 Preface of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. Recording by Betty B. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, being a description of their sentiments and folklore, superstitions, symbolism, mysticism, use in medicine, protection, prevention, religion, and divination, crystal-gazing, birthstones, lucky stones, and talismans, astral, zodiacal, and planetary, by George Frederick Coons. With heartfelt appreciation of the noble spirit that conceived and founded the Morgan Tiffany collection of gems and the Morgan Bement collections of minerals and meteorites of the American Museum of Natural History and the Morgan Collection of the Musée 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. The 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 today as they were thousands 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 instinctive 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 knowledge of cause and effect may prevent us from accepting any of the fanciful notions of the physicians and astrologers of the olden time. Nevertheless the possession of a necklace or a ring adorned with brilliant diamonds, fair pearls, warm glowing rubies or celestial huge sapphires will today make a woman's heart beat faster 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 contributes 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 possession 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 25 years. Many of the types exist in the collection of folklore precious stones exhibited at the world's Colombian Exposition in 1893 and now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Other types are drawn from the Morgan Collection 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 precious 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 Musée d'histoire naturel in Paris by the late J. Pierpont, Oregon. The collection exhibited at the Exposition held in Portland, Oregon in 1905 and the collection of gems and precious stones exhibited at the Jamestown Exposition 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 edition entitled Natal Stones Sentiments and Superstitions Associated with Precious Stones compiled by the writer who is examine nearly all the principal collections in the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Asiatic Russia. For courtesy's information and illustrations I am indebted to the following to whom my thanks are due. Professor Taw Sain Coe, Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of Burma. Dr. T. Wada of Tokyo, Japan. Dr. G. O. Clerk, President of the Société Oralienne des Amis des Seaux Naturelles, E. Katrinborg, Russia. Dr. Charles Braddock, late Medical Inspector to the King of Siam. Sir Charles Hercules Reid, Curator of Archaeology and Dr. Ernest A. Wallace Budge, Egyptologist, British Museum London. A. W. Fever Year, Esquire, London. Dr. Solomon Reinach, Director of the Archaeological Museum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. Professor Giuseppe Balucci, of the University of Perugia. Dr. Peter Jessen, Librarian of the Kunzgerwerb Museum of Berlin. Ms. Bell DeCoste-Green, Dr. Frederick Hearth, Chinese Professor, Columbia University, New York. Dr. Clark Whistler, Curator of Archaeology. Dr. L. P. Gratacap, Curator of Minerology, American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Bair told Lauffer, Oriental Archaeologist, and Dr. Oliver C. Farrington, Curator of Geology and Minerology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Here, Ward, Carrington, Esquire, Psychist, New York. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Archaeologist and Babylonian Scholar. Mrs. Henry Draper, New York. H. W. Kent Esquire, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Consul General Moser, Colombo Salon, W. W. Blake, Mexico City, who has done so much to encourage Mexican archaeological investigation. The late A. D'Amour of Paris, the great pioneer of mineralogical archaeology, the late Dr. A. B. Meyer of Dresden, who, more than anyone else, proved that the Nefert Frage or the J. Question was to be solved by chemical and mineralogical investigation. The late Raja Sir Surindro Mohan Tagore of Calcutta and Dr. A. M. Lithgow, Egyptologist, Metropolitan Museum of Art. G. F. K., September, 1913. Chapter 1 Part 1 of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Dustin Thomas, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Cuns. Chapter 1. Superstitions and Their Sources. From the earliest times in man's history, gems and precious stones have been held in great esteem. They have been found in the monuments of prehistoric peoples, and not alone in the civilization of the pharaohs, of the Incas, or of the Metizumas invested these brilliant things from nature's jewel casket with the significance beyond the mere suggestion of their intrinsic properties. The Magi, the Wisemen, 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 esotical 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 zotical gems. Indeed, folklorists or want to wonder whether the custom of wearing gems and 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 Renaissance period, an effort was made to find a reason of some sort for the 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 in finding some plausible explanation 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 instance. 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 transferred to his mind in 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 that he has never found the slightest evidence of anything transcending the acknowledged laws of nature. Still, when we consider the marvelous 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 explanation, but very different from what a crass skepticism supposes it to be. Above all, the results of the investigations now pursued in relation to the group of phenomena embrace under the designation of telepathy, the subconscious influence of one's mind over the absent or distant mind, and the wireless transmission of power in wireless telegraphy and telephoning may go far to make us hesitant 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 telepathy, their claims being supported by many strange happenings, perhaps the result of coincidence, but possibly due to the operation of some unknown law, does that not give a color of variety to the statements regarding the ancient magicians and their spells. Autosuggestion 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 hints 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 Hungarian 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 today there is a superstitious belief that an article of clothing worn by a person, or anything he 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 this cloth wasted away, so willed the body of him who had worn it. In medieval and later times, this was a common practice of the sorcerers, although they frequently composed 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 afflicted upon its counterfeit. The persistence of the most cruel and unnatural practices of the 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 14 to 20 years imprisonment as accomplices. When such things happen in Cuba, it is not surprising that in half-civilized Haiti similar crimes are committed. Here the voodoo priests and priestesses, papalos and mamalos, papakings 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 inducing a state of apparent death was secretly administered to a sick man. When the attending physician pronounced him dead, he was duly interred, but two days after, the grave was found open and the body had disappeared. The voodoo worshippers had carried the man away as to revive him and then sacrifice him at their fearful rites. In a poem addressed to Marguerite de Vellos, La Marguerite des Margueritas, as she was called, by Jean de la Talida Banderoy, we read of the diamond that it came 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 offense if an injury be done to them and become rough and pale. The sickness of the pearl had been a theme for centuries, and in many cases is also fancied. It is but a subterfuge or deception for a lady to remark that her pearls have sickened. By referring to the 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 Encelimus de Boute, court physician, to root off the second of Germany regarding the power inherent in certain precious stones, embodies the ideas on this subject held by many of the enlightened minds of that period. The supernatural enacting 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 the means of ministers, good and bad angels, who by special grace of God and for the preservation of men are enabled to interprecious 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 and gems to repose trust in them or to ascribe undue powers to them, is more especially pleasing to the spirit of evil who transforms 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 God but in the gem and seek to obtain 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 the gem. In the next chapter of his work de Boute, while extolling the remedial power of a certain group of stones insist upon the fallicity of many of the superstitions regarding these objects, 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 anyone who doubts this must be called overbold. We have proof of this power in the carnaline, 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. Paracelus, the gifted and brilliant thinker, scientist, and, we must properly add, charlatan of the 16th 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 supernatural agencies, was the owner of the talismanic jewel which he asserted to be the dwelling place of a powerful spirit named Azaz. 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 a part of the paraphernalia he freely employed to gain influence over the credulous. The following passage from the faithful lapidary of Thomas Nichols, who wrote in the middle of the 17th century, illustrates the prevailing opinion in England at that time as to the virtues of precious stones. Perfectium affectus caucinaria and causia, but it cannot truly be so spoken of gems and precious stones, the efforts of which, by lapidus, are said to be the making of rich men 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 honors, to hinder fascinations and witchcrafts, to hinder slothfulness, to put courage into men, to keep men chaste, to increase friendship, to hinder difference and dissension, and to make men invisible, as is feigned by the poet concerning Gaius Wrink, and affirmed by Albertus and others concerning the Apathamus Lapis, and many other strange things are affirmed to them and described to them, which are contrary to the nature of gems, in which they as they are material, mixed, and intimate bodies neither nor can affect by the properties and facilities of their own constitutions, because they being natural causes can produce none other but natural effects, such as are all the ordinary effects of gems, 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, end of all the first qualities, and all such accidents as do arise from the compensation of the first qualities, such as are hardness, heaviness, thickness, color, and taste. These are all the natural faculties of gems, and these are the known effects of the union of their matter, and of the operation of the first qualities, one upon another. The lone continued concentration of vision on the objects 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 a 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 without interruption on a crystal or glass ball, on an opal, a moonstone, a sadfire, or a cat's eye, may become partially hypnotized or even fall into a profound sleep. The condition induced, whether it be that of semi trance, or hypnotism, 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 sadfire, and the cat's eye are all gems which possess a moving light, a moving line or three cross lines, and they are believed by the orientals to be gems of good luck. Indeed, it is supposed, in the East, that the living spirit dwells within these stones, a spirit potent for good. Superstitions fancies bear the same relation to truth that the shadow of the 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 the same 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 sentiment, and all that is great in art and literature owes as being in the transforming energy of pure imagination. Morbid imagination, on the other hand, distorts and degrades the impression it receives and produces only unlovely or ignorable forms and ideas. Sentiment may best be expressed as a feeling of one who, on a warm summer's day, is rowing along a shady brook or resting in some Sylvendell, with nothing to interfere with his tranquil mood or nothing to spur him to action. Thus he has only suggestions of hope and indulges in rosy views of life. Reality, on the other hand, may be likened to a crisp winter's morning which 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. Supercision, 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 oneself from its grip in some way, to change a horrible nightmare into a pleasant dream. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Coontz, Chapter 1, Superstitions and Their Sources, Part 2 In the early part of the last century, a series of very interesting experiments designed to demonstrate the effects produced on a sensitive subject by the touch of precious stones and minerals were made in the case of the Cirrus of Provost, Friedricha Halfa, born 1801. A woman believed to possess remarkable clairvoyant powers when pieces of granite, porphyry, or flint were placed in her hand, she was not affected in any way. The finest qualities of Fleurspar, on the other hand, had a marked action, relaxing the muscles, causing diarrhea, and producing a sour taste in the mouth. Occasionally, a somnambulistic state was induced. This latter condition was also produced by Iceland's spar and by the sapphire. While the substances so far noted depressed the vital energy, sulfatobarium 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 continued, the pleasurable sensation found expression in laughter. In the case of Witherite, a carbonate of barium, 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. Rock 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 cirrus 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. Indeed, the rigidity produced was so great that the limbs resisted all attempts to bend them. The same effect, in a much less degree, was caused by glass, even by looking 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 hematite, the oxide of iron in this substance, inducing a kind of paralysis, with a sensation of inner chill. This condition could only be relieved by the application of a piece of Witherite. Octahedrons of magnetite, or lodestone, caused a sensation of heaviness and convulsive movements of the limbs, even when the material, wrapped up in paper, was brought near the subject. Spinell, in whose composition, oxide of chromium enters, caused the same symptoms as lodestone. Except in this case, the force seemed to exert itself from the hand upward along the arm, while with the lodestone, the action was downward along the arm to the hand, owing to the attractive quality of the 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. The fingers and toes also became cold, and the body was agitated by a violent shivering. But to all these bad symptoms 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 exercised 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 combine with the light effects and strengthen the impression upon the optic nerve. All this, however, concerns only the purely physical impressions, but we know that very often the hypnotic state is produced by a mental impression, by the belief or the fear that the state will supervene. With precious stones as hypnotizing agents, the mental impression is widely different, for here the physical 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 exercises 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 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 emerald meadows, sapphire seas and sapphire eyes, ruby wine, ruby lips, and in Shakespeare, the natural ruby of your cheeks, coral lips and coral ears, pearly teeth and pearly skin, turquoise skies, amethystine locks, and in Roman times, amber hair. In all these cases, the name of the precious mineral is really used as a superlative of the adjective, suggesting the choice's variety of the color or shade. The phrase is, heart is adamant and clear as crystal, show a similar use of the name of a precious or ornamental stone to express the highest grade of a given quality. Before the introduction of the point system in topography, three of the grades of type bore the names of precious stones, namely diamond type, agate type, and emerald type. This latter designated is employed only in England, where agate type is called ruby type. Another size was denominated pearl type. A fanciful tale written not long ago treats of the practical inconveniences which would result could such metaphorical expressions find a realization in fact. 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 fairies said, I will give her vanity, and her vanity shall change her beauty, to the things it is said to resemble. However, a friendly fairy 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 queen 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, and emerald sky, the emerald heaven of trees, the sapphire ocean, sapphire tinted skies, the sapphire floods of interstellar air, and the chrysalite of sunrise. 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 independent 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 for these superstitions, as shown in the Orpharic poem, Lithica. The Cyrianities Attributed to Hermes Trismegistus The Little Treses, on rivers, which bore the name of Plutarch, and last but not least, in the work by Damageron, which purported to be written by an Arab king named Evacs, 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 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 lapidarium of Alphonsus X of Castile. This compilation, although dating in its present Spanish form from the 13th century, is based upon a much older original in Kaldi or Syriac. There can be little doubt that many Hindu superstitions, no longer preserved for us in the literature of India, are reproduced in these Serio-Arabic works, wherein we also have 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 data they secured directly or indirectly from the East and the West. While this literature was developing in the Mohammedan world, the tradition of Pliny and Solanus was translated 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 Marbotas, Bishop of Rennes, a work written at the end of the 11th century and often quoted as that of Evats. Indeed, it purports to be by him and really contains a good part of the material composing the treatise of Damageron or Evats. At the same time, Marbotas drew freely upon Pliny either directly or through Isidorus. For the Middle Ages, this poem of Marbotas, already translated into Old French in the 12th century, became known as Lapidario par excellence and furnished a great part of their material to medieval authors on this subject. Soon, however, extracts from the Arabic sources became available and the whole mass of heterogeneous material was worked over and recombined in a variety of ways. This complex origin of the traditions explains their almost incomprehensible contradictions regarding the virtues assigned to the different stones and also the fact that the qualities of one stone are frequently attributed to another one so that, in the later works on this subject, it becomes quite impossible to present 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 material as possible, is scarcely less a characteristic of the 17th and 18th century writers than it is of those of later date. This is in part an excusable and even an unavoidable defect, but it should be minimized as much as possible. The treat is known under the title Sirianides 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 Littoromancy, or divination by means of the letters of the alphabet, since a stone, a bird, a plant, and a fish, each beginning with the same letter and signifying the four elements, are given for each of the 24 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 a plant was placed in the bezel of the ring in which the stone was to be set. Another, almost contemporary work, is the exceedingly curious and interesting treatise by St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia, on the twelve gems of the breastplate of judgment of the high priest. Exodus, chapter 28, verses 15 to 21. This unique production is in the form of a letter addressed to Diodorus, Bishop of Tyre, and it is peculiarly valuable, as the 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 Re Rum Natura of Thomas de Cantin Prey, 1201 to 1270, who was a pupil of Albertus Magnus and composed his work between 1230 and 1244. The Latin text has never been printed, but the book was translated into German by Conrad von Meggenburg, about 1350. Strange to say, the translator did not know the name of the writer, and suppose when he began to translate the book, that it was by Albertus Magnus. In many cases, Thomas de Cantin Prey merely copies the statements of older authors, but occasionally he gives us new material, or at least a new version of his originals. The renowned medieval philosopher and theologian, Albertus Magnus, 1193 to 1280, for a short time, Bishop of Radisbon, and who later taught theology in the University of Paris and had the great St. 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 editions from other sources, was published under the title Secrets de Virtus, Dave Herbs, Piers et Bisse. 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 practiced in the early part of the 17th 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 In view of the general familiarity with Latin among the better classes of that period, and the numerous fine libraries existing in Venice at the time, it seems almost extraordinary that Dolce should have been successful in palming off this work as his own, but even today citations are made from Dolce's Trotto del Gemme, and from Leonardo's speculum lapidum, as though these were distinct works. End of chapter 1 part 2. Chapter 2 part 1 of the curious lore of precious stones. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The curious lore of precious stones by George Frederick Coons. Chapter 2 on the use of precious and semi-precious stones as talismans and amulets, part 1. The 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 great of civilization necessary for the production of even the simplest literature. For this reason, certain investigators have preferred to seek for a solution of this problem in the customs 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. Fetishism 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 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 forms 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 attraction, was their color and brilliancy. What effect these qualities had on the visual sense of primitive man may be safely inferred from the effect such objects produce 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 passive 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 admiration of what is brilliant and colored, the infant undoubtedly represents for us the mental attitude of primitive man. Probably the first objects chosen for personal adornment 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 happenings to their influence and power, and in this way there arose a belief in their efficacy, and finally the conviction 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 centuries of enlightenment to bring us back to this love of precious stones for their aesthetic beauty alone. Indeed, even today, 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 attractive in themselves, and were first gathered up and preserved by primitive man for this reason alone, may be found in the fact that certain birds, notable the Clamadera of Australia, related to our ravens, after constructing 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 giving evidence that the birds have not selected these objects at random. It is strange that the attraction exercised 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. The popular derivation of the word amulet from an Arabic word Hamalat, 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 letter became its meaning. The old etymology given by Varro, 118-29 BC, who derived amuletum from the verb amaliri 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. Talisman, however, a word not used in classical times, undoubtedly comes from the Arabic Tilsum, this being in turn derived from Telsoma 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 permitted, that they might become fitting abodes for the benevolent spirits believed to animate them and render them efficacious. A curious idol or talisman from Hualu, New Caledonia, is in the collection of Senor Giglioli. This is a stone bearing naturally a rude resemblance to the human form. We can easily understand that such an object was looked upon as the abode of some spirit, for a similar strange natural formations have been regarded with a species of superstitious ah by people's much more civilized than the natives of New Caledonia. For the Middle Ages, and even down to the 17th century, the talismanic virtues of precious stones were believed in by high and low, by princes and peasants, by the learned as well as by the ignorant. Here and there, however, a note of skepticism was sometimes apparent, as in the famous reply of the court jester of Emperor Charles V to the question, what is the property 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 expression 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 luster of the stones was dimmed, or else their bright colors were darkened and unfaithfulness or perjury produced similar phenomena. Concerning the turquoise, the prosaic explanation can be offered that this stone is affected to a certain extent by the secretions of the skin. But popular superstitions saw the same phenomena in the ruby, the diamond, 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 underlying the conception is well expressed by Emerson in the following lines from The Amulet. Give me an amulet that keeps intelligence with you, red when you love and rosier red, and when you love not pale and blue. A Persian legend of the origin of diamonds and precious stones shows that in the East these beautiful objects 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 stones, and diamonds. But Satan, who was 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. The present age could afford us nearly as many examples 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 fondness 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-Prussian War of 1866 carried amulets of some kind upon their persons, and that the great Marshal Conroe Baer trusted to the protection of an amulet in the Crimean Campaign. Of course, the Russian army, during the Russo-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 superstition 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 devotion to one's native land and to one's fellow countrymen. 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 necessity. It is only very rarely that purely intellectual conceptions can satisfy us. They must be given some external, palpable, and visible form to exert their greater influences. Although it may bear a certain superficial likeness to fetishism, 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 the contemplation 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, Madame Catoel 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 sirens' 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. End of Chapter 2 Part 1 Chapter 2 Part 2 of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Coons Chapter 2 Part 2 A very beautiful and curious object was found in the Australian opal fields in 1909. This is a reptilian skeleton resembling a small serpent that has become opalized by natural processes. Perfect in all its details, which are rendered more striking by the splendid display of color, this specimen of nature's handiwork possesses 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 today 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 significance of form, sign, and symbol. It is impossible to overestimate 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 sapphire, we are all conscious of the aesthetic effect produced. But in earlier times, when scientific ideas were not yet prevalent, many other considerations combined to give a peculiar significance to these brilliant gems. Rare 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 influence human destinies for wheel 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 therapeutic value of the ultraviolet rays, and when the uninstructed mind saw therein the embodiment of purity and chastity, it perhaps realized this health-giving and beneficent 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 demonstrated 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 therapeutic 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 homeopathy based on the dictum similius similibus carontur. Following out this train of thought, the red stones were endowed with the power of checking the flow of blood, especially the so-called blood stone 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 significance. In heathen mythology this showed itself in the inscription of the emerald to Venus as the exponent of the reproductive energies of nature, while in the Christian conception these stones became typical of the resurrection 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 brought into connection with the moon, although the diamond, because of its superior qualities and exceptional 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 treacherous 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 Gema, who has gathered together a great quantity of material on the subject. Yellow worn by a man denoted secrecy and was appropriate for the silent lover. Worn by a woman it indicated generosity. Golden yellow was, of course, the symbol of the sun and of sundae. The precious stone was the chrysalite 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 happiness. Because garments of this color were a sign of grandeur and nobility, a gold investment is a sign to the Queen of Heaven as a sign of her preeminence, as we read in Psalm 459. Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in gold of Ophir. Gema's explanation of this as referring to the Virgin Mary is in accord with the Catholic exegesis of his time. White signified for men friendship religion integrity, 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 infancy. Among the ancients white was a sign of mourning and sadness, and the Greek matrons attired themselves in white on the death of their husbands. Gema states that in his time in Rome 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. Red 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 links 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 beers of those who had died valiantly in battle as Homer shows when he relates that the brothers and companions of Hector covered the ermine containing the hero's ashes with soft purple scarlet robes. Plutarch asserts that the Lassidemonians 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 today. The 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 huge sapphire was the stone in which this color appeared in all its beauty. Blue was a fit symbol for 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 verger 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 Mercury, 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 of expressing it. In ancient times, green was used in the case of those who died in the flower of youth, and 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 ceremonies was marked with green. As Pellegrinas relates that, in the Tomb of Tulia, 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 Gonzega di 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 pandex, it was bound in green to signify that these laws were rejuvenated. Black for men means gravity, good sense, constant sea, and fortitude, for young women, fickleness and foolishness, but for married women, constant love and perseverance. The planet Saturn and Saturday were denoted by black. Strange to say, the diamond, the white gem Par exolans, was selected to represent this somber hue. Perhaps to offset this, the animal chosen was the hog. As black was a mourning color, we need not be surprised 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 significance 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 surrendered. 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 represent violet most attractively. That the bull should be selected as the animal represented by this color probably arose from some mythological connection with Jupiter, 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 stimulating 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, wallpaper, chair coverings, etc., would be red, while in the other they would be of a violet-blue hue. Those suffering from a lack of willpower or from lassitude and depression are to be received in the red room, and those who are apprayed to overexcidability are introduced 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 purpose, he recommends a violet-blue disc, which is to be rotated rapidly before the eyes of the patient, the movement serving to attract and hold his gaze better than any immovable object would do. Red stones such as rubies, carbuncles, and garnets, whose colors suggested that of blood, were not only believed to confer invulnerability from wounds, but some Asiatic tribes have used garnets as bullets, upon the contrary principle that this blood-colored stone would inflict a more deadly wound than would a leaden bullet. Such bullets were used by the rebellious Hanzas in 1892 during their hostilities with the British troops on the Kashmir frontier, and many of these precious missiles were preserved as curiosities. In his colloquy on pilgrimages, Erasmus makes one of the speakers ask, Does thou not see how the artificer Nature delights to represent all things by colors and forms, but more especially in gems? He then proceeds to enumerate the various images of natural objects in stones. In the Seraunia appeared the thunderbolt, 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 Yekites of vipers, the Huracites of hawks, the Geronites of cranes. The Ethites offered the image of an eagle with a white tail. The Taos had the form of a peacock, the Chalonites of an asp, while the Mirmisites bore within the figure of an ant. The stones bearing this latter name were probably specimens of amber containing ants. The Greek 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 fancy therapeutic virtues, as in the case of the Ethites, 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 ancient civilization of Babylonia. Some of them contain references to the use of precious stones as amulets, as appears in the following specimen. Courts of light-colored wool offered with a pure hand for jaundice of the eye bind on the right side of the patient. A lulul tea ring with sparkling stones brought from his own land for inflammation of the eye on the little finger of his left hand plays. A curious Babylonian mythological text represents the solar deity Ninib, the son of Bell, 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, proclaimed to be unfit for working and doomed to disintegration. Alabaster was favored by the God, but Chalcedony aroused his anger and was condemned. In these Sumerian inscriptions there is also mention of two stones, the Aban Rame and the Aban La Rame, the Stone of Love and the Stone of Hate, literally non-love. 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 Jesta Romanorum. In an ancient Egyptian burial place at Shek Abdel-Kurna, excavated by Pasalakwa, 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 artistically braided and adorned with twenty bronze hairpins. About her neck was a remarkably beautiful necklace 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 jeweled earrings 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 round about her waist, but a gold bracelet adorned with semi-precious stones encircled her left wrist. In the sarcophagus 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 sulfide, 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 eighteenth dynasty, about fifteen hundred 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 passage through the trials and tests imposed in the underworld. Of the numerous pendants which lent to the necklace its peculiar quality as an amulet, three in carnelian figure the god best, seven also in carnelian, the hippopotamus goddess Taurise, 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 carnelian, 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 scorpions 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 centimeters in diameter. End of Chapter 2, Part 2. Chapter 2, Part 3 of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, by George Frederick Koons. A necklace from the time of the Old Empire, circa 3500 B.C., and having for its chief adornment a turquoise pendant, rudely fashioned into the form of an ibex, was found by the German-Orient Gazelschaft at Abusir el Melek 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 the body of a man. As well as of flat, perforated fragments of turquoise and almondine garnet, and an approximately lozenge-shaped bead of amethyst, 1.7 centimeters long and 1.4 centimeters broad. The chief adornment was the turquoise ibex, 1.7 centimeters in length and 0.9 centimeters high. 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 fetish or at least that of a 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 headrest amulet is usually of hematite, as is also the carpenter's square. Of the heart amulets numbering 47 in the rich collections of the Cairo Museum, 9 are of carnellian, 4 of hematite, 2 of lapis lazuli, and 2 each of green porphyry and green jasper, carnellian being thus the most favored among the more precious materials. Amulets of animal form are plentifully represented in this collection, 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. One of the special uses of amulets was for seafaring people. All who went down to the sea in ships were greatly in need of protection from the fury of the elements when they embarked in their small sailing vessels. A fragment of a Greek lapidary, probably written in the 3rd or 4th century of our era, gives a list of 7 amulets peculiarly adapted for this purpose. The number might suggest a connection with the days of the week, and the amulets were perhaps regarded as most efficacious when used on the respective days. In the first were set a carbuncle and a calcedony. This amulet protected sailors from drowning. The second had for its gem either of two varieties of the Adamus, one, the Macedonian being likened to ice, this was probably 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 barrel, transparent, brilliant, and of a sea-green hue. Evidently the aquamarine barrel, this banished fear. The fourth had for its gem the druops, white in the center, 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 prowl of the ship with strips of seal skin. It guarded the vessel from winds and waves and all waters. For the sixth amulet, the Ophiocylus 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 Opsianus. 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 use of amulets was considered to be indispensable for those who dared to evoke the dark spirits of the netherworld. 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 preparing an amulet, or phylacterion, for the undertaking. For this a sweet smelling lodestone should be chosen, and should be cut heart-shaped and engraved with the figure of Hecate. 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 clasped with the ruby, an amulet containing these five substances is thought to combine the protecting influences of the different 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 27 constellations, or houses of the moon. Such an amulet, suspended at the entrance of a house, is believed to afford protection to the inmates. In the language of the ancient Mexicans, blood was called chalchuatl, or water of precious stones, as the quintessence of what were regarded as the most costly things. Although such poetic designations are in modern times mere figures of speech, among primitive 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 blood is the life. That gems, had sex, is asserted by the earliest writers, 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, the Theophrastus, the earliest Greek writer on precious stones, clearly shows that this sexual distinction was sometimes seriously 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 16th century, and ingenious explanations were sometimes given of the cause of this phenomenon, as appears in the following account by Royce of germinating diamonds. It is recently been related to me by a lady worthy of credence, that a noble woman, descended from the illustrious house of Luxembourg, 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 someone as this adamantifica, first changes the surrounding air into water, or some similar substance, and then condenses and hardens this into the diamond gem. The pearlfishers 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, believing 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. Telismanic influences are taken into account in the 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 earrings 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 earrings 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 Telismanic purpose is to attract the beholder's gaze and thus ward off the mysterious and dangerous emanations set forth by the evil eye. The necklace, or its ornaments, are supposed to perform a similar service to that rendered by the lightning rod in diverting the electric charge. At an early date, the Christian Church registered its opposition to the practice of wearing amulets. At the Council of Laodicia, held in 355 A.D., it was decreed in the 34th 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 should be cast out of the church. The synthetic condemnation 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 expression 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. Until Moodic 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. In the old French didactic poem, the Roman de la Rossée, composed in the 12th century, appear traces of the belief in the magic properties of the precious stones. Chaucer translated this poem into English in the 14th century, and we quote the following lines from his version. They describe the costume of the symbolic figure, riches. At the trial in 1232 of Hubert de Burg, chief justiciar, one of the charges brought against him was that he had surreptitiously removed from the English treasury 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 to 1272. This must have taken place about 1228, when Henry was engaged in war with the Welsh. The precious stones could, under certain circumstances, lose the powers inherent in them, was firmly believed 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 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 warrant 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 vestments was to pronounce the following benediction. The Lord be with us, and with thy spirit. Let us pray. Almighty God and Father, who manifestedest thy virtue to Elias by certain senseless creatures, who orderedest Moses, thy servant, that among the sacri-dotal vestments he should adorn the rationale of judgment with twelve precious stones, and showed us 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 delected 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 sanctification and incarnation of thy name, so that they may be sanctified, blessed and consecrated, and may receive from thee the effect of these virtues thou hast granted to them. According to their kinds, in 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 sanctification, benediction, and consecration, who lives with thee and reigns as God for all eternity. Amen. Thanks be to God. Conrad of Meganburg also gives this benediction in his Buch der Natur. Luther tells the following humorous tale of a Jew who was a vendor of amulets. There is a 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, O 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. Ruskin, 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 purpose. He thus found himself consciously or unconsciously in agreement with the old fancies which attributed a species of personality to precious stones. Just as the Hindu regarded an imperfectly shaped crystal as the 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, opaque, rough surfaced, jagged on the edge, distorted in the spine. It exhibits a quite human image of decrepitude and dishonor. But the worst of all signs of its decay and helplessness is that halfway 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 and purity of substance between the first most noblestone and this ignoble and disillute one. The impurity of the last is in its will, or want of will. There is established a very pretty custom of assigning to the various masculine and feminine Christian 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 exceedingly good omen when it happens that all three gems are of the same sort. Gems for feminine names. Adelaide and Allicite. Agnes Agate. Alice Alexandrite. Ann Amber. Beatrice Basalt. Bell Bloodstone. Bertha Beryl. Caroline Calcedony. Catherine Katzai. Charlotte Carbuncle. Clara Carnelian. Constance Crystal. Dorcas Diamond. Dorothy Diaspor. Edith I. Agate. Eleanor Allelite. Elizabeth Emerald. Ellen Esonite. Emily Euclis. Emma Epidote. Florence Florite. Francis Fireople. Gertrude Garnet. Gladys Golden Barrel. Grace Sulurite. Hannah Heliotrope. Helen Hyacinth. Irene Iolite. Jane Jassinth. Jesse Jasper. Josephine Jadite. Julia Jade. Louise Lapis lazuli. Lucy Lapidolite. Margaret Moss Agate. Martha Malachite. Marie Moldevite. Mary Moonstone. Olive Olivine. Pauline. Pearl. Rose. Ruby. Sarah. Spottamine. Susan. Sapphire. Therese. Turquoise. Gems for masculine names. Abraham. Aragonite. Adolphus Albite. Adrian. Andalusite. Albert Agate. Alexander. Alexandrite. Alfred Almondine. Ambrose. Amber. Andrew. Aventurine. Archibald. Axonite. Arnold Aquamarine. Arthur. Amethyst. Augustus Agilmatillite. Benjamin Bloodstone. Bernard Barrel. Charles Calcedonni. Christian Crystal. Claude Cyanite. Clement Chrysolite. Conrad Crosidolite. Constantine Chrysobarrel. Cornelius Katzai. Dennis Demantoid. Dorian Diamond. Edmund Emerald. Edward Epidote. Ernest Euclis. Eugene Esonite. Ferdinand Felspar. Francis Fireople. Frederick Florite. George Garnet. Gilbert Gadolinite. Godfrey Gagatis. Gregory Grossullerite. Gustavus Galactides. Guy Goldquartz. Henry Heliolite. Herbert Hyacinth. Horace Harlequin Opel. Hubert Heliotrop. Q Heliodor. Humphrey Hypershtheen. James Jade. Jasper Jasper. Jerome Jadite. John Jacinth. Joseph Jargoon. Julius Jett. Lambert. This was read for you by Mr. Mike 79, also known as Mike Gulchinsky from Lowell, Michigan, United States of America. Malachi. Thank you. Matthew Moonstone. Maurice Moss Agate. Michael Microcline. Nathan Naturalite. Nicholas Nefright. Oliver Onyx. Osborn Orthoclase. Osmond Opel. Oswald Obsidian. Patrick Pyrope. Paul Pearl. Peter Porphyry. Philip Praise. Ralph Rubelite. Raymond Rose Quartz. Richard Routyle. Robert Rockcrystal. Roger Rodenite. Rowland Ruby. Stephen Sapphire. Theodore Tormeline. Thomas Topaz. Valentine Vesuvianite. Vincent Verde Antique. Walter Woodopel. William Willemite. End of chapter two. This was read for you by Mr. Mike 79, also known as Mike Gulchinsky from Lowell, Michigan, United States of America. Thank you.