The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-12

By C. +. MARKELL

part with 1t to Mark Antony. he chose
to suffer exile and fled with 1t TO Egypt,
where he secreted the gem. It was never
heard OF again until in modern times a
Frenchman, named Roboly. pretended to
have found 1t amidst the ruins of Alexan-
dria.
It Is opportune to mention here a most
curious method employed by the Arabs
of old in producing artificial pearls They
found the crustacae abundant on the
shores. of the Red and they called
them fish. The divers would induce
them TO open their shells by rubbing
them with species of ointment as a
bait, when they would prick the inte-
riors with sharp instrument. Near the
wounded creatures they would place a
vessel followed out in various places In
the form OF pearls and into these moulds
would flow the liquor from the wounds
where 1t hardened into the shape color
and consistency OF the natural gem.
Then again, I found that certain gems
accordingto their color were considered
as peculiarly appropriate to particular
gods: thus Bacchus is engraved upon the
amethyst which has the color of wine
Neptune and the nymphs are usually tx-
ecuted on the aquamarine and SO on ad
infinitum. Still further each gem was
supposed by the Arabs to possess spe-
cific powers, which ideas were aniver-
sally adopted by Europe in the middle
ages. The emerald was an antidote to
poison and preventive to melancholy;
the amethyst was a security against in
toxication IL worn as an amulet or used
as a drinking cup while the ruby, or
spinele, was a promoter of Joy ana a
foe to all bad dreams. We of today ded-
icate certain gems to the months of the
year and 1t Is quite common for us TO
wear as rings that which we consider
our natal stone.
| Marbodus, a monk of the twelfth CEN
| tury, who was later made bishop of Rem
nes, wrote a Latin poem under the title
of De Gemmis setting forth the miracu-
| lous efficacy of precious stones. Twelve
stones were appropriated as symbols of
| the twelve apostles and were known as
the Apostle gems" but unquestionably
this hint was drawn from the twelve
gems representing the tribes on Aaron s
| breastplate.
| 1 also learned that human head re-
| sembing the features of Socrates was Sc
often found engraved upon gems as to
give them a distinctive class and speci-
| fic name Socratic, but the odd character
| istic Is that while the device Is the head
| of the great Grecian the body and feet
are usually those of a cock beast.
Sostratus who lived in the time of Alex
glyph and his name is found upon few
| OF the most beautiful gems extant today
1t is quite common error for per-
| sons to speak of cameo as a stone
when it simply represents a species OF
engraving and may consist of any gem
though a stone possessing layers of two
colors is generally selected for its exc
cntion. The word cameo is formed either
| from the two words gemma onychia, as II
originally applied only to gems of onyx
| having two colors, or to cameo, the name
of a shell found on the coast of Trapani
| in Sicily and which has various natural
| figures upon 1t in a sort OF relief. When
| the lapidary makes his figure rise above
| the general surface of the stone, it Is
called cameo, and when II is sunken
beneath the surface. 1t Is known as In
taglio. The Greeks designated them as
anaglyphs and diaglyphs respectively.
| The precious stones of the Ephod men,
| toned in the Bible are the earliest no.
| tices of the art of gem engraving. The
oldest engraved stones existing today are
those of convex form like that of the
beetle and are termed Scarabei and those
wrought after the time of Christus are