The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-05
PRECIOUS STONES.
Their Legends and Their Mysteries.
Healing Properties.

From the Parts Figaro.
The father of jewelry was Prometheus.
When he was cut loose by Hercules from
the chains that fastened him to Mount
Caucasus he made ring ont of one of the
| links Of his letters, and in the bezsl Of it he
| fixed portion Of the rock. According to
| Pliny that was the first ring and the first
| stone. Hebrew tradition says that the tab
let's of Moses were of sapphire. A ID Hebrew
the word Sappir means the most beautiful.
| 1t symbolizes loyalty, justice, beauty and
| nobility. The emerald is mentioned by st.
| John in the Apocalypse. An emerald Of in
| estimable value ornamented the bezel of
| the ring of Polycrstes, King Of Samos. That
| monarch, having been all his life favored
| by fortune, determined TO put his luck to
severe test. He threw the ring into the sea.
| The next day he went fishing. The rec
| ord of that days sport still remains un~
broken. His majesty caught fine fish and
in the inside of the fish he found his ring.
That happened in the year go Of the
foundation of Rome, and the ring, consid-
| cred as talisman, was placed among the
| royal treasures of the Temple of Concord.
Emeralds from India. Persia and Peru are
| the most valuable. According to their
| tints and their lustre they are classed as
| Prosines, Neronianes and Domitianes. Ac-
cording to Suetohius, Nero used to look at
| the fighting gladiators in his emerald. The
stone is the emblem of charity, hope, Joy
| and abundance. 1t had the reputation of
curing epilepsy by application, and of being
an all-round pain killer.
The diamond has always been regarded as
| the most precious stone. 1t resists the
| hardest bodies. The Pontif Aaron wore
diamond of astounding virtues. IL became
obscure, almost black, when the Hebrews
were in a state OF mortal sin. II the guilty
| daaarvad Haath IL haoana rad huE the
| presence of innocence it came back to its
| original purity and brilliancy. Rues as
| sures US that diamonds breed, and that
certain princess of the house Of Luxem-
| burg had two which had family In the
| course Of a reasonable time. The same in
teresting assertion is also made by Boethius.
| The diamond was reputed as preserver
against epidemics aud poisons. 1t Gains
| anger aud foments conjugal love. The an
clients called it the stone of reconciliation"
| 1t symbolizes constancy, strength and in
nocence.
The name of the precious stone inserted
| In the ring of Gyges has not been handed
| down to US, but it is probable that it was
| the topaz whose wonders Philostrates re-
counts in the life of Appolonius. An
| attribute of the sun and of fire, the ancients
called it the gold magnet, as it was credited
| with the power OF attracting that metal,
| indicating it's veins, aud discovering treas
ures. Heliodorus, in his story OF Theagenes
| and Caricles, says that the topaz saves from
fire all those who wear it. and that Caricles
was preserved by topaz from the fiery
vengeance of Arsaces, Queen OF Ethiopia.
This stone was one Of the first talismans
that Theagenes possessed in Egypt. The
topaz at present symbolizes Christian vir-
tues, faith, justice. temperance, gentleness,
clemencv.
One of the rarest and most precious
iS ma narhunNla which ia sOmAbim9s
COMPOUNDED with the ruby, from which it
differs by the intensity of its fires. produced
by au internal luster Of gold. while under
the purple of the ruby there Only appear
dottiug of azure or lacquer Ethiopia pro-
| duced the most precious ancient carbuncles.
| The Chaldeans regarded this stone as a
powerful talismsn. Legend makes the
ewes Of dragons out of carbuncles. Garcias
alb Horto, physician of one of the viceroys
| OF India. speaks of carbuncles which he
saw 10 the palace Of that prince which were
| so extraordinary in their brilliancy that
| thew seemed like red hot Goals in the
| midst of darkness" Louis Vertoman re-
ports that the King Of Pegu wore an
enormous one, which at night appeared to
| he lighted up with sunbeams. The virtues
| of the carbuncle are resistance TO fre, pre-
| servation of the eyes, promotion or
| pleasant dreams, creation of happy illu-
sions. and AN antidote against impure air.
The ruby Is Valueo nlBueeb "Hon ~ V IL
| tains the least azure. The largest ruby that
history speaks Of belonged to Elizabeth of
Austria, the wife OF Charles TX. IL was
almost rs big as q hens egg. The virtues
attributed to rubles ore to Danish sadness, to
repress luxury and to drive away annoying
thoughts. At the same time it symooiizes
cruelty. anger and carnage. as well as ooid-
ness and bravery. A change in its color
announces calamity, but when the trouble
il over it regains its primitive luster. The
amethyst, so called from the Greek Anae-
fhustos. meaning mot drunk" was a
fayorite stone among the Roman ladies'
Its principal virtue was to draw away the
vanors of inebriety from the brain. 1t also
drove away evil thoughts and attracted to
its nossessor the favors OF princes.
The opal, fallen from its ancient splendor,
is to-day considered an unlucky stone, even
bv those vino laugh at old superstitions, but
! it once held high rank among Drsclous