stones are favored for this use in 

Northern Africa, 

There are a few talismanic stones which have gained 
their repute in our time, notably the alexandrite, a 
variety of chrysoberyl found in Bussia, in the emerald 
mines on the Takowaya, in the Ural region. The dis- 
covery of this variety is stated to have been made in 1831 
on the day Alexander II (then heir-apparent) reached 
his majority, and it was therefore named alexandrite, by 
Nordenskjold, the mineralogist. The stone as found in 
gem form rarely weighs over from one to three carats, 
and is characterized by a marked pleochroism of a splen- 
did green changing to a beautiful columbine red. But in 
Ceylon much larger gems are found, some few weighing 

1. Amber ornament, perforated, from Assyrian grave. 

2. Amber ring ornament from Pompeii. 

3. Large annular bead of amber from Mexico. Aztec work. 

4. Amber wedding necklace. Eighteenth century. Baltic Provinces. 

5. Amber beads. Worn by African natives. 

TALISMANIC USB OF PRECIOUS STONES 55 

60 carats each, although rarely of more than one or two 
carats. The color is of a darker and more bottle-like 
green, and the change by night renders them darker and 
more granitized than the Russian stones, which are ex- 
tremely rare. As red and green are the Russian national 
colors, the alexandrite has become a great favorite with 
the Russians, and is looked upon as a stone of good omen 
in that country. Such, however, is its beauty as a gem 
that its fame is by no means confined to Russia, and it 
is eagerly sought in other lands as well 

Amber was one of the first substances usd by man 
for decoration, and it was also employed at a very early 
period for amulets and for medicinal purposes. More 
or less shapeless pieces of rough amber, marked with 
circular depressions, have been found in Prussia, 
Schleswig-Holstein, and Denmark, in deposits of the 
Stone Age. These depressions are sometimes regularly 
disposed and -at other times irregularly, and seem in- 
tended to imitate similar depressions found in large 
stones and rocks, often the work of man's hand, but 
occasionally the result of natural causes. In Hoernes' 
opinion they marked the resting place of the spirit or 
spirits believed to animate the stone, and hence it is 
probable that the amber fragments were used as talis- 
mans or amulets. 9 

For the ancient Greek poets, the grains of amber 
were the tears annually shed over the death of their 
brother Phaethon by the Heliades after grief had meta- 

' Hoernes, " Urgeschiehte der bildenden Kunst," Vienna, 1898, p. 
376. Figured in S. Mullens " Ordn. af Damn. Olds./' i, PL XV, Figs. 
252 sq. 

56 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

morphosed them into poplars growing on the banks of 
the Eridanus (the modern river Po). 10 In a lost tragedy 
of Sophocles, he saw the origin of amber in the tears 
shed over the death of Meleager by certain Indian birds. 
For Nicias it was the " juice" or essence of the brilliant 

rays of the setting 
sun, congealed in the 
sea and then cast 
up upon the shore. 
A more prosaic ex- 
planation likened am- 
ber to resin, and re- 
garded it as being 
an exudation from 
the trunks of certain 
trees. Indeed, the 
poetic fancy we have 
just noted is the same 
idea clothed in a met- 
aphorical or mytho- 
logical form. Another 
fancy represented 
amber to be the solid- 
ified urine of the lynx, 
hence one of its 
names, lyncurius.^ 
The brilliant and beautiful yellow of certain ambers 
and the fact that this material was very easily worked 
served to make its use more general, and it soon became 
a favorite object of trade and barter between the peoples 
of the Baltic Coast and the more civilized peoples to the 

10 0vidii, "Metamorphoses," lib. ii, 11. 340 sqq. Some have pro- 
posed to read 1 Redanus instead of Eridanus and have seen in the for- 
mer name the designation of a stream flowing into the Vistula. 

u Plinii, " Naturalis Historia," lib. xxxvii, cap. 7. 

THE TREE THAT EXUDES AMBER. 

Prom the "Hortus Sanitatis," of Johaunis de 
Cuba [Strassburg, Jean Pryss, ca. 1483]; De lapidi- 
bus cap. Ixx. Author's library. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PBECIOUS STONES 57 

south. Schliemann found considerable amber from the 
Baltic in the graves of Mycenae, and the frequent allu- 
sions to it in the works of Latin authors of the first and 
succeeding centuries testify to its popularity in the 
Eoman world. 

Probably the very earliest allusion in literature to 
the ornamental use of amber appears in Homer's Odys- 
sey, 12 where we read : 

Eurymachus 

Received a golden necklace, richly wrought, 
And set with amber beads, that glowed as if 
With sunshine. To Eurydamas there came 
A pair of ear-rings, each a triple gem, 
Daintily fashioned and of exquisite grace. 
Two servants bore them. 

Amber ingeniously carved into animal forms has been 
discovered in tumuli at Indersoen, Norway. 13 These 
curious objects were worn as amulets, and the peculiar 
forms were supposed to enhance the power of the mate- 
rial, giving it special virtues and rendering it of greater 
value and efficacy. 

Pieces of amber with singular natural markings were 
greatly esteemed, especially when these markings sug- 
gested the initials of the name of some prominent person. 
Thus, we are told that Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia 
paid to a dealer a high price for a piece of amber on 
which appeared his initials. The same dealer had an- 
other piece on which he read the initials of Charles XII 
of Sweden. When he received the news of this king's 
death, he bitterly lamented having lost the opportunity 
of selling him amber for a high price. But he was 
cleverly consoled by Nathaniel Sendal, the relator of the 

13 Bk. xviii, 11, 295-298, trans, of William (Mien Bryant. 
18 Du Chaillu, " The Viking Age," New York, 1889, vol. ii, p. 314. 
(Figs. 1210, 1211, 1212.) 

58 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

story, who easily persuaded the dealer that the markings 
could just as well signify the initials of some other name. 
Sendal adduces this as a proof that the letters read on 
such pieces of amber were as much the product of the 
observer's imagination as of the markings on the mate- 
rial. 14 Those who secured amber so mysteriously marked 
by Nature's hand probably felt that they had obtained a 
talisman of great power, especially destined for their 
use. 

"While the special and traditional virtue of the ame- 
tliyst was the cure of drunkenness, many other qualities 
were attributed to this stone in the fifteenth century. 
For Leonardo, 15 it had the- power to control evil thoughts, 
to quicken the intelligence, and to render men shrewd in 
business matters. An amethyst worn on the person had 
a sobering ef ect, not only upon those who had partaken 
too freely of the cup that intoxicates, but also upon those 
over-excited by the love-passion. Lastly, it preserved 
soldiers from harm and gave them victory over their 
enemies, and was of great assistance to hunters in the 
capture of wild animals. The amethyst shared with 
many other stones the power to preserve the wearer from 
contagion. 16 

A pretty legend in regard to the amethyst has been 
happily treated in French verse. The god Bacchus, 
offended at some neglect that he had suffered, was deter- 
mined to avenge himself, and declared that the first per- 
son he should meet, when he and his train passed along, 
should be devoured by his tigers. Fate willed it that this 

M Sendelii, " Eleetrologiro," Elbingse, 1725, Pt. I, p. 12, note. 
15 Camilli Leonard!, " Speculum lapidum," Venetia, 1502, f al. 22. 
M Johannis de Cuba, "Hortus Sanitatis," [Strassfcurg-, 1483] 
tractatus de lapibus, cap. vii, 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 59 

luckless mortal was a beautiful and pure maiden named 
Amethyst, who was on her way to worship at the shrine 
of Diana. As the ferocious beasts sprang toward her, 
she sought the protection of the goddess, and was saved 
from a worse fate by being turned into a pure white stone. 
Eecognizing the miracle and repenting of his cruelty, 
Bacchus poured the juice of the grape as a libation over 
the petrified body of the maiden, thus giving to the stone 
the beautiful violet hue that so charms the beholder 's 
eye. 17 

From the various descriptions of this stone given by 
ancient writers, it appears that one of the varieties was 
probably the purple almandine or Indian garnet, and it 
is not improbable that we have here the reason for the 
name amethyst and for the supposed virtue of the stone 
in preserving from drunkenness. For if water were 
poured into a vessel made of a reddish stone, the liquid 
would appear like wine, and could nevertheless be drunk 
with impunity. 

Arnoldus Saxo, writing about 1220, after reciting the 
virtues of the beryl as given by Marbodus, after Evax 
and Isidorus, reports in addition that the stone gave help 
against foes in battle or in litigation; the ^ wearer was 
rendered unconquerable and at the same time amiable, 
while his intellect was quickened and he was cured of 
laziness. 18 In the old German translation of Thomas de 
Cantimpre's "De Proprietatibus Eerum," we read that 

1T Belleau, (Euvres poetiques," ed. Marty-Laveaux, Paris, 1878, 
vol. ii, pp. 172 sqq. The poem in which this tale occurs^ is the 
Amours et nouveaux eschanges des pierres prScieuses," "written in 
1576 and dedicated to Henri in. . 

"Rose, " Aristotles d lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo, m 
fur D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, p. 431. 

60 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the beryl reawakens the love of married people (er hat 
auch die art daz er der elaut lieb wiederpringt). 19 

The heliotrope or bloodstone was supposed to impart 
a reddish hue to the water in which it was placed, so 

that when the rays of 
the sun fell upon the 
water they gave forth 
red reflections. From 
this fancy was devel- 
oped the strange ex- 
aggeration that this 
stone had the power to 
turn the sun itself a 
blood-red, and to cause 
thunder, lightning, 
rain, and tempest. The 
old treatise of Dami- 
geron relates this of 
the bloodstone, adding 
that it announced 
future events by pro- 
ducing rain and by 
"audible oracles. " 
Probably the con- 
jurors, before pro- 
ceeding to use the 
stone for their incan- 
tations, watched the heavens and waited until they noticed 
the signs of an approaching storm. They then interpreted 

A PRACTICAL TEST OF THE VIRTUES 
OF THE BLOODSTONE TO PREVENT 
NOSE-BLEED. 

From the " Hortus Sanitatis " of Johannis de 
Cuba [Strassburg, Jean Pryss, ca. 1483]; De 
lapidibus, cap. xc. Author's library. 

"Konrad von Megenberg*, "Buch der Natur," ed. by Dr. Franz 
PfeiEer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 436. 

CHALCEDONY VOTIVE CHARM FROM MEXICO. 
Aztec. Field Museum, Chicago. 

CURIOUS ALTAR OF POWALAWA INDIANS OF ARIZONA. 
The ceremonial objects are grouped around a crystal of rock-crystal in the centre. (See page 254.) 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 61 

the sounds of the wind and thunder in various ways, so as 
to give apt answers to the questions addressed to them 
touching future events. It is well known that the sighing 
of the wind, and, indeed, all those natural sounds which 
constitute the grand symphony of Nature, were inter- 
preted by prophets and seers into articulate speech. Dami- 
geron also declares that the bloodstone preserved the fac- 
ulties and bodily health of the wearer, brought him consid- 
eration and respect, and guarded him from deception. 20 

In the Leyden papyrus the bloodstone is praised as an 
amulet in the following extravagant terms : 

The world has no greater thing; if any one have this with him 
he will be given whatever he asks for; it also assuages the wrath of 
kings and despots, and whatever the wearer says will be believed. 
Whoever bears this stone, which is a gem, and pronounces the name 
engraved upon it, will find all doors open, while bonds and stone walls 
will be rent asunder, 21 

The carbuncle was recommended as a heart stimu- 
lant ; indeed, so powerful was its action, that the wearers 
were rendered angry and passionate and were even 
warned to be on their guard against attacks of apo- 
plexy. 22 The blood-red hue of the stone also suggested 
its use as a symbol of the divine sacrifice of Christ on 
the cross. However, not only in Christianity was this 
stone used to illustrate religious conceptions, for the 
Koran affirms that the Fourth Heaven is composed of car- 

20 Pitra, " Specilegium Solesmense/' Parisiis, 1855, vol. in, p. 325. 

21 Kropatsehek, " De amulet orum apud antiquos usu," Gryphiae, 
1907, p. 16. 

22 Cardani, " Philosophi opera quasdam lectu digna," Basileas, 1585, 
p. 323. " De gemniis." 

62 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

buncle. In mythical fancies too this stone played its 
part, for dragon's eyes were said to be carbuncles. 

Enmphins 23 states that in 1687 he was told by a chi- 
rurgeon that the latter had seen in the possession of one 
of the rulers in the island of Amboin a carbuncle said to 
have been brought by a serpent. The story ran that this 
ruler, when a child, had been placed by his mother in a 
hammock attached to two branches of a tree. While 
there a serpent crept up to him and dropped a stone 
upon his body. In gratitude for this gift the parents of 
the child fed and cared for the serpent. The stone is 
described as having been of a warm yellow hue, verging 
on red; it shone so brightly at night that a room could 
be illuminated by it. R eventually passed into the pos- 
session of a King of Siam. 

Camettan 

Talisman ist Karneol 
Glaubigen bringt er Gliiek und Wohl; 
Stebt er gar auf Onys' Grain de, 
Kuss' ihm mit geweihtem Munde! 
Alles tfbel treibt er fort, 
Schiitzet dicb und schiitzt den Ort; 
(SVenn das eingegrabene Wort 
Allah's Namen rein verkiindet; 
Dicb zu Lieb' und Tat entziindet; 
TJnd besonders werden Frauen 
Sieh am Talisman erbauen ! ** 

Carnelian is a talisman, 

It brings good luck to cbild and man; 

If resting on an onyx ground, 

A sacred kiss imprint when found. 

23 Rumphius, " Amboinsche Rariteitkamer," Amsterdam, 1741, 
p. 308. 

84 Goethe Westosterlicher Divan I, Segenspf ander. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 63 

It drives away all evil things; 
To thee and thine protection brings. 
The name of Allah, king of kings, 
If graven on this stone, indeed, 
Will move to love and doughty deed. 
From such a gem a woman gains 
Sweet hope and comfort in her pains. 

The wearing of carnelians is recommended by the 
Lapidario of Alfonso X 25 to those who have a weak voice 
or are timid in speech, for the warm-colored stone will 
give them the courage they lack, so that they will speak 
both boldly and well. This is in accord with the general 
belief in the stimulating and animating effects produced 
by red stones. 

On a carnelian is engraved in Arabic characters a 
prayer to keep away evil and to deliver the wearer from 
all the tricks of the devil and from the envious. The 
inscription reads in translation: 

In the name of God the Just, the very Just ! 
I implore you, God King of the World, 
^Grod of the World, deliver us from the devil 
Who tries to do harm and evil to us through 
Bad people, and from the evil of the envious. 

Throughout all the East people are afraid of the 
envious. They believe that if you envy a person for his 
health or his wealth or any good thing he may have, he 
will lose it in a short time, and it is the devil who incites 
the envy of some people against others. So it is sup- 
posed that by wearing this stone, bearing this prayer 
against the envious, their envy will cease to do you harm. 

The popularity of the carnelian as a talismanic stone 

25 " Lapidario del Rey D. Alfonso X," codice original, Madrid, 
1881, f ol. 77, p. 49. 

64 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

among Mohammedan peoples is said to be due to the fact 
that the Prophet himself wore, on the little finger of his 
right hand, a silver ring set with a carnelian engraved 
for use as a seal. One of the most famous of the imams, 
Jafar, lent the weight of his authority to the belief in the 
virtue of the carnelian, for he declared that all the de- 
sires of any man who wore this stone would be gratified. 
Hence in Persia the name of one of the twelve imams, 
comprising Ali and his successors, is frequently engraved 
on this stone. 26 

CARNELIAN SEAL, WORN BY NAPOLEON I, NAPOLEON III, 
AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 

This most interesting seal is described by the Rev. C. W. King, the writer on Antique 
Gems. It is carnelian, octagonal-shaped, and upon it is engraved the legend: "The slave 
Abraham relying upon the Merciful (God)." Napoleon III wore it on his watch-chain. 
He said about it: *' The First Consul picked it up with his own hands during the campaign 
in Egypt and always carried it about him, as his nephew did later." The Prince Imperial 
received it with the following message: "As regards my son, I desire that he will keep, as a 
talisman, the Seal which I used to wear attached to my watch." He carried the seal upon 
a string fastened about his neck in obedience to the injunction of his father. At the time 
of hia lamentable death it must have been carried off in South Africa by the Zulus, when 
they stripped his body, and it has never been recovered. 

An Armenian writer of the seventeenth century re- 
ports that in India the lal or balas-ruby, if powdered and 
taken in a potion was believed to banish all dark forebod- 
ings and to excite joyous emotions. To the carnelian was 
attributed a virtue somewhat analogous to that ascribed 
to the turquoise, as anyone wearing a carnelian was proof 

^Hendley, "Indian Jewellery," London, 1909, p. 158. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 65 

against injury from falling houses or walls ; the writer 
emphasizes this by stating that "no man who wore a 
carnelian was ever found in a collapsed house or beneath 
a fallen wall. " 27 

An ingenious though far-fetched explanation of the 
power attributed to chalcedony of driving away phan- 
toms and visions of the night is supplied by Gronelli, 
writing in 1702. For him the source of this asserted 
power was to be found in what has been erroneously 
termed the alkaline quality of the stone. This dissipated 
the evil humors of the eye, thus removing the diseased 
condition of that organ which caused the apparitions to 
be seen. 28 However absurd this explanation may be, it 
nevertheless shows that the author put little faith in visi- 
ble ghosts, and rightly enough recognized the purely 
subjective character of such phenomena. 

The cat's-eye variety of chrysoberyl, or precious 
cat's-eye, is used by the natives of Ceylon as a charm 
against evil spirits. As a proof of the high value set 
upon the gem in India, De Boot states that a cat's-eye 
estimated as worth ninety gold pieces in Lusitania was 
sold for six hundred in India. 29 Some of the finest speci- 
mens come from Ceylon. 

3T Arakel, "Livre d'histoire," chap, liil; transl. in Brosset, "Collec- 
tion d'bistoriens armeniens," St. Petersburg, 1874, vol. i, pp. 544, 545. 

28 Joseph! Gonelli, " Thesaurus philosophicus, sen de gemmis," Nea- 
poli, 1702, p. 112. 

28 " Gemmarum et lapidum historia," Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 230. 
5 

66 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

The " Serpent Isle/' in the Bed Sea, was stated by 
Agatharcides to be the source whence came the topaz 
(chrysolite) ; here, by the mandate of the Egyptian kings, 
the inhabitants collected specimens of this stone and 
delivered them to the gem-cutters for polishing. 30 These 
simple details are elaborated by Diodorus Siculus into 
the legend that the island was guarded by jealous 
watchers who had orders to put to death any unauthor- 
ized persons who approached it. Even those who had 
the right to seek the gem could not see the chrysolite in 
daytime; only after nightfall was it revealed by its radi- 
ance; the seekers then marked well the spot and were 
able to find the stone on the following day. 31 

From this Egyptian source, and possibly from others 
exploited by the Egyptians, have come the finest chryso- 
lites (peridots, or olivines), the most magnificent ex- 
amples of this gem. These found their way into the 
cathedral treasures of Europe, evidently by loot or trade 
at the period of the Crusades, and are generally called 
emeralds. Those most notable are in the Treasury of the 
Three Magi, in the great "Dom," or Cathedral at 
Cologne. Some of these gems are nearly two inches long. 

In our own land beautiful specimens can be seen in 
the Morgan collection at the American Museum of 
Natural History and in the Higinbotham Hall in the 
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois. 

Pliny quotes from Juba the tradition that the topaz 
(chrysolite) derived its name from the Island of To- 

80 Agatharcides, " De Mare Erythrao," 2. The topaz of the an- 
cients was unquestionably the gem commonly called chrysolite at present 
(olivine, peridot). 

51 Diodoms Sieulns, lib. iii, cap. 38. 

TALISMANIC USE OP PEECIOUS STONES 67 

pazos, in the Eed Sea, tlie first specimen having been 
brought thence by the procurator Philemon, to Berenice, 
mother of Ptolemy II, Philadelphia. This monarch is 
said to have had a statue of his wife Arsinoe made from 
the stone. 32 If there be any foundation for this latter 
statement, the precious gift sent by Philemon must have 
been a mass of fluor-spar, or some similar material. 
More than three hundred years after Pliny's time, Epi- 
phanius, evidently repeating another version of this tra- 
dition, states that the " topaz" was set in the diadem of 
the "Theban queen." 

Chrysolite (olivine, peridot), to exert its full power, 
required to be set in gold; worn in this way it dispelled 
the vague terrors of the night. If, however, it were to be 
used as a protection from the wiles of evil spirits, the 
stone had to be pierced and strung on the hair of an ass 
and then attached to the left arm. 33 The belief in the 
virtue of the chrysolite to dissolve enchantments and to 
put evil spirits to flight was probably due to the associa- 
tion of the stone with the sun, before whose life-giving 
rays darkness and all the powers of darkness were driven 
away. 

Wonderful things axe told of the virtue of the chrys- 
oprase, for Volmar states that, if a thief sentenced to 
be hanged or beheaded should place this stone in his 
mouth, he would immediately escape from his execu- 
tioners. 34 Although we are not informed in what way 
this fortunate result was attained, it seems likely that the 

32 Plinii, " Naturalis Historia, lib. xxxvii, cap. 32. 

33 Marbo-dei, " De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, f ol. 16. 

M Yolmar, Steinbnch, ed. by Hans Lambel, Heilbronn, 1877, p. 22, 

68 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

stone was believed to make the thief invisible, and thus 
possessed a virtue often attributed to the opal. 

A strange story regarding a magic stone reputed to 
have been worn by Alexander the Great is related by 
Albertus Magnus. According to this recital, Alexander, 
in his battles, wore a " prase" in his girdle. On his re- 
turn from his Indian campaign, wishing one day to bathe 
in the Euphrates, he laid aside his girdle, and a serpent 
bit off the stone and then dropped it into the river. 35 
Even Albertus, who is far from critical, admits that the 
story seems like a fable, and it probably belongs to a 
comparatively late period. As the term "prase" is used 
very loosely by early writers, this "victory stone" may 
have been an emerald or po&sibly jade. 

The appreciation of coral as an ornament, or for 
amulets, seems to presuppose a certain development of 
civilization, for savage tribes greatly prefer glass orna- 
ments. Many attempts have been made to introduce 
coral beads instead of glass beads among such tribes, 
but with no success, as the cheaper, but brighter, glass 
always commands a higher price. 36 

To still tempests and traverse broad rivers in safety 
was the privilege of one who bore either red or white 
coral with him. That this also stanched the flow of blood 
from a wound, cured madness, and gave wisdom, was 
said to have been experimentally proved. 37 

35 Albert! Magni, "Opera Omnia," ed. Borgnet, Parisiis, 1890, 
vol. v, p. 43. De mineralibus, lib. ii, tract. 2. 

36 Bauer, " Edelsteinkunde," Leipzig, 1909, p. 750. 

"Albertus Magnus, "Le Grand Albert des secretz des vertus des 
Herbes, Pierres et Bestes. Et aultre livre des Merveilles du Monde, 
d'aulcuns effete causez daulcunes bestes," Turin, Bernard du mont du 
Chat (c. 1515). Liv. ii, fol. 9 recto. 

KABYLE JEWELRY. 
Of Mediterranean coral and pearls. Field Museum, Chicago. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PEECIOUS STONES 69 

Coral, which for twenty centuries or more was classed 
among the precious stones, to retain its power as an 
amulet, must not have been worked, and in Italy only 
such pieces are valued for this purpose as have been 
freshly gathered from the sea or have been cast up by 
the sea on the shore. To exercise all its power against 
spells, or enchantments, coral must be worn where its 
brilliant color makes it conspicuous; if, however, it 
should by accident be broken, the separate pieces have no 
virtue, and the magic power ceases, as though the spirit 
dwelling in the coral had fled from its abode. The 
peasant women are careful to guard the corals they wear 
for a special purpose from the eyes of their husbands, 
for the substance is believed to grow pale at certain 
seasons, regaining its pristine hue after a short interval 
of time. Indeed, the women believe that the coral shares 
their indisposition with them. /All this serves to show 
that a kind of vital force is believed to animate the ma- 
terial, gaining or losing in vigor according to certain 
conditions, and finally disappearing when the form is 
broken. These beliefs are all clearly traceable to the 
animistic ideas of primitive man. 38 

Diamonb 

The diamond is to the pearl as the sun is to the moon, 
and we might well call one the " king-gem " and the 
other the " queen-gem. 7 ' The diamond, like a knight 
of old, brilliant and resistant, is the emblem of fear- 
lessness and invincibility; the pearl, like a lady of old, 
pure and fair to look upon, is the emblem of modesty 
and purity. Therefore it does not seem unfitting that 

38 Bellucci, "II feticismo primitive in Italia/' Perugia, 1907, pp. 
22-25. 

70 THE CUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the diamond should be presented as a token to the pearl, 
and that pearls should go with the diamond. The virtues 
ascribed to this stone are almost all directly traceable 
either to its unconquerable hardness or to its trans- 
parency and purity. It was therefore thought to bring 
victory to the wearer, by endowing him with superior 
strength, fortitude, and courage. Marbodus 39 tells us 
it was a magic stone of great power and served to drive 
away nocturnal spectres; for this purpose it should be 
set in gold and worn on the left arm. For St. Hildegard 
the sovereign virtue of the diamond was recognized by 
the devil, who was a great enemy of this stone because it 
resisted his power by day and by night. 40 Eueus 41 calls 
it "a gem of reconciliation," as it enhanced the love of a 
husband for his wife. 

Cardano 42 takes a more pessimistic view of the quali- 
ties of the diamond. He says: 

It is believed to make the wearer unhappy; its effects therefore 
are the same upon the mind as that of the sun upon the eye, for the 
latter rather dims than strengthens the sight. It indeed renders fear- 
less, but there is nothing that contributes more to our safety than 
prudence and fear; therefore it is better to fear. 

The diamond was often associated with the lightning 
and was sometimes believed to owe its origin to the 
thunderbolt, but we do not recall having seen elsewhere 
the statement made in an anonymous Italian manu- 
script of the fourteenth century. Here it is expressly 

ro " De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, f . 8. 

40 St. Hildegardse, "Opera Omnia," in Pat. Lat. ed Migne, vol. 
excvii, col. 1254. 

41 " De gemmis," Tiguri, 1566, f . 52. 

43 " Philosophi opera qusedam lectu digna," Basilea^ 1585, p. 322. 
"De gemmis." 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 71 

asserted that the diamond is sometimes consumed or 
melted when it thunders. 43 Certainly, that the same 
force that was supposed to have formed the stone should 
be able to dissolve it, is not an illogical idea. That the 
diamond can be entirely consumed at a high temperature 
was a fact not known in Europe in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, and therefore the belief in the destructive effect 
of the electric current must have arisen from super- 
stitious or poetic fancies, and not from any vague con- 
ception of the true nature of the diamond. 

In the Talmud we read of a gem, supposed to have 
been the diamond, which was worn by the high priest. 44 
This stone served to show the guilt or innocence of one 
accused of any crime ; if the accused were guilty, the stone 
would grow dim, but if he were innocent, it would shine 
more brilliantly than ever. This quality is also alluded 
to by Sir John Mandeville, who wrote: 

It happens often that the good diamond loses its virtue by sin and 
for incontinence of him who bears it. 

The Hindus classed diamonds according to the four 
castes. The Brahmin diamond gave power, friends, 
riches and good luck; the Kshatriya diamond prevented 
the approach of old age; the Vaisya stone brought suc- 
cess, and the Sudra, all manner of good fortune. On'the 
other hand, in the treatise on gems by Buddhabhatta 45 
we read: 

A diamond, a part of which is the color of blood or spotted with 
red, would quickly bring death to the wearer, even if he were the 
Master of Death. 

43 Anonymous writer in Ital. MS. of the fourteenth century in the 
author's library; fol. 41 p. verso. 

** See page 278 for description of this diamond by St. Epiphanius. 
48 Finot, " Les lapidaires indiens," Paris, 1896, p. 9. 

72 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The Arabians and Persians, as well as the modern 
Egyptians, agree in attributing to the diamond a wonder- 
ful power to bring good fortune, and Kabbi Benoni, a 
mystic of the fourteenth century, treating of its magic 
virtues, asserts that it produces somnambulism, and, as a 
talisman, so powerfully attracts the planetary influences 
that it renders the wearer invincible ; it was also said to 
provoke a state of spiritual ecstasy. An alchemist of the 
same century, Pierre de Boniface, asserted that the dia- 
mond made the wearer invisible. 

A curious fancy, prevalent in regard to many stones, 
attributed sex to the diamond, and it is therefore not sur- 
prising that these stones were also supposed to possess 
reproductive powers. In this connection Sir John Man- 
deville wrote : 

They grow together, male and female, and are nourished by the 
dew of heaven; and they engender commonly, and bring forth small 
children that multiply and grow all the year. I have oftentimes tried 
the experiment that if a man keep them with a little of the rock, and 
water them with May dew often, they shall grow every year and the 
small will grow great. 

XThe following lines from a translation of the cele- 
brated Orphic poem, written in the second century, show 
the high esteem in which the adamas was held at that 
time: 

The Evil Eye shall have no power to harm 
Him that shall wear the diamond as a charm, 
No monarch shall attempt to thwart his will, 
And e'en the gods his wishes shall fulfil. 

This probably refers either to colorless corundum, 
the so-called " white sapphire," or to quartz. The writer 
is disinclined to believe that the ancients knew the 
diamond. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 73 

The ancient Hindu gem-treatise of Buddhabhatta 
asserts that the diamond of the Brahmin should have the 
whiteness of a shell or of rock-crystal; that of the Ksha- 
triya, the brown color of the eye of a hare ; that of the 
Vaisya, the lovely shade of a petal of the kadali flower; 
that of the Sudra, the sheen of a polished blade. To 
kings alone the sages assigned two classes of colored 
diamonds, namely, those red as coral and those yellow 
as saffron. These were exclusively royal gems, but dia- 
monds of all other shades could be set in royal jewels. 46 

A typical diamond is thus described in a Hindu gem- 
treatise : 47 

A six-pointed diamond, pure, without stain, with pronounced and 
sharp edges, of a beautiful shade, light, with well-formed facets, 
without defects, illuminating space with its fire and with the reflection 
of the rainbow, a diamond of this kind is not easy to find in the 
earth. 

According to a wide-spread superstition, the talis- 
manic power of a diamond was lost if the stone were 
acquired by purchase ; only when received as a gift could 
its virtues be depended on. 48 The same belief is noted 
regarding the turquoise. The spirit dwelling in the stone 
was thought to take offence at the idea of being bought 
and sold, and was supposed to depart from the stone, 
leaving it nothing more than a bit of senseless matter. 
If, however, the diamond (or turquoise) were offered as 
a pledge of love or friendship, the spirit was quite willing 
to transfer its good offices from one owner to another. 

The Talmud shows us that the Jewish Eabbis some- 

* 6 Knot, " Les lapidaires indiens," Paris, 1896, p. 8. 
47 Finot, 1. c., p. 9. 

48 Konrad von Megenberg, "Buch der ETatur." ed. by Dr. Franz 
Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 433. 

74 THE CUEIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

times endeavored to enliven their exhaustive discussions 
of ritual and legal questions by telling "good stories" to 
each other. One of these may be given as illustrating at 
once the wild improbability of some of these recitals and 
the belief in the wonderful magic virtues of the dia- 
mond : 49 

R. Jehudah of Mesopatamia used to tell : Once while on board of 
a ship, I saw a diamond that was encircled by a snake, and a diver went 
to catch it. The snake then opened its mouth, threatening to swallow 
the ship. Then a raven came, bit off its head, and all water around 
turned into blood. Then another snake came, took the diamond, put it 
in the carcass, and it became alive; and again it opened its mouth, in 
order to swallow the ship. Another bird then came, bit off its head, 
took the diamond and threw it on the ship. We had with us salted 
birds, and we wanted to try whether the diamond would bring them to 
life, so we placed the gem on them, and they became animated and 
flew away with the gem. 

It is said that the first large diamonds discovered by 
Europeans in South Africa were found in the leather 
bag of a sorcerer. Although large stones or fragments 
of rock are usually the objects of adoration as fetiches 
in Africa, any small stone that is wrapped in colored 
rags and worn on the neck may be regarded in the same 
way. 50 Several competent authorities state that these 
diamonds were the playthings of some Boer children. 

Al Kazwini relates as follows the marvellous tale of 
the Valley of Diamonds : 51 

48 New edition of the Babylonian Talmud, ed. and trans, by Michael 
L. Rodkinson, vol. v (xiii), Baba Batra, New York, 1902, p. 207. 

60 Ratzel, " Volkerkunde," Leipzig, 1885, vol. i, p. 36. 

51 Dr. Julius Ruska, "Das Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des 
al-Kazwini," Beilage zum Jahresbericht 1894-5 der Oberrealschule Hei- 
delberg, p. 35. See Aristoteles De Lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo, ed. 
Rose, Z.f .D.A. New Series VI, pp. 364, 365, 389, 390. The " other 
writer " is probably Ahmed Teif ashi. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PEECIOUS STONES 75 

" Aristotle 52 says that no one except Alexander ever reached the 
place where the diamond is produced. This is a valley, connected with 
the land Hind. The glance cannot penetrate to its greatest depths and 
serpents are found there, the like of which no man hath seen, and upon 
which no man can gaze without dying. However, this power endures 
only as long as the serpents live, for when they die the power leaves 
them. In this place summer reigns for six months and winter for the 
same length of time. Now, Alexander ordered that an iron mirror 
should be brought and placed at the spot where the serpents dwelt. 
When the serpents approached, their glance fell upon their own image 
in the mirror, and this caused their death. Hereupon, Alexander wished 
to bring out the diamonds from the valley, but no one was willing to 
undertake the descent. Alexander therefore sought counsel of the wise 
men, and they told him to throw down a piece of flesh into the valley. 
This he did, the diamonds became attached to the flesh, and the birds 
of the air seized the flesh and bore it up out of the valley. Then 
Alexander ordered his people to pursue the birds and to pick up what 
fell from the flesh." 

"Another writer states that the mines are in the mountains of 
Serendib (Ceylon) in a very deep gorge, in which are deadly serpents. 
When people wish to take out the diamonds they throw down pieces of 
flesh, which are seized by vultures and brought up to the brink of the 
gorge. There such of the diamonds as cling to the flesh are secured; 
these are of the size of a lentil or a pea. The largest pieces found 
attain the size of a half -bean." 

In his version of the tale, one form of which appears 
in the seventh voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, Teifashi 
states that the finest corundum gems were washed down 
the streams that flowed from Adam's Peak, on the island 
of Ceylon; in time of drought, however, this source of 
supply ceased. Now it happened that many eagles built 
their nests on the top of this mountain, and the gem- 
seekers used to place large pieces of flesh at the foot of 
the mountain. The eagles pounced upon these and bore 
them away to their nests, but were obliged to alight from 

52 The work on precious stones attributed to Aristotle was composed 
in Arabic probably in the ninth century. 

76 THE CURIOUS LOftE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

time to time in order to rest, and while the pieces of 
flesh lay on the rock, some of the corundums became 
lightly attached to this, so that when the eagles resumed 
their flight the stones dropped off and rolled down the 
mountain side. 53 

These oft-repeated tales are explained by Dr. Valen- 
tine Ball as originating in the Hindu custom of sacri- 
ficing cattle when new mines were opened, and leaving 
on the spot a certain part of the meat as an offering to 
the guardian deities. As these pieces of meat were soon 
carried away by birds of prey, the legend arose that the 
diamonds were obtained in this way. This custom still 
prevailed in some parts of India when Dr. Ball wrote. 54 

The effect exercised by Hindu superstition on even 
the most enlightened Europeans of our day may be rec- 
ognized in the fact that the gifted prima donna, Mme. 
Maeterlinck, the wife of the foremost living European 
poet, has confessed that she wears a diamond suspended 
on her forehead because her husband believes that this 
brings good fortune to the wearer. This forehead-jewel 
is characteristically Hindu and enjoys in India the repu- 
tation of being especially auspicious. 

The emerald was believed to foreshow future events, 55 
but we do not learn whether visions were actually seen 
in the stone, as they were in spheres of rock-crystal or 
beryl, or whether the emerald endowed the wearer with 
a supernatural fore-knowledge of what was to come. As 

53 Teif ashi, " Fior di pensieri sulle pietre preziose/' Firenzi, 1818, 
p. 13. 

54 Proc. of the Royal Irish Academy, 2d Ser., Polite Literature and 
Antiquities, vol. ii, Dublin, 1879-1888, p. 303. 

66 Epiphanii, De XII gemmis," Tiguri, 1565, fol. 5. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

77 

a revealer of truth, this stone was an enemy of all en- 
chantments and conjurations; hence it was greatly 
favored by magicians, who found all their arts of no 

fu fc 

ano Uav Ufiu 
IU4-C- iutf- imlwre- 

tins'- OU piue- 

"UA-U-. 

-. durno  
- ? uiiLi -7 buotLi. Tlo lF 

ttwUte- 

OlthtzltV 1 . au fcuJ ftDiO." 

iilc- con 

Ciiut lonicmcD <7 calmdri 

ii.*- <7lioil?t 
fcnw -63^^10 Ouvrto c 
{t- lfvij 
1909, p. 239 j Fig. 5. 

82 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

visited. 64 It was said to lose its brilliancy and grow pale 
and dull if the wearer or any one in his immediate neigh- 
borhood became ill of the plague. In addition to these 
qualities the jacinth augmented the riches of the owner, 
and endowed "him with prudence in the conduct of his 
affairs. 65 

St. Hildegard, the Abbess of Bingen (d. 1179), gives 
the following details as to the proper use of the jachant 
(jacinth) : 66 

If any one is bewitched by phantoms or by magical spells, so that 
he has lost his wits, take a hot loaf of pure wheaten bread and cut the 
upper crust in the form of a cross, not, however, cutting it quite 
through, and then pass the stone along the cutting, reciting these 
words: "May God, who cast away all precious stones from the devil 
. . . cast away from thee, 1ST., all phantoms and all magic spells, 
and free thee from the pain of this madness." 

The patient is then to eat of the bread; if, however, 
his stomach should be too feeble, unleavened bread may 
be used. All other solid food given to the sick person 
should be treated in the same manner. We are also told 
that if any one has a pain in his heart, the pain will be 
relieved provided the sign of the cross be made over the 
heart while the above mentioned words are recited. 

The wearer of a jacinth was believed to be proof 
against the lightning, and it was even asserted that wax 
that had been impressed by an image graven on this stone 
averted the lightning from one who bore the seal. That 
the stone really possessed this power was a matter of 
common report, it being confidently declared that in re- 

M Marbodei, " De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, f ol. 38. 

M Cardani, "Philosophi opera qusedam," Basileae, 1585, p. 323. 
" De gemrois." 

*S. Hildegardse, Opera onmia; in Pat. Lat. ed. J. P. Migne, vol. 
cxcvii, Parisiis, 1855, col. 1251. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 83 

gions where many were struck by lightning, none who 
wore a jacinth were ever harmed. By a like miracle it 
preserved the wearer from all danger of pestilence even 
though he lived in an air charged with the disease. A 
third virtue was to induce sleep. Of this, Cardano states 
that he was in the habit of wearing rather a large jacinth, 
and had found that the stone "seemed to dispose some- 
what to sleep, but not much/' He adds, in explanation 
of its slight efficacy, that Ms stone was not bright red, 
nor of the best sort, but of a golden hue, differing much 
from the best. 67 

The name jade includes two distinct minerals, neph- 
rite and jadeite. The former is a silicate of magnesia, 
of exceedingly tough structure, and ranks 6.5 in the scale 
of hardness, while jadeite, a silicate of alumina, is more 
crystalline and not as tough as nephrite and has a hard- 
ness of 7. A variety having a rich emerald-green hue is 
called by the Chinese f cits' ui, "Kingfisher plumes"; it 
is also denominated Imperial jade. 

The original form of the Chinese character pao, signi- 
fying "precious, "consists of the outline of a house, within 
which are the symbols of jade beads, shell, and an earthen 
jar. This shows that at the very early time when these 
characters were first used, the Chinese already collected 
jade and employed it for personal adornment 68 ' The 

oldest form of the ideograph for "king" ,|, appears to 

9 

be the symbol for a string of jade beads, which are even 

fi7 Cardani, " De subtilitate," Basileas, 1560, pp. 442-3. 

c8 Chalf ant, " Early Chinese Writing-/' Mem. of Carnegie Museum, 
vol. iv, No. 1, Pittsburg, 1906, p. 10 and PL XX, No. 275. See also 
PL X, No. 132; pei, "shell," "value," as shells were used as money 
in very ancient times. 

84 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

now used in China as insignia for high, rank and au- 
thority. 69 

Jade amulets of many different forms are popular 
with the Chinese. One representing two men is called 
* * Two Brothers of Heavenly Love, ' ' and is often given to 
friends. A phoenix of jade is a favorite ornament for 
young girls and is bestowed upon them when they come 
of age. To a newly-wedded pair is given the figure of a 
man riding on a unicorn and holding castanets in his 
hand ; this signifies that an heir will be born in due time. 

Such is the fondness of the Chinese for jade that those 
who can afford the luxury of its possession are wont to 
carry with them small pieces, so that they may have them 
always at hand; for they believe that, when handled, 
something of the secret virtue of the substance is 
absorbed into the body. When struck, jade is thought to 
emit a peculiarly melodious sound, which for the Chinese 
poet resembles the voice of the loved one ; indeed, jade is 
termed the concentrated essence of love. 

Fashioned into the form of a butterfly, a piece of jade 
acquires a special romantic significance in China, because 
of a Chinese legend which relates that a youth in his 
eager pursuit of a many-hued butterfly made his way into 
the garden of a rich mandarin. Instead of being pun- 
ished for his trespass, the youth's unceremonious visit led 
to his marriage with the mandarin's daughter. Hence the 
figure of a butterfly is a symbol of successful love, and 
Chinese bridegrooms are wont to present jade butter- 
flies to their fiancees. 

A. Chinese jade ornament constituting a child's amu- 
let assumes a form approximating to that of a padlock. 
tWhen this is attached to a child's neck, it is supposed to 

08 Chalf ante, " Early Chinese Writing/' PI. XXII, No. 299. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PEECIOUS STONES 85 

bind the little one to life and protect it from all danger 
in infantile diseases. A jade object of a different kind is 
sometimes used at nuptial feasts in China. This is a cup 
having the form of a cock, and both bride and groom, 
drink from it. The form of this vessel is accounted for 
by a legend to the effect that when a beautiful white cock 
saw its young mistress, who had often petted it, throw 
herself into a well in a transport of despair at the loss of 
her lover, the faithful fowl sought and found death in 
the same way, so as not to be separated from its mistress. 

Among the splendid Chinese jade carvings of the 
"Woodward Collection is a curious symbolic ornament 
carved out of the rare fei-ts'ui yii, or "kingfisher-green 
jade," a rich emerald green jadeite with translucent 
green shading. This ornament, executed in the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century and believed to be a 
product of the Imperial Jade Works in Peking, figures 
the natural form of a so-called "hand-of -Buddha" citron, 
the finger-like protuberances of the fruit suggesting this 
strangely fanciful name. The Chinese regard this as a 
most felicitous emblem, denoting at once a long life and 
abundance of riches for its enjoyment. In the present 
carving the figure of a bat clinging to the foliage envelop- 
ing the fruit constitutes an added omen of good fortune, 
the Chinese character fu signifying at once "bat" and 
"happiness, " another proof of what we are prone to call 
Chinese queerness, for with the superstitious of our race 
the bat is always looked upon as especially ill-omened. 70 

It is a well-known fact that many analogies have been 
found between the customs, usages, and products of the 
more civilized aborigines of the New World and those of 

T0 " Catalogue of the "Woodward Collection of Jades and other Hard 
Stones," by John Getz, Privately printed (New York), 1913, p. 11, 
No. 24. 

86 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the ancient Egyptians. Another instance is offered by 
the custom of placing a piece of chalchihuitl (jade?) or 
of some other green stone in the mouth of a noble ? after 
his death, and calling this his heart. Among the lower 
classes a texa&octli, a stone of small value, was used for 
the same purpose. "We shall see that, in the Egyptian 
"Book of the Dead," directions are given for putting a 
semi-precious stone on or in a mummy, as a symbol, and 
designating this the heart of the deceased person. For 
the use of a green stone for this purpose by the ancient 
Mexicans, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall finds a reason in the two 
meanings of the Nahuatl word xoxouhqui-yollott, which 
is used to signify a "free man," the literal meaning 
being a "fresh or green heart." Hence, the stone was a 
symbol of the rank of the deceased as well as of Ms 
heart. 71 The fact that jade celts have been found cut 
into several pieces is taken to indicate the high value 
placed upon this material; for it has been conjectured by 
Dr. Earle Flint, that a living chief would cut a piece 
from the jade he wore as a sign of his rank, in order to 
provide a suitable ornament or amulet for a dead kins- 
man. 

To certain of the Chinese "tomb- jades" that is, 
jade amulets deposited with the dead has been given the 
name Jian-yii, or "mouth-jade," because these amulets, 
supposed to afford protection to the dead, were placed in 
their mouths. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New 
York contains a fine collection of 279 specimens of jade 
from Chinese tombs, found within the past five or six 
years, and presented to the museum by Mr. Samuel F. 

71 Zelia Nuttall, "The Fundamental Principles of Old and New 

World Civilization," Cambridge, Mass., 1901, p. 195. Archaeological 

and Ethnographical Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard Uni- 
versity, vol. ii. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 87 

Peters. In color these jades are not especially attractive, 
for the material has acquired a brownish stain, due to the 
products of decomposition of the body, and also to the 
absorption of some of the chemical constituents of the 
other objects in the tomb, during the long period of time, 
in many cases a thousand years or more, since the bodies 
were consigned to their final resting place. 

So multifarious are the uses to which jade is put by 
the Chinese, and so great is their admiration of its 
qualities, that they regard it as the musical gem par 
excellence. A series of oblong pieces of jade, of the same 
length and width, usually about 1.8 feet long and ?.35 
feet wide, and numbering from 12 to 24, constitute a 
chime, the difference in the notes emitted by the material 
when sharply struck depending upon the varying thick- 
ness of the separate pieces. What is designated the 
" stone chime' y used in court and religious ceremonials, is 
composed of 16 undecorated stones, while a series known 
as the singers * chime consists of from 12 to 24 pieces 
carved into fantastic shapes. This use of jade for the 
production of musical sounds dates far back in the 
Chinese annals. We are told that when Confucius was 
much troubled at the ill-success of his efforts to reform 
the Chinese morals of his day, he sought consolation in 
playing on the "musical stone/' A peasant who noted 
this in passing by, exclaimed, as he heard the sounds: 
"Full indeed is the heart of him who beats the musical 
stone like that !" 72 

A jade ornament greatly favored by the Maoris of 

72 The Bishop Collection. "Investigations and Studies in Jade/' 
New York, privately printed, 1906, vol. i, pt. iii, " Jade as a Mineral," 
by George Frederick Kunz, p. 117. Nos. 421 and 646 of the collection 
are excellent examples of this special jade. 

88 THE CUBIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

New Zealand bore the name Jiei-tiki ("a carved image for 
the neck"). The ornaments of this class are very rude 
and grotesque representations of the human face or 
form, and were generally regarded as schematically 
figuring some departed ancestor. The head sometimes 
slanted right or left, so that the eyes, which were very 
large and occasionally inlaid with mother-of-pearl, were 
on an angle of forty-five degrees. These ornaments were 
prized not only as memorials, but because, having been 
worn by successive ancestors, they were supposed to com- 
municate something of the very being of those ancestors 
to such descendants as were privileged to wear the treas- 
ured heirloom in their turn. In many cases, when the 
family was dying out, the last male member would leave 
directions that his Jiei-tiki should be buried with him, 
so that it might not fall into the hands of strangers. 73 

So rare was this New Zealand jade, known to the 
Maoris as punamu (green-stone), that the aid of a 
tohunga, or wizard, was regarded as necessary to learn 
where it could be found, On setting forth on a search 
for this material, the jade-seekers would take with them 
a tohunga, and when the party reached the region where 
jade was usually found the tohunga would retire to some 
solitary spot and would fall into a trance. On awaking 
he would claim that the spirit of some person, dead or 
living, had appeared to him and had directed to search in 
a particular place for the jade. He would then conduct 

73 The Bishop Collection. " Investigations and Studies in Jade," 
New York, 1906, vol. i, p. 12. Privately printed and edition limited to 
100 copies. For a description of this monumental work see " The Printed 
Catalogue of the Heber E. Bishop Collection of Jade," by George 
Frederick Kunz, supplement to the Bulletin of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art for May, 1906, Occasional Notes, No. 1.. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 89 

the party to this place, where a larger or smaller piece of 
jade was invariably found. Of course the wizard had 
previously assured himself of the presence of the stone 
in the place indicated, 

To this jade was given the name of the man whose 
spirit had revealed its location, and in many cases the 
grotesque form given to the stone was conceived to rep- 
resent this man. "We can easily understand the reverence 
accorded to the hei-tikis when we consider that they were 
not only prized as heirlooms, which had been handed 
down by the successive heads of the family, but were also 
believed to have been originally found in such a mys- 
terious way. 

"When the head of the family died, his Jiei-tiki was 
generally buried with his body, but was exhumed after a 
shorter or longer time by the nearest male relative. As 
we have noted, if no representative of the family 
remained, the heirloom was allowed to remain in the 
grave. The fact that tribal or intertribal feuds some- 
times arose in regard to the possession of a heirtiki 
serves to prove the peculiar virtues ascribed to them. 

While there can be little doubt that the heirloom was 
supposed to represent, in a very general way, the person 
whose name it bore, the particular form given it was 
largely determined by the natural shape of the mass, 
which was slowly and patiently fashioned into the form 
it eventually acquired. Though this was mainly due to 
the imperfect means of which the artist disposed, there 
was probably a conviction that the form of the natural 
stone was not the result of accident, but was in itself 
significant and required only to be rendered more clear 
and definite. The fabrication of the hei-tilcis of the 
Maoris is said to have ceased in the early part of the last 

90 THE CUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

century. The greater number of those that have been 
collected in New Zealand appear to have been made from 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty years ago. 74 

The jasper had great repute in ancient times as a 
rain-bringer ? and the fourth century author of "Lithica" 
celebrates this quality in the following lines : 75 

The gods propitious hearken to his prayers, 
Whoe'er the polished grass-green jasper wears; 
His parched glebe they'll satiate with rain, 
And send for showers to soak the thirsty plain. 

Evidently the green hue of this translucent stone sug- 
gested its association with the verdure of the fields in an 
even closer degree than was the case with transparent 
green stones such as the emerald, etc. Another early 
authority, Damigeron, mentions this belief, and states 
that only when properly consecrated would the jasper do 
service in this way. 76 Jasper was also credited in the 
fourth century with the virtue of driving away evil spirits 
and protecting those who wore it from the bites of veno- 
mous creatures. 77 An anonymous German author of the 
eleventh or twelfth century recommends the use of this 
stone for the cure of snake bites, and states that if it 
be placed upon the bitten part the matter will come out 

w See Fischer, " Ueber die Nephritindustrie der Maoris in Neusee- 
iand/' Archiv fiir Anthropologie, vol. xv, Braunschweig, 1884, pp. 
463-466. 

75 King's version in his Natural History of Precious Stones, Lon- 
don, 1865, p. 382. 

7 * Pitra, " Specilegium Solesmense," Parish's, 1855, p. 328. 

77 Epiphanius, " De XII gemmis," Tiguri, 1565, f ols. 7, & 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 91 

from the wound. 78 Here the cure is operated, not by the 
absorbent quality of the stone, but by its supposed power 
to attract poison or venom to itself, thus removing the 
cause of disease. 

A popular etymology of the Greek and Latin name 
for jasper is reported by Bartolomseus Anglicus, who 
writes that "in the head of an adder that hyght Aspis 
is founde a lytyl stone that is called Jaspis." The same 
authority pronounces this stone to be of "wonder ver- 
tue," and says that "it hath as many vertues as dyvers 
coloures and veines." 79 This is fully in accord with 
tradition, for, as color was at least as important as chem- 
ical composition in determining the talismanic or thera- 
peutic worth of the different stones, the great variety 
of colors and markings in the different jaspers naturally 
indicated their use in many different ways. 

Jet has been found among the palaeolithic remains in 
the caves of the "Kesslerloch," near Thayngen, Canton 
Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The material was evidently 
derived from the deposits in Wurtemberg and was shaped 
by flint chips. Quite possibly jet, as well as amber, was 
already regarded as possessing a certain talismanie vir- 
tue. Such ornaments, when worn, were believed to be- 
come a part of the very body and soul of the wearer, and 
were therefore to be guarded with jealous care. 80 In the 

T8 Birlinger, "Kleinere deutsche Sprachdenkmaler," in Germania, 
vol. viii (1863), p. 302. 

79 Bartolomaai Anglici " De proprietatibus rerum," London, 
Wyiikyn de Worde, 1495, lib. xvi, cap. 51, De Jaspide. Old English 
version by John of Trevisa. 

80 Hoernes, " Urgesehichte der bildenden Kunst," Wien, 1898, pp. 
22, 24. 

92 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

palaeolithic cave-deposits of Belgium also, jet appears, 
the supply being in this instance derived from northern 
Lorraine. The fragments had been rounded and pierced 
through the centre. 81 This indicates their use as parts 
of a necklace or as pendants. Necklaces, bracelets, and 
rings were especially favored for the wearing of talis- 
manic gems, since the stones could easily be so set that 
they would come in direct contact with the skin. 

Jet was one of the materials used by the Pueblo 
Indians for their amulets. An exceptionally well-exe- 
cuted figure of a frog made of this material was found 
in Pueblo Bonito, in 1896, by Mr. Pepper. The repre- 
sentation is much more realistic than is the case in the 
other figures of this type from this region. Turquoise 
eyes have been inserted in the head of the figure and a 
band of turquoise surrounds the neck. 82 

Both in Babylonia and in Egypt, lapis-lazuli was very 
highly valued, and this is shown by the use of its Assy- 
rian name (uknu) in poetic metaphor. Thus, in a hymn 
to the moon-god Sin, he is addressed as the "strong bull, 
great of horns, perfect in form, with long flowing beard, 
bright as lapis-lazuli. " 83 This may remind us of the 
"hyacinthine locks" of classical literature. 

Lapis-lazuli, "a blue stone with little, golden spots, " 
was a cure for melancholy and for the "quartern fever," 

^Dupont, "L'homme pendant les ages de la pierre," Brussels, 
1872, pp. 156 sqq. 

83 Pepper, " The Exploration of a Burial-room in Pueblo Bonito/' 
Putnam Anniversary Volume, New York, 1909, p. 237. 

88 Ward, " Seal Cylinders of Western Asia/' Washington, D. C., 
1910, p. 121; citing Jastrow, "Religion," p. 303. 

ft .S.g 

*yr 31 

M a 

O O^, 

^3 .1 

1 O -j 

CS Vl-I l ~ 1 

s 

t 

H a 

O 3 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 93 

an intermittent fever returning each, third day, or each 
fourth, day counting in the previous attack. 84 

Eoafcgtone 

We have the authority of Plato (Ion, 533 D) for the 
statement that the word magnetis was first applied to the 
loadstone by the tragic poet Euripides (480-405 B.C.), 
the more usual name being "the Heraclean stone." 
These designations refer to two p]aces in Lydia, Mag- 
nesia and Herakleia, where the mineral was found. 85 
Pliny states, on the authority of Nicander, that a certain 
Magnes, a shepherd, discovered the mineral on Mount 
Ida, while pasturing his flock, because the nails of his 
shoes clung to a piece of it. 86 

We are told by Pliny that Ptolemy Philadelphus (309- 
247 B.C.), planning to erect a temple in honor of his sister 
and wife Arsinoe, called in the aid of Chirocrates, an 
Alexandrian architect. The latter engaged to place 
therein an iron statue of Arsinoe which should appear to 
hang in mid-air without support. However, both the 
Egyptian king and his architect died before the design 
could be realized. 87 This story of an image held in sus- 
pense by means of powerful magnets set in the floor and 
roof, and sometimes also in the walls of a temple, is 
repeated in a variety of forms by early writers. Of 

"Albertus Magnus, "Le Grand Albert des secretz des verfcus des 
Herbes, Pierres et Bestes. Et aultre livre des Merveilles du Monde, 
d'aulcuns effetz cansez daulcunes bestes/ 7 Turin, Bernard du mont du 
Chat (c. 1515). Liv. ii, foL 11, recto. 

18 The Tima3us of Plato, ed. by R. R. Archer-Hind, London, 1888, 
p. 302, note. 

"Plinii, "Historia naturalis," Venetiis, 1507, fol. 269 verso, lib. 
xxxvi, cap. 16. 

ST Plinii, 1. c., fol. 254, verso, lib. xxxiv, cap. 14. 

94 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

course, there was no real foundation for such tales, as 
the thing is altogether impracticable. 

The Eoman poet Claudian (fifth century A.D.) relates 
that the priests of a certain temple, in order to offer a 
dramatic spectacle to the eyes of the worshippers, caused 
two statues to be executed, one of Mars in iron, and 
another of Venus in loadstone. At a special festival these 
statues were placed near to each other, and the loadstone 
drew the iron to itself. Claudian vividly describes this : 

The priests prepare a marriage feast. 

Behold a marvel ! Instant to her arms 

Her eager husband Cythereia charms; 

And ever mindful of her ancient fires, 

"With amorous breath his martial breast inspires; 

Lifts the loved weight, close round his helmet twines 

Her loving arms, and close embraces joins, 

Drawn by the mystic influence from afar. 

Flies to the wedded gem the God of War. 

The Magnet weds the Steel : the sacred rites 

Nature attends, and th 7 heavenly pair unites. 88 

There was current as early as the fourth century a 
curious belief that a piece of loadstone, if placed beneath 
the pillow of a sleeping wife, would act as a touchstone 
of her virtue. This first appears in the Alexandrian 
poem "Lithica," and it has been thus quaintly Englished 
by a fourteenth century translator : 

Also magnes is in lyke wyse as adamas; yf it be sett under the 
heed of a chaste wyfe, it makyth her sodenly to beclyppe [embrace] 
her husbonde; & yf she be a spowse breker, she shall meve her onte 
of the bed sodenly by drede of fantasy. 80 

88 King's metrical version in his "Natural History of Gems," 
London, 1865, p. 226. 

89 John of Travisa's version (made in 1396) of Bartholomaeus 
Anglieus' "De proprietatibus rerum/' London, Wynkyn de Worde, 
1495, lib. xvi, cap. 43, De Magnete. 

TALISMANIG USE OF PEECIOUS STONES 95 

The same writer attempts an explanation of the pop- 
ular fancy that when powdered loadstone was thrown 
upon coals in the four corners of a house, the inmates 
would feel as though the house were falling down; of 
this he says: "That seemynge is by mevynge [moving] 
that comyth by tornynge of the brayn." 80 

In classical writings the fascination exercised by a 
very beautiful woman is sometimes likened to the attrac- 
tive power of the loadstone, as notably by Lucian, 91 who 
says that if such a woman looks at a man she draws him 
to her, and leads him whither she will, just as the 
loadstone draws the iron. To the same idea is probably 
due the fact that in several languages the name given 
to the loadstone indicates that its peculiar power was 
conceived to be a manifestation of the sympathy or love 
of one mineral substance for another. This is commonly 
believed to be the sense in which we should understand 
the French designation aimant, namely, as the participle 
of the verb aimer, "to love"; however, some etymolo- 
gists prefer to derive the word from adamas, sometimes 
used in Low Latin for the loadstone, although properly 
signifying the diamond. It is certainly worthy of note 
that in two such dissimilar languages as Sanskrit and 
Chinese, the influence of this idea appears in the names 
given to the loadstone. In Sanskrit the word is chum- 
~baka or "the kisser," and in Chinese t ( su slii, or "the 
loving-stone. " Chin T'sang KM, a Chinese author of 
the eighth century, wrote that "the loadstone attracts 
Iron just as does a tender mother when she calls her 
children to her. 92 

* Bartolomsei Angliei, " De proprietatibus rerum," 1. c. 
"Lneian, Imag. I. 

92 Klaprotk, " Lettre a M. le Baron A. de Humboldt sur ^invention 
de la boussole," Paris, 1834, p. 20. 

96 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

A rich growth of Mohammedan legends grew up about 
the exploits of Alexander the Great, a striking example 
being given on another page, and in one of them it is re- 
lated that the Greek world-conqueror provided his sol- 
diers with loadstones as a defence against the wiles of the 
jinns, or evil spirits; the loadstone, as well as magnetized 
iron, being regarded as a sure defence against enchant- 
ments and all the machinations of malignant spirits. 93 

In the East Indies it is said that a king should have a 
seat of loadstone at his coronation; probably because the 
magnetic influence of the stone was supposed to attract 
power, favor, and gifts to the sovereign. But it is not 
only in the Orient that magnetite is prized for its talis- 
manic powers, for even in some parts of our own land this 
belief is still prevalent. Large quantities of loadstone 
are found at Magnet Cove, Arkansas, and it is estimated 
that from one to three tons are sold annually to the 
negroes to be used in the Voodoo ceremonies as conjuring 
stones. The material has been found in land used for 
farming purposes, and many pieces have been turned up 
in ploughing for corn ; these vary from the size of a pea 
to masses weighing from ten to twenty pounds. They 
occur in a reddish-brown, sticky soil; their surface is 
smooth and brown and they have the appearance of water- 
worn pebbles. In July, 1887, an interesting case was tried 
in Macon, Georgia, where a negro woman sued a con- 
juror to recover five dollars which she had paid him for 
a piece of loadstone to serve as a charm to bring back 
her wandering husband. As the market value of this 
mineral was only seventy-five cents a pound, and the piece 

83 From El Kazwini's "Ad jail el makluqnat " ; cited in marginal 
note, vol. i, pp. 310, 311, of El Damn's "Hayat el liayauan," Cairo, 
1313 (1895). 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 97 

was very small, weighing but a few ounces, the judge 
ordered that the money should be refunded. 94 

For some reason not easy to fathom, malachite was 
considered to be a talisman peculiarly appropriate for 
children. If a piece of this stone were attached to an 
infant's cradle, all evil spirits were held aloof and the 
child slept soundly and peacefully. 95 In some parts of 
Germany, malachite shared with turquoise the repute of 
protecting the wearer from danger in falling, and it also 
gave warning of approaching disaster by breaking into 
several pieces. 96 This material was well known to the 
ancient Egyptians, malachite mines having been worked 
between Suez and Sinai as early as 4000 B.C. 

The appropriate design to be engraved upon mala- 
chite was the image of the sun. Such a gem became a 
powerful talisman and protected the wearer from en- 
chantments, from evil spirits, and from the attacks of 
venomous creatures. 97 The sun, as the source of all light, 
was generally regarded as the deadly enemy of necro- 
mancers, witches, and demons, who delighted in the dark- 
ness and feared nothing more than the bright light of day. 

The moonstone is believed to bring good fortune and 
is regarded as a sacred stone in India. It is never dis- 
played for sale there, except on a yellow cloth, as yellow 

94 Kunz, " Gems and Precious Stones of North America," New 
York, 1890, p. 192. 

" 5 Marbodei, "De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, foL 51; Camilli Leon- 
ard!, " Speculum lapidum," Yenetia, 1502, fol. xxxvili. 

w Chiocci, " Museum Caleeolarium," Veronae, 1622, p. 227. 

87 De Boot, " Gemmarum et lapidum histoxia," Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 
264, lib. ii, cap, 113, 
7 

98 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

is an especially sacred color. As a gift for lovers the 
moonstone takes a high rank, for it is believed to arouse 
the tender passion, and to give lovers the power to read 
in the future the fortune, good or ill, that is in store for 
them. To gain this knowledge, however, the stone must 
be placed in the mouth while the moon is full. 98 

Antoine Mizauld " tells us of a selenite or moonstone 
owned by a friend of his, a great traveller. This stone, 
about the size of the gold piece known as the gold noble, 
but somewhat thicker, indicated the waxing and waning 
of the moon by a certain white point or mark which grew 
larger or smaller as did the moon. Mizauld relates that 
to convince himself of the truth of this he obtained pos- 
session of the stone for one lunar month, during which 
time he sedulously observed it. The white mark first 
appeared at the top. It was like a small millet-seed, in- 
creasing in size and moving down on the stone, always 
assuming the form of the moon until, on reaching the 
middle, it was round like the full moon; then the mark 
gradually passed up again as the moon diminished. The 
owner declared that he had "vowed and dedicated this 
stone to the young king [Edward VI], who was then 
highly esteemed because he had good judgment in regard 
to rare and precious things." 

The onyx, if worn on the neck, was said to cool the 
ardors of love, and Oardano relates that everywhere in 
India the stone was worn for this purpose. 100 This belief 
is closely related to the idea commonly associated with the 
onyx, namely, that it provoked discord and separated 

98 Marbodei, " De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, f ol. 51. 

89 " Les secrets de la Lune/ ? Paris, 1571. 

300 Cardani, De subtilitate/* lib. vii, Basileae, 1560, p. 464. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 99 

lovers. The close union and yet the strange contrast be- 
tween the layers of black and white may have suggested 
this. 

Crystals of iron pyrites (pyrite, native iron disul- 
phide) are sometimes used as amulets by the North 
American Indians, and the 
belief in their magic power 
is attested by their presence 
in the outfit of miscellane- 
ous objects which the medi- 
cine-men use in the course 
of their incantations. Be- 
cause these gleaming yellow 
crystals are occasionally 
mistaken for gold, the 
name "fool's gold" has 
been popularly bestowed 
upon them. 101 

Of this material the 
ancient Mexicans made 
wonderful mirrors, one side 
being usually polished 
flat, while the other side 
was strongly convex. Fre- 
quently this side was curi- 
ously carved with some symbolic representation as ap- 
pears in the case of a pyrite mirror of the Pinard collec- 
tion in the Trocadero, Paris. 102 

101 " Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico/' ed. by 
Frederick Webb Hodge; Smithsonian Inst.; Bur. Am. Ethn., Bull. 30; 
Washington, 1910, Pt. 2, p. 331. 

102 Kunz, "Gems and Precious Stones of North America/ 7 Nevf 
York, 1890, pp. 299, 300. 

OBSIDIAN MIRROR, FROM OAXACA, 
MEXICO. NOW IN TROCAD^IRO 
MUSEUM, PARIS. 

See " Gems and Precious Stones of North 
America," by George Frederick Kunz, New 
York, 1890, p. 299. 

100 THE CUKIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

The popular belief in Ms time as to the origin of rock- 
crystal is voiced by St. Jerome, when, using the words 
of Pliny, although not citing his authority, he says that 
it was formed by the congelation of water in dark caverns 
of the mountains, where the temperature was intensely 
cold, so that, "While a stone to the touch, it seems like 

BOCK-CRYSTAL SKULL, ANCIENT MEXICAN 

Weighing 475 X z - Troy. Now in the British Museum, London. From " Gems and Precious 
Stones of North America," by George Frederick Kunz, New York, 1890, p. 285. 

water to the eye." This belief was evidently due to the 
fact that rock-crystal was so often found in mountain 
clefts and caverns. Symbolically, it signified that those 
within the portals of the Church should keep themselves 
free from stain and have a pure faith. 103 

The Chinese emperor Wu was devoted to the service 
of the gods and of the immortal spirits. He built many 
edifices for religious purposes, and all the doors of these 

103 Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi " Opera Chirm a," ed. Migne, vol. iv, 
Parisiis, 1865, col. 545. 

OBSIDIAN MASK, FROM THE FAYOUM, EGYPT. 

Twelfth Dynasty. Late De Lesseps Collection. Collection of Mrs. Henry Draper. The ob- 
sidian is the typical stone of Mexico. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 101 

buildings were made of white rock-crystal, so that a flood 
of light poured into the interior. Although the Chinese 
texts call this material rock-crystal, it is possible that the 
name was applied to glass when that substance was but 
recently introduced into China. 104 

Regarding this same "rock-crystal" a humorous tale 
is related. Muan-f en, a mandarin who had a great terror 
of draughts, was once received in the palace by one of the 
Chinese emperors. The doors of the audience chamber 
were of rock-crystal and were tightly closed, but, because 
of the transparency of the material, they seemed to be 
wide open, and the emperor was greatly amused to note 
that Muan-f en was shivering with cold, although the tem- 
perature of the room was quite comfortable. 105 

An exceptionally fine specimen of Aztec work is a 
skull carved out of rock-crystal. It weighs 475*4 ounces 
Troy, and measures 8% inches in width. 

The ruby has many names in Sanskrit, some of them 
clearly showing that it was more valued as a gem by the 
Hindus than any other. For instance, it is called rat- 
naraj, "king of precious stones, " and ratnandyaka, 
"leader of precious stones;" another name, applied to a 
particular shade of ruby is padmaraga, "red as the 
lotus." 106 

The glowing hue of the ruby suggested the idea that 
an inextinguishable flame burned in this stone. From 
this fancy came the assertion that the inner fire could not 

104 Pfizmeier, " Beitrage zur Geschichte der Edelsteinen tmd des 
Goldes," Sitzungsbericht d. phil. hist. KL, Wien, vol. Iviii, 1868, p. 200. 

1C * Pfizmeier, 1. c., p. 201. 

a< * Garbe, " Die indische Mineralien j Nahaxari's Eajanigliantu, 
Varga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 70. 

102 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

be hidden, as it would shine through the clothing or 
through any material that might be wrapped around the 
stone. 107 If cast into the water the ruby communicated its 
heat to the liquid, causing it to boil. The dark and the 
star rubies were called "male" stones, the others, more 
especially, however, those of lighter hue, being con- 
sidered as "female" stones. All varieties served to 
preserve the bodily and mental health of the wearer, for 
they removed evil thoughts, controlled amorous desires, 
dissipated pestilential vapors, and reconciled disputes. 108 

In the "Lapidaire" of Philippe de Valois, it is said 
that "the books tell us the beautiful clear and fine ruby 
is the lord of stones ; it is the gem of gems, and surpasses 
all other precious stones in virtue." In the time of Mar- 
bodus (end of the eleventh century A.D.) the same proud 
place was assigned to the sapphire. The ruby is spoken 
of in similar terms in the "Lapidaire en Vers," where it 
is called "the most precious of the twelve stones God 
created when He created all creatures" By Christ's 
command the ruby was placed on Aaron's neck, "the 
ruby, called the lord of gems ; the highly prized, the dearly 
loved ruby, so fair with its gay color." 109 

As with diamonds, rubies also were divided by the 
Hindus into four castes. The true Oriental ruby was 
a Brahmin ; the rubicelle, a Kshatriya ; the spinel, a Vaisya, 
and lastly, the balas-ruby, a Sudra. The possession of a 
padmaraga, or Brahmin ruby, conferred perfect safety 
upon the owner, and as long as he owned this precious 
stone he could dwell without fear in the midst of enemies 

w Epiphanii, " De XII gemmis," Tiguri, 1565, f ol. 5. 

108 Camilli Leonard!, " Speculum lapidum," Venetia, 1502, f ol. xxvi. 

108 Pannier, " Les lapidaires f rancais," Paris, 1882, pp. 246, 264, 
295. Cited in Scbofield, " The Pearl," Pub. of Mod. Lang. Asso. of 
Am., vol. xxiv, Pt. 4, p. 599, 

TALISMANIC USE OF PHECIOUS STONES 103 

and was shielded from adverse fortune. However, great 
care had to be taken to preserve this ruby of the first 
class from contact with, inferior specimens, as its virtue 
would thereby be contaminated, and its power for good 
correspondingly diminished. 110 

The many talismanic virtues of the ruby are noted in 
the fourteenth century treatise attributed to Sir John 
Mandeville. 111 Here the fortunate owner of a brilliant 
ruby is assured that he will live in peace and concord with 
all men, that neither his land nor his rank will be taken 
from him, and that he will be preserved from all perils. 
The stone would also guard his house, his fruit-trees, and 
his vineyards from injury by tempests. All the good 
effects were most surely secured if the ruby, set in ring, 
bracelet, or brooch, were worn on the left side. 

The gorgeous ruby, the favorite gem of Burma, where 
the finest specimens are found, is not only valued for its 
beauty, but is also believed to confer invulnerability. To 
attain this end, however, it is not thought to be sufficient 
to wear these stones in a ring or other piece of jewelry, 
but the stone must be inserted in the flesh, and thus be- 
come, so to speak, a part of its owner's body. Those who 
in this way bear about with them a ruby, confidently be- 
lieve that they cannot be wounded by spear, sword, or 
gun. 112 As it is often remarked that the most daring and 
reckless soldiers pass unscathed through all the perils of 
war, we can understand that this superstition may some- 
times appear to be verified. 

110 Surindro Mohun Tagore, "Mani Mala/' Pt I, Calcutta, 1879, 
p. 199. 

111 ff Le grand lapidaire de Jean de Mandeville," from the ed. of 
1561, ed. by J. S. del Sotto, Vienne, 1862, p. 8. 

113 Taw Sein Ko, communication from, his " Burmese Necromancy." 

104 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The sapphire is noted as a regal gem by Damigeron, 
who asserts that kings wore it about their necks as a 
powerful defence from harm. The stone preserved the 
wearer from envy and attracted divine favor. 113 For royal 
use, sapphires were set in bracelets and necklaces, and the 
sacred character of the stone was attested by the tra- 
dition that the Law given to Moses on the Mount was 
engraved on tablets of sapphire. 114 While we should prob- 
ably translate here "lapis-lazuli" instead of " sapphire," 
all such passages were later understood as referring to 
the true sapphire, which is not found in pieces of the 
requisite size. 

In the twelfth century, the Bishop of Eennes lavishes 
encomiums upon this beautiful stone. It is quite natural 
that this writer should lay especial stress upon the use of 
the sapphire for the adornment of rings, for it was in his 
time that it was beginning to be regarded as the stone 
most appropriate for ecclesiastical rings. The sapphire 
was like the pure sky, and mighty Nature had endowed 
it with so great a power that it might be called sacred 
and the gem of gems. Fraud was banished from its pres- 
ence and necromancers honored it more than any other 
stone, for it enabled them to hear and to understand the 
obscurest oracles. 115 

The traditional virtue of the sapphire as an antidote 
against poison is noted by Bartolomseus Anglicus, who 
claims to have seen a test of its power, somewhat similar 
to that recorded by Ahmed Teifashi of the emerald. In 

U8 Pitra, " Specilegium Solesmense," Parisiis, 1855, vol. iii, p. 328. 
** Epiphanii, " De XII gemmis," Tiguri, 1565, f ol. 6. 
U5 Marbodei, "De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, fols. 46, 47. 

S J= 

3 o 

PH jg 

-<1 c 

TALISMANIC USE OP PRECIOUS STONES 105 

John of Trevisa's version this passage reads as 
follows : 116 

His vertue is contrary to venym, and queneheth it every deale. 
And yf you put an attercoppe UT in a boxe and hold a very saphyre of 
Inde at the mouth of the boxe ony whyle, by vertue thereof the atter- 
coppe is overcome & dyeth as it were sodenly, as Dyase. sayth [pseudo 
Diosc orides] . And this same I have assayed oft in many and dyvers 
places. His vertue kepeth and savyth the syght, & clearyth eyen of 
fylthe wythout ony greyf , 

Voicing the general belief that the sapphire was en- 
dowed with power to influence spirits, Bartolomaeus says 
that this stone was a great favorite with those who prac- 
tised necromancy, and he adds: "Also wytches love well 
this stone, for they wene that they may werke certen 
wondres by vertue of this stone.' 7 11S 

There was in the South Kensington Museum, in London, 
a splendid sapphire of a peculiar tint. In the daylight 
it shows a beautiful rich blue color, while by artificial 
light it has a violet hue and resembles an amethyst. In 
the eighteenth century this stone was in the collection 
of Count de Walicki, a Polish nobleman, and Mme. de 
G-enlis used it as the theme of one of her stories, entitled 
"Le Saphire Merveilleux." Here the sapphire is used 
as a test of female virtue, the change of color indicating 
unfaithfulness on the part of the wearer. If the owner of 
the stone wished to prove that the subject of the test was 
innocent, she was made to wear the sapphire for three 
hours of daylight ; but in the opposite case the test was so 
timed that it begaji in daylight and ended when the 

116 - 

8 Bartolom8ei Angliei, "De proprie-tatibus renim," London, 
Wynkyn de Worde, 1495, lib. xvi, cap. 86, De Saphiro. 
11T Old English for spider. 
118 Bartolomseus Anglicus, 1. e. 

106 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

candles or lamps had been lighted. This sapphire, still 
known as the "Saphire Merveillenx/' was for a time in 
the collection of the Duke of Orleans, who bore the name 
of Philippe Egalite during the French Eevolution. 

The star sapphire is that variety of sapphire in which, 
when the stone is cut and rounded off horizontal with the 
dome of the crystal, the light is condensed across the three 
lines of crystalline interference. Three cross lines pro- 
duce a star which moves as a source of light, or as it is 
moved from the source of light. Star sapphires very 
rarely possess the deep blue color of the fine blue sap- 
phire; generally the color is somewhat impure, or of a 
milky-blue, or else a blue-gray, or sometimes almost a 
pure white. The blue-gray, gray, and white stones fre- 
quently show a much more distinct star, possibly from 
the fact that there are more inclusions between the layers 
of the crystals than with the darker blue stones, as it is 
the set of interference bands that produces the peculiar 
light. Just as the eye agate was used in some countries 
to preserve against the Evil Eye, so the moving star is 
believed by the Cingalese to serve as a protection and 
a guard against witchcraft of all kinds. 

The great Oriental traveller, Sir Eichard Francis 
Burton, had a large star sapphire or asteria, as it was 
called. He referred to it as his talisman, for it always 
brought him good horses and prompt attention wherever 
he went; in fact, it was only in those places where he 
received proper attention that he would show it to the na- 
tives, a favor they greatly appreciated, because the sight 
of the stone was believed to bring good luck. The fame 
of Burton's asteria travelled ahead of him, and it served 
him well as a guiding-star. De Boot, writing in the 
seventeenth century, states that such a stone was called 
Siegstein (victory-stone) among the Germans. 

Rubellite, irom th Sh.ui Mountai 
Chum. Ubed as iUol\s ej e m lud 

Star of India Star Sapphire 

Engraved Emerald East Indian 
Carving Itth Ceuiury 

GEMS FROM THE MORGAN-TIFFANY COLLECTION. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 107 

The remarkable asteria, known as the ' ' Star of India, ' ' 
in tlie Morgan-Tiffany Collection in the American 
Museum of Natural History, has a more or less indefinite 
historic record of some three centuries, but after its many 
wanderings it has now found a worthy resting-place in 
the great Museum. Its weight is 543 carats. 119 

The asteria, or star sapphire, might be called a " Stone 
of Destiny," as the three cross-bars which traverse it 
are believed to represent Faith, Hope, and Destiny. As 
the stone is moved, or the light changes, a living star ap- 
pears. As a guiding gem, warding off ill omen and the 
Evil Eye, the star-sapphire is worn for the same reasons 
as were the oculus mundi and the oculus Beli. One of 
the most unique of talismanic stones, it is said to be so 
potent that it continues to exercise its good influence 
over the first wearer even when it has passed into other 
hands. 

The sard was regarded as a protection against incan- 
tations and sorcery, and was believed to sharpen the wits 
of the wearer, rendering him fearless, victorious, and 
happy. 120 The red hue of this stone was supposed to 
neutralize the malign influence of the dark oynx, driving 
away the bad dreams caused by the latter and dispelling 
the melancholy thoughts it inspired. 

*** The subject of the origin, development and reform of the carat- 
weight has been fully treated by the author in the Trans, of the Sac. of 
Min. Engineers, 1913, pp. 1225-1245, " The New International Metric 
Diamond Carat of 200 milligrams." 

130 Marbodei, " De lapidibus," Friburgi, 1531, f ol. 50, note of Pietor 
Villengensis. 

108 THE DUBIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The Italian peasants of to-day believe tliat pebbles 
of green serpentine afford protection from the bites of 
venomous creatures. These stones are usually green with 
streaks or veins of white, and the name was derived from 
their fancied resemblance to a serpent's skin. In addi- 
tion to their prophylactic powers, if any one has been 
bitten by such a creature, the stone, when applied to the 
wound, is supposed to draw out the poison. Here, as 
in the case of coral, the hand of man must not have shaped 
the amulet; it should be in its natural state. As a gen- 
eral rule, however, the belief that the touch of any iron 
instrument, such as the tool of the gem-cutter, destroys 
the magic efficacy of the substance, is less firmly held in 
regard to stones than in reference to coral. 121 

See Chrysolite. 

Citrquoige 

While there was a tendency to attribute the virtues 
originally ascribed to one particular stone to others of 
the same or similar color and appearance, certain stones 
were regarded as possessing special virtues not com- 
monly attributed to others. A notable instance of this is 
the quality supposed to inhere in the turquoise. This 
stone was known in Egypt from a very early period and 
is later described by Pliny under the name of callais. 
For Pliny, and for all those who derived their informa- 
tion from him or from the sources he used, the turquoise 
only participated in the virtues assigned to all blue or 

"H fetieismo primitive) in Italia/' Perugia, 1907, pp. 
25, 26. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 109 

greenish-blue stones; but from the thirteenth century, 
when the name turquoise was first employed, we read that 
the stone possessed the power to protect the wearer from 
injury by falling, more especially from horseback; later, 
this was extended to cover falls from a building or over 
a precipice. A fourteenth century authority, the "Lapi- 
daire"of Sir John Mandeville, states that the turquoise 
protected horses from the ill-effects resulting from drink- 
ing cold water when overheated by exertion, and it is said 
that the Turks often attached these stones to the bridles 
and frontlets of their horses as amulets. They are 
also so used in Samarcand and Persia. We might there- 
fore be justified in supposing that the turquoise was 
originally used in the East as a " horse-amulet," and the 
belief in its power to protect from falls may have arisen 
from the idea that it rendered the horse more sure-footed 
and enduring. As the horse was often regarded as a 
symbol of the sun in its rapid course through the blue 
heavens, the celestial hue of the turquoise may have 
caused it to be associated in some way with the horse. 
We can only hazard this as a plausible conjecture. 

Probably the earliest notice of the peculiar super- 
stition in regard to the turquoise namely, that it pre- 
serves the wearer from injury in case of falling is con- 
tained in Volmar's thirteenth century "Steinbuch," 
where we read: 

Whoever owns the true turquoise set in gold will not injure any 
of his limbs when he falls, whether he be riding or walking, so long as 
he has the stone with him. 123 

Anselnms de Boot, court physician of Emperor 
Rudolph II, tells a story of a turquoise that, after being 
thirty years in the possession of a Spaniard, was offered 

^Volmar, " Steinbuch," ed. by Hans Lambel, Eeilbronn, 1877, 
p. 19. 

110 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

for sale with the rest of the owner's property. Every 
one was amazed to find it had entirely lost its color; 
nevertheless De Boot's father bought it for a trifling 
sum. On his return home, however, ashamed to wear so 
mean-looking a gem, he gave it to his son, saying, "Son, 
as the virtues of the turquoise are said to exist only when 
the stone has been given, I will try its efficacy by bestow- 
ing it upon thee." Little appreciating the gift, the recip- 
ient had his arms engraved on it as though it had been 
only a common agate and wore it as a signet. He had 
scarcely worn it a month, however, before it resumed its 
pristine beauty and daily seemed to increase in splendor. 
Could we accept this statement as true we would have 
here an altogether unique instance of the recovery by a 
turquoise of the blue color it had lost. 

Not long after, the powers of De Boot's turquoise 
were put to the test As he was returning to Bohemia 
from Padua, where he had just taken his degree, he was 
forced to traverse a narrow and dangerous road at night. 
Suddenly his horse stumbled and threw him heavily to 
the ground, but, strange to say, neither horse nor rider 
was injured by the fall. Next morning, while washing his 
hands, De Boot remarked that about a quarter of his tur- 
quoise had broken away. Nevertheless the stone did not 
lose Its virtue. Some time afterward, when the wearer 
was lifting a very heavy pole, he felt all at once a sharp 
pain in his side and heard his ribs crack, so that he 
feared he had injured himself seriously. However, it 
turned out that he had not broken any bones but had 
simply strained himself; but, on looking at his turquoise, 
he saw that it had again broken into two pieces. 123 

123 De Boot, "Gemmarum et lapidum Mstoria," Lug 1 . Bat, 1636, 
pp. 266-268. 

TALISMANIC USB OF PEECIOUS STONES 111 

A singular virtue ascribed to the turquoise was that 
of striking the hour correctly, if the stone were sus- 
pended from a thread held between the thumb and index- 
finger in such a way that a slight vibration would make 
the stone strike against the side of a glass. De Boot 
states that he made the experiment successfully, but he 
very sensibly explains the apparent wonder by the uncon- 
scious effect of the mind on the body. The expectation 
that the stone was going to strike a certain number of 
times induced an involuntary movement of the hand. 124 

The turquoise seems to have been worn almost ex- 
clusively by men at the beginning of the seventeenth 
century, for De Boot, writing in 1609, said that it was so 
highly regarded by men that no man considered his hand 
to be well adorned unless he wore a fine turquoise. 
Women, however, rarely wore this gem. 125 This custom 
was much in vogue among the Englishmen who travelled 
in the Orient, until a score of years ago. 

The Persians fully appreciate the beauty and power 
of this, their national stone, and they have a saying that 
to escape evil and attain good fortune one must see the 
reflection of the new moon either on the face of a friend, 
on a copy of the Koran, or on a turquoise, 126 thus ranking 
this stone with two most precious things, a friend and the 
source and warrant of religion. Possibly we should take 
this proverbial saying to indicate that whoever has a true 
friend, a copy of the sacred volume or a turquoise will 
be preserved from harm. 

The turquoise of the Los Cerillos -mines in New 
Mexico is rudely extracted by building large fires at the 

"'De Boot, "Gemmarum et lapidum Mstoria," Lug. Bat., 1636, 
pp. 169, 170. 

*" De Boot, 1. c., p. 270. 

"Hesndley, "Indian Jewelry," London, 1909, p. 158. 

112 THE CURIOUS LOBE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

base of the rock until it becomes heated, when cold water 
is dashed over it, the sharp change of temperature split- 
ting up the rock. Some of the fragmentary material 
thus secured is worked up in the region into heart-shaped 
ornaments, or amulets, locally called malacates. The 
religious veneration with which many of the New Mexico 
Indians still regard the turquoise was noted by Major 
Hyde, when he explored the region in 1880, for some 
Pueblo Indians from Santo Domingo, New Mexico, ex- 
pressed strong disapproval of his action in extracting 
turquoise from the old mine, as they looked upon this as 
a sacred stone which should not pass into the possession 
of those whose Saviour was not a Montezuma. 127 

The ruins called Los Muertos, situated nine miles 
from Tempe, Arizona, have furnished a peculiarly in- 
teresting amulet or fetish of Zuni workmanship. This 
is a seashell which has been coated with black pitch, in 
which are encrusted turquoises and garnets so disposed 
in mosaic as to represent clearly enough the figure of a 
toad, the sacred emblem of the Zunis. 128 

The sacred character with which this stone was in- 
vested is shown by the wealth of turquoise ornaments 
found in some of the burials, notably in those of Pueblo 
Bonito, unearthed by Mr. Gfeorge IL Pepper in 1896. 129 
This is one of the Chaco Canon groups of ruins, in the 
northwestern part of New Mexico. In one case nearly 
nine thousand beads and pendants of turquoise were 
found on or about a single skeleton. There was abun- 

"Gems and Precious Stones of North America," New 
York, 1890, pp. 61, 62, pi. opposite p. 56. 

128 Kunz, 1. c., see pi. 2, fig. A. 

128 Pepper, " The Exploration of a Burial-room in Pueblo Bonito, 
New Mexico," Putnam Anniversary Volume, New York, 1909, pp. 
196-252. 

TURQUOISE NECKLACE, THIBET. 
Field Museum, Chicago. 

TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 113 

dant evidence in the special care bestowed upon the 
burial that the deceased must have been a man of high 
rank, and the condition of the skull plainly indicated 
that he had met a violent death. The 1980 beads found 
on the breast of the skeleton are believed to have been 
strung- as a necklace, and the position of other masses 
of these beads renders it probable that they had been 
used for bracelets or anklets, the strings having de- 
cayed and disappeared in the course of time. The most 
interesting of the turquoise objects are, however, the 
pendants worked into various forms designed to favor the 
entrance of some guardian spirit into the stone. In this 
single burial were found pendants shaped more or less 
roughly into the forms of a rabbit, a bird, an insect (?), 
a human foot and a shoe. Around another burial 
in the same chamber were strewn nearly sis thousand 
turquoise beads and pendants. 130 In all 24,932 beads 
were found in these burials. 

Another very interesting object from Pueblo Bonito, 
and one having probably a special ceremonial use and 
value, is a turquoise basket, that is to say, a cylindrical 
basket three inches in diameter and six inches long, orig- 
inally made of slender splints with a coating of gum in 
which 1214 small pieces of turquoise have been set. These 
are very closely set and form a complete mosaic covering 
for the object. The legends of the Navahos contain allu- 
sions to "turquoise jewel baskets," and Mr. Pepper 
raises the question whether or no this can refer to those 
made by the Pueblo Indians. 131 

The Apache name for the turquoise is duklij, which. 

MO Pepper, " The Exploration of a Burial-room in Pueblo Bonito, New 
Mexico," pp. 223, 224. 
331 Pepper, L e., p. 227. 
8 

114 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

signifies either a green or a bine stone, no distinction 
being made between the two colors. This stone is highly 
prized for its talismanic virtues. Indeed the possession 
of a tnrqnoise was indispensable for a medicine-man, as 
withont it he would not receive proper recognition. That 
some of the powers of the thunder-stone were ascribed 
to the turquoise by the tribes appears from the fancy 
that a man who conld go to the end of a rainbow after 
a storm and search in the damp earth would find a tur- 
quoise. One of its supposed powers was to aid the 
warrior or hunter by assuring the accuracy of his aim, 
for if a turquoise were affixed to a gun or bow the shot 
sped from the weapon would go straight to the mark. 132 
A lady prominent in the London world is said to pos- 
sess the power of restoring to their pristine hue tur- 
quoises that have grown pale. According to report, this 
lady is often called upon to use her peculiar gift by 
friends whose turquoises have faded. 133 While the im- 
provement supposed to be noted may be more imaginary 
than real in many cases, there is little doubt that this 
stone is exceptionally sensitive to the action of certain 
emanations, and may, at times, be influenced by the 
wearer's general state of health. The writer believes 
that a turquoise, like an egg, can never be restored to its 
original state. 

133 Burke, " The Medicine-men of the Apache," Ninth Annual Re- 
port of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-1888, Washington, 1892, p. 589. 

^Fernie, "Precious Stones for Curative Use," Bristol, 1907, 
p. 269. 

IV 

ityt se of oEtigtafcefc anfc Cat&eti 
Calfgmans 

virtue believed to be inherent in precious stones 
was thought to gain an added potency when the 
stone was engraved with some symbol or figure possess- 
ing a special sacredness, or denoting and typifying a 
special quality. This presupposes a considerable devel- 
opment of civilization, since the art of engraving on 
precious stones offers many mechanical difficulties and 
thus requires a high degree of artistic and mechanical 
skill. It is true that the earliest engraved stones, the 
Babylonian cylinders and the Egyptian scarabs, were 
both designed to serve an eminently practical purpose as 
well, namely, that of seals ; but in a great number of in- 
stances these primitive seals were looked upon as en- 
dowed with talismanic power, and were worn on the 
person as talismans. 

The scarab, so highly favored by the Egyptians as an 
ornamental form, is a representation of the scarab&us 
sacer, the typical genus of the family Scarabaida. They 
are usually black, but occasionally show a fine play of 
metallic colors. After gathering up a clump of dung for 
the reception of the eggs, the insect rolls this along, using 
the hind legs to propel it, until the material, at first soft 
and of irregular form, becomes hardened and almost per- 
fectly round. A curious symbolism induced the Egyp- 
tians to find in this beetle an emblem of the world of 
fatherhood and of man. The round ball wherein the eggs 
were deposited typified the world, and, as the Egyptians 

115 

116 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

thought that the scarabsei were all males, they especially 
signified the male principle in generation, becoming 
types of fatherhood and man. At the same time, as only 
full-grown beetles were observed, it was believed these 
creatures represented a regeneration or reincarnation, 
since it was not realized that the eggs or larval and 
pupa stages had anything to do with the generation of 
the beetle. Thus the scarab was used as a symbol of 
immortality. 

While, however, this was the popular view, it seems 
unlikely that such close observers as were the more cul- 
tured Egyptians should have been entirely unfamiliar 
with the real genesis of the Scarabceus sacer; but, in this 
case also, there would have been no difficulty in finding it 
emblematic of immortality in the various stages through 
which it passed. The larval stage might well signify the 
mortal life ; the pupa stage, the intermediate period rep- 
resented by the mummy, with which the soul was con- 
ceived to be vaguely connected, in spite of its wanderings 
through the nether-world ; and, lastly, the fully developed 
beetle could be regarded as a type of the rebirth into 
everlasting life, when the purified and perfected soul 
again animated the original and transfigured form in a 
mysterious resurrection. 

Scarabs are frequently engraved with the hieroglyph 

"life") and *&? (ha, "increase of power"). 

The emblem of stability jj (tef) is also employed, as 

well as many others. In addition to these simple sym- 
bols, many scarabs bear legends supposed to render them 
exceptionally luck-bringing. The following are charac- 
teristic specimens. 1 

1 From "The Sacred Beetle/' by John Ward, London, 1902, Plate 
VIII, Nos. 46, 58, 89, 275, 276, 446. 

ENGEAVED AND CABVED GEMS 117 

maat - ankh neb," Lord of Truth and Life. ' ' 
o "abounding in graces" (very deeply cut 
as a seal). 

"May thy name be established; mayst thou have a 
son." 

g f (within ornamental border), "good stability," 
J ^ikht neb nefer, "All good things." 

(Inlaid). "A good day" (a holiday). 

"A mother is a truly good thing" or "Truth is a good 
Mother." 

The scarab, for the Egyptians a type of the rising 
sun and hence of the renewal of life after death, was 
copied by the Phoenicians from the Egyptian types and 
modified in various ways to suit the religious fancies of 
the various lands to which they bore the products of their 
art. Much of the original significance of this symbol 
must have been lost ; probably in many cases little was 
left but a vague idea that an amulet of this form would 
bring good luck to the wearer and guard from harm. 

Funeral scarabs were often made of jasper, amethyst, 
lapis-lazuli, ruby, or carnelian, with the names of gods, 
kings, priests, officials, or private persons engraved on 
the base ; occasionally monograms or floral devices were 
engraved. Sometimes the base of the scarab was heart- 
shaped and at others the scarab was combined with the 
"utat," or eye of Horus, and also with the frog, typify- 
ing revivification. Set in rings they were placed on the 
fingers of the dead, or else, wrapped in linen bandages, 
they rested on the heart of the deceased, a type of the 
sun which rose each day to renewed life. They were 
symbols of the resurrection of the body. 2 

a Budge, "The Mummy," Cambridge, 1894, pp. 234-235. 

118 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Some of the Egyptian scarabs were evidently used as 
talismanic gifts from one friend to another. Two such 
scarabs are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art in New York. One bears the inscription "May Ea 
grant you a happy New Year," the text of the other 
reading as follows: "May your name be established, 
may you have a son," and "May your house flourish 
every day." It is a curious fact that the modern greeting 
"Happy New Year" was current in Egypt probably 
three thousand years ago. 3 

On the Egyptian inscribed scarabs used as signets 
were engraved many of the symbols to which a talismanic 
virtue was attributed. The urseus serpent, signifying 
death, is sometimes associated with the knot, the so-called 
anJch symbol, denoting life. Often the hieroglyph for 
nub, gold, appears ; this symbol is a necklace with pend- 
ant beads, showing that gold beads must have been known 
in Egypt in the early days when the hieroglyph for gold 
was first used. All these symbolic figures, of which a 
great number occur, served to impart to the signet a 
sacred and auspicious quality which communicated itself 
to the wearer, and even to the impression made by the 
seal, this in its turn acquiring a certain magic force. 
Few of us would be willing to confess to a belief in the 
innate power of any symbol, but the suggestive power of 
a symbol is as real to-day as it ever was. Any object 
that evokes a high thought or serves to emphasize a pro- 
found conviction really possesses a kind of magical 
quality, since it is capable of causing an effect out of all 
proportion to its intrinsic worth or its material quality. 
Many scarabs and signets exist made of the artificial 

3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Mureh Collection of 
Egyptian antiquities; supplement ta the Bulletin of the Met. Mus. of 
Art, January, 1910. 

ENGRAVED AND CAEVED GEMS 119 

cymus, which was an imitation lapis-lazuli made in 
Egypt This was an alkaline silicate, colored a deep blue 
with carbonate of copper. Often a wonderful trans- 
lucent or opaque blue glass was used. The genuine lapis- 
lazuli was also used to a considerable extent for scarabs 
and cylinders, in Egypt and Assyria, and gems were also 
cut from it in imperial Eoman times. 4 A notable instance 
of the use of lapis-lazuli in ancient Egypt was as the 
material for the image of Truth (Ma), which the 
Egyptian chief -justice wore on his neck, suspended from 
a golden chain. 5 

In Roman times some of the legionaries are said to 
have worn rings set with scarabs, for the reason that 
this figure was believed to impart great courage and 
vigor to the wearer. 6 

The Egyptian amulets of the earliest period, up to the 
XIX dynasty (circa 2000 B.C.), differ considerably from 
those made and worn after the beginning of the XVIII 
dynasty (1580 B.C.). Those of the earlier period are not 
numerous and present but a small number of types, ani- 
mal forms or the heads of animals constituting the most 
favored models. The precious stone materials are prin- 
cipally carnelian, beryl, and amethyst. After the close of 
the so-called Hyksos period, the age during which foreign 
kings ruled over Egypt, came the brilliant revival and 
development of Egyptian civilization that characterized 
the XVIII dynasty. Some of the old forms were entirely 
cast aside while others were greatly modified in form and 
significance, the animal forms losing much of their f etich- 

4 Middleton, "Engraved Gems of Ancient Times/ 7 Cambridge, 
1891, p. 151. 

6 Diodori Siculi, " Bibliotheca historieales," ed. Dindorf, Parisiis, 
1842, vol. i, p. 65; lib. i, cap. 75. 

* JEliani, " De animalibus/' lib. x ; cap. 15. 

120 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

Istic quality and coming to be more and more regarded 
as images of the multifarious divinities worshipped in 
this later period. In many cases the animal type was 
entirely or partially discarded and the amulets figured 
the conventional types given to the various divinities. 
However, while some of these images were wholly human, 
many of them show a human body with an animal head. 
Various symbolic designs were also favored, one believed 
to signify the blood of Isis having the form of a knot or 
tie. A frog fashioned out of lapis-lazuli and having eyes 
of gold is one of these amulets of the XVIII dynasty or 
later. 

An interesting Egyptian talisman in the Louvre is 
engraved with a design representing Thothmes II seizing 
a lion by the tail and raising the animal aloft ; at the same 
time he brandishes in the other hand a club, with which 
he is about to dash out the lion's brains. The Egyptian 
word quen, "strength," is engraved beneath the design 
and indicates that the virtue of the talisman was to in- 
crease the strength and courage of the wearer, the in- 
scription being a kind of perpetual invocation to the 
higher powers whose aid was sought. 7 

The children of Israel, when in the desert, were said 
to have engraved figures on carnelian, " just as seals are 
engraved." 8 This statement, repeated by many early 
writers, may perhaps have arisen from an identification 
of carnelian with the first stone of the breastplate, the 
odem, unquestionably a red stone, and very possibly car- 
nelian. There can be no doubt that this was one of the 

T Hoernes, " Uigeschiehte der bildenden Kunst," Wien, 1898, pp. 
155, 156. 

s Konrad v. Megenberg, "Buch der Natur," ed. Pfeiffer, Stutt- 
gart, 1861, p. MS; see also Johannis de Cuba, "Hortus Sanitatis" 
[Strassburg, 1483], tractatus de lapidibus, cap. xliii. 

ENGBAVED AND CAEYED GEMS 121 

first stones used for ornamental purposes and for en- 
graving, as a number of specimens have been preserved 
from early Egyptian times. Because of the cooling and 
calming effect exercised by carnelian upon the bloody if 
worn on the neck or on the finger, it was believed to still 
all angry passions. 9 

A class of amulets even older than the Egyptian 
scarabs is represented by the engraved Assyrio-Babylo- 
nian cylinders. There has been much discussion among 
scholars as to the original purpose for which these cylin- 
ders were made, some holding that they were exclusively 
employed as seals or signets, while others incline to the 
belief that many of them were intended only for use as 
amulets or talismans. 

These cylinders are perforated and were worn sus- 
pended from the neck or wrist, as is most frequently the 
case with talismans, and the engraved designs often rep- 
resent religious or mythological subjects, the accompa- 
nying inscription merely consisting of the names of the 
gods. Cylinders of this type could not have been used as 
personal signets, and it is quite possible that Dr. Wiede- 
mann is right in supposing that their imprint on a docu- 
ment was considered to impart a certain mystic sanction 
to the agreement, and render the divinities or spirits 
accountable for the fulfilment of the contract. 10 

The oldest known form of seal is the cylinder. Baby- 
lonian and Assyrian cylinder-seals are known of a date 
as early as 4000 B.C. From the earliest period until 2500 
B.C. they were made of black or green serpentine, con- 
glomerate, diorite, and frequently of the central core of 

* Marbodei, " De lapiditras," Friburgi, 1531, f ol. 19. 

"Fischer and Wiedemann, "Ueber Babylonisdie 'Talismane' aus 
dem hist Mus. im steieriseh-landscliaftl. Joanneum 211 Graz," Stutt- 
gart, 1881, p. 9. 

122 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

a large conch shell from the Persian Gulf. From 2500 
B.C. to 500 B.C the cylindrical form was prevalent, and the 
materials include a brick-red ferruginous quartz, red 
hematite (an iron ore), and chalcedony, a beautiful 
variety of the last-named stone known as sapphirine be- 
ing sometimes used. On the cylinders produced from 4000 
B.C. to 2500 B.C. the designs most frequently represent 
animal forms ; on those dating from 2500 B.C. to 500 B.C. 
are generally inscribed five or six rows of cuneiform 
characters. Up to the last-named date the work was all 
done by the sapphire point, and not by the wheel, and it 
is not until the fifth century B.C. that wheel work is 
apparent in any Babylonian or Assyrian stone-engraving. 
In the course of the sixth century B.C. the cylindrical seals 
became less frequent, and the tall cone-like seals came 
into use. 11 

A new type makes its appearance about the fifth or 
sixth century B.C., namely, the scaraboid seal introduced 
from Egypt. From the third century B.C. until the second 
or third century A.D., the seals became lower and flatter, 
and the perforation larger, until they sometimes assumed 
the form of rings ; later the ring form becomes general. 
They are usually hollowed a little in the middle, which 
gives them the shape and size of the lower short joints 
of a reed ; indeed, it has been suggested that the original 
seal was rudely patterned after a reed joint. The mate- 
rials used for these cylinders include lapis-lazuli, very 
freely used and probably from the Persian mines, jasper, 
rock-crystals, chalcedony, carnelian, agate, jade, etc.; a 
hard, black variety of serpentine is perhaps the most 
common of all the materials used for this purpose. 12 

31 See Ward, "The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia/' Carnegie 
Institution Pub., Washington, D. C., 1910, pp. 1-5. 
12 Ward, 1. c., p. 5 and pp. 5-8. 

ENGRAVED AND CAKVED GEMS 123 

A good example of these talismanic cylinders shows 
the figure of the god Nebo, seated on a throne and holding 
a ring in his left hand. Before him are two altars, over 
which appear, respectively, a star and the crescent moon ; 
in front of the god is the figure of a man in an attitude 
of adoration. Borsippa, where the cylinder was found, 
was the special seat of the worship of Nebo, whose name 
appears in those of the kings Nebuchadnezzar, Nebo- 
palasser, and Nabonaid. Eegarded as the inventor of 
writing and as the god of learning, Nebo was the lord of 
the planet Mercury, and this shows a close connection 
between Babylonian and Grseco-Eoman ideas in refer- 
ence to the god associated with that planet. Nebo was 
also believed to be the orderer of times and seasons, and 
this character is indicated by the star and the crescent. 13 

The Cretan peasants of to-day set a high value upon 
certain very ancient seals dating perhaps from as early 
as 2500 B.C. which they find buried in the soil. These 
seals are inscribed with symbols supposed to represent 
the prehistoric Cretan form of writing. Of course these 
inscriptions, which have not yet been deciphered by arch- 
aeologists, are utterly incomprehensible for the peasants, 
but they undoubtedly serve to render the stones objects 
of mystery. The peasants call them galopetra, or "milk- 
stones," and they are supposed to promote the secretion 
of milk,- as was the case with the galactite. 14 The careful 
preservation of these so-called galopetrce by Cretan 
women has served the purpose of archaeological research, 
as otherwise so large a supply of these very interesting 
seals would not now be available. 

33 Fischer and Wiedemann, "Ueber Babylonische Talismane/' 
Stuttgart, 1881, p. 11. See PL I, %. 3. 

14 A. Evans, in "Journal of Hellenic Studies," vol. siv (1893), 
p. 270. 

124 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Many engraved stones of the Eoman imperial period 
bore the figures of Serapis and of Isis, the former sig- 
nifying Time and the latter Earth. On other stones the 
symbols of the zodiacal signs appear, referring to the 
natal constellation of the wearer. The astrologers, who 
derived their lore from the Orient, were consulted by all 
classes of the Eoman people, and it is therefore very 

I. ENGRAVED HELIOTROPE. 

Head of Serapis surrounded by the 
twelve Zodiacal symbols. From Gori'a 
"Thesaurus Gemmarum Antiquarum 
Astriferarum," Florence* 1750. Vol. i, 
PI. XVII. 

cxcviu 

2. ENGRAVED RED JASPER. 
Head of Medusa, Museum Cl. Passerii. 

natural that the signet, or the ring worn as an amulet, 
should frequently have been engraved with astrological 
symbols. These designs were usually engraved on onyxes, 
carnelians, and similar stones, in Greek and Eoman 
times ; but occasionally the emerald was used in this way, 
and more rarely the ruby or the sapphire. Here the 
costliness of the material was probably thought to en- 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 125 

hance the value of the amulet. The emerald ring of 
Polycrates must have possessed some other than a purely 
artistic value in his eyes, when it could be regarded by 
him as the most precious of his possessions. 

In Eoman times the image of Alexander the Great 
was looked upon as possessing magic virtues, and it is 
related that when Cornelius Macer gave a splendid ban- 
quet in the temple of Hercules, the chief ornament of the 
table was an amber cup, in the midst of which was a por- 
trait of Alexander, and around this his whole history 
figured in small, finely engraved representations. From 
this cup Macer drank to the health of the pontifex and 
then ordered that it should be passed around among the 
guests, so that each one might gaze upon the image of the 
great man. Pollio, relating this, states that it was a 
common belief that everything happened fortunately for 
those who bore with them Alexander's portrait executed 
in gold or silver. 15 Indeed, even among Christians coins 
of Alexander were in great favor as amulets, and the 
stern John Chrysostom sharply rebukes those who wore 
bronze coins of this monarch attached to their heads and 
their feet. 16 

Nowhere in the world was the use of amulets so com- 
mon as in Alexandria, especially in the first centuries 
of our era, and the types produced here were scattered 
far and wide throughout the Eoman world. Amulets 
made from various colored stones had been used for 
religious purposes in Egypt from the very earliest period 
of its history, so that the custom was deeply rooted in 
that land. "When, therefore, Alexandria was founded in 

15 Trebelii Pollionis, De XXX tyrannis, Lipsiae, p. 295. 

16 Ad ilium, catech., Horn. II, 5. 

126 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

the fourth century B.C., and became a great commercial 
centre, attracting men of all races and all religions, it is 
not surprising that the population eagerly adopted the 
various amulets used by the adherents of the different 
religions. The result was a combining and confusion 
of many different types. With the rapid rise and growth 
of the Christian religion, a new element was introduced. 
Unquestionably the leading Christian teachers were 
strongly opposed to such superstitious practices, but the 
rank and file of the faithful clung to their old fancies. 

In the second century the Gnostic heresy gave a new 
impulse to the fabrication of amulets. This strange 
eclecticism, resulting from an interweaving of pagan and 
Christian ideas, with its complicated symbolism, much of 
which is almost incomprehensible, found expression in 
the creation of the most bizarre types of amulets, and the 
magic virtues of the curious designs was enhanced by 
inscriptions purposely obscure. The incomprehensible 
always seems to have a mysterious charm for those 
devoted to the magic arts, and the adepts willingly 
catered to this taste, so that we can often only guess at 
the signification of the words and names engraved upon 
the Gnostic or Basilidian gems. So widespread was their 
use throughout the Eoman Empire, that there were fac- 
tories entirely devoted to the production of these 
objects. 17 

Eegarding the sacred name Abrasax, which was in- 
scribed on so many Gnostic gems, we read in St. Augus- 
tine's treatise De h&res., vi, "Basilides asserted that 
there were 365 heavens; it was for this reason that he 
regarded the name Abrasax as sacred and venerable. " 

1T Krause, Pyrgoteles," Halle, 1856, pp. 197-8. 

ENGBAVED AND CARVED GEMS 

127 

1. Gnostic gem, heliotrope, with Abraxas god. Gorlaeua. Collection. From the "Abra- 
xas sell Apistopistus " of Macariua (L'Heureux) Antwerp, 1657, PL II. 

2. Another type; with seven stars. 

3. Gnostic gem. Type of Abraxas god and mystic letters I A vv . From Gorrs "The- 
saurus Gemmarum Antiquarura Astriferarum," Florence, 1750, vol. i, PL CLXXXIX. 

4. Abraxas gem, jasper, mystic letters I A W. From Gorlaeus, "Cabinet de Pierres 
Gravies," Paris, 1778. 

5. Jasper engraved with the symbol of the Agathodaemon Serpent. The type of amulet 
noted by Galen as that used by the Egyptian king "Nechepsus" (Necho 610-594 B.C.). 
Original at one time in the collection of Johann Schinkel. From the "Abraxas aeu Apisto- 
pifltus" of Macariua (L'Heureux) Antwerp, 1657, PI. XVII, Seepage 385. 

128 THE CUBIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

According to the Greek notation the letters comprising 
this name give that number: 

a= 1 
]5= 2 
p = 100 
a== 1 
(7 = 200 
a= 1 

e= GO 

365 

It is, however, not unlikely that the 365 days in the 
solar year are signified; and this enigmatical name might 
thus be brought into connection with Mithra, the solar 
divinity, who was worshipped throughout the Persian 
and Eoman empires in the first and second centuries of 
our era. 

A very recondite but ingenious explanation of the 
Gnostic name Abrasax is given by Harduin in his notes 
to Pliny's "Natural History." 18 He sees in the first 
three letters the initials of the three Hebrew words sig- 
nifying father, son, and spirit (ab, ben,, ruah), the Triune 
God; the last four letters are the initials of the 
Greek words dvOpdnou? *<&& tyy 56ty or " he saves men by 
the sacred wood " (the cross). This seems rather far- 
fetched, it must be confessed, and yet to any one familiar 
with the vagaries of Alexandrine eclecticism, and with the 
tendency of the time and place to make strange and un- 
couth combinations of Greek and Hebrew forms, there is 
nothing inherently improbable in the explanation. In- 
deed, the Hebrew and Greek words in this composite sen- 

18 Caii Plinii Secundi, Naturalis Historia, ed. Harduin, Parisiis, 
, vol. ii, p. 489. 

PHOENICIAN SCARAB, WITH ENGRAVED SCORPION. (See page 115.) 

ANCIENT BABYLONIAN CYLINDER IMPRESSION, BEARING FIGURES OF 
THE GOD NEBO AND A WORSHIPPER, AND SYMBOLS OF 

SUN AND MOON. 
From Fischer and Wiedemann " Ueber Babylonische Talismane," Stuttgart, 1881, PI. 1, fig. 3. 

A SMALL JADE CELT ENGRAVED WITH GNOSTIC INSCRIPTIONS IN THE 
FOURTH CENTURY. 

On one side arc seven lines of characters, principally consisting of the seven Greek 
vowels used to denote the Ineffable Name. On the reverse is cut a laurel branch with 18 
leaves, enclosed within each of which are characters expressing the name of one of the per- 
sonifications of Gnostic theosophy. Brought from Egypt and deposited by its possessor, 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 129 

tence might have been regarded as typifying the union 
of the Old and New Testaments, and such an acrostic 
would certainly have been looked upon as possessing a 
mystic and supernatural power. 

Many explanations have been offered as to the origin 
and significance of the characteristic figure of the 
Abrasax god engraved on a number of G-nostic amulets. 
There seems to be no doubt that this figure was invented 
by Basilides, chief of the Gnostic sect bearing his name, 
and who flourished in the early part of the second cen- 

ANTIQUE JADE CELT CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN 
Enclosed within the outlines of the 18 leaves are as many names of the personifications of 

Gnostic Theosophy. 

tury A.D. While the details of the type as perfected were 
undoubtedly borrowed from the eclectic symbolism of the 
Egyptian and western Asiatic world it is almost impos- 
sible to conjecture the reasons determining the selection 
of this particular form. 

A jasper engraved with the famous Gnostic symbol 
was set in the ring worn by Seffrid, Bishop of Chichester 
(A.D. 1159). This ring was found on the skeleton of the 
bishop and is now preserved in the treasury of the Cathe- 
dral of Chichester. Undoubtedly the curious symbolic 
figure was given a perfectly orthodox meaning, and, in- 
9 

130 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

deed, it was not really a pagan symbol, as the Gnostics 
were "indifferent Christians," although their system was 
a fanciful elaboration of the doctrines of the late Alexan- 
drian school of Greek Philosophy and an adaptation of 
this to the teachings of Christian tradition. In many 
cases, however, gems with purely pagan designs were 
worn by Christians, designs such as Isis with the child 
Horus, which was taken to be the Virgin Mary with the 
infant Jesus. 

A curious amulet, apparently belonging to the Gnostic 
variety, and intended to bring success to the owner of a 
racehorse, is now in the collection of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, in New York. The material is green 
jasper with red spots. On the obverse the horse is figured 
with the victor's palm and the name Tiberis; on the re- 
verse appears the vulture-headed figure of the Abraxas 
god and the characters, "ZACTA IAW BAPIA/' which have 
been translated, "lao the Destroyer and Creator." 19 
Possibly this amulet may have been attached to the horse 
during his races to insure victory, as we know that amu- 
lets of this kind were used in this way. 

As illustrating the eclectic character of some of the 
amulets used in the early Christian centuries, we may 
note one in the Cabinet de Medailles, in Paris. This has 
upon the obverse the head of Alexander the Great; on 
the reverse is a she-ass with her foal, and below this a 
scorpion and the name Jesus Christ. Another amulet of 
this class, figured by Vettori, 20 also has the head of Alex- 

"King, Catalogue of Engraved Gems, Metropolitan Museum of 
Art, p. 81, No. 302, 1885. 

30 Dissert, apol. de quibusdam Alesandri Seven numisnmt., p. 59. 
Cited in Dictionnaire de Parch, chret., vol. i, Pt. II, Paris, 1907, cols. 
1789, 1790, where the amulet is figured. 

ENGEAYED AND CARVED GEMS 131 

ander on the obverse, while the reverse bears the Greek 
monogram of the name Chris tos. 

After the third or fourth century of our era the art 
of gem-engraving seems to have been lost, or at least 
to have been very seldom practised, and it is noteworthy 
in the matter that after this period writers who treat 
of the virtues of engraved gems as talismans rarely, if 
ever, use the words "if you engrave" such or such a 
figure on a stone, but write " if you find" such a figure. 

The figures engraved on precious stones were sup- 
posed to have a greater or lesser degree of efficacy in 
themselves independent of the virtues peculiar to the 
stone on which they were engraved, and this efficacy de- 
pended largely upon the hour, day, or month during which 
the work was executed. For the influence of the planet, 
star, or constellation which was in the ascendant was 
thought to infuse a subtle essence into the stone while 
the appropriate image was being engraved. However, 
to exert the maximum power, the virtue of the image 
must be of the same character as the virtue inherent in 
the material, and the gem became less potent when this 
was not the case. Certain images, those symbolizing the 
zodiacal signs for instance, were looked upon as possess- 
ing such power that their peculiar nature impressed it- 
self even upon stones inherently of different quality; 
others again were only efficacious when engraved on 
stones the quality of which was in sympathy with them. 21 

Naturally, many of the ancient gems which had been 
preserved from Greek and Roman times were recognized 
as being purely products of art, but in medieval and later 
times the idea of the magic quality of all engraved gems 
had become so deeply rooted that in many cases a magical 

31 Cainilli Leonard!, Speculum Lapidum, Yenetia, 1502. 

132 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

character was ascribed to them entirely foreign to the 
intention of the engraver. Great ingenuity was often 
displayed in seeking and finding some analogy between 
the supposed significance of the design and the fancied 
power of the stone itself. Taking the agate as an illus- 
tration, Canaillo Leonardo says that its many different 
varieties had as many different virtues, and he finds in 
this an explanation of the multiplicity of images engraved 
on the various kinds of agate, without realizing that the 
true reason was that this material lent itself more 
readily to artistic treatment than did many others. 

The idea that some special design should be engraved 
upon a given stone became quite general in the early cen- 
turies of our era. The emerald, for instance, according 
to Damigeron, was to be engraved with a scarab, beneath 
which was to be a standing figure of Isis. The gem, when 
completed, was to be pierced longitudinally and worn in 
a brooch. The fortunate owner of this talisman was then 
to adorn himself and the members of his family, and, a 
consecration having been pronounced, he was assured 
that he would see "the glory of the stone granted it by 
God." 22 Possibly this may have meant that the stone 
would become luminous. 

A list of these symbolic designs is said to have been 
given in the "Book of Wings," by Eagiel, one of the 
curious treatises composed about the thirteenth century 
under the influence of Hebrew and Greco-Eoman tradi- 
tion. Although it owes its origin to the Hebrew "Book of 
Baziel," it bears little if any likeness to that work. As 
will be seen in the following items, the fact that the design 
is on its appropriate stone is always insisted on : 

" Speeilegiuin Solesmense," Parisils, 18S5, vol. ill, pp. 
326, 327. 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 133 

The beautiful and terrible figure of a dragon. If this is found 
on a ruby or any other stone of similar nature and virtue, it has the 
power to augment the goods of this world and makes the wearer joyous 
and healthy. 

The figure of a falcon, if on a topaz, helps to acquire the good- 
will of kings, princes, and magnates. The image of an astrolabe, if on 
a sapphire, has power to increase wealth and enables the wearer to 
predict the future. 

The well-formed image of a lion, if engraved on a garnet, will 
protect and preserve honors and health, cures the wearer of all dis- 
eases, brings him honors, and guards him from all perils in travelling. 

An ass, if represented on a chrysolite, will give power to prog- 
nosticate and predict the future. 

The figure of a ram or of a bearded man, on a sapphire, has the 
power to cure and preserve from many infirmities as well as to free 
from poison and from all demons. This is a royal image; it confers 
dignities and honors and exalts the wearer. 

A frog, engraved on a beryl, will have the power to reconcile 
enemies and produce friendship where there was discord. 

A camel's head or two goats among myrtles, if on an onyx, has 
the power to convoke, assemble, and constrain demons; if any one 
wears it, he will see terrible visions in sleep. 

A vulture, if on a chrysolite, has the power to constrain demons 
and the winds. It controls demons and prevents them from coming 
together in the place where the gem may be; it also guards against 
their importunities. The demons obey the wearer. 

A bat, represented on a heliotrope or bloodstone, gives the wearer 
power over "demons and helps incantations. 

A griffin, imaged on a crystal, produces abundance of milk. 

A man richly dressed and with a beautiful object in his hand, 
engraved on a carnelian, cheeks the flow of blood and confers honors. 

A lion or an archer, on a jasper, gives help against poison and 
cures from fever. 

A man in armor, with bow and arrow, on an iris stone, protects 
from evil both the wearer and the place where it may be. 

A man with a sword in his hand, on a carnelian, preserves the 
place where it may be from lightning and tempest, and guards the 
wearer from vices and enchantments. 

A bull engraved on a prase is said to give aid against evil spells 
and to procure the favor of magistrates. 

134 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

A hoopoo with a tarragon herb before it, represented on a beryl, 
confers the power to invoke water-spirits and to converse with them, 
as well as to call up the mighty dead and to obtain answers to ques- 
tions addressed to them. 

A swallow, on a eelonite, establishes and preserves peace and 
concord among men. 

A man with his right hand raised aloft, if engraved on a chal- 
cedony, gives success in lawsuits, renders the wearer healthy, gives him 
safety in his travels and preserves him from all evil chances. 

The names of God, on a ceraunia stone, have the power to pre- 
serve the place where the stone may be from tempests; they also give 
to the wearer victory over his enemies. 

A bear, if engraved on an amethyst, has the virtue of putting 
demons to flight and defends and preserves the wearer from drunken- 
ness. 

A man in armor, graven on a magnet, or loadstone, has the power 
to aid in incantations and makes the wearer victorious in war. 23 

An Italian manuscript, dating from the fourteenth 
century, gives the following talismanic gems : 

If thou findest a stone on which is graven or figured a man with a 
goat's head, whoever wears this stone, with God's help, will have great 
riches and the love of all men and animals. 

If a stone be found on which is graven or figured an armed man 
or the draped figure of a virgin, bound with laurel and having a laurel 
branch in her hand, thisi stone is sacred and frees the wearer from all 
changes and haps of fortune. 

When thou findest a stone on which isi graven the figure of a man 
holding a scythe in his hand, a stone like this imparts strength and 
power to the wearer. Every day adds to his strength, courage and 
boldness. 

Hold dear that stone on which thou shalt find figured or cut the 
moon or the sun, or both together, for it makes the wearer chaste and 
guards him from lust. 

A jewel to be prized is that stone on which is graven or figured a 
man with wings having beneath his feet a serpent whose head he 

^Camilli Leonardi, "Speculum Lapidum," Venetia, 1502, ff. 
Ivi-lvii. 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 135 

holds in his hand. A stone of this kind gives the wearer, by God's 
help, abundant wealth of knowledge, as well as good health and favor. 

Shouldst thou find a stone on which is the figure of a man holding 
in his right hand a palm branch, this stone, with God's help, renders 
the wearer victorious in disputes and in battles, and brings him the 
favor of the great. 

Finding the stone called jasper, bearing graven or figured a 
huntsman, a dog, or a stag, the wearer, with God's help, will have the 
power to heal one possessed of a devil, or who is insane. 

A good stone is that one on which thou shalt find graven or 
figured a serpent with a raven, on its tail. Whoever wears this stone 
will enjoy high station and be much honored; it also protects from 
the ill-effects of the heat. 24 

The original meaning of the swastika emblem has 
been variously -explained as a symbol of fire, of the four 
cardinal points, of water, of the lightning, etc. Still 
another explanation is given by Hoernes, who inclines to 
the belief that it is simply a conventionalized representa- 
tion of the human form, the lower shaft being the two 
legs joined together, the two horizontal shafts the out- 
stretched arms, and the upper shaft the trunk of the 
body; the four projections would stand for the feet, the 
two hands and the head. 25 

The Egyptian crux ansata, the hieroglyphic symbol 
for "life," and the Phoenician Tau symbol, the "mark" 
that was to be stamped upon the foreheads of the faithful 
in Jerusalem (Ezek. ix, 4), and which in Early Christian 
art was frequently substituted for the usual cross, are 
both explained by Hoernes in a similar way, and he notes 
the fact that the swastika symbol does not appear in 

44 From an anonymous Italian treatise in a fourteenth century 
MS. in the author's collection; fol. 40 verso, 41 recto. 

25 Hoernes, " Urgeschichte der bildenden Kunst," Vienna, 1898, p. 
338. 

136 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Egyptian or Phoenician art, drawing the inference that 
all three symbols originated in the same form or figure. 26 
To all these symbols were attributed talismanic virtues 
and they were frequently engraved on precious stones. 

The so-called "Monogrammatic Cross" was very 
freely used in work of the fifth century. This is simply 
a modification of the monogram formed of the first two 

MONOGRAM OF THE NAME OF CHRIST ENGRAVED ON AN ONYX GEM. 
From the "Cabinet de Pierres Antiques Gravies," of Gorlaeus, Paris, 1778, PI. XCV. 

letters of the name Christ as written in Greek, a device 
which first appeared after the time of Constantine the 
Great (d. 337 A.D.). This monogram usually assumed the 
following form: P, and the "Monogrammatic Cross " 
was made by changing the position of the Greek X (chi), 
and making one of its arms serve as the straight stroke 
of the P (r), thus giving the following form: P. 

30 He-ernes^ TJrgeschichte der bildenden Kunst," Vienna, 1898, p. 338. 

MOSS AGATE MOCHA STONES, HINDOOSTAN. 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 137 

A curious amulet to avert the spell of the Evil Eye 
is an engraved sard showing an eye in the centre, around 
which are grouped the attributes of the divinities pre- 
siding over the days of the week. Sunday, the dies Soils, 
is represented by a lion; Monday, the dies Lunse, by a 
stag; Tuesday, the dies Martis, by a scorpion; Wednes- 
day, the dies Mercurii, by a dog; Thursday, the dies Jovis, 
by a thunderbolt ; Friday, the dies Veneris, by a snake ; 
and Saturday, the dies Saturni, by an owL 2T In this way 
the wearer was protected at all times from the evil in- 
fluence. 

Because of its peculiar markings, some of which sug- 
gest the form of an eye, malachite was worn in some parts 
of Italy (e.g., in Bettona) as an amulet to protect the 
wearer from the spell of the Evil Eye. Such stones were 
called "peacock-stones," from their resemblance in color 
and marking to the peacock's tail. The form of these 
malachite amulets is usually triangular, and they were 
mounted in silver. It is curious to note, as a proof of the 
persistence of superstitions, that in an Etruscan tomb 
at Chiusi there was found a triangular, perforated piece 
of glass, each angle terminating in an eye formed of glass 
of various colors. 28 

On many of the amulets fabricated in Italy for pro- 
tection against the dreaded jettatura, or spell of the 
Evil Eye, the cock is figured. His image was supposed in 
ancient times to assure the protection of the sun-god, and 
his crowing was regarded as an inarticulate hymn of 
praise to this deity. He was also a type of dauntless 
courage. All this contributed to make him a defender of 

^King, "The Gnostics and their Remains," London, 1864, p. 
238, figure opp. p. 115. 

38 Catalogue de PExpositioa de la Soci&e d'Anthropologie ^Expo- 
sition r de 1900), p. 286. 

138 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the weak, especially of women and children, against the 
wiles of the spirits of darkness. 29 Bostand, in his 
"Chantecler," lias enlarged this conception, and endows 
the cock with the proud conviction that it is to his matu- 

TWO GOLD RINGS SET WITH ENGRAVED ONYX GEMS. 

On the rights a Victory; on the left, game-cocks. From the DactyEotJieca, of Gorlaeus, 
Delft, 1601, Figs. 171, 172. 

tinal chant alone that the world owes the daily recurrent 
phenomenon of the sunrise. 

In Palestine the Evil Eye is supposed to be the baleful 
gift of men who have light-blue eyes, more especially if 

"Elworthy, The Evil Eye," London, 1895, pp. 353, 354. 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 139 

they are beardless. Possibly this is the power in which 
some of our blond and beardless "mashers" repose their 
trust. As an antidote to the awful influence of these 
blue-eyed monsters, the Syrian women decorated them- 
selves with blue beads, on the principle similia similibus 
curantur. A maiden with beautiful hair will tie a blue 
ribbon about it, or wear a blue bead in it, so as to ward 
off any evil spell cast by the blue eye that might rob her 
of her fair dower. 30 

It is a well-known fact that many amulets were made 
in forms suggesting objects offensive to our sense of 
propriety* These were thought to protect the wearers 
by denoting the contempt they felt for the evil spirits 
leagued against them. Some such fancy may have in- 
duced the peculiar designs of certain of the jewels alleged 
to have been pawned in Paris by the ex-Sultan Abdul 
Hamid for the sum of 1,200,000 francs ($240,000). Ac- 
cording to rumor, these pledges must be sold, as the 
sultan has failed to redeem them, but the designs are so 
risque that they cannot be offered at public sale ; there- 
fore the stones and pearls are to be removed and the gold 
settings are to be melted and sold as metal. 

It is not exclusively characteristic of our commercial 
and industrial age that the price paid for a work of art 
should influence the popular estimation of the merits of 
the work, as appears in an anecdote related by Pliny. 
An emerald (smaragd), upon which was engraved a 
figure of Amymone (one of the Danaidse), having been 
offered for sale in the Isle of Cyprus, at the price of six 
golden denarii, Ismenias, a flute-player, gave orders to 

^Stern, "Medizin, Aborglaube und Gescheleehtsleben in der 
Turkei," Berlin, 1903, vol. i, p. 235. 

140 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

purchase it. The dealer, however, reduced the price and 
returned two denarii; upon which Ismenias remarked, 
"By Hercules ! he has done me but a bad turn in this, for 
the merit of the stone has been greatly impaired by this 
reduction in price. 5 ' 31 

A variant of the design directed by Damigeron to be 
placed on the emerald is recommended in a thirteenth 
century manuscript, where we read that to fit this stone 
for use as a talisman, it should be engraved with the 
form of a scarab, beneath which there should appear a 
crested paroquet. 32 According to the same manuscript, 
a jasper should bear the figure of Mars fully armed, or 
else that of a virgin wearing a flowing robe and bearing 
a laurel branch. It should then be * i consecrated with per- 
petual consecration. " The mythical author Cethel as- 
serts that the owner of a jasper engraved with the sacred 
symbol of the cross would be preserved from drowning. 33 

A curious quid pro quo appears in a fifteenth century 
treatise on gems written in French. Here, in a list of 
engraved gems suitable for use as amulets, we read, "If 
you find a dromedary engraved on a stone with hair flow- 
ing over its shoulders, this stone will bring peace and 
concord between man and wife. " The original Latin text 
read, "If you find Andromeda on a stone with hair flow- 
ing over her shoulders, etc. 84 The translator's art which 
could turn Andromeda into a dromedary almost equalled 
that of the enchantress Circe. 

31 Plini, " Historia naturalis/' lib xxxvi, cap. 3. 

33 Archseologia, vol. xxx, p. 541, London, 1844; MS. Harl. No. 80, 
folio 105, recto. 

88 Pitra, " Specilegium Solesmense," Parisiis, 1855, vol. iii, p. 336. 

84 De Mely, in La Grande Encyclopedie. vol. xxv, p. SS5, art. 
Pierres precieuses. 

ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS 141 

A few even of the early writers were disposed to be 
sceptical as to the virtues ascribed to these engraved 
gems, and did not hesitate to assert that the Greek and 
Eoman engravers executed their designs for ornamental 
purposes rather than to fit the gems for use as talismans. 
This was undoubtedly true in a large number of cases 
but nevertheless, as we have seen, many engraved talis- 
mans were really cut in the early centuries. As the art 
of gem engraving was not practised in the Middle Ages, 
some medieval writers suppose that the engraved talis- 
manic gems current in their time were not works of art, 
but of nature, and Konrad von Megenberg accepting this 
view, gave it as his opinion that "God granted these 
stones their beauty and virtue for the help and comfort 
of the human race/' adding that when he hoped to re- 
ceive help from them he in no wise denied the grace of 
God. 35 

Damigeron writes of the sard that, if worn by a 
woman, it is a good and fortunate stone. It should be en- 
graved with a design showing a grape-vine and ivy inter- 
twined. 36 

A celebrated topaz was that noted by George Agricola 
as being in the possession of a Neapolitan, Hadrianus 
Grulielmus. 37 It bore, in ancient Eoman characters, the 
terse and pregnant inscription : 

ISTatura deficit, 
Fortuna mutatur. 
Dens omnia cernit. 

85 Konrad von Megenberg, "Buck der Natur," Stuttgart, 1861, 
p. 469. 

8C Pitra, " Speeilegium Solesmense," Parisiis, 1855, vol. in, p. 335. 
w Agrieola, " De natura f ossilum," lib. vi, Basilese, 1546, p. 291. 

142 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

This was very freely rendered by Thomas Nicols as 
follows : 3B 

Nature by frailty doth dayly waste away. 
Fortune is turn'd and changed every day. 
In all, there is an eye know's no decay. 
Jah sees for aye. 

There is in the Imperial Academy at Moscow a tur- 
qnoise two inches in diameter, inscribed with a text from 
the Koran in letters of gold. This turquoise was form- 
erly worn by the Shah of Persia as an amulet, and it 
was valued at 5000 rubles by the jeweller from whose 
hands it came. 39 

It is well known that Napoleon III was inclined to be 
superstitious, and there is not, therefore, anything in- 
herently improbable in the report that he left the seal he 
wore on his watch-chain to his son, the unfortunate Prince 
Imperial, as a talisman. This seal is said to have borne 
an inscription in Arabic characters, signifying "The 
slave Abraham relying on the Merciful One (Grod)." 40 
The talisman lost its virtue on that unlucky day when, in 
far-off Zululand, the heir to so many hopes was cut off 
in the first flush of early manhood (see page 64). 

"Nicols, "Faithful Lapidary/ 7 London, 1659, p. 107. 
^Kluge, " Edelsteinkunde," Leipsie, 1860, p. 366. 
*Fernie, "Precious Stones for Curative Wear," Bristol, 1907, 
p. 109. 

V 

fl)n >mftto# ana 

THE OPAL 

Mother. Come, let me place a charm upon thy brow, 
And may good spirits grant, that never care 
Approach, to trace a single furrow there ! 

Daughter. Thy love, my mother, better far than charm, 

Shall shield thy child and yet this wondrous gem 1 
Looks as though some strange influence it had won 
From the bright skies for every rainbow hue 
Shoots quivering through its depths in changeful gleams, 
Like the mild lightnings of a summer eve. 

Mother. Even so doth love pervade a mother's heart; 

Thus, ever active, looks through her fond eyes. 3 

can be little doubt that much of the modern 
superstition regarding the supposed unlucky 
quality of the opal owes its origin to a careless reading 
of Sir Walter Scott's novel, "Anne of G-eierstein." 3 
The wonderful tale therein related of the Lady Hermione, 
a sort of enchanted princess, who came no one knew 
whence and always wore a dazzling opal in her hair, con- 
tains nothing to indicate that Scott really meant to rep- 
resent the opal as unlucky. Lady Hermione's gem was 
an enchanted stone just as its owner was a product of 

1 The opal is said to preserve its wearer from disease; and hence, 
in the East, is much used in the form of amulets. 

3 From " Gems of Beauty," by the Countess of Blessington, Lon- 
don, 1836. 

'Sir Walter Scott, "Novels," The Janson Society, New York, 
1907, vol. acriii, pp. 126-138. 

143 

144 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

enchantment, and its peculiarities depended entirely upon 
its mysterious character, which might equally well have 
been attributed to a diamond, a ruby, or a sapphire. The 
life of the stone was bound up with the life of Hermione; 
it sparkled when she was gay, it shot out red gleams 
when she was angry; and when a few drops of holy water 
were sprinkled over it, they quenched its radiance. Her- 
mione fell into a swoon, was carried to her chamber, and 
the next day nothing but a small heap of ashes remained 
on the bed whereon she had been laid. The spell was 
broken and the enchantment dissolved. All that can have 
determined the selection of the opal rather than any 
other precious stone is the fact of its wonderful play of 
color and its sensitiveness to moisture. Hence we are 
perfectly justified in returning to the older belief of the 
manifold virtues of the opal, only remembering that this 
gem is a little more fragile than many others and should 
be more carefully handled and guarded. 

The opal, October's gem, recalls in its wonderful and 
varied play of color the glories of a bright October day 
in the country, when earth and sky vie with each other 
in brilliancy and the eye is fairly dazzled with the be- 
wildering variety of color. 

It rarely happens that Pliny gives any information 
as to particular jewels, almost all his notices of precious 
stones being confined to descriptions of their form and 
color, and data regarding what was popularly believed 
as to their talismanic or therapeutic power. In the case 
of the opalus, however, he writes as follows: " There 
exists to-day a gem of this kind, on account of which the 
senator Nonius was proscribed by Antony. Seeking 
safety in flight, he took with him of all his possessions 
this ring alone, which it is certain, was valued at 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 145 

2,000,000 sesterces ($80,000). " 4 The stone was kv as 
large as a hazel-nut." 

This "opal of Nonius" would be the great historic 
opal if we had any assurance that it was really the stone 
to which we now give this name. As, however, the prin- 
cipal European source of supply in Hungary does not 
appear to have been available in classic times to the 
Eomans, and as opals are not found in the places whence, 
according to Pliny, the opalus was derived, we are almost 
forced to the conclusion that he had some other stone in 
mind when he gave his eloquent description of the opalus. 
And yet, in spite of all this, Pliny's words so well describe 
the beauties of a fine opal that it is difficult to determine 
what other stone he could have meant. For it can well 
be said of opals that " There is in them a softer fire than 
in the carbuncle, there is the brilliant purple of the 
amethyst; there is the sea-green of the emerald all 
shining together in incredible union. Some by their re- 
fulgent splendor rival the colors of the painters, others 
the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil." 5 
Possibly some brilliant varieties of iridescent quartz 
"iris" quartz, possessing an internal fracture, displays 
with great brilliancy all the colors of the rainbow, spark- 
ling with wonderful clearness in its field of transparent 
mineral might excite the admiration of one who had 
never seen an opal. Referring again to these quartz 
crystals, they are often cut so as to form a dome of 
quartz and are even used as distinct jewels. The fact 
that Pliny could praise the Indian imitations of the 
opalus in glass, and could state that this stone was more 
successfully imitated than any other, is an almost de- 

*Plinii, "ISTaturalis historia," lib. sxxvii, cap. 6- 
5 Plinii, 1. c. 
10 

146 THE CURIOUS LOKE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

cisive argument against identifying the opalus with an 
opal, for it is well known that no stone is more difficult 
to imitate. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century, a peasant 
found a brilliant precious stone in some old ruins at 
Alexandria, Egypt. This stone was set in a ring. It was 
as large as a hazel-nut and is said to have been an opal 
cut en cabochon. According to the report, it was event- 
ually taken to Constantinople, where it was estimated to 
be worth "several thousand ducats. 7 ' 6 The description 
given of this gem, its apparent antiquity, and the high 
value set upon it have contributed to induce many to 
conjecture that it was the celebrated "opal of Nonius." 
Of course this was nothing but a romantic fancy. It is 
also quite certain that an opal would scarcely hold its 
play of color or compactness for twenty centuries, for 
most opals lose their water slowly perhaps, but surely 
within a lesser space of time. Even the finest Hungarian 
opals show some loss of life and color within a century 
or even less, and some transparent Mexican opals lose 
their color and are filled with flaws within a few years' 
time. 

The Edda tells of a sacred stone called the yarkastein, 
which the clever smith Volondr (the Scandinavian Vul- 
can) formed from the eyes of children. Grimm conjec- 
tures that this name designates a round, milk-white opal. 
Certainly the opal was often called ophthalmias, or eye- 
stone, in the Middle Ages, and it was a common idea that 
the image of a boy or girl could be seen in the pupil of the 
eye. 

Albertus Magnus describes under the name orphamts 

6 Hesselquist, " Voyages and Travels in the Levant/ 7 English trans., 
London, 1766, pp. 273, 274. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 

147 

a stone which was set in the imperial crown of the Holy 
Roman Empire. This gem is believed to have been a 
splendid opal, and Albertus describes it as follows : 

The orphanus is a stone which is in the crown of the Roman 
Emperor, and none like it has ever been seen; for this very reason 
it is called orphanus. It is of a subtle vinous tinge, and its hue is as 

THE "ORPHANUS JEWEL" IN THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN. 

From the "Hortus Sanitatia" of Johannis de Cuba [Strassburg, Jean Pryss, ca. 1483]; De 

lapidibus, cap. xcii. Author's library. 

though pure white snow flashed and sparkled with the color of bright, 
ruddy wine, and was overcome by this radiance. It is a translucent 
stone, and there is a tradition that formerly it shone in the night- 
time; but now, in our age, it does not sparkle in the dark. It is said 
to guard the regal honor. 7 

7 Alberti Magni, Opera Omnia, ed. Borgnet, Parisiis, 1890, vol. 
v, p. 42. 

148 THE CURIOUS LOKE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

Evidently this imperial gem was regarded as sui 
generis, for Albertus has just described the ophthalmus 
lapis, a name frequently bestowed upon the opal in medie- 
val times, reciting the virtues usually ascribed to the opal 
for the cure of diseases of the eye, and the magic power 
of the stone to render its wearer invisible, wherefore it 
was denominated patronus furum, or " patron of 
thieves." 

In the Middle Ages the opal mines of Cernowitz, in 
Hungary, were very actively exploited, and at the open- 
ing of the fifteenth century more than three hundred men 
are said to have been employed here in the search for 
opals. At that time, and for many centuries after, no 
breath of suspicion ever tarnished the fame of the opal 
as not only a thing of rare beauty, but also a talisman of 
the first rank. We are told that blond maidens valued 
nothing more highly than necklaces of opals, for while 
they wore these ornaments their hair was sure to guard 
its beautiful color. The latter superstitions probably 
arose from the frangibility of the stone and its occasional 
loss of fire. 

From the earliest times the baleful influence of the 
Evil Eye has struck terror into the souls of the ignorant 
and superstitious. It is believed by some that the name 
"opal" written "ophal" in the time of Queen Eliza- 
beth was derived from ophthalmos, the eye, or ophthal- 
mius, pertaining to the eye, and that hence the foolish 
superstition regarding the ill luck of the opal had some 
connection with the belief in the Evil Eye. However, 
this is altogether incorrect, since the stone called ophthal- 
mius by early writers, and which seems to have been the 
opalus of the ancients and our opal, was believed to have 
a wonderfully beneficial effect upon the sight, and if it 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 149 

was thought to render the wearer invisible, this was only 
an added virtne of the stone. 

The eye-agates were sometimes used to form the eyes 
of idols. At a later period some of these "agate-eyes" 
were removed from the statnes and cut with a glyptic 
subject on the lower side. Some of the most interesting 
antique gems are of this kind. In Aleppo (and elsewhere 
in the East) there is a certain type of sore known as the 
"Aleppo button" or "Aleppo boil." The boil fre- 
quently does not appear for a long period after infection 
has taken place. It often appears as a swelling sur- 
rounded by a white ring, and there is a belief among the 
natives that there are "Aleppo stones," these being the 
so-called "eye-agates" frequently produced by cutting 
a three-layer, naturally pale yellow or pale gray agate, 
with intervening white zones in such a way that it looks 
like an eye or a double-eye, and such stones are used in 
alleviation of the Aleppo sore. What beneficial influence 
they may have is due to the fact that the agate is cold 
and furnishes a little relief for the time. 

This "Aleppo boil" or "Oriental sore" so prevalent 
in many parts of western Asia, is produced, according to 
the best authorities, by a pathogenic organism Leish- 
mania tropica (Wright) 1903. As to the means by which 
this organism is introduced into the human subject noth- 
ing very definite is known, but mosquitoes or Phlebotomus 
have been suggested as possible transmitting agencies. 8 

The eye of some invisible monster, the eye of the 
dragon, the eye of the serpent, were all regarded as pos- 
sessed of malign power. It is well known that in the East 
Indies a peacock's feather is thought to bring ill-luck, 

8 Communication of Dr. Frederick Knab, citing Castellani and Chal- 
mers, ''Manual of Tropical Medicine," 1910. 

150 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the eye in the feather being the baleful point. Even in 
our own time, and among those for whom this primitive 
superstition has no terrors, the humorous use of the 
idea as shown, for instance, in the "Dick Dead-Eye" of 
Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pinafore" proves that the Evil 
Eye is familiar to our thoughts. For this reason, stones 
such as those which have been named the cat's-eye, the 
tiger's-eye, or the oculus Beli, always possess a certain 
strange interest. 

One of the earliest descriptions of the opal in English 
is that written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth by Dr, 
Stephen Batman (cL 1584). While the passage is essen- 
tially a translation from the "De proprietatibus rerum," 
of Bartolomseus Anglicus, the English version is interest- 
ing in itself as showing what was accepted by English 
readers of the time regarding the virtues of the opal. 
There is, of course, no trace of the foolish modern super- 
stition touching the ominous quality of this beautiful 
gem. Batman writes : 9 

Optallio is called Oppalus also, and is a stone distinguished with 
colors of divers precious stones, as Isid. saith. . . . This stone 
breedeth onely in Inde and is deemed to have as many virtues, as 
Mewes and colours. Of this Optallius it is said in Lapidario, that this 
OptalliuB keepeth and saveth his eyen that beareth it, cleere and sharp 
and without griefe, and dimmeth other men's eyen that be about, with 
a maner clowde, and smiteth them with a maner blindnesse, that is 
called Amentia, so that they may not see neither take heede what is 
done before their eyen. Therefore it is said that it is the most sure 
patron of theeves. 

The opal seems to have appealed to Shakespeare as a 
fit emblem of inconstancy, for in " Twelfth Night" he 
makes the clown say to the Duke : 10 

"Batman, "Uppon Bartholome," London, 15S2, p. 264, lib. xvi, 
cap. 73. 

10 Shakespeare, " Twelfth Night/ 7 Act ii, Sc. 4. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 151 

Now the melancholy G-od protect thee, and the Tailor make thy 
garment of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is very opal. 

That the beauty of the opal was fully appreciated 
in the sixteenth century is shown by the words of Car- 
dano, who states that he once bought one of these stones 
for fifteen gold crowns and found as much pleasure in its 
possession as he did in that of a diamond that had cost 
him five hundred crowns. 11 Although superstitious 
beliefs were rather the rule than the exception in Car- 
dano 7 s time, none of the silly fancies regarding the omi- 
nous quality of the opal were then current. It was 
reserved for the nineteenth century to develop these alto- 
gether unreasonable and indeed almost inexplicable 
superstitions. The ownership of so fair an object as a 
fine opal must certainly be a source of pleasure, and hence 
add to the good fortune of the owner. 

Although opal has been considered by some a stone of 
misfortune, black opal is regarded as an exceptionally 
lucky stone. Formerly black opals were artificially made 
by dipping the light-colored stone into ink, or by allowing 
burnt oil to enter cracks in the stone produced by heat- 
ing. About the year 1900, however, a number of deposits 
of natural black opals were found in the White Cliff 
region of New South Wales, whence exceedingly beautiful 
gems have been secured, with wonderful flames of green, 
red, and blue in a black field. Some of these have sold for 
$1000 and even for a higher price, the smaller ones bring- 
ing from a few dollars upward each. It has been claimed 
that $2,000,000 wortK have been sold from New South 
Wales. A remarkable example is figured on the frontis- 
piece of this volume. The late F. Marion Crawford was a 
great admirer of this strangely beautiful variety of opal. 

That ill-luck and good-luck are relative terms is shown 

11 Cardani, " Be subtilitate," Basileae, 1560, p. 445. 

152 THE CUBIOUS LOKE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

as published of an opal by Paris newspapers, A shop- 
girl, plainly clad, in crossing the Place de POpera, when 
the street traffic was at its greatest, stopped at one of the 
"refuges" halfway across the street. To the girl's great 
surprise, an elegantly attired lady standing there slipped 
an opal ring from her finger and gave it to the girl, who 
took it to a jeweller's shop to sell it. Here she was 
arrested on suspicion of having stolen it. The magis- 
trate before whom she appeared was inclined to believe 
her story and ordered a "personal" in a widely read 
journal asking the lady to clear the girl of the charge. 
A titled lady presented herself, substantiating the girl's 
statement. She feared ill-luck would befall her if she 
wore or kept the ring, which was returned to the shopgirl. 

A possible explanation of the superstitious dread the 
opal used to excite some time ago may be found in the 
fact that lapidaries and gem-setters to whom opals were 
entrusted were sometimes so unfortunate as to fracture 
them in the process of cutting or setting. This was fre- 
quently due to no fault on the part of the cutters or set- 
ters, but was owing to the natural brittleness of the opal. 
As such workmen are responsible to the owners for any 
injury to the gems, they would soon acquire a prejudice 
against opals, and would come to regard them as un- 
lucky stones. Very widespread superstitions have no 
better foundation than this, for the original cause, some- 
times a quite rational one, is soon lost sight of and pop- 
ular fantasy suggests something entirely different and 
better calculated to appeal to the imagination. 

The belief that the diamond fractured the teeth if it 
were put in the mouth, and ruptured the intestines if it 
were swallowed, already appears in pseudo-Aristotle, 12 

13 Rose, " Aristoteles De lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo," in Zeitschr. 
fiir D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, p. 391. See also Avicenna, "Liber 
eanonis," Basile, 1556, p. 182, lib. ii, Tract, ii, cap, 20. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Eye agates, Aleppo stones, Arabia. 

G and 7. Antique eye agates, with double zone. 

8 and 9. Aleppo stones set in rings. 

10 and 11. Double eye agates, Aleppo stones, Arabia. 

12. Natural pebble, showing eye from Isle Royal, Lake Superior. 

13 and 14. Natural agates with eye-like effect, East Indian. Had been used as votive charms. 

15. Eye agate, Brazil. 

16. Agate called Oriental agate, eye effect, from Brazil. 

17. Ancient eye of idol, agate variety sardonyx. Had been pierced lengthwise and worn i 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 153 

and can therefore be dated back to the ninth and perhaps 
to the seventh century. This fancy evidently owes its 
origin to the fact that the diamond, because of its hard- 
ness, was used to cut all other stones, and the idea of its 
destructive quality was strengthened by the old legends 
regarding the venomous serpents which guarded the place 
where it was found. Hence the firm conviction that it 
would bring death to any one who swallowed it. 

According to Grarcias ab Orta (1563), the diamond was 
not used for medicinal purposes in the India of his time, 
except when injected into the bladder to break up vesical 
calculi. He notes, however, the prevalent belief that dia- 
monds, or diamond dust, when taken internally, worked 
as a poison. As a proof of the falsity of this belief, 
G-arcias adduces the fact that the slaves who worked in 
the diamond mines often swallowed diamonds to conceal 
them, and never experienced any ill effects, the stones 
being recovered in a natural way. The same author notes 
the case of a man who suffered from chronic dysentery 
and whose wife had for a long time administered to him 
doses of diamond dust. If this did not help him, neither 
did it injure him; finally, by the advice of the doctors, 
this strange treatment was abandoned. The man event- 
ually died of Ms disease, but many days after the doses 
of diamond dust had been discontinued. 13 

The Hindus believed that a flawed diamond, or one con- 
taining specks or spots, was so unlucky that it could even 
deprive Indra of his highest heaven. The original shape 
of the stone was also considered of great importance, 
more especially in early times, when but few, if any, dia- 
monds, were cut. A triangular stone was said to cause 

"Garcias ab Orta, "Aromatum historia" (Lat. version by 
Clusius). AntverpiaB, 1579, p. 172. The Portuguese original was pub- 
lished in Goa, in 1563. 

154 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

quarrels, a square diamond inspired the wearer with 
vague terrors ; a five-cornered stone had the worst effect 
of all, for it brought death ; only the six-cornered diamond 
was productive of good. 14 

The Turkish sultan Bejazet II (1447-1512) is said to 
have been done to death by a dose of pulverized diamond 
administered to him by his son Selim, who mixed the dia- 
mond dust with the sultan's food. 15 It is also related that 
the disciples of Paracelsus (1493-1541) spread the re- 
port that he died from the effects of a dose of diamond 
dust. Ambrosius 16 conjectures that this was only an 
excuse to explain the demise of the master in the prime 
of life he was but forty-eight years old at the time of 
his death although he had promised long life to all who 
made use of his medicaments. 

While Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), the unrivalled 
goldsmith, was imprisoned in Borne, in 1538, he strongly 
suspected that his enemies were seeking to poison him 
by tampering with his food. Cellini shared the belief 
of his contemporaries that there was no more deadly 
poison than diamond dust One day, while eating his 
noonday meal, he felt something grate between his teeth. 
He paid no particular attention to this, but when he had 
finished eating his eye was caught by some bright par- 
ticles on the plate. Picking np one of these and examin- 
ing it carefully, he was terrified to find what he supposed 
to be a diamond splinter, and lie straightway gave himself 
up for lost, thinking that he had swallowed a quantity of 
diamond dust. He prayed to God for an hour and finally 

"Surindra Mohun Tagore, "Mani Mala," Pt. I, Calcutta, 1879, 
pp. 122, 125. 

"Justi Lepsii, "De fraude et vi," cap. v, 8; cited in Pindar, 
" De adamante," Berolini, 1829, p. 58. 

te Aldrovandi, u Museum metallieum/' Bononije, 1648, p. 949. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 155 

became reconciled to the thought of dying, but suddenly 
it occurred to him that he had not tested the hardness of 
the fragment he had found in his food. He immediately 
took the splinter and tried to crush it between his knife 
and the stone window-sill; to his joy the attempt suc- 
ceeded, and he became convinced that what he had swal- 
lowed was not diamond dust. Later, after his release, 
Cellini learned that an enemy had given a diamond to a 
certain Lione Aretino, a gem-cutter, instructing him to 
grind it up so that the dust could be placed in Cellini's 
food. The gem-cutter was very poor and the diamond 
was worth a hundred scudi, so the man yielded to tempta- 
tion and substituted a citrine for the diamond. To this 
circumstance alone did Cellini attribute his escape from 
death. 17 

In England, more than seventy years after Cellini's 
experience, diamond dust was selected as a poison to do 
away with a luckless prisoner. Sir Thomas Overbury 
had incurred the bitter animosity of the Countess of 
Essex, because he opposed her marriage with the favorite 
of James I, Robert Carr, Viscount Somerset, whom he 
had befriended and whose career he had furthered. The 
marriage took place, however, and, in 1613, Overbury was 
imprisoned in the Tower, through the machinations of 
the countess. She then sought the aid of one James 
Franklin, an apothecary, directing him to concoct a slow 
and deadly poison, which should be mixed with Over- 
bury's food. In the minutes of Franklin's confession, he 
is said to have stated that the countess asked him what 
he thought of white arsenic. His reply was that this 
poison would prove too violent. "What say you (quoth 
she) to powder of diamonds?" He answered, "I know 

17 Vita di Benvenuto Cellini, ed. Carpani, Milano, 1806, p. 445. 

156 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

not the nature of that." She said that he was a fool, 
and gave him pieces of gold, and bade him buy some of 
that powder for her. It appears, however, from the tes- 
timony, that a number of ingredients were employed, 
quite probably small doses of mercury, cantharides, etc., 
as well as the baleful diamond dust. Poor Overbury 
lingered on for more than three months, but was finally 
put out of his misery by a clyster of corrosive sublimate. 18 

As a proof of the deadly effects caused by the dia- 
mond, the Portuguese Zacutus relates the case of a mer- 
chant's servant who surreptitiously swallowed three 
rough diamonds belonging to his master. On the follow- 
ing day this man was seized with violent abdominal pains, 
all the remedies administered to him were without effect, 
and he soon died from the extensive internal ulceration 
produced by the sharp edges of the diamonds. 19 

This old fancy that diamonds or diamond dust had 
deadly effects when swallowed is pretty well exploded by 
this time, little or no confirmation being afforded by the 
instances cited in the matter. However, quite recently it 
has been shown that swallowing a diamond can prove 
fatal to a fowl. While a prize-winning cockerel was 
being fondled by his proud owner, it spied a flashing 
diamond set in a ring on his hand, and immediately pecked 
out the stone and swallowed it. Not long after, the fowl 
died not, however, because it was poisoned by the dia- 
mond, but because it was chloroformed to insure the 
speedy recovery of the stone. 

An old English ballad, treating of the loves of Hind 
Horn and Maid Eimnild, recounts that when Hind Horn, 

18 

8 Amos, "The Great Oyer of Poisoning," London, 1846, pp. 336 
sqq. 

^Aldrovandi, "Museum metallicum," Bononi, 1648, p. 949. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 157 

who loved and was beloved by the king's daughter, went 
to sea to escape the wrath of the king, the princess gave 
him a ring set with seven diamonds. We are told that 
when far from home : 

One day he looked his ring upon 
He saw the diamond pale and wan. 

Hereupon, he hastened back, for the paleness of the 
stone was a sign the loved one was unfaithful to him. 
On his return, he succeeded in preventing her marriage 
to another, and everything ended happily. 20 

In a fourteenth century MS. of the Old English ro- 
mance upon which the ballad is founded, the stone in the 
ring is not named ; in giving it Eimnild says : 21 

Loke thou forsake it for no thing; 

The ston it is well trewe. 

When the ston wexeth wan 

Than chaungeth the thought of thi leman, 

Take than a newe. 
When the ston wexeth rede, 
Than have Y lorn mi maidenhed, 
Oghaines 22 the untrewe. 

In this older form of the tale, the stone either grows 
pale or red as a sign of misfortune. It is interesting to 
note that Epiphanius, writing a thousand years earlier, 
states that the adamas of the high-priest grew red as a 
presage of bloodshed and defeat for the Jews. 

Eegarding the old fancy that a serpent could not look 

20 Child, " The English and Scottish Popular Ballads," Boston, 
1882-96, vol. i, pp. 187 sqq. 
* Child, 1. e. 
12 Against thee. 

158 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

upon an emerald without losing its sight, the Arabian gem 
dealer, Ahmed TeifasM, in 1242 writes as follows : 2S 

After having read in learned books of this peculiarity of the 
emerald, I tested it by my own experiment and found the statements 
exact. It chanced that I had in my possession a fine emerald of the 
zababi variety, and with this I decided to make the experiment on the 
eyes of a viper. Therefore, having made a bargain with a snake- 
charmer to procure me some vipers, as soon as I received them I 
selected one and placed it in a vessel. This being done, I took a stick 
of wood, attached to the end a piece of wax, and embedded my 
emerald in this. I then brought the emerald near to the viper's eyes. 
The reptile was strong and vigorous, and even raised its head out 
of the vessel, but as soon as I approached the emerald to its eyes, I 
heard a slight crepitation and saw that the eyes were protruding and 
dissolving into a humor. After this the viper was dazed and con- 
fused; I had expected that it would spring from the vessel, but it 
moved uneasily hither and thither, without knowing which way to 
turn; all its agility was lost, and its restless movements soon ceased. 

Wolfgang Grabelchover, in his commentary on the 
sixth book of the treatise "De Gremmis," by Andrea 
Baccio, gives the following account of a strange and 
tragic experience in regard to a ruby : 24 

It is worthy of note that the true Oriental ruby, by frequent 
changes of color and by growing obscurity, announces to the wearer 
some impending misfortune or calamity; and the obscurity and 
opacity is greater or less according to the extent of the coming ill- 
fortune. Alas! that what I had often heard proclaimed by learned 
men, I should myself experience; for as, on the fifth of December, 1600, 
I was travelling from Stuttgart to Calw with my beloved wife Cath- 
erine Adelmann of pious memory, I plainly observed in the course 
of the journey that a very beautiful ruby which she had given me, 
and which I wore on my hand, set in a gold ring, once and again lost 

2 *Ravii, "Specimen Arabicum," Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1784, pp. 
97, 98. 

34 Andreas Baccii, "De gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis," Latin 
trans, by Wolfgang Gabelchover, Francofurti, 1603, pp. 63, 64. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 159 

its splendid coloring and became obscure, changing its brightness for 
a dark hue. This dark hue continued not for one or two days only r 
but so long that I was greatly terrified, and, removing the ring from 
my finger, concealed it in a case. Wherefore, I repeatedly warned my 
wife that some great calamity was impending either for her or for 
myself, the which I inferred from the change and variation of the 
ruby. Nor was I deceived, for within a few days she was seized with 
a dangerous illness, which resulted in her death. 

A story explaining one at least of these supposedly 
ominons changes of color in precious stones, is given by 
Johann Jacob Spener, who states that it was told him 
by a trustworthy informant : 25 

There was a jeweller, expert, prudent, and rich, three essential 
qualities in a jeweller. One day, after having washed his hands, this 
man sat at a table, when, glancing at a ruby ring he wore on his 
finger, he remarked that the stone, which usually delighted the eye 
with its splendor, had lost its brilliancy and become dull. Since he 
believed what others had related to him, he was firmly persuaded that 
some misfortune threatened him, and, having removed the ring from 
his finger, he placed it in its case. A fortnight later, one of this man's 
sons died of varioloid. Reminded by this event of the phenomenon 
observed in the ruby, the jeweller took it from the case and found, 
on examination, that it had regained its pristine brilliancy. This fact 
confirmed him in his belief in the ominous quality of the stone. Once 
more, shortly after washing his hands, he remarked anew that the 
splendor of the ruby was dimmed, and he again fell a prey to anxiety, 
lest some fresh misfortune was impending. Since, however, his ap- 
prehensions proved vain and no untoward event happened, he inves- 
tigated the matter carefully, and discovered that the obscuration of 
the color was due to a drop of water which had penetrated between 
the ruby and the foil, as the jewellers call it, and that the former 
brilliancy returned when the water had evaporated. 

The ominous character of the onyx is especially noted 
in Arabic tradition, as is shown by the Arabic name for 
the stone, el jaza, "sadness." The following passage 

33 " De gernmis errores vulgares," Lipsise, 1688, sect, ii, 12. 

160 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PKECIOUS STONES 

from pseudo-Aristotle offers an illustration of the 
strength of this prejudice against the onyx, which was 
said to come from China and the Magreb : 26 

Those who are in the land of China fear this stone so much that 
they dread to go into the mines where it occurs; hence none but slaves 
and menials, who have no other means of gaining a livelihood, take 
the stone from the mines. When it has been extracted, it is carried 
out of the country and sold in other lands. Those men of the Magreb 
also who are gifted with any wisdom will not wear an onyx or place 
it in their treasuries. Indeed, no one is willing to wear it, unless he be 
bereft of his senses; for whosoever wears it, either set in a ring or in 
any other way, will have fearful dreams and be tormented by a multi- 
tude of doubts and apprehensions; he will also have many disputes 
and lawsuits. Lastly, whoever keeps an onyx in his house, or places 
it in a vessel, or puts it in food or drink, will suffer loss of energy and 
capacity. 

An ominous character was attributed to the red coral, 
especially the more highly colored varieties. If worn so 
that the substance came in direct contact with the skin, 
it was asserted that the color would pale, the coral also 
losing its brightness if the wearer became ill, or even if 
he were only threatened with severe illness. The same 
effect was said to be induced if some deadly poison had 
been taken. Cardano writes that he more than once 
observed this phenomenon, and he thinks that in these 
cases, where the wearer was not yet attacked by disease, 
its threatening "vapor," though not strong enough to 
provoke decided symptoms in the human body, was suf- 
ficiently powerful to offset the more delicate and subtle 
essence of the mineral substance. Of course, for us the 
mineral would be much less sensitive than flesh and blood, 
but the sixteenth century writers, and to a still greater 

28 Rose, Aristoteles De lapidibus and Arnoldus Saxa, Zeitschr. f iir 
D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, 1875, pp. 360, 361. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 161 

degree those of an earlier time, attributed to stones not 
only life in a general way, but old age, disease, and death, 
in a very positive sense. 27 

Eabbinical tradition tells of a wonderful luminous 
stone placed by Noah in the Ark. This stone shone more 
brilliantly by day than by night, and served to distinguish 
the day from the night when, during the flood, neither 
sun nor moon could be seen. 28 According to another 
Jewish legend, Abraham is said to have built a city for 
the six sons Hagar bore to him. The wall with which 
this city was surrounded was so lofty that the light of the 
sun was cut off, and to offset this Abraham gave to his 
sons enormous precious stones and pearls. These ex- 
ceeded the sun in brightness, and will be used in the time 
of the Messiah. 20 

^Elian relates the following tale of a luminous stone. 
A woman of Tarentum, named Heracleis, who was a 
pattern of the domestic virtues, lost her husband and 
mourned sincerely for him. Her grief made her com- 
passionate, for when a young stork just learning to fly 
lost its strength and fell to the ground before her, Her- 
acleis picked up the helpless bird and tended it carefully 
until its strength returned and it was able to fly away. 
A year later, when the woman was outside the house en- 
joying the bright warm sunshine, she saw a stork flying 
toward her. As the bird passed over her head, it let 
fall a precious stone into her lap. Heracleis took the 

aT Cardani, " De subtilitate," Basileae, 1554, lib. vii, pp. 191, 205. 

^Ginsburg, "Legends of the Jews," Eng. trans., Phila., 1909, 
vol. i, p. 162. See also Levy, "Dictionary of the Targumim/' etc., 
New York and London, 1903, vol. ii, p. 836, s. v. rrtonp- Pirke d'R. 
EL, eh. xxiii. 

* Ginsburg, 1. c., p. 298. 

11 

162 THE CURIOUS LOKE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

stone with her into the house, feeling by an infallible in- 
stinct that the stork which had dropped it was the one she 
had cared for in the previous year. During the night she 
woke up, and was astonished to see that the room was 
lighted up as though by many torches, the radiance pro- 
ceeding from the stone bestowed by the stork as a proof 
of its gratitude. 30 

In German, the stone called Donnerkett (thunderbolt) 
has several synonyms; among these is Storchstein 
("stork-stone")- I* * s evident that the stone of Heracleis 
was identical with the precious and brilliant variety of 
ceramics mentioned by Pliny, " which drew to themselves 
the radiance of the stars." The flashing and ruddy light 
of the ruby suggested an igneous origin, and induced the 
belief that rubies were generated by a fire from heaven, 
in other words, by the lightning flash. 31 

The analogy between the flame of a lamp or the glow 
of a burning coal and the radiance of a ruby, suggested 
some of the names given to this stone, or those resembling 
it in color, as, for instance, the Greek anthrax and the 
Latin carbunculus and lychnis. Probably the fancy that 
such stones were luminous in the dark was nothing more 
than the logical result of the quasi-identification of them 
with fire in some of its manifestations. Still, it is a well- 
known fact that some stones possess a high degree of 
phosphorescence. This circumstance must have been 
observed by chance, and may have had something to do 
with the legends of luminous stones, although this pecu- 
liarity is not characteristic of the ruby. 

According to Pliny, the lychnis, perhaps a spinel, was 

^Claudii 2Eliani, "De animalium natura," lib. viii, cap. 22, ed. 
Gesner, Tiguri, 1568, pp. 182, 183. 

31 Grimm, " Worterbuch," vol. ii, col. 1244. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 163 

so called a lucernarum accensu (from the lighting, or the 
light, of lamps ) . The author of the poem ' * Lithica ' ' says 
that the diamond (adamas), like the crystal, when placed 
on an altar, sent forth a flame without the aid of fire, 32 
If this did not refer to the use of rock-crystal as a burn- 
ing-glass, we might see in the passage an indication that 
the phosphorescence of the diamond had already been 
noted before the second or third century of our era. 

From the Lydian river Tmolus a marvellous stone was 
taken which was said to change color four times a day. 
This surpasses the properties of the "saphire mervei 
leux" which changed its hue at night. Only innocent 
young girls could find the Lydian stone, and while they 
wore it they were defended from outrage. 33 Is it possible 
that the ancient writer intended to hint at the proverbial 
fickleness of woman, when stating that this changeable 
stone could only be discovered by one of the fair sex? 

The temple of the Syrian goddess Astarte contained 
an image of this divinity crowned with a diadem in which 
was set a luminous stone. Such was the splendor of the 
light emitted by this gem that the whole sanctuary was 
lighted up as though with a myriad of lamps. Indeed, 
the stone itself bore the name tychnos ("lamp"). In the 
daytime this light was fainter, but was still very notice- 
able, a,s a fiery glow. 34 

Two fabulous stones are noted by pseudo-Aris- 
totle, and one of these, the "sleeping-stone," must have 
possessed marvellous soporific power. It was a luminous 
stone of a bright ruddy hue, and shone in the darkness 
with a bright light. If a small quantity of this stone were 

32 "Lithiea," line 270. 

w De Mely, "La traite des fleuves de Plutarche/ 3 in Eevue des 
fitudes Greeques, vol. v (1892), p. 331. 
"Lueiani, "De Syria dea," cap. 32. 

164 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PKECIOUS STONES 

hung about a person's neck, he would sleep uninterrupt- 
edly for three days and nights, and, when awakened on 
the fourth day, he would still be almost overcome by sleep. 
The other stone, of a greenish hue, had the opposite 
quality and induced prolonged wakefulness; so long as 
it was worn, sleep was banished. Our author gravely 
states that "some men who must watch at night suffer 
greatly from lack of sleep." If, however, they wore the 
"waking-stone, 77 they suffered no inconvenience from 
their enforced vigils. 35 Evidently this stone would be a 
precious possession for night-watchmen, and a more 
satisfactory guarantee for their employers than "time- 
clocks 73 or other tests of wakefulness. 

In his commentary on Marbodus, Alardus of Amster- 
dam relates the history of a wonderful luminous stone, a 
"chrysolampis," which, with many other precious stones, 
was set in a marvellous golden tablet dedicated to St. 
Adelbert, apostle of the Frisians and patron of the town 
of Egmund (d. 720-730) , by Hildegard, wife of Theodoric, 
Count of Holland. The gift was made to the Abbey of 
Egmund, where the saint's body reposed. Alardus tells 
us that the "chrysolampis" shone so brightly that when 
the monks were called to the chapel in the night-time, 
they could read the Hours without any other light. This 
wonderful stone was stolen by one of the monks, whom 
Alardus terms "the most rapacious creature who ever 
went on two legs" ; but, fearing to keep so valuable a gem 
with him, he cast it into the sea and it was never recov- 
ered. 36 

85 Rose, "Aristoteles de lapidibtis und Arnoldus Saxo," Zeitsehr. 
fur D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, 1875, pp. 375, 376. 

30 The abbey to which Hildegard gave the tablet was probably that 
built by Theodoric II and destroyed by the Reformers in 1572. The 
first building was of wood and was erected by Theodoric I in 923 or 
924; this was ravaged by the Frisians not many years later. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 165 

Strange tales were told of a luminous "carbuncle" 
on the shrine of St. Eliza-beth (d. 1231) at Marburg. This 
stone was set above the statuette of the Virgin, and it was 
said to emit fiery rays at night However, Creuzer in- 
forms us that it was only a very brilliant rock crystal 
of a yellowish-white hue. The shrine was an elaborate 
work of art in silver gilt, and was literally covered with 
precious stones to the number of 824, besides two large 
pearls and a great many smaller ones. All these gems 
were stripped from their settings when the shrine was 
taken from Marburg to Cassel in 1810. 37 

At the Dusseldorf Exhibition of 1891, the writer saw 
what was called "The Eing of St. Elizabeth, " purport- 
ing to be set with her miraculously luminous ruby. The 
stone in the setting proved, however, to be a large almost 
flat carbuncle garnet of no great brilliancy, set in a 
narrow rim of gold. 

After noting the reports of medieval travellers re- 
garding the wonderful luminous rubies of the sovereigns 
of Pegu and repeating the tale that the night was illu- 
mined by their splendor, Cleandro Arnobio adds that it 
did not appear that any such rubies were to be found in 
his day. Nevertheless, he had heard from an ecclesiastic 
of a certain jewel that shone brightly at night. This 
stone, however, was not a ruby, but was of a pale citron 
hue, and hence Arnobio inclines to believe that it was 
either a topaz or a yellow diamond. 38 This probably 
refers to the Marburg "carbuncle." 

The luminous "ruby 7 ' of the King of Ceylon is noted 
by Chau Ju-Kua, 89 a Chinese writer of about the middle 

87 Creiizer, " Antik gesehnittene Steine vom Grabmahl der heil- 
igen Elizabeth," Leipsie and Darmstadt, 1834, pp. 25, 26. 

M Arnobio, " II tesoro delle gioie," Venice, 1602, p. 34. 

39 See the English translation of his " Chu-f an-ehi," by Friedrieh 
Hirth and W. W, Roekhill, St Petersburg, 1911, p. 72. 

166 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

of the thirteenth century and hence a contemporary of 
the Arab Teifashi. He says: "The king holds in his 
hand a jewel five inches in diameter, which cannot be 
burned by fire, and which shines in the night like a 
torch." This gigantic luminous gem was also believed 
to possess the virtues of an elixir of youth, for we are 
told that the king rubbed his face with it daily and by this 
means would retain his youthful looks even should he 
live more than ninety years. 

The glories of Emperor ManuePs (ca. 1120-1180) 
throne are celebrated by the Hebrew traveller Benjamin 
of Tudela, who visited Constantinople in 1161 A.D. This 
splendid throne was of gold studded with precious stones 
and, suspended from the canopy by gold chains, hung a 
magnificent golden crown set with jewels of incalculable 
value and so bright and sparkling that their glitter ren- 
dered needless any other illumination at night. 40 

When Henry II of France (1519-1559) made his 
solemn entry into the city of Boulogne, a stranger from 
India presented to the sovereign a luminous stone. It 
was rather soft, had a fiery brilliance, and could not be 
touched with impunity. According to De Thou, this story 
was vouched for by J. Pipin, who saw the stone himself 
and described it in a letter to Antoine Mizauld, a writer 
on occult themes, well known in his day. 41 

Although Garcias ab Orta did not believe in the tales 
current in his time regarding luminous rubies, he relates 
a story of such a stone told to him by a gem-dealer. This 
man stated that he had purchased a number of fine but 

40 " Die Reisebesehreibung des R. Benjamin von Tudela," ed. by L. 
GriixJmt and Marcus JSF. Adler, Jerusalem, 1903, pt. ii, trans., p. 17. 

41 Beckmann, "History of Inventions/' English trans., London, 
1846, vol. ii, p. 433. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 167 

small rubies from Ceylon, and had spread them out over 
a table. When he gathered them up again, one of the 
stones remained hidden in a fold of the table-cloth. In 
the night he remarked something like a flame emanating 
from the table. Lighting a candle, he approached the 
table and found there the small ruby; when this was 
removed and the candle extinguished, the light was no 
longer visible. Q-arcias admits that the gem-dealers were 
fond of telling good stories, but he concludes with the 
dictum, ' * we must trust in them nevertheless. 7 ? 42 

Not only the ruby, but the emerald also had the repu- 
tation of being a luminous stone, for, besides the shining 
"emerald" pillar in the temple of Melkart at Tyre, Pliny 
records the tale of a marble lion, with eyes of gleaming 
emeralds, which was set over the tomb of "a petty king 
called Hermias." This tomb was on the coast, and the 
flashing light from the emerald eyes frightened away 
the tunny-fish, to the great loss of the fishermen. 43 
Whether the eyes of the magnificent chryselephantine 
statue of Athene by Phidias were supposed to be luminous 
we do not know, but they were incrusted with precious 
stones. 44 

The collection of works by the English alchemists, 
published by Elias Ashmole, contains the tale of a worthy 
parson who lived in a little town near London, and who 
wished to immortalize himself by building across the 
Thames a bridge which would always be lighted at night. 
After relating several expedients which suggested them- 
selves to him, the poet continues: 

42 Garcias ab Orta, " Aromatum bistoria " (Lat. version by 
Clusius), Antverpiae, 1579, lib. i, p. 174. 

43 Plinii, " Naturalis bistoria," lib, xxxvii, cap. 17. 

** Platonis, " Hippias major/' ed. Didot, vol. i, p. 745. 

168 THE CURIOUS LOftE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

At the laste he thought to make the light, 
For the Bridge to shine by nighte, 
With Carbuncle Stones, to make men wonder, 
With double reflexion above and under: 
Then new thought troubled his Minde 
Carbuncle Stones how he might finde; 

And where to find wise men and trewe, 
Which would for his interest pursue, 
In seeking all the Worlde about, 
Plenty of Carbuncles to find out; 
For this he took so mickle thought, 
That his satt flesh wasted nigh to naught. 45 

It is scarcely necessary to add that the poor parson 
never realized his dream, but the story shows how pop- 
ular was the belief that carbuncles or rubies shone with 
their own light. 

A luminous or phosphorescent stone, which has been 
named the Bologna .stone, is the subject of a treatise pub- 
lished by the physician Mentzel in 1675. 46 The writer 
describes various experiments made to test the peculiar 
qualities of this mineral, which is partly a radiated or 
crystalline sulphate of barytes, and phosphoresces when 
calcined. It was sometimes called the "lunar stone " 
(lapis lunaris), because, like the moon, it gave out in the 
darkness the light it received from the sun. Mentzel also 
relates that the stone was first discovered, in 1604, by 
Vineenzio Casscioroli, an adept in alchemy, who believed 
that it would be a great aid in the transmutation of the 
baser metals into gold, on account of its solar quality. 
The place of its occurrence was Monte Paterno, near 

"Norton's "Ordinall"; in Ashmole " Theatrum Chemieum Brit- 
annicum," London, 1652, p. 27. 

"Christiani Mentzelli, "Lapis Bononensis," Bilefeldise, 1675. 

1. Self-print of upper diamond of No. 4 by phosphorescence, produced "by rubbing briskly with 
stick covered by woolen cloth. Exposure one-half minute. 

2. Self-print, both diamonds, after one minute's exposure to ultra-violet light, electric action 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 169 

Bologna, where it appeared in the fissures of the moun- 
tain, after torrential rains. 

The various phenomena of fluorescence and phospho- 
rescence undoubtedly explain some at least of the legends 

SPECIMEN 

GEMMARVM 

ORIGINE 

IN QfO 

Proponuntur & hiftoricc ttlufoairair quscdam Canje&urz circft 

confiftcntiam raaterix Lapidum Prettoforttniy & fubjc&a, ia 

^uibus corum prxcipua: virtutcs con/iilunre 

^S Honorati/tmo 

ROBERTO BOY-LE 

NOBILI ANGLO, e SOCIETATB REGIA, 

S.AMVELEM DE TQVRNES, 

TITLE PAGE OF ROBERT BOYLE'S WORK ON THE ORIGIN 

AND VIRTUES OF GEMS. 

Printed in Cologne in 1680. 

regarding luminous stones, superstition or fantasy hav- 
ing here as in most other cases a certain substratum 
of fact. Tliis class of physical phenomena has been made 
the subject of special investigation by the author, as 
many as 13,000 specimens of various minerals having 

170 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

been subjected to the most searching tests in order to 
determine their qualities in this respect 47 His interest 
in this field of research was greatly stimulated by a 
fortnitons happening. In 1891 his wife, while hanging 
Up a gown in a closet one evening, saw that the diamond 
in a ring she was wearing gave off a faint streak of light 
which was very noticeable in the dark ? and this fact led 
to a long series of experiments on the fluorescence, phos- 
phorescence, and triboluminescence of the diamond. 48 
More than two centuries before, Robert Boyle made a 
similar set of experiments at night with a diamond which 
must have been an Indian stone, and which he describes 
as table cut, about one-third of an inch long and somewhat 
less in width ; he remarks that it was a dull stone of very 
bad water, having a blemish with a whitish cloud cover- 
ing nearly a third of the stone. 49 

The " Journal des Sea vans" for 1739 gives certain 
tests of the luminous quality of diamonds made by Mons. 
Du Fay. In order successfully to observe this phenome- 
non, he prescribes that the experimenter shall remain in 
a darkened room for fifteen minutes, taking the additional 
precaution of closing one or both of his eyes. The dia- 
mond to be tested should be exposed to the sun's rays, or 
to strong daylight, for less than a minute, and when taken 
into darkness the luminosity, if observable, lasts twelve 

47 See Kunz, " The Phosphorescence of the Diamond/ 7 Trans. 1SL Y. 
Academy of Sciences, vol. x, p. 50, 1890-91; Kunz and Baskerville, 
"The Action of Kadium, Actinium, Roentgen rays, and Ultra Violet 
Light in Minerals ,-and Gems/' Science, vol. xviii, No. 468, pp. 769-783, 
December 18, 1903. 

48 See page 172. 

48 Boyle, "Works/ 7 London, 1744, vol. ii, p. 85. The experiments 
were made October 27, 1663, and the results were communicated to the 
Eoyal Society the next day, the diamond which had been used being 
shown to the members at that time. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 171 

or thirteen minutes at longest. Not all diamonds show 
this quality, and nothing in their form or appearance 
serves to determine their possession of it. However, 
Mons. du Fay observed that the yellow diamonds, of 
which he tried a considerable number, were luminous. 
A single emerald, out of twenty that were tested, proved 
to be luminous. 50 

Boyle's experiments led to the discovery that some 
diamonds, when rubbed against wood or other hard sub- 
stances, and even against cloth or silk, will emit a ray of 
light which seems to follow them; this is what is called 
triboluminescence. 

The power of absorbing sunlight or artificial light 
and then giving it off in the dark is only possessed by 
certain diamonds* These are Brazilian stones, slightly 
milky in tint, or blue-white as they are often termed, and 
it is an included substance and not the diamond itself 
that possesses the power of storing up light and then 
giving it out. Willemite, kunzite, sphalerite (sulphide 
of zinc) and some other minerals possess the same power. 
Their peculiar property may be due to the presence of a 
slight quantity of manganese or to that of some of the 
uranium salts. That it is only the ultra-violet rays that 
are thus absorbed by these diamonds is proved by the 
fact that the phenomenon is not observable when a thin 
plate of glass is interposed between the sunlight or 
artificial light and the diamond, as glass is not traversed 
by these rays. The still undetermined substance to 
whose presence in diamonds of this type the special class 
of phenomena must be due, was named by the author 

00 "Journal des Savans," 1739, pp. 438, 439, of Amsterdam edi- 
tion, citing " Hist, de FAcad. Boy. des Sciences," 1735 (vol. xxxviii). 

172 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

tiffanyite, in honor of the late Charles L. Tiffany (1812- 
1902) , founder of the firm of Tiffany & Company. 51 

On the other hand all diamonds phosphoresce when 
exposed to the rays of radium, polonium, or actinium, 
even when glass is interposed. Treating of some of the 
aspects of phosphorescence in diamonds, Sir William 
Crookes says : 52 

In a vacuum, exposed to a high-tension current of electricity, dia- 
monds phosphoresce of different colours, most South African diamonds 
shining with a bluish light. Diamonds from other localities emit bright 
blue, apricot, pale blue, red, yellowish-green, orange, and pale green light. 
The most phosphorescent diamonds are those which are fluorescent in the 
sun. One beautiful green diamond in my collection, when phospho- 
rescing in a good vacuum, gives almost as much light as a candle, and you 
can easily read by its rays. But the time has hardly come when diamonds 
can be used as domestic ilium in ants ! 

By permission of Mrs. Kunz, wife of the well-known New York 
mineralogist, I will show you perhaps the most remarkable of all 
phosphorescing diamonds. This prodigy diamond will phosphoresce in 
the dark for some minutes after being exposed to a small pocket 
electric light, and if rubbed on a piece of cloth a long streak of 
phosphorescence appears. 

The luminescence produced by heat is wonderfully 
marked in the case of chlorophane, a variety of fluorite. 
A Siberian specimen of a pale violet color emitted a white 
light merely from the heat of the hand; boiling water 
caused it to give out a green light, which was so greatly 
intensified when the specimen rested on a live coal that 
the radiance could be discerned from a considerable dis- 
tance. Similar phenomena were observable in the case 

51 See Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 
xiv, p. 260; 1895. 

""Diamonds," a lecture delivered before the British Associa- 
tion at Kimberley, Sept. 5, 1905; London, 1905, p. 37, See also the same 
author's "Diamonds," London and New York, 1909, pp. 96-101, 

ROCK-CRYSTAL BALL PENETRATED BY CRYSTALS OF RUTILE. MADAGASCAR, 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 173 

of chlorophane from Amelia Court House, Va., and the 
writer found that specimens from this source also exhib- 
ited strong triboluminescence, resulting either from coa- 
tact with one another, or with any hard substance. 53 

As the terms fluorescence and phosphorescence are 
sometimes rather carelessly employed, it may be well to 
note here that while both terms are used to denote the 
luminescence of a non-luminous body resulting from the 
action of light rays, of the electric current, or of radiant 
energy of any kind, as well as from heat, fluorescence 
signifies a luminosity which only continues so long as the 
exciting cause is present, while phosphorescence means 
a luminosity persisting for a longer or shorter period 
after the exciting cause has ceased to operate directly. 
The latter term therefore denotes a luminous energy 
stored up in the formerly non-luminous body and emitted 
by it for a certain time, at the expiration of which it 
again becomes non-luminous. Other special designations 
of induced luminosity in minerals are triboluminescence, 
the emission of light as a result of friction and thermo- 
luminescence, a term used to denote light-emission ex- 
cited by moderate heating, even by the warmth of the 
hand. 

An old treatise in Greek, said in its title to come 
from "the sanctuary of the temple," and containing 
material, partly of Egyptian origin, may help us to 
understand something of the processes employed by a 
temple priest to impress the common people by the sight 
of luminous gems. The writer of the treatise declares 
that for the production of "the carbuncle that shines in 
the night" use was made of certain parts (he says "the 

58 Kunz, " Gems and Precious Stones of North America," New 
York, 1890, pp. 183, 184. 

174 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

bile") of marine animals whose entrails, scales and bones 
exhibited the phenomenon of phosphorescence. If prop- 
erly treated, precious stones (preferably carbuncles) 
would glow so brightly at night "that anyone owning 
such a stone could read or write by its light as well as 
he could by daylight. 54 

In the Annales de Chimie et Physique, the great 
French chemist, M. Berthelot, discusses this matter and 
expresses the following opinion : 55 

" The texts leave no room for doubt as to the employment by the 
ancients of precious stones rendered phosphorescent in the dark by the 
superficial application of tinctures composed of materials whose phos- 
phorescent quality is known to us. Although this luminescence, due to 
an application of organic oxidizable materials, could not well be 
durable, still it might be made to last several hours, perhaps several 
days, and it could always be renewed by repeating the application." 

The use of jewelled ornaments to heighten by their 
luminosity in obscurity or in darkness the effect produced 
by a sacred image, and to stimulate religious awe in the 
beholder, is testified to by the ultra-Protestant traveller, 
'Fynes Moryson, G-ent, who went to Italy in 1594. Of 
his visit to the Santa Casa in Loreto, he says that he 
himself and two Dutchmen, his companions, were per- 
mitted to enter the inner chapel of the sanctuary, 
" where," he proceeds, "we did see the Virgin's picture, 
adorned with pretious Jewels, and the place (to increase 
religious horror) being darke, yet the Jewels shined 
by the light of wa^: candles. ' ' Although there is no ques- 
tion here of naturally luminous gems, this might have 

* " Collection des anciens alehemistes grecs," ed. by M. Berthelot, 
trans., p. 336-338; text pp. 351, 352, Paris, 1887, 1888. 

55 " Sur un precede antique pour rendre les pierres precieuses et les 
vitrifications phosphorescentes," Annales de Chimie et Physique, 6th 
ser., vol. xiv, pp. 429-432. 

OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 

been the impression produced upon a more sympathetic 
pilgrim. 56 

Writing of the traditions in regard to luminous stones, 
Sir Eichard F. Burton says, "There may be a basis of 
fact to this fancy, the abnormal effect of precious stones 
upon mesmeric sensitives. 7557 However, while some in- 
stances are recorded of psychic impression produced by 
precious stones on the minds of persons possessing a 
highly sensitive nervous system, it seems likely that 
some legends of luminous stones had their origin in the 
refractive powers of cut gems, by means of which a dim 
and distant light would be reflected from the surface of 
the stones and would seem to spring from them. Quite 
possibly, in other instances, there was a disposition to 
cater to the popular belief by placing a light so that the 
hidden beams traversed the stone and appeared to 
emanate from it. 

^Moiyson, "An Itinerary containing his Ten Yeeres Travell 
through the Twelve Dominions," etc., Glasgow, 1907-8, vol. L p. 216. 

57 Burton, " Supplementary Nights," London, 1886, vol. iii, p. 354, 
note. 

VI 
Crystal i5aUg and Crystal 

have evidence of the use of crystal balls as 
means of divination in medieval times, and 
"scrying" in some of its many forms was by no means 
rare in the Greek and Roman periods. The essential 
requisite for the exercise of this species of divination is a 
polished surface of some sort upon which the scryer shall 
gaze intently; for this purpose mirrors, globules of lead or 
quicksilver, polished steel, the surface of water, and even 
pools of ink, have been employed and have been found to 
insure quite as satisfactory results as the crystal ball. The 
points of light reflected from the polished surface (points 
de repere) serve to attract the attention of the gazer 
and to fix the eye until, gradually, the optic nerve becomes 
so fatigued that it finally ceases to transmit to the sen- 
sorium the impression made from without and begins to 
respond to the reflex action proceeding from the brain 
of the gazer. In this way the impression received from 
within is apparently projected and seems to come from 
without. It is easy to understand that the results must 
vary according to the idiosyncrasy of the various scryers ; 
for everything depends upon the sensitiveness of the 
optic nerve. In many cases the effect of prolonged gaz- 
ing upon the brilliant surface will simply produce a loss 
of sight, the optic nerve will be temporarily paralyzed 
and will as little respond to stimulation from within as 
from without; in other cases, however, the nerve will be 
only deadened as regards external impressions, while 
retaining sufficient activity to react against a stimulus 

176 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 177 

from the brain centres. It is almost invariably stated 
that, prior to the appearance of the desired visions, the 
crystal seems to disappear and a mist rises before the 
gazer's eye. 

The Achaians, as Pausanius relates, frequently used 
a mirror to divine diseases or to learn whether there was 
danger of sudden death. Of the Temple of Demeter, or 
Ceres, at Patras, he writes : * 

In front of the temple of Demeter there is a well. A stone wall 
separates this well from the temple, but steps lead down to it from the 
outside. Here there is an infallible oracle, although it does not answer 
all questions, but only those touching diseases. They attach a slender 
cord to a mirror and let it down into the well, balancing it carefully 
so that the water does not cover the face, but only touches the rim. 
Then, after making a prayer to the goddess and burning incense to 
her, they look into the mirror, and it shows whether the sick person 
will die or recover. Such is the power of truth in this water. 

This sacred well with its oracle of the magic mirror 
must have been in Lucian's mind when, in his descrip- 
tion of the palace of the Moon-King, he says : 2 

Another wonderful thing I saw in the palace. Suspended over a 
rather shallow well there is a large mirror, and anyone who goes down 
into this well will hear every word that is spoken on earth, while, if 
he gazes on the mirror, he will see there every city and every nation 
just as clearly as though he were looking down upon them from a slight 
elevation. At the time I was there, I saw my native country and its 
inhabitants. Whether I myself was seen by them in turn, I am not sure. 

Lucian adds, with a fine touch of irony, ''Anyone who 
doubts this assertion needs only to go there himself and 
he will find out that I speak the truth. 77 As no one has 

1 Pausanise, "Descriptio Grsecise," ed. Scmibart, vol. ii, Lipsise, 1883, 
pp. 54, 55, lib. ii, cap, 21, 12. 

3 Lueiani, " Vera Historia," lib. i, 26. 
12 

178 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

yet made a trip to the moon, the assertion is still uncon- 
tradicted. 

In their religious legends the ancient Mexicans taught 
that their god Tezcatlipuco had a magic mirror in which 
he saw everything that happened in the world. 3 He was 
sometimes named Necocyautl, " sower of discord," be- 
cause he often stirred up war and strife among men, but 
he was also lord of riches and prosperity, which he 
bestowed and took away again at his will. To the in- 
fluence of this divinity were attributed many omens 
and certain strange visions, announced by repeated 
knockings. 4 

In the Orphic poem "Lithica," a magic sphere of 
stone is described. The substance is called "sideritis" 
or "ophitis," and is said to be black, round, and heavy; 
possibly some metal, rather than a stone, is designated 
by these names. Helenus, the Trojan soothsayer, is said 
to have used this sphere to foretell the downfall of his 
native city. He fasted for twenty-one days and then 
wrapped the sphere in soft garments, like an infant, and 
offered sacrifices to it until, by the magic of his prayers, 
"a living soul warmed the precious substance. " 

A strange variety of divination by means of mirrors 
placed on the heads of boys, who, with eyes blindfolded, 
were supposed to perceive forms or signs of some de- 
scription in the mirrors, is noted by Spartianus in his life 
of the Emperor Didius Julianus (ca. 133-193). This 
ruler is said to have resorted to this form of divination, 
and the boy entrusted with the task is asserted to have 

"Balz, "Die sogenannte magische Spiegel und ihr G-ebrauch"; 
Arehiv fur Anthrop. N.S., vol. ii, p. 45, 1904. 

*Sahagun, "Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana," 
Mexico, 1829, vol. i, pp. 2, 3; vol. ii, pp. 6, 12, 16, 17; lib. i, cap. 3; 
lib. v, cap. 3, 9, 11, 12. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 179 

announced the approaching accession of Septimius 
Severus (146-211) and the dethronement of Didius 
Julianus. 5 

An indication that the usage of divination by means 
of a silver cup existed among the primitive Hebrews has 
been found in the story of Joseph and his brethren. In 
Genesis xliv, 1-5, we read that Joseph concealed a silver 
cup in the sack of grain borne away by Benjamin, making 
of this a pretext for requiring the return of his 
brethren. He sent messengers to overtake them and 
directed them to demand the return of the cup, using these 
words: "Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and 
whereby indeed he divineth?" 

The Arabic author, Haly Abou Gefar, tells of a golden 
ball used by "the Magi, followers of Zoroaster," in their 
incantations. It was incrusted with celestial symbols and 
set with a sapphire, and one of these magicians, after 
attaching it to a strip of bullhide, swung it around, re- 
citing at the same time various spells and incantations. 6 
Probably the magician, by fixing his gaze upon the bril- 
liant revolving sphere, gradually fell into a hypnotic 
trance, during which visions appeared to him. These he 
could afterward interpret to those who had sought his 
aid to read the future, or obtain information regarding 
things that were happening for away. 

An important side-light on the beliefs of "Western 
Europe, in the fifth century, regarding crystal-gazing, is 
afforded by one of the canons of the synod held about 450 
A.D. by St. Patrick and the bishops Auxilius and Isser- 
nanus. Here it is decreed that any Christian who believes 
there is a Lamia (or witch) in the mirror is to be anathe- 

5 Spartiani, " Yita Didii Juliani," cap 7. 

' Reichelti, "De amtileiis," Argentorati, 1676, p. 36. 

180 THE CURIOUS LOEB OP PRECIOUS STONES 

matized, and is not to be again received into the Church 
unless lie shall have renounced this belief and shall have 
diligently performed the penance imposed npon him. 7 In 
this case, as in many others, the vision in the crystal or 
mirror did not represent some former or contempora- 
neous happening, but the figure of an evil spirit, who, 
either by signs or words, imparted to the scryer the in- 
formation he was seeking. 

The power to see images of evil spirits on the surface 
of water was claimed by those called hydromantii in the 
ninth century. This is attested in a work composed about 
860 AJ>. by Hincmar, Archbishop of Kheims, who charac- 
terizes the supposed appearances as " images or decep- 
tions of the demons. " These diviners asserted that they 
received audible communications from the spirits, and 
they therefore evidently; believed that the appearances 
were realities.* 

Although, as we have seen, many different materials 
were used for scrying, the preference was often given to 
polished spheres of beryl ; in modern times, however, the 
rock-crystal is considered the best adapted for the pur- 
pose. 

In his introduction to "Crystal Gazing," by N. W. 
Thomas, 9 Andrew Lang writes of what he terms hypna- 
gogic illusions images which appear when the eyes are 
closed and before sleep supervenes. When faces ap- 
peared to him in this way, they were always unfamiliar 
ones, with the single exception of having once seen his 
own face in profile. The same was almost invariably true 

T " Synodtun episeorporum Patricii, Auxilii et Issernani," in Migne, 
Patr. Lat, vol. liii, Paxisiis, 1865, col. 825. 

* Hincmari, " Opera Omnia," in Migne, Patr. Lat., vol. cxxv, col. 
7; De devortio Lotharii et Tetbergse. 

"London, 1905, pp. xxiv, 

GLASS BALL, PERFORATED AND 
MOUNTED IN METAL, SO THAT 
IT CAN" BE SUSPENDED AND 
USED FOR OCCULT AND CURA- 
TIVE PURPOSES, 

Period of about tenth or twelfth century 
> Collection of Sir Charles Hercules Read. 

BALL OF JET, PERFORATED, MOUNTED 
IN METAL, SO THAT IT CAN BE 
SUSPENDED AND USED FOR OCCULT 
AND CURATIVE PURPOSES. 

Period of about tenth or twelfth century. Col- 
lection of Sir Charles Hercules Read. 

EYE AGATE, SHOWING A NUMBER OF CIRCULAR MARKINGS. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 181 

of landscape and inanimate objects. These forms seemed 
to grow out of the bright points of light which frequently 
appear when the eyes are closed, and Lang suggests a 
similar origin for the visions of the "seryers 7 * namely, 
the development of the images from dark or light points 
in the glass. 

In regard to this, we have an interesting passage in 
the works of Ibn Kaldoun, a Persian writer, born in 1332, 
who gives the following very acute analysis of the phe- 
nomena accompanying crystal-gazing. 10 

Some believe that the image perceived in this way takes form on 
the surface of the mirror, but they are mistaken. The diviner looks at 
this surface fixedly until it disappears, and a curtain, like a mist, is 
interposed between him and the mirror. Upon this curtain are de- 
signed the forms he wishes to see, and this permits hi, to give indica- 
tions, either affirmative or negative, concerning the matter on which 
he is questioned. He then describes his perceptions as he has received 
them. The diviners, while in this state, do not see what is really to be 
seen (in the mirror) ; it is another kind of perception, which is born in 
them and which is realized not by sight but by the soul. 

As to the character and quality of the crystal to be 
used, Abbot Tritheim, the master of the famous Cornelius 
Agrippa, says : u 

Procure of a lapidary a good, clear, pellucid crystal of the bigness 
of a small orange, i.e., about one inch and a half in diameter; let it be 
globular, or round each way alike; then you have got this crystal 
fair and clear, without any clouds or specks. Get a small plate of 
pure gold to encompass the crystal round one-half; let this be fitted 
on an ivory or ebony pedestal. Let there be engraved a circle round 
the crystal; afterwards the name: Tetragramrnaton. On the other 
side of the plate let there be engraved, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, 
Raphael, which are the four principal angels ruling over the Sun, 
Moon, Venus, and Mercury. 

10 Ibn Kaldoun, in Notices et Ext. Se MSB. de la Bib. Imp., vol. 
xix, p. 221. 

" See Barrett, The Magus/' London, 1801, p. 135. 

182 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The four letters constituting the Tetragrammaton are 
the Hebrew characters yodh, he, wdw and he, mn* . As 
this divine name was regarded in later Judaism as too 
sacred to be pronounced, the word lord, adonai, was sub- 
stituted for it in the reading of the Scriptures. For 
this reason, when the vowel signs were added to the text 
to indicate the traditional pronunciation, the consonants 
Yhwh were provided with the vowels of adonai and the 
name was therefore read Jehovah by Christian scholars. 

The Persian poet Jami writes thus of a magic mirror 
in the poem "Salaman and Absal": 12 

Then from his secret Art the Sage Vizyr 
A Magie Mirror made; a Mirror like 
The bosom of All-wise Intelligence, 
Reflecting in its mystic compass all 
Within the sevenfold volume of the World 
InvoPd; and looking in that Mirror's face 
The Shah beheld the face of his Desire. 

Eoger Bacon (1214-1292) was probably the most 
gifted man of the thirteenth century, and his writings 
testify to an extraordinarily clear perception of the essen- 
tial principles^ of scientific research. However, his true 
greatness was not generally appreciated in his own age, 
and popular fancy wove about his name a fabric of 
legend in which he appeared as an arch-necromancer and 
magician. The curious old work entitled "The Famous 
Historie of Fryar Bacon" gives a number of the strange 
recitals which became current in England in regard to 
'Bacon's wonderful powers. 

One of these treats of a marvellous " glass" made by 
the friar, in which events happening at far-distant places 

13 Jami's " Salaman and Absal," trans, by Edward Fitzgerald, Bos- 
ton, 1899, p. 84. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 183 

were mirrored. On one occasion two young men, be- 
tween whom the friendliest feelings existed, came to 
Bacon and requested him to let them see in the mirror 
what their fathers were doing at the time. The friar con- 
sented, but the experiment, while successful, was the 
cause of a terrible misfortune. The story is as follows : 

The Fathers of these two Gentlemen (in their Sonnes absence) 
were become great foes : this hatred betweene them was growne to that 
height, that wheresoever they met, they had not onely wordes, but 
blowes. Just at that time, as it should seeme, that their Sonnes were 
looking to see how they were in health, they were met, and had drawne, 
and were together by the eares. Their Sonnes seeing this, and having 
been alwayes great friends, knew not what to say to one another, but 
beheld each other with angry lookes. At last one of their Fathers, 
as they might perceive in the Grlasse, had a fall, and the other, taking 
advantage, stood over him ready to strike him. The Sonne of him 
that was downe could then eontaine himself e no longer, but told the 
other young man, that his Father had received wrong. He answered 
againe, that it was f aire. At last there grew such foule words betweene 
them, and their bloods were so heated, that they presently stabbed the 
one the other with their Daggers, and so fell downe dead. 

The sceptre of the Scottish regalia is surmounted by 
a crystal globe, two inches and a quarter in diameter, 
and the mace by a large crystal beryl. In former times 
these stones were regarded as amulets and their use was 
traced back to the Druids. Sir Walter Scott tells us that 
in his time they were still known among the Scottish 
Highlanders as "Stones of Power." 18 

The testimony of John of Salisbury (11201-1180) 
shows that in the twelfth century, in England, divination 
by means of the arts of the specularii was often prac- 
tised. The prelate writes that when a boy, he himself and 
a companion a few years older received instruction from 

"Description of the Regalia of Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, 
Bart., Edinburg, n. d., p. 13. 

184 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

a priest who was addicted to the use of these magic arts. 
This priest used to polish the finger-nails of the boys 
with a consecrated oil or ointment, and then direct them 
to look upon the polished surface until some figure or 
form should appear. Sometimes the smooth, polished 
surface of a basin was used. John of Salisbury regarded 
it as a mark of divine favor that he himself saw nothing 
upon the smooth and lustrous surface, but he states that 
his companion observed certain vague and shadowy 
forms. Certain names pronounced by the priest on these 
occasions terrified the boy, for he believed them to be the 
names of evil spirits ; indeed, such was his reluctance to 
participate in the unholy rites that his presence was be- 
lieved to interfere with the production of the phe- 
nomena. 14 

In another part of his "Policraticus," John of Salis- 
bury states that the specularii claimed that their gift of 
seeing visions on polished surfaces was never used to 
injure any one, but was often useful in the detection of 
theft and in counteracting magic spells. 15 

Under the comprehensive chapter heading: "How to 
conjure the crystal so that all things may be seen in it," 
Paracelsus (1493-1541) declares that " to conjure " means 
nothing more than "to observe anything rightly, to 
learn and to understand what it is." The crystal was 
of the nature of the air, and hence all things movable and 
immovable that could be seen in the air could also be 
seen in the crystal or speculum. 16 

"Johannis Saresberensis, u Policraticus/' Lyon, 1513, fols. Lxxvii, 
verso., Ixrviii, recto, lib. ii, cap. 28. 

30 Johannis Saresberensis, 1. e., fol. Ixxvi, recto, lib. ii, cap. 28. 

ae " The Hermetic and Alchemical writings of Aureolus Philippus 
Theophrastns Bombast of Hohenheim, called Paracelsus the Great," 
trans, by Arthur Edward Waite, London, 1894, vol. i, p. 224. 

CEYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 185 

Paracelsus showed keen insight, and his conclusions 
are excellent. One might add, however, that it is a fact 
that these are images condensed in the double convex 
lens, forming as it were, an internal crystal sphere. 
These images are reversed, distorted and twisted, and 
when they become visible to one who is expecting strange 
things, they form mental impressions which it is often 
very difficult to erase. Many crystal gazers are fre- 
quently very highly wrought, nervous and susceptible, 
and other influences uniting with the impressions pro- 
duced, may give the brain for a time the power to evolve 
kaleidoscopic effects. 

Directions for the use of an Erdenspiegel, or "earth- 
mirror," are given in an old German manuscript written 
in 1658 by a Capuchin priest 17 The mirror is to be set 
about two inches above a board, and the questions to be 
answered are to be placed beneath it. The scryer is rec- 
ommended to place three grains of salt upon his tongue, 
whereupon he is to repeat a prayer and cross himself. 
He now takes the mirror in his hand and breathes upon 
it three times, repeating the words, "In the name of the 
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." 

These preliminaries having been accomplished, the 
following prayer, or rather invocation, is repeated: 

thou holy Archangel 1ST. 1ST., I pray to thee most fervently 
through, the great and -unsearchable name of the Lord of all Lords and 
King of all Kings, Jod, He, Van, He, Tetragrammaton, Adonay, 
Sehaday, receive my greeting and give ear to the humble petition which 
I offer in the name of the great and highest God, Elohim, Zebaoth, 
that thou shalt appear to me in the world-mirror, and give me knowl- 
edge and instruction in answer to my questions. 

1T " Unterricht vom Gebrauch des Erdspiegels, 1658" (Aus dem 
Kapiiziner-Kloster in Immenstat. Eine Handschrift des Kapuziner- 
Paters Franziscus Seraph. Heider daselbst) ; in 'Tlandsehriftlichea 
Schatze aus Kloster Bibliotheken," Koln am Ehein, 1734-1810 (reprint) . 

186 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The strong religious tone of these directions for the 
use of the mirror and the fact that it is a priest who 
gives them, shows that there was a disposition to tolerate 
the employment of such " white magic." 

In medieval times it was believed that the vision in 
the crystal was produced through the agency of an in- 
dwelling spirit, and, therefore, it was necessary to use 
some very potent spell to force this spirit to enter the 
stone. Many of these ancient spells have been preserved, 
and they contain a strange and incongruous mixture of 
religious and magical formulas. In one of these, dating 
from the end of the fifteenth century, after a recitation of 
a long and rambling conjuration, we read, "And y en ask 
y e chylde yf h e seethe any thyng, and yf no, let the m r 
begin his conjuratyo agayn." As usual the scrying was 
done by a child, the conjuration being spoken by the min- 
ister. An important part of the conjuration consisted 
in the repetition of a number of divine names, most of 
them originally Hebrew, but so much corrupted by re- 
citers who did not know their meaning that it is now 
exceedingly difficult to interpret them correctly. 

A proof that this form of magic was often regarded 
as quite compatible with religion is offered us in a pas- 
sage from a sixteenth century manuscript, 18 where we 
read that the crystal should be laid on the altar "on the 
Side that the gosp'ell is read on. And let the priest say a 
mass on the same Side. ? ' If the conjuration is successful, 
the same manuscript tells us that "these angells being 
once appeared will not depart the glasse or stone untill 
the Sonne be sett except you licence them. " It also seems 
that "scrying" was looked upon as a special gift, only 
granted to a favored few as a peculiar privilege, and we 

MS. 3851, f. 50b. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 187 

read that "Prayer and a good beleefe prevailed much. 
For faith is the cay to this and all other works, and 
without it nothing can be effected. " The child scryer, 
either maid or boy, should not be more than twelve 
years old. 

That a certain religious spirit, however mistaken, 
often animated the crystal-gamers of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, is shown in the case of the "speculator 57 of John 
a Windor, who confessed that when he led an impure life 
the ' ' daemons ' ' would not appear to him in his glass. He 
would then proceed to fumigate the apartment, as though 
believing that the very air was contaminated by the sins 
of the operator. We may hope that the seer was not con- 
tent with this, but also tried to reform his evil ways. 
Another scryer, a woman named Sarah Skelhorn, de- 
clared that the spirits that appeared to her in the glass 
would often follow her about the house from room to 
room, so that she at last became weary of their presence. 19 
Both of these scryers had regular employment, for it was 
quite customary for a gentleman to have a household 
seer, just as he would have a body-physician, if he could 
afford it. 

A sixteenth century work on magic, the "Hollen- 
zwang" of Dr. Faustus, whose name has been immortal- 
ized for all ages by Goethe, gives very particular and 
detailed directions for the preparation and consecration 
of a crystal, whether glass or quartz. Faust asks his 
"Mephistophelis" whether such crystals can be made, 
and the spirit replies: "Yes, indeed, my Faust,' 7 and 
directs Faust to go, on a Tuesday, to a glass-maker, and 
get the latter to form a glass. It was requisite that this 

19 Jonson, " The Alchemist/' ed. Hathaway, New York, 1903, pp. 
101, 145, note. 

188 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

work should be done in the hour of Mars, that is, in the 
first, eighth, fifteenth or twenty-second hour of Tuesday. 
The crystal when completed must not be accepted as a 
gift, but a price must be paid for it. When the object 
had been secured, Mephistopheles directs that it be buried 
in a grave, where it must be left for the space of three 
weeks; it was then to be unearthed; if a woman pur- 
chased it, she must bury it in a woman's grave. How- 
ever, these preliminaries only served to prepare the 
crystal for the final consecration, as the mere material 
mass was regarded as inert and possessing no virtue 
until certain spirits were summoned to dwell within it. 
Mephistopheles confesses that he alone would not be pow- 
erful enough, and he directs Faust to call upon the spirits 
Azeruel and Adadiel also. Faust is assured that the three 
spirits will show him in the crystal whatever he may wish 
to know. If anything has been stolen, the thief will ap- 
pear ; if any one is suffering from disease, the character 
of his malady will be revealed, etc. 20 

Another way of preparing a crystal glass or mirror 
is given in the same work. After the glass has been 
bought it is to be immersed in baptismal water in which 
a first-born male child has been baptized, and therein it 
is to remain for three weeks. The water is then to be 
poured out over a grave and the sixth chapter of the 
Eevelation of St. John is to be read. Hereupon the fol- 
lowing conjuration should be pronounced : 

crystal, thou art a pure and tender virgin, thou standest at one 
of tlie gates of heaven, that nothing may be hidden from thee; thou 
standest under a cloud of heaven that nothing may be hidden from 

w Keisewetter, " Faust in der Gesehichte und Tradition," Leipzig, 
1893, p. 472. 

DR. DEE'S SHEW STONE. 

Natural size. British Museum. This sphere of smoky-quartz came to the British 
Museum in 1700 with the Cottonian Library, donated at that time by the grandson of the 
original collector, Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631). 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 189 

thee, whether in fields or meadows, whether master or servant, whether 
wife or maid. Let this be said to thee in the name of God, as a plea 
for thy help. 21 

The visions seen in crystal gazing were often sup- 
posed to be the work of evil spirits, seeking to seduce the 
souls of men by offering the promise of riches or by ac- 
cording them an unlawful glimpse into the future. Here, 
as in other magical operations, there was both white 
and black magic, recourse being had in some cases to 
good, and in others to evil spirits. As an illustration of 
the latter practice, a sixteenth century writer relates that 
in the city of Nuremberg, some time during the year 1530, 
a " demon " showed to a priest, in a crystal, the vision of 
a buried treasure. Believing in the truth of this vision, 
the priest went to the spot indicated, where he found an 
excavation in the form of a cavern, in the depths of which 
he could see a chest and a black dog lying alongside it. 
Eagerly the priest entered the cavern, hoping to possess 
himself of the treasure, but the top of the excavation 
caved in and he was crushed to death. 22 

The famous charlatan, Dr. Dee, who was for a time a 
prominent figure at the court of Emperor Rudolph II, 
was highly favored by Queen Elizabeth. The queen vis- 
ited him several times, and even appears to have con- 
sulted him on political matters. In his diary the doctor 
relates that the queen called at his house shortly after his 
wife's death, which took place March 16, 1575. Of this 
visit he gives the following details : 

The Queen's Majestie, with her most honorable Privy Council, and 
other the Lords and Nobility, came purposely to have visited my 
library: but finding that my wife was within four hours before buried 

50 Keisewetter, " Faust in der Geschichte und Tradition, p. 473. 
22 Wieri, " De prestigiis demonum/' Basilese, 1563, p. 121. 

190 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

out of the Louse, her Majestie refused to come in ; but willed to fetch 
my glass so famous, and to show unto her some of the properties of 
it, which I did. Her Majestie being taken; down from her horse by 
the Earle of liecester, Master of the Horse, at the church wall of 
Mortlake, did see some of the properties of that glass, to her Majestie's 
great contentment and delight. 13 

It was at Mortlake, on December 22, 1581, that Dr. 
Dee made Ms first essay with Ms crystal ball. The pro- 
ceedings were conducted with, a certain religious cere- 
monial, and began with a pious invocation to the angel of 
the stone. TMs celestial being soon graciously deigned 
to manifest himself in the stone and presumably by the 
voice of the scryer answered the questions put by those 
present. 

There can be little doubt that Dee used more than one 
crystal in the course of his experiments ; that now in the 
British Museum is of cairngorm, or "smoky-quartz." 
This variety of quartz may have been chosen because of 
the Scotch superstitions regarding its virtues ; for, as a 
rule, charlatans seek to avail themselves of already exist- 
ing superstitions in order to make their innovations more 
acceptable. 

To give assurance to those who consulted such crys- 
tals that no diabolical agency was involved in the pro- 
duction of the phenomena, it was customary that a child 
should be the crystal-gazer. In Dr. Dee's experiments, 
however, it was usually the notorious Kelley, his dme 
damnee, who undertook this task of interpreting the 
crystal visions. The description given by Dee of a 
little girl who frequently acted as the intermediary 
of the higher powers suggests one of the fanciful 

33 " The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee/ 7 ed. by Halliwell, London, 
1842 (Camden Sac. Pub.), p. 9, note ("Compendious Memorial/' p. 
516). 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 191 

creations of our great novelist Hawthorne. Her mystic 
name was Madimi, and she is depicted as a pretty girl 
about eight years old, and with long flowing hair. To 
make her appearance more conspicuous, she was attired 
in a silk dress with chatoyant effects in red and green. 
At times, during the seances, this gay little figure could 
be seen flitting about the study, rendered even more 
whimsical and strange from its contrast with the piles of 
dusty old books, the curiosities, and the magical instru- 
ments collected there. 24 

This visionary maiden Madimi, of whom Dee relates 
so much in his diary, was apparently a child of fancy, a 
creation of Kelley ? s fertile brain. The diary is some- 
what obscure in this particular and easily misunder- 
stood; but there can be little doubt that where Madimi 
is represented as speaking, it is Kelley's voice that trans- 
mits to Dee her revelations. One passage, often over- 
looked, gives evidence of this. Madimi has appeared and 
is addressing her remarks to Kelley and to Dee by turns ; 
finally, Dee says, "I know you see me often and I see you 
only by faith and imagination." To this Madimi quickly 
retorts, "pointing to E. K." (Kelley), "That sight is 
perfecter than his." Evidently we must understand 
this to signify something that Kelley has told Dee, for 
the latter 's words show that he did not himself see the 
little fairy pointing to his friend. In many respects little 
Madimi may recall another "spiritual" maiden of whom 
we heard much a few years ago, the sprightly little 
Indian spirit "Bright Eyes," whose love for candy and 
jewelry was so very earthly. 

34 A true and faithful Relation of what passed for Many Yeeres be- 
tween Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits. With preface by Merie. Casau- 
bon, London, 1659, p. 1. 

192 THE CURIOUS LOKE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Not only the quality of the crystal had to be con- 
sidered, but also its support and surroundings. Of this 
we have an interesting instance in the- case of Dr. Dee's 
crystal. In one of his manuscripts is recorded the fact 
that on the 10th of March, 1582, Kelley saw in the crystal 
a representation of the form and arrangement of the table 
on which it should b set; particular instructions on the 
matter were also directly imparted to the scryer by the 
angel Uriel. The table was to be square, measuring two 
cubits each way and two cubits in height; and it was 
to have four feet. The material was to be ' ' swete wood" 
and upon it was to be placed the Sigillum Dei (Seal of 
G-od) impressed upon the purest, colorless was, the disk 
being 1% inches thick and 9 inches in diameter. It bore a 
cross and the magic letters A. Gr. L. A., a transliteration 
into Eoman characters of the initials of the Hebrew 
words signifying "Thou are great forever, Lord." 
Four other and smaller seals were to be provided, one to 
be placed under each leg of the table; each of these seals 
being impressd with geometrical figures within or upon 
which were the seven sacred names of God and the names 
of the seven angels ruling the seven planetary heavens ; 
Zabothiel, ZedeMel, Madiniel, Semeliel [Semeshiel], 
Nogabiel, Corabiel [Cocabiel] and Levaniel, the angels, 
respectively, of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, 
Mercury and the Moon. There then appeared to the 
scryer the figure of the table with the crystal resting upon 
it. Of this it is said: 25 

" Under the table did seeme to be layd red sylk to lye 
four square somewhat broader than the table, hanging 
down with four knops or tassells at the four corners 

25 See B. M. Dalton's notes in the Proceedings of the Society of 
.Antiquaries, 2d ser., vol. xxi, 380-383. Sloane MS. A. 3188. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 193 

thereof. Uppon the uppermost red silk did seme to be set 
the stone with the frame, right over and uppon the princi- 
pal seal, saving that the sayd sylk was betwene the one 
and the other/' 

It therefore seems that the prejudice in favor of a 
black or at least a dark background for the crystal did 
not appeal to Dr. Dee, and indeed the effect of color may 
perhaps better serve to neutralize troublesome reflections 
than does black. 

The personages Kelley pretended to see in or around 
the magic crystal were described by Trim to Dr. Dee in 
the greatest detail, and this undoubtedly served to lend 
more reality and authority to their communications. As 
an illustration of Kelley ? s inventiveness in this matter, 
we may take his description of "Nalvage," a spirit that 
first appeared while the doctor and his famulus were in 
Cracow, April 10, 1584, and was subsequently a frequent 
visitor. The seer introduces his new " control' > as 
f ollows : 26 

He hath a Gown of white silk, with a Cape with three pendants 
with tassels on the end of them all green; it is fur, white, and seemeth 
to shine, with a wavering glittering. On his head is nothing, he hath 
no berd. His phisiognomy is like the pictures of King Edward the 
Sixth; his hair hangeth down a quarter of the length of the Cap, 
somewhat curling, yellow. He hath a rod or wand in his hand, 
almost as big as my little finger; it is of Gold, and divided into three 
equal parts, with a brighter Gold than the rest. He standeth upon 
his round table of Christal, or rather Mother of Pearl. 

When reading the words spoken by Kelley and so 
carefully preserved by Dr. Dee, we are reminded, aside 
from the archaic turn of speech, of the minute descrip- 
tions so glibly given by modern mediums. It is true that 

""Casaubon's "Relation/' p. 73. 
13 

194 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

lately, in America, the spirits of the former owners of 
the land, of the blameless aborigines, seem to have ac- 
quired a quasi monopoly of the intercourse with the 
other world. 

Most of the early records of crystal-gazing show con- 
clusively enough that the images revealed in the stone 
were produced by the expectations, the hopes, or the 
fears of the gazer. In many cases, indeed, the vision is 
only prophetic because it determines the future conduct 
of the person who consults the stone. Fully persuaded 
that what has been seen must come to pass, he, or she, 
proceeds more or less consciously to make it happen, to 
fulfil the prediction. 

As an instance of this we may take from an old Ger- 
man book 2T the tale of a lovelorn maiden who seeks the 
aid of an enchantress to learn whether she will marry 
her lover, upon whom her parents look with disfavor. 
The mystic crystal is brought out wrapped in a yellow 
handkerchief, and is placed in a green bowl beneath 
which is spread a blue cloth, the reflections from these 
different colors being probably calculated to stimulate 
the optic nerve and favor the appearance of some pic- 
ture upon the polished surface of the crystal. The young 
girl, in rapt attention, looks long and earnestly; at last 
she cries out that she sees her own form and that of her 
lover. Both look pale and sad, and they appear to be 
about to set forth upon a long and perilous journey, for 
the lover wears riding-boots and carries a brace of pis- 
tols. The girl is so terrified at the sight that she faints 
away. The sequel of this vision is a runaway match, and 
we can easily understand that when the lover proposed 

"Rist, "Die Aller-Edelste Zeit-Verkiirtung der ganzen Welt," 
Franekf urt on dem Mayn, 1668, p. 255. 

CEYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 195 

this adventure, the girl believed that it was written in 
the book of fate and willingly agreed to undertake it. 

The great humorous poem "Hudibras," wherein all 
the foibles of the seventeenth century are castigated, 
does not fail to make mention of Dee and Kelley and 
their crystal. Of the sorcerer whose aid Hudibras seeks 
we are told : 28 

He'd read Dee's prefaces before, 
The Devi and Euclid o'er and o'er; 
And all tb/ intrigues 'twist him and Kelley, 
Lascus and th ? Emperor, would tell ye. 

Kelley did all his feats upon 
The devil's looking-glass, a stone 
Where, playing with him at bo-peep 
He solved all problems ne'er so deep. 

In his experiments in crystal-gazing, Dr. Dee evi- 
dently used more than one crystal, and did not indeed 
confine the operations of his scryer or scryers to bril- 
liant spheres. In the collection of Horace Walpole, at 
Strawberry Hill, was a polished slab of black stone, 
obsidian, from Mexico. This came into the possession 
of Mr. Smythe Piggott and later (1853) into that of 
Lord Londesborongh; it is now in the collection of 
Prince Alexis Soltykoff. Horace Walpole wrote a 
label for the stone, in which he says that it had 
long been owned by the Mordaunts, Earls of Peters- 
borough, and was described in the catalogue of 
their collection as the black stone into which Dr. Dee 
used to call his spirits. Later it was owned by John 
Campbell, Dnke of Argyle, who gave it to Horace Wal- 

28 Butler, "Hudibras," Part II, Canto in, 11, 235-8, and 
631-4. Tnis second part was issued in 1663, four years after Casau- 
bon's publication of Dee's journal. 

196 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

pole. 29 Undoubtedly any polished surface, whether flat 
or convex, might serve the purpose of the scryer almost 
equally well; the possible advantage of a convex or a 
spherical form consists in the multiplying of the reflec- 
tions and light points so that the sight is induced to 
wander from point to point, and that forms and even 
motions are suggested by the superposition and combi- 
nation of the various reflections. Often, too, a light point 
visible to one eye will not be so to the other, this some- 
times provoking the phenomenon of binocular vision, 
which asserts itself for a moment or two, when the 
diverse images coalesce again, though imperfectly, giv- 
ing an impression of movement. For one gifted with 
imagination and the natural quality of visualizing brain- 
pictures, these shifting light-points and the more or less 
definite and repeated reflections of surrounding objects 
offer abundant material out of which to construct life- 
like pictures apparently seen in the crystal. That the 
brain-pictures thus thrown out, so to speak, upon the 
crystal, may or may not have a peculiar psychic value, 
other than their value as mere phenomena, depends upon 
the significance we are inclined to attribute to the pro- 
cesses of the subconscious intelligence; of its existence, 
indeed, there can be no doubt, and many of our best 
thinkers incline to the belief that through it the narrow 
limits of our personality are occasionally transcended. 

The following history and description of a crystal 
ball is given by John Aubrey (1626-1697) : 

I have here set down the figure of a consecrated Beryl now in 
the possession of Sir Edward Haxley, Knight of the Bath, which 

28 Miscellanea graphica: [Representations of Ancient Medieval and 
Renaissance remains in the Possession of Lord Londesborongh; introd. 
by Thomas Wright, London, 1857, p. 81. 

1, 2, 3. Rock-crystal spheres having portions of the surface ground so that they are rendered par 

opaque. 
4. Natural cross of rock-crystal. On dolomite, Osaining, New York. 

CETSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 197 

he keeps in his closet at Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire amongst 
his Cimelia, which I saw there. It came first from Norfolk; a min- 
ister had it there, and a call was to be made with it. Afterwards a 
miller had it and he did work great cures with it (if curable), and in 
the Beryl they did see, either the receipt in writing, or else the herb. 
To this minister, the spirits or angels would appear openly, and 
because the miller 1 (who was his familiar friend) one day happened 
to see them, he gave him the aforesaid Beryl and Call; by these angels 
the minister was forewarned of his death. This account I had from 
Mr. Ashmole. Afterwards this Beryl came into somebody's hand in 
London who did tell strange things by it; insomuch that at last he was 
questioned for it, and it was taken away by authority (it was about 
1645). This Beryl is a perfect sphere, the diameter of it I guess to 
be something more than an inch; it is set in a ring, or circle, of silver, 
resembling the meredian of a globe; the stem of it is about ten inches 
high, all gilt. At the four quarters of it are the names of four angels, 
viz : Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel. On the top is a cross patee. 30 

In Ms "Sudducismus Triumphatus, " Joseph Glanvil 
writes that "one Compton of Summersetshire, who prac- 
tised Physick, and pretends to strange Matters," demon- 
strated his power to evoke the image of a distant person 
on the surface of a mirror. Q-lanvil relates that Comp- 
ton offered to show to a Mr. Hill any one the latter 
wished to see. Hill "had no great confidence in his 
talk," but replied that he desired to see his wife who was 
many miles distant. "Upon this, Compton took up a 
Looking-glass that was in the Boom, and setting it down 
again, bid my Friend look in it, which he did, and then, as 
he most solemnly and seriously prof esseth, he saw the ex- 
act Image of his Wife, in that Habit which she then wore 
and working at her Needle in such a part of the Room 
(then represented also) in which and about which time 
she really was, as he found upon enquiry when he came 

30 Aubrey, "Miscellanies/' London, 1890, pp. 156, 157. (There is 
a figure on p. 156.) 

198 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

home. The Gentleman himself averred this to me, and 
he is a very sober, intelligent, and credible Person. 
Compton had no knowledge of him before, and was an 
ntter stranger to the Person of his Wife. He was by 
all accounts a very odd Person." 31 

A contemporary record recites that when a certain Sir 
Marmaduke Langdale (of the seventeenth century) was 
in Italy, he went to a sorcerer and was shown in a glass 
his own figure kneeling before a crucifix. Though a 
Protestant at this time, he shortly after became a Cath- 
olic. 32 If we exclude all idea of trickery, it is likely 
enough that the idea of becoming a Catholic was already 
present to the seryer's mind and called up this picture 
before him. 

The celebrated Cagliostro, a Sicilian whose real name 
was Giuseppe Balsamo, among his other arts to excite 
curiosity and play upon the superstition of his contem- 
poraries, had recourse to a species of crystal-gazing. In 
the only authentic biography of this extraordinary im- 
postor occurs the following passage, which we give in 
Carlyle's version: 33 

Cagliostro brought a little Boy into the Lodge, son of a nobleman 
there. He placed him on his knees before a table, whereon stood a 
Bottle of pure water, and behind this some lighted candles: he made 
an exorcism round the boy, put his hand on his head and both, in this 
attitude, addressed their prayers to God for the happy accomplishment 
of the work. Having bid the child look into the Bottle, directly the 
child cried that he saw a garden. Knowing hereby that Heaven as- 
sisted him, Cagliostro took courage, and bade the child ask of God the 
grace to see the angel Michael. At first the child said : " I see some- 

31 Glanvil, " Saddueismus Triumphatus/ 7 London, 1726, p. 281. 

33 Aubrey, "Miscellanies," London, 1890, p. 155. 

"Carlyle, " Works," Ashburton ed., vol. xvi, p. 509; from Vie de 
Joseph Balsamo, traduite d'apres Poriginal Italien, ch. ii, 111 (Paris, 
1791). 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 199 

thing white; I know not what it is." Then he began jumping, stamp- 
ing like a possessed creature, and cried : " There now ! I see a child 
like myself, that seems to have something angelical. 77 All the as- 
sembly, and Cagliostro himself, remained speechless with emotion. 
. . . The child being anew exorcised with the hand of the Venerable 
on his head, and the customary prayer addressed to Heaven, he looked 
into the Bottle, and said he saw his sister at that moment coming' down 
stairs, and embracing one of her brothers. That appeared impossible, 
the brother in question being then hundreds of miles off; however, 
Cagliostro felt not disconcerted; said they might send to the country- 
house where the sister was, and see. 

Taken all in all this experiment does not seem very 
satisfactory; but we have in it all the essential phases 
of crystal-gazing. Excitement and expectation produced 
their usual effect upon an impressionable child, and sug- 
gestion did the rest ; the final vision may have been cor- 
roborated in some way, or, if not, it would be explained 
so as to convince those present at the experiment that 
the child had really seen a representation of some actual 
happening. 

During the Terror, among those upon whom fell the 
suspicions of the Jacobins was General Marliere. He 
knew that a trial and quite probably a condemnation 
awaited him. A few days before the date fixed for his 
appearance before his judges, he met a colonel in the 
French army, who had served in the American Bevolu- 
tionary War, and who was a firm believer in the truth of 
the visions seen in crystal balls. In the course of the 
conversation this subject was alluded to, and the gen- 
eral immediately declared that he was eager to put the 
matter to the test, and learn, if possible, what fate was 
in store for him. The colonel was at first very unwilling 
to undertake the experiment, probably he thought that 
General Marliere 7 s doom was sealed, and, believing as he 
'did in the revelations of the crystal, he dreaded the re- 

200 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

suits; however, the general insisted and the experiment 
took place. As usual, the medium was an "innocent 
child. " In the crystal appeared a man wearing a pri- 
vate 's uniform of the National Guard struggling with one 
wearing a general's uniform. The child was much excited 
and terrified by the sight, exclaiming that the general's 
assailant had thrown him down and was beheading him. 
That the vision portended the general's execution was 
clear enough, but the peculiar dress of the executioner 
was a mystery to those present at the test, for the 
official garb bore no resemblance whatever to a soldier's 
uniform. The prediction was, however, fulfilled to the 
letter. General Marliere was tried, found guilty, and 
guillotined. This in itself did not mean much in view of 
the innumerable executions in the time of the Terror; 
but, on the day of this execution, Samson, the official 
executioner, desiring to gratify his personal vanity and 
to attract the gaze of the spectators, dressed himself in 
the uniform of a national guardsman. 34 That this alto- 
gether unusual circumstance, which could scarcely have 
been known to any of those who assisted at the crystal- 
gazing, should have been revealed in the crystal, is cer- 
tainly very mysterious. If we had positive assurance 
that the events narrated happened exactly in the way 
they are said to have happened, this would be one of the 
few instances in which the vision seen in the crystal re- 
produced something entirely unknown to the scryer. 

Many extraordinary visions are said to have been 
seen in crystal balls by a French scryer whos'e grand- 
mother had clairvoyant powers and was sometimes con- 
sulted by Napoleon I. It is claimed that the grandson 

* Kiesewetter, "Faust in der Geschiclite und Tradition/' Leipzig, 
1893, p. 476. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 201 

has enjoyed the patronage of many royal personages, 
and had predicted, in a more or less definite way, the 
assassination of King Humbert of Italy, and the at- 
tempted assassination of Alfonso XIII and of his young 
bride, when they were returning to the palace after the 
conclusion of the marriage ceremony. This French 
scryer has stated that he is powerfully affected when 
he is consulted by any one destined to die a violent death; 
on such occasions he feels, in his own organism, a modi- 
fied form of the particular kind of suffering they are 
fated to experience. This exceptional sensitiveness to 
occult influences was also shown when the crystal- 
gafcer went to the Boulaq Museum in Cairo, and gazed 
upon the rows of mummies exhibited there ; he immedi- 
ately felt, as intensely as though it were a personal ex- 
perience, the mingled sorrow and rage of the disembodied 
spirits at seeing their embalmed bodies exposed to the 
vrew of the idle crowd, when they should have been per- 
mitted to rest in their tombs until the hour of the Resur- 
rection. 

In England all those who attempted, with a greater 
or less degree of success, to reveal the hidden secrets of 
the future, were expressly designated as rogues and vaga- 
bonds according to the terms of an act passed June 21, 
1824. 35 Such offenders, on being duly convicted before 
the Justice of the Peace, could be committed to the 
House of Correction, " there to be kept at hard Labour 
for any time not exceeding Three Calendar Months. " 
This class of undesirable citizens comprised all using 
"any subtle Craft, Means, or Device, by Palmistry or 
otherwise" for the deception of his Majesty's subjects. 

The h'men, or diviner, of Yucatan, places great re- 

35 George TV, cap. 

202 THE CUEIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

liance upon Ms zaztun, or " clear stone." This may be 
a quartz crystal, or else some other translucent stone; 
but in order to serve for divining purposes it must be 
sanctified according to special rites, gum-copal being 
burned before it, and certain magic formulas recited, 
which have been transmitted from generation to genera- 
tion in an archaic dialect. When thus rendered fit for 
use, the diviner claims to be able to see in the depths of the 
crystal the whereabouts of lost articles, and also what 
absent persons are doing at the time he maies his obser- 
vation. Not only this, but the future is also laid bare 
before his eyes. As these stones are supposed to possess 
such miraculous powers we need not be surprised that 
one of them should be found in almost every village in 
Yucatan. 36 

The Apache medicine-men are also fully persuaded 
that crystals possess the virtue of inducing visions, and 
they have used them for the purpose of finding lost prop- 
erty. To aid in the recovery of stolen ponies is one of 
the most important tasks of the Apache medicine-man, 
and to this end his crystal offers great assistance. Capt. 
John Gr. Burke relates that he made a great friend of a 
medicine-man named Na-a-ehe by giving him a large 
crystal of denticulated spar, much superior to the crystal 
he had been in the habit of using for his visions. That 
this was thoroughly satisfactory to the medicine-man 
at least, is shown by his statement to Capt. Burke that 
by looking into his crystal he could see everything he 
wanted to see. Of the way this came about he did not 
attempt any explanation. 37 

*Brinton, "Essays of an Americanist/* Philadelphia, 1890, p. 165. 
31 Burke, " The Medicine-men of the Apache/' Ninth Annual Report 
of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-1888, Washington, 1892, p. 461. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 203 

The magic power supposed to dwell within rock-crys- 
tal has been recognized in a peculiar way by some natives 
of New South Wales. They have the barbarous custom 
of knocking out one or more of the front teeth of their 
boys at the obligatory initiation ceremonies, and on one 
occasion Dr. Howitt was entrusted with the care of a 
number of these teeth, which are believed to preserve a 
certain undefined connection with the health and fortunes 
of their former possessors, and on this account great 
fear was expressed lest the custodian should place the 
precious teeth in the same bag with some rock-crystals, 
for the natives thought that the magic power of these 
crystals would injuriously affect the teeth, and through 
them the boys, from whose jaws they had been broken. 38 

In a paper entitled "The Origin of Jewelry," read 
before the British Association, Professor W. Eidgeley 
says: 

Australians and tribes of New Guinea use crystals for rain-making, 
although they cannot bore them, and this stone is a powerful amulet 
in Uganda when fastened into leather. Sorcerers in Africa carry a 
small bag of pebbles as an important part of their equipment. So 
it was in Greece. The crystal was used to light the sacrificial fire and 
was so employed in the church down to the fifteenth century. Egyp- 
tians used it largely under the XII Dynasty, piercing it along its axis 
after rubbing on 3 the pyramid points of the crystal, sometimes leaving 
the natural six sides, or else grinding it into a complete cylinder. 
From this bead came the artificial cylindrical glass beads made later 
by the Egyptians. 

Professor Eidgreley believes that the primary use of 
all these objects was because of their supposed magic 
powers. He holds the same view in regard to cylinders 
and rings, considering that the use of these as signets 

18 Fraser, " The Golden Bough/' pt. i, " The Magic Art," vol. i, Lon- 
don, 1911, p. 176. 

204 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

only became habitual at a later time, and he finds a proof 
of this theory in the fact that unengraved Babylonian 
cylinders and Mycenean gems have been discovered. 
This is, of course, perfectly true, but does not in the 
least prove that such ornaments may not have been orig- 
inally worn simply for purposes of adornment; unques- 
tionably, the custom of engraving them so as to render 
them signets must have arisen at a much later date. 

Flacourt stated that the natives of Madagascar used 
crystals to aid them in divining. These stones, which 
were said to have fallen from heaven, were attached to 
the corners of the boards whereon the sorcerers produced 
their geomantic figures. 39 Here, however, the crystals 
were not directly used, but were only supposed to attract 
influences propitious to the diviner's efforts. 

In the notes to the 1888 edition of the Chinese crim- 
inal code, some curious details are given of a practice 
called Tuan-kuang-fuchou (the magic of the round glit- 
tering). While this designation certainly seems to indi- 
cate the use of a polished sphere of some description, 
the details given refer to a different practice. We are 
told that when anything was stolen appeal was sometimes 
made to a certain Sun- Yuan iSheng, who would then 
hang up a piece of white paper and utter a spell, while 
a boy gazed upon the paper until he saw the figure of the 
thief. This magician was punished for carrying on an 
unlawful practice. 40 

The Mexicans made images of their god Tezcatlipoca 
of obsidian, and the name of this divinity is interpreted 
as signifying "shining mirror." This is supposed to 
refer to, or to have been expressed by, the brilliant effect 

"The Making of Beligion," London, 1898, pp. 91-92. 
Thomas, " Crystal Gazing," London, 1905, p. 48. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 205 

of the polished surface of the obsidian. Mirrors of this 
material are said to have been used for divination in an- 
cient Mexico and the neighboring countries. 41 One of 
these Mexican mirrors seems to have been employed by 
Dr. Dee in his experiments in crystal vision. 

A remarkable series of tests in the art of scrying, 
given in the presence of Lane, the great Arabic scholar, 
and translator of the Arabian Nights, illustrates the falli- 
bility of most of the evidence adduced in such matters, 
for, at first, Lane was strongly impressed by the exhibi- 
tion. Although no crystal was used, the process of scry- 
ing was precisely the same as in crystal-gazing, that is 
to say, the vision calted for by the visitors was seen by 
the scryer on a polished surface. The master of cere- 
monies was an Arab magician, though, of course, he did 
not do the scrying himself, but employed a boy for this 
purpose, for it is generally thought that half -grown boys 
or girls are more receptive. Although Lane himself was 
perfectly familiar with Arabic, an interpreter was always 
present in the interest of the other Europeans who as- 
sisted at the experiments. 

After invoking many mysterious geniuses and burn- 
ing incense and scraps of paper inscribed with magic for- 
mulas, tire magician drew a magic square on a large sheet 
of paper and dropped a quantity of ink in the centre. On 
this the boy was directed to fix Ms gaze, and after he had 
shown that he was thoroughly under the magician's in- 
fluence, by describing the images suggested to him, the 
visitors were permitted to ask him questions. The an- 
swers were successful in most cases; a single instance 
will suffice. When the boy was asked to describe Admiral 

41 Nuttall, " The Fundamental Principles of- Old and New World 
Civilization/ 7 Cambridge, Mass., 1901, p. 80. 

206 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Nelson, he replied : "I see a man clothed in a dark garb ; 
there is something strange about him, he has but one 
arm." Then, quickly correcting himself, he added: "No, 
I was mistaken, he has one of his arms across his breast. ' ' 
This correction impressed those present more than the 
first statement, for it was well known that Nelson usually 
had the empty sleeve of his coat pinned to his breast. 
It also seemed as though there could be no collusion, for 
both the magician and the boy were ignorant of every- 
thing English and evidently knew nothing of Nelson. 
Unfortunately, however, for those who would fain believe 
that there is something supernatural in scrying, it was 
later discovered that the interpreter was a renegade 
Scotchman, masquerading as an Arab, and there can be 
little doubt that he managed to suggest the boy's answer. 
The fact that no satisfactory results were obtained when 
this interpreter was absent, makes this explanation 
almost certainly the correct one. 

The Armenians sometimes practised divination by 
watching the images that appeared, or were supposed to 
appear, on the smooth surface of the waters of a well, 
and the person who saw such images was called ~kor- 
nalogli, "he who looks into a well." An Arab woman 
living in the neighborhood of Constantinople enjoyed a 
great reputation for her power in this respect, and was 
frequently consulted by Armenians and by other dwellers 
in the Turkish capital. Whoever wished to question 
this woman regarding the cause of an illness, the where- 
abouts of stolen objects, etc., usually took along a child 
of the household, and the actual scrying was generally 
performed by this child, who would describe or identify 
the forms it saw on the water's surface. If, however, for 
one reason or another, no child was brought, the witch 
herself did the scrying. In regard to illness, a distinction 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 207 

was made between "natural" maladies and those di- 
rectly caused by some spirit. Should the spirit (peri) 
supposed to cause the dire malady known as drseve, a 
kind of consumption, be seen to glide over the surface 
of the water, the sorceress would find it necessary to in- 
voke the whole race of peris to come to the aid of the 
patient, who was expected to pay more than the usual fee 
for this very special service. 42 

The peris of Armenian legend were sometimes good 
and sometimes evil spirits ; in the former case these were 
supposed to perform the functions of guardian angels, 
and every one was said to have a peri especially dele- 
gated to watch over him. This found expression in the 
fact that when one Armenian felt at first sight an in- 
stinctive sympathy for another, he would say, "My peri 
loves you dearly (peris cliad siretz Jcezi)." In the con- 
trary case, the feeling of antipathy was also attributed 
to the attitude assumed by the guardian spirit toward 
the new acquaintance. 43 These spirits were therefore 
supposed to encourage or discourage greater intimacy 
with newcomers in accord with the true interests of those 
over whom they watched. 

The power to see images in a crystal does not appear 
to depend to any great extent upon a morbid nervous 
condition of the seer, for many of the most successful 
experimenters have been of good and even of exception- 
ally vigorous physique. Indeed, illness seems to diminish 
or destroy this power, at least in the case of those who 
are habitually healthy. 44 This does not imply that some 
highly nervous and fcven hysterical individuals have not 

42 Teheraz, " Notes sur la mythologie Anneneenne," in Trans, of 
the Ninth Cong, of Orient. (1892), London, 1893, vol. ii, p. 832. 

43 Teheraz, 1. e., p. 835. 

** Proc. Soc, of Psych. Research, vol. viii, p. 470. 

208 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

been favored with " crystal visions." Very probably the 
rule here is the same as in ordinary hypnotism. Those 
persons who have a strong will and sound nerves are 
able to hypnotize themselves, while those whose nerves 
are disordered are subject to the hypnotic influence of 
others. 

A well-known lady in New York City, in conversation 
with the writer, a few years ago, on the subject of crystal 
balls, was advised by him to try a ball herself and see 
what results she obtained. At the end of two years she 
found that by concentration she had been able to better 
her understanding of herself; and this effect is not only 
obtainable now by means of a crystal ball, but by fixing 
her gaze upon any bright object. This visual fixation 
has centred her whole being in such a way that her health 
has notably improved. 

What are the laws that govern the production of these 
phenomena? That the " visions 7 ' are real enough has 
been proven time and again, but it s'eems almost certain 
that they do not offer anything but the ideas or impres- 
sions existing in the minds or optic nerves of the gazers. 
One of the most painstaking students of the subject, Miss 
Goodrich-Freer, gives many instances in proof of this, 
which show how easy it would be for a less critical ob- 
server to suppose that the crystal revealed something 
unknown to the gazer. On one occasion this lady was at 
a loss to remember the correct address of a friend whose 
letter, received a few days before, she had torn up. She 
resorted to her crystal, and after a few minutes saw in 
it, in gray letters on a white ground, the address she had 
forgotten. She mailed her answer to this address, and 
the reply came duly to hand, with the address stamped 
in gray upon the white paper of the note, which was 

CEYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 209 

identical with that she had first received. 45 The visual 
impression had been stirred up and " externalized " itself 
when she gazed upon the crystal. We believe that this 
explains the larger number of such visions, and that the 
rest are only inexplicable because the scryer has for- 
gotten the source of the impression that is projected on 
the surface of the crystal. 

It is true that both Miss Goodrich-Freer and many 
other crystal-gazers note instances in which the vision 
appears to represent something the scryer does not and 
cannot know. However, even in these cases, when care- 
fully examined, there is little difficulty in finding an ex- 
planation. Coincidence accounts for much, and imagina- 
tion for more, since it is not the vision itself, but the 
memory of the vision, that is later brought into compari- 
son with actual facts. We all know how exceedingly hard 
it is to repeat, after a short lapse of time, all the circum- 
stances and details of any occurrence. There is a natural 
growth and modification of mental impressions, due to 
association of ideas, and where there exists the least wish 
to make the prophecy accord with the event, or the vision 
with the coincident happening, this growth and modi- 
fication will be in tHe direction of agreement. This takes 
place quite unconsciously, and the informant will be fully 
persuaded that all the circumstances are related exactly 
as they occurred. 

The attempt to identify either persons or scenes ob- 
served by the scryer with real persons and real scenes 
unknown to Trim, must always be open to the objection 
that the one who makes the identification has no photo- 
graphic impression upon which to base his judgment, but 
merely the words of the scryer. When we remember 

48 Proc. of the Sac. for Psych. Eesearch, vol. v, p. 507. 
14 

210 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

what mistakes have been made in identifying individuals 
from photographs, we can easily appreciate the great 
chances of error entailed by the use of a verbal descrip- 
tion of a visionary experience, even when the person 
giving the description is both willing and able to make it 
as 'exact and adequate as possible. 

A very impartial witness, Andrew Lang, states that, 
in the course of a series of experiments he made in crys- 
tal-gazing, he saw nothing himself, but found that a sur- 
prisingly large proportion of those who tried were suc- 
cessful in seeing pictures of some sort on the polished 
surface. Almost invariably, when the gazer fixed his eyes 
upon the sphere, it appeared to grow milky-hued and 
then became black; upon this dark background the pic- 
tures showed themselves. One of the scryers, a lady, said 
that as a child she had seen pictures in ink that she had 
spilled for the purpose. 46 This method has been much 
favored by Orientals. While Lang does not quite venture 
to ass'ert that all the " visions" reported to him were 
genuine ones, he inclines to the belief that this was the 
case with many of them. Experience has shown, how- 
ever, that not all of those who s'ee pictures in, or on, a 
glass or crystal sphere, can also see them in ink. 47 Never- 
theless, in view of the fact that the crystal sphere is said 
to appear black to the eye before the pictures are seen, 
it would seem that some naturally black surface would 
be particularly adapted for the purpose. 

An interesting point regarding the phenomena of 
crystal-gazing is the effect produced by magnification 
upon the images seen in, or on, the crystal ball. As to 

"Thomas, "Crystal Gazing," London, 1908, Lang's preface, pp, 

XI* Xll. 

* 7 Thomas, 1. e., p. xxi. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GLAZING 211 

this matter there is considerable difference of opinion, 
for, while sonre experimenters assert that the interposi- 
tion of a magnifying-glass enlarges the image, others 
have not remarked any difference in its size under these 
conditions. Indexed, one of the most critical witnesses, 
Mrs. A. W. Verrall, declares that her vision entirely 
disappeared when she held a magnifying-glass before her 
eyes. On tire other hand, we have the case of a subject 
who had been told, while in the hypnotic state, that he 
would see a play-bill on the crystal When he was awak- 
ened and the crystal ball was placed before him, he said 
that he could see only detached letters, but when he 
looked through a magnifying-glass he saw all the letters 
distinctly and read the name of the play, in perfect accord 
with the suggestion. 48 

This image may have been reflected from some part of 
the room where the gazer had not noticed it, and may 
have been either before or behind the operator. The 
magnifying-glass would naturally make the small, con- 
densed letters legible, as a play-bill would be many times 
larger than a crystal ball, and its minute image natu- 
rally too small to read, being reduced by the circular 
surface. 

Usually, however, the image is not on the surface of 
the crystal, but in the beholder's eye; therefore when 
this image appears more clearly under magnification, 
the result is due to the expectation of the gazer based 
upon his experience of an invariable rule. This acts 
as a stimulus upon the visual function, which must be 
in an exceedingly sensitive state to produce visions at 
all. When, however, no result or a negative result fol- 
lows the use of the glass, then we can safely assume that 

48 Proc. of the Soc. for Psych. Research, vol. viii, p. 473. 

212 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PBECIOUS STONES 

the gazer was naturally of a critical turn of mind, and 
was disposed to distrust sensual impressions ; hence the 
glass became a disturbing influence, interfering with or 
even completely obliterating tire eye-picture. 

Many attempts have been made to establish distinc- 
tions between the different materials used for crystals, 
proceeding on the theory that subtle emanations from 
them affected the gazer and played an important part in 
producing the desired vision. That the beryl produced a 
greater number of these visions than any other mineral 
was the old belief which is still upheld in some Quarters 
to-day; one scryer, indeed, asserts that his clearest and 
most satisfactory visions were seen in a cube of blue 
beryl, the beautiful color appearing to dispose the soul 
to a harmonious unfolding of its latent aptitudes. 49 

Among the instructions given to a would-be crystal 
gazer, the question of a proper and wholesome diet is 
not overlooked, as anything which tends to disturb the 
serenity of the organism will also interfere with the due 
exercise of the special clairvoyant faculty that expresses 
itself in crystal visions. A curious special recommen- 
dation made by one of the exponents of the art is that 
good results can be had by drinking an infusion of mug- 
wort (Artemisia vulgaris), or of chicory (CicJiorium 
inty'bus), because of their tonic and antibilious qualities. 
Moreover, we are told that these herbs are under the 
influence of the zodiacal sign Libra, the sign controlling 
the virtues of the beryl. 50 Above all the portion of the 
lunar month when the moon is on the increase is said 
to be far the best season for scrying, as the old astrolo- 
gers recognized an affinity between the moon and rock- 
crystal. 

49 Shepharial, "The Crystal and the Seer/' London [1900?], p. 14. 
80 John Melville, "Crystal Gazing," London, 1910, pp. 20, 21. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 213 

The claim is made that the adept at crystal-gazing 
can determine by the apparent difference in proximity of 
the visions whether they refer to the present or to a more 
or less remote past or future, that is to say, are nearer 
or farther removed in time from the period when the 
vision appears. The distinction between past and future 
is admitted to offer greater difficulty and a decision as to 
this point must depend upon a kind of intuitive and unde- 
fined impression on the part of the scryer. 

Those who have made a sympathetic study of crystal- 
gazing recognize that the " visions " seen in or on the 
crystal differ according to the mental and psychic tem- 
perament of the scryer. Two broad distinctions are 
sometimes established, the one class comprising those 
whose mental attitude is a "positive" one while the sec- 
ond class includes the "passive" subjects. In the former 
case the crystal visions are more apt to be symbols denot- 
ing some past or future event than a clear picture of the 
event itself, the mentality of the "positive" subject be- 
ing, perhaps, too strong merely to mirror the image cast 
upon it. Instead of so doing it transforms the impression 
received from this image into some symbolic form. This 
process is not, however, consciously done, but the scryer 
of this type is supposed nevertheless to have an instinc- 
tive appreciation of the fact that what he sees is purely 
and simply a symbol, and he proceeds to interpret this 
in accord with certain generally received rules, or in 
accord with his own personal experience. 

The passive subject on the other hand is more apt to 
see a clear and definite picture of the persons or events 
revealed to him. Sometimes that picture is distinctly 
perceptible' on or about the surface of the crystal, while 
at other times the visual perception will be rather indefi- 
nite and clouded, although accompanied by a strong men- 

214 THE CUEIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

tal impression in itself equivalent to that which wonld 
have been induced by an actual and objective vision. 51 

The proper use of the crystal is the prime factor in 
the art of scrying and great attention is paid to this point 
by all those who treat seriously of the subject. Among 
other things they recognize that freedom from pain, or 
even from a sense of physical discomfort, is quite essen- 
tial, for the mind must assume a purely passive and 
receptive attitude, and not be forced to take cognizance 
of bodily discomfort Moreover the nervous system must 
be in repose, for which reason a reasonable time should 
be allowed to lapse after taking a meal, before trying for 
crystal visions. 52 

An author on "psychomancy" affirms that fixing the 
gaze upon a crystal ball is one of the very best means of 
bringing out the latent faculty of astral vision, and he 
finds a reason for this in the atomic structure, the molecu- 
lar arrangement of the material. He does not, however, 
impart any definite information as to what special struc- 
tural characteristics render glass or rock-crystal particu- 
larly efficient in this direction. 53 The help that may be 
derived from crystal-gazing by those who are striving to 
pierce the veil that separates the "real life" about us 
from that spiritual life which is so much more real for 
those who believe in it, is also admitted by many. 54 

"We cannot refrain from citing here the words spoken 
by Sir Oliver Lodge at Birmingham, Sept. 10, 1913, before 
the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 

51 Shepharial, "The Crystal and the Seer," London [1900?] pp. 
11-13, 

03 Melville, " Crystal Gazing," London, 1910, p. 47. 

53 Atkinson, " Practical Psyehomancy and Crystal Gazing," Chicago 
[1908], p. 46. 

w See Leadbeater, The Astral Plane," London, 1910, p. 14. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 215 

affirming his conviction, as a result of scientific investiga- 
tion of occult phenomena, "that memory and affection 
are not limited to that association with matter by which 
alone they can manifest themselves here and now, and 
that personality persists beyond bodily death/' 

One of the latest types of glass balls for crystal-gaz- 
ing has a small, circular, flat surface on the sphere. This 
may possibly be of service in furnishing a better field for 
the expected vision, and may also lessen the troublesome 
and baffling reflections which interfere so seriously with 
the projection of the mental picture. 

A method that has been recommended to crystal- 
gazers is to place the crystal on a table, protect it from 
the reflections of surrounding objects by means of a 
velvet screen, and set seven candlesticks with wax tapers 
in front of the screen. The tapers are then to be lighted, 
the room being otherwise in perfect darkness, and the 
would-be scryer is to seat himself comfortably before 
the table, laying his hands flat upon it, and to gaze fixedly 
upon the crystal for half an hour or longer. The light 
from the tapers will certainly ensure a multitude of light 
points in the crystal. That the molecules forming the 
sphere may always remain en rapport with the gazer, 
he is advised to put it beneath his pillow when retiring 
to rest. 55 

The crystal gazer is strongly advised by some to limit 
the duration of his experiment at first to five minutes, 
during which he is to avoid thinking of anything in par- 
ticular while keeping his eyes fixed intently upon the 
ball, but without any undue straining of attention. Should 
the eyes "water" after the test is concluded, this is to 
be regarded as an indication that the gazer has persisted 

w Verner, "How to Know Your Future," London [1910?], p. 16. 

216 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

too long; for brain-fag is to be strictly avoided, as such 
a state depresses instead of arousing the hidden and 
higher psychic faculties. Even after considerable prac- 
tice, the scrying should not be carried on for more than a 
few minutes at a time. The faculty of visualization plays 
a most important part in crystal-gazing. The image 
thought to be seen on, before, or behind the surface of 
the crystal, is in its essence a fancied projection of a 
purely mental image conceived in the brain; such an 
image as is present to the consciousness of many when 
they call to mind a scene of some vivid past experience, 
or the face of someone they have known, and see it as an 
element of consciousness. When it is possible to exter- 
nalize this interior vision, then we have at least a begin- 
ning of successful scrying. That it may go far beyond 
this, that it may reveal to the gazer events happening 
in some distant place, or even events yet to transpire in 
the dim future, is often claimed. An acceptance of this 
claim must depend largely upon our attitude toward 
premonitions and prophecies in general. Here, as in the 
simple picture evolved by an image of the past, the crys- 
tal is merely the background upon which are cast the 
mind-pictures or soul-pictures arising within our being. 56 
A use of crystal gazing to aid literary composition 
has been reported in the case of an English authoress of 
note, who, if she lost the thread of the story she was 
writing, would resort to her crystal, and would see mir- 
rored therein the scenes and personages of her tale, the 
latter carrying on the plot in dramatic action. Aided 
by this suggestion she was able to resume her composi- 
tion and successfully terminate her story. 

55 See Hereward Carrington's Correspondence Course of Instruction 
in Psychic Development, Lesson 24, New York, 1912. 

CRYSTAL BAT.L, SUPPORTED BY BRONZE DRAGON. JAPANESE. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CfiYSTAE GAZING 217 

In Japan the smaller rock-crystals were believed to 
be the congealed breath of tire White Dragon, while the 
larger and more brilliant ones were said to be the saliva 
of the Violet Dragon. As the dragon was emblematic 
of the highest powers of creation, this indicates the es- 
teem in which the substance was held by the Japanese, 
who probably derived their appreciation of it from the 
Chinese. The name suisho, used both in China and 
Japan to designate rock-crystal, reflects the idea current 
in ancient times, and repeated even by seventeenth 
century writers, that rock-crystal was ice which had been 
so long congealed that it could not be liquefied. 

For the Japanese, rock-crystal is the "perfect jewel/ 7 
tama; it is at once a symbol of purity and of the infinity 
of space, and also of patience and perseverance. This 
latter significance probably originating from an obser- 
vation of the patience and skill shown by the accurate 
and painstaking Japanese cutters and polishers of rock- 
crystal. 

A crystal ball, one of the largest perfect spheres ever 
produced, has been made from rock-crystal of Madagas- 
car. It is a very perfect sphere and of faultless material. 
The diameter is 6% inches and the ball was held at about 
$20,000. 

Many fine crystal balls are made in Japan, the mate- 
rials being found in large, clear masses in the mountains 
on the islands of Nippon and Fusiyama and also in the 
granitic rocks of Central Japan. It is stated, however, 
that much of the Japanese material really comes from 
China. The Japanese methods of working rock-crystals 
are extremely simple and depend more upon the skill and 
patience of the workers than upon the tools at their com- 
mand. Our illustration, taken from a sketch made by an 
Oriental traveller, shows the process of manufacturing 

218 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

crystal balls. The rough mass of crystal is gradually 
rounded by careful chipping with a small steel ha.TnTn.er. 
With the aid of this tool alone a perfect sphere is formed. 
The Japanese workmen thoroughly understand the frac- 
ture of the mineral, and know just when to apply chipping 
and when hammering. The crystal, having been reduced 
to a spherical form, is handed to a grinder, whose tools 
consist of cylindrical pieces of cast iron, about a foot 
in length, and full of perforations. These cylinders are 
of different curvatures, according to the size of the 
crystal to be ground. Powdered emery and garnet are 
used for the first polishing. Plenty of water is supplied 
during the process, and the balls are kept constantly 
turning, in order to secure a true spherical surface. 
Sometimes they are fixed on the end of a hollow tube and 
kept dexterously turning in the hand until smooth. The 
final polishing is effected with crocus or rouge (finely 
divided hematite), giving a splendid lustrous surface. 
As hand labor is exclusively used, the manufacture of 
crystal objects according to the Japanese nrethods is ex- 
tremely laborious and slow. 57 

In Germany and France and in the United States, the 
fabrication of rock-crystal is accomplished almost en- 
tirely by machinery. The crystal to be shaped into a ball 
is placed against a semicircular groove worn in huge 
grindstones. This is illustrated in the case of the 
method practised in Oberstein, Germany. The workman 
has his feet firmly braced against a support, and, resting 
upon his chest, presses the crystal against the revolving 
grindstone. It is unnecessary to add that the practice is 

67 Kunz, " The Occurrence and Manipulation of Rock Crystal/ 7 Scien- 
tific American, vol. Iv, pp. 103, 104 (Aug. 14, 1886). Trans. K Y. 
Acad. Sciences, May 30, 1S86. 

By permission of the " Scieatific American." 

METHOD OF GRINDING CRYSTAL BALLS AND OTHER HARD STONF 
OBJECTS IN GERMANY AND FRANCE. 

By permission of the " Scientific American.' * 

J \PANESE METHOD OF CHIPPING, GRINDING AND POLISHING 
ROCK-CRYSTAL BAJ^LS. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 219 

extremely unwholesome and develops early consumption 
among the workers. A constant stream of water is kept 
flowing over the stone so that the crystal shall always be 
moist, as the friction would otherwise hurt it, and the 
subsequent addition of water would be liable to cause a 
fracture. The final polishing is done on a wooden wheel 
with tripoli, or by means of a leather buffer with tripoli 
or rouge. 58 

There are three fine crystal balls in the collection of 
the American Museum of Natural History. One, appar- 
ently perfect, measures 5% inches in diameter and was 
cut from a crystal found in Mokolumne, Calaveras Co., 
California; the second is 6% inches in diameter and is 
from the same locality, but not entirely perfect. These 
were shown in the department of the Tiffany Collection 
prepared by the author, and were exhibited at the Paris 
Exposition of 1900 as part of the J. Pierpont Morgan 
gift to the American Museum of Natural History. An- 
other fine crystal ball is now to be seen in the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York ; this was donated 
to the institution. It measures 4 n / 16 inches in diameter, 
is of wonderful purity, and the cutting has been executed 
with such a high degree of precision that an ideally per- 
fect sphere has been produced. 59 

Crystal balls have been found occasionally in tombs 
or in funerary urns, and their presence in sepulchres 
may perhaps be considered to have been due to a belief 
that they possessed certain magic properties. In the 
tomb of Childeric (ca. 436-481 A.D.), the father of Clovis, 
a rock-crystal sphere was found which was for a time 
preserved in the Bibliotheque Eoyale, Paris, and later in 

58 Kunz, " The Occurrence and Manipulation of Kock Crystal." 
w Gratacap, " The Mystic Crystal Sphere," in the American Museum 
Journal, January, 1913, p, 24; plate on p. 22. 

220 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

tne Louvre Museum ; it measures 1}^ inches in diameter. 60 
The chance discovery of a number of crystal balls is re- 
lated by Montfaucon. Towards the end of the sixteenth 
century, the canons of San Giovanni in Laterano, Borne, 
wished to have some repairs made to a house they owned, 
just outside of the city walls, and sent thither some work- 
men with the order to break up or remove two large, 
superimposed stones, which were much in the way. The 
workmen proceeded to break the upper stone, but were 
much astonished to find embedded within it an alabaster 
funerary urn with its cover. This had been hidden be- 
tween the two stones, a space for its reception having 
been hollowed out in the upper and lower stones, so that 
it fitted within them. Opening the urn there were found 
inside, mingled with the ashes, twenty crystal balls, a 
gold ring with a stone setting, a needle, an ivory comb, 
and some bits of gold wire. The presence of the needle 
was taken to indicate conclusively that the ashes were 
those of a woman. 61 

The discovery of the tomb of Childeric was made, 
May 27, 1653, by a deaf-mute mason, named Adrien 
Quinquin, while he was excavating for the restoration of 
one of the dependencies of the church of Saint Brice de 
Tournai. One of the most interesting objects found in 
the tomb was the golden signet of Ohilderic bearing his 
head and the legend Childerici regis. The earliest 
description is given in a work by Chiflet entitled "Anas- 
tasis Childerici/' "Kesurrection of Childeric, " pub- 
lished by Plantin of Antwerp in 1655. The various orna- 
ments were sent by the Spanish Grovernor-G-eneral of the 
Netherlands to the Austrian treasury in Vienna, and 
were not long afterward, in 1664, graciously donated by 

w Montf aueon, Les monnmens de la monarchic Frangaise, Paris, 
1729, p. 15. 

tt Montf aucon, 1. c. 

ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERE. 

Japan, five inches diameter. Morgan collection, American Museum of Natural History, 

New York. 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 221 

Emperor Leopold I to King Louis XIV, at the instance 
of Johann Philip of Schonborn, Archbishop of Mainz, 
who was under great obligation to the French sovereign. 

In Paris the various ornaments were preserved in the 
Bibliotheque Eoyale until the night of November 5-6, 
1831, when many of them, with other valuables, were 
stolen by an ex-convict. Closely pursued by the police, 
the thief threw his booty into the Seine ; much of the plun- 
der was subsequently recovered, but the signet of Chil- 
deric was lost for ever. The crystal ball had not seemed 
of sufficient value to tempt the thief and was left undis- 
turbed; it was later, in 1852, deposited in the Louvre 
Museum. 62 

In a personal communication to Abbe Cochet made 
in 1858 by Mr. Thomas Wright, the latter stated that he 
had seen at Downing in Flintshire with Lord Fielding 
five crystal balls, bearing labels declaring that they came 
from the sepulchres of the kings of France violated at 
the time of the French Revolution. They had been pur- 
chased about 1810 at the sale of the Duchess of Portland's 
effects. 63 

Among the crystal balls found in French sepulchres 
may be noted one discovered by Eigollot in 1853 at Arras, 
and preserved in the Museum of that city; this still has 
the original gold mounting serving to attach it to the 
necklace from which it had been worn suspended. An- 
other found at or near Levas was in the possession of 
M. Dancoise, a notary of Henin-Lietard, dept. Pas de 
Calais. 64 In the Bibliotheque at Dieppe there is a crystal 
ball, 32 -mm. in diameter, found at Douvrend, dept. Seine- 
Inf erieure, in 1838, in a Merovingian tomb ; this is pierced 

"* Cochet, "Le tombeau de Childerlc ler rod des Francs," Paris, 
1859, pp. 16 sqq. 

M Cochet, op. cit., p. 305. 

" Cochet, op. cit., p. 302; figure. 

222 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

through. 65 The department of Moselle supplied three 
discoveries of this kind, crystal balls having been found 
in a tomb at St. Preux-la-Montagne, Sablon and Moine- 
ville near Briey, the latter measuring 36 mm. in 
diameter. 66 

The Saxon tombs of England have also furnished a 
contingent of crystal balls, for example at Chatham, at 
Chassel Down on the Isle of "Wight, where four were dis- 
covered, at Breach Down, Barham, near Canterbury, at 
Fairford, Gloucestershire, and also in Kent, 67 

We should also note a crystal ball found in a funer- 
ary urn at Hinsbury Hill, Northamptonshire ; 6S this as 
well as the one found at Fairford was facetted. 69 From 
St. Nicholas, Worcestershire, is reported a crystal ball 
\y 2 inches in diameter. 70 

In his "Hydrotaphia, or Urn Burial," published in 
1658, Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), author of the 
"Beligio Medici," relates that there was at that time 
in the possession of Cardinal Farnese, an urn in which, 
besides a number of antique engraved gems, an ape of 
agate, and an elephant of amber, there had been found 
a crystal ball and six "nuts" of crystal. 71 

05 Coehet, op. cit., p. 303, No. 1. 

80 Simon, " Observations sur les sepulchres antiques dec ou verts dans 
plusieures contrees des Gaules," p. 5 ; pi. ii, fig. 14. 

" See Wylie's Fairford Graves/' pi. iv, fig. 1, pi. v, fig 2; Akerman's 
"Remains of Pagan Saxondom," Roach Smith's " Collectanea antiqua " ; 
Douglas' ''Nenia Brittanica," and Hillier's "Antiquities of the Isle of 
Wight." 

w Akerman, op. cit., p. 10. 

w Journal of the Archaeological Institute, vol. ix, p. 179. 

70 Akerman, op. cit., pp. 39, 40. 

71 Miscellanies upon various subjects, by John Aubrey, to which 
is added "Hydrotaphia, or Urn Burial/ 7 by Sir Thomas Browne, Lon- 
don, 1890, p. 244; chap, ii 

CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 223 

One of the largest and most perfect crystal balls is in 
the Dresden "Grime Grewolbe" (Green Vaults). This 
weighs 15 German pounds and measures 6 2/3 inches in 
diameter; it was undoubtedly used for purposes of 
augury. Ten thousand dollars was the price paid for it 
in 1780. 

A crystal ball known as the Currahmore Crystal, be- 
cause it is kept at the seat of that name belonging to the 
Marquis of "Waterford, has long enjoyed and still enjoys 
the repute of possessing magical powers. It is of rock- 
crystal, and the legend runs that one of the Le Poers 
brought it from the Holy Land, where it had been given 
him by the great crusader Godefroy de Bouillon (1058- 
1100). The ball is a trifle larger than an orange and a 
silver ring encircles it at the middle. The chief and 
much-prized virtue of this crystal is its power to cure 
cattle of any one of the many distempers to which they 
are subject. Its application for this purpose is rather 
peculiar, for the cattle are not touched with it, but driven 
up and down a stream in which it has been laid. Not 
only in the immediate neighborhood of Currahmore is 
resort had to this magic stone by the peasants, but re- 
quests for its loan are often made from far distant parts 
of Ireland. The privilege is almost always accorded and 
has never been abused, the crystal being in every case 
conscientiously returned to its rightful owner. 72 

The names "ghost-crystals," "phantom-crystals," 
"spectre-crystals," "shadow-crystals," etc., are applied 
to a form of quartz in which the crystallization was in- 
terrupted from time to time, so that in the transparent 
successive layers there is an occasional opaque layer, 

"Lady Wilde, "Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Supersti- 
tions of Ireland," Boston, 1888, p. 209. 

224 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

often no thicker than the finest possible dusting of a 
whiter material. Sometimes as many as fifteen or twenty 
of these successive growths are observable, one over the 
other. When these crystals are in the natural form, they 
show beautifully from the sides and ends. Sometimes 
such crystals are found after they have been rolled in the 
beds of mountain torrents until they have become entirely 
opaque, but when the surfaces are polished, the "phan- 
tom," "spectre," or "ghost," appears with wonderful 
beauty. Occasionally the entire crystal has been worn 
down to a small part of the original prism, in which case 
it is cut into a ball. The ball may seem to be absolutely 
pure, but when held in certain lights little tent-like mark- 
ings can often be observed ; sometimes only one marking 
is visible, but there may be as many as twenty. These 
are occasionally due to a layer of smoky material, and, 
though they add a charm to the ball, they detract from 
its value. Nevertheless, crystal-gazers may find an addi- 
tional interest when the "ghostly" or "spectral" inte- 
rior exists in a crystal ball This growth is similar in 
kind to that seen at times in opaque quartz, forming what 
is known as cap-quartz; here the crystallizations can fre- 
quently be broken apart so that they fit one over the 
other in many successive layers. Occasionally the reg- 
ular crystalline development will be interrupted, as it 
were, and in place of the original crystal continuing its 
growth harmoniously, a larger crystal will form on a 
smaller one, forming a sort of mushroom, or "cap," or 
"stilt" quartz, as it is termed. 

VII 

ages of tyntfow >tone& 
and 

use of stones for the decoration of images of the 
gods, and in religious ceremonies, more especially 
in those connected with the burial of the dead, can be 
traced back to a remote antiquity. Indeed, we may re- 
gard this religious USB of precious or peculiar stones as 
the natural development of the original idea of their 
talismanic virtue. If a certain supernatural essence man- 
ifested itself in the stone, what more fit object could be 
imagined for the decoration of statues of the gods, or to 
bear engraved texts from the sacred writings, and to be 
placed with the bodies of the dead as "passports" to 
ensure the safe entry of the souls of the departed into the 
better land? 

While this employment of mineral substances for 
religious purposes is practically universal, the earliest 
recorded instances come from Egypt, and concern the 
Egyptian custom of engraving texts from a very ancient 
ritual composition, called the Book of the Dead, upon 
certain semi-precious stones which had been cut into 
various symbolical forms. This "Book of the Dead," 
composed of a number of distinct chapters, 'each com- 
plete in itself, describes the passage of the soul of the 
deceased through the realm of tire dead ( Amenti) . Here 
the soul addresses the gods and other beings who receive 
it, and the prayers and invocations recited in the chap- 
ters are supposed to procure a safe passage and protec- 
tion from all evil influences or impediments, 

15 225 

226 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

One of the most usual of tire engraved amulets is the 
buckle or tie (thet). This was generally of red jasper, 
carnelian, or red porphyry, or else of red glass or 
faience or of sycamore wood. The wood was symbolical 
of the blood of Isis, and the amulets were sometimes en- 
graved with the 156th chapter of the Book of the Dead; 
they were placed on the mummy's neck. The formula 
engraved reads : 

Chapter of the buckle of carneliaa which is put on the neck of the 
deceased. 

The blood of Isis, the virtue of Isis; the magic power of Isis, 
the magic power of the Eye are protecting this the Great one; they 
prevent any wrong being done to him. 

This chapter is said on a buckle of carnelian dipped into the 
juice of ankhama, inlaid into the substance of the sycamore-wood and 
put on the neck of the deceased. 

Whoever has this chapter read to him, the virtue of Isis protects 
him; Horus, the son of Isis, rejoices in seeing Mm, and no way is 
barred to him, unfailingly. 1 

Another amulet is the tet. The hieroglyph represents 
a mason's table and the word signifies "firmness, stabil- 
ity, preservation. 7 ' These figures, made of faience, gold, 
carnelian, lapis-lazuli, and other materials, were placed 
on the neck of the mummy to afford protection. 2 

The "papyrus scepter/' uat, is usually cut from 
matrix-emerald or made of faience of similar hue. Vat 
means "verdure, flourishing, greenness"; placed on the 
neck of the mummy it was regarded as emblematic of the 

1 Life Work of Sir Peter le Page Renonf , Paris, 1907, vol. iv, p. 
342. In the vignette to chapter 93, to illustrate the protection afforded, 
a, buckle with human hands seizes the arm of the deceased and prevents 
bim from going toward the East, the inauspicious direction for departed 
*ouls, pi. xxv (Papyrus, Louvre iii, 93). 

3 Budge, " The Mummy," Cambridge, 1894, p, 259. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 227 

eternal youth it was hoped the deceased would enjoy in 
the realm of the dead. In the 159th chapter of the Book 
of the Dead, we read of an uat of matrix-emerald; it was 
believed to be the gift of Thoth, serving to protect the 
limbs of the deceased. 3 

The amulet representing the pillow, urs, was gener- 
ally made of hematite. The 166th chapter of the Book 
of the Dead is sometimes engraved thereon. Dr. Budge 
renders this as follows : 

Rise up from non-existence, prostrate one! They watch over 
thy head at the exalted horizon. Thou overthrowest thine enemies; 
thou triumphest over what they do against thee, as Horns, the avenger 
of his father, this Osiris* has commanded to be done for thee. Thou 
cuttest off the heads of thine enemies; never shall they carry off from 
thee thy head(?). Verily Osiris maketh slaughter at the coming 
forth of the heads of his enemies; may they never remove his head 
from him. 

Of all these amulets, the type most frequently en- 
countered has the shape of a heart, ab. These are found 
of carnelian, gre'en jasper, basalt, lapis-lazuli, and other 
hard materials. The heart, regarded in ancient Egypt 
as the seat of life, was the object of especial care after 
death. Enclosed in a special receptacle it was buried 
with the mummy, and the belief was that only after it had 
been weighed in the balance of the underworld, against 
the symbol of law, could it regain its place in the body 
of the deceased. The heart was symbolically repre- 
sented by the scarab. 5 

A fine example of a heart amulet shows on one side 
the figure of the goddess Neith with the pennu bird or 

8 Budge, "The Mummy," Camhridge, 1894, p. 261. 

4 The deceased was identified with Osiris. 

5 Budge, " The Mummy/' Cambridge, 1894, p. 263. 

228 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

phoenix, an emblem of the resurrection, and bears in- 
scribed the chapter of the heart. 6 

The following extract from the Book of the Dead 
treats of the formula to be recited over a funeral scarab 
cut from a hard stone, perhaps the lapis-laznli. Egyptian 
tradition assigned this chapter to the reign of Semti, the 
fifth king of the 1st Dynasty, about 4400 B.c. 7 

Chapter of not allowing a man's heart to oppose him in the divine 
regions of the nether world. 

My heart which came from my mother, my heart necessary for my 
existence on earth, do not rise up against me, do not testify as an ad- 
versary against me among the divine chiefs in regard to what I have 
done before the gods; do not separate from me before the great lord 
of Amenti. Hail to thee, heart of Osiris, dwelling in the West! 
Hail to you, gods of the braided beard, august by your sceptre ! Speak 
well of the Osiris N"; make him prosper by Nehbka. I am reunited with 
the earth, I am not dead in Amenti. There I am a pure spirit for 
eternity. 

To be said over a scarabaeus fashioned from a hard stone, coated 
with gold, and placed on the heart of the man after he has been 
anointed with oil. The following words should be said over him as a 
magic charm: "My heart which came from my mother, my heart is 
necessary for me in my transformations." 

Take your aliments, pass around the turquoise basin, and go to 
him who is in his temple and from whom the gods proceed. 

The most ancient inscription of this especially favorite 
text is on the plinth of a scarab in the British Museum 
bearing the cartouche of Sebak-em-saf, a king of the XIV 
Dynasty, 2300 B.C. It is made from an exceptionally 
fine piece of green jasper, the body and head of the beetle 
being carefully carved out of the stone, while the legs 
are of gold, carved in relief. The scarab is inserted into 

e Birch, Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in Alnwick Castle, Lon- 
'don, 1880, p. 224. 

T Pierret, "Le livre des Morts," Paris, 1882, p. 138. 

"PHANTOM CRYSTAL" OF QUARTZ (ROCK-CRYSTAL) MADAGASCAR. 
In possession of the author. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 229 

a gold base of tabloid form, and was found at Kurna 
(Thebes) by Mr. Salt As green jasper was believed to 
possess altogether exceptional virtues as an amulet, this 
particular scarab was probably regarded as especially 
sacred. 

It appears to have been tire rule to engrave certain 
special chapters of the Book of the Dead, among those 
referring to the heart, upon particular stones. Thus, for 
instance, the 26th chapter was engraved on lapis-laznli, 
the 27th upon feldspar, the 30th upon serpentine, and the 
29th upon carnelian. 8 This may perhaps have been 
originally due to some association of the god principally 
invoked in the text with the precious substance upon 
which the text was engraved. 

The form of an eye, fashioned out of lapis-lazuli and 
ornamented with gold, constituted an amulet of great 
power; it was inscribed with tire 140th chapter of the 
Book of the Dead. On the last day of the month Mechir, 
an offering "of all things good and holy" was to be made 
before this symbolic eye, for on that day the supreme 
god Ea was b'elieved to place such an image upon his 
head. Sometimes these eyes were made of jasper, and 
could then be laid upon any of the limbs of a mummy. 9 

Of the image of Truth, made from a lapis-lazuli and 
worn by the Egyptian high-priest, JElian aptly says that 
he would prefer the judge should not bear Truth about 
with him, fashioned and expressed in an image, but rather 
in his very soul. 10 

8 "Life Work of Sir Peter le Page Renouf," Paris, 1907, vol. 
iv, p. 76, note. 

"Ibid., Paris, 1907, vol. iv, p. 295. 

10 JEliani, "Varia historia," lib. siv, cap. xxxiv, Lug. Bat., 1731, 
Pars altera, p. 977. 

230 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF 'PRECIOUS STONES 

Among the Assyrian texts giving the formulae for in- 
cantations and various magical operations, there is one 
which treats of an ornament composed of seven brilliant 
stones, to be worn on the breast of the king as an amulet ; 
indeed, so great was the virtue of these stones that they 
were supposed to constitute an ornament for the gods 
also. The text, as rendered by Fossey,, is as follows : n 

Incantation. The splendid stones! The splendid stones! The 
stones of abundance and of joy. 

Made resplendent for the flesh of the gods. 

The hulalini stone, the sirgarru stone, the hulafa stone, the sandu 
stone, the uknu stone. 

The dushu stone, the precious stone elmtishu, perfect in celestial 
beauty. 

The stone of which the pingu is set in gold. 

Placed upon the shining breast of the king as an ornament. 

Azagsud, high-priest of Bel, make them shine, make them sparkle ! 

Let the evil one keep aloof from the dwelling ! 

The names of two of these gems, the liulalu and the 
'hulalini, suggest that they were of similar class. As the 
fundamental meaning of the root whence the names are 
formed is "to perforate," it is barely possible that we 
have here the long-sought Assyrian designation for the 
pearl, which was commonly regarded in ancient times as 
a stone. In Arabic the perforated pearl has a special 
name to distinguish it from the unperf orated, or "virgin 
pearl. 57 All we know of the sdndu is that it must have 
been a dark-colored stone. The uJcnu, however, is almost 
certainly the lapis-lazuli. It is often mentioned in the 
Tel el Amarna tablets as having been among the gifts 
sent by the kings of Babylonia and Assyria to the Pha~ 
raohs of Egypt, and also by the latter to friendly Asiatic 

u Fossey ? "La Magie Assyrienne," Paris, 1902, p. 301; see Raw- 
linson, " Gun. inse. of West. Asia," vol. iv, 18, No. 3. 

AMBER HEART-SHAPED AMULET. 
Italian, seventeenth century. 

AN INSCRIBED SCARAB (GREEN STONE) OF THE TYPE KNOWN AS A HEART- 
SCARAB. DATE ABOUT 1300 B.C. 

The Scribe Pa-bak: Let him say: "O Heart that I received from my mother (to be 
said twice), O Heart that belongs to my spirit, rise not against me as witness, oppose me 
not before the fudges, contradict me not in the presence of the Guardian of the Scales. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 231 

monarchs. Of the sirgarru and dusliu stones nothing is 
known, but the elmeshu, the seventh in the list, was evi- 
dently regarded as the most brilliant and splendid of all ; 
indeed, Prof. Friedrich Delitzsch hazards the conjecture 
that it is the diamond. In any case this stone must have 
been set in rings and considered very valuable, for in an 
Assyrian text occurs the following passage: "Like an 
elmeshu ring may I be precious in thine eyes.' 7 12 The 
fact that this stone is described as having "a celestial 
beauty" might incline us to believe that it was a sap- 
phire. 

The idea of this mystic ornament, composed of seven 
gems, probably originated in Babylonia, where the num- 
ber seven was looked upon as especially sacred. As we 
shall see, there is some reason to attribute a Hindu 
origin to the nine gems, "the covering 7 ' of the King of 
Tyre, enumerated by Ezekiel, while the breastplate on 
the ephod of the Hebrew high-priest, with its twelve 
stones, symbolizing the twelve months of the year, ap- 
pears to be of later date, and seems to belong to the time 
of the return from the Babylonian Captivity and the 
building of the second temple. Certainly, the historic and 
prophetic books of the Old Testament know nothing of 
it, although the TTrim and Thuminim are mentioned and 
the elaborate description given in Exodus is generally 
regarded by Biblical scholars as belonging to the so-called 
" Priestly Codex, " the latest part of the Pentateuch, 
gradually evolved during the Exile and given its final 
form in the fifth century B.C. 

In the very ancient Assyrio-Babylonian epic narrative 
of the descent of the goddess Ishtar to Hades, the guar- 

"Delitsch, " Assyrisches Worterbueh," Leipzig, 1896, p. 74, s. v. 
elmeshu. 

232 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

dian of the infernal regions obliges the goddess to lay 
aside some part of her clothing and ornaments at each 
of the seven gates through which she passes. At the fifth, 
we are told that she stripped off her girdle of aban alddi, 
or stones which aided parturition. 13 It has been as- 
serted, and perhaps with some reason, that of the many 
mineral substances supposed to possess this virtue, jade 
(nephrite) or jadeite was the earliest known. 

The Babylonian legends also tell of trees on which 
grow precious stones. In the Grilgamesh epic a mystic 
cedar tree is described. This grew in the Elamite sanct- 
uary of Irnina and was tinder the guardianship of the 
Elamite king Humbaba. Of this tree an inscription re- 
lates : 

It produces samtfw-stones as fruit ; 

Its boughs hang with them, glorious to behold ; 

The crown of it produces lapis-lazuli; 

Its fruit is costly to gaze upon. 

Another tree bearing precious stones was seen by the 
hero Grilgamesh, after he had passed through darkness 
for the space of twelve hours. This must have been a 
most resplendent object, to judge from the following 
description on a cuneiform tablet: u 

It bore precious stones for fruits; 
Its branches were glorious to the sight; 
The twigs were crystals; 
It bore fruit costly to the sight. 

One of the rarest and most significant specimens 
illustrating the use of valuable stones for religious cere- 

""Jansen, " Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen," Berlin, 
1900. 

"Ward, "Seal Cylinders of Western Asia," Carnegie Institution 
Pub., Washington, D. C., 1910, pp. 232, 234. 

BABYLONIAN AXE HEAD 
Agate, with inscription. Morgan collection, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 

RELIGIOUS USES OP PRECIOUS STONES 233 

monial purposes in the pagan world is in the Morgan- 
Tiffany collection. It is an ancient Babylonian axe-head 
made of banded agate. So regular, indeed, is the disposi- 
tion of the layers in this agate that one might be justified 
in denominating it an onyx. Its prevailing hue is what 
may be called a "deer-brown"; some white splotches 
now apparent are evidently due to the action of fire or 
that of some alkali. This axe-head bears an inscription 
in archaic cuneiform characters, and presumably in the 
so-called Sumerian tongue, that believed to have been 
spoken by the founders of the Babylonian civilization. 
The form of the inscription indicates that the object dates 
from an earlier period than 2000 B.C. 

While the characters are clearly cut and can be easily 
deciphered, the inscription is nevertheless exceedingly 
difficult to translate. It is evident that the axe-head was 
a votive offering to a divinity, probably on the part of 
a certain governor named Adduggish; but whether the 
divinity in question was Shamash (the sun-god), or the 
god Adad, or some other member of the Babylonian pan- 
theon, cannot be determined with any finality. The 
French assyriologist, Frangois Lenormant, who first de- 
scribed this axe-head in 1879, and Prof. Ira Maurice Price, 
of the (Semitic Department of Chicago University, both 
admit that it may have been consecrated to Adad. As 
the weather-god, the thunderer, the axe-symbol would 
have been more especially appropriate to him in view of 
the usage, almost universal among primitive peoples, of 
associating stone axe-heads or axe-shaped stones with the 
thunderbolt, and hence with the divinity who was believed 
to have launched it toward the earth. 

This Sumerian axe-head measures 134.5 mm. in length 
(5.3 inches), 35.5 mm. in width (1.4 inches), and 31 mm. in 
thickness (1.22 inches). It was originally secured by; 

234 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Cardinal Stefano Borgia (1731-1804), for some time 
secretary of the College of the Propaganda in Borne, 
who probably acquired it from some missionary to the 
East. From the cardinal's family it passed for 15,000 
lire ($3000) to the Tyszkiewicz Collection, and when the 
objects therein comprised were disposed of at public 
sale, the writer purchased it for the American Museum 
of Natural History in New York, April 16, 1902. 15 

At Alicante, in Spain, cut upon the pedestal of an an- 
cient statue, supposed to have been that of Isis, was 
found an inscription giving a list of the offerings dedi- 
cated by divine command, by a certain Fabia Fabiana in 
honor of her granddaughter. Evidently the fond grand- 
mother had given of her best and choicest jewels which 
were used to adorn the statue. They consisted of a dia- 
dem set with a "unio" (a large round pearl) and srx 
smaller pearls, two emeralds, seven beryls, two rubies, 
and a hyacinth. In each ear of the statue was inserted 
an ear-ring bearing a pearl and an emerald; about the 
neck was hung a necklace consisting of four rows of em- 
eralds and pearls, eighteen of the former and thirty-six 
of the latter. Two circlets bound around the ankles con- 
tained eleven beryls and two emeralds, while two brace- 
lets were set with eight emeralds and eight pearls. The 
adornment was completed by four rings, two bearing 
emeralds, while two, placed on the little finger, were set 
with diamonds. On the sandals were eight beryls. 16 

25 For a fuller description of this valuable relic, and a discussion of 
the meaning of the inscription, see "On the ancient inscribed Sumerian 
(Babylonian) axe-head for the Morgan Collection in the American 
Museum of Natural History," by George Frederick Kunz, with transla- 
tion by Prof. Ira Maurice Price and discussion by Dr. William Hayes 
Ward. Bulletin of the Museum, vol. and, pp. 37-47, April 6, 1905. 

"Montfaucon, "L'antiquite erpliquee," vol. ii, Pt IL 1719 nn 
324, 326; Plate 136. * ' FP * 

BELIGIOUS USES OF PEECIOUS STONES 235 

A notable instance of an antique votive offering is the 
necklace of valuable precious stones dedicated to the 
statue of Vesta. The Byzantine historian Zosimus at- 
tributes the tragic end of iStilicho's widow, Serena, to her 
having despoiled the image of Vesta of this costly orna- 
ment, and finds a sort of poetic justice in the manner of 
her death, since she was strangled by a cord which encir- 
cled her neck. 

It is not only in the works of the Fathers of the Chris- 
tian Church that we find precious stones used as similes 
of religious virtue, in Buddhist writings also we have ex- 
amples of this. In the " Questions of King Milinda," 
composed perhaps as early as the third century of our 
era, occur the following passages : 17 

Just, O King, as the diamond is pure throughout ; just so, King, 
should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be perfectly pure in his 
means of livelihood. This, O King, is the first quality of the diamond 
he ought to have. 

And again, O King, as the diamond cannot be alloyed with other 
substance; just so, King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in 
effort, never mix with wicked men as friends. This, King, is the 
second quality of the diamond he ought to have. 

And again, O King, just as the diamond is set together with the 
most costly gems; just so, King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, 
earnest in effort, associate with those of the highest excellence, with 
men who have entered the first or second or third stage of the Noble 
Path, with the jewel treasures of the Arahats, of the recluses of the 
threefold wisdom, or of the sixfold insight. This, King, is the third 
quality of the diamond he ought to have. For it was said, Kingy 
by the Blessed one, 18 the god over all gods, in the Sutta Nipata: 

Let the pure associate with the pure, 
Ever in recollection firm; 
Dwelling harmoniously wise, 
Thus shall ye put an end to griefs. 

17 " The Questions of King Milinda," tr. from the Pali by T. W. 
Bays Davids, vol. ii, Oxford, 1894, p. 128. 
18 Buddha. 

236 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PKECIOUS STONES 

The description of the New Jerusalem in the book of 
Eevelations finds a curious parallel in the Hindu Puranas. 
Here we are told that the divine Krishna, the eighth in- 
carnation of Vishnu, took up his abode in the wonderful 
city Devaraka, and was visited there by the various or- 
ders of gods and geniuses. 19 

Gods, Asuras, Gandharas, Eonnaras began to pour into Dwaraka, 
to see Krishna and Valarama. 

Some descended from the sky, some from their cars and alighting 
underneath the banyan tree, looked on Dwaraka, the matchless. 

The city was square, it measured a hundred yojonas, and over 
all, was decked in pearls, rubies, diamonds, and other gems. 

The city was high, it was ornamented with gems; and it was 
furnished with cupolas of rubies and diamonds, with emerald pillars, 
and with court-yards of rubies. It contained endless temples. It had 
cross-roads decked with sapphires, and highways blazing with gems. 
It blazed like the meridian sun in summer. 

As compared with the description in Eevelations we 
cannot fail to note the lack of definiteness. Instead of 
the well-ordered scheme of color as represented by the 
twelve precious stones dedicated to the twelve tribes of 
Israel, the mystic Hindu city is simply a gorgeous mass 
of the most brilliant gems known in India. 

The poetic description of the royal city Kusavati, 
given in the Maha Sudassana Suttanta, may perhaps 
have originated in some tradition regarding Ecbatana or 
Babylon. Seven ramparts surrounded Kusavati, the 
materials being respectively gold, silver, beryl, crystal, 
agate, coral and (for the last) "all kinds of gems." 
In these ramparts were four gates one of gold, one of 
silver, one of crystal and one of jade and at each gate 
seven pillars were fixed, each three or four times the 

19 Surindro Mohun Tagore, " Mani Mala," Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, 
pp. 715, 717. 

MANI MALA, OR CHAIN OF GEMS. 
Comprising diamond, ruby, cat's-eye, pearl, zircon, coral, emerald, topaz, sapphire, 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 237 

height of a man and composed of the seven precious sub- 
stances that constituted the ramparts. Beyond the ram- 
parts were seven rows of palm trees, the fourth row- 
having trunks of silver and leaves and fruit of gold; 
then followed palms of beryl, with leaves and fruit of 
beryl ; agate palms, whose fruit and leaves were of coral, 
and coral palms, with leaves and fruit of agate; lastly, 
the palms whose trunks were composed of "all kinds of 
gems," had leaves and fruits of the same description, 
"and when these rows of palm trees were shaken by the 
wind, arose a sound sweet and pleasant, and charming 
and intoxicating." 20 

In Greek literature also there is a "gem-city," 
namely, the city of the Islands of the Blessed, described 
by Lucian in his Vera Historia. 21 The walls of this city 
were of emerald, the temples of the gods were formed of 
beryl, and the altars therein of single amethysts of enor- 
mous size. The city itself was all of gold as a fit setting 
for these marvellous gems. 

Hindu mythology tells of a wonderful tank formed of 
crystal, the work of the god Maya. Its bottom and sides 
were encrusted with beautiful pearls and in the centre 
was a raised platform blazing with the most gorgeous 
precious stones. Although it contained no water, the 
transparent crystal produced the illusion of water, and 
those who approached the tank were tempted to plunge 
into it and take a refreshing bath in what appeared to be 
clear, fresh water. 22 

20 Bhuddist Suttas, trans, from Pali by T. W. Rhys Davids; " Sacred 
Books of the East," vol. xi, Oxford, 1881. 

21 Lib. ii, cap. 11. Luciani Opera, ex recog. C. Jacobitz, vol. i, Leip- 
zig, 1884, p. 56. 

23 Surindro Mohun Tagore, " Mani Mala," Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, 
p. 79. 

238 THE CmiOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The Kalpa Tree of Hindu religion, a symbolical 
offering to the gods, is described by Hindu poets as a 
glowing mass of precious stones. Pearls hung from its 
boughs and beautiful emeralds from its shoots; the 
tender young leaves were corals, and the ripe fruit con- 
sisted of rubies. The roots were of sapphire ; the base 
of the trunk of diamond, the uppermost part of cat's-eye, 
while the section between was of topaz. The foliage (ex- 
cept the young leaves) was entirely formed of zircons. 23 

The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Heuen Tsang, who 
visited India between 629 and 645 A.D., tells of the wonder- 
ful "Diamond Throne" which, according to the legend, 
had once stood near the Tree of Knowledge, beneath 
whose spreading branches Gautama Buddha is said to have 
received his supreme revelation of truth. This throne 
had been constructed in the age called the " Kalpa of the 
Sages' 5 ; its origin, was contemporaneous with that of the 
earth, and its foundations were at the centre of all things ; 
it measured one hundred feet in circumference, and was 
made of a single diamond. "When the whole earth was 
convulsed by storm or earthquake this resplendent throne 
remained immovable. Upon it the thousand Buddias of 
the Kalpa had reposed and had fallen into the "ecstasy 
of the diamond." However, since the world has passed 
into the present and last age, sand and earth have com- 
pletely covered the "Diamond Throne," so that it can 
no longer be seen by human eye. 24 

In the Kalpa Sutra, written in Prakrit, one of the 
sacred books of the Jains, the rivals of the Buddhists, it 
is said that Harinegamesi, the divine commander of the 

^Surindro Moliun Tagore, "Mani Mala/' Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, 
pp. 645, 647. 

24 Heuen Tsang, "Memoires sur les contrees occictentales/' French 
trans, by Stanislas Julien, Paris, 1857, vol. i, p. 461. . 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 239 

foot troops, seized fourteen precious stones, the chief 
of which was vajra, the diamond, and rejecting their 
grosser particles, retained only the finer essence to aid 
him in his transformations. In the same sutra the fol- 
lowing glowing description is given of the adornment of 
the surpassingly beautiful goddess Sri: 25 

On all parts of her body shone ornaments and trinkets, composed 
of many jewels and precious stones, yellow and red gold. The pure 
cup-like pair of her breasts sparkled, encircled by a garland of Kunda 
flowers in which glittered a string of pearls. She wore strings of 
pearls made by clever and diligent artists, strung with wonderful strings, 
a necklace of jewels with a string of Dinaras, and a trembling pair of 
earrings, touching her shoulders, diffused a brilliancy; but the united 
beauties and charms of these ornaments were only subservient to the 
loveliness of her face. 

As engraved decoration of a fine Chinese vase of white 
jade with delicate crown markings, appear eight storks, 
each of which bears in its beak an attribute of one of the 
Eight Taoist Immortals. Thus we have the double gourd 
as attribute of the most powerful of these demi-gods 
known as "Li with the Iron Crutch," whose aid is sought 
by magicians and astrologers; the magic sword, with 
which Lu T'ung-pin vanquished the spirits of evil that 
roamed through the Chinese Empire in the form of ter- 
rible dragons; the basket of flowers, attribute of Lan 
Ts'ai-ho, the patron of gardeners and florists; the royal 
fan used by Han Chung-li, of the Chow Dynasty (1122- 
220 B.C.), to call again to life the spirits of the departed; 
the lotus flower, emblematic of the virgin Ho Hsien-Ku, 
venerated somewhat as a patron saint by Chinese house- 
wives, and who acquired the gift of immortal life by the 
help of a powder of pulverized jade and mother-of-pearl; 

35 Gaina Sutras, trans, from Prakrit by Hermann Jacob! ; "Sacred 
Books of the East/' voLxxii, Oxford, 1884, pp. 227, 233. 

240 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the bamboo tubes and rods with which the mighty necro- 
mancer Chang Kuo, patron of artists, evoked the souls 
of the dead; the flute of the musicians' patron, Han 
Hsiang-tzu, who owed his immortality to his craft in 
stealthily entering the Taoist paradise and securing a 
peach from the sacred tree of life; and, lastly, the casta- 
nets of Tsao Kuo-chin, especially revered by Chinese 
actors. 

The prevailing belief in India, that treasures offered 
to the images or shrines of the gods will bring good fort- 
une to the generous donor, finds expression in many 
ancient and modern Hindu writings. In the Eig Veda it 
is said that "by giving gold the giver receives a life of 
light and glory. 77 In the Samaveda Upanishad we read: 
1 'Givers are high in Heaven. Those who give horses live 
conjointly with the sun; givers of gold enjoy eternal life; 
givers of clothes live in the moon." Another text 
(Haiti Smriti) reads : 26 

Coral in worship will subdue all the three worlds. He who wor- 
ships Krishna with rubies will be reborn as a powerful emperor; if 
with a small ruby, he will be born a king. Offering emeralds will 
produce Gyana or Knowledge of the Soul and of the Eternal. If he 
worships with a diamond, even the impassible, or Nirvana, that is 
Eternal Life in the highest Heaven, will be secured. If with a flower 
of gold a man worships for a month, he will get as much wealth as 
Kuvera, the Lord of Rubies, and will hereafter attain to Nirvana and 
to Muskwa, or Salvation. 

At Multan, one of the most ancient cities of India, 
situated in the Punjab, 164 miles southwest of Lahore, 
there was in the Hindu temple an idol having for eyes 
two great pearls. The eyes of the rude image of Jag- 
ganath at Puri, in Bengal (Orissa), are said to have 

^Hendley, "Indian Jewellery," London, 1909, p. 33. 

EBLIGIOUS USES OF PKECIOUS STONES 241 

at one time been formed of precious stones, as were also 
those of the idols of Vishnu at Chandernagore and in the 
great seven-walled temple at Srirangam, whence appears 
to have come the Orloff diamond. 

In ceremonial worship the Hindus recogniz'e sixteen 
offerings, the ninth consisting of gems and jewelry, and 
a divine assurance of adequate return to the giver ap- 
pears in the Bhagavat Purana, where Krishna says, 
"Whatever is best and most valued in this world and 
that which is most dear to you should be offered to me, 
and it will be received back in immense and endless 
quantity." On certain appointed days the holy images 
are decorated with the choicest garments and the richest 
jewelry in the temple treasury; this is especially the case 
on the day celebrated as the birthday of the respective 
divinity. However, the gifts are believed to retain their 
sacred character as dedicated objects only for a compar- 
atively brief period, varying from a month or more for 
garments and vestments, to ten or twelve years for 
jewels, such as the naoratna or the panchratna, the 
prized and revered jewels, composed respectively of 
nine and five gems. The panchratna usually con- 
sists of gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby, and pearl. 
After the gifts have ceased to be worthy of use in the 
temples, they may be disposed of to defray the expenses 
of the foundation, including th'e cost of supporting the 
numerous priests and attendants. As the objects still 
retain their sacred associations, they are eagerly bought 
by pious Hindus, who undoubtedly regard them as valu- 
able talismans. Thus they not only serve to bring bless- 
ings upon the donors, but also constitute one of the chief 
sources of income for the temples. 27 

" Hendley, " Indian Jewellery/' London, 1909, pp. 33, 34. 
16 

242 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

One of the oldest and perhaps the most interesting 
talismanie jewel is that known as the naoratna or nar- 
aratna, the "nine-gem" jewel It is mentioned in the 
old Hindu ratnagastras, or treatises on gems, for ex- 
ample, in the Nararatnapariksha, where it is described 
as follows : 28 

Manner of composing the setting of a ring : 

In the centre The Sun The Ruby 

To the East Venus The Diamond 

To the Southeast The Moon The Pearl 

To the South Mars The Coral 

To the Southwest Rahu The Jacinth 

To the West Saturn The Sapphire 

To the Northeast Jupiter The Topaz 

To the North The descending node The Cat's-eye 

To the Northwest Mercury The Emerald 
Such is the planetary setting. 

From this description we learn that the jewel was 
designed to combine all the powerful astrological influ- 
ences. The gems chosen to correspond with the various 
heavenly bodies, and with the aspects known as the as- 
eending and descending nodes, differ in some cases from 
those selected in the West, For instance, the emerald 
is here assigned to Mercury, whereas in Western tradi- 
tion this stone was usually the representative of Venus, 
although it is sometimes associated with Mercury also. 29 
On the other hand, the diamond is dedicated to Venus, 
instead of to the Sun as in the Western world. 

In the naoratna the five gems known to the Hindus as 
the maharatnani, or " great gems," the diamond, pearl, 

28 

8 Finot, " Les lapidaries indiens/' Paris, 1896, p. 175. 
28 Morales, "De las piedras preeiosas," Valladolid, 1604 (fol. 16 
verso). 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 243 

ruby, sapphire, and emerald, were, as we see, associated 
with the Sun and Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn, 
wMle the four lesser gems (uparatnani) namely, the 
jacinth, topaz, cat's-eye, and coral represent Mars, 
Jupiter, Rahu, and the descending node. The two last 
named are very important factors in astrological calcu- 
lations and are often called the Dragon's Head and the 
Dragon's Tail. These designations signify the ascend- 
ing and descending nodes, indicating the passage of the 
ecliptic by the Moon in her ascent above and descent 
below this arbitrary plane. 

In three somewhat obscure passages of the Eig Veda 
there are references to the seven ratnas. Whether these 
were gems cannot be determined, since the primary 
meaning of the word ratna is "a precious object," not 
necessarily a precious stone; but it is possible that we 
may have here an allusion to some earlier form of talis- 
man, in which only the Sun, Moon, and the five planets 
were represented. 

It is easy to understand that such a talisman as the 
naoratna, combining the favorable influences of all the 
celestial bodies supposed to govern the destinies of man, 
must have been highly prized, and we may well assume 
that only the rich and powerful could own this talisman 
in a form ensuring its greatest efficacy. For the Hindus 
believed that the virtue of every gem depended upon its 
perfection, and they regarded a poor or defective stone 
as a source of unhappiness and misfortune. 

In modern times this talisman is sometimes differ- 
ently composed. A specimen shown in the Indian Court 
of the Paris Exposition of 1878 consisted of the follow- 
ing stones : coral, topaz, sapphire, ruby, flat diamond, cut 
diamond, emerald, amethyst, and carbuncle. Here the 

244 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

cut diamond, amethyst, and carbuncle take the placB of 
the jacinth, pearl, and cat's-eye. 

Instead of uniting the different planetary gems in a 
single ring, they have sometimes been set separately in a 
series of rings to be worn successively on the days orig- 
inally named after the celestial bodies. We read in tire 
life of Apollonius of Tyana (first century A.D.) by Philo- 
stratus: " Damis also relates that larchas gave to 
Apollonius seven rings named after the planets, and the 
latter wore these, one by one, in the order of the week- 
days/ 930 Although it is not expressly stated that the 
appropriate stones were set in the rings, the custom of 
the time makes it probable that this was the case. 

NINE GEMS. 

English 

Sanskrit 

Burmese 

Chinese (Canton) 

Arabic 

Diamond 

Vajra 

Chein 

Chun-syak 

Mas 

Ruby 

Manikya 

Budmiya 

Se-fla-yu-syak 

Yakut bihar 

Cat's-eye 

Vaidurya 

Ch^no 

M&u-ji gan 

Am al-hirr 

Zircon 

Gomeda 

Gomok 

Pi-si 

Ha jar yam&nt 

Pearl 

Mukt& 

Pa-le 

Chun-ti 

Lulu 

Coral 

Pravala 

Tad& 

Sau-ho-chi 

Murja"n 

Emerald 

Marakata 

Muj 

Luk-syak 

Zumurrud 

Topaz 

Pushyaraga 

Outfiyi 

Si-Iang-syak 

Y&kut al-azrak 

Sapphire 

Nlla 

Nila 

Chang-syak 

Yakut al-agf ar 

Among the Burmese the value for occult purposes of 
the nine gems composing the naoratna, or nararatna, is 
strictly determined in the following order : first, the ruby ; 
second, the diamond, or rock-crystal; third, the pearl; 
fourth, the coral; fifth, the topaz; sixth, the sapphire; 
seventh, the cat's-eye; eighth, the amethyst; and ninth, 
the emerald. 31 That the ruby, diamond and pearl should 
occupy places of honor is quite natural, but the rele- 

^Philostrati, "De Vita Apollonii," lib. iii, cap. 36. 
31 Personal communication from Taw Sein Ko. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 245 

gation of tlie sapphire to sixth, place, after coral and 
topaz, s'eems to be a rather unfair treatment of this beau- 
tiful stone. 

The yellow girdles worn by the Chinese emperors of 
the Manchu dynasty were variously ornamented with 
precious stones according to the different ceremonial 
observances at which the emperor presided. For the 
services in the Temple of Heaven, the very appropriate 
choice of lapis-lazuli ornaments was made ; for the Altar 
of Earth, yellow jade was favored; for a sacrifice on the 
Altar of the Sun, the gems were red corals, while white 
jade was selected for the ceremonies before the Altar of 
the Moon. Jade of different colors was used for the six 
precious tablets employed in the worship of heaven and 
earth and the four cardinal points. For the worship of 
Heaven there was the dark-green round tablet; for that 
of Earth, an octagonal tablet of yellow jade. The East 
was worshipped with a green pointed tablet; the West 
was worshipped with the white "tiger-tablet"; the North 
with a black, semi-circular tablet, and the South with a 
tablet of red jade. 32 

Of all the Chinese works on jade the most interesting 
and remarkable is the Ku yu t'ou pu or "Illustrated De- 
scription of Ancient Jade," a catalogue divided into a 
hundred books and embellished with upward of seven 
hundred figures. It was published in 1176, and lists the 
magnificent collection of jade objects belonging to the 
first emperor of the Southern Sung dynasty. One of the 
treasures here described was a four-sided plaque of pure 
white jade over two feet in height and breadth, and it was 

33 The Bishop Collection : " Investigations and Studies in Jade/ 7 New 
York, 1906, vol. i, p. 54, The "Yushuo" of T'ang Jing-tso, trans, by 
Stephen W. Bushnell. 

246 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

regarded as of altogether exceptional value, for on it was 
a design miraculously engraven. This was a figure, 
seated on a mat, with a flower-vase on its left and an alms- 
bowl on the right, in the midst of rocks enveloped in 
clouds. The figure was an image of the Buddhist saint, 
Samantabahadra, and the plaque is said to have been 
washed out of a sacred cave in the year 1068, by a violent 
and mysterious current. 33 

Jade talismans are very popular at the present day 
in the Mohammedan world, and among the Turks they 
are so highly prized as heirlooms that it is difficult to 
secure any of them. There is an orthodox Mohammedan 
sect, whose members call themselves Pekdash, and who 
during their whole lifetime carry about with them a flat 
piece of jade as a protection against injury or annoyance 
of every kind. 34 

The four rain-making gods are shown wearing neck- 
laces of coral and turquoise in the ceremonial sand-paint- 
ings of the Navajos. These four gods are respectively 
colored to denote the four cardinal points; black for 
North, blue for South, yellow for "West, and white for 
East. The whole painting, measuring nine by thirteen 
feet, is guarded on three sides by magic wands ; toward 
the Bast it is left unprotected, as only good spirits are 
believed to dwell in this direction. Each of the rain- 
gods carries suspended from his right wrist an elabo- 
rately decorated tobacco pouch, bearing the figure of a 
stone pipe. The Navajos believe that in this pouch the 
god places a ray of sunlight with which he lights his pipe ; 

"The Bishop Collection: "Investigations and Studies in Jade." 
New York, 1906, vol. i, p. 36. 

"Egbert, "Ein Edelstein der Vorzeit," Stuttgart, 1910, p. 26. 

RELIGIOUS USES OP PRECIOUS STONES 247 

when lie smokes, clouds form in the sky and the rain de- 
scends. In the sand-picture representing the God of the 
Whirlwind this divinity also* wears ear-pendants and a 
necklace of turquoise. 35 

Of the turquoise in Aztec times we have the testimony 
of the missionary Bernardino de Sahagun that one vari- 
ety, presumably that regarded as the finest and most 
attractive, bore the name teuxivitl, which signified "tur- 
quoise of the gods." No one was allowed either to own 
or wear this as it was exclusively devoted to the service 
of the gods, whether as a temple offering, or for the 
decoration of the divine images. Sahagun describes this 
turquoise as "fine, unspotted and very clear. It was very 
rare and was brought to Mexico from afar. Some speci- 
mens were of rounded shape, like a hazel-nut cut in half ; 
others were broad and flat, and some were pitted as 
though in a state of decomposition." 36 

The god of fire, Xiuhtecutli, or Ixgocauhqui, presided 
over the ceremony of piercing the ears of the young boys 
and girls. The image of this god was decorated with 
ear-rings encrusted with a mosaic of turquoise. He held 
in his left hand a buckler on which were five large green 
stones called chalchiuitl (jadeite), placed in the form of 
a cross on a plate of gold almost covering the shield. 37 

At the time of the Spanish Conquest an immense 'em- 
erald, almost as large as an ostrich egg ? was adored by 
the Peruvians in the city of Manta. This "emerald 
goddess" bore the name of Umina, and, like some of 

85 Alfred Marston Tozzer, " Navajo Religious Ceremonials/ 7 Putnam 
Anniversary Volume, New York, 1909, pp. 323-326, 329, Plate II. 

88 Sahagun, "Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana," 
Mexico, 1830, vol. iii, p. 297. 

57 Sahagun, L c. ? 1829, vol. i, p. 18; lib. i, cap. xiii. 

248 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the precious relics of the Christian world, was only ex- 
hibited on high feast days, when the Indians flocked to 
the shrine from far and near, bringing gifts to the 
goddess. The wily priests especially recommended the 
donation of emeralds, saying that these were the 
daughters of the goddess, who wonld be well pleased to 
see her offspring. In this way an immense store of em- 
eralds rewarded the efforts of the priests, and on the con- 
quest of Peru all these fine stones fell into the hands of 
Pedro de Alvarado, 38 Gareilasso de la Vega, and their 
companions. The mother emerald, however, had been so 
cleverly concealed by the priests of the shrine that the 
Spaniards never succeeded in gaining possession of it. 
Many of the other emeralds were destroyed because of 
the ignorance and stupidity of some of their new owners, 
who, supposing that the test of a true emerald was its 
ability to withstand hard blows, laid the stones on an 
anvil and hammered them to pieces. The old and en- 
tirely false notion that the genuine diamond could en- 
dure this treatment may have suggested the unfortunate 
test. 

Gfarcilasso likens the growth of the emerald in its 
mine to that of a fruit on a tree, and he believed that it 
gradually acquired its beautiful green hue, that part of 
the crystal nearest the sun being the first to acquire 
color. He notes an interesting specimen found in Peru, 
half of which was colorless like glass, while the other half 
was a brilliant green; this he compares with a half- 
ripened fruit. 3S 

The remarkable jade adze, generally known as the 

38 Gareilasso de la Vega, " Histoire des Ineas," Fr. trans, by Jean 
Baudoin, Amsterdam, 1715, vol. ii, pp. 255-257. 
38 Ibid., p. 347. 

EELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 249 

"Kunz adze/' was found in Oaxaca, Mexico, brought to 
the United States about 1890, and is now in the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York. Of a light 
greenish-gray hue, with a slight tinge of blue, this jade 
artefact is 272 mm. long (10 13 / 16 inches), 153 mm. wide 
(6 inches) and 118 mm. thick (4% inches) ; its weight is 
229.3 Troy ounces, nearly sixteen pounds avoirdupois. 
Eudely, but not unskilfully, carved upon its face is a 
grotesque human figure. Four small, shallow depres- 
sions, one under each eye and one near each hand, may 
have served to hold in place small gold films, but no trace 
of gold decoration is now extant. In its mechanical exe- 
cution this adze offers evidence of considerable skill on 
the part of the Aztec lapidary, the polish equalling that 
of modern workers. In the fact that a large piece, which 
must apparently have weighed at least two pounds, has 
evidently been cut out of this implement by some one of 
its Indian owners, we can see a proof of the talismanic 
power ascribed to jadeite in Aztec times, for there can be 
little doubt that nothing less than a belief in the great 
virtue of jadeite coupled with the rarity of the material 
could have induced the mutilation of what must have been 
regarded in its time as a remarkable work of art. 40 

The source of the prehistoric jade (nephrite and 
jadeite) found in Europe, and also of that worked into 
ornaments by the Indians before the Spanish Conquest 
of America, was long the subject of contention among 
mineralogists and archaeologists. In Germany this ques- 
tion was denominated the Nephritfrage, and the most 
notable contribution to the discussion was the great scien- 

40 "A Remarkable Jadeite Adze," American Association for the 
Advancement of Science. Kttnz, " Gems and Precious Stones of North 
America," New York, 1890, pp. 278-280. 

250 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

tific and scholarly work issued by Heinrich Fischer. 41 
His conclusion was that as there was no evidence of the 
existence of these minerals outside of a few localities in 
Asia, the European and American supply must have been 
brought to these parts of the world from Asia, and that 
hence the presence of these jade artefacts in America 
clearly pointed to commercial intercourse at an early 
period between the American continent and Asia, and 
might be regarded as offering a strong argument in 
favor of an Asiatic origin for an American civilization. 
According to this theory the prehistoric jade objects 
found in Europe must have had a similar source, and 
would constitute a proof of the existence of traffic with 
remote points in Asia at a date long previous to that 
commonly accepted. 

This view was strongly opposed by Prof. A. B. Meyer, 
of Dresden, and recent discoveries have effectively dis- 
proved the theory in the case of Europe at least, for 
nephrite has been found there in situ in several places. 
The largest mass of this material that has been taken 
from a European deposit is that found by the writer at 
Jordansmuhl in Silesia, in April, 1899, and which weighed 
4704 pounds. 42 The origin of American jade in the forms 
of nephrite and jadeite has not yet been definitely deter- 
mined, but we have every reason to suppose that deposits 
of these minerals will eventually be discovered in various 
parts of the American continent, as they have already 

41 " Nephrit und Jadite," Stuttgart, 1880. 

^The Bishop Collection, "Investigations and Studies in Jade/ 3 " 
New York, 1906, vol. i, pt. iii, "Jade as a Mineral/' by George Frederick 
Kunz, p. 177. This immense mass of nephrite which forms part of the 
Heber Bishop Collection loan of jade is now in the American Museum 
of Natural History, New York. 

EELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 251 

been in Europe. Indeed, the existence of nephrite in 
Alaska is already well attested. 

The peculiar and characteristic qualities of these sub- 
stances have made them favorite materials for ornamen- 
tal objects from the earliest ages down to our own day, 
and in almost all parts of the world. A most important 
element contributing to the popularity of jade has been 
its supposed possession of wonderful talismanic and 
therapeutic virtues, and while the Western world has not 
the same belief in these matters as the Eastern world, 
a more or less definite appreciation of what jade still 
signifies for many in the Orient, continues to exercise an 
influence over both Americans and Europeans, making 
objects of nephrite or jadeite highly prized everywhere 
at the present time. 

The term chalchihuitl was indifferently applied by 
the ancient Mexicans to a number of green or greenish- 
white stones ; quetzal chalchihuitl, which was regarded as 
the most precious variety, may perhaps have more ex- 
clusively denoted jadeite. This is somewhat indefinitely 
described by Sahagun as being " white, with much trans- 
parency, and with a slight greenish tinge, something like 
jasper.'' Of eight ornamental objects of green stone 
examined some years ago by the writer, four were of 
jadeite, one of serpentine, another of green quartz, and 
the remaining two of a mixture of white feldspar and 
green hornblende. An inferior kind of chalchihuitl, said 
by Sahagun to have come from quarries in the vicinity of 
Tecalco, appears to have been identical with the so-called 
"Mexican onyx" which is found in veins in that place 
and is an aragonite stalagmite. This material, from 
which figures, ornaments and beads were made by the 
ancient Mexicans, is to-day greatly valued as an orna- 
mental stone. 

252 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The greater number of ancient Mexican jadeite beads 
appear to have been rounded pebbles of this material, 
assorted as to size and drilled for use in making neck- 
laces. Other green stones used at this time in Mexico 
were green jasper, green plasma, serpentine and also the 
"Tecalco onyx" or "marble" above mentioned. In many 
cases these substances are of such rich green that they 
might easily be mistaken for jadeite by those who lacked 
the tests or the experience at the command of modern 
mineralogists. Should jadeite ever be found in situ in 
Mexico, it seems probable that the discovery will be made 
in the State of Oaxaca, whence came the finest ancient 
specimens, including the splendid votive adze. Moreover, 
one of the few materials by which jadeite can be worked 
is furnished by the streams of this region, whence have 
been taken several rolled pebbles which the writer has 
identified as yellow and blue corundum, the quality being 
equal to that of specimens from Ceylon. 43 

G-esner describes one of the lip ornaments worn by 
the aborigines of South America in the following words : 44 

A green stone or gem which the inhabitants of the West Indies 
use, They pierce their lips and insert this stone so that the thicker part 
adheres to the hole and the rest protrudes. We might call these orna- 
ments oripenduU [mouth-pendants]. This stone was given me by a 
learned Piedmontese, Johannes Ferrerius, and he wrote of it as follows : 
" I send a cylindrical green stone, as long as a man's middle finger, and 
having at one extremity two ridges. It is stated that the Brazilians of 
high rank wore these, from their youth, in their pierced lips; one or 
more being worn according to the dignity of the wearer. While eating, 
or whenever they so wish for any other reason, these ornaments are 
removed from the lips." 

<3 Kunz, u Chalehiuitl : a note on the jadeite discussion/' Science, 
vol. xii, No. 298. 

"Gesneri, "De figuris lapidum," Tiguri, 1565, foL 107 verso, 108 
recto. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PEECIOUS STONES 253 

Similar ornaments, made of a green quartz and of beryl, 
are in the Kunz collection in the Field Museum of 
Chicago. 

The reason for these strange mutilations, which often 
cause serious discomfort to those who practice them, is 
not at all easy to determine* Some have conjectured that 
by the ins-ertion of bright, colored objects in the ears, 
nose and lips, members of the same tribe were enabled 
to recognize each other at a distance ; each tribe having 
selected a particular color. However, although certain 
local preferences are shown in the matter of color or 
material, there is no hard and fast rule in this matter, and 
frequently neighboring tribes will employ stones or shells 
of the same or similar hue and appearance. Others find 
in this custom a religious significance and suppose that 
the mutilation represents a form of sacrifice to the spirits, 
good or bad, who must be rendered favorable to man by 
some act on his part showing his unconditional submis- 
sion to them. Originating in this way the idea of adorn- 
ment was a secondary impulse. It is a fact that ancient 
peoples regarded the wearing of ear-rings as a badge 1 
of slavery, and, according to a Eabbinical legend, Eve's 
ears were pierced as a punishment for her disobedience, 
when she was driven from the Garden of Eden. 

A curious theory was advanced by Knopf. 45 He 
calls attention to the habit children have of thrusting 
small bright objects into their noses and ears, and sug- 
gests that this indicates a natural propensity which, 
coupled with the early-developed love of adornment, in- 
duced primitive man to affix ornamental objects on or in 
the nose, ear, or mouth. There may be more in this 
than we are willing to admit, but on the whole it seems 

45 " De ornatu oris, nasi et aurium," Gottingse, 1832, p. 43. 

254 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

most probable that ceremonial and religious considera- 
tions gave rise to the custom. 

One of the largest masses of sculptured Chinese jade 
is in the collection of T. B. Walker, Esq., of Minneapolis. 
This shows a jade mountain, with groups of figures artis- 
tically placed at its base, and winding pathways up to its 
summit. On the face of the rock is inscribed in beautiful 
Chinese characters the Epidendron Pavilion Essay of 
Wang Hi-che, a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy. 

An enormous mass of New Zealand jade (punamu, 
" green stone") weighing 7000 pounds, found in South 
Island in 1902, is to be seen in the Museum of Natural 
History, New York; it was secured by the writer and was 
donated to the Museum by the late J. Pierpont Morgan. 
This is the largest mass of jade known, or of which 
we have any record. On it is placed a remarkable and, in 
its own peculiar way, an artistic decoration, serving as 
a type of old Maori life, and at the same time designating 
the geographic source of the jade in a striking and un- 
mistakable manner calculated to appeal to the least intel- 
ligent visitor. This is a statue of a Maori warrior of the 
old days, executing a war dance, characteristics of which 
were a distortion of the features and a thrusting out of 
the tongue intended to express defiance and contempt of 
the enemy; the time or cadence of the dance was marked 
by slapping the thigh with the flat of the left hand. This 
figure was executed from life by Sigurd Neandross; 
indeed it was actually cast from the model, so that there 
can be no doubt as to its fidelity. 

Bock-crystal is included among the various objects 
used as fetiches by the Cherokee Indians. This stone is 
believed to have great power to give aid in hunting and 
also in divining. One owner of such a crystal kept his 
magic stone wrapped up in buckskin and hid it in a sacred 
cave; at stated intervals he would take it out of its re- 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 255 

pository and "feed" it by rubbing over it the blood of 
a deer. This goes to prove that the stone, as a fetich, was 
considered to be a living entity and as such to require 
nourishment. 46 

Precious stones have been everywhere regarded as 
especially appropriate offerings at the shrine of a 
divinity, for the worshipper naturally thought that what 
was most valuable and beautiful in his 'eyes must also be 
most pleasing to the divinity he worshipped. However, 
we rarely find the usage which was remarked by Fran- 
cisco Lopez de Gomara among the Indians of New 
Granada about the time of the Spanish Conquest. 47 
These natives "burned gold and emeralds" before the 
images of the sun and moon, which were regarded as the 
highest divinities. Certainly to use precious stones for 
a "burnt offering" was an original and curious idea, 
although we have abundant proof that pearls were offered 
in this way by the mound-builders of the Mississippi 
Valley. In this case great quantities of pearls were 
burned at the obsequies of the chiefs of the tribes, or at 
thos'e of any one belonging to the family of a chief. 

In ancient Mexico the lapidaries adored the four fol- 
lowing divinities as their tutelary gods: Chiconaui Itz- 
cuintli ("nine dogs"), Naualpilli ("noble necroman- 
cer"), Macuilcalli ("five horses"), and Cintectl ("the 
god of harvest"). A festival was celebrated in honor 
of the three last-named divinities when the zodiacal sign 
calted chiconaui itzcuintli was in the ascendant. A 
feminine divinity represented this sign and to her was 
attributed the invention of the garments and the orna- 

4e " Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico," ed. by 
Frederick Webb Hodg-e; Smithsonian Inst., Bur. of Am. Ethn. Bull. 
30. Pt. I, p. 458; Washington, 1910. 

* T "Historia de las Indias," in "Bib. de autores espanoles," vol. 
xxii, Madrid, 1852, p. 202. 

256 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

ments worn by women. The four gods of the lapidaries 
were looked upon as the discoverers and teachers of the 
art of cutting precious stones and of piercing and pol- 
ishing them, as well as of the making of labrets and ear- 
flaps of obsidian, rock-crystal, or amber. They also were 
the inventors of necklaces and bracelets. 48 

The stones worn by Chinese mandarins as a designa- 
tion of their rank were undoubtedly determined origin- 
ally by religious or ceremonial considerations. They are 
as follows ; it will b*e noticed that red stones are given the 
preference : 

Red or pink tourmaline, ruby (and rubellite) 1st rank. 

Coral or an inferior red stone (garnet) 2d rank. 

Blue stone (beryl or lapis-lazuli) 3d rank. 

Rock-crystal 4th rank. 

Other white stones . 5th rank. 

The knowledge of classical mythology was so slight 
among the ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages that some very 
queer attributions of the subjects engraved on Greek 
and Roman gems were made during this period. A 
reliquary containing a tooth of the Apostle Peter, pre- 
served in the Cathedral of Troyes, was set with antique 
gems which had been plundered by French and Venetian 
crusaders from the treasure-house of the Greek Emperor 
in Constantinople, when that city was sacked in 1204 
during the Fourth Crusade. Among these gems was one 
representing L'eda and the Swan certainly a curious 
subject for the adornment of a Christian reliquary. An- 
other Greek or Eoman gem, long preserved in a church, 
was furnished by its Christian owners with an inscription 

48 Sahagun, u Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana," 
Mexico, 1829, vol. ii, pp. 389-391, lib. ix, cap. xvii. 

EELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 257 

indicating that the figure engraved upon it was that of 
St. Michael, while in reality it was a representation of 
the god Mercury. Still another gem was provided with 
an inscription signifying that the subject was the tempta- 
tion of Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the Greek 
gem engraver's intent had been to carve the figures of 
Zeus and Athena, standing before an olive tree, a design 
which appears on some Athenian coins ; at the feet of the 
divinities appears a serpent. In a similar way the grain- 
measure crowning the head of Jupiter-Serapis led to the 
attribution of a gem so engraved to the patriarch 
Joseph. 49 

An engraved amethyst bearing the figure of a little 
Cupid is said to have been worn in a ring by St. Valen- 
tine. While this may be somewhat doubtful, it is by no 
means impossible, for many pagan gems were worn by 
pious Christians, who reconciled their consciences to the 
use of these beautiful but scarcely religious ornaments 
by giving to the pagan symbols a Christian meaning. 
Certainly, in view of the time-honored customs con- 
nected with St. Valentine's Day, there seems something 
peculiarly appropriate in the design of the ring supposed 
to have been worn by St. Valentine. 

That precious stones had sense and feeling was quite 
generally believed in medieval times, and a legend told of 
St. Martial illustrates this idea. The gloves worn by this 
saint were studded with precious stones, and when on a 
certain occasion a sacrilegious act was committed in his 
presence, the gems, horrified at the sight, sprang out of 
tkeir settings and fell to the ground before the eyes of the 
onlookers. 

** Klot, " Ueber den Niitzen und Gebrauch der alten geschnittenen 
Steine," Altenburg, 1768, p. 57. 
17 

258 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The St. Sylvester or St. James stone is a banded 
agate in two colors, the one dark and the other light, 
with a cat ? s-eye effect so that hoth colors are equally 

visible. The light side rep- 
resents the old year, with 
its known occurrences, and 
the opaque side represents 
the new year, which is dark 
like futurity. This is a 
typical stone for a New 
Year's present or for one 
born on St. Sylvester's Day, 

RERVM FOSSI* 

LIVM V GE"NERE. G E M- 

MIS, LAPIDTB VS, MT%tL IS^ 

popular tradition is that 
the member of a family or a 
household who is last to 
arise on that day will be 
the last to arise all the year 
around. 

The famous "Sacro Ca- 
tino" preserved in Genoa 
was long believed to be made 
of a single immense emerald, 
but careful investigation 
proved that it was of no more 
valuable material than green 
glass. A legend still cur- 
rent in the early part of the 
sixteenth century repre- 
sented this cup, or dish, as 
having been used by Christ at the Last Supper, and stated 
that it was one of the utensils which King Herod ordered 
to be brought from Galilee to Jerusalem for the celebra- 
tion of the paschal feast; but his purpose having been 

TITLE PAGE OF A GROUP OF TREA- 
TISES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS, 
COLLECTED AND EDITED BY 
CONRAD GESNEK AT ZURICH 
IN 1565. 

The upper one of the two rings figured 
is set with a natural pointed diamond, the 
lower one with a piece of amber enclosing 
an insect; grouped around are twelve stones 
representing those of the Breastplate. 

EELIGIOUS USES OP PRECIOUS STONES 259 

changed by Divine Providence, lie made other use 
of it. 50 

A qneer story has been told regarding the Genoese 
emerald. At one time when the government was hard 
pressed for money, the Sacro Catino was offered to a 
rich Jew of Metz as pledge for a loan of 100,000 crowns. 
He was loath to take it, as he probably recognized its 
spnrions character, and when his Christian clients forced 
him to accept it under threats of dire vengeance in case 
of refusal, he protested that they were taking a base 
advantage of the unpopularity of his faith, since they 
could not find a Christian who would make the loan. 
However, when some years later the Genoese were ready 
to redeem this precious relic, they were much puzzled to 
learn that a half-dozen different persons claimed to have 
it in their possession, the fact being that the Jew had 
fabricated a number of copies which he had succeeded in 
pawning for large sums, assuring the lender in each case 
that the redemption of the pledge was certain. 

Among the celebrated emeralds noted by George 
Agricola 51 (1490-1555) was a large one preserved in a 
monastery near Lyons, France. This is also mentioned 
by Gesner, who states that it was shaped as a dish, or 
shallow cup, and was held to be the Holy Grail, like its 
rival at Genoa. 52 Another of Agricola's emeralds was 
somewhat smaller, but nevertheless measured nine inches 
in diameter and was in the chapel of St. Wenceslaus, at 
Prague; this may have been a chrysoprase, as at the 
present day many fine specimens of this stone can be seen 
in St. Wenceslaus, where the walls are inlaid with the 

50 Erasmi Stellas, " Interpretamentum Gemmarum," 3d ed., Erf urti 
et LipsiiB, 1736, p. 27. 

"Agrieolae, "De nattira fossilmm," lib. vi, Basileas, 1546, p. 289. 
m Gesner, "De figuris lapidum," Tiguri, 1565, ff. 112v, 113r. 

260 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

golden green gem-stone. Still another, larger than the 
last named, was set in the gold monstrance in Magdeburg, 
and was believed to have been the handle of Emperor Otho 
Ps knife, since it was perforated. Possibly, however, the 
emerald, if genuine, was an Oriental stone, for it was 
customary to pierce rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc., in 
the East so as to string them for necklaces or attach them 
as pendants to a jewel. 

In the convent-church of St. Stephan, in Persian 
Armenia, erected about the middle of the seventeenth 
century, it is related by the French traveller Tavernier 
that there was preserved a cross said to be made out 
of the basin in which Christ washed the feet of the 
Apostles. Set in this cross was a white stone, and the 
priests asserted that when the cross was laid upon the 
body of one seriously ill, this stone would turn black if 
he were about to die, but would regain its white hue after 
his death. 53 

No jewelled sa,cred image has been the object of 
greater reverence than has been accorded to the rude 
little wooden carving popularly known as the "Sacro 
Bambino' 7 or "Sacred Baby," in the old church of Ara 
Coeli in Borne. This figure was carved, in 1847, by a 
monk, out of a piece of olive-wood from one of the ancient 
trees growing on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. 
The carving was executed in the Holy Land and was sent 
thence to Italy, and although the ship bearing it was ship- 
wrecked, this precious freight was miraculously pre- 
served and is supposed to have been conveyed to its des- 
tination in some mysterious way. The reverence of the 
thousands of pilgrims who in the course of time have 

83 " Les six voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier/' La Haye, 1718, 
vol. i, p. 48 ; Voyages en Perse, liv. i, chap. iv. 

STATUE OF A MAORI WARRIOR, BY SIGURD NEANDROSS. 

The base is a block of New Zealand judo from South Island, weighing three tons. It, \vaa 
donated by Mr. J. JPicrpont IVIor^.-m to the Ainorit'an Museum of Natural History. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 261 

gazed with veneration upon this quaint and curious work 
of art, has found expression in the bestowal of a wealth 
of gems and jewels, including necklaces, brooches, rings, 
etc., with which the silken dress of the image is studded. 
A crown of gold adorned with precious stones rests upon 
the head of the olive-wood figure, which is jealously 
guarded by the priests and only shown to the faithful as a 
particular favor, except on the occasion of certain relig- 
ious festivals. 

One of the most renowned emeralds in the world sur- 
mounted the elaborately jewelled imperial crown that was 
placed upon the head of the venerated image of theVirgen 
del Sagrario in the Cathedral of Toledo. This emerald, of 
a rich green color, was cut as a perfect sphere and 
measured about 40 millimetres, or 1 j inches, in diameter. 
The crown itself was the work of the Toledan goldsmith, 
Don Diego Ale jo de Montoya, who began his task in 1574 
and devoted twelve years to its completion. It is de- 
scribed as being of almost pure gold and executed in the 
[Renaissance style. Curiously chased in arabesque de- 
signs and enamelled in various colors, the framework of 
the crown served as a magnificent background for the 
gems constituting its adornment, which comprised 
rubies, emeralds, and Oriental pearls; a row of angels 
and cherubs sustained the arches which bore at their 
summit the allegorical figures of Faith, Hope, and 
Charity; upon that representing Faith rested the splen- 
did emerald. This precious ornament was still preserved 
in the Cathedral in 1865, but was so carelessly guarded 
that it was stolen in 1869. 54 

If we are to believe the following anecdote, the em- 

M Jose Ignaeio Miro, "Estudio de las piedras preciosas/' Madrid, 
1870, pp. 135, 136. 

262 THE CUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

'erald disappeared at an earlier date : It is said that in 
1809, during the French occupation of Spain, Marshal 
Junot visited this cathedral, and the emerald was pointed 
out to him as one of the chief glories of the shrine. As 
soon as the marshal's covetous glance rested upon the 
gem, he plucked it from its setting, remarking, coolly, to 
the astonished and horrified bystanders, "This belongs 
to me." Then, smiling and bowing, he left the cathedral 
with the emerald safely ensconced in his waistcoat pocket. 
Later, it was replaced by an imitation in glass. 

The famous collection of jewels gathered together 
in the treasury of the Santa Casa, at Loreto, Italy, was 
plundered during the French occupation in 1797, and all 
trace of most of the magnificent ornaments has been lost. 
These represented the gifts of many crowned heads and 
titled personages; among the former was the unfortu- 
nate Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, who donated a 
golden heart-shaped jewel with the words "Jesus 
Maria' ' incrusted in diamonds. This jewel is described 
as being "as big as both a man's hands, opened onto two 
leaves, on one of which was the figure of the Blessed 
Virgin and on the other a portrait of the queen herself. 55 
Of the many rich vestments for decorating the statue of 
the Virgin in the sanctuary, the most splendid was the 
gift of the Infanta Isabel of Flanders, and was valued 
at 40,000 crowns. In a seventeenth-century account by 
an English traveller it is thus described: 56 

Its set thick with six rows of diamonds downe before, to the num- 
ber of three thousand, and its all wrought over with a kinde of em- 
broidery of little pearle set thick everywhere within the flowers with 
great round pearle, to the number twenty thousand pearles in all. 

55 Lassels ? " The Voyage of Italy," Paris, 1670, Pt. II, p. 344. 
^Lassels, lc., p. 339. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 263 

The same writer tells us the niche in which the statue 
was placed was bordered with a row of precious stones of 
great number, size, and value, the colors being so varied 
that this bordering formed "a rich Iris of several 
colors." There is also said to have been a great pearl, 
set in gold, and engraved with the image of the Virgin 
and Child. 57 It seem$ probable that this was a jewel 
made of a baroque pearl, or pearls, completed by enamel- 
work so as to represent the sacred figures. 

The pectoral cross worn in solemn processions by the 
prior of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial was 
adorned with eight perfect emeralds, five diamonds, and 
five pearls. From it hung a splendid pear-shaped pearl, 
the gift of Philip II in 1595, and one of the finest of those 
acquired by this monarch. In 1740 the cross was valued 
at 50,000 crowns, Philip 's great pearl not being included 
in this valuation. 58 

The monastery of Streoneshalh, later Whitby Abbey, 
was founded about 656 A.B. by Oswy, King of Northum- 
bria, in fulfilment of a vow made before his victory over 
the pagan king Penda, at the battle of Winwidfield, 
fought in November, 654. St. Hilda was made abbess of 
this monastery, and Oswy's daughter Aelfleda took the 
veil and eventually, in 680, succeeded Hilda as abbess; 
she died in 713. 59 Tradition relates that at this early 
date crosses and rosaries were made for the inmates of 
the monastery from the jet found in the neighborhood. 
The "Whitby jet," so popular and fashionable in the 
eighteenth century, was largely derived from the same 

57 Scotto, " Itinerario d'ltalia/' Roma, 1747, p. 314. 
re Jose Ignacio Miro, " Estudio de las piedras preciosas," Madrid, 
1870, pp. 136, 137, 229, 

*" Caxtularinm abbatfaise de Whiteby, Stcrtees Soc. Pub., TO!, 

pp. Xvi-3X> 

264 * THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

source, and since then has had several revivals, until 
replaced by black-stained chalcedony, the so-called onyx, 
and, later still, by steel carved with glass and glass itself. 

In the sixteenth century jet was popularly called 
"bla.ck amber," and Cardano states that in his time 
beads of this material were made up into rosaries. He 
also says that curious figures made of jet were brought 
from Spain to Italy. 60 

Many are unaware of the fact that a number of orna- 
mental objects made of nephrite and jadeite unques- 
tionably of European origin are to be seen in the quiet 
little town of Perugia. These objects, collected princi- 
pally in central and southern Italy, constitute the Belucci 
Collection, in that city. This collection also contains 
other specimens of worked jadeite, which must have been 
brought to Europe at the time of the Spanish conquest 
of Mexico and Peru. A very interesting example shows 
us the utilization of a pagan celt to form a Christian 
emblem. By the removal of a rectangular piece from 
each of the four corners of the jadeite celt, a perfect cross 
has been made, the back and front of which still offer the 
original polish given to the material centuries ago by 
the native American worker. The superstitious belief 
propagated in Europe by the returning Spanish sailors, 
very probably an invention of their own to enhance the 
value of their jade and jadeite, that these minerals were 
worn by th natives as a cure for diseases of the kidneys, 
whence the name lapis nephriticus, rendered the material 
exceptionally precious in the eyes of many, and quite 
possibly it may have been thought that, by transform- 
ing this object into the sacred form of the cross, a talis- 
man would be produced that would not only effect the 

80 Cardani, De subtilitate," lib. v, Basileae, 1560, p. 370. 

I Cross made from a celt of jadeite (Mexican), bought from a peasant in Perugia. This was 
originally a celt and was divided into four pieces. Of Mexican origin and brought to Italy in six- 
teenth century. Belucci Collection. 

2. Jadeite celt, from Guatemala. 

3. Celt, Aboriginal. A .small stone hatchet made of jade nephrite, of the kind believed by the 
peasants to bo thunderbolts. Mounted in silver to be worn as a charm. This specimen, tied over 
the bins, is said to have been worn as recently as fifty years ago by a Scottish gentleman as a cure 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PEECIOUS STONES 265 

cure of a special disease, but would also by its superior 
virtue guard the wearer from harm and danger of all 
kinds. Here may also be seen some celts of European 
jade sewed up in little bags to be worn on the loins. 

Certain curious amulets called magatama (crooked 
jewels) have been found in Japanese graves of the iron 
age; 01 they are formed of various materials, among 
others of steatite, jasper, carnelian, agate, rock crystal, 
chrysoprase and nephrite (jade). In the shell heaps of 
a period preceding the iron age, the magatama are fre- 
quently made of horn, or of boar's or wolf's teeth, and 
their peculiar form, which is variously explained as a 
symbol, may have been conditioned by the shape of the 
materials originally used. The magatama were evidently 
regarded as amulets. "They are generally perforated 
at the thick end, and were worn on a string, together with 
beads and bugles of the same material." These peculiar 
ornaments were used to adorn the statues of the gods and 
were also employed as imperial insignia and distinctive 
marks of high rank. At the present day they are num- 
bered among the three emblems of sovereignty in Japan. 

A green and a red magatama are combined in the 
national emblem of Korea and a similar figure is used 
in China to symbolize the union of the masculine and 
feminine principles (Yang and Tin) in nature. Dr. Baelz 
believes that the swastika emblem, encountered in so 
many different parts of the world, belongs to the same 
order of ideas. 

The Bghai tribes of Burma have many superstitions 
in regard to stones, such as garnets, rock-crystal, chal- 
cedony, carnelian, agate, onyx and others of less value, 

w Dr. Baelz, of the Imperial University of Tokyo, in Report of the 
Smithsonian Institution for 1904, pp. 523-547. 

266 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

their repute not depending entirely or principally upon 
their quality as gem-stones. In almost every household 
is installed a stone fetish, and blood offerings are on 
occasion made to this. A question as to the reason for 
this offering elicited the following reply: "If we do not 
give it blood to eat it will eat us." A common belief 
was that spirits good or bad dwelt in the stones, and 
in case a great misfortune befell a family, this was some- 
times laid to the charge of such a spirit. The father of 
a family having died, his widow commanded her son to 
throw away their magic stone. This he did, but the spirit 
was not to be denied, for shortly afterward this very stone 
was found to have returned to its accustomed place, and 
had even brought two companion stones with it ! 62 

Buy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who travelled in the East 
during the years 1403-1406, gives a description of a slab 
of stone bearing the outlines of a "natural picture, " and 
placed in the church of St. Sophia, in Constantinople: 6S 

In the wall, on the left-hand side, there is a very large white slab, 
on which, among many other figures, was drawn, very naturally, without 
any human artifice of sculpture or painting, the most sacred and 
blessed Yirgin Mary, with our Lord Jesus Christ in her most holy arms, 
with his most glorious forerunner, St. John the Baptist, on one side. 
These images, as I said before, are not drawn or painted with any color, 
or inlaid, but the stone itself gave birth to this picture, with its veins, 
which may be clearly seen; and they say that when this stone was cut, 
to be placed in this most holy place, the workman saw these most 
wonderful and fortunate images on it, and, as this church was the most 
important one in the city, that stone was deposited in it. The said 
images appear as if they were in the clouds of heaven, and as if there 
was a thin veil before them. 

03 Mason, "Burmah, its People and Natural Productions," Rangoon, 
1860, pp. 109, 110. 

** Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the 
Court of Timour, trans, by Clement E. Markham, London, 1859, p. 38, 
Hakluyt Soe. Pub. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 267 

Many other examples of these "natural gems" are 
noted by early [writers. Among them was an agate gem 
in the treasury of the Basilica of St. Mark, in Venice. 
Upon this gem appeared the head of a king, adorned with 
a diadem, the whole design being figured naturally by the 
veining of the agate, and not owing anything to artifice. 
In the same city, upon a column in the church of San 
G-eorgio Maggiore, could be seen the likeness of Our 
Lord, hanging from the Cross. 64 

Such stones, with peculiar markings indicating the 
form of human heads and figures, were regarded as the 
work of higher powers. 

Another remarkable example is described by Kircher 
as follows : 65 

In Rome, in the Chapel of the Sacred Virgin, near the organ to 
the right hand of those who enter the Church of St. Pet.er, an image 
may be seen in which the Blessed Virgin of Loreto is so artistically 
depicted by Nature that it appears to be the work of an artist's hand. 
She is attired in a triple garment, divided by a zone, and holds in her 
arms the child, who is distinguished by a crown, as is the mother. 
Around may be seen the figures of angels. 

The red spots upon the bloodstone were said in Chris- 
tian legend to represent the blood of Christ. This idea 
has been beautifully utilized in some gems cut from this 
stone, whereon the thorn-crowned head of Christ is so 
placed that the red spots of the bloodstone figure the 
drops of blood trickling down the hair and face of the 
Saviour. Such a gem might well be looked upon as a 
Christian amulet and one that could be reverently worn 
by any believer. 

* Chiocci, " Museum Caleeolarium," Veronas, 1622, p. 251. 
^Kireher, "Mundus Subterraneus," Amstelodami, 1665, p. 36; 
Tabula IV, Fig. 6. 

268 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

The ignorance in the Middle Ages of the art of gem- 
engraving often induced the belief that engraved stones 
were the work of nature. A striking instance of this was 
the celebrated stone over the figure of the Mother of 
Jesus, on the tomb of St. Elizabeth of Marburg. On 
this gem appeared two heads touching each other, and it 
was, according to tradition, not a work of art, but a freak 
of the sculptress Nature. An oft-repeated legend tells 
us that a former Elector of Mainz offered the whole dis- 
trict of Amoneberg for this costly stone, which robber 
hands removed at Cassel. It is in reality a fine onyx en- 
graved with the heads of Castor and Pollux. 66 

We might be disposed to regard rather sceptically 
the tales regarding wonderful stones bearing the image 
of Christ, or that of the Virgin Mary, and we may be in- 
clined to believe that the old accounts are exaggerated 
or distorted by the pious imaginations of the writers. 
Nevertheless, in our own time we have a well-attested 
case of the discovery of such a stone. 

In 1880, while visiting the village of Oberammergau, 
Bavaria, to witness the Passion Play, Mrs. Eugenia 
Jones-Bacon, of Atlanta, Georgia, found on Mount Kop- 
fel, which overlooks the village, a small stone composed 
of chert and limestone, and having on its surface excres- 
cences so disposed that, when the stone was held at a 
certain angle, the shadows cast by them formed a striking 
likeness of the head of Christ as depicted in Christian 
art This peculiar freak specimen has been carefully 
examined by experts and has been pronounced to be 
entirely a work of nature. The mineralogist is not dis- 
posed to see here anything more than coincidence, and 

66 Creuzer, u Antik gesekaittene Steine vom GrabmaH der heiligen 
Elizabeth/' Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1834, p. 25. 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 269 

yet the most sceptical cannot fail to be impressed by the 
fact that such a stone was found at the time and place of 
the Passion Play. As Max Miiller said, in commenting 
on this strange discovery: "The chapter of accidents is 
much larger than we imagine," and the present writer 
feels disposed to add that it is remarkable how often 
we find what we are looking for, especially if we are 
only looking or thinking of one object or subject. 

The religious symbolism of the diamond was a 
favorite theme with the thirteenth century "lapidaria," 
or rhymed treatises on precious stones. Just as it could 
only be discovered by night an old fancy so was the 
Incarnation a hidden mystery; it gave forth a great light, 
just as Jesus illumined the depths of Hades when he de- 
scended thither ; it was unconquerably hard, and who can 
resist the might of Grod? 67 

The mediaeval Italians who were fond of seeking some 
hidden and significant meaning in the names of precious 
stones, in the case of the diamond (diamante), read the 
phrase amante di Dio, or "lover of G-od." 68 This was 
a reason for regarding the brilliant gem as a sacred stone 
and one especially suitable for religious use. 

The Bosicrucians, who sought to combine pagan with 
Christian types and figures, saw in the amethyst and 
the amethystine color a symbol of the divine male sacri- 
fice, since the stone and the color were typical of love, 
truth, passion, suffering, and hope. The love of Christ 
led him to make the supreme sacrifice and suffer the 
agony of the Cross, and the Crucifixion was followed by 

w Barbier de Montault, "Le Tresor de FAbbaye de Sainte-Croix 
de Poitier"; in M6m. de la Soc. d'Antiq. de 1'Ouest, Sec. Ser., vol. lv ; 
1881, pp. 105, 106; Poitiers, 1882. 

M Italian MS. of the fourteenth century in the author's library; fol. 
41 b. 

270 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

the Besurrection, whence came the hope of mankind to 
enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. 

The chiastolite, or made, shows the representation of 
a cross on its surface, this effect being produced by the 
regular arrangement of carbonaceous impurities along 
the axes of the crystal. The name signifies a marking 
resembling the Gre'ek letter X (chi). This marking is 
often very striking in appearance, and the crystal was 
naturally regarded as having a mystical and religious 
significance. It was said to stanch the flow of blood from 
any part of the body if worn so as to touch the skin, and 
it was also believed to increase the secretion of milk. 
All kinds of fevers were cured by this mineral if it were 
worn suspended from the neck, and the divine symbol it 
bore served to drive away evil spirits from the neighbor- 
hood of the wearer. 

This very interesting mineral occurs very frequently 
in mica schists. When found, it appears about the thick- 
ness of a small finger, tapering slightly at each edge. If 
broken near one end, it often shows a white cross with a 
veined outline of black, making a distinct cross with black 
markings. The crystals frequently measure from two to 
four inches in length, and are found in Massachusetts, 
California, and other places. If small segments are 
broken off, it will be found that the black outline will 
become stronger, and the white less marked, until finally 
a black cross will appear, with white markings. The 
white material is the result of two white wedges pushed 
point onward until the ends meet, the narrow end of one 
wedge being crossed by the broad end of the second 
wedge, and the black filling in the balance of the square. 
No two of these square crosses can thus ever be esactly 
alike, and, when polished, the crystals naturally form an 

RELIGIOUS USES OF PEECIOUS STONES 271 

interesting stone that was known as lapis crucifer, or 
cross-stone by the ancients. 

The peculiar form of the mineral known as staurolite 
(from the Greek eraopdz cross) is due to the twinning of 
two crystals at right angles. In Cronstedt's treatise on 
mineralogy, published in Stockholm in 1758, we are told 
that the staurolite was sometimes called Baseler Tauf- 
stein (baptismal-stone) or lapis crucifer, the former name 
being used in Basel, where the stone was employed as an 
amulet at baptisms. However, the lapis crucifer of De 
Boot appears from his description to have been the chias- 
tolite. In Brittany these twin crystals were worn as 
charms, and local legends state that they had dropped 
from the heavens. 

Fine crystals of staurolite have been found in Patrick 
County, Virginia, and there is said to be a beautiful local 
legend in regard to their origin. Near where they are 
found there wells up a spring of limpid water, and the 
story goes that one day, long, long ago, when the fairies 
were dancing and playing around this spring, an elfin 
messenger winged his way through the air and alighted 
among them. He bore to them the sad tidings of the 
crucifixion of Christ in a far-off city. So mournful was 
his recital of the sufferings of the Saviour that the fairies 
burst into tears, and these fairy tear-drops, as they fell 
to earth, crystallized into the form of the cross. These 
natural crosses are in great demand as charms, and ex- 
President Eoosevelt is said to wear one of them mounted 
as a watch-charm. 

There has been found in the southern part of New 
Mexico, and in northern Mexico, a blue variety of cala- 
mine, a hydrous silicate of zinc, colored blue by an admix- 
ture of copper. This stone has been cut into gem form 

272 THE CUBIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

and lias been sold to a certain extent as a cheap gem. It 
is translucent and is sometimes veined with white wavy 
lines. The Mexican Indians employed in the mines often 
set up a cross and a candle near where they are working, 
so that they may pay their devotions at this improvised 
shrine. In Sonora and Western Chihuahua the Indians 
frequently place a piece of the stone to which we have 
alluded alongside the cross. They may be attracted by 
its beautiful blue color, or they may believe that it is a 
turquoise, although it does not resemble this latter stone, 
which is more opaque, of a different shade of blue and 
of a different composition. 

In some epitaphs the hope of the resurrection finds 
expression in likening the body enclosed in its narrow 
coffin to a precious jewel in its casket. The following 
lines from a tombstone erected in 1655 to the memory 
of Mary Courtney, at Fowell, Cornwall, England, give a 
good example of this class of inscription: 6d 

Near this a rare Jewell's set, 

Clos'd up in a cabinet. 

Let no sacrilegious hand 

Breake through 'tis y e strickte comaund) 

Of the jeweller: who hath sayd 

(And 7 tis fit he be obey'd) 

I'll require it safe and sound 

Both above and under ground. 

In a churchyard at Prittlewell, Essex, England, a 
rather whimsical treatment of the same idea is offered 
by some verses engraved on the stone marking the graves 
of two wives of a certain Freeborne, the first of whom 
died in 1641 and the second in 1658. The bereaved hus- 

""Bavenshaw, " Antiente Epitaphs/' London, 1878, p. 110. 

STAUROLITE CRYSTALS (FAIRY STONES). 
Patrick County, Virginia. 

RELIGIOUS USES OP PRECIOUS STONES 273 

band seems to have been perfectly willing to await the 
Day of Judgment for the return of his lost spouses : 70 

Under this stone two precious gems do ly 

Equall in weight, worth, lustre, sanctity: 

Yet perhaps one of them da excell; 

Which was't who knows? ask him y* knew y 601 well 

By long enjoyment. If he thus be prest, 

He'el pause, then answere : truly both were best : 

Were't in my choice that either of y e twain 

Might be returned to me to enjoy agayne, 

Which should I chuse? Well, since I know not whether; 

He mourne for the losse of both, but wish for neither, 

Yet here's my comfort, herein lyes my hope, 

The tyme a comeinge cabinets shall ope 

Which are loekt fast: then shall I see 

My Jewells to my joy, my Jewells mee. 

The Christian symbolism of colors has in many cases 
determined the use of certain colored gems for religious 
ornaments, and therefore the following summary of their 
principal significance is of interest here : 71 

WHITE is regarded as the first of the canonical colors, and as 
emblematic of purity, innocence, virginity, faith, life, and light. For 
this reason it is used in the ceremonies of Easter and Christmas, as in 
those of the Circumcision and Epiphany of Our Lord. As the color of 
virginity it is especially appropriate for the festival of the Virgin 
Mary, and as that of faith not sealed with blood, for the festivals of 
the saints who were not martyred. The heavenly host of angels and 
saints wear white robes, and in pictures of the Assumption of the 
Virgin she is frequently clad in white. 

RED is used at the feasts of the Exaltation and Invention of the 
Cross, at Pentecost, and at the Feast of Martyrs. It suggests and 
symbolizes suffering and martyrdom fox the faith, and the supreme 

TO Ravenshaw, "Antiente Epitaphs," London, 1878, p. 113. 
n See Audsley, "Handbook of Christian Symbolism," London, 
1865, pp. 135-137, 
IS 

274 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross. Divine love and majesty are 
also typified by this color. 

BLUE is an emblem of the celestial regions and of the celestial 
virtues. Nevertheless, as this is not one of the five canonical colors, it is 
not employed for the decoration of churches or for ecclesiastical vest- 
ments. In Christian art, however, the Virgin and the saints and angels 
are often robed in blue. 

YELLOW of a golden hue is emblematic of God's goodness and of 
faith and good works, but it is not a canonical color. A dull yellow, 
however, has the opposite signification, and is a type of treachery and 
envy. Hence Judas is garbed in yellow of a dull hue, and heretics wore 
garments of this shade when they were condemned to the stake. 

GREEN" is the canonical color for use on Sundays, week-days, and 
ordinary festivals. Hope and joy and the bright promises of youth 
are signified by green. 

VIOLET,, another canonical color, is appropriate for use on Sep- 
tuagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays, during Lent, and on Advent 
Sunday. The chastening and purifying effects of suffering find expres- 
sion in this color. 

BLACK, also* a canonical color, is a symbol of death and of the 
mourning and sorrow inspired by death. Therefore it is only used in 
the Church on Good Friday, to symbolize the sorrow and despair of the 
Christian community at the death of Christ, a sorrow soon to be turned 
to joy by His glorious resurrection. 

POHANNK BKA 
PAL ATINO . 

FHONTLSPIECK OF THE "VESTITUS SACERDOTUM HEBR^ORUM," OF JOHANN 

IUIAUN, AMSTERDAM, 1680. 

The visnottos a.i the top illustrato the source of the materials of the vestments, etc ; as the nopal 
source of the cochineal insect; gold-thread; linen; a sheep for wool; Tyre and the purple mures. Thi 
other vignettes show wepuratc parts of the high-priest's attire, and in the centre appear two figurn 
of the high-priest, each garbed in different sets of vestments. 

VIII 
t^e 

ERY early, and very naturally, the religious nature 
of man led to the use of precious stones in connec- 
tion with worship the most valuable and elegant objects 
being chosen for sacred purposes. Of this mode of thought 
we have a striking instance in the accounts given, in the 
book of Exodus, of the breastplate of the High-priest, 
and the gems contributed for the tabernacle by the Israel- 
ites in the wilderness. Another religious association of 
such objects is their use to symbolize ideas of the Divine 
glory, as illustrated in the visions of the prophet Ezekiel 
and in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book 
of Eevelation. Apart from such legitimate uses, however, 
gems have become associated with all manner of religious 
fancies and superstitions, traces of which appear in the 
Talmud, the Koran, and similar writings ; they have also 
been dedicated to various heathen deities. Even in mod- 
ern times, some trace of the same ideas remains in the 
ecclesiastical jewelry and its supposed symbolism. 

In the vision of Ezekiel i, 26, and in a brief allusion to 
the similar appearance of the G-od of Israel in Exodus 
xxiv ? the throne of Jehovah, or the pavement beneath 
his feet, is compared to a sapphire, and the Apostle John, 
in the Apocalypse, describes the Great White Throne as 
surrounded by a rainbow like an emerald. 

The Rabbinical writings, instead of the simple gran- 
deur of these biblical comparisons, give us many fanciful 
ideas. The stones of the breastplate are here represented 
as sacred to twelve mighty angels who guard the gates of 

275 

276 THE CUEIOUS LOBE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

Paradise, and wondrous tales are told of the luminous 
gems in the tent of Abraham and the ark of Noah. Mo- 
hammedan legend represents the different heavens as 
composed of different precious stones, and in the Middle 
Ages these religious ideas became interwoven with a host 
of astrological, alchemistic, and medical superstitions. 

The following is the description of the breastplate 
given in Exodus (xxviii, 15-30) : 

And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning 
work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, 
and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen shalt thou 
make it. 

Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length 
thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. 

And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones : 
the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall 
be the first row. 

And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a 
diamond. 

And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 

And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall 
be set in gold in their enclosings. 

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, 
twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet ; every 
one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes. 

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends 
of wreathen work of pure gold. 

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and 
sbalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 

And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two 
rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. 

And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt 
fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the 
ephod before it. 

And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them 
upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is 
in the side of the ephod inward. 

THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 277 

And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them 
on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, 
over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of 
the ephod. 

And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the 
rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the 
curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed 
from the ephod. 

And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the 
breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the 
holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. 

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of Judgment the Urim and 
the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth 
in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children 
of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. 

Of the miraculous quality of the stones worn by the 
high-priest, the Jewish historian Josephus (37-95 A.D.) 
says : I 

From the stones which the high-priest wore (these were sard- 
onyxes, and I hold it superfluous to describe their nature, since it is 
known to all), there emanated a light, as often as God was present at 
the sacrifices; that which was worn on the right shoulder instead of a 
clasp emitting a radiance sufficient to give light even to those far 
away, although the stone previously lacked this splendor. And cer- 
tainly this in itself merits the wonder of all those who do not, out of 
contempt for religion, allow themselves to be led away by a pretence 
of wisdom. However, I am about ta relate something still more 
wonderful, namely, that God announced victory' in battle by means of 
the twelve stones worn by the high-priest on his breast, set in the 
pectoral. For such a splendor shone from them when the army was 
not yet in motion, that all the people knew that God himself was 
present to aid them. For this reason the Greeks who reverence our 
solemnities, since they could not deny this, called the pectoral Uyw> 
or oracle. However, the pectoral and the onyxes ceased to emit this 
radiance two hundred years before the time when I write this, because 
God was displeased at the transgressions of the Law. 

'Flavii Josepbi, "De Antiq. Jud.," lib. iii, cap. viii, 9; Opera, 
ed. Dindorf, Parisiis, 1845, vol. i, pp. 100, 101. 

278 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

This writer, who must have seen the high-priest wear- 
ing his elaborate vestments, says that the breastplate was 
adorned "with twelve stones of exceptional size and 
beauty, a decoration not easily to be acquired, on account 
of its enormous value. " 2 However these gems were not 
merely rare and costly; they also possessed wonderful 
and miraculous powers. Writing about 400 A.D., St. Epi- 
phanius, Bishop of Constantia, tells of a marvellous 
adamas which was worn on the breast of the high-priest, 
who showed himself to the people, arrayed in all his gor- 
geous vestments, at the feasts of Pascha, Pentecost, and 
Tabernacles. This adamas was termed the &jWc? or 
"Declaration," because, by its appearance, it announced 
to the people the fate that God had in store for them. 
If the people were sinful and disobedient, the stone as- 
sumed a dusky hue, which portended death by disease, or 
else it became the color of blood, signifying that the 
people would be slain by the sword. If, however, the 
stone shone like the driven snow, then the people recog- 
nized that they had not sinned, and hastened to celebrate 
the festival. 3 

There seems to be little doubt that this account is 
nothing more than an elaboration and modification of 
the passage in Josephus. Evidently the tt r w\> (oracle) 
of Josephus has become the d^fam? (declaration). 

"When Moses wished to engrave on the stones of the 
breastplate tire names of the twelve tribes of Israel, he 
is said to have had recourse to the miraculous shamir. 
The names were first traced in ink on the stones, and the 
shamir was then passed over them, the result being that 

s "Ant. JucL," lib. iii, cap. vii, 5, Mavii ' Josephi Opera, Basilese, 
1544, p. 75. 

'Sancti Patri Epiphanii, "De XII Gemmis," Tiguri, 1566, c. 
12-14. Edited by Conrad Gesner from a unique MS. in his possession. 

THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 279 

THE HJSBftEW HIGH-PIUEST ATTIRED WITH HIS VESTMENTS. 
(From Joharm Braun's M Vestitus Sacordotum Hebracorum," Amsterdam, 1680, opp. p. 822.) 

280 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

the traced inscriptions became graven on the stones. In 
proof of the magical character of this operation, no par- 
ticles of the gems were removed in the process. 4 The 
name really designates "emery." 

An argument against the use of especially rare and 
costly stones in the decoration of the breastplate has 
been found in its probable size. 5 "We are told that when 
folded it measured a span in each direction, and this 
would indicate that its length and breadth were each 
from eight to nine inches. In this case the stones them- 
selves might have measured two by two and a half inches, 
and, in view of the number of characters required to 
express some of the tribal names, these dimensions do not 
seem excessive. It is highly improbable that in the time 
of Moses precious stones like the ruby, the emerald, or 
the sapphire would have been available in these dimen- 
sions. The difficulty of engraving very hard stones with 
the appliances at the command of the Hebrews of this 
period must also be taken into consideration. As we shall 
see, however, there is good reason to believe that after 
the Babylonian Captivity a new breastplate was made, 
and at that time it may have been easier to secure and 
work precious stones of great value and a high degree 
of hardness. We must also bear in mind that in those 
periods perfection was not so great a requisite as rich 
color. 

In his commentary on Exodus xxviii, Cornelius a 
Lapide (Cornelius Van den Steen) discusses the question 
of the diamond in the high-priest's breastplate. In the 
first place, he notes that the diamond was very costly, and 

4 Ginsburg, "Legends of the Jews/' Eng. trans., Phila., 1909, 
vol. i, p. 34. 

B See J. L. Myers in the "Encyclopaedia Biblica/' vol. iv, pp. 
4799-4812. 

THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 

281 

that a large stone would have been needed to bear the 
name of Judah or that of any other tribe. He considers 
that a stone of the requisite size would have cost a hun- 
dred thousand gold crowns, and he asks, "Whence could 

I, II, THE BREASTPLATE UNFOLDED. 

A, lower fold; B, B t S, B, rings for attachment to Ephod; C, the twelve gems in their 
Bettings; D, D t hooka for attachment to shoulder; E, E, bands to pass through rings in Ephod. 

III. EPHOD WITH BREASTPLATE FOLDED AND ATTACHED. 

Tlism PvllTirlprq 
LISHED IN COLOGNE, 1539. ' lt>man CyiUlQeib. 

Shows the figure of the High-priest and the Specimens of CaTHelian 
names and tribal attributions of twelve stones of WJ*A obtained f TOTTX 
the Breastplate. 

Arabia. The Greek Sep- 

tuagint and the Latin Vulgate, as well as Josephus, in the 
"Wars of the Jews" (V, 5, 7), and Epiphanius, all trans- 
late sardius, the ancient designation of carnelian; in his 
"Antiquities, "however, Josephus renders odem by"sard- 
onyx." The Egyptian word chenem was used to desig- 
nate red stones, and seems to have been applied indiffer- 

THE HIGH-PEIEST'S BREASTPLATE 291 

ently to red jasper and red feldspar as well as to car- 
nelian; indeed, the first-named material was more freely 
used in early Egyptian work than the carnelian. It is, 
therefore, probable that in Mosaic times odem signified 
fed jasper, while for the fifth century B.C. "carnelian" 
would be the better rendering. This modern name of the 
sardius, signifying the " flesh-color ed" stone, first ap- 
pears in the Latin translation of a treatise by Luca ben 
Costa, who wrote in the tenth century A.D. The name of 
Beuben is said to have been engraved on the odem stone, 
which occupied the first place on the breastplate. 

II Pitdah. t-l There seems to be little doubt 
that this is the topazius of ancient writers, which usually 
signified our chrysolite, or peridot, not our topaz; for 
Pliny and his successors describe the topazius as a stone 
of a greenish hue. A legend related by Pliny gives as 
the place of origin an island in the Eed Sea, called 
Topazos, from topazein, "to conjecture," because it was 
difficult to find. However, the Hebrew pitddh appears 
to have been derived from the Sanskrit pita, "yellow," 
and should, therefore, have originally signified a yellow 
stone, perhaps our topaz. W. M. Flinders Petrie, prob- 
ably influenced by this Sanskrit etymology, sees in it 
the yellow serpentine used in ancient Egypt. If, never- 
theless, we admit that a light green stone occupied the 
second place on the Mosaic breastplate, it was perhaps 
the light green serpentine. This was called meh in 
Egyptian, and was often used for amulets. In the case 
of the later breastplate we may substitute the peridot. 
On this second stone was engraved the name Simeon. 

III. Bareketh. [ n P?.^l Here the Septuagint, Jose- 
phus, and the Vulgate agree in translating smaragdus, 
and as we know that emerald mines were worked at 

292 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Mount Zabarah, in Nubia, before the beginning of our 
era, and that the emerald was known and used in Egypt, 
there does not seem to be any reason for rejecting the 
usual translation "emerald." Still it must be admitted 
that smaragdus often designates other green stones 
than the emerald. The suggestion has been made (by 
Myers and Petrie) that the passage in Kevelation iv, 
3, where the rainbow is likened to the smaragdus, indi- 
cates that the writer used this name for rock-crystal; 
but this conjecture is scarcely satisfactory, since it con- 
fuses the prismatic effects of light which has traversed 
the crystal with the crystal itself. There can be little 
doubt that a stone of brilliant coloration, like the emerald, 
not a colorless one, like rock-crystal, would be used as a 
simile of the rainbow. Whether the Mosaic breastplate 
already contained the emerald is another question, and 
it seems rather more likely that green feldspar, freely 
used in ancient Egypt for amulets, and known as uat, 
was the third stone of the proto-breastplate. The Au- 
thorized Version makes "the carbuncle" the third in- 
stead of the fourth stone. Upon the bereJceth was en- 
graved the name Levi. 

IV. Nophek. ft?>l This name is rendered ZvOpaS by 
the Septuagint and Josephus, and " carbimculus " by 
the Vulgate. This designation, signifying literally "a 
glowing coal," was used for certain stones distinguished 
by their peculiarly brilliant red color, such as the ruby 
and certain fine garnets. While it is quite possible that 
the Oriental ruby may have been in the breastplate seen 
by Josephus, it is almost certain that it could not have 
been in the original breastplate of Mosaic times, since 
there is absolutely no proof that this stone was known 
in ancient Egypt. Hence we are inclined to believe that 
in the thirteenth century B.C. the name nophek designated 

CROSS, ATTACHED AS PKNDANT TO Til 10 CROWN OF THIS GOTHIC 

KINO RKCCIOSVINTIIUS (Ul9-t>72 A.D.). 

Forming part of the troumire discovered in 1S5S tit Cluarruziir ia Spain. Now in 
UH^O Clviuy, Puriw. The CTONB proper is wet with fine sapphires cut on enboohoii 
IK! t'itfht. lar^e pcurlH. Natural ai/o. 

THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 293 

the almandine garnet, or some similar variety of that 
stone. The Authorized Version has "emerald" here in- 
stead of in the third place. On this fourth stone of the 
breastplate was engraved the tribal name of Judah. 

V. Sappir. [TfiD.] This is rendered sapphirus in 
all the old versions. 15 The stone cannot have been our 
sapphire, for both Theophrastus and Pliny describe the 
sapphirus as a stone with golden spots, thus showing 
that they meant the lapis-lazuli, which is often spotted 
with particles of pyrites having a golden sheen. This 
stone was named chesbet by the Egyptians, and was 
highly prized by them, a quantity of lapis-lazuli often 
appearing as an important item in the lists of tribute 
paid to Egypt and among the gifts sent by Babylonia 
to the Egyptian monarchs, and obtained from the oldest 
mines in the world. These were worked at a period 4000 
B.C. and still are worked to this day. From this mate- 
rial amulets and figures were made, many of which have 
been preserved for us, and the Egyptian high-priest is 
said to have worn, suspended from his neck, an image of 
Mat, the Goddess of Truth, made of lapis-lazuli. The 
name is composed of the Latin lapis, "a stone/' and 
lajuward, the name of the stone in Persian. From this 
latter word is also derived our " azure." In ancient 
times the lapis-lazuli was the blue stone par excellence, 
because of its beautiful color and the valuable ultramarine 
dye derived from it. Although Pliny writes (xxzvii, 39) 
that this stone was too soft for engraving, this fact need 
not have prevented its use in the breastplate, since the 
stones set therein were not intended for use as seals and 
hence were not subjected to any wear. In this connec- 

15 There are two evident transpositions in the text of Josephus be- 
tween the fifth and sixth and the eighth and ninth stones respectively. 

294 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

tion, however, it is somewhat strange that the Hebrew 
word sappir appears to indicate a stone especially 
adapted to receive inscriptions. The fact that the lapis- 
lazuli was greatly esteemed in ancient Egypt, and was 
still much used as an ornamental stone in Greek and 
Eoman times, renders it probable that it was set not 
only in the original breastplate, but also in that of a later 
age. Upon this fifth stone the name Issachar was 
inscribed. 

VI. Yahalom. te^ny The sixth stone of the ,Sep- 
tuagint version and of Josephus is the faants, probably 
green jasper, or jade, and this has been assumed 
to show that in the original Hebrew text yashpheh was 
the sixth stone, in place of yahalom. The twelfth stone 
of the Greek version is the fobpov or "onyx," and this 
seems to be the most probable equivalent of the Hebrew 
yahalom. Some Hebrew sources, however, render it 
"diamond," and Luther in his German version of the 
Bible, as well as our own Authorized Version, trans- 
lates it thus. This rendering is based upon the deriva- 
tion of the word yahalom from a verb meaning "to 
smite," thus making the name of the stone signify "the 
smiter," a designation not inappropriate for the dia- 
mond, which, because of its extreme hardness, has the 
power to cut, or ' < smite, ' ' all other stones. However, for 
this purpose the emery corundum, or smiris-point shamir, 
mentioned in Zechariah, was most likely used. The dia- 
mond was certainly not used in this way in very early 
times, although it is possible that the stone was employed 
in^ engraving in the fifth century B.C. These consider- 
ations induce us to prefer the traditional interpretation 
of yahalom, and translate it "onyx." In this case "the 
smiter" could be explained as denoting the use of the en- 
graved onyx for sealing, as the engraved figure or letters 

THE HIGH-PKIEST'S BREASTPLATE 295 

were struck upon some soft material to make an impres- 
sion. Zebulim was the tribal name inscribed on the 
yahalom. 

VIL Leshem. [Dp-bj No stone in the breastplate 
is more difficult to determine than this one. The Sep- 
tuagint, Josephus, and the Vulgate all translate ligu- 
rius, an appellation sometimes applied to amber, a sub- 
stance quite unfitted for use in the breastplate among 
the other engraved stones. Probably the original sig- 
nificance of ligurius was amber, this name being used 
because Liguria, in northern Italy, was the chief source 
of supply for Greece and the Orient; amber which had 
been gathered on the shores of the Baltic being brought 
by traders to Liguria and forwarded thence to other 
lands. As, however, the Greeks had another name for 
amber, electron, the name ligurion appears to have been 
applied later to a variety of the jacinth somewhat re- 
sembling amber in color, and then to other varieties of 
the same stone. The original form of the name was evi- 
dently ligurion, which was later changed to lyncurion, 
and was then explained as meaning the urine of the 
lynx (from xfyg, and <>/v, urine). This fanciful 
etymology gave rise to the story that the ligurios, or 
rather lyncurius, was the solidified urine of the lynx. 
The term lyncurion, as used by Theophrastus, may pos- 
sibly have included the sapphire as well as the jacinth, 
since he lays especial stress upon the coldness of this sub- 
stance, a quality characteristic of the sapphire, and also 
of the still denser jacinth. Hence, it appears that we 
have, even in the name ligurius, some justification for 
accepting the rendering hyacinthus, suggested by the list 
of foundation stones in Eevelation xsi, 20, and already 
proposed by Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia, about 
400 A,D. Whether JiyacintTius should be rendered "sap- 

296 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

phire" or " jacinth " is not easy to determine, as this 
name seems to have been used indifferently for both 
stones ; with the Arabs, under the form yakut, it became 
a generic term for all the varieties of the corundum gems. 
The sapphire was engraved in Greek and Eoman times 
and is, perhaps, the leshem stone of the Second Temple. 
For the Mosaic breastplate we are forced to seek for 
some stone known in ancient Egypt, where the sapphire 
does not seem to have been introduced at an early date. 
If we could accept the suggestion of Brugsch that the 
Egyptian neshem stone, reputed to have wonderful magic 
virtues, was the same as the Hebrew leshem, a brown 
agate would have been the seventh stone in the original 
breastplate, as Wendel gives very strong reasons for 
rendering neshem in this way. The color designations 
were very freely used in Egyptian, and therefore a 
reddish or a yellowish brown agate may have been used. 
The leshem bore the tribal name Joseph. 

VIII. Shebo. [va^J This is uniformly rendered in 
the ancient versions and in Josephus by " agate,' 7 a 
composite stone highly esteemed in very ancient times, 
and hence worthy of a place among the stones of the 
breastplate; at a later period, as Pliny notes (xxxvii, 54), 
it became so common that it was but little regarded. 
Nevertheless the fact that the various kinds of agates 
were believed to have many talismanic and therapeutic 
virtues, the great variety of coloration observable in 
these stones, and the curious figures and markings dis- 
played by many of them, served to make them favorite 
objects. The etymology of the word shebo suggests that 
it designated more especially a banded agate, and that 
set in the proto-breastplate was most probably one with 
gray and white bands, as this variety often appears in 
Egyptian work. There would have been .no lack of con- 

THE HIGH-PKIEST'S BREASTPLATE 297 

trast between this stone and the reddish or yellowish- 
brown agate, of uniform color, which may have occupied 
the seventh place. For the later breastplate we may 
choose any one of the many kinds of banded agate. This 
stone had engraved upon it the name Benjamin. 

IX. Ahlamah. fa^na.] As to this stone also, all the 
authorities are in agreement, and render ahlamah by 
"amethyst." This was not, however, the Oriental ame- 
thyst, a variety of corundum, but a dark blue or purple 
variety of quartz. Both Arabia and Syria furnished a 
supply of amethysts. The Hebrew name shows that this 
stone was believed to possess the virtue of inducing 
dreams and visions (cf. halom "dream"), while, as is 
well known, the Greek name characterizes it as an enemy 
or preventive of inebriety. The amethyst was known in 
ancient Egypt and probably was named hemag. In the 
Book of the Dead a heart made of hemag is mentioned, 
and two such heart-shaped amulets of amethyst are pre- 
served in the Boulaq Museum. As the amethyst re- 
tained its repute as a stone of beauty and power through 
the Greek and Roman periods, we may safely assert that 
it was set in both the first and second breastplates. Upon 
the ahlamah was engraved the name Dan. 

X. Tarshish. hwynn] The Septuagint renders this 
word "chrysolite," where it is used in the description of 
the breastplate, as does Josephus also. In the Authorized 
Version, "beryl" is the rendering. We have already 
stated that the topaz of the ancients was usually our 
chrysolite, or peridot, and the name "chrysolite" appears 
to have been used to designate our topaz. This is indeed 
indicated by the literal meaning of the word, "golden- 
stone." The tarshish received its name from Tartessus, 
in Spain, an important commercial station of the Phoeni- 
cians. The stone derived from this source was not, of 

298 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

course, our Oriental topaz, a variety of corundum, nor 
was it the true topaz ; neither is it at all likely that the 
name tarshish signified, at least originally, the genuine 
topaz ; most probably it denoted a variety of quartz which 
occurs in Spain. This is originally black, but is decol- 
orized by heating to a deep brown, and if the heating be 
prolonged the stone becomes paler and eventually en- 
tirely transparent. The ancients were familiar with this 
property* In ancient Egyptian records a stone called 
tlielien is frequently mentioned as a material from which 
amulets were made. This Egyptian name signified pri- 
marily a "yellow stone, " and might designate either the 
topaz or the yellow jasper, known and used in Egypt at 
a very early date; the topaz was probably not known 
there earlier than 500 or 600 B.C. Hence, in spite of the 
unquestionable difficulty offered by the geographical 
name tarshish, which might seem to confine us to a 
Spanish origin for the stone, the probabilities favor the 
selection of the yellow jasper as the tenth gem in Aaron's 
breastplate. For that made with pious zeal by those who 
labored to renew the glories of the Old Jerusalem, we 
choose the topaz, possibly, indeed, a fine specimen of 
the genuine topaz, f or whatever the quality of the yellow 
stone originally brought from Tartessus, the name may 
well have been applied to the genuine topaz when that 
stone became known to the Jews, either in Babylonia, or 
after their return to Palestine. The tarshish was en- 
graved with the name Naphtali. 

XL Shoham. [DIW] The Septuagint translates 
"beryl," but in our Authorized Version and in that used 
by Roman Catholics, the so-called Douai Version, the 
word is invariably rendered "onyx." Diodorus Siculus 
and Dionysius Periegetes, writing in the first century B.C., 
are the first classical authors who use the name beryl. 

.THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BKEASTPLATE 299 

While this name does not appear in the treatise of Theo- 
phrastus, he evidently includes the beryl among his 
smaragdi; indeed, the true emerald is simply a variety 
of the beryl, and owes its beautiful coloration to a slight 
admixture of chromium. The finest beryls were brought 
from India. Besides the specimen set in the breastplate, 
the high-priest wore on his shoulders two shoham stones, 
each engraved with the names of six of the tribes. After 
carefully weighing the evidence, we believe that the 
stones worn by the high-priest of the Second Temple were 
aquamarines (beryls). In our endeavor to determine the 
sholiam stones used in Mosaic times, we have no very 
definite information to guide us ; on the whole, the con- 
jecture of J. L. Myers, that they were malachites, seems 
to have much in its favor, for this material was known 
to the ancient Egyptians and appears to have been often 
used for amulets. The Egyptian name for malachite, 
as well as for other green stones, was mafek, and a ring 
of mafek is mentioned in an Egyptian text ; undoubtedly, 
at a later period in Egyptian history, mafek may also 
have denoted the beryl. In view of the fact that the tur- 
quoise was unquestionably known to the Egyptians at a 
very early date, the supply being derived from mines in 
the Sinai Peninsula, which were rediscovered by Mac- 
donald, we might be tempted to suggest that the shoham 
stones were turquoises. The light blue or blue-green of 
the specimens of this stone found on Mt Sinai would 
make an even better contrast with the neighboring jade 
than would the bright green malachite. On the shoham 
of the breastplate the name Gad was engraved. 

XII. Yashphek [na^j If, as appears almost cer- 
tain, this name originally occupied the sixth place in 
the original Hebrew text, all the ancient versions agree 

300 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

in translating it " jasper. " An Assyrian form of the 
name was yaslipu, as is shown by the Tell el Amarna 
letters in the cuneiform writing dating from not long 
before the Exodus. Of all the so-called jaspers none were 
so highly valued as those of a green color. The talis- 
manic and therapeutic qualities of the "green jaspers" 
are often noted by ancient writers, and, according to 
Galen, these stones were recommended for remedial use 
by Egyptian writers on medicine. Abel Eemusat, the 
great French Orientalist, writing in 1820, was one of the 
first to see in the yashpheh of the Hebrews and in the 
green jasper of the Greeks and Eomans, the material 
jade (nephrite or jadeite), the Chinese yu-stone. These 
minerals were used both in the Old and the New World, 
and were everywhere believed to possess wonderful 
virtues. Very likely the powers supposed to charac- 
terize jade were later attributed to green jasper, but 
there is every reason to suppose that the true jade was 
always more highly prized than its jasper substitute, for 
it was much rarer, and was easily distinguishable, by its 
translucency, from jasper of a similar color. Until quite 
recently only Turkestan, Burma and New Zealand have 
supplied jade and most of that used in other lands came 
from prehistoric relics or from sources unknown to us. It 
seems highly probable that the yashpheh which adorned 
the breastplate made for Aaron was a piece of nephrite or 
jadeite; possibly in the later breastplate green jasper 
may have been employed. This stone was inscribed with 
the tribal name Assher. 

In the following lists of the precious and semi- 
precious stones contained in the earlier and later breast- 
plates, the writer does not claim to have finally solved 
the problem presented by the Hebrew accounts of the 
high-priest's adornment, but he hopes that the distinc- 

THE HIGH-PEIEST'S BEEASTPLATE 

301 

The 

tion established here between the Mosaic breastplate and 
that of the Second Temple, separated from each other by 
an interval of eight centuries, may serve to clear up some 
of the difficulties encountered in the treatment of this 
subject. 

Breastplate of the Second Temple. 

Carnelian 

Peridot 

Emerald 

Ruby 

Lapis-lazuli 

Onyx 

Sapphire or jacinth 

Banded agate 

Amethyst 

Topaz 

Beryl 

Green jasper, or jade 

The Breastplate of Aaron. 

I Red jasper 
II Light-green serpentine 
III Green feldspar 
Almandine garnet 
Lapis-lazuli 
Onyx 

Brown agate 
Banded agate 
Amethyst 
Yellow jasper 
Malachite 
Green jasper, or jade 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

The following lists show the variations of the different 
ancient authorities in regard to the names of the gems in 
the breastplate : 

Septuagint. 

Josephua 

Vulgate 

Authorized 

Revised 

Hebrew. 

(Greek) 

(Greek) 

(Latin) 

Version 

Versioa 

About 250 B.C. 

About 90 A.D. 

About 400 A.D. 

1611 A.D. 

1884 A.D. 

1 

Odem 

Sardion 

Sardonyx 

Sardius 

Sardius 

Sardius 

(or Ruby) 

2 

Pitdah 

Topazion 

Topazoa 

Topazius 

Topaz 

Topaz 

3 

Bareketh 

Smaragdos 

Smaragdos 

Smaragdua 

Carbuncle 

Carbuncle 

(or Emerald) 

4 

Nophak 

Anthrax 

Anthrax 

Carbunculus 

Emerald 

Emerald 

(or Carbuncle) 

5 

Sappir 

Sappheiros 

laspis 

Sapphirius 

Sapphire 

Sapphire 

6 

Yahalom 

laapis 

Sappheiros 

Jaspis 

Diamond 

Diamond 

(or Sardonyx) 

7 

Leshem 

Ligurion 

Liguros 

Ligurius 

Ligure 

Jacinth 

(or Amber) 

8 

Shebo 

Achates 

Amethystos 

Achates 

Agate 

Agate 

9 

Ahlamah 

Amethyatos 

Achates 

Amethystus 

Amethyst 

Amethyst 

10 

Tarshish 

Chrysolithoe 

Chryaolithos 

Chrysolithus 

Beryl 

Beryl 

(orChalcedony; 

11 

Shoham 

Be>yllion 

Onyx 

Onychinus 

Onyx 

Onyx 

(or Beryl) 

12 

Yashpheh 

Onychion 

B&yllos 

Beryllus 

Jasper 

Jasper 

302 THE CUEIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

The high-priest's breastplate, as described in Hebrew 
tradition, was regarded by the Jews with peculiar rev- 
erence, and the stones set in it were believed to be em- 
blematic of many things. It is, therefore, quite natural 
that these stones are described in the book of Eevelation 
as the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. The 
names are in some cases not identical with those given in 
Exodus, but this may arise from various renderings of 
the Hebrew names in the Targums or in the Greek 
versions. 

The text in Eevelation (xxi, 9-21) is as follows: 

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the 
seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, 
Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife : 

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high moun- 
tain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending 
out of heaven from God. 

Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone 
most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal; 

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at 
the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the 
names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel : 

On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, 
three gates; and on the west, three gates. 

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the 
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, 
and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the 
breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand fur- 
longs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four 
cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city 
was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 

THE HIGH-PEIBST'S BREASTPLATE 303 

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with 
all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the 
second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 

The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; 
the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the 
eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was 
of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were 
transparent glass. 

It is easy to trace in this description the substitution 
of the twelve apostles for the twelve tribes in connection 
with the precious stones enumerated, and, besides this, 
we also have the twelve angels, associated at a later date 
with the months and the signs of the zodiac. 

Of the twelve foundation stones the Eevelation of 
St. John expressly states that they had "in them the 
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The assign- 
ment of each stone to the respective apostle was made 
in later times according to the order given in the lists of 
the apostles contained in the so-called Synoptic Gospels, 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These lists are not quite 
identical Andrew, for instance, being placed second in 
Matthew and Luke, but fourth in Mark and the same 
stone was not always assigned to a given apostle. Fre- 
quently the list was modified by the addition of the 
apostle Paul, really the thirteenth apostle. In this ease 
he was usually given the second place immediately after 
St. Peter, and to the brothers James and John, the "Sons 
of Thunder/ 7 was assigned a single stone; in some later 
arrangements St. Paul occupies the last place, after St. 
Matthias, who was chosen to take the place of Judas 
Iscariot, and whose name as an apostle first appears in 
the Acts. 

304 THE CUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 
LISTS OF THE APOSTLES. 

Gospel of Gospel of Gospel of 

St. Matthew St. Mark St. Luke 

x, 2-4. iii, 16-19. vi, 14-16. 

Peter Peter Peter 

Andrew James Andrew 

James John James 

John Andrew John 

Philip Philip Philip 

Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew 

Thomas Matthew Matthew 

Matthew Thomas Thomas 

James the Less James the Less James the Less 

Thaddeus Thaddeus Simon Zelotes 

Simon Zelotes Simon Zelotes Judas 

Judas Iseariot Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot 

The passage in Bevelation xxi, 19, 20, is not the only 
one in that book treating of precious stones, for we read 
in chapter iv, 2, 3 : 

And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was 
set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 

And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine 
stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like 
unto an emerald. 

The commentators, both ancient and modern, have 
given many different explanations of the symbolic mean- 
ing of the similes employed here. Some have seen in the 
two stones a type of the two judgments of the world, by 
fire and by water ; others find that they signify the holi- 
ness of God and his justice. Of the rainbow "like nnto 
an emerald/' Alford says we should not think it strange 
that the bow is green, instead of prismatic: "the form 
is that of the covenant bow, the color even more refresh- 
ing and more directly symbolizing grace and mercy. * ' 16 

1G Alford, "The Greek Testament," voL iv, Pt 2, p. 594. 

THE HIGH-PRIEST'S BREASTPLATE 305 

The significance of the twelve Apocalyptic gems is 
given by Babanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz (786- 
856 ), in the following words : 17 

In the jasper is figured the truth of faith; in the sapphire, the 
height of celestial hope; in the chalcedony, the flame of inner charity. 
In the emerald is expressed the strength of faith in adversity; in the 
sardonyx, the humility of the saints in spite of their virtues; in the 
sard, the venerable blood of the martyrs. In the chrysolite, indeed, is 
shown true spiritual preaching accompanied by miracles; in the beryl, 
the perfect operation of prophecy; in the topaz, the ardent contem- 
plation of the prophecies. Lastly, in the chrysoprase is demonstrated 
the work of the blessed martyrs and their reward; in the hyacinth, the 
celestial rapture of the learned in their high thoughts and their humble 
descent to human things out of regard for the weak; in the amethyst, 
the constant thought of the heavenly kingdom in humble souls, 

The origin of the foundation stones named in Beve- 
lation xxi, 19, 20, may be found in the text, Isaiah liv, 
11, 12, where we read: 

thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, 
I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with 
sapphires. 

And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- 
buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 

As we see, only three stones are mentioned by name : 
the sapphire, the carbuncle, and "agates." This ]ast 
rendering is quite doubtful, as the Hebrew word (Jtod- 
kodim) signifies shining or gleaming stones, and their 
use for windows indicates that they must have been 
transparent* It is easy to understand that in later times 
the twelve stones of the breastplate, dedicated to the 
twelve tribes of Israel, were used to fill out and com- 

" Rabani Mauri, " Opera Omixia," vol. v, col. 470. Pati*ologico Lat, 
vol. cxi 7 Parisiis, 1864. 
20 

306 THE CUKIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

plete the picture, following the indication given by the 
general terms " stones with fair colours " and "pleasant 
stones. " 

In commenting on this text Eabbi Johanan is quoted 
in the Babylonian Talmud as saying that God would 
bring jewels and pearls thirty ells square (twenty ells 
in height and ten in width) and would place them on the 
gates of Jerusalem. There may be in this some remi- 
niscence of the Apocalyptic foundation stones. A scep- 
tical disciple said to the Eabbi, "We do not ever find a 
jewel as large as the egg of a dove." But not long after- 
ward, when this same disciple was sailing in a boat on 
the sea, he saw angels sawing stones as immense as those 
described by Eabbi Johanan, and when he asked for what 
they were designed, the reply was, "The Holy One, 
blessed be He, will place them on the gates of Jerusa- 
lem/' 18 

18 "New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud," ed. and trans, by 
Michael L. Rodkinson, vol. v (xiii), New York, 1902, p. 210. Baba 
Batra. 

IX 

origin of the belief that to each, month of the year 
a special stone was dedicated, and that the stone 
of the month was endowed with a peculiar virtue for 
those born in that month and was their natal stone ? may 
be traced back to the writings of Josephus, in the first 
century of our era, and to those of St. Jerome, in the 
early part of the fifth century. Both these authors dis- 
tinctly proclaim the connection between the twelve stones 
of the high-priest's breastplate and the twelve months of 
the year, as well as the twelve zodiacal signs. Strange to 
say, however, in spite of this early testimony, we have no 
instance of the usage of wearing such stones as natal 
stones until a comparatively late date ; indeed, it appears 
that this custom originated in Poland some time during 
the eighteenth century. The reason for this seems to 
have been that the virtues attributed to each particular 
stone, more especially the therapeutic virtues, rendered 
it necessary to recommend the wearing of one or the 
other, according to the disease from which the person was 
suffering, for his natal stone might not have the power 
'to cure his particular ailment, or might not bring about 
the fulfilment of his dearest wish. In other words, the 
belief in the special virtues of the stone was paramount, 
and it was long before the mystic bond between the stone 
of the month and the person born in that month was 
fully realized. 

The order in which the foundation stones of the New 
Jerusalem are given in the book of Eevelation cleter- 

307 

308 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

mined the suecssion of natal stones for the months. The 
first stone was assigned to St. Peter and to the month 
of March, to the leader of the apostles and to the month 
of the spring equinox; the second to the month of April; 
the third to May, etc. When, however, many centuries 
later, probably in Poland, as we have stated, with the 
aid of the rabbis or the Hebrew gem traders, the wearing 
of natal stones became nsnal, certain changes had been 
made in this order and some stones not mentioned among 
those of the breastplate, or of the New Jerusalem, were 
substituted for certain of these, notably the turquoise 
for the month of December, the ruby for July, and the 
diamond for April. In modern times the turquoise has 
become the stone for July while the ruby has been as- 
signed to December. 

There is some evidence in favor of the theory that at 
the outset all twelve stones were acquired by the same 
person and worn in turn, each one during the respective 
month to which it was assigned, or during the ascendancy 
of its zodiacal sign. The stone of the month was be- 
lieved to exercise its therapeutic or talismanic virtue to 
the fullest extent at that period. Perhaps the fact that 
this entailed a monthly change of ornaments may rather 
have been a recommendation of the usage than the 
reverse. 1 

It seems highly probable that the development of the 
belief in natal stones that took place in Poland was due 
to the influence of the Jews who settled in that country 
shortly before we have historic notice of the use of the 
twelve stones for those born in the respective months. 
The lively interest always felt by the Jews regarding the 
gems of the breastplate, the many and various commen- 

*Bruckmann, " Abhandlung von Edelsteinen/' 2d ecL, Braunscli- 
1773, p. 358. 

BIETH-STONES 309 

taries their learned men have written upon this subject, 
and the fact that the well-to-do among the chosen people 
have always carried with them in their wanderings many 
precious stones, all this seems to make it likely that to 
the Jews should be attributed the fashion of wearing 
natal stones. 

However, whether this conjecture be correct or erro- 
neous, the fashion once started became soon quite gen- 
eral and has as many votaries to-day as ever before. 
There can be no doubt that the owner of a ring or orna- 
ment set with a natal stone is impressed with the idea of 
possessing something more intimately associated with 
his or her personality than any other stone, however 
beautiful or costly it may be. If it be objected that this 
is nothing but imagination due to sentiment, we must 
bear in mind that imagination is one of the most potent 
factors in our life ; indeed, the great Napoleon is quoted 
as saying that it ruled the world. 

Probably the very earliest text we have in which the 
stones of the breastplate are positively associated with 
the months of the year is to be found in the " Antiquities 
of the Jews, "by Flavius Josephus. 2 This runs as follows : 

Moreover, the vestments of the high-priest being made of linen 
signifies the earth, the blue denotes* the sky, being like lightning in its 
pomegranates, and resembling thunder in the noise of the bells. And as 
for the ephod, it showed that God had made the universe of four ele- 
ments, and as for the gold interwoven in it, I suppose it related to the 
splendor by which all things are to be enlightened. He also appointed 
the breastplate to be placed in the middle of the ephod to resemble the 
earth, for that occupies the middle place in the world; and the girdle, 

3 Flavii Joseph!, ed. Dindorf, Parisii, 1847, vol. ii, p. 97; " Antiq. 
Jud," lib. iii, cap. 7, paragraph 7. In the second century, Clemens 
Alexandrinus (lib. v, cap. 6) repeats this idea of Josephus, adding that 
the four rows in which the gems were disposed signified the four seasons 
of the year. 

310 THE CUEIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

which encompassed the high priest about, signifies the ocean, for that 
goes about everything. And the two sardonyxes that were in the clasps 
on the high-priest's shoulders, indicate to us the sun and the maon. 
And for the twelve stones, whether we understand by them the months, 
or the twelve signs of what the Greeks call the zodiac, we shall not be 
mistaken in their meaning. And for the cap, which was of a blue 
color, it seems to me to- mean heaven, for otherwise the name of God 
would not have been inscribed upon it. That it was also adorned 
with a crown, and that of gold also, is because of the splendor with 
which God is pleased. 

This passage was adapted by St. Jerome, three hun- 
dred years later, in his letter to Fabiola, 3 and undoubt- 
edly laid the foundation for the later custom of wearing 
one of these stones as a natal or birth-stone for a person 
born in a given month, or for an astral or zodiacal stone 
for one born under a given zodiacal sign. As we see, 
both uses are indicated by the passage of Josephus. In 
the later centuries, as the book of Revelation, which was 
generally less favored at the outset than the other parts 
of the New Testament, became a subject of devout study, 
and a mine of mystical suggestions, the twelve founda- 
tion stones (Rev. xxi, 19) of the New Jerusalem largely 
took the place of the stones of the breastplate. While 
this list of foundation stones is unquestionably based 
upon the much earlier list of the stones adorning Aaron's 
breastplate, the ordering differs considerably and there 
are some changes in the material ; possibly many, if not 
all, of these differences may be due to textual errors or 
to a transcription from memory. 

That the foundation stones were inscribed with the 
names of the apostles is expressly stated (Rev. xxi, 14), 
but it was not until the eighth or ninth century that the 
commentators on Revelation busied themselves with 

c Saneti Hieronymi, "Opera Omnia," ed. Migne, Parisiis, 1S77, 
vol. i, col. 616; Epistola Ixiv, paragraph 16. 

BIRTH-STONES 311 

finding analogies between these stones and tlie apostles. 
At the outset, the symbolism of the stones was looked 
upon from a purely religious standpoint. Few of the 
early fathers we may except Epiphanius thought or 
cared much for the stones themselves, or knew much of 
them ; but, in time, their natural beauty became more and 
more highly developed as the lapidarian art demanded 
better cut and choicer material, their supposed virtues 
came to the fore, and the symbolism was strengthened and 
emphasized by a reference to their innate qualities and 
also to their peculiar powers. The fact that this part of 
the tradition was rather of pagan than of Christian 
origin probably contributed to render it less attractive 
to the early Christians, so that it was not until Chris- 
tianity had become practically universal in the Greek and 
Eoman world and the opposition to pagan traditions, as 
such, was weakened and, indeed, largely forgotten, that 
the virtues of the stones were made prominent, and cer- 
tain parts of these superstitions were retained, as were 
some of the pagan ceremonies in the Christian religion. 
One of the earliest writers to associate directly with 
the apostles the symbolism of the gems given as founda- 
tion stones of the New Jerusalem by St. John in Kevela- 
tion xxi, 19, is Andreas, bishop of C&sarea. This author 
was at one time assigned by critics to the fifth century 
A.D./ but more recent investigation has shown that he 
probably belonged to the last half of the tenth century. 
His exposition reads as follows : 5 

The jasper, which like the emerald is of a greenish hue, probably 
signifies St. Peter, chief of the apostles, as one who so bore Christ's 
death in his inmost nature that his love for Him was always vigorous 

* Lueke, " Versuch einer Eiuleitung- in die Offenbarung Johannes," 
Bonn, 1852, p. 964. 

'Patrologiss GKOCJC, ed. Migne, vol. cvi, Parisiis, 1863, cols. 
433-438. 

312 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PBECIOUS STONES 

and fresh. By his fervent faith he has become our shepherd and 
leader. 

As the sapphire is likened to the heavens (from this stone is made 
a color popularly called lazur), I conceive it to mean St. Paul, since 
he was caught up to the third heaven, where his soul was firmly 
fixed. Thither he seeks to draw all those who may he obedient to him. 

The chalcedony was not inserted in the high-priest's breastplate, 
but instead the carbuncle, of whieh no mention is made here. It may 
well be, however, that the author designated the carbuncle by the name 
chalcedony. Andrew, then, can be likened to the carbuncle, since he 
was splendidly illumined by the fire of the Spirit. 

The emerald, which is of a green color, is nourished with oil, that 
its transparency and beauty may not change; we conceive this stone 
to signify John the Evangelist. He, indeed, soothed the souls de- 
jected by sin with a divine oil, and by the grace of his excellent 
doctrine lends constant strength to our faith. 

By the sardonyx, showing with a certain transparency and purity 
the color of the human nail, we believe that James is denoted, seeing 
that he bore death, for Christ before all others. This the nail by its 
color indicates, for it may be cut off without any sensible pain. 

The sardius with its tawny and translucent coloring suggests 
fire, and it possesses the virtue of healing tumors and wounds inflicted 
by iron; hence I consider that it designates the beauty of virtue char- 
acterizing the apostle Philip, for his virtue, animated by the fire of 
the Holy Spirit, cured the soul of the wounds inflicted by the wiles 
of the devil, and revived it. 

The chrysolite, gleaming with the splendor of gold, may symbolize 
Bartholomew, since he was illustrious for his divine preaching and 
his store of virtues. 

The beryl, imitating the colors of the sea and of the air, and not 
unlike the jacinth, seems to suggest the admirable Thomas, especially 
as he made a long journey by sea, and even reached the Indies, sent 
by God to preach salvation to the peoples of that region. 

The topaz, whieh is of a ruddy color, resembling somewhat the 
carbuncle, stops the discharge of the milky fluid with which those 
having eye-disease suffer. This seems to denote Matthew, for he was 
animated by a divine zeal, and, his blood being fired because of 
Christ, he was found worthy to enlighten by his Gospel those whose 
heart was blinded, that they might like new-born children drink of 
the milk of the faith. 

The clirysoprase, more brightly tinged with a golden hue than 

FACSIMILE OF THE BETROTHAL KING OF T1IK VIRGIN IN 
THE CATIIEDKAL OF PERUGIA. 

The original rin^, whifh i.s of chalcedony, in shown on St. Agatha's 
Day, July 2t>, to euro ailments of mothers. This cord and facsimile* of ring 
acquired by the author ; :it Perugia, May (5, 1902. 

BIRTH-STONES 313 

gold itself, symbolizes St. Thaddaeus; the gold (chrysos) symbolizing 
the kingdom of Christ, and the prassius, Christ's death, both of which 
he preached to Abgar, King of Edessa. 

The jacinth, which is of a celestial hue, signifies Simon Zelotes, 
zealous for the gifts and grace of Christ and endowed with a celestial 
prudence. 

By the amethyst, which shows to the onlooker a fiery aspect, is 
signified Matthias, who in the gift of tongues was so filled with celestial 
fire and with fervent zeal to serve and please God, who had chosen him, 
that he was found worthy to take the place of the apostate Judas. 

Some theologians were opposed to the assignment of 
the foundation stones to the apostles, for they held that 
only Christ himself could be regarded as the foundation 
of his Church. Hence the symbolism of these stones was 
made to apply to Christ alone, the color of the stone often 
guiding the commentator in his choice of ideas denoted 
by the different gems. Thus, one writer, applying all the 
meanings to Christ, finds that the greenish Jasper de- 
notes satisfaction; the sky-blue Sapphire, the soul; the 
bright-red Chalcedony, zeal for truth; the transparent 
green Emerald, kindness and goodness; the nail-colored 
Sardonyx, the strength of spiritual life ; the red Sardius, 
readiness to shed His blood for the Church; the yellow 
Chrysolite, the excellence of His divine nature ; the sea,- 
green Beryl, moderation and the control of the passions ; 
the glass-green Topaz (chrysolite?), uprightness; the 
harsh-colored Chrysoprase, sternness towards sinners; 
the violet or purple Jacinth, royal dignity, and, lastly, the 
purple Amethyst, with a touch of red, perfection. 6 

Andreas of Csesarea freely recognizes his indebted- 
ness to the much more ancient source, St. Epiphanius, 
bishop of Constantia in Cyprus, who died in 402 A.D., 
and who wrote a short but very valuable treatise on the 

"Georgius Vitringa, " Nauwkeurige onderzoek van de goddelyke 
Openbaxing der H. Apostels Johannes," Dutch trans, of Latin by M. 
Gargon, Amsterdam, 1728, vol. ii, p. 681. 

314 THE CURIOUS LOBE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

stones of the breastplate, noting in several cases the ther- 
apeutic and talismanic virtues of these stones and giving 
his opinion as to the order in which the names of the 
tribes were inscribed upon them. 7 As the foundation 
stones of Eevelation are rightly called "apostolic 
stones," so those of the breastplate merit the designa- 
tion of "tribal stones," as well as that of astral stones; 
indeed, the Jews of medieval times definitely associated 
the tribes with the zodiacal signs in the following order : 

Judah Aries 

Issacliar Taurus 

Zebulun Gemini 

Reuben Cancer 

Simeon Leo 

Gad Virgo 

Ephraim .Libra 

Manasseh . . Scorpio 

Benjamin Sagittarius 

Dan Capricorn 

Naphtali Aquarius 

Asher Pisces 

For Eabanus Maurus the nine gems of the king of 
Tyre named in Ezekiel xxxviii, 13, are types of the nine 
orders of angels, just as the twelve foundation stones of 
Eevelation signify the twelve apostles. 8 

It is evident, from early ajid later usage, that, at the 
place and time where and when these stones were first 
utilized for birth-stones, the year must have begun with 
the month of March. This will be apparent when we 
compare the following eight lists, carefully gathered from 
various sources : 

7 Sancti Patris Epiphanii episcopi Cypri ad Diodomm Tyri epis- 
eopuni, "De XII. Gemmis, quae erant in veste Aaronis/' od. Gesner, 
Tiguri, 1565. 

8 Eabaiii Mauri, "Opera Omnia," vol. v, col. 465; in Patrologise 
Latinse, ed. Migne, vol. xvi, Paris, 1864. 

BIBTH-STONES 

315 

December. . . . 

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Bloodstone 

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Sardonyx 
Carnelian 
Moonstone 
Topaz 

OH >HO 
5S SSS. 

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g. 2.4 
S S 

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Bloodstone 
Diamond 

Sapphire 

1 

Amethyst 
Hyacinth 
Pearl 

Q M 
CP M 

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H tO 

316 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

It may be interesting to show in these eight lists the 
stones which are most favored in each month in the 
following way, the numerals indicating the number of 
lists in which the stones appear (including the alternate 
stones) : 

January Garnet 7, hyacinth 2. 

February Amethyst 8, hyacinth 1, pearl 1. 

March Jasper 5, bloodstone 4. 

April Sapphire 7, diamond 2. 

May Agate 5, emerald 4 ? chalcedony 1, carnelian 1. 

June Emerald 4, agate 4, chalcedony 3, turquoise 1, pearl 1, 

eat's-eye 1. 

July Onyx 5, sardonyx 1, earnelian 1, ruby 1, turquoise 1. 

August Carnelian 5, sardonyx 3, moonstone 1, topaz 1, alex- 
andrite 1. 

September . . . Chrysolite 6, sardonyx 2. 

October Beryl, 8, aquamarine 5, opal 1. 

November . . . Topaz 8, pearl 1. 

December Euby 6, turquoise 2, chrysoprase 1, bloodstone 1. 

With the exception of January, where we have the 
garnet instead of the jacinth, and of December, which 
gives us the ruby instead of the chrysoprase, the first 
choices are practically identical with the foundation 
stones, bearing in mind that the eleventh stone is that for 
January, the twelfth that for February, the first that for 
March and so on. 

Of the assignment of the natal stones to the different 
months of the year or to the zodiacal signs, Poujet fils, 
writing in 1762, states that in his opinion this fashion 
started in Germany others say in Poland some two 
centuries before his time, and he adds that, though this 
arrangement was purely imaginary, and unknown to an- 
cient ^ writers, it soon became popular, and many, more 
especially of the fair sex, seeing in it an element of mys- 
tery, wished to wear rings set with the stone appropriate 

BIRTH-STONES 317 

to the month of their birth, the stone being engraved with 
the appropriate zodiacal sign. 9 However correct Poujet 
may be regarding the period at which the fashion of 
wearing natal rings was introduced, he is, as we have 
already shown, quite wrong in believing that the serial 
arrangement of the stones and their assignment to 
months or signs was purely imaginary, for it is unques- 
tionably based on the list in Revelation, which in its turn 
goes back to the twelve stones of the high-priest's breast- 
plate. 

The fashion of wearing a series of twelve stones de- 
noting (or bearing) the zodiacal signs seems to have ex- 
isted in the sixteenth century, for Catherine de' Medici 
is said to have worn a girdle set with twelve stones, 
among which were certain onyxes as large as crown- 
pieces, upon which talismanic designs had been engraved. 
Two hundred years later this girdle is stated to have been 
in the possession of a M. d'Ennery, whose collection of 
antique medals was regarded as the finest in Paris at the 
time. 10 It is not, however, certain that the twelve stones 
of Catherine's girdle were those attributed to the zodiacal 
signs both at an earlier and later period. 

Though the substitution of a new schedule for the time- 
honored list of birth-stones has received the approval 
of the National Association of Jewellers at the meeting 
in Kansas City August, 1912, it can scarcely be said to 
offer a satisfactory solution of the question, which has 
its importance not only from a commercial point of view, 
but also because the idea that birth-stones possess a cer- 
tain indefinable, but none the less real significance, has 
long been present and still exercises a spell over the 

* Poujet fils, " TraitS des pierres precieusas/ 7 Paris, 1762, p. 4. 
10 Poujet fils, I.e. 

318 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

minds of all who are gifted with a touch of imagination, 
or romance, if you will. The longing for something that 
appeals to this sense is much more general than is com- 
monly supposed, and is a not unnatural reaction against 
the progress of materialism, against the assertion that 
there is nothing in heaven or earth but what we can defi- 
nitely apprehend through our senses. 

It is this persuasion that should be chiefly considered 
in any attempt to tamper with the traditional attribution 
of the stones to particular months or to the zodiacal signs. 
Once we allow the spirit of commercialism pure and 
simple to dictate the choice of such stones, according to 
the momentary interest of dealers, there is grave danger 
that the only true incentive to acquire birth-stones will 
be weakened and people will lose interest in them. Sen- 
timent, true sentiment, is one of the best things in human 
nature. "While if darkened by fear it may lead to pes- 
simism, with all the evils which such a state of mind im- 
plies, if illumined by hope it gives to humanity a brighter 
forecast of the future, an optimism that helps people 
over difficult passages in their lives. Thus, sentiment 
must not be neglected, and nothing is more likely to de- 
stroy it than the conviction that it is being constantly 
exploited for purposes of commercialism. For this 
reason, the interest as well as the inclination of all who 
are concerned in this question of birth-stones should in- 
duce a very careful handling of the subject. 

Quite true it is that there are now, and have been in 
the past, several lists of these stones, differing slightly 
from one another, but all are based essentially either 
upon the list of foundation stones given in Eevelation 
(xxi, 19) or upon that of the gems adorning the breast- 
plate of Aaron and enumerated in Exodus (xxxix, 10-13). 
For convenient reference, we give the latter according to 

BIRTH-STONES 319 

the Authorized Version of the Scriptures, and also as cor- 
rected by later research, and the former according to the 
Authorized Version. 

Breastplate. Foundation Stones. 

Authorized Version. Later Correction. Authorized Version. 

I Sardius Carnelian Jasper 

II Topaz Chrysolite Sapphire 

(peridot) 

III Carbuncle Emerald Chalcedony 

IV Emerald Ruby Emerald 
V Sapphire Lapis-Iazuli Sardonyx 

VI Diamond Onyx Sardius 

VII Ligure Sapphire Chrysolite 

VIII Agate Agate Beryl 

IX Amethyst Amethyst Topaz 

X Beryl Topaz Chrysoprasus 

XI Onyx Beryl Jacinth 

XII Jasper Jasper Amethyst 

While the arrangement differs in Revelation, the 
stones are nearly identical. For chalcedonins, we should 
probably read carchedonius, a name of the ruby; sar- 
donyx is the onyx of Exodus; the jacinth (sapphire) is 
probably the "ligure"; the sapphire was the lapis-lazuli, 
and sardius is equivalent to carnelian. There thus re- 
mains only the chrysoprase, which for some reason 
has substituted the agate. In the eventual association of 
the foundation stones with the months, the first, the 
jasper, was assigned to March, with which month the year 
was reckoned to begin. 

The list suggested and adopted in Kansas City reads 
as follows: 

Month. Birth-stone. Alternate Stone. 

January Garnet 

February Amethyst 

March Bloodstone Aquamarine 

April Diamond 

May Emerald 

June Pearl Moonstone 

July Ruby 

320 THE CURIOUS LOEE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

Month. Birth-stone. Alternate-stone. 

August Sardonyx Peridot 

September Sapphire 

October Opal Tourmaline 

November Topaz 

December Turquoise Lapis-lazuli 

Among the many changes in this list from that habit- 
ually followed, it will be noted that the ruby is trans- 
ferred from December to July, changing places with the 
turquoise, which became the gem of December. This has 
been favored on the ground that the warmer-colored gem 
was best adapted for a July birth-stone, while the paler 
turquoise was best suited to a winter month, when the 
sun's rays are feeble. The contrary, however, is true; 
for it is in winter that we seek for warmth, while in the 
heat of summer nothing is more grateful than coolness. 
This transposition is, in effect, simply a return to the 
ordering of these stones in the Polish list, which may per- 
haps have become popular in Europe in the eighteenth 
century through Marie Leczinska, the queen of Louis XV. 
Angler undesiiraJble change takes the chrysolite (peri- 
dot) from tHlTplace it has always occupied as the gem 
of September, and makes of it an alternate for August, 
with the sardonyx, while the sapphire, properly the gem 
for April, is made the birth-stone for September. For 
October neither the tourmaline nor the opal is as appro- 
priate as the beryl, while for June we should prefer the 
asteria to the moonstone as a substitute for the pearl. 
This suggested radical change or violation cannot be 
permitted. The time-honored ordering is familiar now 
to all who are interested in the matter, and any change, 
even if one apparently for the better, is liable to disturb 
the popular confidence in those who are supposed to be 
familiar with the subject. Above all, there should be no 

BIRTH-STONES 321 

duplication or triplication of birth-stones for any given 
month, the choice between a birth-stone or an astral or 
zodiacal stone or the combination of these affording all 
the variety that is necessary or should be desired. 

As the diamond does not appear to have been known 
to the ancients and is not given in any of the lists of 
birth-stones before the last century, and as diamonds, 
like gold and platinum, may easily be used as accessories 
to other stones, would it not perhaps be better to omit 
the diamond from the list of the stones of the months, 
and rather use these gems as a bordering or other ornate 
addition to the stone of the month? The pearl, which is 
not a stone in any sense of the word, should not appear 
in the list at all ; but it can be worn in some device sug- 
gesting a sentiment, as, for instance, an emblem of 
purity, etc. 

The tourmaline, as a gem only known in modern times 
or since the eighteenth century, seems out of place in the 
list of birth-stones, which ought only to comprise precious 
or semi-precious stones which have been known and worn 
from ancient times. 

"Astral stones " or "zodiacal stones " are terms used 
to designate those gems which were believed to be pecu- 
liarly and mystically related to the zodiacal signs. 
"While these signs constitute a twelve-fold division of the 
year just as do the months, they do not exactly coincide 
with the latter as now reckoned, but overlap them, so that 
the sign Aquarius, for instance, covers the period from 
January 21 to February 20, that of Pisces from February 
21 to March 20, that of Aries, the spring sign, from 
March 21 to April 20, and so on down to Capricornus, 
which begins at the winter solstice. Thus, every neces- 
sary opportunity is afforded for enlarging the selection 
of natal stones while preserving the traditional order of 

21 

322 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

those appropriate to the months, an order which in its 
origin dates back to the early Christian centuries and 
which, from the close relation with the sacred gems of the 
Scriptures, it seems almost sacrilegious to violate by 
arbitrary changes. 

CARNELIAN, ENGRAVED WITH THE ZODIACAL SIGNS, TAURUS, LEO AND 
CAPRICORN ; IN THE CENTRE A SIX-RAYED STAR, THE FORM OF ONE 
OF THESE RAYS DENOTING A COMET. (See p. 341.) 

Referred to the nativity of Augustus and to a comet which appeared shortly after the 
assassination of Julius Csesar. From De Mairan's "Lettres au R.P. Parrenin," Paris 
1770, opp. p. 274. 

Then, in addition, we have the "talismanic gems," 
or the stones of the twelve guardian angels, one set over 
all those born in each month. Here we have another 
time-honored list, differing from either of those men- 
tioned above, so that, in almost if not quite every 
case, each person has the choice between three different 
stones as "birth-stones," or can have them combined in 
an artistic jewel so as to profit by all the favorable influ- 

BIRTH-STONES 323 

ences promised by the old authorities. Thus, there is 
absolutely no excuse for playing fast and loose with an 
ancient, popular, and quasi-religious belief in the special 
virtue of one particular stone for each month, and that 
one the gem long prescribed by usage. 

As it might seem appropriate that one born in the 
United States should wear a gem from among those 
which our country furnishes, the following list was some 
time since prepared by the writer, not in any sense as a 
substitute for the real birth-stones, but as possible acces- 
sory gems (when they were not identical), gems which 
might be worn from a spirit of patriotism. Of course 
where the stone in question is really that traditionally 
recommended, the fact that it is at the same time an 
American gem-stone is an added argument in its favor. 

Month. Stones. Where found. 

January. . .Garnet, rhodolite Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, North 

Carolina 

February. . Amethyst North Carolina, Georgia, Yirginia 

March Calif ornite California 

April Sapphire Montana, Idaho 

May Green tourmaline Lake Superior 

June Moss-agate California, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona 

July Turquoise New Mexico, California, Arizona 

August Golden beryl California, Connecticut, North Carolina 

September. Kunzite California 

October Aquamarine North Carolina, Maine, California 

November. .Topaz Utah, California, Maine 

December. . Eubellite Montana 

The year is divided into four seasons or cycles, 
spring, summer, fall, and winter, and each season has 
its particular gem. The emerald is the gem of the spring, 
the ruby the gem of summer, the sapphire the gem of 
autumn, and the diamond the gem of winter. 

324 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

For spring, no precious stone is more appropriate 
than the emerald. Its beautiful color is that of Nature, 
for Nature clothes herself with green when she awakens 
from her long rest of winter. Having decked herself 
with green of the various tints and colors, she has se- 
lected a background by which a contrast is made for the 
flowers that come in the spring and summer and ripen 
into fruit and seeds of autumn. To be a seasonable gem 
it must be rare, and the emerald is rare. Whether found 
in the mines of Bogota, whether mined in ancient times 
at Zabarah in Egypt, or in the past century in the Ural 
Mountains, it has never been found in abundance. It is 
softer in color than the ruby and less hard in structure. 

The ruby, although as a natal stone it belongs to De- 
cember, is the gem of summer. It is born in the hot 
climates, the pigeon's-blood ruby in Burma, the pome- 
granate-red in Ceylon, and the more garnet-hued type in 
Siam, these three equatorial countries produce the 
ruby. Those of large size are always rare, and this is 
the gem which Job valued more highly than any other, 
although " garnet" may perhaps be a better rendering. 
It is on an equal plane in hardness, in composition, in 
crystalline structure, and in every way, with the sap- 
phire. These are sister gems, structurally alike, yet 
varying in complexion, due to a slight difference which 
some scientists think is not even dependent upon the 
coloring matter. 

The sapphire the gem of autumn, the blue of the 
autumn sky is a symbol of truth, sincerity, and con- 
stancy. Less vivid than its sister gem, the ruby, it typi- 
fies calm and tried affection, not ardent passion; it is 
therefore appropriate to the autumn season, when the 
declining sun no longer sends forth the fiery rays of 
summer but shines with a tempered brilliancy. 

BIRTH-STONES 325 

The diamond, the gem of winter, typifying the sun, is 
the gem of light Its color is that of ice, and as the dew- 
drop or the drop of water from a mountain stream 
sparkles in the light of the sun, as the icicle sparkles in 
winter, and the stars on a cold winter night, so the dia- 
mond sparkles, and it combines and contrasts with all 
known gems. Like light, it illumines them just as the 
sun does the plants of the earth. The diamond, the gem 
of light, like light itself when broken into a spectrum, 
gives us all known colors, and by combining all these 
colors it gives us white. Like gold, the diamond was 
made rare, so that it must be searched for, and the mines 
and deposits contain less of these two substances in a 
given area than of any other known materials. It is 
thirty to a hundred times more rare than gold, for if 
gold occurs one part in 250,000, it can scarcely be worked 
with profit, while the diamond can be worked to advan- 
tage when found only one part in 10,000,000, yes, even 
one part in 25,000,000 and, like gold, it sometimes 
spurs the searcher on to wealth or to ruin. As great 
nuggets of gold have occasionally been found, so has a 
diamond been discovered large enough to make the 
greatest ruler pause to pay its price, and one which it 
took an entire country to give to that ruler who sways 
his sceptre over countries in which the world's greatest 
diamonds have been found. 

When the Grod of the Mines called his courtiers to 
bring him all known gems, he found them to be of all 
colors and tints, and of varying hardnesses, such as the 
ruby, emerald, sapphire, etc., etc. He took one of each; 
he crushed them; he compounded them, and said: "Let 
this be something that will combine the beauty of all; 
yet it must be pure, and it must be invincible. " He 
spoke : and lo ! the diamond was born, pure as the dew- 

326 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

drop and invincible in hardness ; but when its ray is re- 
solved in the spectrum, it displays all the colors of the 
gems from which it was made. "Mine," said the god, 
"must be the gem of the universe; for my queen I will 
create one that shall be the greatest gem of the sea," 
and for her he created the pearl. 

Gems of Spring Gems of Summer 

Amethyst Zircon 

Green diamond Garnet (demantoid and ouvarite) 

Chrysoberyl Chrysoberyl (alexandrite) 

Spinel (rubicelle) Spinel 

Pink topaz Pink topaz 

Olivine (peridot) Ruby 

Emerald Tire opal 

Gems of Autumn Gems of Winter 

Hyacinth Diamond 

Topaz Rock-crystal 

Sapphire White sapphire 

Jacinth Turquoise 

Cairngorm Quartz 

Adamantine spar Moonstone 

Tourmaline Pearl 

Oriental chrysolite Labradorite 

SENTIMENTS OF THE MONTHS 

JANUARY 

Natal stone Garnet. 

Guardian angel Gabriel. 

His talismanic gem Onyx 

Special apostle Simon Peter. 

His gem Jasper. 

Zodiacal sign Aquarius. 

Flower Snowdrop. 

BIRTH-STONES 327 

No gems save garnets should be worn 
By her who in this month is born; 
They will insure her constancy, 
True friendship and fidelity. 

The gleaming garnet holds within its sway 
Faith, constancy, and truth to one alway. 

FEBRUARY 

Natal stone Amethyst. 

Guardian angel Barchiel. 

His talismanic gem Jasper. 

Special apostle Andrew. 

His gem Carbuncle. 

Zodiacal sign Pisces. 

Flower Primrose. 

The February-born may find 
Sincerity and peace of mind, 
Freedom fr-om passion and from care, 
If she an amethyst will wear. 

Let her an amethyst but cherish well, 

And strife and care can never with her dwell. 

MARCH 

Natal stone Jasper, bloodstone. 

Guardian Angel Malchediel. 

His talismanic gem Ruby. 

Special apostles James and John. 

Their gem Emerald. 

Zodiacal sign Aries. 

Flower Ipomosa, violet. 

Who on this world of ours her eyes 
In March first opens may be wise, 
In days of peril firm and brave, 
Wears she a bloodstone to her grave. 

Who wears a jasper, be life short or long, 

Will meet all dangers brave and wise and strong* 

328 THE CUEIOUS LOEE OF PBECIOUS STONES 

APRIL 

Natal stone Diamond, sapphire. 

Guardian angel Ashmodei. 

His talismanic gem Topaz. 

Special apostle Philip. 

His gem Carnelian. 

Zodiacal sign Taurus. 

flower Daisy. 

She who from April dates her years 
Diamonds should wear, lest bitter tears 
For vain repentance flow. This stone 
Emblem of innocence is known. 

Innocence, repentance sun and shower 
The diamond or the sapphire is her dower. 

MAY 

Natal stone Emerald. 

Guardian angel Amriel. 

His talismanic gem Carbuncle. 

Special apostle Bartholomew. 

His gem Chrysolite. 

Zodiacal sign Gemini. 

Flower Hawthorn. 

Who first beholds the light of day 
In spring's sweet flow'ry month of May, 
And wears an emerald all her life, 
Shall be a loved and happy wife. 

No happier wife and mother in the land 
Than she with emerald shining on her hand. 

JOTE 

Natal stone Agate. 

Guardian angel Muriel. 

His talismanic gem Emerald. 

Special apostle Thomas. 

His gem Beryl. 

Zodiacal sign ^ Cancer. 

Flower . . . .Honeysuckle. 

1. MOHH UKiito mocha nionc. T 

2. MOHM uJito, liruKil. S, A, 

BIRTH-STONES 329 

"Who comes with summer to this earth, 
And owes to June her hour of birth, 
With ring of agate on her hand 
Can health, long life, and wealth command. 

Thro' the moss-agate's charm, the happy years 
Ne'er see June's golden sunshine turn to tears. 

JULY 

Natal stone Turquoise. 

Guardian angel ., Yerchiel. 

His talismanic gem Sapphire. 

Special apostle Matthew, 

His gem Topaz. 

Zodiacal sign Leo. 

Flower Water-lily. 

The heav'n-blue turquoise should adorn 
All those who in July are born; 
For those they'll be exempt and free 
From love's doubts and anxiety. 

No other gem than turquoise on her breast 
Can to the loving, doubting heart bring rest. 

AUGUST 

Natal stone Carnelian. 

Guardian angel HamatieL 

His talismanic gem Diamond. 

Special apostle James, the son of Alpheus. 

His gem Sardonyx. 

Zodiacal sign .Virgo. 

Flower Poppy. 

Wear a carnelian or for thee 
No conjugal felicity; 
The August-born without this stone, 
'Tis said, must live unloved, alone. 

She, loving once and always, wears, if wise, 
Carnelian and her home is paradise. 

330 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

SEPTEMBER 

Natal stone Chrysolite. 

Guardian angel Tsuriel. 

His talismanic gem Jacinth. 

Special apostle Lebbeus Thaddeus. 

His gem Chrysoprase. 

Zodiacal sign Libra. 

Flower Morning-glory. 

A maid born when September leaves 
Are rustling in the autumn breeze, 
A chrysolite on brow should bind 
'Twill cure diseases of the mind. 

If chrysolite upon her brow is laid. 
Follies and dark delusions flee afraid. 

OCTOBER 

Natal stone Beryl. 

Guardian anfyel Bariel. 

His talismanic gem Agate. 

Special apostle Simon. (Zelotes.) 

His gem Jacinth. 

Zodiacal sign Seorpia. 

Flower Hops. 

October's child is born for woe, 
And life's vicissitudes must know; 
But lay a beryl on her breast, 
And Hope will lull those woes to rest. 

When fair October to her brings the beryl, 
No longer need she fear misfortune's peril. 

NOVEMBER 

Natal stone Topaz. 

Guardian angel AdnaehieL 

His talismanic gem Amethyst. 

Special apostle Matthias. 

His gem Amethyst. 

Zodiacal sign Sagittarius. 

Flower Chrysanthemum. 

THE FIGURES OF THE PLANETS WITH THEIR SIGNIFICANT STONES. 

Old print showing the Roman typos of the days of the week and also the stones and zodiacal 
signs associated with each day. Here we have Diann, with the sign of Cancer and the moonstone, 
for Monday; Mars, with the sign Capricorn and the jasper, for Tuesday; Mercury, with Gemini 
and the rock-crystal, for Wednesday; Jupiter, with Sagittarius and Pisces and the earnelian, for 
Thursday; Venus, with Taurus and the emerald, for Friday; und Saturn, with Capricorn and 
Aquarius and the turquoise for Saturday, 

BIKTH-STONES 331 

Who first comes to this world below 
With drear November's fog and snow 
Should prize the topaz's amber hue 
Emblem of friends and lovers true. 

Firm friendship is November's, and she bears 
True love beneath the topaz that she wears. 

DECEMBER 

Natal stone Ruby. 

Guardian angel Humiel. 

His talismanic gem .Beryl. 

Special apostle Paul. 

His gem Sapphire. 

Zodiacal sign Capricornus. 

Flower Holly. 

If cold December give you birth 
The month of snow and ice and mirth 
Place on your hand a ruby true; 
Success will bless whate'er you do. 

December gives her fortune, love and fame 
If amulet of rubies bear her name, 

A HINDU LIST OF GEMS OF THE MONTHS " 

April Diamond 

May Emerald 

June Pearl 

July Sapphire 

August Ruby 

September Zircon 

October Coral 

November Cat's-eye 

December Topaz 

January Serpent-stone 

February Chandrakanta 

March The gold Siva-linga 

11 Surindro Mohun Tagore, " Mani Mala," Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, pp. 
619, 621. 

332 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

When the zodiacal signs were engraved on gems to 
give them special virtues and render them of greater 
efficacy for those born nnder a given sign, the Hebrew 
characters designating the sign (or at least the initial 
character) were often cut upon the gem. As the letters 
in which the earliest of our sacred writings were written, 
a peculiar sanctity was often ascribed to these Hebrew 
characters, which were perhaps the more highly valued 
that they were unknown to the owners of the gems, and 
hence possessed a certain air of mystery for them. The 
subjoined list of the signs with the Hebrew equivalents 
may be of interest on this account. 

HEBREW NAMES OF THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC 

Libra 

Scorpio 

Sagittarius 

Capricormis 

Aquarius 

Pisces 

Aries 

Taurus 

Gemini 

Cancer 

Leo 

Virgo 

nn 

Moznayim 

Akrab 

Keshet 

Gedi 

Deli 

Dagim 

Taleh 

Shor 

Te'omim 

Sartan 

Aryeh 

Betulah 

GEMS OF WEEK DAYS 

Sunday : Topaz diamond. 

The bairn that is born 

On Sonnan's sweet day 
Is blithe and is bonnie, 

Is happy and gay. 
Sunday's talismanie gem: the pearl. 

Monday : Pearl crystal. 

The bairn that is born 

Of Monan's sweet race 
Is lovely in feature 

And fair in the face. 
Monday's talismanie gem: the emerald. 

BIRTH-STONES 333 

Tuesday : Ruby emerald. 

If Tuisco assists 

And at birth keeps apace, 
The bairn will be born 

With a soul full of grace. 
Tuesday's talismanie gem: the topaz. 

Wednesday : Amethyst loadstone. 

But if Woden be there, 
Many tears will he sow, 
And the bairn will be born 

But for sadness and woe. 
Wednesday's talismanie gem: the turquoise. 

Thursday : Sapphire carnelian. 

Jove's presence at birth 

Means a long swath to mow, 
For if born on Thor's day 
Thou hast far, far to go. 
Thursday's talismanie gem: the sapphire. 

Friday : Emerald eat's-eye. 

If Yenus shall bless thee, 

Thou shalt bless many living; 
For Friga's bairn truly 
Is loving and giving. 
Friday's talismanie gem: the ruby. 

Saturday : Turquoise diamond. 
Seater-daeg's bairn 

In sweat shall be striving, 
For Saturn has doomed it 
To work for a living. 
Saturday's talismanie gem: the amethyst. 

No gems have afforded more interest to the Oriental 
peoples than those that are known as phenomenal gems ; 
that is, such as exhibit a phenomenal quality, either as 
a moving line as in the chrysoberyl cat's-eye, or the 
quartz cat's-eye, or as a star, a class represented by the 

334 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

star-sapphire and the star-ruby, all these being consid- 
ered to bring good fortune to the wearer. A splendid 
star-sapphire is in the hilt of the sword presented as an 
Easter gift to King Constantine of Greece, then Prince 
Constantine, by the Greeks of America, on Easter Day 
1913. 12 This ornate and beautiful sword was made by 
Tiffany & Co. Then there is the alexandrite cat's-eye 
which, in addition to its chatoyant effect, changes from 
green to red, showing its natural color by day and glowing 
with a ruddy hue by artificial light. The cat's-eye effect 
here is caused by a twinning of the crystal; that is, when 
the gem is cut, with a dome, across the twinning line, this 
shows itself as a smooth band of white light, with a trans- 
lucent or transparent space at one side, the line varying 
in sharpness and in breadth as the illumination becomes 
more intense. If the light is very bright, the line is no 
wider than the thinnest possible silver or platinum wire. 

The quartz cat's-eye, less distinct than the chryso- 
beryl cat's-eye, is also found in the East, and possesses 
the property that when cut straight across, an apparent 
striation in the stone produces the cat's-eye effect, but 
the material is not so rich or brilliant nor is the gem as 
beautiful as is the true cat's-eye. The alexandrite variety 
of chrysoberyl is colored by chromium and is dichroitic, 
appearing green when viewed in one direction and red 
in another ; in artificial light, however, the green color is 
lost and the red alone becomes apparent. 

The moonstone, with its moonlike, silvery-white light, 
changes on the surface as the light varies. This is due 
to a chatoyancy produced by a reflection caused by certain 
cleavage planes present in feldspar of the variety to 
which the moonstone belongs. 

a " The star-sapphire lias already been described on pp. 106, 107. 

BIRTH-STONES 335 

PHENOMENAL GEMS FOE THE DAYS OF THE WEEK 

Sunday Sunstone 

Monday Moonstone 

Tuesday Star sapphire 

Wednesday Star ruby 

Thursday Cat's-eye 

Friday Alexandrite 

Saturday Labradorite 

Fashion in some parts of the Orient dictates the use 
of special colors for raiment and jewels to be worn on 
the different days of the week. In Siam deep red silks 
and rubies are appropriate for Sunday wear ; white fab- 
rics and moonstones are prescribed for Monday; light 
red garments and coral ornaments are favored for Tues- 
day; striped stuffs and jewels set with the cat's-eye are 
considered the proper wear for Wednesday; green mate- 
rials and emeralds are decreed for Thursday ; silver-blue 
robes and ornaments set with diamonds are chosen for 
Friday, and on Saturday those who obey the dictates 
of fashion are clad in dark blue garments and wear sap- 
phires of a similar hue. 

Our age is not satisfied with the marvellous progress 
of science, which has rendered possible the realization 
of many of the old magicians' dreams. In spite of this 
there seems to be a growing tendency to revive many of 
the old beliefs which appeared to have been definitely 
discarded; therefore we need not be surprised that the 
nineteenth century offers us a work on the magic art, 
written precisely in the spirit that animated an Agrippa 
or a Porta in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 13 
This work gives elaborate directions as to the manner in 
which the " Magus " should proceed to perform his magic 
rites. 

18 Eliphas Levi, " Rituel de la haute magie," Paris, 1861. 

336 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Each day has its special and peculiar ritual Sunday 
is the day for the " Works of Light/' and on this day 
a purple robe should be worn and a tiara and bracelets 
of gold; the ring placed on the finger of the operator 
should be of gold and set with a chrysolite or a ruby. 
A white robe with silver stripes is to be worn on Monday, 
the day of the "Works of Divination and Mystery, " and 
the high-priest of the mysteries wears over his robe a 
triple necklace of pearls, " crystals,' 5 and selenites; the 
tiara should be covered with yellow silk, and bear in 
silver characters the Hebrew monogram of Gabriel, as 
given by Cornelius Agrippa in his " Occult Philosophy." 
Tuesday is assigned to the " Works of Wrath," and on 
this day the robe must be red, the color of fire and blood, 
with a belt and bracelets of steel ; the tiara should have 
a circlet of iron, and a sword or a stylus is to be used 
in place of a wand ; the ring is set with an amethyst. The 
day for the " Works of Science" is Wednesday, when a 
green robe is worn and a necklace of hollow glass beads, 
filled with quicksilver ; the ring is adorned with an agate* 
On Thursday, appointed for the "Works of Religion or 
Politics," a scarlet robe is worn; upon the forehead of 
the operator is bound a plate of tin, engraved with the 
symbol of the planet Jupiter and various mystic charac- 
ters; the ring bears either an emerald or a sapphire. 
Friday, the day of Venus, is naturally dedicated to the 
"Works of Love," and the celebrant wears a sky-blue 
robe ; his ring shows a turquoise, and his tiara is set with 
lapis-lazuli and beryl. The "Works of Mourning" be- 
long to Saturday, when a black or a brown robe is worn, 
embroidered in orange-colored silk with mystic char- 
acters; from the neck of the operator hangs a leaden 
medal, bearing the symbol of the planet Saturn, and on 
his finger is a ring set with an onyx, upon which a 

BIRTH-STONES 

337 

double-faced Janus has been engraved while Saturn was 
in the ascendant. 

7 Chrysolite 

8 Amethyst 

9 Kunzite 

10 Sapphire 

11 Garnet 

12 Diamond 

GEMS OF THE HOURS 
HOURS OF THE DAY 

1 Jacinth 

2 Emerald 

3 Beryl 

4 Topaz 

5 Ruby 

6 Opal 

HOURS OF THE NIGHT 

7 Sardonyx 1 Morion 

8 Chalcedony 2 Hematite 

9 Jade 3 Malachite 

10 Jasper 4 Lapis-lazuli 

11 Loadstone 5 Turquoise 

12 Onyx 6 Tourmaline 

WEDDING 

1 Paper 

2 Calico 

3 Linen 

4 Silk 

5 Wood 

6 Candy 

7 Floral 

8 Leather 

9 Straw 
10 Tin 

12 Agate 

13 Moonstone* 

14 Moss agate 

15 Rock-crystal, glass 

16 Topaz 

17 Amethyst 

18 Garnet 

ANNIVERSARIES 

19 Hyacinth 

20 China 
23 Sapphire 

25 Silver 

26 Star sapphire, bins * 
30 Pearl 

35 Coral 

39 Cafs-eye* 

40 Ruby 

45 Alexandrite 

50 Gold 

52 Star ruby* 

55 Emerald 

60 Diamond, yellow 

65 Star sapphire, gray* 

67 Star sapphire, purple 

75 Diamond 

* For this number, and for the succeeding multiples of thirteen, the 
gem is believed to counteract the malign influence of the number. 
22 

X 

attti &tral Snfluejtceg of 

CHE talismanic influence of the stones associated with 
the planets and also with the signs of the zodiac is 
closely connected with the early ideas regarding the 
formation of precious stones. In an old work on the 
occult properties of gems we read : 

The nature of the magnet is in the iron, and the nature of the 
iron is in the magnet, and the nature of both polar stars is in both 
iron and magnet, and hence the nature of the iron and the magnet 
is also in both polar stars, and since they are Martian, that is to say, 
their region belongs to Mars, so do both iron and magnet belong to 
Mars. 

The author then, proceeds to describe an analogous 
relation between a man and any natural object or product 
to which his imagination draws him, and shows that, if 
this object be one that stands in a sympathetic relation 
with the star beneath which the man was born, the man, 
the star, and the object will constitute a triplicity of 
great utility. As an explanation of the peculiarly inti- 
mate relation between stars and precious stones we read, 
on page 12 : 

Metals and precious stones usually lie with their first seeds deep 
down in the earth and require continuous moisture and a mild heat. 
This they obtain through a reflection of the sun and the other 
stars in the manifold movement of the heavens. . . . Therefore, 
also, the metals and precious stones are nearest related to the planets 
338 

PLANETAET AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 339 

and the stars, since these influence them most potently and pro'duce 
their peculiar qualities, for they are enduring and unchangeable and 
show therein their concordance [with the stars and the planets]. 1 

Hence it is that the influence over Iranian fortunes 
ascribed by astrology to the heavenly bodies is conceived 
to be strengthened by wearing the gem appropriate to 
certain planets or signs, for a subtle emanation has 
passed into the stone and radiates from it. A combina- 
tion of several different stones, each partaking of this 
special quality, was believed to have an influence similar 
to that exercised by several planets in conjunction, 
that is, grouped in the same "house" or division of the 
heavens. 

The same is true of the stones dedicated to the guar- 
dian angels; the color and appearance of the stone was 
not merely emblematic of the angel, but, by its sympa- 
thetic quality, it was supposed to attract his influence 
and to provide a medium for the transmission of his 
beneficent force to the wearer. The whole theory, 
whether consciously or unconsciously, rested on the idea 
of harmony, of the accord of certain ethereal vibrations, 
either those of the visible light of the stars and planets 
or the purely psychic emanations from the spiritual 
"powers and principalities." 

The wearing of the appropriate zodiacal gem was 
always believed to strengthen the influence of the zodiacal 
sign upon those born under it, and to afford a sympa- 
thetic medium for the transmission of the stellar influ- 
ences. The gem was thus something more than a mere 
symbol of the sign. The same was true of the stone of 
the saint who ruled the month and that of the holy guar- 

1 Wilhelmus Eo, " Coronas Gemma Nobilissima," Newheusern, 1621, 
pp. 38-9. 

340 CUEIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

dian angel set over those born in the month. In each and 
every case the material form and color of the stone was 
believed to attract the favor and grace of the saint or 
angel, who would see in the selection of the appropriate 
gem an act of respect and veneration on the part of the 
wearer. 

The old writers are never tired of insisting upon the 
idea that, while the image graven upon a stone was in 
itself dead and inactive, the influence of the stars during 
whose ascendancy the work had been executed commu- 
nicated to the inert material talismanic qualities and 
virtues which it before lacked. In these instances the 
images could be regarded as outward and visible signs 
of the planetary or zodiacal influence. Even in the case 
of the bezoar stone, a generally recognized antidote for 
all sorts of poisons, it was held that the scorpion's bite 
could be most effectually healed by a bezoar upon which 
this creature's figure had been cut during the time when 
the constellation Scorpio was in the ascendancy. 2 

In the production of engraved stones to serve as amu- 
lets, the influence of the respective planet was made to 
enter the stone by casting upon the latter, during the 
process of engraving, reflections from a mirror which 
had been exposed to the planet's rays. In addition to 
this, the work was executed while the planet was in the 
ascendant, and the design was emblematic of it. With 
these combined influences the gem was believed to be 
thoroughly impregnated with the planetary virtue. 3 

An old writer finds in the hardness of precious stones 
a reason for their retaining longer the celestial virtues 
they receive. After they have been extracted these vir- 

* Gaff arelli, " Curiositates inauditse," Hamburg!, 1706, pp. 146, 147, 

* ScMndler, Der Aberglanbe des Mittelalters," Breslatu 1853, p. 
13L 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 341 

tues persist in them and they keep "the traces and gifts 
of mundane life which they possessed while clinging to 
the earth. 4 These "gifts of mundane life 7 ' signify the 
stored-up energy derived from the stars and planets, 
which penetrates the matter of the stone, and each stone 
is peculiarly sensitive to the emanations from a certain 
planet, star, or group of stars. 

A fine carnelian gem engraved with a design consist- 
ing of a star surrounded by the images of a ram, a bull, 
and a lion, is described by M. Mairan. 5 He sees in the 
star the emblem of the splendid comet which appeared 
shortly after the assassination of Caesar, and which, ac- 
cording to Suetonius, was believed to be the soul of 
Caesar newly received into the sky; the ram, bull, and 
lion are the symbols of the zodiacal signs Aries, Taurus, 
and Leo, the first-named sign referring perhaps to the 
death of Caesar on the Ides, or fifteenth of March; while 
the other two signs may allude to the position of the 
comet at different dates. 

In the Cabinet dti Eoi, in Paris, there was an en- 
graved carnelian, the design showing Jupiter enthroned, 
with thunderbolt and sceptre, and Mars and Mercury 
standing on either side of the central figure. Separated 
from the gods of the tipper air by a bow, probably repre- 
senting the arch of the sky, appears the bust of Neptune, 
emerging from the sea. The border of the 'design is 
formed by the twelve signs of the zodiac, Virgo being of 
an unusual type,' the virgin and a unicorn, said to 
have been used only during the reign of Domitian (81-96 

A.D.)- 6 

4 Eeichelti, " De amuletis," Argentorati, 1676, p. 45 ; citing Fiend, 
" De vita eoelit.," cap. 13. 

6 Mairan, " Lettres an E. P. Parrenin," Paris, 1770, pp. 275 sqq. 
9 Mairan, I.e., pp. 199, 211. 

342 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Some choice examples of astrological gems may be 
seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; 
among these is a green jasper bearing symbols of Luna, 
Capricorn, and Taurus. This gem is from the collection 
of the late Bev. 0. W. King, which has been acquired for 
the Museum, and is described as figuring the horoscope 
of the owner. In the same collection is a banded agate 
engraved with Sagittarius as a centaur, surrounded by 
the stars of this constellation in their proper order. 
King states that this was the earliest horoscopical gem 
known to him. Still another gem of this collection is a 
sard bearing the symbol of Aries carrying a long cadu- 
ceus ; this type appears on the coins of Antioch, because 
that city was founded in the month over which the sign 
Aries presides. 7 

The Austrian Imperial Collection in Vienna contains 
the celebrated G-emma Augustea, sometimes called the 
Apotheosis of Augustus. This commemorates the Pan- 
nonian triumph of Tiberius, 13 A.D., and above the figure 
of Augustus appears the sign of Capricornus, the con- 
stellation of his nativity; beneath the figure of Tiberius 
is engraved the sign of Scorpio, under which that em- 
peror was born. This celebrated cameo, the work of the 
famous gem-engraver Dioskorides, is mentioned in an 
inventory of the treasury of -St. Sernin, in Toulouse, 
dated 1246. It is said to have been offered by Francis I 
of France to Pope Clement VII, on the occasion of their 
meeting in Marseilles in 1535; however, as the gem 
only reached Marseilles two days after the pope's de- 
parture, Francis decided to retain possession of it. The 

T " Collection of Engraved Gems," Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
Handbook No. 9, pp. 53, 54. 

THE ZODIACAL STONES WITH THEIR SIGNS. 

Old print illustrating the influence believed to be exerted on the different parts of the body by 
tho respective zodiacal signs, and through their power by the stones associated with them. This 
belief often determined the administration of special precious-stone remedies by physicians of the 
weventeenth and earlier centuries. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 343 

royal treasure at Fontainebleau was plundered in 1590, 
and the stone was offered for sale, and was purchased, 
in 1619, by Emperor Eudolph II, for the sum of 12,000 
ducats. 

A ruby called sandastros is described by Pliny as 
containing stellated bodies which he compares to the 
Hyades; hence, says he, they are the objects of great de- 
votion with the Chaldasi or Assyrian Magi. Accord- 
ing to Morales (De las piedras preciosas), the ruby 
and the diamond were both under the influence of the 
sign of Taurus; the same writer informs us that the 
Hyades and the sun were supposed to have a potent 
effect upon the ruby or carbuncle. In ancient Babylonia 
the sign of Taurus was regarded as the most important, 
and Winckler believes that the presence in this sign of 
the five stars of the Hyades and the seven of the Pleiades 
was brought into connection with the twelve-fold division 
of the zodiac. The Hyades signified the five signs visible 
in Babylonia at the summer solstice, while the Pleiades 
typified the seven invisible signs. It seems probable 
that the Pleiades were associated with the diamond, 
although Morales, who was very familiar with the 
Moorish astrology current among the Spaniards of his 
time, attributed the crystal to this group. His attribu- 
tion proves at least that the stone of the Pleiades was a 
colorless one. 

In Sanskrit the diamond is called vajra, "thunder- 
bolt," and also indrdjudha, "Indra's weapon"; another 
name is agira, "fire," or "the Sun." 8 All these desig- 
nations are probably suggested by the brilliant flashes of 

8 Garbe, " Die indisclie Mineralien," Naharari/s Eaj 
Yarga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. PO. 

344 CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

light emitted by tMs stone. It is not easy to determine 
the reason that induced the Hindus to dedicate the dia- 
mond to the planet Venus rather than to the Sun or to the 
Moon. However, as the most brilliant of the planets, 
Venus was not unworthy of the honor, and if we sub- 
stitute the Goddess of Love for her planet, it seems quite 
appropriate that she should be adorned with the most 
brilliant of precious stones. Certainly these sparkling 
gems are often enough offered at the shrine of Venus in 
our own day, and they often serve to win the good graces 
of the divinity to whom they are presented. 

The Sanskrit name for the sapphire, nila, signifies 
"blue," so that, as the topaz is the "yellow stone 77 par 
excellence, the sapphire is the blue stone (nilagman). In 
both cases the name indicates a variety of corundum, dis- 
tinguished merely by the coloring matter. As a talisman 
the Hindus believed that the sapphire rendered the 
planet Saturn favorable to the wearer, an important con- 
sideration from the astrological point of view, for 
Saturn's influence was generally supposed to be unfav- 
orable. The Hindus distinguished four classes of 
sapphires, corresponding to the four castes : Brahmins, 
Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. The respective sap- 
phires were light blue, reddish blue, yellowish blue, and 
dark blue. The same distinction is made in the case of 
the diamond, and a like rule applies to both stones, 
namely, that only the appropriate stone should be worn 
by the members of each caste, in order to profit by the 
virtues inherent in the sapphire or diamond. 9 

One of the Sanskrit appellations of the hyacinth 
(zircon) is rdhuratna, that is, the jewel dedicated to 
the mysterious "dragon," that was supposed to be the 

9 Garbe, " Die indische Mineralien/' Naliarari's Rajanighantu, 
Yarga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 83. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 345 

cause of the periodic eclipses of the Sun and Moon. 10 
As the stone was sacred to this malevolent influence, we 
need not be surprised that it was believed to avert mis- 
fortune, for nothing was so effective against the lesser 
spirits of evil as an evil genius of great power. 

According to the Hindu mystics it was very lucky 
to have a turquoise at hand at the time of the new moon, 
for whoever, after first looking at the moon on the 
pratipada (the first day after new-moon), should cast 
his eyes upon a turquoise, was destined to enjoy immeas- 
urable wealth. 11 

ZODIACAL GEMS 
Aquarius. 

January 21 to February 21. 
The Garnet. 

If you would cherish friendship true, 
In Aquarius well you'll do 
To wear this gem of warmest hue 
The garnet. 
Pisces. 

February ^1 to March 21. 
The Amethyst. 

From passion and from care kept free 
Shall Pisces 7 children ever be 
Who wear so all the world may see 
The amethyst. 

Aries. 

March 21 to April 20. 
The Bloodstone. 

Who on this world of ours his eyes 
In Aries opens shall be wise 
If always on his hand there lies 

A bloodstone. 

10 Garbe, " Die indische Mineralien," Naharari's Rajanighantu, 
Varga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 84. 

11 Surindro Molmn Tagore, " Hani Mala," Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, 
p. 883. 

346 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Taurus. 

April 20 to May 21. 

Tlie Sapphire. 

If on your band this stone you bind, 
You in Taurus born will find 
'Twill cure diseases of the mind, 

The 

Gemini. 

May 21 to June 21. 
The Agate. 

Gemini's children health and wealth command, 
And all the ills of age withstand, 
Who wear their rings on either hand 

Of agate. 
Cancer. 

June 21 to July 22. 
The Emerald. 

If born in Cancer's sign, they say, 
Tour life will joyful be alway, 
If you take with you on your way 
Leot An emerald. 

July 22 to August 22. 
The Onyx. 

When youth to manhood shall have grown, 

Under Leo lorn and lone 

'Twill have lived but for this stone, 

The onyx. 
Yirgo. 

August 22 to September 22. 
Carnelian. 

Success will bless whate'er you do, 
Through Virgo's sign, if only you 
Place on your hand her own gem true, 
Libra. Carnelian. 

September 22 to October 23. 
The Chrysolite. 

Through Libra's sign it is quite well 
To free yourself from evil spell, 
For in her gem surcease doth dwell, 
The chrysolite. 

1. A necklace of banded and variegated agates, onyx, carnelians and sards. First Century A.D. 

2. lioads of curnehau artificially marked ior "good luck." The marking is produced by uc 

application of potash and soda. Ancient Persian, 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 347 

Scorpio. 

October 23 to November 21. 
The Beryl. 

Through Scorpio this gem so fair 
Is that which every one should wear, 
Or tears of sad repentance bear, 

The beryl. 
Sagittarius. 

November 21 to December 21. 
The Topaz. 

Who first comes to this world below 

Under Sagittarius should know 

That their true gem should ever show 

A topaz. 
Capricorn. 

December 21 to January 21. 
The Ruby. 

Those who live in Capricorn 
No trouble shall their brows adorn 
If they this glowing gem have worn, 
The ruby. 

An old Spanish list of the gems of the zodiacal signs 
differs from those given above, and probably represents 
Arab tradition: 12 

Aries Crystal Libra Jasper 

Taurus Ruby and diamond Scorpio Garnet 

Gemini Sapphire Sagittarius Emerald 

Cancer Agate and beryl Capricorn Chalcedony 

Leo Topaz Aquarius Amethyst 

Virgo Magnet Pisces 

Of planetary stones 13 there is assigned to the sun 
the jacinth and the chrysolite, when this latter name 

12 Morales, " De las virtudes y propiedades marvillosas de las 
piedras preeiosas," Valladolid, 1604, fols. 15a, 15b. 

"Rantzau, "Traetatus de genethliacorum thematum judieiis," 
Francofurti, 1633, pp. 46-55. 

348 CURIOUS LORE OF PEECIOUS STONES 

was applied to the yellow Brazilian chrysoberyl, while 
the moon controls the beryl, the rock-crystal and also the 
pearl. To the share of Venus fall the sapphire and car- 
buncle as well as coral and pearl; usually the emerald 
is the stone of Venus. Mars lays claim to the diamond, 
jacinth, and ruby, the last-named stone according with 
the ruddy hue of our neighbor planet. Under the con- 
trol of Jupiter are placed the emerald, sapphire, ame- 
thyst, and turquoise, so that this planet has the richest 
assortment of gems ; it will be remarked that the celes- 
tial sapphire unites the influence of Venus and Jupiter, 
the two especially propitious planets. Lastly, far-away 
Saturn must be content with all dark, black, and brittle 
stones; there was, indeed, little inducement to wear a 
Saturnian stone, for the influence of this cold and dis- 
tant planet was always regarded as baleful. 

The planetary controls of precious stones as given in 
the Lapidario of Alfonso 5, according to "Chaldaic" 
tradition, show that the same stone was influenced in 
many or most cases by more than one of the " seven 
planets" (including the Sun. and Moon). Thus the dia- 
mond, belonging to the first degree of the sign Taurus, 
was dominated by both Saturn and the Sun ; the emerald 
was controlled by Jupiter, and also by Mercury and by 
Venus. The red jargoon was influenced by Mars, the 
yellow variety by Jupiter and the white jargoon by 
Venus. The carnelian received virtue from the Sun and 
from Venus. The ruby, although more especially a sun- 
stone, came as well under the influence of the Planet of 
Love. Coral belonged both to Venus and to the moon, 
while lapis-lazuli and chalcedony only owed allegiance 
to Venus ; this planet also lent virtue to the beryl. 14 

14 Lapidario del Rey D. Alfonso X; codice original, Madrid, 
1881, fols. 101-109. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 349 

Among the Mohammedans, six of the seven heavens 
were supposed to be made of precious substances: 
the first was of emerald ; the second, of white silver ; the 
third, of large white pearls; the fourth, of ruby; the 
fifth, of red gold; and the sixth, of jacinth. The seventh 
and highest heaven, however, was of shining light. 15 
Here we have the three precious colored stones, emerald, 
ruby, and sapphire (jacinth), to which is added the pearl. 

The scarcity of the diamond in early times, and its 
comparative lack of brilliancy before the invention of 
rose and brilliant cutting, account for the absence of this 
king of gems. 

Kabelais, 16 describing the temple of the oracle of the 
"Dive Bouteille," says that of its seven columns the 
first was of sapphire; the second, of jacinth; the third, 
of "dyamant"; the fourth, of the "male" balas-ruby; 
the fifth, of emerald, "more brilliant and glistening than 
were those which were set in place of eyes in the marble 
lion stretched before the tomb of King Hermias"; the 
sixth column was of agate, and the seventh of trans- 
parent selenite, " with a splendor like that of Hymettian 
honey, and within appeared the moon in form and motion 
such as she is in the heavens, full and new, waxing and 
waning." We are then told that these stones were at- 
tributed to the seven planets by the Chaldaeans, as 
follows : 

Sapphire Saturn 

Jacinth Jupiter 

Diamond Sun 

Ruby Mars 

"Lane, "Arabian Society in the Middle Ages," ed. by Stanley 
Lane-Poole, London, 1883, p. 98. 

ia Pantagruel, liv. v, chap, xlii, Paris, 1833, p. 341. 

350 CUBIOUS LORE OP PEECIOUS STONES 

Emerald Venus 

Agate Mercury 

Selenite * Moon 

Some of these attributions differ from those usually 
made and may represent another tradition. 

PLANETARY INFLUENCES OF STONES 1T 

Jasper , Venus and Mercury. 

Sapphire Jupiter and Mercury. 

Emerald Venus and Mercury. 

Chalcedony Jupiter, Mercury, and Saturn. 

Sardonyx Saturn and Mars. 

Chrysolite Mercury and Venus. 

Beryl Venus and Mars. 

To^paz Saturn and Mars. 

Chrysoprase Mercury and Venus. 

Jacinth Mars and Jupiter. 

Amethyst Mars and Jupiter. 

Pearl Venus and Mercury. 

Carbuncle Mars and Venus. 

Diamond Jupiter. 

Agate Venus and Mars. 

Aleetoria Sun. 

Turquoise Venus and Mercury, 

Chelidon Jupiter. 

Aetites Sun. 

Dlonesia Saturn. 

Hematite Mercury. 

Lapis-lazuli Venus. 

Annena Mercury and Venus. 

Garnet Sun. 

Amber Sun. 

Jet Saturn. 

Lyncurius Suu. 

Crystal Moon and Mars. 

Bezoar Jupiter. 

Armenia Jupiter. 

* - - - - ' - .in, ^ 

"Morales, "Do las Piedras Preciosas," Valladolid, 1604. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 351 

Selenite Moon. 

Magnet Mars. 

Judaica, ^ 

Hegolite or \. Mercury. 

Cogolite J 

Iris Jupiter. 

Halcyon Saturn and Mars. 

Asbestus Saturn. 

Sarcophagus Moon. 

Arabian, white Moon. 

Arabian, green Jupiter 

Hyena Sun. 

Androdamas Moon. 

Pyrites: 

Copper-colored Sun, Venus. 

Gold-colored Sun. 

Silver-colored Moon. 

Tin-colored Moon, Saturn. 

Ash-colored Jupiter. 

Calatia Moon. 

Stalactite Venus. 

Thenarcus Sun. 

Cornelian Jupiter, Mars, Venus. 

Opal Sun, Mercury. 

Fixed stars associated with precious stones : 1S 

Diamond. Caput Algol 18 of Taurus. 

Crystal. The Pleiades 24 of Taurus. 

Ruby, carbuncle. Aldebaran 3 of Gemini; also the Hyades. 

Sapphire. The Goat 15 of Gemini. 

Beryl. Sirius 10 of Cancer. 

Garnet. Heart of Lion 23 of Leo. 

Magnet. Tail of the Great Bear 8 of Scorpio; also the Pole Star, 

Topaz. Eight and left wing of Raven 8 of Libra. 

Emerald and Jasper. Spica Virginis 17 a of Libra. 

Amethyst. Scorpion 3 of Sagittarius. 

Chrysolite. Tortoise 8 of Capricorn. 

18 Morales, De las piedras preciosas," Valladolid, 1604, pp. 16a- 
16b. 

352 GUKIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Chalcedony. Tail of Capricorn 15 of Aquarius. 
Jacinth. Shoulder of Equis Major 18 of Pisces. 
Pearl. Umbilicus Andromedse 20 of Aries. 
Sardonyx. Same as Topaz. 

Images and virtues of the constellations as engraved 
on gems : I0 

URSA MAJOR ; URSA MINOR, AND DRACO. Both bears are 
represented in the folds of a serpent, the Great 
Bear in the upper and the Lesser Bear in the lower 
folds. In almost all the signs. Nature : Ursa 
Major, Mars and Venus. Ursa Minor; Saturn. 
Draco: Saturn and Mars. Renders the wearer wise, 
cautious j versatile, and powerful. 

The boundary lines of the various signs are earned up 
to the pole, and any constellation that is within these 
lines is considered to belong to the respective sign; 
thus, every constellation belongs to one or more 
signs. 

CORONA BOREALIS. A royal crown, with many stars; 
sometimes the crowned head of a king. Sign : Sagit- 
tarius. Nature: Venus and Mercury. Engraved 
on the stone of one who is fitted for honors and 
knowledge, it gives him great favor with kings. 

HERCULES. A man with knees bent, holding a club in his 
hand and killing a lion; sometimes a man with a 
lion's skin in his hand or on his shoulder and hold- 
ing a club. Sign: Scorpio. Nature: Venus and 
Mercury. Engraved on a stone that brings victory, 
like the agate, it renders the wearer victorious in all 
conflicts in the field. 

CYGNUS. A swan with outstretched wings and curved 
neck. In the North. Nature: Venus and Mercury. 
Renders the wearer popular, increases knowledge, 
and augments wealth. Cures gout, paralysis, and 
fever. 

18 Camilli Leonardi, " Speculum Lapidurn," Venetia, 1502, f . Kv-lvi 

PLANE TARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 353 

CEPHEUS. A man girt with, a sword and holding his 
hands and arms extended. Sign: Aries. Nature: 
Saturn and Jupiter. Causes pleasant visions if 
placed beneath the head of a sleeping person. 

CASSIOPEIA. A woman seated in a chair and with hands 
extended in the form of a cross ; sometimes with a tri- 
angle on her head. Sign : Taurus. Nature : Saturn 
and Venus. Restores the sickly, worn body to health, 
gives quiet and calm after labor and procures pleas- 
ant and tranquil sleep. 

ANDROMEDA. A young girl with, dishevelled hair, and 
hands hanging down. Sign: Taurus. Nature: 
Venus. Reconciles husband and wife, strengthens 
love, and protects the human body from many dis- 
eases. 

PERSEUS. A man holding a sword in his right hand and 
the Gorgon's head in his left. Sign: Taurus. Nature: 
Saturn and Venus. Guards the wearer from mis- 
fortune and protects, not only the wearer but the 
place where it may be, from lightning and tempest. 
Dissolves enchantments. 

SERPENS. A man in the folds of a serpent and hold- 
ing its head in his right hand and its tail in his 
left. Sign: Taurus. Nature: Saturn and Venus. 
Antidote to poisons and to the bites of venomous 
creatures. 

AQUILA. A flying eagle with an arrow beneath his feet. 
Sign : Cancer. Nature : Jupiter and Mercury ; the 
arrow, however, is of Mars and Venus. Preserves 
former honors, adds new ones, and helps to victory. 

PISCES or DELPHOTUS. Figured in relief (?) Sign: 
Aquarius. Nature: Saturn and Mars. If this en- 
graved gem be attached to nets it causes them to 
be filled with fsh, and it renders the wearer for- 
tunate in fishing. 

PEGASUS. Some represent the half of a winged horse; 
others the whole figure and without a bridle. Sign: 
Aries. Nature: Mars and Jupiter. Gives victory 
in the field, and makes the wearer swift, cautious, and' 
bold. 
23 

354 CUBIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

CETUS. Figure of a large fish, with curved tali and ca- 
pacious gullet. Sign: Taurus. Nature: Saturn. 
Renders the wearer fortunate on the sea and makes 
him prudent and agreeable. It also restores lost 
articles. 

ORION. With or without armor, man holding a sword or 
a scythe in his hand. Sign : Gemini. Nature : Jupi- 
ter, Saturn, and Mars. Gives the wearer victory 
over his enemies. 

NAVIS. A ship with prow curved back and spread sails; 
sometimes with and sometimes without oars. Sign: 
Leo. Nature: Saturn and Jupiter. Renders the 
wearer fortunate in his undertakings; he runs no risk 
on sea or water, neither can he be injured by water. 

CANTS MAJOR. Figure of a dog for coursing- hares, with 
a curved tail. Sign: Cancer. Nature: Venus. 
Cures lunacy, insanity, and demoniacal possession. 

LEPUS. Figure of a hare with ears pricked up and the 
feet represented as though in swift motion. Sign: 
Gemini. Nature: Saturn and Mercury. Cures 
frenzy and protects from the wiles of demons. The 
wearer cannot be hurt by a malignant spirit. 

CENTAUR. Half-figure of a bull, bearing a man on whose 
left shoulder rests a lance, from which depends a 
hare. In his right hand the man holds a small, 
supine animal with a vessel attached to it. Sign : 
Libra. Nature: Jupiter and Mars. Gives con- 
stancy and perpetual health. 

CANIS MINOR. Figure of a dog, sitting. Sign: Cancer. 
Nature: Jupiter. Guards from dropsy, pestilence, 
and the bites of dogs. 

SACRARIUS TURUBTTLTIS (ARA). An altar with burning in- 
cense. Sign: Sagittarius. Nature: Venus and Mer- 
cury. Gives the wearer power to recognize spirits, 
to converse with them, and to command them; also 
confers chastity. 

HYDRA. A serpent, having an urn at its head and a raven 
at its tail. Sign: Cancer. Nature: Saturn and 
Venus. Gives riches and all good gifts to the 
wearer and makes him cautious and prudent. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 355 

CORONA AUSTRALIS. An imperial crown. Sign: Libra. 
Nature: Saturn and Mars. Augments wealth and 
makes the wearer gay and happy. 

AURIGA. A man in a chariot, bearing a goat on his left 
shoulder. Sign: Gemini. Nature: Mercury. Makes 
the wearer successful in hunting. 

VEXILLUM. A flag flying from the extremity of a lance 
Sign : Scorpion. Gives skill in war and confers vic- 
tory in the field. 

FIGURES OF THE PLANETS 

SATURN. An old man holding a curved scythe in his hand and with 
a not very heavy beard. Engraved on a stone of the 
nature of Saturn, it renders the wearer powerful and 
augments his power continually. 

JUPITER. A seated figure, sometimes in a chariot, holding a staff in 
one hand and a spear in the other. It renders the wearer 
fortunate, especially if engraved on a Kabratis stone, 
and he easily gains what he wishes, especially from priests. 
He will be raised to honors and dignities. 

MARS. Represented sometimes with a banner and sometimes 
with a lance or other weapon. He is, indeed, always 
armed and at times mounted on a horse. Gives victory, 
boldness in war, and success in everything, especially if 
engraved on an appropriate stone. 

SUN. Sometimes as the solar disk with rays, sometimes as a man 

in a chariot, and this occasionally is surrounded by the 
signs of the zodiac. Renders 1 the wearer powerful and a 
victor; this gem is prized by hunters. 

VENUS Many forms, among them that of a woman with a volumi- 
nous dress and a stole, holding a laurel in her hand. Gives 
skill in handling affairs and usually brings them to a suc- 
cessful issue; removes the fear of drowning. 

MERCURY. Figure of a slender man, usually with a beautiful beard, but 
sometimes without. He has winged feet and holds the 
caduceus. Increases knowledge and confers eloquence. It 
aids merchants, enabling them to acquire wealth. 

356 CURIOUS LOEE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

MOON". Yarious forms. Sometimes as a crescent, sometimes as a 

young woman in a chariot and holding a quiver, and at 
others as a woman with a quiver and following the chase 
with dogs. Aids the fortunes of those who are sent on an 
embassy, and enables them to acquire wealth and honor 
thereby. Is said to confer speed and facility in under- 
takings and a happy issue. 20 

When Hudibras attacked and overcame the sorcerer 
Sidrophal, he rifled the latter 's pockets of all his mystic 
treasures. Among these were 

Several constellation stones, 
Engraved in planetary hours, 
That over mortals had strange powers, 
To make them thrive in law or trade, 
And stab or poison to evade, 
In wit and wisdom to improve, 
And be victorious in love. n 

These manifold influences exerted by the stars and 
planets through the medium of the gems, not only con- 
cerned those actually present in a material form, but also 
those that were seen in dreams, and interpretations of 
such dreams are given by old writers. 

Many Oneirocritica, or " dream-books, " were written 
or compiled in the early centuries of our era, one of the 
most noted being the work of Artemidorus, who flour- 
ished in the second century AJ>. Every object seen in 
a dream was given a special meaning, and it is interest- 
ing to note that Artemidorus believed dreams of rings 
or other ornaments, as well as of precious stones, to be 
of favorable significance only for women. Such dreams 
indicated marriage for unmarried women, and the birth 

20 Camilli Leonardi, " Speculum Lapidum," Venetia, 1502, f . Hzi 
'* Butler, " Hudibras/'' Part II, Canto m, 11, 1096-1103. 

PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 357 

of children for those already married. If a woman was 
both wife and mother when she saw sparkling jewels in 
her dream, then the vision portended the acquisition of 
great wealth. Artemidorns here sagely remarks that 
women are by nature devoted to riches and passionately 
fond of ornaments. For men, on the other hand, to 
dream of jewels was an ill omen; probably because it 
foreshadowed the necessity of buying them for a good 
friend or a faithful wife. 22 

Another of these dream-books, probably composed in 
the eighth century A.D., appears under the name of Acha- 
metis and is of Arabic origin. Many of the interpreta- 
tions in this book are referred to a Hindu source, and 
among these are visions of crowns that appear to kings. 
Such a dream, in itself, usually portended increased 
power and success for the sovereign, but this depended 
upon the color and character of the jewels which adorned 
the crown. For example, we read that if the gems were 
red and of the kind known as lychnites (carbuncles or 
rubies), the dream indicated that the king would have 
great joy and good fortune and would be more feared 
by his enemies than before; but if he saw blue gems in 
the crown, it was a bad omen, foreshadowing the loss of 
part of his kingdom. If the stones were of a light green 
hue (the color of the leek), the king would gain a great 
name in the world, both by his good faith and by the 
greatness of his kingdom; for, the writer adds, "this 
color in precious stones is universally accepted as signi- 
fying good-faith and religious devotion to God. " 23 

22 Arternidori Daldiani et AehametLs Sereimi Oneiroeritica, ed. 
Regaltius, Lutetiaj, 1603, pp. 80, 87. 
38 Ibid., p. 228. 

358 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 
There is signified by dreaming of 

Agates A. journey. 

Amber A voyage. 

Amethysts Freedom from harm. 

Aquamarines New friends. 

Beryls Happiness in store. 

Bloodstones * , , * Distressing news. 

Carbuncles Acquirement of wisdom. 

Carnelians Impending misfortune. 

CatVeyes Treachery. 

Chalcedony Friends rejoined. 

Chrysoberyls A time of need. 

Chrysolites Necessary caution. 

Coral Recovery from illness. 

Crystal Freedom from enemies. 

Diamonds Victory over enemies. 

Emeralds Much to look forward to. 

Garnets The solution of a mystery. 

Heliotropes Long life. 

Hyacinths A heavy storm. 

Jacinths Success. 

Jasper Love returned. 

J fi t Sorrow. 

Lapis-lazuli Faithful lore. 

Moonstones Impending danger. 

Moss-agates An unsuccessful journey. 

A happy marriage. 
Great possessions. 

Faithful friends. 

Porphyry Death. 

Rubies Unexpected guests. 

Sapphires Escape from danger. 

Sardonyx Love of friends. * 

Topaz No harm shall befall. 

Tourmalines An accident. 

Turquoises Prosperity> 

If precious stones be so combined in a ring, or other 
jewel that the initial letters of their names spell words 

KNOWN AS THAT OF RATNTR FOY, TNT TIIF, ABiuov-(niuiu i u 

AT CONQUKS, DKPT. AVKYRON, KRANCK. 

It irt Htudd< 

various c 
is S."> ctn. ( 

crystal \V:IH cs 

I with precious un<>f the labors PnijyruH, and |u;ives direetioilH for 

XI 
C^erapeutf c 

medicinal use of precious stones may be traced 
back to very ancient times. It has been conjectured 
that their employment for such purposes was introduced 
to Europe from India, whence many of the stones were 
derived. Nevertheless, the earliest evidence we have 
rather points to Egypt as the source, and, indeed, it ap- 
pears that in early Egyptian times the chemical constit- 
uents of the stones were much more rationally considered 
than at a later period in Europe. The Ebers Papyrus, 
for instance, recommends the use of certain astringent 
substances, such as lapis-lazuli, as ingredients of eye- 
salves, and hematite, an iron oxide, was used for checking 
hemorrhages and for reducing inflammations. Little by 
little, however, superstition associated certain special 
virtues with the color and quality of precious stones, 
and their virtues were thought to be greatly enhanced 
by engraving on them the image of some god, or of some 
object symbolizing certain of the activities of nature. 
Later still, the science of astrology, most highly devel- 
oped in Assyria and Babylonia, was brought into combi- 
nation with the various superstitions above indicated, so 
that the image was believed to have much greater efficacy 
if the engraving were executed when the sun was in a 
certain constellation or when the moon or some one of 
the planets was in the ascendant at the time. 

If we exclude certain fragmentary notices in Egyp- 

367 

368 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

tian literature notably the statements in the Ebers 
Papyrus and the very uncertain sources in Hindu liter- 
ature, the earliest authority for this branch of the subject 
is the Natural History of Pliny. In this connection, how- 
ever, it is only just to call attention to a fact which has 
been often ignored namely, that Pliny himself had very 
little faith in the teachings of the "magi," as he calls 
them, in regard to the superstitious use of gems for the 
prevention or cure of diseases ; indeed, he seems to have 
been almost as sceptical in his attitude as many modern 
writers, for certain quite recent authorities still credit 
amber and a few other mineral substances with thera- 
peutic effects other than those which can be explained by 
the known action of their chemical constituents. Still, 
Pliny yielded so far to the taste of his time as to preserve 
for us many of the statements of earlier writers on the 
subject, naming them in most cases and so enabling- us to 
form some idea of the character of this pseudo-science in 
the Eoman world in the first century of our era. With 
the gradual decay of ancient learning, the loss valuable 
elements of popular belief came more and more into the 
foreground, and the old superstitions were freely copied 
by successive authors, each of whom felt called upon to 
add something new on his own account. This explains 
much of the confusion that reigns in regard to the attri- 
bution of special virtues to the different stones, for the 
wider the reading of the author the greater became the 
number of virtues attributed to each separate stone, until, 
at last, we might almost say that each and every precious 
stone could be used for the cure of all diseases. Never- 
theless, it is comparatively easy to see that either the 
color or constitution of the stone originally indicated its 
use for this or that disease. 

A distinction is often made between the talismanic 

ON THEKAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 369 

qualities of precious stones for the cure or prevention 
of disease and the properly medicinal use of them as 
mineral substances. In the former case the effect was 
attained by merely wearing them on the person, while 
in the latter case they were reduced to a powder, which, 
was dissolved as far as possible in water or some other 
liquid and then taken internally. As, however, the end 
to be attained is the same whether the stone be worn or 
taken internally as a powder or liquid, it seems more 
logical to treat of both these methods of therapeutic use 
together, reserving for the chapter on the talismanic use 
of gems only their employment to avert misfortunes 
other than those caused by disease, and their influence 
in the procuring of wealth, honors, and happiness for 
their wearers. 

The belief in the curative properties of precious stones 
was at one time universal among all those to whom gems 
were known. When we read to-day of the various ills 
that were supposed to be cured by the use of these gems, 
we find it difficult to understand what process of thought 
could have suggested the idea of employing such inef- 
fectual remedies. It is true that the constituents of cer- 
tain stones can be absorbed by the human body and have 
a definite effect upon it, but the greater part of the ele- 
ments are so combined that they cannot be assimilated, 
and they pass through the system without producing any 
apparent effect. 

In ancient and medieval times, however, other than 
chemical agencies were supposed to be efficient in the cure 
of diseases, and the primitive animistic conception of the 
cause of illness, and hence of the therapeutics of disease, 
long held sway among those who practised the medical 
art. Remedies were prized because of their rarity, and 
also because it was believed that certain spiritual or 

24 

370 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

planetary influences had aided in their production and 
were latent in them. Besides this, the symbolism of color 
played a very important part in recommending the use 
of particular stones for special diseases. This may be 
noted in the case of the red or reddish stones, such as 
the ruby, spinel, garnet, carnelian, bloodstone, etc. These 
were thought to be sovereign remedies for hemorrhages 
of all kinds, as well as for all inflammatory diseases; 
they were also believed to exercise a calming influence 
and to remove anger and discord. The red hue of these 
stones was supposed to indicate their fitness for such 
use, upon the principle similia similibus curantur. In the 
same way yellow stones were prescribed for the cure of 
bilious disorders, for jaundice in all its forms and for 
other diseases of the liver. 

The use of green stones to relieve diseases of the 
eye was evidently suggested by the beneficial influence 
exerted by this color upon the sight. The verdant 
emerald represented the beautiful green fields, upon 
which the tired eye rests so willingly, and which exert 
such a soothing influence upon the sight when it has been 
unduly strained or fatigued. One of the earliest, prob- 
ably the very earliest reference in Greek writings to the 
therapeutic value of gems, appears in the works of Theo- 
phrastus, who wrote in the third century before Christ. 
Here we are told of the beneficial effect exercised by the 
emerald upon the eyes. 

The sapphire, the lapis-lazuli, and other blue stones, 
with a hue resembling the blue of the heavens, were be- 
lieved to exert a tonic influence, and were supposed to 
counteract the wiles of the spirits of darkness and pro- 
cure the aid and favor of the spirits of light and wisdom, 
These gems were usually looked upon as emblems of 
chastity, and for this reason the sapphire came to be 

<>f euruclmn heads Pernuin. The deoorntion IH made with oarlx 

firing. ChnrniH uguin.st, the Kvil lOye. 
of onyx heads. Kurly ChriHtlun, 

ol lime ar-d Used \ 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 371 

regarded as especially appropriate for use in ecclesias- 
tical rings. Among purple stones, the amethyst is par- 
ticularly noteworthy. The well-known belief that this 
gem counteracted the effects of undue indulgence in in- 
toxicating beverages is indicated by its name, derived 
from ftsofo " to be intoxicated," and the privative a, 
the name thus signifying the " sobering' 7 gem. It is not 
unlikely that a fancied resemblance between the pre- 
vailing hue of these stones and that of certain kinds of 
wine first gave rise to the name $nd to the idea of the 
peculiar virtues of the amethyst. 

We have mentioned only a few of the more obvious 
analogies suggested by the color of gems, and we might 
be tempted to cite many others were it not that symbolism 
is always treacherous ground, since there is practically 
no limit to the correspondences that may be found be- 
tween sensuous impressions and ideas. 

One great difficulty which besets any one who is try- 
ing to find a clue to guide him through the labyrinth of 
the medical affinities of gems is the fact that there was, 
from an early period, a tendency to attribute the virtues 
of one gem to another, probably owing to the commercial 
instinct which urged the dealer to praise his wares in 
every possible way, so that no part of his stock should 
fail to find a purchaser. This tendency is especially 
marked in the old Hindu Lapidaries, wherein it is almost 
impossible to find any differentiation of the stones in 
respect to their curative or talismanic virtues. Only the 
condition and perfection of the gems are made the cri- 
terion of their worth. Any given stone, if perfect, was a 
source of all blessings to the wearer and possessed all 
remedial powers, while a defective stone, or one lacking 
the proper lustre or color, was destined to be a source of 
untold misfortune to the owner. 

372 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

The European writers on the medical properties of 
precious stones were influenced by quite different con- 
siderations ; their chief aim was to represent each stone, 
regarded simply as a mineral substance, as being the 
abode of the greatest possible number of curative prop- 
erties. Indeed, many of the most highly recommended 
electuaries contained all kinds of stones, as though the 
effect to be produced did not depend upon the qualities 
of any single stone, or class of stones, but rather upon 
the quantity used. In Arnobio's "Tesoro delle Gioie," 1 
we have a receipt for the composition of "the most noble 
electuary of jacinth. " This contains jacinth, emerald, 
sapphire, topaz, garnet, pearl, ruby, white and red coral, 
and amber, as well as many animal and vegetable sub- 
stances, in all, thirty-four ingredients. It would indeed 
seem that a good dose of such a mixture should have 
provided a cure for "all the ills that flesh is heir to," by 
the simple and effective means of removing the unhappy 
patient to a better world. 

Treating of the metallic affinities of preciouvS stones, 
Paracelsus (1493-1541) affirmed that the emerald was a 
copper stone ; the carbuncle and the jasper were golden 
stones ; the ruby and the chalcedony, silver stones. The 
" white sapphire" (corundum) was a stone of Jupiter, 
while the jacinth was a mercurial stone. Powdered 
jacinth mixed with an equal quantity of laudanum was 
recommended as a remedy for fevers resulting from 
"putrefaction of the air or water." This illustrates 
the custom of combining an inefficacious material, such 
as the powder of a precious stone, with another possess- 
ing genuine remedial virtue, the name of the stone ap- 
pealing to the popular superstitions regarding its thera- 

1 Venice, 1602, p. 254. 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 373 

peutic powers, and thus rendering the preparation more 
acceptable. 2 

It is related by Plutarch that when Pericles was dying 
of the plague, he showed to one of his friends, who was 
visiting him, an amulet suspended from his neck. This 
had been given to Pericles by the women of his house- 
hold, and Plutarch cites the instance as a proof that even 
the strongest minds will at certain times yield to the 
influence of superstition. 3 

There were sceptics in ancient times who put no faith 
in the popular superstitions as to the curative powers 
of precious stones. Eusebius (ca, 264r~ca. 349), in his 
oration on the Emperor Constantine the Great (272-337), 
says : 4 

He held that the varieties of stones so greatly admired were use- 
less and ineffective things. They possessed no other qualities than their 
natural ones, and hence no efficacy to hold evils aloof; for what power 
can such things have either to cure disease or to avert death? Never- 
theless, although he well knew this, he was in no wise opposed to 
their use simply as ornaments by his subjects. 

Middle High German didactic poem on precious 
stones, composed by Volmar, or Volamar, about 1250, 
appears to have been written as a rejoinder to a satirical 
poem, the work of a writer called the ' Strieker ' ' (rascal) . 
What chiefly aroused Volmar's wrath was the fact that 
this irreverent personage dared to assert that a piece of 

a " The Hermetic and Alchemical writings of Aureolus Philippus 
Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim, called Paracelsus the Great," 
trans, by Arthur Edward Waite, London, 1894, Vol. I, pp. 14, 225, 
Vol. II, p. 218. 

"Plutarchi, " Vitas," ed. Sinteris, Lipsise, 1884, p. 339; Pericles, 38. 

* Eusebii Pamphili, " De laudibus Constantini," cap. v ; in Eusebii, 
"Opera Omnia," ed. Migne, Parisiis, 1857, cols. 1337, 1340; Patro- 
Graecffi, vol. xx. 

374 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

colored glass set in a ring looked just as well and pos- 
sessed the same virtues as a genuine precious stone of the 
same color. Volmar does not mince matters, and roundly 
declares that whoever should Mil the man who wrote 
thus would do no sinful act. While we can scarcely rec- 
ommend such drastic action, we must admit that we feel 
a little sympathy with the medieval champion of genuine 
stones against imitations. 

A most interesting item recording one phase of a 
great tyrant's character is reported by Sir Jerome Hor- 
sey, who was entrusted with messages to and from Eliza- 
beth of England and Ivan the Terrible of Russia. He 
gives, in his " Travels," a graphic recital of an interview 
with Ivan just before the latter 7 s death in 1584. "We re- 
tain the archaic spelling as it is reproduced in the Hak- 
luyt publication from the original manuscript. Writing 
of Ivan, Horsey says ; 5 

Carried every daye in Ms chair into his treasure. One daye the 
prince heckoned me to follow, I strode emonge the rest venturously, 
and heard him call for som precious stones and Jewells, Told ihe 
prince and nobles present before and aboute him the virtue of such and 
such, which I observed, and do pray I may a littell degress to declare 
for ray own mernorie sake. 

" The load-stone you all know hath great and hidden vertue, with- 
out which the seas that eompas the world ar not navigable, nor the 
bounds nor circles of the earth cannot be knowen. Mahomett, the 
Percians profit, his tombe of steell hangs in their Bepatta at Darbent 
most miraculously " Caused the waiters to bringe a cbaine of nedells 
towehed by his load-stone, hanged all one by the other. " Tins faira 
currell (coral) and this faire turcas you see; take in your hand; of 
his natur arr orient coullers; put them on my hand and arm. I am 
poisoned with disease : you see they shewe their virtue by the diainge 
of their pure culler into pall : declares my death. Beach* owt my staff 
roiall; an unicorns horn garnished with verie fare diomondes, rubies, 

B The Travels of Sir Jerome Horsey, Hakluyt Society, London, 
1856, pp. 199, 200. 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 375 

sapliiers, emeralls and other precious stones that ar rich in vallew; 
cost 70 thousand marekes sterlings of David Grower from the f owlkers 
of Ousborghe. Seek owt for som spiders." Caused his phiziccians, 
Johannes Lloff, to scrape a circle thereof upon the tahell; putt within 
it one spider and so one other and died, and some other without that 
ran alive apace from it. "It is too late, it will not preserve me. 
Behold these precious stones. This diomond is the orients richest and 
most precious of all other. I never affected it; yt restreyns furie and 
luxurie and abstinacie and chasticie; the least parcell of it in powder 
will poysen a horse geaven to drinck, much more a man." Poynts at 
the ruby. " Oh ! this is most comfortable to the hart, braine, vigar and 
memorie of man, clarifies congelled and corrupt bloud." Then at the 
emerald. " The natur of the reyn-bowe ; this precious stone is an 
enemye to uneleanness. The saphier I greatlie delight in; yt preserves 
and increaseth courage, joies the hart, pleasinge to all the vitall sensis, 
precious and verie soveraigne for the eys, clears the sight, takes awaye 
bloudshott and streingthens the mussells and strings thereof." Then 
takes the ones in hand. "All these are Gods wonderfull guifts, 
secreats in natur, and yet revells [reveals] them to mans use and eon- 
templacion, as frendes to grace and vertue and enymies to vice. I 
fainte, carie me awaye till an other tyme." 

Some believed that when precious stones were worn 
to relieve or prevent disease, it was important that the 
different stones should be worn on different parts of the 
body. According to one authority, the jacinth should be 
worn on the neck; the diamond, on the left arm; the sap- 
phire, on the ring-finger ; the emerald, or the jacinth, on 
the index-finger ; and the ruby or turquoise, on either the 
index-finger or the little finger. 7 There is, however, little 
reason to assume that these rules were generally known 
and observed. 

That precious stones not only appealed to the eye by 

c The Fuggers of Augsburg, the jeweller bankers of the 15th and 
16th centuries, 

7 Wolffii, " Curiostis amtiletorum scrutator," Francof urti et 
Lipsise, 1692, p. 363; citing Eodolphus Goclenius (De peste, p. 70). 

376 CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

their beautiful colors, but also possessed a fragrant odor, 
was one of the many fanciful ideas regarding them. If 
we could believe the following circumstantial account, 
this was once experimentally proved: 8 

When precious stones are to be used in medicine, they must be 
pulverized until they are reduced to a powder so fine that it will not 
grate under the teeth, or, in the words of (Men, this powder must 
be as impalpable " as that which is blown into the eyes." Since this 
trituration is not usually operated with sufficient care by the apothe- 
caries, I begged a medical student, who was lodging with me, to pass 
an entire month in grinding some of these stones. I gave him 
emeralds, jacinths, sapphires, rubies, and pearls, an ounce of each 
kind. As these stones were rough and whole, he first crushed them a 
little in a well-polished iron mortar, using a pestle of the same metal ; 
afterward he employed a pestle and mortar of glass, devoting several 
hours each day to this work. At the end of about three weeks, his 
room, which was rather large, became redolent with a perfume, agree- 
able both from its variety and sweetness. This odor, which much 
resembled that of March violets, lingered in the room for more than 
three days. There was nothing in the room to produce it, so that it 
certainly proceeded from the powder of precious stones. 

2Diamonti 

Of the many medicinal virtues attributed to the dia- 
mond, one of the most noteworthy is that of an antidote 
for poisons. Strangely enough, the belief in its efficacy 
in this respect was coupled with the idea that the stone 
in itself was a deadly poison. The origin of this latter 
fancy must be sought in the tradition that the place 
wherein the diamonds were generated "in the land 
where it is six months day and six months night" was 
guarded by venomous creatures who, in passing over the 
stones, were wounded by tlie sharp points of the crystals, 

8 Olaus Borrichius, in the Collection Aeademique, Paris, 1757, 
tome iv, p. 338. 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 377 

and thus embued the stones with some of their venom. 9 
The attribution of curative properties in case of poison- 
ing arose from association of ideas. The Lapidario of 
Alfonso X recommends the diamond for diseases of the 
bladder; it adds, however, that this stone should be used 
only in desperate cases. 

The diamond was also believed to afford protection 
from plague or pestilence, and a proof of its powers in 
this direction was found in the fact that the plague first 
attacked the poorer classes, sparing the rich, who could 
afford to adorn themselves with diamonds. Naturally, 
in common with other precious stones, this brilliant gem 
was supposed to cure many diseases. Marbodus 10 tells 
us that it was even a cure for insanity. 

In the Babylonian Talmud we read of a marvellous 
precious stone belonging to Abraham. This was perhaps 
a diamond, or possibly a pearl; the accounts vary, and 
the same word is often used to designate "precious stone" 
and "pearl." The following version represents it to be 
a diamond : u 

R. Simeon, ben Johanan said : " A diamond was hang- 
ing 1 on Abraham's neck, and when a sick man looked upon 
it he was cured. And when Abraham passed away, the 
Lord sealed it in the planet of the sun." 

The Hindus believed that it was extremely dangerous 
to use diamonds of inferior quality for curative purposes, 
as they would not only fail to remedy the disease for 
which they were prescribed, but might cause lameness, 

8 Lapidario del Rey T). Alfonso X, Oodice Original, Madrid, 1881, 

f. 3d. 

10 1( l)e lapwlilwfl," Fribur^i, 1531, f. 8. 

"Nmv edition of the Babylonian Talmud, cd. and trans, by 
Miclm^l L. Hodkinsoii, vol. v (xiii), Baba Barat, New York, 1002, p. 
53. See also Boor, " Lobon Abraham's," Leipzig, 1859, p. 79. 

378 CUKIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

jaundice, pleurisy, and even leprosy. As to the use of 
diamonds of good quality, very explicit directions are 
given. On some day regarded as auspicious for the 
operation, the stone was to be dipped in the juice of the 
kantaJcdra (Solanum jaguiri) and subjected for a whole 
night to the heat of a fire made by dried pieces of the 
dung of a cow or of a buffalo. In the morning it was to 
be immersed in cow's urine and again subjected to fire. 
These processes were to be repeated for seven days, at 
the end of which term the diamond could be regarded as 
purified. After this the stone was to be buried in a paste 
of certain leguminous seeds mixed with asafc&tida and 
rock salt. Herein it was to be heated twenty-one suc- 
cessive times, when it would be reduced to ashes. If 
these ashes were then dissolved in some liquid, the potion 
would "conduce to longevity, general development of the 
body, strength, energy, beauty of complexion, and happi- 
ness," giving an adamantine strength to the limbs. 12 

An Austrian nobleman, who for a long time had not 
been able to sleep without having terrible dreams, was 
immediately cured by wearing a small diamond set in 
gold on his arm, so that the stone came in contact with 
his skin. 13 

The fact that in this case, as in many others, the stone 
was required to touch the skin, proves that the effect 
supposed to be produced was not altogether magical, hut 
in the nature of a physical emanation from the stone to 
the body of the wearer. 

We are told that when Pope Clement VII was seized 
by his last illness, in 1534, his physicians resorted to 

"Surindro Mohun Tagore, " Mani Mala," Ft I, Calcutta 
pp. 137, 139, 141. 

M Andrea Spigello, "De semitert"; cited in Gimma, Delia 
naturale delle gemme," Napoli, 1730, voL i, p. 208. 

Ttyuno fib y f, n .Unflinu . ? ucmi 
MMU > jto$Mttu cdtte >4tio cotrrtv 
iVtcnia . Ai \< II . * 

-j lomcntp 

;nv 

ii* tU-MKnv "hoii , hiima J. 
tn vlo:i ntitv Ulttvpicnx'..^ l 

^ niNtv ti^mnC^i ptvlan 
ct tufkinc^ dV bcttc-^tn n 
intvttqua mbAftL 

)^ u- CfV moUv U*iln*mniMxiTnm .in t 

j," 4 o 'p^ tt^'* 1 ia*t'niti fc 91121 mftm 
t, tin. tcmo^*intutllo *i uuolft 
IcKnix tndv7poztzi 
nilhn ^ c\' 

im ' 

tomnv b 

.tlniu t 

* ttuotit 

<" .11 atxnu i- pictia H ^ct gtTinCv i 
im 

^^l^u > nu nutnoiia ^7 ben ncruv 

-. >tmiUtnT inlitfo 

ucttvli mn4ti 

lib U* -? u ucttUc co Ci Ac- NUu Itcwnc 

put h: | i]lht 

n* 

* Ctiiutw -t am*! ^^f KtiU C 

fblt itiTtun 4 ^ cft- 

Inaiu , -^ piM ^* UClTliIV- 

atna tin 4. nucttm ^ 
ctic umiciuv ^[Tfiim unite 
1tt> ii0twilfitni UtiituU" I 
.14 

L hcinc * 

ti ofi*:ci molrc 

n>ma 

fi |.v 

tTinlLt ni4](h> 

IV o>i*iUiii, Cuv aHnr 

}>l 
Jin, 
lie it 7 vmn mot ? c 

I';n^iuul' pnp 1 ;*' of Itnliun vellum iruuniHcnp 
11! flu- Futtrfi'ciiih Century in uuthor'M libniry. 
TrfuUn^ of TojtHJ!, Tuniuoirto, Jacinth, (Jurn 

_ i uicUut ^t* U\tt 

i*i* txUuntx i^ibtC o lrx k n^*tx* ,i\C 
nopuo 

^~Mwl 

, trcatiso of the virtues of KOIHH. Italian MS. 
t, C'hjiloodony, Itook-cry-stal, Coral, 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OP STONES 379 

powders composed of various precious stones. In the 
space of fourteen days they are asserted to have given 
the pope forty thousand ducats' worth of these stones, 
a single dose costing as much as three thousand ducats. 
The most costly remedy of all was a diamond adminis- 
tered to him at Marseilles. Unfortunately, this lavish 
expenditure was of no avail; indeed, according to our 
modern science, the remedies might have sufficed to end 
the pope's life, without the help of his disease. 14 

The old fancy that the diamond grew dark in the pres- 
ence of poison is explained by the Italian physician 
Gonelli as caused by minute and tenuous particles which 
emanated from the poison, impinged upon the surface of 
the diamond, and, unable to penetrate its dense mass, 
accumulated on the surface, thus producing a superficial 
discoloration. The diamond, being a cold substance, 
may have condensed moisture from the body, and the one 
suffering from the poison may have emitted exudations. 
But this elaborate explanation of a phenomenon which 
never existed except in the imagination of those who 
related it is characteristic of Gonelli, who was always 
ready to elucidate in some similar way any of the marvels 
recounted in regard to precious stones. 15 

Cmerata 

The emerald was employed as an antidote for poisons 
and for poisoned wounds, as well as against demoniacal 
possession. If worn on the neck it was said to cure the 

u KauiMr, * L llislorLsehes Taschenbucli/ 7 I Ser, ? vol. vi, Leipzig, 
1835, p. 370. 

n . Joseph! Uoneili, "Thesaurus plulosophicus, sou de gemmis/ 7 
Neapoli, 1702, pp, 76, 77. 

w Lapidario del Key 0. Alfonso X, Codice Original, Madrid, 1881, 
f . xv. 

380 CUEIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES 

"semitertian" fever and epilepsy. 17 The use of the 
emerald to rest and relieve the eye is the only remedial 
use of a precious stone mentioned by Theophrastus in his 
treatise on gems, written in the third century B.C. Allud- 
ing to its powers as an antidote for poisons, Rueus as- 
serts 18 that if the weight of eighty barley-corns of its 
powder were given to one dying from the effects of 
poison, the dose would save his life. The Arabs prized 
emeralds highly for this purpose, and Abenzoar states 
that, having once taken a poisonous herb, he placed an 
emerald in his mouth and applied another to his stomach, 
whereupon he was entirely cured. 19 

A certain cure for dysentery also was to wear an 
emerald suspended so that it touched the abdomen and 
to place another emerald in the mouth. Michaele Pas- 
chali, a learned Spanish physician of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, declared that he had effected a cure of the disease 
by means of the emerald in the case of Juan de Mendoza, 
a Spanish grandee, and Wolfgang G-abelchover, of Calw, 
in "Wiirtemberg, writing in 1603, asserts that he had often 
tested the virtues of the emerald in cases of dysentery 
and with invariable success. 20 

It speaks not a little for the beauty of the emerald that 
so good a judge of precious stones as Pliny should have 
pronounced this gem to be the only one that delighted the 
eye without fatiguing it, adding that when the vision was 
wearied by gazing intently at other objects, it gained 
renewed strength by viewing an emerald. So general 
in the early centuries of our era was the persuasion that 

17 Marbodus, 1, c., f. 48. 
"Rueus,!. c., p. 36. 

^Morales, "De las piedras preciosas," Valladolid, 1604, f. 101. 
90 Andreas Bacei, "De gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis," Franwfurti, 
1603, pp. 63, 64 (annotation of Gabeleliover to his Latin version)* 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 381 

the pure green hue of emeralds aided the eyesight, that 
gem engravers are said to have kept some of them on 
their work-tables, so as to be able to look at the stones 
from time to time and thus relieve the eye-strain caused 
by close application to their delicate task. 21 

Pselhis says that a cataplasm made of emeralds was 
of help to those suffering from leprosy ; he adds that if 
pulverized and taken in water they would check hemor- 
rhages. 22 They were especially commended for use as 
amulets to be hung on the necks of children, as they 
were believed to ward off and prevent epilepsy. If, 
however, the violence of the disease was such that it 
could not be overcome by the stone, the latter would 
break. 23 Hermes Trismegistus says the emerald cures 
ophthalmia and hemorrhages. The great Hermes must 
have had a special preference for this stone, since his 
treatise on chemistry (peri chemeias] is said to have 
been found inscribed on an emerald. 24 

By the Hindu physicians of the thirteenth century the 
emerald was considered to "be a good laxative. It cured 
dysentery, diminished the secretion of bile, and stimu- 
lated the appetite. In short, it promoted bodily health 
and destroyed demoniacal influences. In the curious 
phrase of the school the emerald was "cold and 
sweet." 25 

Teifashi (1242 A.D.) believed that the emerald was a 

" Plinli t " Naturalis historia," lib. xxxvii, cap. 16. 

33 Psollus, " Do lapidum virtutibus," Lug-. Bat. 7 1745, p. 32. 

*Johaiinis Braunii, "De Vestitu sacerd. Heb.," AmsteL, 1680, 
p. 659. 

a *From an old book the title-page of which reads: "In hoe 
volumine do Alchemia," etc., Norimberghe, 1541, p. 363. 

"Oarba, "Pie inclische Mineralien; Naharari's Rajanighantu, 
xiii," Leipzig, 1882, p. 76. 

382 CUEIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

cure for haemoptysis and for dysentery if it were worn 
over the liver of the person affected; to cure gastric 
troubles, the stone was to be laid upon the stomach. 
Furthermore, the wearer was protected from the attacks 
of venomous creatures, and evil spirits were driven from 
the place where emeralds were kept. 20 The direction to 
place the stone on the affected part, a recommendation 
often met with in the treatises on the therapeutic use of 
ornamental stones, shows that these were believed to send 
forth emanations of subtle power. Probably enough, the 
brilliant play of reflected light which proceeds from 
many of these gems suggested the idea that they radiated 
a certain, curative energy. This theory need not sur- 
prise us, for, although it is altogether fanciful in the case 
of the diamond, ruby, emerald, etc., the newly discovered 
substance, radium, really possesses the active properties 
ascribed by old writers to precious stones. 

A stone the therapeutic quality of which was special- 
ized is the jade or nephrite. Strange to say, although 
there are very few places where this mineral can now 
be obtained, the chief sources of supply being the prov- 
ince of Khotan in Turkistan and New Zealand, in pre- 
historic times the stone must have been found In many 
different localities, since axe-heads and other artefacts 
of jade have been discovered in many lands both of the 
old and new world. 

When the Spaniards discovered and explored the 
southern part of the American continent, they came 
across numerous native ornaments and amulets made of 
jade (jadeite) and brought many of these -with them to 

'* Teif aslri, " Pior di pension, sulle pietre preziose," ItaL trans. 
by Antonio Rameri, Firenzi, 1818, p. 20. 

ON THEEAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 383 

Europe. The name jade is derived from the Spanish 
designation, piedra de hijada, meaning literally " stone 
of the flank/ 7 which is said to have been bestowed on the 
stone because the Indians used it for all diseases of the 
kidneys. The name nephrite owes its origin to the same 
idea. In ancient times jade appears to have been looked 
upon as a great aid in parturition, and many ingenious 
conjectures have been advanced as to the connection be- 
tween this belief and the form of some of the prehistoric 
objects made of this material. Whether the Spaniards 
really learned from the Indians that the stone was espe- 
cially adapted to cure renal diseases, or whether they 
only suggested this special and peculiar virtue in order 
to give an enhanced value to their jade ornaments, is a 
question not easily answered. 

An early notice of jade as a remedial agent appears 
in Sir Walter Baleigh's account of his travels in G-uiana. 
Treating of a people of "Amazons" said to dwell in the 
interior of the country, Kaleigh says : 2T 

These Amazones have likewise great store of these plates of golde, 
which they recover by exchange, chiefly for a kinde of greene stone, 
which the Spaniards call Piedras Hijadas, and we use for spleene 
stones and for the disease of the stone we also esteeme them: of these 
I saw divers in Guiana, and commonly every King or Casique hath 
one, which theire wives for the most part weare, and they esteeme them 
as great jewels. 

By the middle of the seventeenth century the curative 
powers of jade for the various forms of calculi was very 
generally admitted. A singular instance is offered us in 
ono of Voiture's letters. He was a great sufferer from 
"the stone' 7 and he had received, from a Mademoiselle 
Paulet, a beautiful jade bracelet. Gratefully acknowl- 

* ** The Discovery of the Large, Bich, and Beautif ul Empire of 
Guiana*" London, 1848, p. 29, Hakluyt Pub. Originally published in. 
1506. 

384 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

edging the receipt of this peculiar gift, he expresses him- 
self in the following frank way, a mixture of indelicacy 
and gallantry that seems strange to us: "If the stones 
you have given me do not break mine, they will at least 
make me bear my sufferings patiently; and it seems to 
me that I ought not to complain of my colic, since it has 
procured me this happiness." The name used for jade 
by Voiture, "Vejade" supplied a missing link in the 
derivation of our name jade from the Spanish hijada. 
When the lady's gift was received by Voiture, some 
friends chanced to be present, and they were disposed to 
regard it as a token of love until he assured them that it 
was only a remedy. It appears that Mile. Paulet was a 
fellow sufferer, and, alluding to this, Voiture writes: 
"On this occasion the jade had for you an effect you did 
not expect from it, and its virtue defended your own." 2 * 
Eenal calculi and poetry do not seem to have much in 
common, but the following lines freely rendered from 
an old Italian poem on the subject by Ciri do Pers show 
that even this unpromising theme is susceptible of poetic 
treatment : 20 

"Other white stones serve to mark happy e kyng hath none better. 
Petislich 8 * hir f yngres were fretted M with gold tvyre, 

^Garbe, "Die indische Mineralien"; Nahararfs " Hajanigkantu," 
Varga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 70. 

** The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman, by Wil- 
liam Langley (or Langland). Ed. by Eev. Walter W. Skeat, 6xford t 
1881, p. 16. Passus II, lines 8-15. 

** Trimmed with fur. 

84 Handsomely. 

M Adorned. 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 387 

And >ere-on red rubyes as red as any glede, 85 

And diamants of derrest pris, and double manere safferes, 

Orientales and ewages 37 ennenyraes 38 to destroye. 

Among the rich gifts offered at the shrine of St. 
Erkinwald, in Old Saint Paul's, was a sapphire given in 
1391 by Eichard Preston, "a citizen and grocer of Lon- 
don." He stipulated that the stone should be kept at 
the shrine for the cure of diseases of the eyes, and that 
proclamation should be made of its remedial virtues. St. 
Erkinwald was the son of Offa, King of the East Saxons, 
and was converted to Christianity by Melittus, the first 
bishop of London. In 675 A.D. he himself became bishop 
of London, being the third to attain that rank after the 
death of Melittus. His body was interred in the cathe- 
dral, and his shrine, which was richly embellished during 
the reign of Edward III (1327-1377), received many 
valuable donations. 80 

The usefulness of the sapphire as an eyestone for the 
removal of all impurities or foreign bodies from the eye 
is noted by Albertus Magnus, who writes that he had seen 
it employed for this purpose. He adds that when a sap- 
phire was used in this way it should be dipped in cold 
water both before and after the operation. 40 This was 
probably not so much to make the stone colder to the 
touch as to cleanse it, certainly a very necessary pro- 
ceeding when the same stone was used by many persons 
suffering from contagious diseases of the eyes. 

** Burning coal. 

37 Aquamarines. 

"* Poisons. 

* Dngdak, " History of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London/' Lon- 
don, 1818, vol. i, pp. 15, 1C. First edition published in 1658. 

40 Albert! Ma#ni, " Opera omnia," ed. Bor#net, Paris, 1890, vol. v, 
p. 44, 

388 CURIOUS LOBE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

Bichard Preston's sapphire appears to have been 
only one of a class regarded as having special virtue to 
cure diseased eyes, as is shown by the existence of various 
other similar sapphires in different parts of Europe. It 
is not very easy to determine the precise reason if there 
be one which rendered any single sapphire more useful 
than another in this respect An entry in the inventory 
of Charles V notes "an oval Oriental sapphire for touch- 
ing the eyes, set in a band of gold." 41 Possibly the fact 
that a particular gem of this kind was used remedially, 
and was not set for wear as an ornament, may have been 
the only cause for a belief in its special virtue. 

That the sapphire should have been regarded as espe- 
cially valuable for the cure of eye diseases serves to illus- 
trate the wide-reaching and persistent influence of 
Egyptian thought, and the curious transformations 
through which an originally reasonable idea may pass in 
the course of time. We have already noted that the 
sapphire of the ancients was our lapis-lazuli, and in the 
Ebers Papyrus lapis-lazuli is given as one of the ingredi- 
ents of an eye-wash. This ingredient is believed to have 
originally been the oxide of copper sometimes called 
lapis Armenus, a material possessing marked astringent 
properties, and which might be used to advantage in cer- 
tain morbid conditions of the eye. Lapis-lazuli, another 
blue stone, was later substituted because of its greater 
intrinsic value, its similarity of color rendering it equally 
efficacious according to primitive ideas on this subject* 
When, however, in medieval times, the name sapphire 
came to signify the blue corundum gem known to us by 
this designation, the special curative virtues of the lapis- 
lazuli were transferred to this still more valuable stone, 

"Labarte, "Inventaire du mobilier de Charles V," Paris, 1879, 
p. 308, No. 2937. 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 389 

The proper method of applying a sapphire to cure 
plague boils is given at some length by Von Helmont. A 
gem of a fine, deep color was to be selected and rubbed 
gently and slowly around the pestilential tumor. During 
and immediately after this operation, the patient would 
feel but little alleviation; but a good while after the re- 
moval of the stone, favorable symptoms would appear, 
provided the malady were not too far advanced. This 
Von Helmont attributes to a magnetic force in the sap- 
phire by means of which the absent gem continued to 
extract "the pestilential virulency and contagious poyson 
from the infected part." 42 

The use of a topaz to cure dimness of vision is strongly 
recommended by St. Hildegard. To attain the desired 
end the stone was to be placed in wine and left there for 
three days and three nights. "When retiring to sleep, the 
patient should rub his eyes with the moistened topaz, so 
that this moisture lightly touched the eyeball. After the 
stone had been removed, the wine could be used for five 
days. 43 

A Koman physician of the fifteenth century was re- 
puted to have wrought many wonderful cures of those 
stricken by the plague, through touching the plague sores 
with a topaz which had belonged to two popes, Clement 
VI and Gregory II. The fact that this particular topaz 
had been in the hands of two supreme pontiffs must have 
added much to the faith reposed in the curative powers 

** " A Ternary of Paradoxes, written originally by Joh. Bapt. Van 
Hiilmont and translated, illustrated, and amplieated by Walter Charle- 
ton," London, 1650, p. 17. 

**& Hildegardae, "Opera crania," in Pat. Lat. ed. by J. P. Migne, 
vol. cxcvii, Parisiis, 1855, col. 1255. 

390 CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES 

of the stone by those upon whom it was used, and this 
faith may really have helped to hasten their recovery. 44 

A historical instance of the use of the bloodstone to 
check a hemorrhage is recorded in the case of Giorgio 
Vasari (1514r-1578), the author of the lives of the Italian 
painters of the Renaissance period. On a certain occa- 
sion, when the painter Luca Signorelli (1439-1521) was 
placing one of his pictures in a church at Arezzo, Vasari, 
who was present, was seized with a violent hemorrhage 
and fainted away. Without a moment's hesitation, Sig- 
norelli took from his pocket a bloodstone amulet and 
slipped it down between Vasari 's shoulder-blades. The 
hemorrhage is said to have ceased immediately. 45 

The bloodstone was used as a remedy by the Indiana 
of New Spain, and Monardes notes that they often cut 
the material into the shape of hearts. This seems a very 
appropriate form for an object used to check hemor- 
rhages. The best effect was attained when the stone was 
first dipped in cold water and then held by the patient 
in his right hand. Of course the application of any cold 
object would serve to congeal the blood, but the connec- 
tion with the heart vanishes in the direction to place the 
stone in the right hand. Monardes states that both Span- 
iards and Indians used the bloodstone in this way. 46 

The Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagun, a mis- 
sionary to the Mexican Indians, shortly after the Spanish 
Conquest, writes that in 1576 he cured many natives who 

**Arnobio, "II tesoro delle gioie," Venice, 1602, p. 21. 
40 Bellucci, " II f etieismo in Italia/ 7 Perugia, 1907, p. 91, note, 
"Monardes, Semplicinm inedieamentoram ex novo orbe delatorum 
historia (Latin version by Clusius), Antverpi, 1579, p. 51. 

- -tiff PI* 

3ttj*g3l$>'3f* 

8p 

iS^fiBlS** 

iifgi$f&!i 

B ^ 

w p 

H O 

O oo 

ON THERAPEUTIC USES OF STONES 391 

were at the point of death from hemorrhage, a result of 
the plague, by causing them to hold in the hand a piece 
of bloodstone. By this means he claims to have saved 
many lives. 47 

Eobert Boyle, in his "Essay about the Origin and 
Virtues of Gems " (London, 1672, pp. 177-78), tells of 
a gentleman of his acquaintance who was "of a complex- 
ion extraordinary sanguin," and was much afflicted with 
bleeding of the nose. A gentlewoman sent to him a blood- 
stone, directing him to wear it suspended from his neck, 
and from the time he put it on he was no longer troubled 
with his malady. It recurred, however, if he removed 
the stone. When Boyle objected that this might be a 
result of imagination, his friend disposed of his objec- 
tion by relating the instance of a woman to whom the 
stone had been applied when she was unconscious from 
loss of blood. Nevertheless, as soon as it touched her, 
the flow of blood was checked. Boyle states that this 
stone did not seem to him to resemble a true bloodstone. 
Tt may have been that the cold of the stone congealed 
the blood, or that the flow was checked by exhaustion. 

4T Salmon, " Ilistoria general cle las cosas de Nueva Espana, vol. iii. 
Mexico, 1830, pp. 300, 301; lib. ad, cap. viii. 

Snbex 

Aaron, 102, 277, 300, 310, 318 
Abdul Hamid, Sultan, 139 
Abraham, diamond of, 377 

luminous stones in his city, 161, 

276 
Abrasax (Abraxas), 126-130 

meaning of name, 127 
Acrostics expressed with stones, 359- 

362 
Adamas (diamond?), 39, 95, 157, 163 

of high-priest, 278 

Adam's Peak, Ceylon, gems from, 75 
Adelbert, St., 164 
Aelian, 161 
^Btites, 34 
Agalmatolite, 48 
Agate, 51-54, 132, 236, 237, 265, 296, 

305, 336 

amulets in the Soudan, 54 
amulets of, cut in Idar and Ober- 

atein, 54 

banded, 39, 233, 296 
coral, for an air-ship, 53 
eye-agates and "Aleppo Stones," 
" 39, 149, 150 
gem of Gemini, 346 
of Mercury, 350 
of Venus, 349 
in breastplate, 276 
with veinings figuring diadem, 267 
Agathareules, 66 
Agrirola, Georgiua, 141 
Agrippa, Cornt'IiuH, 181, 335, 336 
Alihimah, stone of breastplate, 297 
Air-ship, with coral agate, 52, 53 
AlnhorfUT, :*f>, 3t> 
Alarlr, 2S.H 
"Albert," "Lc Grand," "Le Petit," 

troatisfH on Htones, 18 
A!H<*rttiH MagmiH, 7, 17, 68, 77, 78, 

I W, ;$S7 
Attrifv. 4S 
"Al**ppoSfonos," 149 

hoi!, 149 

Al<*r the Orwit, 68, 96, 125 
AK\'n 

symbolinm of, 32 

Black opal of New South Wito, !f>2 
Blake, W. W. t vii 
Bleasington, Countess of, vcr#e& on 

opal, 143 
Bloodstone, 133 

causing temptwts, 00 

checking hemorrhacx^ 2H 

figuring blood of Canst* 267 

gem of Aries, 345 

in Leyclen papvruf, fl 

therapeutic effect of, 370, 390. 

391 
Blue, Christian symbolism of, 2/3 

INDEX 

395 

Blue, gems in dreams, 357 
significance of, 31 
silver, worn in Siam for Friday; 

dark for Saturday, 335 
Bologna stone, 168 
Bonderoy, Jean de la Taille de, 5 
Book of the Dead, 38, 86, 225, 227, 

228, 229, 290, 297 
Book of Wings, RagieFs, 132 
Boot, Anselmus de, 56, 65, 106, 109, 

110, 271 

Borgia, Card. Stefano, 234 
Borneo, breeding pearls in, 42 
Boyle, Robert, 169, 170, 171, 391 
Braddock, Dr. Charles, vii 
Breastplate of high-priest, 16, 120, 

231, 307, 308, 309, 310, 319 

stones of, 275-302 

names of, in ancient lists, 301 

probable modern names of, 301 
Breastplate of Judgment, 16 
Buddha, 238 
Buddhabhatta, 71, 73 
Budge, Dr. Ernest A. Wallis, vii, 

227 

Burgh, Hubert de, 44 
Burke, Capt. John G., 202 
Burma, amulets of, 266 
Burton, Sir Richard Francis, star- 
sapphire of, 106 

Caesar, Julius, 341 
CaglioHtro (Giuseppe Balsamo), 198 
Cairo Museum, 38, 201, 297 
Calamine, religious use of, 271, 272 
Caleuluw, renal, curious poem on, 384 
California Midwinter Mem, Mus., 

iSan Francisco, vi 
Californite, 323 
Collate, 108 

Cancer, zodiacal sign, 346, 354 
Canrobert, Marshal, laith in amulets, 

25 

Cantnnpre", Thomas de, 17, 59 
Capricorn, zodiacal sign, 342, 347 
Carbuncle, 33, 39, 145, 162, 168, 174, 
243, 292, 305, 343, 357, 372 

as symbol of Christ's sacrifice, 61 

brought by serpent, 62 

gem of Venus, 348 

In breastplate, 276 
Carcinia, 34 

Cardano, Girolamo, 52, 70, 78, 83, 
08, 151, 160, 264 

Carnelian, 6, 36, 37, 119, 124, 133, 
226, 227, 229, 265, 290, 291, 
319 

Arabic inscription on, 63 
engraved with zodiacal signs, 

341 

figures engraved in, by Israel- 
ites, 120 
gem of Virgo, 346 

of the Sun and Venus, 348 
Goethe's praise of, 62 
identified with octem-stone of 

breastplate, 120 
Mohammed's seal-ring of, 64 
Napoleon's seal of, 64 
Oriental use against envy, 63 
therapeutic effect of, 370 
Carrington, Hereward, vii 
Catherine de 7 Medici, girdle of, set 

with talismanic stones, 317 
Cat's-eye, 65, 238, 242, 243, 244 
alexandrite, 334 
chrysoberyl, 333 
quartz, 334 

Cellini, Benvenuto, 154 
Celonite, 134 
Ceraunia, 34, 134, 162 
Cernowitz, Hungary, opals of, 148 
Cethel, 140 

Ceylon, 54, 65, 75, 165, 252, 324 
Chalazia (rock-crystal), 34 
Chalcedony, 39, 65, 122, 134, 265, 

303, 305, 313, 372 
as symbol of St. Andrew, 312 
gem of Capricorn, 347 
Chalchiuhatlj " water of precious 

stones," in Aztec, 40 
Chakhiuitl (jadeite?), 247, 251 
Charles I of England, 262 
Charles V of France, 388 
Charles V of Germany and the tur- 
quoise, 24 

Charles XII of Sweden, 57 
Chau Ju-Kua, 165 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 43 
Chelonites, 34 

Chiastolite (made) as religious sym- 
bol, 270 

therapeutic effect of, 270 
Childeric, crystal ball of, 219-221 
Chinese amulets, 40, 84-87 
Chin T'sang Km", of loadstone, 95 
Chirocrates, 93 

Chlorastrolite, from Minnesota, 365 
Chlorophane, luminescence of, 172, 
173 

396 

INDEX 

Christ, blood of, figured in blood- 
stone, 267 
colors symbolical of his sacrifice, 

274 
foundation stones symbols of, 

313 
head of, naturally figured in 

quartz, 267, 268 
natural images of, in stones, 266, 

267, 268, 269 

sacrifice of, symbolized by ame- 
thyst, 269 

Chromium oxide, 10 
Chrysoberyl, 54, 65, 313 

cat's-eye, 333 
Chrysolampis, 164 

Chrysolite, 29, 133, 291, 297, 303, 305 
as symbol of St. Bartholomew, 

312 

from the "Serpent Isle," 66 
gem of Libra, 346 
of the Sun, 347 
in Cologne Cathedral, 66 
statue of Arsinoe in, 67 
Chrysoprase, 11, 37, 67, 265, 303, 305, 

313, 316, 319 

as symbol of St. Thaddeus, 312 
of Alexander the Great, 68 
Chrysostom, John, 125 
Cicero, his daughter's emerald, 31 
Claudian, 94 

Clavijo, Ruy Gonzalez; de, 266 
Cleandro, Arnobio, 165, 372 
Clemens Alexandrinus, 309 
Clement VI, 389 
Clement VII, 342, 378 
Clerc, Dr. G. 0., vii 
Cock, the, on amulets, 137 
Cologne, chrysolites in cathedral of, 66 
Color, Christian symbolism of, 273, 

274 
of gems and vestments for each 

day of the week in Siam, 335 
symbolism of, 29-33 
therapeutic effect of, 27-29, 33, 

370 

Confucius and musical jade, 87 
Consecration of precious stones, 44, 

45 

Constantine, King of Greece, star- 
sapphire in sword-hilt of, 334 
Constantine the Great, 136, 286, 373 
Constellations, symbols of, in en- 
graved gems, 352-355 
Coral, 40, 68, 69, 236, 237, 238, 242, 
243, 244, 245, 246 

Coral, gem of Venus, 348 

red, superstition in regard to, 

explained, 160, 161 
therapeutic effect of, 372 
Cornelius a Lapide (Van den Steen). 

280 

Corundum, 39, 252, 344, 372 
Council of Laodicea, canon on amu- 
lets, 42 

Countries, gem of, 363, 364 
Crocidolite (Krokidolite), 360 
Cronstedt, Axel Frederic, 271 
Crookes, Sir William, 172 
Cross, monpgrammatic, 136 

of Christ, found by St. Helena, 

286 

Crusades, 66 
Crux ansata, 135 
Crystal ball, called " Currahmore 

Crystal/' 223 
from Madagascar, 217 
in Grtine Gewdlbe, Dresden, 

223 

in sepulchres, 219-222 
Japanese, 217, 2 IS 
of Childeric, 219-221 
Crystal gazing. 176-224 
Ctesiphon, sack of, 284, 2S5 
"Currahmore Crystal," 223 
Cyanite, 49 
CyanuSj 119 
Cylinders, Assyro-Babylonian, 121- 

123, 204 

"Cyrianides," Greek treatise on 
stones, 16 

Damigeron, 15, 90, 104, 132, 140, 141 
Damour, A., vii 
Dan, 289, 297 

Days of the week, ritual p;ems worn 
in occult ceremony, 336 
gems of the, 332, 33 
Dee, Dr. John, 189-196 
Delhi, 79 
Demantoid, 49 
Dendrite, 360 

Diamond, 10, 28, 32, 69-76, 234, 230, 
239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 269 
280, 281, 294, 344, 34B, 375 
as natal stone, 308, 320 
breeding, 41, 72 
combustion of, 71 
"Diamond Throne," 238 
elmeshu in Assyrian (?}, 231 

INDEX 

397 

Diamond, gem of reconciliation, 70 
of Taurus, 347 
of the Sun, 349 
of Winter, 323, 326, 327 
in breastplate, 276 
medicinal use of, 153 
names of Hindu castes given to, 

71, 73 

paleness sign of infidelity, 157 
Sanskrit names of, 343 
secured by birds, 75, 176 
symbolism of, 235 
talismanic effect of various shapes 

of, 154 

Talmudic legend of, 74 
therapeutic effect of, 386-389 
used as poison, Bajazet II, Para- 
celsus, Cellini, Sir Thomas 
Overbury, 154-156 
"Diamond Throne," 238 
Diana and Amethyst, 59 
Diaspore, 47 

Didius Julianus, Emperor, 178 
Diodorus, Bishop of Tyre, 16 
Diodorus Siculus, 66, 298 
Dionysius Periegetes, 298 
Dioptase, gem of the Congo, 363 
Djoskoridcs, Greek gem-engraver, 342 
Disease in precious stones, 5 
Dolce Ludovico, 18 
Domitian, 341 
Donnerkril, 162 
Draper, Mrs. Henry, vii 
Dreams, books of, ancient, 356, 357 
meaning of precious stones seen 
in, 356-358 

E 

Ebers Papyrus, 367, 368, 388 

Echites, 34 

Edda, 146 

Edward III of England, 387 

Edward VI of England, 98 

Kgrnund Abbey, luminous stone of, 164 

Elsuolitc, 47 

Klcctrum, 37, 295 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 150, 
ISO, 374 

Elizabeth, St., 268 

luminous stone in shrine of, 165 
ring of, 165 

Emerald, 28, 34, 68, 76-79, 90, 132, 
145, 234, 236, 237, 238, 240, 
242, 280, 293, 303, 305, 313, 
336, 349, 372 

Emerald as burnt offering, 255 
as symbol of St. John, 312 
blinding of serpent by, 158 
engraved, of Ismenias, 139, 140 
gem of Cancer, 346 
of Jupiter, 348 
of Spring, 323, 324 
in breastplate, 276 
in Revelation, 304 
luminous, in tomb of Hermias, 

167 

of Isabella da Este, 31 
of Mt. Zabara, Nubia, 292, 324 
of Otho I of Germany, 260 
of Tullia, 31 
one adored by ancient Peruvians, 

247, 248 
(supposed) cup in Genoa, 258, 

259 
therapeutic effect of, 370, 375, 

379-382 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 24 
Engraved gems as talismans, 115-142 
Envy, Oriental use of carnelian 

against, 63 

Ephod of high-priest, 276, 277 
Ephraim, 288, 289 
Epidote, 360 
Epiphanius, St., 16, 67, 157, 278, 295, 

311, 313 
Epitaphs illustrating symbolism of 

gems, 272, 273 
Erasmus, Desiderius, 34 
Eridanus, 56 
Essonite, 359 
Euclase, 47 
Euphrates, 68 
Europa, 33 
Eusebius, 373 
Evax, 15, 59 
Evil Eye, 39, 42, 54, 72, 106, 107, 137, 

138, 139, 148, 150 
Eye-agates, 39, 149, 150 
Ezekiel, 231, 275, 314 

Farrington, Dr. Oliver C., vii 
Fay, Mons du, 170, 171 
Feavearyear, A. W., vii 
Feits'ui (Imperial jade), 83, 85 
Feldspar, 229, 292 
Ferez, Dr, Paul, 33 
Fetichism, 19, 20, 37 
Field Museum of Natural History, 
Chicago, vi, 51, 66 

398 

INDEX 

Fire-opal, 47 

Flint, Dr. Earle, 86 

Fluorescence, 169-174 

Fluorspar, 9, 67 

Foundation stones, 307, 310-314, 316, 

317 
associated with apostles, 303-306 

with Twelve Tribes, 314 
Fowlerite, from New Jersey, 365 
Francis I of France, 342 
Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, 57 

G 

Gabelchover, Wolfgang, 158, 380 
Gad, 289, 299 
Gadolinite, 49 
Gagates, 49 
Galactides, 49 
Galen, 300, 376, 385 
Galopetrce, Cretan seals, 123 
Garcias ab Orta, 153, 166, 167 
Garnets, 265, 316 

almandine, 37, 59, 293 

as bullets, 33 

engraved, 133 

gem of Aquarius, 345 

therapeutic effect of, 370 
Gem-city of Dwaraka, 236 

of Kusavati, 236 

described by Lucian, 237 
Gemini, zodiacal sign, 346, 354, 355 
"Gemma Augustea" of Vienna Col- 
lection, 342 
Genlis, Mme. de, of "Le Saphixe Mer- 

veilleux," 105 
George V of England, 288 
Geranites, 34 
Gesner, Conrad, 252, 259 
Gesta Romanorum, 35 
Gimma, Giacinto, 29 
Glanvil, Joseph, 197 
Gnostic gems, 126-130 
Goethe, Wolfgang von, 62, 187 
Gomara, Francisco Lopez de, 254 
Gonelli, Giuseppe, 65, 379 
Gonzaga da Este, Isabella, emerald 

of, 31 

Goodrich-Freer, Miss, 208, 209 
Gratacap, Dr. L. P., vii 
Green, Christian symbolism of, 273 

curative effects of, 28 

gems in dreams, 357 

significance of, 31, 226, 227 
stones, therapeutic effect of, 370 
worn in Siam for Thursday, 335 

Green, Miss Belle Da Costa, vii 
Gregory II, 389 
Grossularite, 47 
Gyges, ring of, 7 
Gypsum, 10, 79, SO 

"lucky stones' 7 of, SO 

H 

Han-yil, or "mouth jade/' 86 

Hardouin, Jean, 128 

Harlequin-opal, 49 

Hauffe, Frederike, 9 

Hecate, image of, in amulet, 40 

Hector, 30 

Hei-tiki of New Zealand, 87-90 

Helena, St., 286 

Heliades, 55 

Heliodor, 49 

Heliotrope, 47 

Helmont, Von, 389 

Hematite, 6, 38, SO, 81, 122, 218, 
227 

Henrietta Maria, 262 

Henry III of England, 44 

Henry II of Franco, 160 

Heouen Tsang, 238 

Heraclius, 280 

Hermes TrismegistuH, 16, 381 

Hiddenite, from North Carolina, 
365 

Hilda, St., Abbess of Whitby, 263 

Hildegard, St., 70, 82, 3Stt 

"Hind Horn and Maid Rimnilti " 
ballad, 1,50, 157 

Hirth, Dr. Frederick, vii 

"History of Jewels/' old gem-trea- 
tise, 17 

Hoernes, Dr. Moriz, 55, 135 

Hollenzwang of Dr. Faust iw, 

Homer's Odyssey, amber 

57 
Iliad, two of rod, 30 

Horsey, Sir Jerome, 374 

Horus, eye of, as scarab, 117 

Hours of the day, gems of the, 337 

Hudibras, 350 

Human sacrifice, 3-5 

Huntilite, 49 

Hyacinth, BQQ jacinth 

Hyades, 343 
Hyde, Major, 113 
Hydrolite, from Oregon, 365 
Hydromantii) ISO 
Hypersthene, 49 
Hypnotism, 7, 8, II, 33 

INDEX 

399 

Iceland spar, 9 

Idar, Germany, gem-cutting at, 54 

Idocrase, 359 

Images, natural, in stones, 266-269 

Imperial Academy, Moscow, 142 

Indersoen, Norway, amber from, 57 

Indicolite, 360 

Initials of names figured by precious 

stones, 47-50 
lolite, 359 
Iris, 124, 130, 132, 226, 234 

image signifying blood of, 120 
stone, 133 
Isaiah, 305 
Ishtar, jewels of, 231 
Isidorus of Seville, 59 
Israel, twelve tribes of, 276, 278, 282, 

288, 289, 305, 314 
Issachar, 289, 294 
Italian MS., 14th cent., 70, 77, 134 
Ivan the Terrible and his curative 

stones, 374, 375 
Ivory, 37 

Jacinth (hyacinth), 29, 81-83, 234, 
242, 243, 295, 296, 303, 305, 
316, 319, 344, 349, 375 

as symbol of St. Simon Zelotes, 
313 

electuary of, 372 

gem of Jupiter, 348 
of Mars, 348 

to dissolve magic spells, 82 

to induce sleep, 83 

Jade, 68, 83-90, 122, 236, 248-254, 
265, 294, 300 

called, with other green stones, 
ckalchihuitl by Mexicans, 251 

Chinese amulets of, 83, 84 

Chinese vase of, described, 239, 
240 

derivation of name, 383 

form of Chinese character for, 
83 

hei-likis of New Zealand, 87-90 

large mass of, from Jordans- 
rauhl, Silesia, 250 

objects of in Chinese emperor's 
collection, 245 

of New Zealand, 382 

talismans of, among Moham- 
medans. 246 

therapeutic uae of, 239, 381-384 

Jade, where found in New and Old 

World, 249-251 
adze, known as the "Kunz 

Adze," 248, 249, 252 
Jadeite, 247, 249-252, 300, 382 
cross made from celt of, 264 
objects of, at Perugia, 264 
Jagganath, image of with eyes of 

precious stones, 240 
James I of England, 155 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907, vi 
J&mi, lines in crystal mirror, 182 
Jargoon, see jacinth 
Jasper, 6, 38, 90, 91, 122, 133, 135, 
226, 227, 229, 252, 265, 291, 
294, 298, 300, 302, 303, 305, 
313, 319, 372 

as symbol of St. Peter, 311 
gem of Libra, 346 
green, engraved with zodiacal 

symbols, 342 
in breastplate, 276 
of King Nechepsus, 385 
Jerome, St., 100, 307, 310 
Jessen, Dr. Peter, vii 
Jet, 39, 91, 92 

in burials of Pueblo Bonito, 92 
in palaeolithic remains, 91 
of Whitby, 263, 264 
John, St., 275, 303, 311 
Jordansmiihl, Silesia, largest mass 

of European jade found at, 250 
Joseph, 288, 289, 295 
Josephus, Flavius, 277, 278, 283, 285, 
290, 291, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 
301, 307, 309, 310 
Juba, 66 
Judah, 289, 293 

Junpt, Marshal, and the emerald, 262 
Jupiter, god, 341 

planet, 32, 33, 243, 336, 348, 353, 

354, 355, 372 
Justinian. 283 

Kaldoun, Ibn, 181 

Kalpa Sutra, 238 

Kazwini, Al, 74 

Khusrau II, 284 

King, Rev. C. W., '283, 342 

Knopf, 253 

Konrad of Megenberg, 17, 45, 141 

Koran, 111, 275 

Fourth Heaven of carbuncle in 
the, 61, 349 

400 

INDEX 

Korea, national emblem of, 265 
Krishna, 241 
Kunzite, 171, 323 

Labradorite, 360 
Labrets, 252-254 
Lane, E. W., experiments in crystal 

gazing, 205 

Lang, Andrew, 180, 181, 210 
Lapidaries, gods of, in ancient Mex- 
ico, 255 

Lapidario, of Alfonso X, 63, 348, 376 
of Marbodus (in French), 15 
of Philippe de Valois, 102 
of Sir John Mandeville, 71, 72, 

103, 109 

Lapis Armenus, 388 
Lapis crucifer (staurolite), 271 
Lapis-lazuli, 36, 37, 38, 92, 93, 226, 
227, 228, 229, 230, 245, 294, 
319, 336 

gem of Venus, 348 
image of Ma (Truth) of, 119, 122, 

229 293 

therapeutic effect of, 370, 388 
Lapis nephriticus (nephrite), 264 
Laufer, Dr. Berthold, vii 
Leczinska, Marie, 320 
L&ishmania tropica, 149 
Lenormant, Francois, 233 
Leo, zodiacal sign, 29, 341, 346, 354 
Leonardo, Camillo, 18, 51, 58, 132 
Leopold I of Germany, 221 
Lepidolite, 48 

Leshem, stone of breastplate, 295, 296 
Levi, 288, 289, 292 
Leyden papyrus, praise of bloodstone 

in, 61 
Libra, zodiacal sign, 212, 346, 354, 

355 

Life in precious stones, 5 
Ligure, in breastplate, 276, 295, 319 
"Lithica," poem on gems, 51, 90, 94, 

163, 178 

Litteromancy, 16 
Llewellyn, King of Wales, 44 
Loadstone, 10 ; 81, 93-97, 134 

court decision in regard to, 96 
statue of Arsinoe to be held sus- 
pended by, 93 
statue of Venus of, 94 
symbolical names for, 95 
used as charm by Alexander the 
Great, 96 

Loadstone, where first found, 93 

Lodge, Sir Oliver, 214, 215 

Lorenzo del Escorial, San, monastery 

of, gems in, 263 

Lorraine, northern, jet from, 92 
Loreto, Santa Cana di, 174, 262, 267 
Los Cerrillos, N. M., turquoise from. 

Ill, 112 
Louis XIV. 221 
Luca ben Costa, 291 
Lucian, 177, 237 
"Lucky stones" (gypsum), from 

Niagara Falls, SO 
Luminous stones, 101, 174 

in Abraham's city, 161, 276 
of Astarte, 163 
of Egmund Abbey, 164 
of Emperor Manuel's throne, 

166 

of Henri II of France, 166 
of King of Siam, 62 
of Noah in the Ark, 161, 

276 

of St. Elizabeth's shrine, 165 
tale of, by Aelian, 161, 162 
"Lunar-stone," 168 
Luther, Martin, 294 

tale of amulet vendor by, 45, 46 
Lychnits or lychnitis (a spinel?). 162, 

163, 357 

Lydian stone, 163 
Lyncurius, 56, 295 

M 

Macon, Ga., court decision about 
loadstone, 96 

Maeterlinck, Mine., 70 

Magatama amulets of Japanese, 205 

Magical influences of atones, 3> 5, 6, 
7, 42 

Magncs, reputed discoverer of load- 
stone, 93 

Magnet Cove, Ark,, Ioadtom from, 
96 

Maltaratnani, five chief gems of the 
naoratna, 242 

Malachite, 8, 37, 290 

as a child's amulet, 07 
to protect from Evil Eye, 137 
to protect from falls, 07 
mines of, 97 

Manassah, 288, 289 

Mandeville, Sir John, 71, 72, 103, 
jLv/y 

Manuel, Emperor, throne of, 166 

INDEX 

401 

Marbodus, 15, 51, 59, 70, 104, 164, 

377 

Marguerite de Valois, 5 
Mars, the god, 81, 94, 140, 341 

planet, 187, 243, 338, 348, 352, 

353, 354, 355 

Martial, St., jeweled gloves of, 257 
Matrix-emerald, 226, 227 
Medusa, head of, on talisman, 124 
Meleager, 56 

Mendes, Mme. Catulle, 26 
Mentzel, Christian, 168 
Mercury, the god, 257, 341 

planet, 123, 242, 348, 352, 353, 

354, 355 
typical of green, 31 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 86, 130, 

342 

Meyer, Dr. A. B., viii 
Meyers, J. L., 292, 299 
"Mexican onyx," 251 
Meyer, Prof. A. B., 250 
Michael, St., 257 
Microcline, 50 
Mithridates the Great, 80 
Mizauld, Antoine, 98, 166 
Mohammed's carnelian seal-ring, 64 
Moldavite, 360 
Monardes, 390 

Montfaucon, Bernard de, 220 
Month, Hindu list of gems of the, 331 

natal stones of the, 326-333 
Moonstone, 8, 320, 334 
as gift for lovers, 98 
in India, 97 
waxing and waning with moon, 

98 

Morales, 343 

Morgan, J. Pierpont, vi, 254 
Morgan Collection, Am. Mus. Nat. 

Hist. N. Y., vi, 66 
Morgan-Tiffany Collection, Am. Mus. 

Nat. Hist,, 106, 233 
Morganite, 8ein of Madagascar, 364 
Moryson, Fyncs, Gent,, 174 
MoBor, Consul General, vii 
Moses, 278, 280, 286 
MosN-iigatc, 48 
Mttllor, Max, 269 

Multan, India, idol of temple at, 240 
Mutttfe d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, vi 
Mother-of-pearl, therapeutic use of 

239 

Myewia*, amber at, 57 
gemw from, 204 

N 

Naharari, on gems, 386 
Names, initials of, figured by prec- 
ious stones, 47-50 
Naoratna, nine-gem jewel. 231, 241, 

242-245 

names of, in various tongues, 244 
occult use of gems in, 244 
Naphtali, 298 

Napoleon's carnelian seal, 64 
Napoleon I, 64, 260, 309 
Napoleon III, 64, 142 
Natal stones, vi, 1, 307-337 

list of, from various sources, 

315 
proposed new listing of, 317- 

321 

selected from precious stones 
produced in the United 
States, 323 

National Museum, Washington, vi 
Natrolite, 50 

Navajos, rain-making gods 'of the, 

adorned with coral and turquoise, 246 

Neandross, Sigurd, Maori warrior 

by, 254 

Nebo, god, image on cylinder, 123 
Necklace, Egyptian, 36-38 

of Vesta, 235 
Nephrite, see jade 
Nephrilfrage, viii, 249 
Neptune, god, 341 
New Jerusalem, 236, 275, 302-306 
foundation -stones of, 307, 

310-314, 316, 317 

New South Wales, black opal of, 152 
New Zealand jade, 87-90 
Nicandcr, 93 
Nicias, 56 

Nicols, Thomas, 7, 142 
Ninib, god, image on seal, 35 
Noah, luminous stones of, in the 

Ark, 161, 276 

Nodes, ascending and descending, 243 
Nonius, opal of, 144-146 ' 
Nopkek, atone of breastplate, 292 
Nordenskjold, Baron Nils Adolf 

Erik, 54 

Novaculite, from Arkansas, 364 
Nuttall, Mrs. Zelia, 86 

Oberstcin, Germany, gem-cutting at, 

54, 218, 219 
Obsidian, mirror of Dr. Dee, 196 

402 

INDEX 

Obsidian, Mexican mirrors of, 204 

Oculus Beli, 107 

Oculus mundi, 107 

Odem, stone of breastplate, 290, 291 

Ominous gems, 143-161 

Oneirocritica (dream-books), 356 

Onyx, 233, 265, 336 

gem of Leo, 346 

ill-effects neutralized by sard, 107 

in breastplate, 276 

" Mexican onyx/' 251 

of St. Elizabeth's tomb, 267 

ominous quality of, 159 

provoked discord, 98 

"Tecalco onyx,' J 252 
Opal, 143-152 

black, of New South Wales, 152 

Cardanus, 151 

fear of the,t21 

Hungarian, '145, 146,148 

imitation of, 145 

in Scott's "Anne of Geierstein," 
143 

in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 
150 

natural, figuring serpent, 27 

October's gem, 144 

of Nonius, 144-146 

patronus furum, or patron of 
thieves, 148 

Pliny's praise of, 145 
Ophiokiolus, 39 

Ophthalmius-stone (opal?), 7, 146, 148 
Opsianus, 39 

Orphanus-stone (opal?) 146-148 
Orthoclase, 50 

Otho I of Germany, emerald of, 260 
Overbury, Sir Thomas, 155, 156 

Pancharatna, five-gem jewel, 241 
Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus, 6, 154, 

184,185 

Patrick, St., 179 
Pausanms, 177 
"Peacock stonee," 137 
Pearls, 69, 230, 234, 236, 237, 238, 
240, 241, 242, 244, 303, 306, 
320, 336 
breeding, 41 
gem of the moon, 348, 349 

of Venus, 348 
therapeutic effect of, 372 
Pellegrmus, Fulvius, 31 
Pepper, George H., 92, 112, 113 

Pericles, 373 

Peridot, see chrysolite 

Perugia, collection of jade artefacts 

at, 264 
Peter, St., 303, 308 

tooth-relic of, set with gems, 256 
Petrie, W. M. Flinders, 291, 292 
Phaethon, 55 
"Pharaoh's eggs," SO 
Phenacite, from Colorado, 365 
Phenomenal gems, 8, 333, 334 
Philip II, of Spain, 263 
Philippe Egalite, Duke of Orleans, 

sapphire of, 106 
Philostratus, 244 
Phosphorescence, 169-174 
"Piers the Plowman/' curative gems 

in, 386 

Pisces, zodiacal sign, 345 
Pitdah, stone of breastplate, 291 
Planetary gems, 244, 338-363 

controls of, in Lapidario of 

Alfonso X, 348 
of various planets, 348-351 
Planets figured on engraved gema, 

355, 356 

Plasma, green, 252 
Plato, 93 
Pleiades, 343 

Pliny, 13, 66, 67, 80, 92, 100, 108, 128, 
143, 162, 167, 290, 291, 293, 296. 
367, 380 

Plutarch, 30, 373 
Porphyry, 38 

Porta, Giovanni Battista, 335 
Portland. Oregon, Exposition, vl 
Poujet fils, 316 
"Prase" of Alexander, 68 
Precious stones, as adornment of god- 
dess Sri, 239 

as eyes of idols, 107, 240 
as offerings to Hindu god**, 

240, 241 
as symbols of the Apoatle^, 

311-314 

as symbols of various coun- 
tries, 363, 364 
collected by birds, 21 

by aeala, 22 
consecration of, 45 
disease in, 5 

for hours of tin* day, 337 
for natal months ;teti-331 
for week day**, 332-335 
for wedding anniversaries* 
337 

INDEX 

403 

Precious stones, individuality of, 26 
in high-priest's breastplate, 

235-306 
life in, 5 

magical virtue of, 5-8, 44, 45 
meaning of, seen in dreams, 

356-358 
names of, used as adjectives, 

12, 13 

used by Shelley, 13 
used in typography, 12 
of Mohammedan heavens, 

349 

perfume of, 376 
principal, found in various 
States of the Union, 364- 
366 

religious use of, 235-274 
sex of, 40, 41, 42 
symbolizing initials of names 

47-50 
therapeutic effect of. 367- 

391 

to express acrostics, 359 
worn by^ Chinese mandarins 

to designate rank, 256 
Prehnite, 365 
Preston, Richard, curative sapphire 

of, 387, 388 

Price, Prof. Ira Maurice, 233 
Procopius, 283 
Psellus, 381 

Ptolemy II, Philadelphus, 67, 93 
Pueblo Bonito, relics from, 81, 92, 

112, 113 

Pueblo Indians, 81, 92, 112 
Punamu, New Zealand jade, 87-90, 

254 

Puranaa, 236, 241 
PyritoH. Aztec mirrors of, 99 

"fools' gold," 99 
Pyropc, 34 

Q 

Quartz, 122, 145, 298 

cai's-eye, 334 

" Questions of King Melinda," ex- 
tract from, 235 

R 

Rabanus Maurus, 305, 314 T 

Rabelais, 349 

Radium, 381 

Rtih'igh, Sir Walter, 383 

Rassiel, Book of, 132 

Read, Sir Charles Hercules, vii 
Red, Christian symbolism of, 273 
gems in dreams, 357 
in occult ritual, 336 
significance of, 30 
stones, therapeutic effect of, 370 
worn in Siam for Sunday, 335 
Sea, chrysolites from island in, 66 
Reinach, Dr. Salomon, vii 
RSmusat, Abel, 300 
Reuben, 289, 291 
Revelation, book of, 236, 275, 295, 

302, 303, 304, 307, 310, 311, 318 
Rhodolite, from North Carolina, 365 
Rhodonite, gem of Russia, 364 
Ridgeley, Prof. W., 203 
Rig Veda, of seven ratnas, 243 
Ring of elmeshu-stone, 231 

engagement, combining all fav- 
orable influences, 362 
Gyges, 7 

St. Elizabeth, 165 

St. Valentine, 257 

Rings set with scarabs, 119 

seven, of Apollonms of Tyana, 244 
with initials, 359 
Rock-crystal, 10, 122, 133, 217, 236, 

244, 265, 292, 336 
as religious symbol, 100 
Aztec skull of, 100, 101 
gem of Aries, 347 

of the moon, 348 
god Maya's tank of, 237 
humorous tale of, 101 
temples of, in China, 101 
used as fetich by Cherokees, 254 
"Roman de la Rose," magic stones 

in, 43 

Rosicrucians, 269 
Rostand, Edmond, 138 
Rubellite, 360 

Ruby, 10, 26, 33, 40, 101-103, 124, 

133, 234, 236, 238, 240, 241, 

242, 243, 244, 280, 292, 343, 

372, 375, 381 

as natal stone, 308, 316, 319, 320, 

335 

curative effects of, 28 
embedded in flesh by Burmese, 

103 

gem of Capricorn. 347 
of Mars, 348, 349 
of Summer, 323, 324 
of Taurus, 343, 347 
in dreams, 357 
lost and regained brilliancy, 159 

404: 

INDEX 

Ruby, luminosity of, 101, 102 

luminous, of King of Ceylon, 165, 

166 

of Pegu, 165 
of St. Elizabeth, 165 
names of Hindu castes given to, 

102 

ominous, of Gabelchover, 158 
therapeutic effect of, 370 
Rudolph II of Germany, 5, 189, 343 
Rumphius, Georg Eberhard, 62 
Ruskin, John, on crystals, 46 
Rutile, 50 

"Sacro Bambino" of Rome, 260, 261 
"Sacro Catino" of Genoa, 258, 259 
Sagittarius, zodiacal sign, 342, 347, 354 
Sahagun, Bernardino de, 247, 251, 390 
Sailors 7 amulets, 38 
Salisbury, John of, 183 
Sapphire, 31, 32, 40, 102, 104-107, 
124, 133, 236, 241, 242, 243, 
244, 245, 280, 293, 296, 303, 
305, 313, 320, 336, 375 
as antidote for poisons, 104, 105 
as symbol of St. Paul, 312 
called "Le Saphire Merveilleux," 

105 

gem of Autumn, 323, 325 
of Jupiter, 348 
of Saturn, 349 
of Taurus, 346 
of Venus, 348 

great star-sapphire of Morgan- 
Tiffany collection, 107 
in breastplate, 276 
in ecclesiastical rings, 104, 371 
named from Hindu castes, 344 
pavement of God's throne, 275 
procures favor of Saturn, 344 
Sanskrit names of, 344 
star-sapphire of Sir Richard 

Burton, 106 

tables of the Law of. 104 
therapeutic effect of, 370, 386- 

389 

Sappir, stone of breastplate, 293 
Sard, 107, 305 

as symbol of St. Philip, 312 
a foundation stone, 303 ! 
in breastplate, 276, 290 
Sardonyx, 290, 292, 303, 305, 313, 

319, 320 
as symbol of St. James, 312 

Saturn, planet, 32, 243, 330, 344, 348, 

352, 353, 354, 355 
Saxo Arnoldus, 59 
Scaraboeus sac&r, 115, 116 
Scaraboid seal, 122 
Scarabs, Egyptian, 115-119, 132, 140, 

227, 228, 229 
Schliemann, Heinrich, 57 
Scorpio, zodiacal sign, 340, 342, 347, 

352, 355 

Scott, Sir Walter, 143, 1S3 
Seals, Babylonian, 121-123 
Cretan, 123 

one of Napoleon, 64, 142 
Seasonal gems, 323, 324 
"Seeress of Prevorst," 9 
Selenite, 336, 349 
Sendal, Nathaniel, 57, 58 
Sentiment, 8, 9 

for each day of week, 332-335 
for each month in connection 

with natal gems, 32ti-33Z 
Septuagint, 290, 291, 297, 208, 301 
Serapis, image of, in talisman, 124 
"Serpent Isle," 66 
Serpentine, 108, 121, 122, 229, 252, 

291, 298 

Sex in gems, 40, 41, 42, 72 
Shakespeare in "Twelfth Night" of 

opal, 150 

Shamash, Assyrian sun-god, 233 
Shamir (emery), 278, 294 
Sheard, Virna, 12 
Shebo, stone of breastplate, 296 
Shelley, Percy Byssho, 13 
Siam, King of, luminouw carbuncles 

of, 62 

Siegstein, or "Victory Stone/' IDtJ 
Signorelli, Luca, 390 
Simeon, 289, 291 
Sin, Assyrian moon -god, 02 
Sindbad the Sailor and diamonds. 75 
"Sleeping-stone/' !B3> 104 
Bmaragdus (em oral d), 21)1 
Sodalito, gem of Canada, 3ft3 
Solomon, King, preeknw Htonen of, 78 
Sophia, St., in Constantinople, 200, 

283 

Sophocles, 56 

Soudan, agate amuletn in the, 54 
Sources, literary, 13-18 
Spartianus, 178 
Specularii, 183, 184 
"Speculum lapidum" of Camillo 

Leonardo, IB 
Spener, John Jacob, 159 

INDEX 

405 

Spessartite, from Virginia. 366 
Sphalerite, 171 
Spinel, 10, 102 

therapeutic effect of, 370 
Spodumene, 48 
Star-ruby. 334 
Star-sapphire, 8. 106, 107 

in sword-hilt of King of Greece, 

334 

Staurolite Fairy Stones, plate 
Staurolitc, religious symbolism of, 271 
Steatite, 265 
Stone Age, amber in deposits of, 55 

idols of, 23 

11 Stone of Destiny," 107 
"S tone of Forgetfulness ," 35 
"Stone of Hate," 35 
"Stone of Love," 35 
"Stone of Memory," 35 
"Stones of Power" in Scottish 

regalia, 183 

Stones with natural images, 266-269 
titorchstein, 162 
Suetonius, 341 
Sumerian magic formula, 35 
Sunstone, 366 
Superstition, v, 1-5, 8, 9 
Swastika emblem, 135, 265 
Sylvester, St., stone, 258 
Sympathy and antipathy, doctrine 
of, 24 

Tabari, 286 

Tagoro, Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun, 

via 
Takowaya, Russia, alexandrite found 

in the, 54 

Taliamanic gems, 1, 42, 52, 124, 322 
gircile of Catharine de'Medici 

set with, 317 
of the hours, 337 
of the months, 326-331 
of the week, 332, 333 
Talismans, etymology of word, 23 
from New Caledonia, 23 
of jade favored by Mohamme- 
dan*, 246 

sec arnukt, and separate stones 
tcmplft gifts as, 241 
Talmud, 71, 73, 275, 306, 377 
Tamerlane, ruthloaaness of, 32 
TarMsh, stone of breastplate, 297, 

298 

Taurus, zodiacal sign, 341, 342, 343, 
346, 353, 354 

Tavernier, Jean Baptiste, 260 
Taw Sien Ko, vii 
"Tecalcoonyx," 252 
Teifashi, Ahmed, 75, 104, 158, 381 
Tempe, Arizona, turquoise in ruins 

of Los Muertos near, 112 
Tetragrammaton, 182 
Thayngen, Switzerland, jet of, 91 
Theophrastus, 290, 293, 299, 370 
Thomas, N. W., 180 
Thomsonite, 365 
Thoth, 16 

Thothmes II, talisman of, 120 
Tiberius, 342 
Tiffany, Charles L., 172 
Tiffany & Co., 172 
Tiffany Collection, 106, 219 
Titus, 283, 289 

Topaz, 40, 133, 238, 242, 243, 244, 
245, 291, 297, 298, 303, 305, 
313, 344 

as symbol of St. Matthew, 312 

gem of Sagittarius, 347 

in breastplate, 275 

therapeutic effect of, 372, 389 
Topazos, island of, 67 
Totten, Lieut., on Hebrew tribes, 288 
Tourmaline, 320, 321 

gem of New England, 364 
Trees bearing precious stones, 232 

Kalpa tree, 238 
Trevisa, John of, 105 
Triboluminescence, 173 
Tritheim, Abbot, 181 
Trocade"ro, Paris, 99 
Tullia, daughter of Cicero, emerald 

of, 31 

Turquoise, 6, 37, 64, 108-114, 336, 
345, 375 

Apache name for, 113 

as natal stone, 308, 320 

De Boot's tale of a, 109, 110 

fading of, indicating illness, 24, 
26, 114 

from Los Cerillos, N. M., Ill 

from Pueblo Bonito, N. M., 112, 
113 

from Los Muertos, Arizona, 112 

gem of Jupiter, 348 

Persians' praise of, 111 

protecting from falls, 24, 26, 109, 
110 

strikes the hour, 111 

talisinanic virtues of, 114 

usually worn by men in 17th 
century, 111 

406 

INDEX 

Turquoise with Aztecs, 247 

with Navajos, 246 
Tyszkiewicz Collection, 234 

U 

Umina, emerald goddess of Peruvians, 

247, 248 
United States, principal gem-stones 

found in various States of the, 364- 

366 
Uparatnani, four minor gems of the 

naoratna, 243 
Urim and Thummim, 231, 277, 282, 

283, 287 
Utahlite, 361 

Vajra, "the thunderbolt," Sanskrit 

name of diamond, 239, 343 
Valentine, St., ring of, 257 
"Valley of Diamonds," 74, 75 
Varro, 22 
Vasari, 390 
Venus, goddess, emerald dedicated 

to, 28 
planet, 243, 336, 344, 348, 352, 

353, 354, 355 
represented by blue, 31 
Verrall, Mrs. A. W., 211 
Vespasian, 283 

Vesta, necklace of, taken by Serena, 235 
Vesuvianite, 50 
"Victory Stone, "68 
Violet, Christian symbolism of, 273 

symbolism of, 32 

Violet-blue, curative effects of, 33 
Virgin Mary, 30, 130, 175, 261, 262, 

266, 267, 268, 273 
rich decorations of statue of, 

at Loreto, 262, 263 
Virgen del Sagrario, Toledo, emerald 

of, 261, 262 

Virgo, zodiacal sign, 341, 346 
Vishnu, 236, 241 
Voiture, his letter on curative use of 

jade, 383, 384 

Volmar, "Steinbuch" of, 67, 109, 373 
Vulgate, 290, 291, 292, 301 

W 

Wada, Dr. T., vii 

Walker, T. B., 254 

Walpole, Horace, 195 

Ward, Dr. W. Hayes, vii 

Wedding anniversaries, gems for, 337 

Wenceslaus, St., supposed emerald in 

chapel of, 259 
Whitby Abbey, 263 
White, Christian symbolism of, 273 

significance of, 30 

worn in Siam, for Monday, 335 
"White sapphire" (corundum), 72 
Wiedemann, Dr. Alfred, 121 
Willemite, 171 
Wissler, Dr. Clark, vii 
Witherite, 9, 10 
Wood-opal, 50 
World's Columbian Exhibition, vi, 

51 

Wright, Thomas, 221 
Wiirtemberg, jet deposits of, 91 

Yahalom, stone of breastplate, 294, 

295 

Yarkast&in, 146 

Yaskpeh, stone of breaHtplate, 29D 
Yellow, Christian symbolism of, 273 

curative effects of, 28 

girdle worn by Chinese emperors, 
245 

in occult ritual, 336 

significance of, 29 

stones, therapeutic effect of, 370 

Zebulun, 289, 295 

Zeehariah, 294 

Zenochlorite, 360 

Zircon (hyacinth), 238 

Zodiacal gems, 1, 124, Lll, 310, 321 

322, 3&H-$t>3 
stones of the various mgarf, 

345-347 
Zodiacal signs tuwncuittti with th 

IVrlve Tribes. J>14 
c,f, in Hebrew, 332