Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-18
GEMS FASCINATION
SETS DEEPER THAN
APPEARANCE ALONE
Ancient Beliefs in Occul,
Virtues of Precious Ston.s
Are Given as Their Pur.
poses as Ornaments.

The fascination of precious stones go,.
far deeper than is thought by thos. ,.i,-
have only seen them in the shons =.
the jewelers. and on the neclks Of WON.
EN-. A friend of the writer, who v,sl,o,
the ruby mines in Burma some vo,n.
ago, and brought back with her ba,,,
full OF unset rubles, sapphires and aou.-
marines, has never rcconciled hersels ..
having them made into conventional or.
naments, but keeps them by her in tb.
rough to feed her eye at these Ut,l.
fountains of pure color. She would nroh.
ably say, with that other fine son,
Dorothea, in "Middlcmarch": OF Il,
strange how deeply colors seem to pene.
trate one, like scent. suppose that is
the reason gems are used as Spiritual
cmbloms in the Revelation of st. John.
They look like fragments of Heaven
1t is a notable fact that the names y,
the precious stones, almost without ox.
ception, are as beautiful rs the stone,
themselves. Few passages in literature
illustrate this better than st. Johns do.
scription OF the New Jerusalem '11,n
first foundation was jasper: the second
sapphire; the third. u chalcedony; tho
fourth, an emerald: the fifth. sardonyx:
the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chryso.
lite; tho eighth, beryl: the ninth a
topaz; the 10th, q chrysoprasus; the it'll,
a jacinth; the 12th, an amethyst And
the u gates were l. pearls; every several
gate was of one pearl" To these wa
may add diamond and ruby, turquoise
and opal, avanturine, carnelian, lapis
lazuli and tourmaline, ~ friend reminds
us that the Jews, with their racial in-
stinct for beauty, have often adopted
surnamcs derived from gems, like those
of Rubinstcin, the musician, and the
Austrian satiriSt SIphir.
1t is easy to understand how some Of
the precious stones have acquired their
reputation for occult virtues. Tho
worldwide belief in "symplthctic'
magic accounts for many Of them; it
is form of homeopathy based ON tie
maxim that simia Sitnilibus curantur,
but unsCientiticallY accepting any trace
of similarity as adequate. Thus yellow
stones, like the bcryI OF topaz. wcro
thought to cure iAundco. Any red stone
would check henorrhase, though the
bloodstoue par excellence is II dark
green chalcedony or Jasper, splashcd with
red markings like blood drops.
We may hazard u guess that the Well-
known power Of the amethyst 10 pre-
vent drunkenness. hitherto unexplained,
may have originated in its resemblance
in color 60 the nose of the confirmed
drunkard. But there are many other
beliefs which it Is well-nigh impossible
to explain; We must suppose that, like
the Immortal Topsy. they ''sroweI.'
There seems no reason in the nature OF
things why the agate should make its
wearer agreeable and persuasive: the
bcryl bring success I'm litigation twhat
about contempt of courtD; the carnelan
stimulate the timd orator; the cats-eye
drive away evil spirits; the emerald
foreshow coming events; the jacinth in
sure a warm welcome at an inn-we
should pin our faith in modern days TO
diamonds for this purpose: the moon
stone arouse love; the ruby guard
vineyard from destructive hailstorms, or
the sapphire protect its wearer from
envy-nowadays it often attracts 1t.
On the other hand we can readily
understand why the pearl should be no!
merely the emblem but the protector OF
purity; why the diamond hardest anu
strongest of all stones, should cndoW
its wearer with fOrtitudc strength and
courage; why the loadstUnc (which is sell
dom or never worn in these coldhcartcd
days. should make all women fall IN
love with its possessor.