Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-16
POWER OF THE TOPAZ.
Gains the Temper, Heals the Sick
and Cures Mental Disease.
From the Westminster Gazett

from the westminster JaztAis-
Jewish sacred writ and Egyptian sarco-
phagi of thousands of years ago proclaim
the fact that even at that time. when the
world was i'm its radiant youth and life
infinitely less complicated than il is to-
day. gems and precious stones were used
to ward of dangers and troubles. and 10
attract some of the things deemed %
make life best worth living. AS the CEN
turtles swept on, these "charms' of gems
or precious metals took many forms:
think of the old scaIabs. crescents.
crosses of quaint shape and lovely col
ors; of the modern lucky pigs and beans
and boots and hearts and bells and balls.
the symbolisms of which are ;sene:aliy
more attractive than their outward ana
visible appearance; think of the beautiful
present-day charms, consisting of So
called second grade gems, such as beryl
and chrysolite, onyx and Jasper, carhun-
Gle and cat's -eye, garnet and sardonvN.
and many more In their own time and
season all these charms and anulets were
highly thought OF both for themselves as
pretty ornaments, and for the guarantee
of good fortune which they gave To the
owner.
Perhaps some future generation Of
wearers of such trinkets will have IL that
the taste for all the unsensationaly cf-
fective stones at the beginning of the
twentieth century was deprayed or deca-
dent or perverted: but those who are best
fitted to guide the esthetic taste of the
present day are agreed that the delicate
liquid lights, green and golden and he
liotrope and gray. in beryl and topaz and
amethyst and opal. or the gorgeous coll
ors of the fire-opal the carbuncle. and
the turquoise, represent that which Is of
the very best for personal decoration.
Among the stones most eagerly desired
by the lover of modern charms and trim
kets is the topaz, the gem for November.
Perhaps because the month itself Is, as a
rious powers in whose hands the making
of the laws of such fashion have been
from immemorial times, chose this par
ticular gem; for there Is hardly a precious
stone which varies more widely i'm tint
than the topaz. which now may blaze
with a fire as of liquid gold, and now
may end in pure white. after running
through the whole gamut OF color. from
rich warm yellow TO soft pink and 10 the
clear. tender green seen sometimes ia
stormy sunset skies, in wide rivers. or
far off where the sea and the horizon
meet when the day is young.
1t has strange powers, this cleaning
November gem. which takes its fascinat-
ing name from an island in the Red sea.
called Topazos Ito SEEK by the old mari
ners, because round it fioated forever
wells of fog and mist, obliging the sailors
to seek for it again and yet again, how
ever often they had found it. One old
sage having made the study of the to-
paz a labor of love and experimental
siduously with it, makes the statemens
that .'it Gains the anacreontic tempe.
ment. Another rather less of a special
list, but acknowledged authority on
charms declares that it has great heal
ing powers. curing mental disease and
sleep-walking.
And here Epiphanius weaving one OF
those weird legends round the topaz
which add. perhaps more than anything
else. to the fascination of gems used as
charms. IF the gen." he says. lis rub
bed down upon physician's hone il does
mt or a cd I'M In
with its color. but one like milk, and fills
as many cups as he that rubs it down
may choose. and yet loses nothing at all
its original weight" Again, the pious
generation which allotted To each of the
apostles his stone gave the topaz to
James the younger. because the softness
OF its coloring seemed best to fit that
delicate, gentle follower Of Christ