Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-04-10
For the Freeman.
Precious Stones.
BY DE. HIRAM A. CUTTING

uyAcIN1H, GARNET, QUARTZ, ONYX AND
SARDoNYX.
To the hvacinth or zrcon were attributed
in the middle ages peculiar virtues. 1t
was supposed that it gave blissful slumber
70 its owner, and would certainly bring
him in the end riches, honor and wisdom.
With such belief of course this peculiar
mineral, being found of almost all colors,
so rs to please all. and with the surersti
ton also of possessing the power of driv-
inc off all evil spirits, would bring almost
unheard of prices. Perhaps it has been
sold higher than almost any other gem,
vet AS a whole it has been considered of
inferior value, and at this time is out of
fashion and but little used. The smoky
white specimens called "jargoons " are
frequently cut as diamonds and sold as
such but their slight color and inferior
brightness does not usually deceive. They
are found in various places in the United
States as we'll as in all parts of the world.
The garnet, on account of its brilliant
color and hardness, is much used in jewel
rv, and if not found in such great abun-
dance it would command high prices, AS
it is, though, its principal value is in the
cutting. 1t is formed into ornaments of
rare beauty. 1t is found in all countries
and in almost every town, yet in sufficient
purity for the use of the lapidary it is less
common, but abundant in many places.
1t is electrical, exerting a positive effect
upon the magnetic needle. Though
usually of that peculiar garnet red so well
known, it is found also in brown, yellow,
white, green and black. The varieties
more commonly used in jewelry are
known as carbuncle. cinnamon Stone or
essonite and adamantne. 1t is known by
various other names also, only of interest
to the mineralogist.
The garnet of the ancients was any
stone of deep red color, and was sup
posed to act as n charm, protecting the
owner in a fight from death, and even
from loss of blood. The old writer's of
the middle ages ascribe great value to this
gem.
Quartz, though the most common of
any mineral on the globe, giving US more
comforts as glass, and more knowledge, as
in the lenses of the telescope or micro
scope, than any other mineral, it is still,
many times, very beautiful, and often used
in jewelry. 1t was supposed by the an
clients to be water frozen by intense cold,
and then petrifed and was used by the
Emperor Nero to make cups from which
he always drank, as he believed that if any
one gave him poison it would change his
crystal cup to a dark hue. When his
downfall took place he destroyed them, 50
that no other person could be protected by
what he, at great expense, had caused 70
be made. But numerous specimens Of
engraved cups cut from crystals as pure as
ice are preserved in the various museums
of Europe.
Large round balls of quartz were sup
the few who were born under the proper
planet the future of nations and individu-
ais. The last of the race in New Eng
land was one Mrs. Stone in Glover, VT,
who about twenty-five years ago was in
her zenith of renown, accumulating quite
fortune at one time by her piece of
quartz and natural tact of reading hu-
man nature.
In India, among the natives, the great
remedy for their diseases is milk, in which
they have boiled quartz crystals. Pieces
are also held in their mouths when they
are sick with fever to assauge thirst, and
round balls of the same are held in their
hands to abate the heat.
The pure crystals, when free from flaws
and transparent, generally sell for from
twenty five cents to one dollar per pound,
according to their size and perfection.
Many fine crystals have been found in
Lyndon and Glover, VT, the latest being
found by farmer in Glover, some three
years since, while plowing. 1t is said
that he quit work, supposing he had found
riches in the form Of mammoth diamond.
When offered ten times its worth for any
purpose, to place in the state cabinet for II
quartz specimen, he refused it with dis
dain, believing it to be worth millions of
dollars at least. Thus it is with ignorance
and superstition.
OF the varieties of quartz belonging to
the chocedonic family, and distinguished
from the common agate, by the positions
of its stripes or layers, is the onyx and
sard'nyx. Tho finest of these are brought
from India. They frequently reach this
country as beads, often carved in such u
way as 10 destroy their value. When in
beads almost always the white stripe runs
through them diagonally. The finest
stones, however, are brought from India
in pieces of circular or oval form, round
ed on top, with the white stripe running
round the brown or black centre near the
margin, like the eye of a lynx, which the
natives think they resemble. The common
name among jewelers. for them is "eye
stones" The more concentric rings or
layers the stone possesses the greater its
vauc. They are stained without difficult
ty, and hence the variety of colors.
The onyx was the eleventh stone on the
breastplate of the high priest, according
to our Bible, though commentators lead us
into the snpposition that it should have
been translated beryl. 1t was supposed
In ancient times TO cause strife and melan-
choly to the owner, but incidentally to cure
epileptc fits. 1t was often at later date
cut into cups for kings. Mithridates, king
of Pontus, is reported in history to have
had at least two thousand of them. made
OF this material. 1t is especially valuable
to cut canoes upon, as the layers render
the cameo of fine effect. There are also
Al.