Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-22
The Months Gem.
The February born shall find
Freedom from passion and from

g The February aaJ born shall find
Freedom from passion and from care
Ii they the amethyst will wear
The imagination of man has fanci.
fully endowed gems with MANY
tallsmanic, curative and supernatural
powers; certain gems are believed to
render their posSeSsors amiable, wise,
strong and brave, while others serve
as a binding charm for truth love.
friendship and happiness.
1T Is impossible to say just when
and how the custom of designating
each month by particular gem orig
mated. although the practice seems
20 have arisen in modern Europe
some time during the fifteenth or six
teenth century. Whether 1t was asso.
ciated with the II gems of Aaron S
breastplate, as many believe, or was
introduced by astrologers from the
Arabians is not known.
The amethyst. the natal stone for
February. symbolizes true love, sin
certify. truth and happiness. It's vir-
tues dispel evil thoughts, quicken the
intellect, prevent intoxication and
serve as an antidote for all poisons.
In the age of Tuscan and F'lorentine
art and Venetian commerce. when
assassination by poison was pastime.
1t was thought the amethyst would
keep its wearer safe from this deadly
peril. The word amethyst owes it's
root to the Greek "amethustos." mean
ing mot drunken and it is believed
to have a SOLDERING effect, not only
upon those who have partaken too
freely Of the cup that intoxicates. but
also upon those over excited. In
ancient times it was believed to be
of great assistance to hunters in the
capture of wild animals and TO pre-
serve soldiers from harm and give
them victory over their enemies. The
early Egyptian soldiers carried this
shining purple rock on the field of
battle as charm against death by
the shafts and swords of war. This
practice was common in the Middle
Ages and many amethysts We're worn
for the same purpose in the last war.
The amethyst. the violet or purple
variety of quartz IA form of rock crys-
taD, occurs practically over the entire
world. but much of it lacks the deep
purple color and transparent hue
characteristic of the high-grade stones
and the essential feature of it's value.
Ceylon. India, NADIA gascar, Persia. ST.
IBERIA. Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico Maine,
Pennsylvania, North Carolina and the
Lake Superior district are important
areas of it's occurrence. OF all speci
mems of amethysts that appear in the
market today, however. the Siberian
stones are superior in richness and
depth of their dark violet hue.
The nature of the coloring matter Of
the amethyst was long thought to be
oxide of manganese, but recent chemi-
cal discoveries have led to the quite
definite conclusion that its color phe
nomenon is due to an iron compound.
Due to its abundance in nature and
relative ease of cutting. amethystine
quartz is worth today only about 81
per carat, while in olden times, when
it was not so abundant and prepare
tory methods were more primitive, the
stones value was many times this
amount The celebrated amethyst
necklace owned by Queen Charlotte
of England. valued at 100000. would
have an intrinsic value of about $500
at the present time. The amethyst's
best claim to perpetual popular appre-
citation Is its native beauty. Since no
other stone affords it's charming violet
color, the development and uses of
precious stones and jewelry to har-
monte with costume color schemes
will doubtless retain for 1t the place
of high artistic value it has enjoyed
Tor centuries.