The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-20
ABOUT VIVID EMERALDS.
ONE OF THE RAREsT AND MOST
PRECIOUS OF GEMS.


Nero's Eyeglass-Ishtar's Emerald
GirdIc.
From the Philadelphia Record.
IN the emerald's hue of matchless green
Which casts abroad an oily sheen
An image apt of Faiths supplied;
To every good thing open wide
Which in a constant course proceeds
OF never-ending pious deeds.
Sparkling diamonds in profusion and
great wealth have come to be considered
synonymous terms by the social world,
and the literary world naturally follows
suit in its descriptions of gorgeous scenes
and situations
Again in Jewry and Hatton Garden In
London. one constantly hears, "Furs and
diamonds keep their value" therefore are
safe Investments; so that all combined
seem to keep up our popular delusion as
to the actual position of the diamond
in the world of gems.
Whereas, in reality the diamond has
fallen from first to third. even fourth,
place, and the emerald, ruby and pearl
take precedence in the stimulation Of the
gem expert or lapidary. so the fortunate
possessor of the diamond necklace"
must henceforth envy her fair friend who
owns an emerald or ruby coget and the
string of lustrous pearls Is rarer far than
its sparkling rival
There are fashions IN stones as in other
things, but fashion has nothing to do with
the fall of the diamond in its market value;
the commonplace and the plebeian law Of
asaA haa nlA
just as it governs the supply of cabbages
and onions, and all such vulgar IL also
wholesome fare.
Gems, are never supposed to belong to
the wholesale market but ever since the
opening of the South African diamond
fields in 1867 100000 carats, or to put
It more forcibly nine and half TONS
of stone have been taken out, and, after
such appalling figures, one could hardly
hold a brief as TO the rarity of the dia-
mond.
But the emerald is still eminently ex-
elusive and not even in free retail, nor
has IL ever been common.
The Old and New Testament testify as
to it's value and dignity; as a gem In the
breastplate of judgment it typifed Faith,
and the verse selected as a heading, taken
from a quaint allegorical poem on the vlr-
tues necessary for The life of the church.
glories of the foundation walls of the New
Jerusalem.
So sacred was 1t to the ancients that on
the authority of Ncols-'they were for
hidden TO grave anything upon it," but
in contradiction of this we find ample
proof that the Greeks considered 1t the
only suitably valuable stone for the sig
net ring of a prince.
In Classic Days.
Pliny tells us: at is clear that In the
times OF Ismenias even the emerald used
to be engraved. This opinion Is confirmed
by an order OF Alexander the Great for
bidding any other artist except Pyrgoteles
doubtless the most eminent in his profess
sion, to engrave his portrait upon this
gen.
Then Pqutarch tells that Luculius was
so noble and disnterested that when sent
by Sulla on mission to King Ptolemy
Lathyrus he refused all the kings pres
ents, an even declined a very precious
emerald ring" pressed upon him, until
Ptolemy called his attention to its being
engraved with his own portrait, and under
this plea only did Lucullus yield and ac-
cept the Offering.
So that the better explanation is found
In Pliny's statement: by the common
consent of mankind the stone was spared,
not being allowed to be engraved" on ac-
count of its beauty, rarity and costliness
Indeed, sober and generally eceptlcal
PTiny for once wakes enthusiastic ovef its
beauty: mo stone is so pleasing to the
sight. AS for grass and green foliage, we
view them with pleasure, but emeralds
with so much the greater delight that
nothing whatever compares with them
equals them in the intensity of the green
And then, besides, all of the precious
stones, tine emerald Is the only stone that
leeds the sight without satiating It; nay,
more, when the sight is wearied by any
over exertion IL is relieved by looking at
an emerald. For gem engravers no other
means of resting the eye is so agreeable,
so effectually by Its mild green lustre does
IL refresh the wearied eye"
We claim for our century the greatest
gift of happy, enthusiastic phrase. but
who of us could excel ut feeds the sight
of classic Pliny?
Occult Qualities.
The qualities were both physical and
occult, for Theophrastus assures us that
1t assimiates to its own color the water
into which IL Is thrown, and thereby
proves its value, for stones of middling
quality color a small quantity of the
water the best sort all the water, and an
Interior gem only the water around it.
Nicolls adds to this that. being cast into
a fire ID will not burn nor send forth any
flame, and that In the brightness of the
sun, st will keep it's vividity and green
ness"
Marbodus exploits its virtues In
"Of mighty use to seers who seek to pry
Into the future, hid from mortal eye.
Wear it with reverence due. twill wealth
bestow,
And words persuasive from thy lips shall
flow
Hung round the neck It cures the agues
chill,
or falling sikness dire mysterious III.
It's hues so soft refresh the weary eye,
And furious tempest. Danish from the sky
with chaste power too, IL tames the flu
rious mood
And cools the wanton thoughts that fire
the blood
Which last virtue Is much and often
quoted by Andreas Baccius, AgricoIa
Cardan, Boethius Albertus Magnus end
later STILL IN a most scarce poem, 1.-THE
Humble Bee" d599 the Goddess Diana
Is introduced as clothing and adjoining
the modest heroine
oApd with an emerald hanua she IN a