St. Paul daily globe., 1892-09-25
Gems Assumed to- Give Forth
Light That Made the Sun
Superfluous.
The Priceless Ruby Which
Even Kubla Khan Could
Not Buy.
An Interesting Chat About
Famous and Historic
Diamonds.


Something in that liquid fiery color
which reminds one of heart full of its
bleating blood-of the sun in its con-
centrated splendor-something at once
weird and fascinating stirred the minds
which peopled space with Peris, Djinns
and Afreets, and gave to certain things
Of earth powers named by common con-
sent magical and supernatural. Gems
In general, says the Philadelphia Item,
and rubies and carbuncles among the
more specialized, were assumed to give
forth light that made the sun Superfiu-
Gus. Noah had this light when in the
ark. and Abraham's city, wherein he
Shut up his wives and whereof the walls
were too high to allow the sun to shine
therein, was brilliantly lighted by a
basin full of precious stones.
Wisdom is better than rubieS" is the
seal of praise set against the charter OF
mans best conduct; and ruby, to-
gether with its congener. the sapphire,
was one of the twelve stones of the
famous breastplates of Aaron. For
rubies and sapphires are the same
stones, one colored red and the other
blue; and both come under the head of
"cOrundum," which the dictionary tells
us is ''anhydrouS alumina."
The finest rubieS are still kept In
Asia. though Tavernier-who, after all,
is the great authority on Eastern gems,
though he did not write so long ago
says that he preferred the French rubieS
to those of the Great Mogul. Yet the
Great Mogul had 10S large rubieS in his
throne, and among them was one weigh
ing 215 o. Various other immense
rubies are noted by authors.
10 Il nf Arra
sided prism, full inch in diameter,
ending in siX-sided pyramid. The
king of Pegu had ruby of which the
purity had passed into prOverb, and
which was said to be the finest in the
world, if not for size, yet for color and
brllliancy. The supreme of all for size
if indeed it were ruby at all-waS
one spoken of by Marco Polo, in the
possession of the king of CeylOn, "a
span in length. as thick as mans arm,
and without flaw" What has become
of it no man knows; and. indeed,
whether it was bit of cOlored crystal
or wonderfully tinted slab of glass
akin to those fabulous emeraldS and the
like, wherein the Egyptians were so
deft, is not known any more than the
ultimate fate of this extraordinary pro-
ductiOn.
1t is said that Kubla Khan sent an
ambassador to Ceylon, offering the
value of a city for this unique jewel;
but the king and all his people refused
the bribe. and preferred to keep their
ruby. Did KubIa Khan want it for his
stately pleasure dome in Xanadu?
Of European rubies. Charles the
Bold, that luckless son of fortunate
father, had three rubies called the
Three Brothers, of perfect color and
worthy size. They passed into the pos
session of James L.. who sent them to
"Baby Charles" There is a large heart
shaped balas ruby in the English crown.
1t has been neither cut nor polished, is
semi-transparent and is of a dark red,
like MOrella cherry.
Austria had, or has, an Oriental ruby
the size of hens egg, and Queen
Elizabeth showed Sir James Melville
one as big as racket ball. Runjeet
Singh had a large ruby with the names
of many kings engraven on it-among
them was that of Avrugzebe. A king
of Persia had one which he priced at
the value of a city, or even kingdom.
at was table-cut balaS ruby Of beau
titul shape, of at least fingers breadth,
weighing TWO ounces and half, and of
a most peerless color" There are others
still celebrated in history, but it would
make this paper too much like cata-
logue to chronicle them. 1.-The corona
ton ring of the kings of England is OF
plain gold with large violet table ruby,
whereon plain cross, or cross of st.
George, is curiously enchased. The
queens ring IS likewise of gold, with
large table ruby, and sixteen small
brilliants around the ring" Rubies and
carbuncles are male and female, ac-
cording to Pliny.
There are four degrees of merit in the
ruby class. The first is the deep blood
red oriental ruby-the "cochineal red,''
pure, suggestive, without admixture of
brown or violet. The second is the
spinel, almost as beautiful as the ori-
ential, but shade less rich, less su-
preIne in color. The third is the balas,
a rose-red ruby, valuable in proportion
to its depth of tint, and esteemed per-
feet only when it attainS certain size
and weight. A small pale balaS ruby
is of very meager value. The fourth is
the amandine. or rubicelle. of yellow
ish red oftentimeS tinged with brown.
The Brazilian topaz is not unfrequently
made to pass for balas ruby.
1t is heated in crucible filled with
sand, which drives off the yellow, and
fills in the rose-red tint of the balas
ruby. As topaZeS are of larger size
than rubleS, the trade of transforma-
GlOl IlluSl NC IL DIOuldUic Ollc. OdTutlS
too. have often done duty for rubies
and many a writer has confounded gar
nets, rubieS and carbuncles all in
heap together. Also ''rose quartz,
otherwise called the false ruby, ha.
more than once been palmed off ON th(
unwary as the true gem; and there, al
elsewhere in life, cleverness and dis
honesty "put the comether'' Oh igno
rance and trust, and from painted spar
rows to painted faceS-from "fals,
rubies" to rootless fame got by boom
e. and logrolling, the world is roundl,
cheated, and the truth of things is no
made manifest.
The ruby, indeed every other gem
had its magical properties in these ole
times when occultism was an article o
faith as firm as is now our belief In tn,
power of electricity, and the wiseSt mel
were the most sincerely convinced o
supernaturalism as the order of dali
life. The Oriental ruby defied both poi
son and the plague. Worn on the per
son or ground to powder and drunk a
a drug, 1t preserved the wearer or swal
lower from that ever present danger O
poisOn-that ever present fear of tn
plague. 1t made the sad heart merry
and banished all evil thoughts tendin
to unlawful love. 1t gave the trouble,
sleeper peaceful nights and freed hin
from bad dreams and hagridden fears.
1t was better than camphor or qui
nine, eucalyptus or halvaviva, in tn
way of preservative from illness; and
flashing blood-red ruby made sheet
stepped in Burnett's fluid, saucers ful
of Condy's fluid, or springlings of cal
bolic acid completely unnecessary
When misfortunes and evil days threat
ened the wearer it lost its brillIanc
and became sad and dark for sympathy
When the danger had passed by, OF th
doom had been fulfilled. it regained il
proper hue and 1.-THE world went yer
well then" once more. A learned Gel
man, with an unpronounceable name
festlfieS to this: 'On the 9Th day CT De
cember, 1900, ,after the birth of Christ .Jt
sus,a l was going with my beloved wife
Catherine Adelmannie (of pious men
Ory). from Stutgard to Cahena, | oil
served, by the way, that very fine rub
which then wore mounted in a gol