Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-25
PRECIOUS STONES.
Their Legends aud Their Mysteries Healing
Properties.

fropertie..
Prom the FSsaro.
The father Of jeweiry was Prometheus When
he was cut loose by Hercules from the chains
that fastened him 20 Mount Caucasus he made
ring out Of one OF the links Of his fetters. and
IN the bezel Of il he fixed portion Of thsrock.
According TO Pliny, that was the first ring and
the first stone. Hebrew tradition says that the
tablets Of Moses were Of sapphire. In Hebrew
the word sappir means the most beautiful 10
symbolizes loyalty, justice, beauty and nobility.
The emerald is mentioned by 81. John in his
Apocalypse. An emerald Of inestimable value
oruRmented the bezel Of the ring Of Polycra,es,
King OF ssmos. That monarch. having been all his
life fasoredby fortune, eiermined 20 put hi. luck
TO a severe test. lie threw the ring into the
sea. The next day he went fishing. Tae record
Of that days sport still remains unbroken. His
majesty caught hne fish. and in che inside Of
the fish he found his ring. That happened in
the year go Of the foundation Of Rome. and
the ring. considered rs a ialismsn. wAs IiAoed
among he royal trnrsures OF the Temple Of
Concord. Emeralds from India. Persia and
Peru are the most valuable. According 20 their
tints and thoir luster they clas=ed ~ Pro-
sines, Neronianes and nomitianes. According
10 Suetonius. Nero used 10 look Ai the lighting
gladia,ors In his emerald. The stone l. the en-
blem Of charity, hope, joy and abundance. 10
had the reputation Of curing epilepsy bv appli-
cation and 81 being an all-round pain killer
The diamond has always been regarded as
the most precious stone. Ii resists the hard
est bodies. The rontin Aaron wore a diamond
of astonishing virtues. IL became obscure,
almost black. when the Hebrews were in a state
Of mortal sin. II the guilty deserved death il
became red, but in the presence Of innocence
Il came back to its original purity and brllancv
Rues assures Us that diamonds breed. and that
a certain princess of the house Of Luxembourg
had two which had family in the course Of a
reasonable time. The same interesting asscr-
ton Is also made by Boethius. The diamond
was repused as Freserver against epidemics
and poisons. II calms anger and foment- con-
jlgal love. The sncients called il ''the stone II
reconciliation Ii symbolizcs con-tapcv
strength and innocence.
The name Of the precious stone inserted in
the ring OF Gyges has not been handed down to
u.s. bat il l. probable that il was the topaE
whose wonders Philostratcs recounts in the life
of Apollonius. An attribute of the sun and
OF hre. The ancients called IL the gold magnet
a. 1t WIS credited with the power If attracting
that metal. indicating its veins and discovering
treasures. Hclliodorus. in his story Of Thea
genes and Caricles. saws that the topaz saves
from ire all those who wear IL. and that Carl
Giles was preserved by topaz from the fiery
vengeance of Arsaces. Queen Of T. chopin. This
stone was one OF the first tai-mans that Thea
genes possessed In Egypt. The topaz nj present
symbolizes Christian virtues. faith. Justice,
temperance, gentlcness. clemeucy.
One of the rarest and most precious stones Is
the carbuncle, which il sometimes COMPOUNDED
with the ruby, from which it differs by the in
tensity OF its fires. produced by an internal
luster Of gold, while under the purple q the
ruby there only appear dot;ings Of azure or
lacquer. Ethiopia produced the most precious
ancient carbuncles. The Chsldeans regarded
this stone as a powerful talsman. Legend
makes the ewes of dragons out Of cArbuncles
lrnrclns nh HOrfn rahkHieian ~. s.f
roys OF India. speaks of cRrbuncles which he
saw in the palace of that prince which we're 80
extraordinary in their brilliancy that they
seemed like red-hot Goals in the midst Of dark
ness. Louis NertOman reports that the King
of Iegu wore an enormous one. which at night
appeared 70 be lighted up with sunbeams The
virtues OF the carbuncle are resistance TO fire,
preservation Of the eyes. promotion Of pleasant
dreams, creation of happy illusions and an anti
dote against impure air.
The ruby l. valued highest when il contains
the least azure. The largest ruby that history
speaks of belonged 10 Elizabeth of Austria,
the wife Of Charles TX. II was almost as big
as a hens egg. The virtues attributed 10 rubies
are TO Danish sadness, to rcpress luxury and to
drive away annoying thoughts. At the same
time il symbolizes cruelty. anger and carnage.
as well as boldness and bravery. A change in
Its color announces calamity. but when the
trouble Il over IL regains its primitive lusicr.
The amethyst so called from the Greek
lite stone among the Roman ladies. lts Jrinci-
pal virtue TO draw away the vapors Of
iuebriety from the brain. II also drove away
evil thoughts and attracted to its possessor the
favors OF princes.
The opal. fallen from it's ancient splenior. is
today called an unlucky stone, even by those
who laugh at old superstitions; but il once
held high rank among precious stones The
belief that ii Attracted misfortune was founded
on Russian legend which found IT, way into
l.aI A
an opal. At sight Of one in the Tuilleries she
manifested terror. That had the effect OF low
ering the price of the stone.
The turquoise Is considered rs a talisman In
Persia, lite native soil IL preserves lite pos
SCISSOR from accidents and insures constaacy in
affections. The value of the turquoise depends
on its shade and lite size. especially its thick
ness. Those classed belonging 10 the old
rock valued very highly. Emblem q
youth. Of sentiment and tender recollections,
the turquoise may be called the forget-me-not
of stones. II breaks on the death OF it's pro-
prietor and changes color when he Is ILL., This
last observation is perfectly true and l. certified
TO by all lapidsries. The same thing has been
remarked of coral. Not only do precious
stoues live" says Jerome CardHn. but they ara
liable 20 get sick. TO suffer from the infrmities
Of old age and at last TO die"
The most precious of all stones according TO
DIR. de Lignieres, l. the Jade. ON account of its
rarity, its extraordinary qualities and the mys-
terN OF us CUTTING. ~ was regarded a. n sacred
stone and nobody had a right 90 possess it ex-
cept prince OF imperial blood. Argerins Gu
titus, famous physician in Amsterdam Mt the
time of the Renaissance, published a work
the jade or nephritic stone. as it was then
called on account Of it's action on the renal sys-
tenn. At the same period Italian authors spoke
of the jade as osiada and discussed it, wonder
full powers for healing sciatica. The legends
surrounding this stone abound in history.
Good specimens of jade are extremely rare, and
the world is at a loss 20 know how the Chinese
managed 10 cut il, because ii is extremely
hard that nothing can make an impression upon
it, Splendid specimens OF gray and green jade
can be seen in the museum Of the Trocadero.
In conclusion Dr. de Lignieres admits the
possibility of the soundness of the theory that
precious stones may have healing properties.
High scientific authority, he says, has estab-
ished beyond dispute the reality Of action,
Wis, virtus or vita, exercised by great number
of precious stones, leaving out Of the question
the influence of Imagination and all the phe-
nomena of euto-suggestion.
Cofus With