The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-10-24
'ME TAILS . f. I II e ANCIENTS
What They Knew About Them
and How They Were Used. j

What They Knew About Them
and How They Were Used.
Great Accommodations of Gold-How They
Came to BE Made-The Yellow Metal
Only Employed for Orn uent-Dia-
monds Unknown in Moses Time.
"It seems probable that the diamond
was not known in the time Of Moses. J"
says Mineralogist II. L. Preston, of
Rochester, to Washington Star re-
porter. s"rhe word translated 'dia-
mond' or 'adanant' in various parts of
the Bible signifies simply very hard
stone and would be equally applicable
to many other gems. Diamonds were
certainly known at a later period
among the ancients, however, and pos
sessed q high value chiefly because OF
their rarity and extreme hardness. For
it is a stone Of no extraordinary bril-
liancy of beauty until it has been cut,
and the art of cutting and polishing.
diamonds was not discovered until
1856, A. D. The cut diamonds credited
to Hi1}doo and Chinese artists at very
early epoch are believed by the best au-
thorities to have been sapphlres. Pol
isbed and engraved gems of other kinds
were known in the time Of the exodus.
THE alabaster of the ancients was
not the compact variety of gypsum
faoru which vases and other ornaments
are carved nowadays, but stalagmitic
carbonate of lime. It was mostly em-
ployed in the old days i'll the manu-
facture of receptacles for containing
unguents and perfumes The nitre re-
peatedly mentioned in the Bible was not
saltpetre, but an impure carbonate OF
soda obtained from certain lakes in
Egypt called the Lakes OF Natrons
Natron was used for making soap and
also in the mumrnifying process.
s'Of the metals known to the ancients
probably gold was the first discovered.
It abounded in the sands Of many rivers
of antiquity which have long since
ceased to be auriferous. From the
readiness with which it was to be got
In those early times one may imagine
how such prodigious quantities OF gold
were collected as are spoken OF by au-
thors who describe the wealth OF Sol
ONION. the statues, tablets and vessels
Of gold dedicated by Semiramis and the
riches Of Croesus. Roman conQuerors
brought the precious metal home with
them literally by wagon loads. These
great accommodations were usually the
results of couquests. So it was with
the enormous treasures gathered at
Babylon under Se1uiranlis, at Jeru-
salem under Solomon, at Sardis under
Crcesus, again at Babylon under Dari-
us. al Alexandria under Alexander, and
afterward at Rome while she was at
She summit Of her power. Inasmuch as
gold in those days was used solely for
Che purpose Of ornament it was less
likely to be widely scattered through =
1nultitrlde Of hands.
1.-THE first mention Of gold and silver
is where Abraham is described as very
rich in cattle, silver and gold Gold
seems to be referred to in the Bible and
generally in ancient books as conspicu-
ously associated with lordly wealth.
Eunnily enough, the metal is ascer"
tanned to have been used at Rome three
hundred years before Christ for securing
artificial teeth in their places. Cloth
was also made Of it. Pliny speaks of
having seen Agrippina wife of the Erra-
peror Claudius, seated at her husbands
side during naval sham battle clothed
in a robe Of gold, woven without adj
mixture OF other material Though the
ssuriferous sands of rivers and alluv,al
plains furnished most Of the gold
auciently, mines were worked also.
The Pharaohs of Egypt drew great
quantities OF the yellow metal from
mines in that country
'sMany references in the Bible render
it certain that silver was used for mon
ey very anciently. The first mention
of it's employment in this way is in the
passage where Ephron values his field
at four hundred shekels of silver, which
ARE weighed out to him by Abraham.
Josephs brothers are said to have sold
him for twenty pieces Of silver, and
they took silver with them on both &C.
t.asions when they went into Egypt, 10
buy corn. Mirrors in Pliny's time were
commonly of silver, although previous
" they had been made of q mixture of
Gin and copper.
t'Iron has been known from a period
sntedating history A wedge of it has
been found in the Great Pyramid, and
therefore the metal must have been
known In the time OF Noses 1900 B. G.
IN the fourth chapter Of Genesis it Is
mentioned that Tubal Cain was the con-
structor of every artifce in brass and
iron. Brass was very indefinite term
among the ancients. Where it Is
spoken of in the Scriptures it is seldom
70 be understood to signify the alloy OF
copper and zinc now called by that
name. The brass tempered for edged
tools or weapons of war in early times
was usually compound of copper and
tin, now known as bronze. An analysis
made of Grecian helmet found it to
be copper mixed with one-ffth part OF