The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-19
oMENS OF PRECIOUS GEMS.
People in All Ages Have Had Super
stltiOns About Them.
From the Baltimore American.


however, more than an intrinsic value.
for about each of the many kinds have
been woven strange and interesting SUI
perstitions, many of them dating from
times Of which history is silent. Since the
love of Jewels was born in the East, and
since this wonderful world is as we'll the
birthplace of most OF the worlds supersti-
tons, it is from such a fruitful source
that many of the Oldest and strangest
of these come. Many of them have euf-
fered changes since their introduction to
the wetsern world, but there still exists
traces of Indian handiwork in the le-
gends, and where the ancient story has
+ disappeared altogether some narrative of
1t has been found. to come al, the stranger
to modern-day readers
! Of the many precious stones that are
worn to-day, most all of them have lost
any odium that may have belonged to
them, and the wearers in many cases
have chosen the sparkler merely upon
It's merits as an ornament. Time was,
however, when he who went about the
/ task of choosing a gem. particularly if it
I was to be worn about the person contin-
| ually, made his way through the maze
| of clinging superstitions as carefully as
! scout through an enemy-infested woods
/ His decision meant veal or woe, and as
! the greater number of the stones had
omens of ill fortune the chances in favor
of woe were far too numerous for COM
fort
Gems Held in Disfavor.
At this day belief in the potency of these
! stones to cast gloom or sorrow or to bring
fortune and happiness, as the case might
have been, have Weli-ngh passed away
and now the old stories are only valua-
Fble to amuse. There is to be sure A lin
/ gering dislike for the opal and in some
minds a prejudice against the pearl, since
superstitons cling about them, but the
class entertaining these is a small one,
and as mark of the progress of the age
is growing smaller.
+ Inc diStaVor into which the opal has
fallen is of modern birth, strange to saw.
and is said TO have been due to the u.s.,
which Sir Walter Scott made of the stone
in one of his novels. The Hindoo, who
reduced the reading of gem omens to
science hed only kind words of the opal
l. was supposed-and, for that matter
IS to-day among the Hndoos-to influence
FOR good upon the travellers, protecting
them from danger while away and bring,
. ing them safely home again. AS the opal
combines in itself the co1ors of all other
gems, so the ancients credited it not only
with this distinctive virtue but with
all of the virtues credited to other stones
Opals were therefore, priced most highly
and those not able to own a great variety
chose this TO have full value of its wide
range of powers.
That the pearl is in some disfavor is as
! well a product of modern times and can
only be traced to its resemblance 10 \
tear fact that has credited it with
bringing sorrow. The ancients in ascriD>
ing the generation of gems TO lapidific
spirits accounted for the pearl in the
most poetic way-that it was formed OF
the morning dew. drunk in by shellfsh
ana naught but good fortune came to the
wearer necklace of pearls being above
all things a good-omened gift for BRIDE
groom TO give his bride
There Is Luck in Diamonds
The diamond has enjoyed the unreserved
| favor of the ages and to-day is the peer
of all. According to Boetius the diamond
| was regarded as symbolical of Justice. and
| the Judges in hades were described as
having heerts and bosoms of edamant
while the clouds of destiny were shrouded
IN the same substance. Among the va
rlous stones the sapphire stands forth with
perhaps the greatest amount of supersti
uous interest centered in it, Among the
hebrews it seems to have been regarded
! Win the nlSnest Veneraton, q tradition
/ asserting that the vision which appeared
! 10 Moses on the mount was in a sapphire.
and that the tablets of the law given there
; We're engraved on this substance. The
Hlndoo ascribes many powers to this gem
among them that 1t purifes the blood
strengthens the system, quenches thirst.
/ dlspels melancholy, everts dangers and
assures honor and prosperity
strange belief in regard 70 +bis s+ono
Z
hence the title of male" and female"
/ sapphires, used to-day in the Enst, as the
[ stones are of deep or a light color
Inc emerald is another about which
( many curious beliefs have been formed
4 According 10 Piny. the ancients attributed
20 II the power of healing weak sight. its
soft green depths having great roterc,,
( over the sight. In addition to This n dts,
closed false witnesses by changing color
in their presence
Pliny and the Emerald.
! One of the most curious storios T. .
/ lated in all seriousness by Plinv &c ralat
| ing 10 the emerald. Says he: an the Is
| lana OF Cyprus there is placed on the
tomb OF King Hermans lion sculptured
in marble and for eyes emeralds were az,
/ IN which shone so brightly on the sur
rounding sea that the FISH were frighten-
ed away. and the fishermen. observing
from the lion, replacing chem by stones
not having so much brillancy." The Pc
. ruvians considered an emerald the
choicest gift that could be made TO one
of their idols, and Pizarro mentions one
as large as an ostrich egg that was ex-
hibited by the high priest only AT the
greatest festivals and was worshipped as
/ the goddess Of emeralds.
Boetius. in speaking of other stones
says that the amethyst dispels drunken.
ness and sharpens the wit; the jacinth. IL
worn on the finger induces sleep the eur
! quoise preserves from contagion. draw
ing upon itself the threatened sickness
though only If the stone be present; the
| heliotrope renders ks wearer invisible and
and the chrysolite loses its brlliancy II
placed In che Vicinity Of poison.
In the East, and particularly to the
Hndoo, the cats-eye is most highly
priced as rare talisman that has the
power Of warding off sickness, and only
misfortune can follow che loss, whether
accidental or compulsory, OF one Of the
J stones. -