San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-06-17
DISORDERS OF The LIVER
JEWELS AS MEDICINE.
Some of the Precious Stones That
Are Said to Possess Heal
In Powers.

Some Of the Precious Stones That
Are Said to Possess Heal
In Powers.
From the Figaro.
Aaron wore diamond of astound.
ing virtues. 1t became obscure, al.
most black, when the Hebrews were
in state of mortal sin. If the guilty
deserved death it became red, but in
the presence of innocence 1t came
back to its original purity and bril-
liancy. Rues assures us that dia-
monds breed, and that n certain prin-
cess of the House of Luxenburg had
two which had a family in the course
of q reasonable time. The same in
teresting assertion is made by Buethi,
us. The diamond was reputed as q
preserver against epidemics and poi
sons. 1t calms anger and foments
coDjugal love. The ancients call 1t
"the stone of reconciliation 1t sym.
bOiiZes consIancy, strength and iDno-
cence.
The name of the precious stone in.
serted in the ring of Gygos has not
been handed down to us, but 1t is
probable that it was the topaz. whose
wonders Philostrates recounts in the
lite of Apollonius. An attribute OF
the sun and of fire, the ancients called
1t the gold magnet, IS it was credited
with the power of attracting that
metal. indicating ifs veins, and dis
covering treasures. Heliodorus, in
his story of TheaRenes and Caricles,
says that the topaz saves from fire ell
those who wear it, and that Caricles
was preser we'd by topaz from the
fiery vengeance of Arsaces, Queen Of
Ethiop ia. This stone was one of the
first talismans that Tbeagenes pos
sessed in Egypt. The topaz at pres.
ent symboliZes Christian virtues,
faith, justice. temperance, gentleness,
clemeDcy.
One of the rsrest aud most precious
stones is the carbuncle, which is
sometimes confounded with the ruby,
from which lie differs by the intensity
of its fires, produced by an internal
luster of gold, while under the purple
of the ruby there only appear dot
tings of azure OF lacquer. Ethiopia
produced the most precious ancient
carbuncles. The Chaldeans regarded
Legend makes the eyes of dragons
ysician of one of the Viceroys of
India, speaks of carbuncles which he
saw in the palace of that prince
which were so extraordinary in their
brilliancy that they seemed "like
red not Goals in the midst of dark
ness" Louis Veri oman reI orts that
the King of Peru wore an enormous
one, which ut night appeared to be
lighted up with the sun beams. The
virtues OF the carbuncle are resistance
to le. preservation of the eyes, pro-
motion of pleasant dreams, creation
of happy illusions, and an antldot1
against impure air.
The ruby is valued highest when II
contains the least azure. The largest
ruby that history speaks of belonged
to Elizabeth of Austria, the wife of
Charles TX. 1t was almost as big as a
hens egg. The virtues attributed TO
ru bies are TO Danish sadness, to re-
press luxury and to drive away an
noyiDg thoughts. At the same time
it symboliZes cruelty, anger and earn
age, as wellas boldness and bravery.
A change In it's color announces a
calamity. but when the trouble is
over Ii regains lis primitive luster.
The amethyst. so called from the
Greek Amethustos, meaning mot
drunk" was favorite stone among
the Roman ladies. Its principal vir-
tue was to draw away the vapors of
inebriety from the brain. 1t also drove
away evil thong hts and attracted to
its possessor the favors OF princess.
The opal, fallen from its ancient |
splendor, is to-day called an unlucKy |
stone, even by those who laugh at
old superstitions, but it once held a
high rank among precious stones.
The belief that il attracted misfor-
tune was founded on Russian legend |
which found its way into France. The
Empress Eugene had horror of an
opal. AT the sight of one in the
Tuileries she manifested terror. That
had the effect of lowering the price
of the stone.
The turquois is considered as tai
ismsn in Persia, its native soil. 1t
preserves its possessor from accidents
and insures constancy in affections.
The value of the turquois depends
on its shade and its size, especially
its thickness. Those classed as be-
longing to the old rock are valued
very highly. Emblem of youth, of