National Republican., 1877-03-04
THE HISTORY OF GEMS.
THE PRECIOUS STONES IND JEVELs
or AN ACES.

Mines OF Goiconda, Brazil and Afrtca-uow
False Gems Are Made.
Cardan, q celebrated authority on the mystical
properties and virtues Of jewels, who wrote as
late as the sixteenth century, has much to say OF
the manner OF tho origin OF precious stones. In
his opinion precious stones are caused by certain
essences or juices which now from grosser sub
stances. The diamond, the emerald and the opal
he supposed to come from the essence Of gold, the
sapphire from silver, and the carbuncle, the ame.
thyst and the garnet from iron. He admitted
without question, that precious stones not only
lived, but that they suffered Illness old age and
death. He then speaks OF the different virtues
possessed by precious stones. The hyacinth pre-.
serves from thunder storms and pestllence and In.
duces sleep. Thisquality was attributed to It by
Albortus Magnus. without precisely rejecting
this notion Cardan confesses that he carries ordI
narily very large hyaclnth, and that 1t has neyor
appeared TO contribute anything toward making
him sleep; but, he adds Immediately and with
perfect naivetc that his hyacinth has not the true
color and may possibly be far from good. II was
also believed that the hyaclnth increased riches
augmented power, fortified the heart and brought
Joy TO the soul. He describes the turquoise which
mounted in n ring, secures tho horsoman from all
injury II he falls from his horse; and adds: "I
have beautiful turquoise which was given mo
for keepsake, but It has never occurred to me TO
test Its virtues, nor dol care. for sake OF the ex
pertinent, to fall from my horse" Babinet says:
" For all maladle Of norvoue or moral nature.
where imagination might exert great influence,
The hope Of cure in such affections Is the enyye
ITSELF and In all the numerous cases whore the
mind La had an influence upon the bodily system,
the ayinury cause must produce very real efIcct
Finally, that eternal deception Of the human
spirit which registers all the cures, but does not
take into account the cases where the curntIye
means hayo failed Of their end, contributed TO
maintain belief in the occult virtues Of precious
would borrow from rich families gems mounted in
ring, TO apply to the affected parts. When the
for toothache sore throat, or earacne the presaT
tion was taken 70 secure 1t by long string, lest
IL should he swallowed by the patient
DIAMOND MINES.
The earliest diamond mines were those of GoI
employment for thousands OF people, and though
every coronet in tho world. In modern times Tho
mines Of Brazil have furnished annually 1900.
South to sas world
hundred square miles Of territory. The principal
aiggings are situated in the valley Of the vaai
River TO the northeast OF the Orange River Free
State, and within the boundary OF the Cape Col.
ony as now defined. The country here rises into
fragments OF hard rock limb sddod In ferrugIpoas
gravel, Which varies 10 character and compactness;
Hsns sSmsms , quite loose and sometimes form
gravel that the diamonds are found. They occur
at various depth. down to twenty feet or more, but
Inc usual depth Is from two to six feet below the
surface. Diamonds Weighing from twenty 10
thirty earats, were not unusual, aud among the
ing considerably more than 100 carats, Including
the beautiful "Star Of Be ,uorL" and the ''Star OF
sone Which eS ShFa apS bS bSvSy
hbiting underthe microscope m aspect OF POI nted
mountain SUBMITS lighted by vivid sunlight with
oil the coOrs Of the rainbow
CELEBRATED DIAMONDS,
One Of the most celebrated diamonds is that of
the Rajah OF Mattccn, in Borneo. 1t was found
like pear, and is considered by the people of
Borneo as a Kind OF palladium to which the des.
TIMES oi the empire are attached. They attribute
TO II the miraculous power OF curing ail diseases
~ means OF the water in which It has been dipped
According to Jamison, the Governor OF Borneo
their guns, ammunition and stores, and seventy
cannon, with large quantity Of powder and shot
Of the celebrated Regency diamond is told by 81
simon Who processes 70 speak 81 his own personal
bya person employed in the diamond mines. Sa WSa
e several prlnees-.nd among the rest to tho
II to the somewhat notorious Law. LAW proposed
60 the Regent that II should be bought ior the
the Duke hestated TO- spend such q large sum in
that way. st. Simon lent his influence In favor
was IN Tpos nna uoms Ihas thI damona
shs crown , Of France and that the purchase would
she SSa Of taS DSF The
for s3si 900 others say ssIs o0O the seller recey
ing also the fragments resulting from the cutting,
paid FROM that time tie ReTn, 'hs wnSIe Scn TSs
tihed with the fortunes of France, and a chapter
ot historic details belongs to Its career.
THE KoHiNooR AND OTHERS.
When the Kohinoor was brought to England IL
Weighed lso l;lo carats, and was valued at about
siOo0oo. Al that time 1t was merely surface cut,
recutting seemed advisable, and il was decided % to
give II the form Of the brilliant. The cutting was
begun on July 10, 1852. The Duke of Wellington
being the hrst person to place It on the cutting
mill, and was finished September !, thus occupy.
N IN
but the stone is nevertheless valued at the same
price j. was before, on account Of the improve.
ment In brillianoy and effect. Besides the Kohl.
moor and great number of fine pearls, the crown
OF Queen Victoria contains 4OI diamonds, Of which
the value is estimated at more than s3J2 00O
The country most rich In diamonds at present
Is Russia. Beside special collections of diamonds
crowns Of Which they form III. soe thieS eSs are three
hrst that Of Ivan, contains ssl that Of Peter the
Grss1 " that 81 81 Catherine In the Great, 2,5co,
markable is the Orlow. 1t weighs 1873 carats. and
Is one OF tho ornaments OF the imperial sceptre
india. i beautiful diamond was originally from
At the commencement of the eighteenth cen.
turY the idea seized French Soldier OF one
The eyes Of this celebrated idol. II lie 'rSs. pre.
tended to be inspired with wonderful zeal for
the confidence Of the priests that they conhded to
him the care of the temple. lie chose his time -
monds; the other could not be freed from the
socket; precious stone without rival Is the
Dluc uiauOnu VI hr. nope. It's weight Is thirty.
-four and half crrats and Its color Is the blue Of
the most beautiful sapphire, ADDED to an adiman.
tins lustre OF the utmost brilliancy. II was pur.
chased for ss3, ,7o0, but competent Judges dsclare
that II was worth more.
ALuNINoUs STONES.
The classification OF Jewels by tho author ar
ranges all precious stones In three classes, The
firstcompii ,cs single stone-the ediamOnd-yhich
Is compose only OF carbon. The second comprises
alljewels the base ofwhose composition Ia alumlna
The list OF these is muck more varied than might
be supposed, since II contain stones as varied in
appearance and color as the sapphire, tho ruby,
the Balas ruby, the topaz, the emerald the beryI,
The hea9uamarlne, the cymophane and the turquoise.
low clay which Is found everywhere In the utmost
abundance, and the only mark of distinction
known to chemists between the common clay and
the sapphire or the emerald is the fact that the
latter are erystallized and contain traces Of me.
tallic oxides which give color to the stones, The
name "corundum" Is applied by mineralogists to
NIL varieties Of crystallized alumina, whatever
their color. Colorless corundum is so brilliant as
sometimes 70 be mistaken for diamond, but 1t
tlon and by It's small specific gravity The corun.
dums are often exceedingly valuable, rubies Of
perfect lustrc and purity being OF greater value
than diamonds. The ruby ranks hrst for price
and beauty among all colored stones. It Is OF the
pure red OF the spectrum, and next after the san.
phire Is the hardest OF preciousst0nes always ex-
cepting the diamond. Charles Achard, the 'nigh.
est ant horty In France In all that concerns The
trathc In coored stones, remarks that weight has
not the same effect In their case as In that OF the
diamond Every diamond from the very smallest
specimen upward, has Its value, like gold and sll.
yer, according to weight but In the case of rubes
and other gems the little specimens have hardly