{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_66583/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_66583","id":"gutenberg_66583","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66583","summary":null,"tags":["Amulets -- Folklore","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Charms -- Folklore","Gems -- Folklore"],"text":"The Magic of Jewels and Charms\n\n\n \u201cA Volume of Absorbing Interest.\u201d\u2014_N. Y. Sun._\n\n\n\n\n THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES\n\n BY GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ,\n A.M., PH.D., D.SC.\n\nBEING A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR SENTIMENTS AND FOLKLORE, SUPERSTITIONS,\nSYMBOLISM, MYSTICISM, USE IN PROTECTION, PREVENTION, RELIGION AND\nDIVINATION, CRYSTAL GAZING, BIRTH-STONES, LUCKY STONES AND TALISMANS,\nASTRAL, ZODIACAL, AND PLANETARY\n\n With 86 illustrations in color, doubletone and line. Octavo.\n Handsome cloth binding, gilt top, in a box. $5.00 net. Carriage\n charges extra.\n\nThis work represents the observations and discoveries during twenty-five\nyears of collecting on the part of Dr. Kunz, and will be found a rarely\ninteresting galaxy of anecdote, research, and information upon a\nfascinating subject.\n\n\n J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY\n PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of W. Griggs and Sons, Ltd., London.\n\n MODEL OF A HINDU LADY, ILLUSTRATING THE MODE OF WEARING JEWELRY IN\n NORTH INDIA\n\n From the Journal of Indian Art.\n]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n The Magic of Jewels and Charms\n\n BY\n GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ\n A.M., PH.D., D.SC.\n\n WITH 90 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR, DOUBLETONE AND LINE\n\n[Illustration]\n\n PHILADELPHIA & LONDON\n\n J. B. Lippincott Company\n\n\n\n\n COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY\n\n\n PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\n TO THE MEMORY OF\n\n THE LATE\n\n PROFESSOR THOMAS EGLESTON, PH.D., LL. D.\n\n\n OFFICIER DE LA L\u00c9GION D\u2019HONNEUR AND FOUNDER OF THE SCHOOL OF\n MINES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, AN ARDENT LOVER OF MINERALS, KEENLY\n APPRECIATIVE OF PRECIOUS STONES, AND A KINDLY FRIEND OF THE\n AUTHOR, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\n\n\n\n Preface\n\n\nJewels, gems, stones, superstitions and astrological lore are all so\ninterwoven in history that to treat of either of them alone would mean\nto break the chain of association linking them one with the other.\n\nBeauty of color or lustre in a stone or some quaint form attracts the\neye of the savage, and his choice of material for ornament or adornment\nis also conditioned by the toughness of some stones as compared with the\nfacility with which others can be chipped or polished.\n\nWhereas a gem might be prized for its beauty by a single individual\nowner, a stone of curious and suggestive form sometimes claimed the\nreverence of an entire tribe, since it was thought to be the abode or\nthe chosen instrument of some spirit or genius.\n\nJust as the appeal to higher powers for present help in pressing\nemergencies preceded the development of a formal religious faith, so\nthis never-failing need of protectors or healers eventually led to the\nattribution of powers of protection to the spirits of men and women who\nhad led holy lives and about whose history legend had woven a web of\npious imaginations at a time when poetic fancy reigned instead of\nhistoric record. The writer still holds that true sentiment, the\nantithesis of superstitious dread, is good for all mankind\u2014sentiment\nmeaning optimism as truly as superstition stands for pessimism\u2014and that\neven the fancies generated by sentiment are helpful to us and make us\nhappier; and surely happiness often means health, and happiness and\nhealth combined aid to evolve that other member of the triumvirate,\nwealth. Do we not often wish for the union of these three supreme\nblessings?\n\nAt all times and in all periods there have been optimists and\npessimists, the former animated by the life-bringing sentiment of hope,\nand the latter oppressed by the death-dealing sense of fear. Let us\nalways choose a happy medium between a foolish excess of hope and an\nunreasonable apprehension of future troubles. The world\u2019s history and\nour own experience show us that it is the optimist who has caused the\nworld to progress, and we should trust and believe that the sentiment of\nhope and faith will always animate humanity.\n\nWe know that for centuries it has been believed that amber necklaces\nprotect children from cold. May we not also now add that to pearls the\nsame qualities are attributed? There must be a reason for this. May not\nthis belief be ascribed to the circumstance that in the wearing of\neither of these gems their virtue consists in the fact that the\nnecklaces do not cover the neck? In other words, they are worn on the\nbare throat and the opinion prevails that an exposed neck means less\nliability to cold. For, where the neck is never overheated and then\nsuddenly chilled, a normal temperature being maintained, there should be\nprotection from colds and from the many ills resulting from them. As to\npearls, this might serve to illustrate the poetic fancy that these\nsea-gems are tears by angels shed to bring mortals joy.\n\nHaving collected a large mass of material, ethnological, historical and\nlegendary, in the course of personal observations and study, it was\ndecided that the companion volume, the twin sister of \u201cThe Curious Lore\nof Precious Stones,\u201d need not treat of gems _alone_.\n\nFor courtesies, information and illustrations I am indebted to the\nfollowing to whom my sincere thanks are due: Prof. T. Wada, of Tokyo,\nJapan; Dr. G. O. Clerc, President of the Societe Curalienne des Amis des\nSciences Naturelles, Ekaterineburg, Russia; Dr. Charles Braddock, late\nMedical Inspector to the King of Siam; Sir Charles Hercules Reed,\nCurator of Arch\u00e6ology, British Museum, London; A. W. Feavearyear,\nLondon; Dr. Peter Jessen, Librarian of the Kunstegewerbe Museum of\nBerlin; Miss Belle DaCosta Green; Dr. Berthold Laufer, Oriental\nArch\u00e6ologist, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Dr. Oliver P.\nFarrington, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Hereward\nCarrington, Psychist, New York; Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Arch\u00e6ologist and\nBabylonian Scholar; Mrs. Henry Draper, New York; W. W. Blake, Mexico\nCity, who has done so much to encourage Mexican arch\u00e6ological\ninvestigation; Dr. Edward Forrester Sutton, New York; Dr. W. H. Holmes\nof the United States Bureau of Ethnology, Washington; Mr. McNeil M.\nJudd, Arch\u00e6ologist, United States National Museum; Dr. Arthur Fairbanks,\nDirector of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Tan Sien Ko, Government\nArch\u00e6ologist of Burma; Dr. Charles C. Abbott, Arch\u00e6ologist, Trenton,\nN. J.; Edgar T. Willson, of the Jewelers\u2019 Circular Publishing Co.; Dr.\nEdward H. Thompson, Arch\u00e6ologist, of Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico, and\nCambridge, Mass.; Rev. Charles Sadleir of Aurcaria, Chile; Mrs. Nona\nLebour of Corbridge-on-Tyne, England; and Dr. Charles P. Fagnani, Union\nTheological Seminary, New York City.\n\n G. F. K.\n\n SEPTEMBER, 1915\n\n\n\n\n Contents\n\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n I. MAGIC STONES AND ELECTRIC GEMS 1\n\n II. ON METEORITES, OR CELESTIAL STONES 72\n\n III. STONES OF HEALING 118\n\n IV. ON THE VIRTUES OF FABULOUS STONES, CONCRETIONS AND FOSSILS 160\n\n V. SNAKE-STONES AND BEZOARS 201\n\n VI. ANGELS AND MINISTERS OF GRACE 241\n\n VII. ON THE RELIGIOUS USE OF VARIOUS STONES 277\n\n VIII. AMULETS: ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, AND ORIENTAL 313\n\n IX. AMULETS OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES AND OF MODERN TIMES 348\n\n X. FACTS AND FANCIES ABOUT PRECIOUS STONES 377\n\n\n\n\n Illustrations\n\n\n COLOR PLATES\n PAGE\n MODEL OF A HINDU LADY, ILLUSTRATING THE MODE OF WEARING\n JEWELRY IN NORTH INDIA _Frontispiece_.\n JADE BELL OF THE K\u2019IEN-LUNG PERIOD (1731\u20131795) 143\n 1, 1\u00bd. EMERALD THAT BELONGED TO THE DEPOSED SULTAN OF\n TURKEY. 2. ALMANDITE GARNET. 3. SARDONYX IDOL-EYE OF\n A BABYLONIAN BULL. 4. AQUAMARINE SEAL 159\n ILLUSTRATING PRECIOUS STONES AND MINERALS USED FOR\n SEALS IN ANCIENT ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 242\n PERFORATED JADE DISK CALLED _Ts\u2019ang Pi_, A CHINESE\n SYMBOL OF THE DEITY HEAVEN (T\u2019IEN) 302\n TURQUOISE INCRUSTED OBJECTS, PROBABLY AMULETS, FOUND AT\n PUEBLO BONITO, NEW MEXICO 353\n HILT OF JEWELLED SWORD GIVEN BY THE GREEKS OF THE\n UNITED STATES ON EASTER DAY, 1913, TO THE CROWN\n PRINCE OF GREECE, LATER KING CONSTANTINE XII 370\n\n DOUBLETONES\n INDIAN MEDICINE-MEN 18\n CHALCEDONY AND AGATE PEBBLES FROM PESCADERO BEACH, SAN\n MATEO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 30\n PEBBLE BEACH, REDONDO, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 30\n HINDU WEARING A COLLECTION OF ANCESTRAL PEBBLES AS\n AMULETS 37\n KILLING A DRAGON TO EXTRACT ITS PRECIOUS STONE 45\n NATURALLY MARKED STONE 45\n A SIMPLE APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING THE ELECTRIC\n PROPERTIES OF THE TOURMALINE 54\n NECKLACE OF FACETED AMBER BEADS 63\n VIGNETTE FROM THE \u201cLAPIDARIO DE ALFONSO X, CODICE\n ORIGINAL\u201d 69\n THE \u201cMADONNA DI FOLIGNO,\u201d BY RAPHAEL 73\n THE KAABA AT MECCA 84\n \u201cAHNIGHITO,\u201d THE GREAT CAPE YORK METEORITE, WEIGHING\n MORE THAN 36\u00bd TONS 96\n \u201cTHE WOMAN,\u201d CAPE YORK METEORITE 97\n \u201cTHE DOG,\u201d CAPE YORK METEORITE 98\n TWO VIEWS OF THE WILLAMETTE METEORITE NOW IN THE\n AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK CITY 99\n FLINT AMULETS OF THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD, EGYPT 108\n THE \u201cORTUS SANITATIS\u201d OF JOHANNIS DE CUBA, PUBLISHED AT\n STRASSBURG IN 1483 122\n FAMOUS PEARL NECKLACE OF THE UNFORTUNATE EMPRESS\n CARLOTTA, WIDOW OF EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN OF MEXICO 126\n JADE TONGUE AMULETS FOR THE DEAD. CHINESE 139\n FRONTISPIECE OF MUSEUM WORMIANUM 141\n ANCIENT PERSIAN RELIC KNOWN AS THE \u201cCUP OF CHOSROES\u201d 154\n BEZOARS OF EMPEROR RUDOLPH II, NOW IN THE HOFMUSEUM,\n VIENNA 216\n FRONTISPIECE AND TITLE-PAGE OF FRANCESCO REDI\u2019S\n \u201cEXPERIMENTA NATURALIA,\u201d AMSTERDAM 1675, AND TWO\n SPECIMEN PAGES OF THIS TREATISE 232\n FORMS OF TABASHEER 233\n SPECIMENS OF TABASHEER 235\n ZODIAC MOHURS, COINED BY THE MOGUL SOVEREIGN SHAH\n JEHAN, ABOUT 1628 246\n THE MEDIEVAL CONCEPTION OF THE COSMOS, THE SUCCESSIVE\n SPHERES OF THE PLANETS, INCLUDING THE SUN, AND BEYOND\n THESE THE CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN AND THE EMPYREAN 248\n THE ANGEL RAPHAEL REFUSING THE GIFTS OFFERED BY TOBIT 250\n SANTA BARBARA 258\n BLOODSTONE MEDALLION, SHOWING THE SANTA CASA OF LORETO\n CARRIED BY ANGELS TO DALMATIA FROM GALILEE 267\n CHINESE JADE AMULETS FOR THE DEAD 283\n LA MADONNA DELLA SALUTE, BY OTTAVIANO NELLI 287\n CEREMONY ANNUALLY OBSERVED IN THE MOGUL EMPIRE OF\n WEIGHING THE SOVEREIGN AGAINST PRECIOUS METALS,\n JEWELS AND OTHER VALUABLE OBJECTS, WHICH WERE\n DISTRIBUTED AS GIFTS 301\n THE SACRED WELL OF CHICHEN ITZ\u00c1 307\n CARVED AND WORKED STONES FROM THE SACRED WELL AT\n CHICHEN ITZ\u00c1, YUCATAN, MEXICO 308\n EYE-AGATES 315\n TYPES OF EGYPTIAN SEALS AND SCARABS IN THE MURCH\n COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK 316\n COLOSSAL SCARAB IN BLACK GRANITE, BRITISH MUSEUM 320\n A MEDIEVAL SPELL 328\n FROM A PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 337\n COMPLETE VIEW OF THE ANCIENT JADE GIRDLE-PENDANT (FROM\n KU Y\u00dc T\u2019U P\u2019U) 341\n TIBETAN WOMAN WITH COMPLETE JEWELRY 343\n \u201cTHE LIGHT OF THE EAST\u201d 345\n INDIAN MEDICINE-MAN 354\n HEI-TIKI AMULETS OF NEW ZEALAND 362\n JEWELLED SWORD GIVEN BY THE GREEKS OF THE UNITED\n STATES, ON EASTER DAY, 1913, TO CROWN PRINCE\n CONSTANTINE, LATER KING CONSTANTINE XII OF GREECE.\n TOP OF SCABBARD, SHOWING DIDRACHM OF ALEXANDER THE\n GREAT 373\n SIDE VIEW OF HILT 373\n \u201cTHE LEGEND OF THE MOONSTONE,\u201d AUTOGRAPHED FOR THIS\n WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF THE POEM, DR. EDWARD FORRESTER\n SUTTON 386\n CLEOPATRA DISSOLVING HER PRICELESS PEARL AT THE BANQUET\n TO MARK ANTONY 394\n\n LINE CUTS\n TITLE-PAGE OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST TREATISES ON\n METEORITES 91\n TYPES OF CERAUNIA OR \u201cTHUNDER-STONES\u201d 111\n INTERIOR OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY PHARMACY 122\n EXTRACTING TOAD-STONE 162\n TOAD-STONES. NATURAL CONCRETIONS OF CLAYSTONE AND\n LIMONITE 163\n TYPES OF CHELONI\u00c6 (TORTOISE-STONES). NATURAL\n CONCRETIONS 171\n CHELIDONIUS, OR \u201cSWALLOW-STONES\u201d 172\n \u00c6TITES 175\n EXTRACTING AN ALECTORIUS 179\n ALECTORIUS 180\n LAPIS MANATI 182\n LAPIS MALACENSIS, STONE OF THE HEDGEHOG OR PORCUPINE 183\n LAPIS JUDAICUS. PENTREMITE HEADS 187\n GLOSSOPETR\u00c6. FOSSIL SHARK\u2019S TEETH 188\n BELEMNITES. FOSSILIZED BONY END OF EXTINCT CUTTLE-FISH 191\n BRONTIA. FOSSIL SEA-URCHINS 193\n TROCHITES } FOSSIL\n } CRINOID 194\n ENASTROS } STEMS\n BUCARDITES TRIPLEX 195\n TYPES OF OMBRIA (FOSSIL SEA-URCHINS) 196\n CORNU AMMONIS (FOSSIL NAUTILUS) 197\n SPECIMENS OF ASTROITES (ASTERIA), OR FOSSIL CORAL 199\n APPLICATION OF A BEZOAR TO CURE A VICTIM OF POISONING 202\n MONKEY BEZOAR 204\n 1. HEDGE-HOGSTONE FROM MALACCA. 2, 3. SPURIOUS STONES\n OF THIS TYPE MANUFACTURED IN CEYLON. 205\n CALCULI TAKEN FROM BLADDER OF POPE PIUS V 220\n TYPES OF THE OVUM ANGUINUM. ECHINITES (SEA-URCHINS) 222\n COBRA DE CAPELLO 236\n CANADIAN INDIAN MEDICINE-MAN 357\n THE BIRTH OF THE OPAL 374\n EAST INDIAN BAROQUE PEARL 392\n\n\n\n\n The Magic of Jewels and Charms\n\n\n\n\n I\n Magic Stones and Electric Gems\n\n\nWhile the precious and semi-precious stones were often worn as amulets\nor talismans, the belief in the magic quality of mineral substances was\nnot confined to them, but was also held in regard to large stone masses\nof peculiar form, or having strange markings or indentations; moreover,\nmany small stones, possessing neither worth nor beauty, were thought to\nexert a certain magical influence upon natural phenomena. An occult\npower of this sort was also attributed by tradition to some mythical\nstones, the origin of this fancy being frequently explicable by the\nquality really inherent in some known mineral bearing a designation\nclosely similar to that bestowed upon the imaginary stone.\n\nTo certain stones has been attributed the power to produce musical\ntones, the most famous example being the so-called \u201cVocal Memnon\u201d of\nThebes. This colossal statue was said to emit a melodious sound when the\nsun rose, and according to Greek legend this sound was a greeting given\nby Memnon to his mother, the Dawn. It appears, however, that the statue\nwas a respecter of persons, for when the Emperor Hadrian presented\nhimself before it, he is said to have heard the sound three times,\nwhereas common mortals heard it but once, or at most twice, while\noccasionally the statue withheld its greeting altogether. A modern\ntraveller relates a personal experience that may cast a side-light upon\nthis matter. His visit to Thebes was made in the evening, but a fellah\nwho was standing near the statue asked him whether he wished to hear the\nmusical sound. Of course the reply was in the affirmative. Thereupon the\nman climbed up the side of the colossal figure and hid himself behind\nthe elbow. In a moment sharp metallic sounds became audible; not a\nsingle sound, but several in succession. Knowing from their quality that\nthey could not proceed from the stone, the traveller asked his\ndonkey-boy for an explanation and was told that the man was striking an\niron bar. In ancient times the priests probably performed this or a\nsimilar trick in a much more skilful way than did the poor fellah, so\nthat the mystery of the statue was carefully guarded.[1]\n\nThe river Hydaspes was said to furnish a \u201cmusical stone.\u201d When the moon\nwas waxing, this stone gave forth a melodious sound.[2] This should be\nunderstood in the sense that when the stone was struck at that season\nthe sound was different from what it was at other times\u2014a fanciful idea\nbased on some supposed sympathy between the stone and the moon. As\nmoonstones are rarely larger than a silver dollar, they would not emit a\nsound upon being struck, and it is probably a rock known as \u201cchinkstone\u201d\n(phonolite) that is referred to, an igneous rock, very hard and\nresonant, that has been found in elongated and flat pebbles of large\nsize; they ring with the resonance of bells when struck. A sonorous\nstone at Megara is reported by Pausanias[3]; when struck, it emitted the\nsound of the chord of a lyre. This was explained by the tale that, while\nhelping Alcathous to build the walls of his city, the god Apollo had\nrested his lyre on the stone.\n\nThe term sarcophagus is to us so clear and precise in its significance,\nthat we do not stop to think that its etymology reveals it as literally\nmeaning body-devourer. Tradition taught that a stone of this type was to\nbe found near Assos in Lycia, Asia Minor, and also in some parts of the\nOrient. If attached to the body of a living person it would eat away the\nflesh. Another type, already noted by Theophrastus in the third century\nB.C., had the power of petrifying any object placed within receptacles\nmade from it. If a dead person were buried in a \u201csarcophagus\u201d of this\nmaterial the body would not be consumed, but would, on the contrary, be\nturned to stone, even the shoes of the corpse and any utensils buried\nwith it, would undergo a like wonderful change. Possibly actual\nobservations of changes in the bodies of those long buried, their\npartial disintegration in some cases, and their hardening in others, may\nhave given rise to the fancy that the stone receptacle in which they had\nreposed was directly the cause of this, whether it implied destruction\nor petrifaction.[4]\n\nOf the substance named galactite, Pliny gives some details. He states\nthat it came from the Nile, was of the color and had the odor of milk,\nand when moistened and scraped produced a juice resembling milk. The\nliquid derived from the galactite when taken as a potion by nurses was\nsaid to increase the flow of milk. If a galactite were bound to a\nchild\u2019s arm the effect was to promote the secretion of saliva. To these\nfavorable effects must be added an unfavorable one, namely, loss of\nmemory, which was said to befall occasionally those who wore the stone.\nA kind of \u201cemerald with white veinings\u201d was sometimes called galactite,\nand another variety had alternate red and white stripes or veins.[5]\nPerhaps this \u201cemerald\u201d was a variety of jade, or a banded jasper.\n\nThis so-called galactite, which enjoyed such an extraordinary reputation\nin ancient and medieval times, is not, properly speaking, a stone, but a\nnitrate of lime. The strange and famous relics of the Virgin preserved\nin many old churches and called \u201cthe Virgin\u2019s milk,\u201d were merely\nsolutions of this nitrate. Possibly pieces of this so-called galactite\nwere sometimes found by pilgrims in the grotto of Bethlehem, and were\nsupposed to be petrified milk.[6] As everything in this sacred spot was\nregarded as connected in some way with the miraculous birth of Christ,\nit is easy to understand why the devout pilgrims came to believe that\nthe milky-hued substance represented the milk of the Virgin, which had\nbeen preserved for future ages in this extraordinary way.\n\nA kind of galactite, evidently a finely deposited form of carbonate of\nlime and perhaps absorbent, is mentioned by Conrad Gesner.[7] This was\nfound on the Pilatus Mountain, Lake Lucerne, and is described by Gesner\nas being a \u201cfungous and friable\u201d substance, white and exceedingly light\nin weight. The natives called it _Mondmilch_ (moonmilk) and it was sold\nin the pharmacies of Lucerne. The powder was used by physicians in the\ntreatment of ulcers, and, like all the other galactites, it was supposed\nto increase the flow of milk and to develop the breasts. Besides this it\nwas credited with somniferous virtues.\n\nAn old Mohammedan tradition, cited by Ibn Kadho Shobah in his Tarik\nal-Jafthi, relates that Noah, after the deluge, on setting out with the\nmembers of his family to settle and populate the regions to the eastward\nand northward of Mt. Ararat, confided to their care a miraculous stone\nknown to the Turks as _jiude-tash_, to the Persians as _senkideh_ and to\nthe Arabs as _hajer al-mathar_, or the \u201crain-stone.\u201d On it was impressed\nthe word Aadhem or Aazem, the great name of God, by virtue of which\nwhosoever possessed this stone could cause rain to fall whenever he\npleased. In the long lapse of time this particular \u201cprecious\u201d stone was\nlost, but some of the Turks were said to have certain stones endowed\nwith a like power, and the more superstitious among these Turks solemnly\nasseverated that their \u201crain-stones\u201d could beget progeny by a mysterious\nkind of generation.[8]\n\nAmong the many stones or concretions endowed by medieval belief with\nwonderful powers, may be reckoned the \u201crain-making\u201d stones. Some of\nthese were to be found in Karmania, south of Khorassan. The miraculous\neffect was produced by rubbing one against another. The Arabic author\nwho reports this declares that this rain-making power was a well-known\nfact. He adds that similar stones might be secured from near Toledo in\nSpain and also in the \u201cland of Kimar,\u201d inhabited by Turkish tribes.[9]\n\nThe Oriental rain-stones noted by pseudo-Aristotle and by many other\nArabic writers of medieval times, can be paralleled by similar\nrain-making or rain-inducing stones in many other parts of the world and\namong many primitive peoples even in modern times. The rain-makers of\nthe African tribe of Wahumas, dwelling in the region bordering on the\ngreat Albert Nyanza Lake in Central Africa, use a black stone in the\ncourse of their magic rites. This is put into a vessel and water poured\nover it; the pulverized roots of certain herbs and some blood drawn from\nthe veins of a black goat are then mixed with the water, and the\nresulting liquid mixture is thrown up into the air by the\nrain-maker.[10] The sorcerers among the Dieri in Central Australia place\nsuch trust in the efficacy of these conjurations as to believe that all\nrainfalls are produced thereby, generally through the intermediate\naction of ancestral spirits. If rain falls in a locality where no\nproceedings of the kind have taken place, then it is supposed that they\nhave been initiated in some contiguous territory, a merely spontaneous\nand natural rainfall being out of the question. The clouds indeed\ngenerate the rain, but it will not be brought to the earth except by\nmagic art. In the complicated magic ceremonies of these Dieri\nrain-makers, two large stones are employed; after a ceremonial, in the\ncourse of which the blood drawn from the two chief sorcerers is smeared\nover the bodies of the others, the stones are borne away by these two\nsorcerers for a distance of about twenty miles, and there put far up on\nthe highest tree that can be found, the object evidently being to bring\nthem as near to the clouds as possible.[11]\n\nRock-crystal as a rain-compeller finds honor among the wizards of the\nTa-ta-thi tribe in New South Wales, Australia. To bring down rain from\nthe sky one of them will break off a fragment from a crystal and cast it\nheavenward, enwrapping the rest of the crystal in feathers. After\nimmersing these with their enclosure in water, and leaving them to soak\nfor a while, the whole is removed and buried in the earth, or hidden\naway in some safe place.[12] The widely spread fancy that rock-crystal\nis simply congealed water may have something to do with the choosing of\nthis stone as a rain-maker.\n\nSumatrans of Kota Gadanz use a stone whose form roughly resembles that\nof a cat in their invocations of rain, a live black cat being supposed\nin some parts of this island to have certain rain-producing virtues.[13]\nPerhaps the electric fur of the animal may have suggested a connection\nwith thunder-storms. Stones of this type, indeed a great many of those\nto which magic properties are attributed, are in many cases smeared with\nthe blood of fowls, or have incense offered to them, this treatment of\nsuch stones being observed by the peasants in Scandinavia and other\nparts of Europe as well as in the Far East.\n\nStone crosses have sometimes been utilized as rain-bringers, as in the\ncase of one belonging to St. Mary\u2019s Church in the Island of Uist, one of\nthe outer Hebrides, off the Scottish coast. When drought prevailed here\nthe peasants would set up this cross which usually lay flat on the\nground, in the confident belief that rain would ensue. Of course, sooner\nor later, it was sure to come, and then the cross, having done its duty,\nwas quietly replaced in its former horizontal position.[14]\n\nA mysterious stone mentioned in Rabbinical legend is called the\n_shamir_. This word occurs three times in the Old Testament (Jer. xvii,\n1; Ezek. iii, 9; Zech. vii, 12), and in each signifies a material noted\nfor its hardness. In the first of these passages there is express\nindication that the _shamir_ was a pointed object used for engraving,\nand the word is translated \u201cdiamond\u201d in our Bible; in the two other\ncases it is rendered \u201cadamant\u201d and \u201cadamantine stone,\u201d respectively,\nthus leaving the determination of the substance an open question.\nHowever, as it is almost certain that the Hebrews were not familiar with\nthe diamond, _shamir_ most probably signifies one of the varieties of\ncorundum, the next hardest mineral to the diamond, and extensively used\nin classic times for engraving on softer stones.\n\nIn the luxuriant growth of legend that sprang up in Rabbinical times,\nthe _shamir_ is not forgotten. It is said to have been the seventh of\nthe ten marvels created at the end of the sixth day of creation. In\nsize, it is described as being not larger than a barley-corn, but it had\nthe power to split up the hardest substances, if brought in contact with\nthem, or even in their neighborhood. Some of the legends ascribe to it\neven more wonderful magic powers, so that, like Aladdin\u2019s lamp, great\nbuildings could be constructed by its help, Solomon having used it in\nthe erection of the temple and other buildings. The etymology of the\nword indicates a pointed object, similar to our diamond-point, but in\nlegend it is almost invariably described as a small worm, probably\nbecause of a fancied connection between this word and another\ndesignating a species of worm. Many have associated the Hebrew _shamir_\nwith the Greek \u03c3\u03bc\u03af\u03c1\u03b9\u03c2, or emery.\n\nThe Hebrew _shamir_ and the Greek \u1f00\u03b4\u03ac\u03bc\u03b1\u03c2 were both used metaphorically\nof hardness of heart and implacability. The Hebrew prophet Zechariah\n(vii, 12) says of the disobedient Jews that \u201cthey made their hearts as\nan adamant stone\u201d (_shamir_), and the Greek poet Theocritus (fl. 228\nB.C.) calls Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, \u201cthe _adamas_ in\nHades.\u201d This clearly shows that invincible hardness was the common\ncharacteristic of the material designated by these words. However, it\nappears probable that while _shamir_ signifies a form of corundum, the\nword _adamas_, as used by the early Greek writers, denoted a hard,\nmetallic substance. Possibly, when iron first became known to the\nGreeks, the adjective \u1f00\u03b4\u03b1\u03bc\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, \u201cindomitable,\u201d was applied to it, and\nlater the noun _adamas_ was formed from this adjective and was used by\nthe poets to signify an imaginary substance even harder than iron;\nhence, when the diamond became known in Greek lands, its extreme\nhardness suggested the application to it of this name.[15]\n\nAn Arab legend concerning the fabled _shamir_ stone is related by\nCazwini in his cosmography. When King Solomon set about building the\ntemple in Jerusalem, he commanded Satan to dress the stones that were to\nbe used, but the work was performed with such demoniac energy that the\npeople round about complained bitterly of the dreadful noise. To remedy\nthis trouble, Solomon sought the council of the leading scribes and also\nthat of the evil spirits known as Ifrites and Jinns. None of them,\nhowever, was able to help him in this difficulty, but one of them\nadvised him to question an apostate named Sahr, who sometimes had\nspecial knowledge of such things. When called upon for his opinion, Sahr\ndeclared that he knew of a stone that would do the work required, but\ndid not know where it could be found; nevertheless he believed that, by\na stratagem, he could secure possession of it. He thereupon ordered that\nan eagle\u2019s nest with its eggs should be brought to him, and also a\nbottle-shaped vessel made of very strong glass. Into this he slipped the\neggs, put them back into the nest, and had nest and eggs replaced where\nthey had been found. When the eagle returned to the nest it encountered\nthis obstacle. In vain it struck at the vessel with claws and beak;\nafter repeated efforts it flew away, but came back on the second day\nholding a piece of stone in its beak, which it let fall upon the vessel,\nbreaking the latter into two halves without producing any sound. Upon\nthis, Solomon, who knew the language of beasts and birds, asked the\neagle where it had secured the stone. The bird answered: \u201cO Prophet of\nGod, in a mountain in the West called the Samur Mountain.\u201d This was\nindication enough to the wise king who, summoning the Jinns to his aid,\nsoon had in Jerusalem a plentiful supply of these _sam\u00fbr_, or _shamir_\nstones, with which the work of shaping and polishing the blocks for the\ntemple was noiselessly performed.[16]\n\nFull and precise directions are given by the old authorities as to the\nproper way to secure possession of the stone called _corvia_. On the\nCalends, or first day of April, eggs are to be taken out of a crow\u2019s\nnest and boiled until they are quite hard; they are then to be allowed\nto cool off and are replaced in the nest. The female bird notes that the\neggs have been tampered with and flies away in search of the\ncorvia-stone. When she has found it, she bears it to the nest, and as\nsoon as it touches the eggs they become fresh and fertile again. This is\nthe auspicious moment for securing the stone, which must be quickly\ntaken from the nest else it would lose its virtue.[17] The lucky owner\nof the stone is promised increase of wealth and honors, and the power to\nread the future.\n\nThe fabled gem-bearing dragons of India were said to have sometimes\nfallen victims to the enchanter\u2019s art. Certain mystic characters were\nwoven in thread of gold upon a scarlet cloth, and this cloth was spread\nby the hunters before the dragon\u2019s den. When the creature emerged, his\neyes were fascinated by the strange letters in which the enchanter had\ninfused a wonderful soporific power. Hypnotized by the sight, the dragon\nwould fall into a deep slumber and the hunters would rush upon him and\nsever his head from his body. Within the head were found gems of\nbrilliant hue, some of these possessing the power of rendering the\nwearer invisible.[18]\n\nThe \u201cGem of Sovranty,\u201d or the \u201cGem of the King of Kings,\u201d may have been\na purely poetic Hindu fancy, or possibly may have been the diamond. Its\nsurpassing quality is emphasized by the declaration that though the\nearth produced the sapphire, the cat\u2019s-eye, the topaz, the ruby, and the\ntwo mystic gems, the favorite of the sun, and the favorite of the moon,\nthe Gem of the King of Kings was acknowledged to be the chief of all\n\u201cfor the sheen of that jewel spreads round about for a league on every\nside.\u201d To King Milinda the following question was put: \u201cSuppose that on\nthe disappearance of a sovran overlord, the mystic Gem of Sovranty lay\nconcealed in a cleft on the mountain peak, and that on another sovran\noverlord arriving at the supreme dignity it should appear to him, would\nyou say, O King, that the gem was produced by him?\u201d \u201cCertainly not,\nsir,\u201d replied the monarch, \u201cthe gem would be in its original condition.\nBut it had received, as it were, a new birth through him.\u201d[19]\n\nThe Arabian author, Ibn Al-Beithar (b. ca. 1197 A.D.), describes a stone\ncalled in Arabic _hajer al-kelb_, or \u201cdog-stone.\u201d These stones had such\nattraction for dogs of a certain breed that when cast before them they\nwould snap them up, bite them, and hold them in their jaws. The\nmagicians saw in this a proof that the stones would produce enmity and\nill-will among men. Having selected seven such stones they marked them\nwith the names of any persons between whom they wished to stir up\nstrife. The seven stones were then thrown one by one before a dog of the\nrequisite species, and, after he had bitten them, two were chosen and\nwere placed in water of which the persons who were to be set at variance\nwere sure to drink. We are assured that the experiment had the desired\nevil result.[20]\n\nIn ancient times there was found in the river Meander a stone\nsatirically named _sophron_, \u201ctemperate.\u201d If it were placed upon the\nbreast of any one, he immediately became enraged and killed one of his\nparents; however, after having appeased the Mother of the Gods, he was\ncured of his temporary madness.[21]\n\nA most singular stone is described by Thomas de Cantimpr\u00e9 under the name\nof \u201cpiropholos.\u201d This substance, according to Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s\nversion, was taken from the heart of a man who had been poisoned,\n\u201cbecause the heart of such a man cannot be burned in fire.\u201d If the heart\nwere kept for nine years in fire this wonderful stone was produced. It\ngave protection from lightning, but its principal virtue was to guard\nthe wearer from sudden death; indeed, we are told that a man could not\ndie so long as he held this stone in his hand. However, it did not\npreserve him from disease, but only prolonged his life. The stone was\nsaid to be of a light and bright red color.[22]\n\nAfter enumerating all the well-known precious stones, Volmar, in his\n\u201cSteinbuch,\u201d proceeds to relate that there is one which produces\nblindness, another that enables the wearer to understand the language of\nbirds, still another that saves people from drowning, and, finally, one\nof such sovereign power that it brings back the dead to life. However,\nwe are told that because of the miraculous virtues of these stones God\nhides them so well that no man can obtain them.[23] About a century\nearlier Saint Hildegard of Bingen wrote that \u201cjust as a poisonous herb\nplaced on a man\u2019s skin will produce ulceration,\u201d by an analogous though\ncontrary effect \u201ccertain precious stones will, if placed on the skin,\nconfer health and sanity by their virtue.\u201d[24]\n\nPersian records tell of a \u201croyal stone\u201d found in the head of the _ouren\nbad_, a kind of eagle; this preserved the wearer from the attacks of\nvenomous reptiles. If a deadly poison had been administered to a person,\nhe would be immediately cured by taking one drachm\u2019s weight of the\nstone. It thus appears that its virtues were those of the far-famed\nbezoar.[25] Persia evidently had good store of \u201cwonderworkers\u201d of this\nkind, for the Persian romance entitled \u201cHatim Tai and the Benevolent\nLady,\u201d written about the beginning of the eighteenth century, recites\nthe marvellous virtue of a stone called the _Shah-muhra_. If this were\nfastened on the arm the wearer became endowed with miraculous vision and\nall the gold and precious stones beneath the earth\u2019s surface were\nrevealed to him.[26]\n\nFor ten centuries or more, countless thousands, although feeling assured\nof spiritual immortality, were none the less eager to have eternal youth\nand vigor and the power to peer into the future. Hence Ponce de Leon\u2019s\nquest for the \u201cFountain of Youth\u201d in our Florida. But in addition to\nthis, there has ever been an intense desire to find something by means\nof which gold could be made out of the baser metals, for youth and\nvigor, if coupled with poverty, are only half-blessings. The search for\nthe \u201cPhilosopher\u2019s Stone\u201d appears to have been a more or less aimless\npursuit of this end; but there can be no doubt that this search led to\nthe discovery of many new substances and reactions, and helped to lay\nthe foundation of our modern chemistry. Whether the conscious aim of the\nalchemist was the discovery of an actual stone, or merely the discovery\nof some process for turning a valueless substance into one of great\nvalue, is not clearly ascertainable from the purposely vague and obscure\ntreatises on alchemy.\n\nThe \u201cPhilosopher\u2019s Stone,\u201d the fond dream of so many who delved into\nnature\u2019s mysteries in the past, does not seem so improbable to-day as it\ndid twenty years ago. The recent discovery of the element radium, which\nis produced from the element uranium, and the story of the strange and\nprotean changes of radium into helium, neon and argon, according to the\nenvironment in which it is placed, have given the death-blow to the old\nidea of the immutability of the elements. Still, while we have been\nallowed this peep into the storehouse of nature\u2019s secrets, and are\ngrowing to believe that in eons of time the various different elements\nmay have been evolved, successively, from one another, the power to\nprovoke this change at will and in a brief space of time is as yet\nwithheld from us, and may never be given to us, just as little as the\npower to send messages to the distant spheres, whose bulk, density and\ncomposition we can estimate with a considerable degree of accuracy.\n\nNumerous specimens still exist of what is alleged to be artificial gold\nmade by the alchemists of a past age. Of all these the most striking is\na large medallion, bearing in relief the heads of Emperor Leopold and\nhis ancestors of the House of Hapsburg. It is related that on the name\nday of the emperor in 1677, this medallion, originally of silver and\nweighing 7250 grains, was transmuted into gold by Wenzel Seiler, a noted\nalchemist of that time. This wonder was performed in full view of the\nemperor and his courtiers, by dipping the medallion in a solution. As\nthere are four notches on the edge, it has been conjectured that these\nwere made to secure material for testing the quality of the transformed\nmetal. However, the simple test of specific gravity shows that the metal\ncannot be gold, for according to Bauer\u2019s calculation made in 1883, the\nmedallion has a specific gravity of 12.67, between that of silver (10.5)\nand that of gold (19.27). This might indicate that in some unexplained\nway the alchemist had succeeded in precipitating a coating of gold upon\nthe face of the object. It seems probable that the deception was soon\ndiscovered, for Seiler, who had been knighted on September 16, 1676, was\nexiled by order of Emperor Leopold, not long after the date on which the\nsupposed transmutation is said to have taken place.\n\nAn exceedingly rare medal, and one of great interest to students of\nalchemy, was struck in 1647 by order of Emperor Ferdinand III from gold\nproduced in his presence by Johann Peter Hofmann, a master of the\nalchemical art. A specimen of this medal is in the Imperial Cabinet of\nCoins in Vienna.[27] On the obverse, around two shields, one bearing\neight fleurs-de-lis and the other the figure of a lion, are two hermetic\ninscriptions: LILIA CUM NIVEO COPULANTUR FULVA LEONE (yellow lilies lie\ndown with the snow-white lion), and SIC LEO MANSUESCET SIC LILIA FULVA\nVIRESCENT (thus will the lion be tamed and thus will the yellow lilies\nflourish). Around a crown surmounting the two shields appear the initial\nletters I. P. H. V. N. F., indicating Latin words the sense of which is\n\u201cJohannes Petrus Hofmann a Nurembergian subject made it,\u201d and also the\nletters T G V L, intended to signify _tintur\u00e6 gutt\u00e6 v. libram_, or \u201cfive\ndrops of the tincture [transmuted] a pound.\u201d The reverse has Latin words\ndenoting that iron was the base of this tincture, the symbols used for\nlead, tin, copper, mercury, silver and gold being each accompanied by a\ncryptic declaration that Mars (iron) had controlled the respective\nmetal.[28]\n\nBesides the \u201cPhilosopher\u2019s Stone,\u201d the chief object of their quest, the\nalchemists believed that several other stones possessing magic virtues\ncould be produced. Among these was the \u201cangelical stone,\u201d which gave\npower to see the angels in dreams and visions, and also the \u201cmineral\nstone,\u201d a substance by means of which common flints could be transmuted\ninto diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc.[29] Possibly some\nalchemists were glass-makers, and fused the quartz with various mineral\nsalts into imitations of the gems, having the colors, but not the\nhardness or other properties.\n\nOne of the strangest fancies as to the medicinal efficacy of stones is\nthat held by the native Australians, who believe that \u201ccrystals\u201d are\nembedded in the bodies of their medicine-men. This belief is encouraged\nby the medicine-men themselves; indeed, they are supposed only to retain\ntheir power so long as these _atnongara_ or _ultunda_ stones remain in\ntheir bodies, and a share of their might can be transmitted by\ntransferring certain of the stones from their own bodies to that of\nanother. The ceremony proceeds as follows:[30]\n\n The Nung-gara [medicine-men] then withdrew from their bodies a number\n of small clear crystals called Ultunda which were placed one by one,\n as they were extracted, in the hollow of a spear-thrower. When a\n sufficient number had been withdrawn, the Nung-gara directed the man\n who had come with them to clasp the candidate from behind and to hold\n him tightly. Then each of them picked up some crystals, and taking\n hold of a leg, gripped the stones firmly and pressed them slowly and\n strongly along the front of the leg and then up the body as high as\n the breast-bone. This was repeated three times, the skin being scored\n at intervals with scratches, from which blood flowed. By this means\n the magic crystals are supposed to be forced into the body of the\n man.... After which each of them pressed a crystal on the head of the\n novice and struck it hard, the idea being to drive it into the skull,\n the scalp being made to bleed during the process....\n\n One of the Nung-gara then withdrew from his skull just behind his ear\n (that is, he told the novice that he kept it there) a thin and sharp\n Ultunda, and taking up some dust from the ground, dried the man\u2019s\n tongue with it, and then, pulling it out as far as possible, he made\n with the stone an incision almost half an inch in length.\n\nThe _mesticas_ of the Malays represent a class of stones differing in\nimportant respects from the various types of bezoars. A principal\ndistinction is that the _mesticas_ are not supposed to owe their origin\nto pathological conditions in the organism wherein they occur, but\nrather to a superabundance of the normal and healthy constituents of the\nanimal or plant. It is probably due to this that the virtues of these\nparticular concretions are rather talismanic than therapeutic, and that\nthey are believed to endow the finder, or one who receives them by gift,\nwith courage, immunity from injury, and also with cunning and shrewdness\nin the affairs of life. Especially by warriors are these stones highly\nvalued, for they are supposed to protect the wearer from wounds; indeed,\nthis belief sometimes went so far as to lead the Malays to think that\nabsolute invulnerability was conferred on one who carried several of\nthem bound so closely to the skin that in some cases they even\npenetrated the flesh. The typical _mestica_ is described as a hard\nstone, brilliant but seldom transparent; it is found in the flesh or\nfat, in the heart or on the legs of animals, and also sometimes in\nplants.[31]\n\nRumphius declares that many extraordinary cases were related of warriors\nwho could not be injured by any weapons until the _mestica_ had been cut\nout of their flesh, wherein it had become embedded. Indeed, he states\nthat Dutch officers of proved veracity had confidently asserted that\nthey had encountered such men among their native antagonists. While\nRumphius feels himself therefore forced to admit the truth of the\ninvulnerability of these men, he hastens to add that such powers could\nnot be inherent in any piece of stone, but must owe their origin to\ndiabolical agencies.[32] The fact that the Mohammedans had their\n_mesticas_ blessed by the priests of their faith, and burned incense\nbeneath them on Fridays, the Mohammedan equivalent of the Christian\nSunday, did not probably shake the belief of Rumphius that the Devil had\nsomething to do with these substances.\n\nThe medicine-men of the Kainug\u00e1 Indians of Paraguay mutter incantations\nover the bodies of the sick, and then, after many struggles and\ncontortions, proceed to extract stones from their mouths, claiming that\nthey have taken the patient\u2019s disease into their own bodies, the stones\nbeing regarded as the seat of the ailment. In one case, the medicine-man\nproduced five of these stones before the patient admitted that his pain\nwas relieved. After the cure was completed the sorcerer was clever\nenough to feign extreme exhaustion, as though his vital forces had been\nsubjected to a tremendous strain.[33]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n INDIAN MEDICINE-MEN\n\n From \u201cHistoire G\u00e9n\u00e9rale des C\u00e9r\u00e9monies Religieuses de tous les Peuples\n du Monde,\u201d by Abb\u00e9 Banier and Abb\u00e9 Mascrier, Paris, 1741.\n]\n\nIn British New Guinea similar tactics are resorted to by the native\ndoctors. A native who was suffering from lumbago fully believed the tale\nthat his disease was caused by a stone embedded in his flesh. When the\nsorcerer made passes over this man\u2019s back and then exhibited a stone\nwhich he pretended to have taken thence, the sufferer was convinced that\nthe disease had left his body, and he began to feel relief. When\nexamined, his back showed some superficial cuts at the spot where the\nstone was said to have been extracted. In another case, however, when a\nchild was to be operated upon in a like way, the child\u2019s father became\nsuspicious and seized the operator\u2019s hands before they came into contact\nwith the little one\u2019s body; the result being that the disease-laden\nstone was found concealed in the operator\u2019s hand.[34]\n\nPebble-mania or lithomania is an inherent trait in all mankind. From the\nmost primitive man to the most modern, especially those of optimistic\nand investigating tendencies, this trait is present in a greater or\nlesser degree. That is, curious people would collect pebbles for their\nbright colors, or markings, for their transparency or translucence, and\nthose of an investigating turn of mind, under the impression that the\nfind was perhaps a diamond or a gem of some kind. In modern times this\nkind of collecting has developed into a regular industry, pebbles found\non the shores of the United States and which are either pure white,\ntransparent or translucent quartz, being cut and offered for sale. These\npebbles are gathered, and are valuable to those who make a business of\nselling them, because the white opaque pebbles become translucent after\ncutting, or rather, during the process of cutting, and they are then\npassed off for moonstones, which are worth from one-third to one-half\nmore than the cost of cutting the quartz pebbles, the purchaser being\nled to believe that he is getting a moonstone, although this could not\nbe possible, since moonstones have never been found on either the\neastern or the western coast of the United States. As for the cut\nmoonstones which are brought back by the tourist, under the impression\nthat he is getting native material and workmanship, these all come from\nEurope.\n\nPebble-mania is not confined to mankind alone. Birds and animals possess\nit. The magpie picks up and hides away bright objects, including odd\npebbles, or carries them to its nest. The stones known as _\u00e6tites_ were\nsaid to be found in eagles\u2019 nests, although they may have been swallowed\nby the birds for digestive purposes, just as the hen\u2019s crop is full of\nstones, many of them being transparent, a proof that the fowl had been\nattracted by them, and had swallowed these in preference to other,\nduller ones. Notable instances of transparent pebbles are the\n_alectorii_, or \u201ccock-stones.\u201d\n\nThe great Italian goldsmith and sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini (1500\u20131574),\nrelates that when a youth he often shot cranes with his arquebuse, and\nthat in several instances he found in their entrails not only fine\nturquoises, but also fragments of the so-called plasma-emerald and even\noccasionally small pearls. This serves to indicate that the pretty\nexterior of such objects exerted an influence upon these birds in some\ndegree analogous to the impressions aroused in mankind on viewing\nthem.[35]\n\nIn seventeenth century Denmark there seems to have been no lack of\n\u201cmagic stones,\u201d for it is related that one day as King Christian II was\nstrolling along the beach, he picked up a shining pebble by the aid of\nwhich he could render himself invisible at will. Similar power was said\nto exist in stones that could be found in ant-hills if hot water were\nthrown onto them on St. Walpurgis Day, or St. Hans\u2019 Day. The Danes of\nthe time also shared in the belief that the stone from the lapwing\npreserved from illness and sorrow as did the \u201cswallow\u2019s-stone\u201d as\nwell.[36]\n\nIt has frequently been maintained that the source of pebbles could be\nbroadly determined by their form and surface; for example, well-rounded\nspecimens of fairly uniform size would be classed as marine pebbles,\nwhile river-pebbles would be subangular and usually flat; pebbles of\nglacial origin, on the other hand, would have faceted, rounded edges,\ntheir surfaces being polished and striated. However, although these\nrules might hold good in many cases, careful observation has\ndemonstrated that pebbles of all these supposedly distinct types can be\nfound among those of marine, fluviatile, or lacustrine origin. This is\nexplicable by the fact that while the constant, unhindered action of sea\nor river would probably produce pebbles of distinct type, the local\nconditions often interfere with this. For instance, on a low sea-coast,\nwith weak wave-action, pebbles frequently became buried in the sands,\nthus retaining their form practically unchanged, and even where the\nwaves are stronger, so that the pebbles are more or less constantly\nexposed to their force, it must be borne in mind that some of these\ncoast pebbles have been swept down by rivers, or have already been\naffected by glacial action. In these cases the force of the waves will\nindeed modify the form, but along the lines of that already produced by\nthe earlier agencies. Broadly stated, those that were round or oval\nwould generally remain so, rectangular fragments might have their angles\nworn away and become elliptical, while flat fragments would not exhibit\nany notable change in shape.[37]\n\nWhen a group of pebbles have been long exposed to attrition by the\nwaters of a powerful stream, especially where the current is\nintermittent, and where a large quantity of sand has been worked or\nblown into the stream by freshet or wind storm, they may become rounded\nby the erosive action of the water or by the abrasive power of the sand,\nas well as by the attrition consequent upon their sharp contact with one\nanother. This is exemplified in the case of boulders in a river bed, it\nhaving been noted in certain streams on the Navajo Reservation that\nwhile the upstream sides of the boulders were polished and rounded, and\neven sometimes faceted and etched, but little change was observable on\nthe downstream sides. This has been tested experimentally, holes an inch\nin depth having been drilled in opposite sides of sandstone boulders,\nand on examination five years later in five different localities where\nthis had been done, the deepest hole remaining on the upstream sides\nmeasured but four-tenths of an inch, while in one locality the holes had\nentirely disappeared, and yet so trifling was the effect of the water on\nthe downstream side that a blue-pencil mark had not been washed away. Of\ncourse, the erosion of quartzite and limestone boulders tested in this\nway proved to be a much slower process, amounting to less than\none-hundredth of an inch annually. Another important consideration in\nthe shaping of pebbles by river-water is the swiftness of the current,\nit having been noted, for instance, that those which have been washed\ndown the steep slopes of the Navajo Mountain and the edge of the Black\nMesa are somewhat better rounded than those that have been borne along\nfor a much greater distance by less swift-flowing water.\n\nThat striated, faceted, or polished pebbles are always of glacial\norigin, or that those of glacial origin usually offer these\ncharacteristics is far from the fact; indeed, it may rather be said that\nthey are generally missing. The fluvio-glacial drift is much more\nwidespread than ground moraine, and the pebbles found in the former\nrarely present these aspects; indeed, it has been noted that in an\nhour\u2019s search through the glacial drift of Connecticut, only a single\nsuch specimen may be met with. On the other hand, many pebbles of this\ntype have been found under conditions plainly showing that the striation\nwas due to other causes, in some instances, as with those occurring in\nconglomerates, to pressure and differential movement.[38]\n\nThe burying of white stones or lumps of quartz with the dead was not\ninfrequent in early times in Ireland. The peasants of the north of\nIreland call these Godstones. A cist found at Barnasraghy, County Sligo,\nwas nearly filled with quartz pebbles, and not long since a white stone\nwas found in a primitive burial place near Larne, County Antrim. That\nthis was a usage confined to the earlier period of Irish history is\ngenerally admitted, and the discovery of such white stones in a grave is\naccepted as an indication that it belongs to an early date.[39]\n\nIt has been suggested that these white stones were used for burials\nbecause of the symbolic meaning of the color, which to the minds of many\nprimitive peoples was that of purity, as indeed it is still among most\nmodern peoples, although the symbolism may not always be consciously\naccepted. White marble seems to most of us the most appropriate and\nbeautiful stone for monuments, and if to a very considerable degree\ngranite is now used as a substitute, this is principally because of its\ngreater resistance to the deteriorating effect of atmospheric changes.\nAlready in prehistoric times, the cave-dwellers showed a fondness for\ngathering quartz crystals and fragments, and specimens of those taken\nfrom the Auvergne Mountains have been found in the cave-dwellings of Les\nEyzies; they may have been used as amulets or talismans.[40]\n\nA legend of the great Irish saint, Columba, gives an instance of the\ncurative use of white pebbles. After this saint had vainly entreated\nBroichan the Druid to free a Christian bond-maiden, as a last resort he\nmenaced the druid with approaching death. The prediction or curse was\nspeedily on the way to fulfilment, Broichan sickened unto death, and in\nhis terror consented to free the maiden. Hereupon St. Columba went to\nthe river Ness and picked up out of its shallows several white pebbles,\nannouncing that they would, by the Lord\u2019s power, work the cure of\nheathen people. One of the stones was blessed by the saint and placed in\na vessel filled with water, on the surface of which it floated, and as\nsoon as Broichan had taken a draught of the liquid he was restored to\nperfect health.[41]\n\nA famous Scotch amulet was a polished globular mass of white quartz, an\ninch and three-quarters in diameter, owned by the chiefs of Clan\nDonnachaidh and known as the \u201cStone of the Banner.\u201d It had been\naccidentally found by a chief of this clan, who, on his way to join\nRobert Bruce in 1315, before the battle of Bannockburn, noted a\nglittering stone embedded in a clod of earth that had become attached to\nhis flagstaff. It was looked upon as a powerful talisman in battle, and\nwater in which it had been dipped was said to cure diseases. Tradition\nasserted that this white stone of Clan Donnachaidh was identical with\nthat used long before by St. Columba.[42] As such white stones were\noften deposited in graves, sometimes even being placed in the mouth of a\ndeceased person, it has been suggested that perhaps the sparks emitted\nby the quartz on percussion were believed to shed some faint gleams\nalong the dark pathway of the departed in his journey to the underworld.\nIn Christian times there can be little doubt in regard to the influence\nexercised by the text in Revelation: \u201cTo him that overcometh ... I will\ngive a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man\nknoweth save he that receiveth it.\u201d[43]\n\nCrystal balls are not only valued for the visions to be seen, or\nsupposed to be seen in them, but are sometimes worn as amulets against\nillness. In some parts of Japan they are thought to ward off dropsy, and\ntheir wear is also recommended to guard from all wasting diseases.[44]\nThe likeness of rock-crystal to congealed water may well be credited, in\nthe doctrine of sympathy, with its putative power of preventing the\nwatery infiltration from which a dropsical patient suffers. As the\nJapanese make many choice crystal balls, these objects are generally\nmore or less familiar in that land and have thus appealed as well to\nthose who were superstitious as to those who appreciated things\nbeautiful in themselves.\n\nIn Yucatan quartz crystals were not only used for divining, but also to\nensure the success of the crops. The fact that such crystals have been\nfound in the Indian mounds of Arkansas, North Carolina, and elsewhere,\nmay warrant the supposition that they had been worn as talismans and\nthen interred with the deceased persons as a most intimate part of their\nproperty. The writer\u2019s personal observation in Garland and Montgomery\ncounties, Arkansas, demonstrated that quartz crystals were to be found\nin mounds together with chipped arrow-points of chalcedony, although the\ncrystals did not appear to have been worked in any way. The region about\nHot Springs, Arkansas, has furnished some of the finest rock-crystal\nfound in the United States. From North Carolina also have come many\nremarkable specimens, the largest of which, found in 1886, was unluckily\nbroken up by the person who discovered it. In its crystal state it must\nhave weighed about 300 pounds, and if cut would have furnished a crystal\nball 4\u00bd or 5 inches in diameter. This splendid crystal came from Ph\u0153nix\nMountain, Chestnut Hill township, in Ashe County, North Carolina, and\nfrom the largest fragment recovered, weighing 51 pounds, several slabs 8\ninches square and from half inch to one inch in thickness were cut.\nNearby a crystal weighing 285 pounds was found, and another weighing 188\npounds. Some of the crystals from this locality had on one side a green\ncoating of chlorite, and when this was not removed, the effect was as\nthough one saw a green moss growing beneath a pool of water. The\nrock-crystal slabs have an advantage over glass when used for mirrors,\nas they more truly reflect the tints of a fine complexion. Brilliant\ncrystals from Lake George and its neighborhood have been called \u201cLake\nGeorge Diamonds.\u201d In marked contrast with the large examples we have\nnoted, many crystals of quartz are so small that 200,000 would have an\naggregate weight of but one ounce and yet many are perfect crystals and\ndoubly terminated.\n\nThe presence of white quartz pebbles in some graves of the Indian\nMoundbuilders, appears to be indicated to a satisfactory extent in the\ncase of certain specimens from the Etowah Mound in Georgia; these\npebbles, which form part of the Steiner collections in the United States\nNational Museum, were not, however, worked or polished in any way, nor\nare there any traces of use for ornament or decoration. On the other\nhand, white quartz pebbles from the Pueblo region of the Southwest offer\nundeniable signs of having been long used and are of frequent\noccurrence; some of these have been found in graves. In connection with\nthe probable reasons determining their presence the designations \u201cfire\nstones\u201d or \u201ccharms\u201d have been given them; some specimens of this worked\nquartz had evidently been worn as pendants, while others had probably\nbeen regarded as fetishes.[45]\n\nIt is most interesting to note that the superstitious use of these\nobjects in burials was so widespread as to prove that it must have been\ndue to some inherent property or properties in white stones, and\nespecially in pebbles of white quartz, which appealed very strongly to\nthe mind of primitive man. That, as has been noted above, the conception\nof purity should be associated with whiteness, in its contrast to any\nobscure color, is natural enough, and rests upon the association of\nspotless cleanliness with moral purity, and very probably the sparkles\nof light emitted by a bright piece of quartz, normally or on percussion,\nbrought this material into some connection with the worship of fire, or\nof fire-gods. To another possible conception along the same lines we\nhave already alluded.\n\nAn instance is reported where a very curious quartz pebble, one-half\nwhite and the other black, was found within the hand bones of the\nskeleton of an Indian; the finder carried it about with him for many\nyears as a \u201clucky stone,\u201d but it appears that his personal experience of\nits effects, if these can be judged from what happened to the bearer of\nsuch a talisman, has been of a kind to shatter the most robust faith in\nthe protective power of his Indian charm. Possibly the strange relic may\nhave symbolized night and day for the Indians, and thus have been\nbelieved to guard the wearer or the person with whom it was buried, at\nall times and seasons. That pebbles of this sort were sometimes buried\nin the ground, disposed in circles and squares, is vouched for by some\nwho claim to have unearthed them in ploughing, but our informant was not\nable to confirm these statements, as the arrangements had always been\neffectually disturbed before he reached the spot.[46]\n\nIn many graves of the primitive Red-paint People of Maine, small pebbles\nhave been found. As they were not large enough to have served as\npaint-grinders, and as but one such pebble occurs in any single grave,\nthe presumption is quite strong that they were considered as talismans\nfor the dead. The fact that the practical laborers of our day who dug\nout these graves instinctively named the pebbles \u201clucky stones\u201d goes to\nprove that this supposition is not too far-fetched, although there is no\npositive evidence to support it. The pebbles were yellow, bright red, or\ngray in color, the graves explored being at Orland, Maine, as well as at\nthe outlet of Lake Alamoosook, on the south side of this lake and at\nPassadumkeag; indeed such graves have been met with all the way from the\nKennebec Valley eastward to Bar Harbor.[47]\n\nThe respective symbolic meanings of white and black are illustrated in\nthe designations \u201cwhite magic\u201d and \u201cblack magic,\u201d the latter denoting\nconjurations or spells in which the aid of the powers of darkness, of\nthe Devil and his demons, was sought by the sorcerer, while \u201cwhite\nmagic\u201d was to be performed by harmless and innocent means, sometimes\neven by religious rites. In this way it sometimes so closely approached\nthe domain of religious miracle, that it becomes difficult to\ndistinguish between these two conceptions of supernatural action in the\nmaterial world.\n\nQuartz of a different type with needle-like inclusions is called\n\u201cThetis\u2019s hair stone.\u201d This is a transparent or translucent quartz, but\nso completely filled with acicular crystals of green actinolite, or\noccasionally altered actinolite of a yellow-brown or brown color, as to\nappear almost opaque; seals and charms have been made to a small extent\nof this variety. Of other inclusions in quartz we may note those of a\nvery brilliant stibnite projecting in all directions, some of the\nintruded crystals being very curiously bent. Exceedingly beautiful gems\nhave been cut from this material.[48] When this quartz is cut en\ncabochon across the ravalette inclusions, a cat\u2019s-eye effect is\nproduced. The yellow quartz cat\u2019s-eye of Ceylon and the green of Haff,\nBavaria, are of this type. So densely set were the green actinolite\ninclusions in the case of a specimen found at Gibsonville, North\nCarolina, that it was believed by the finder to be an emerald.\n\nAn extremely beautiful effect in quartz is produced by enclosed,\nacicular crystals, or hair-like particles of some other mineral, such as\nrutile, for instance, and sometimes even of gold. To specimens of this\nlatter type may be referred the Greek name \u201cchrysothrix,\u201d used in the\nOrphic poem \u201cLithica\u201d and signifying literally \u201cgolden hair\u201d; of this\nthe verses tell us there were two varieties, that which may be\nidentified with quartz, having a resemblance to \u201ccrystal,\u201d while the\nother, said to have the appearance of chrysoberyl, may have been a\nyellower variety. To the quartz traversed by filaments of rutile, or the\nred oxide of titanium, has been given the taking name of \u201cVenus\u2019s hair\nstone\u201d; a pretty French name is _Fl\u00e8ches d\u2019Amour_ or \u201cCupid\u2019s\nArrows.\u201d[49]\n\nThe California beaches have furnished some of the most interesting\nornamental pebbles, the greater number being of chalcedony or agate\nweathered from an amygdaloidal rock, while a few are of jasper or fossil\ncoral. Their variegated color-markings made them very attractive\nornamental objects in themselves, and there is reason to believe that\ncenturies ago the Indians of this region valued them as talismans or\namulets. At present the finest specimens are gathered from Pescadero\nBeach in San Mateo County, about twenty-four miles west of San Jos\u00e9,\nRedondo Beach, fifteen miles south of Los Angeles, and also from\nCrescent City Beach, in the northern part of California. On Moonstone\nBeach, Santa Catalina Island, many beautiful quartz and chalcedony\nnodules have been picked up, which have weathered out of ryolite rock of\nsanidine feldspar and quartz. It has been quite a custom for guests of\nthe hotels to go down to Redondo Beach and gather these pebbles, and\nsome of those collected by enterprising natives are placed in a bottle\nof water to bring out the beauty of their colors. Sometimes they are\ndrilled and strung on flexible wire to form long chains or necklaces.\nSeveral pebbles presumably from Redondo Beach were found, in 1901, in an\nIndian grave, where they were probably placed as amulets for the\ndead.[50]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of California State Mining Bureau.\n\n 1. Chalcedony and agate pebbles from Pescadero Beach, San Mateo\n County, California.\n\n 2. Pebble Beach, Redondo, Los Angeles County, California.\n\n From George Frederick Kunz\u2019s \u201cSemi-precious Stones of California,\u201d\n Sacramento, 1905.\n Bulletin No. 37 of the State Mining Bureau.\n]\n\nThe occurrence of fluid cavities in quartz, chalcedony, sapphire, and\nother minerals, is due at times to cavernous structures formed during\nthe growth of these minerals, when the crystalline substances, for some\nreason, instead of filling these up solid, will avoid the caverns and\nenclose the liquid of crystallization. In agate inclusions this is found\nwith silicious content, possibly due to the fact that it is to an extent\ncarbonic acid gas, or water containing salt or some other foreign\nsubstance. In agate chalcedony, whether in pebbles as minute as a\npinhead, or in amygdules several feet across, the liquid is enclosed\nbecause the walls of the gas-pores in the rock, which are frequently\nalmond-shaped, are gradually becoming smaller, or rather the walls\nthicken by the deposition of the silica forming agate, chalcedony, or\nany impenetrable layers, or else an impenetrable form of quartz; then\nagain, frequently toward the centre or when the liquid forms less\nrapidly, or through some change, the quartz becomes crystalline, either\ncolorless, smoky, or amethystine, and this is due to various inclusions.\nThis gradual thickening of the walls means that the aperture into which\nthe liquid penetrates becomes smaller and smaller until at last it is\nentirely sealed, so that it becomes enclosed in a kind of nature\u2019s\nwater-bottle, these being sometimes as large as in the chalcedony\nspecimens from Uruguay; this is also the case with the hydrolites and\nthe enhydros, when they can be shaken and the water rattles as in a\nbottle.\n\nAn occasional small Redondo Beach, California, or Medford, Oregon pebble\ncontains a moving bubble of air in liquid.\n\nMost wonderful specimens of rutilated quartz are the great, rich brown,\npossibly titanium-colored masses in the Morgan Collection at the\nAmerican Museum of Natural History, that in the Vaux Collection at the\nPhiladelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and a smaller mass in the\nBritish Museum; these were all obtained near Middlesex, Vermont. The\nrutile is a rich transparent or translucent red, varying in thinness\nfrom that of an ordinary needle to that of a knitting-needle, and even\nto that of a thin lead-pencil. Wonderful specimens are also found in the\nAlps of St. Gotthard, in Madagascar, and in Alexander County, North\nCarolina, where they are found in quantity as minute crystals of a rich\nred or golden yellow.\n\nOther curious and interesting rock-crystals with inclusions are those\nshowing enclosed drops of water, the kind termed _enhydros_ by Pliny[51]\nand many old writers; in some of the rarer specimens the enclosed water\nis present in considerable quantity. Quartz with inclusions of this type\nwas highly appreciated in the Greco-Roman world, and one of the best\npoets of the Decadence, Claudian (fl. about 400 A.D.), composed a series\nof poetic epigrams upon them, seven of these being in Latin and two in\nGreek. An example of the best in each tongue, the first in the former\nand the second in the latter, must be of interest, although the literal\nprose version cannot have the charm of the original verse.[52]\n\n The Alpine ice, already precious in its frigidity, acquires an intense\n hardness through the action of the solar rays, but unable to transform\n itself entirely into a gem, it betrays its original source by the\n water that still remains within it. This adds at once to the beauty of\n this liquid stone and to its value.\n\n In its changeful aspect, this crystal born from snow and fashioned by\n the hand of man is an image of the world, of the heavens enclosing\n cruel ocean in their wide embrace.\n\nAn old superstition among the Laplanders of Sweden is that in order to\navert or cure disease which may be or has been caused by sleeping in the\nopen air on the exposed moorland, three pebbles should be gathered, one\nfrom the water, one out of the earth, and the third from the surface of\nthe ground or \u201cfrom the air.\u201d These are placed on a fire until they\nbecome red-hot, and are then thrown into water; the stone which sizzles\nmost is that belonging to the element which has caused the illness. The\nwhole body, or sometimes only the afflicted part, is to be moistened\nwith the water in which the pebbles have been immersed, and each\nseparate stone is to be carefully returned to the spot whence it was\ntaken.[53]\n\nNear Middleville, in Herkimer County, New York, in a calciferous\nlimestone, gray and brownish-gray in color, there are numerous cavities\nvarying in size from that of a pinhead to that of a man\u2019s head. In these\ncavities are found carbonaceous substances such as asphaltum and other\nhard, black hydrocarbons. These cavities also frequently show mud or\nsand adhering to the sides, or mud and sand mixed with the petroleum, in\nwhich are often found brilliant and transparent rock-crystals, the\npurest of any found in the world. They are unusually perfect hexagonal\nprisms with both sets of six pyramid faces; that is, with same slight\nmodification, eighteen brilliantly polished faces. These are especially\nsought after on account of their great purity, and because it is\nconsidered that he who wears one will have fair weather and secure the\nblessing of fair sailing on the sea of life. Some of these crystals are\nso small, though of absolute perfection, that it would require 250,000\nof them to weigh an ounce; others again are sometimes as large as from\none to two inches in length. When not entirely transparent they\nfrequently contain inclusions of black asphaltum or other hydrocarbons\nand also contain hollow cavities which are filled with fluid, sometimes\nsalt water and sometimes liquid carbonic acid gas. In these are moving\nbubbles and occasionally a heavy hydrocarbon; that is, a bubble will\nascend and the hydrocarbon will sink; or else the bubble will rise and\ntake with it a small speck of hydrocarbon, and another will sink. In a\nwonderful specimen now at the American Museum of Natural History there\nis an object like a small spider of hydrocarbon which sinks while a\nminute water-bubble rises. They are called fair-weather stones.\n\nTasmanian rain-makers use white stones in their magical rites; however,\nthe stone by itself is not considered an effective talisman, for it must\nbe dipped in the blood of a young girl to give it added power. After a\nnumber of white pebbles have been steeped for a time in this blood, the\nrain-maker ties them up in strips of bark and sinks them in some deep\nwater-hole in which a diabolical spirit is supposed to dwell. The\nnatives confidently assert that this ceremony is soon followed by the\ndesired rainfall. As the belief prevails here as elsewhere, that these\nwhite stones or pebbles to retain their power must not be looked upon by\na woman, it seems a little strange that the rain-bringing stone is\ndipped in a young girl\u2019s blood.[54]\n\nHowever, white stones have not always and everywhere been regarded as\nlucky, for it is stated that among the fishermen of the Isle of Man the\npresence of a white stone in a fishing-smack is confidently believed to\nportend poor fishing. Indeed it has been reported by a Scotchman, who\nwent out in a fishing boat for several consecutive days with a party of\nManx fishermen, that after a succession of days marked by poor fishing\nthey began to nickname him \u201cWhite Stone.\u201d[55]\n\nAn oath taken on sacred stones was regarded by the ancient Scandinavians\nas peculiarly binding upon him who took such an oath; in the old Norse\nannals it is stated that Gudrun Gjukesdatter offered King Atle that he\nwould take an oath on the \u201cpure white stone.\u201d The hero Duthmaruno is\nsaid to have sworn by \u201cLoda\u2019s Stone of Power,\u201d which represented the\nalmighty divinity of the Norsemen.[56]\n\nA sacred well on the north side of Lough Neagh, Ireland, lends peculiar\nsanctity to the yellow crystals found in great quantity near by. The\nbelief in their miraculous quality finds expression in the legend that\nthey grow up out of the ground on Midsummer Night, and whosoever wishes\nto possess them as talismans must pronounce certain magic rhymes in the\nact of collecting them. They then become luck-bringers of potent virtue\nand ensure the prosperity of the household in which they are\nguarded.[57]\n\nThe stone, or rather rock, named catlinite, and popularly known as\n\u201cpipe-stone,\u201d was regarded by certain tribes as one of their most\nvaluable materials,[58] and was extensively used for pipe-bowls. In\ncolor it ranges from a deep red to an ashy tint; the chief quarry is\nsituated some three hundred miles west of the Falls of St. Anthony, on\nthe dividing ridge between the Saint Peter\u2019s and Missouri rivers. This\nregion was visited in 1836 by George Catlin, to whom we are indebted for\nthe preservation of so much regarding Indian folk-lore and customs, and\nafter whom the substance is named. While it is impossible to determine\nwith any degree of certainty for how long a time the Indians were\nfamiliar with this material, there are those who believe that the\nquarries were worked and the material used for pipe-bowls by native\nsculptors long before the earliest notice we have to that effect.[59]\nGreat skill and patience were displayed by the Indians in the making of\nthese pipe-bowls, which were sometimes carved with various symbolical\nfigures. We have an early record of such pipes from the pen of Jacques\nMarquette, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, who saw one when visiting\nthe Illinois Indians in 1673. He reports it as being of polished red\nstone, like marble, so pierced that one orifice served to hold the\ntobacco, while the other was fastened on the stem, which was a stick two\nfeet long, as thick as a common cane and pierced in the middle. The\nwhole was covered with large feathers of red, green, and other colors.\n\nCatlin states that at the time of his visit the \u201cpipe-stone\u201d quarry was\nguarded with a certain religious reverence from the visit of the white\nman, the Indians declaring that this red stone was \u201ca part of their\nflesh,\u201d and that to take it from them would be to tear out their flesh\nand spill their blood. This highly poetic language may or may not have\nsignified a superstitious reverence for the substance; indeed, it may\nsimply have voiced the fear of these Indians that they might be\ndespoiled of what for them was an especially valuable material, which\nthey asserted had been bestowed upon them by the Great Spirit for the\nmaking of pipes exclusively. In our day an old Ojibway Indian,\nespecially skilled in the work, has a name signifying \u201che who makes\npipes,\u201d and carved pipe-bowls of catlinite are usually sold for from $1\nto $10 apiece; as much as $20, however, is occasionally paid for a\nparticularly large and finely carved specimen. This substance is also\nworked up into charms and other small ornaments which are sold to\ntourists, the annual sales of all descriptions amounting to some $10,000\nannually. Catlinite takes a fine polish and is easily worked; a\npeculiarly attractive variety is red with white and gray spots.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HINDU WEARING A COLLECTION OF ANCESTRAL PEBBLES AS AMULETS\n]\n\nThe popular fancy for the \u201cFairy Stones\u201d from a peak of the Blue Ridge\nMountains, Patrick County, Virginia, is said to be directly traceable to\nthe tale, \u201cTrail of the Lonesome Pine,\u201d by John Fox, Jr., who makes one\nof these pretty staurolite crystals exercise an important influence over\nthe destinies of his hero and heroine. This was cleverly utilized by the\nmanager of a New York theatre, when he gave a souvenir performance of a\ndramatized version of the story, by presenting one of these \u201cFairy\nStones\u201d to each lady in the audience, a gift not only in perfect\n_rapport_ with the play, but one highly appreciated by the recipients,\nfew of whom were not unconsciously influenced by the symbolic\nhalf-religious, half-mythical quality ascribed to this attractive little\ngem.\n\nCollections of stones and pebbles, often of little or no intrinsic value\nbut supposed to possess occult powers, are handed down from father to\nson in many Hindu families of the poorer class. The accompanying\nillustration shows an aged Hindu, as he appeared to a recent traveller,\ndecorated with such stones to the number of about three hundred on a\nceremonial occasion. In this case they were all pierced and threaded on\ncords, so as to be attached to the person, and the old man proudly\ndeclared that, thousands of years ago, one of his ancestors was a\nplaymate of the god Krishna, who had bestowed the stones upon him as a\nspecial mark of divine favor.\n\nThe presence of erratic boulders was accounted for by popular legend in\na variety of ways. Sometimes it was declared that the Virgin or a saint,\nwhile bearing an enormous stone through the air to be used in the\nconstruction of a church, had learned on the way that the church was\ncompleted and the stone no longer needed, and immediately let it drop to\nthe earth.[60]\n\nA stone having the rude form of a chair or seat, and known as Canna\u2019s\nStone, enjoyed repute in Wales for its curative powers. It was in a\nfield in close proximity to the church of Llangan, Carmarthenshire,\nwhich owed its foundation to St. Canna. Near this stone is a well called\nFlynon Canna, the waters of which were believed to be a cure for ague.\nTo make the cure effective, however, the patient, after imbibing the\nsacred water, had to sit for a time in Canna\u2019s Stone, and if he dozed\nwhile sitting there this was considered to promise a speedy recovery.\nThe combined treatment by well and stone was often repeated for several\nsuccessive days and was occasionally prolonged for two or three\nweeks.[61]\n\nThat a child could be cured of disease by being passed through an\naperture in one of the sacred stones that had formed part of a dolmen is\nshown in the case of a stone of this kind preserved in the church of\nVillers-Saint-S\u00e9pulcre, dept. Oise, France. There is another such stone\nin the same department, at Trie, used in a like way for the cure of\nfeeble children or those suffering from rachitis. This reveals in a\nstriking way the persistence of superstitious beliefs which were already\ncondemned in 567 A.D. by the council of Tours, which prescribed that the\neucharist should be refused to those who venerated these so-called\nsacred stones, and at a still earlier date, in 443 A.D., a council\ndecree pronounced those bishops guilty of sacrilege who permitted the\nmaking of vows over these stones or the deposition of offerings\nthereon.[62]\n\nSome of the stones of the druidic dolmens were called by the French\npeasants of a later age _pierres tourniresses_, or \u201cwhirling stones,\u201d\nfor it was solemnly asseverated that at midnight on Christmas Eve these\nstones gyrated on their base. A still stranger fancy was that some other\nstones of this class became fearfully thirsty at times, once every\nhundred days, or perhaps only once in a century, and then rolled off to\nthe nearest stream to slake their thirst. Under others, again, it was\nbelieved that a hidden treasure reposed, watchfully guarded by a\nterrible dragon. However, on one night in the year, while the clock was\nstriking twelve, he snatched a moment\u2019s sleep, and whoever was clever\nenough and quick enough to make use of this chance could acquire untold\nriches.[63]\n\nA strange belief prevails in and about Dourges (dept. Aube), France. On\nthe top of a hill near this place is a chapel built in honor of St.\nEstapin, and in close proximity to this chapel are rocks with many\nirregular hollows of such varying shapes and forms that almost any part\nof the human body can be thrust into the openings. On the 6th of August\nin each year, those from the neighborhood suffering from illness or\ndisability of any kind come hither, and, after having made their way as\nbest they can nine times around the chapel, proceed to the platform\nwhereon are the wonder-working stones, and introduce the afflicted part\nof their body into the appropriate opening in one of the rocks. The\nresult is said to be an immediate cure of the trouble, however serious\nthis may be, one experiment being sufficient.[64]\n\nStones of peculiar shape or marked color are those to which popular\nfancy has most often attributed a certain sanctity or power. Instances\nof this may be found in the Scottish isles. Thus, on the island of Arran\nin the Firth of Clyde, a green stone of approximately spherical form had\nacquired great repute for its healing virtue, especially for those\nhaving pains in the side. When this stone was laid upon the seat of the\ntrouble, the pain would disappear. This, however, was not the only use\nto which it was put, for oaths were taken upon it, proving the presence\nof a certain animistic belief in the islanders\u2019 minds, as though some\nspirit dwelt in or animated the stone and would take vengeance on a\nperjuror. A still better proof of this was the idea that the green stone\nof Arran would bring victory to a leader if he bore it with him and cast\nit into the enemies\u2019 ranks at the decisive moment of a conflict, as is\nsaid to have been done by the Lord of the Isles. Alongside of this green\nstone may be placed a blue stone credited in the Scotch island of Fladda\nwith the possession of like healing power, and on which also oaths were\ntaken.[65]\n\nA large, flat stone in St. Andrew\u2019s on the isle of Guernsey is stated to\nhave borne a somewhat humorously misleading French inscription. This\nran: \u201cCelui qui me tournera, Son temps point ne perdra,\u201d which has been\nfreely rendered:\n\n To him who turns me up I say\n His labor won\u2019t be thrown away.\n\nThis tempting promise, interpreted as a sign that some buried treasure\nwas hidden in the ground beneath the stone, finally induced some one to\ndevote much toil and time to the difficult task of turning the stone\nover. What, however, was his chagrin and disgust when the under side\npresented the words: \u201cTourner je voulais, Car lass\u00e9e j\u2019\u00e9tais\u201d (I longed\nto turn, because I was so tired). Whether the practical joker who\noriginated the inscription was present to enjoy the success of his joke\nis not revealed.[66]\n\nTo a mass of quartz at Jerbourg, Guernsey Island, local fancy has\nattached a wild legend, which finds expression in the strange\ndesignation of the stone as \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Claw.\u201d The old Chronique de\nNormandie, which, although written much earlier, was first printed in\n1576 at Rouen, recounts under date of 797 A.D. that Duke Richard, when\non his way from one of his strongholds to a manor where dwelt a damsel\nof surpassing beauty, was assailed by the Evil One; but, like a second\nSt. Michael, Duke Richard overcame his dangerous antagonist. Seeing that\nhe could not prevail by force, the Devil had recourse to one of his most\nperilous wiles, and changed himself into a beautiful, richly attired\nmaiden. In this disguise he lured Duke Richard to the seashore and\ninduced him to enter a boat and put out to sea. He thus spirited the\nduke away to the lonely isle of Guernsey, and at the landing spot, where\nthe Devil finally seized his too-confiding prey, stands this mass of\nquartz, a deep black splash running right across, indicating in popular\nfancy the mark left by the devil\u2019s claws.[67]\n\nA solitary boulder standing on a heath in North Germany is the subject\nof a curious legend illustrating the superstitious reverence inspired by\nthe thunder. Once upon a time a bridal procession was traversing the\nheath when a violent thunder-storm broke out. Taking no heed of this,\nthe musicians who accompanied the procession continued to play their gay\nand festive music, and as a punishment for this lack of respect the God\nof Thunder changed the whole party into an immense rock.[68]\n\nAn erratic boulder lying in midstream in the River Ferse, in West\nPrussia, at a bend it makes between Peplin and Eichwald, is known in\nlegend as the Teuffelsstein (Devil\u2019s Stone). It can only be reached by\nswimming to it, the part above the surface of the water measuring 26\u00bc\nfeet in circumference, the height from the bed of the stream being 8\u00bc\nfeet. A thick growth of alders on the banks of the Ferse at this point\ncasts strange and sharp shadows over the gleaming surface of the block\nwhich is a biotitic gneiss. Legend tells that the Devil once tried to\nwreck the tower of the church at Peplin by hurling this mass of rock at\nit, but just as he had it poised in the air and was about to cast it\nforth the church bells began to ring the call for early mass, and he was\nforced to let the boulder drop. Another version is that he really threw\nit, but that it fell short of its mark.[69]\n\nNear Hasselager in Denmark there is an immense boulder about 150 feet in\ncircumference and 32 feet in height. Of this stone legend tells that a\nwitch became so enraged at the fact that the steeple of the church at\nSvinninge was used by sailors as a landmark, that she picked up the\nstone and hurled it at the church, but missed her aim. As the boulder is\nestimated to weigh 1000 tons, this \u201cwitch\u201d must have been regarded as a\nsuperhuman personality. The legend seems to indicate that she profited\nby the shipwrecks which were only too frequent on this rocky coast, and\ngrudged the poor sailors the good service rendered them by the prominent\nsteeple.\n\nA rock in Ardmore Bay, Ireland, is known as the St. Declan Stone, after\nthe first bishop of Ardmore, who came to Ireland even before the arrival\nof the great St. Patrick. This rock is believed by the peasants to be\nendowed with great and occult powers, and the legend tells that it was\ncarried through the air from Rome to its present resting place in the\nbay, at the time St. Declan was erecting his church at Ardmore. The fact\nthat the stone rests upon a number of smaller ones renders it possible\nfor people to squeeze their way under it at low tide, and those who pass\nbeneath it three times are believed to have earned the special favor of\nSt. Declan.[70]\n\nA mass of calcareous stone in a village called Piada de Roland, situated\nin the commune of Toufailles (dept. Tarn et Garonne), France, shares\nwith some other similar stones in this region the curious name of\nRoland\u2019s Foot (Piada de Roland). The one preserved in Toufailles\nmeasures 70 cm. \u00d7 47 cm. \u00d7 50 cm., and bears a natural imprint having\nthe form of a foot. Legend accounts for this by the tale that the hero\nRoland once jumped from this stone to another at Sept Albres and in\ntaking this tremendous leap thrust his foot down so strongly upon its\nsupport as to leave an imprint on the solid rock. For a time the \u201cPiada\nde Roland\u201d was kept in a cow-house\u2014not a remarkably honorable place of\ndeposit\u2014but after the death of one of the cows a sorcerer advised the\nstone should be broken and removed, as a precautionary measure; this is\nsaid to have happened but thirty years ago, showing how deeply rooted\nsuch superstitious ideas are among the peasantry in out-of-the-way parts\nof France.[71]\n\nAnother rock-imprint, this time simulating that made by the hoof of a\nhorse, is to be seen toward the edge of the abyss of Padirac (dept.\nLot). Here again a local legend has been evolved to explain the imprint.\nWe are told that the attention of both Satan and St. Martin had been\npowerfully attracted to the region, each strenuously seeking to gain\npossession of the souls of those who died, Satan of course wishing to\nbear them off with him to the depths of the infernal regions, while St.\nMartin cherished the fond hope of bringing them to Heaven. Unhappily the\nsins of the inhabitants of the region so much outweighed their merits\nthat the Devil was almost invariably successful. Once upon a time, when\nhe was riding off to his lurid realm, bearing with him a sackful of lost\nsouls, he met St. Martin, who was full of grief at the fact that he\nhimself had not a single soul to carry heavenward. Knowing, however,\nthat Satan was passionately fond of gaming, he proposed that they should\nplay a game the stake of which should be the sackful of souls. Satan\nconsented, trusting to his powers of trickery, but all his deceptions\nproved vain, and the precious souls became the property of the saint.\nEnraged at losing the stakes, the Devil stamped on the ground, and an\nimmense abyss opened up, threatening to engulf St. Martin; however, the\nlatter put up a prayer to God, and spurred on his steed to a supreme and\nsuccessful effort at escape, but one of the hoofs struck the rock with\nsuch force that it made an indentation therein figuring the clear\noutlines of a horse\u2019s hoof.[72]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n KILLING A DRAGON TO EXTRACT ITS PRECIOUS STONE\n\n From Johannis de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus Sanitatis,\u201d Strassburg, 1483. See page\n 16.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n NATURALLY MARKED STONE\n\n From Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum,\u201d Frankfurt am Mayn, 1714. Collection\n of James I, of England; now in Copenhagen. See page 45.\n]\n\nThe Kiowa have a sacred stone whose form suggests the head and bust of a\nman. This image, called _taim\u00e9_, has long been considered a kind of\npalladium of the tribe. It is preserved in a box made of stiff dressed\nrawhide (_parfl\u00e8che_) and was only shown once a year, at the annual Sun\nDance. As this sacred dance has not been performed since 1887, the\n_taim\u00e9_ of the Kiowa has not been viewed by mortal eye since that time,\nnot even the custodian of the treasure having the privilege of opening\nthe box, except on the occasion of the ceremonial dance above\nmentioned.[73] Whether this stone has been rudely fashioned into its\npresent shape, or whether its natural form suggested its use as a\nsimulacrum of some deity, has not been determined; it is evidently not\nof meteoric origin as were many of the curiously shaped stones venerated\nas images of the gods in ancient times, in both Europe and Asia.\n\nIn the rock of St. Gowan\u2019s chapel in Wales was a natural cavity upon\nwhich the name of the Expanding Stone was bestowed by popular tradition,\nbecause the strange fancy prevailed that this stone automatically\nadapted itself to the size of anyone who entered the cavity. The legend\nran that once, during the Pagan persecutions, when a fugitive Christian,\nhotly pursued, reached this rock it opened up of its own accord so that\nhe could slip into it, and then closed about him so as to hide him\neffectually from his enemies. This Expanding Stone was believed to\nmanifest its magic power by bringing to pass the wish expressed by\nanyone who entered it, provided he did not change his wish while he\nturned around within it.[74]\n\nThe natives of the French colony of New Caledonia in the southern\nPacific, attach special importance to the fortuitous shape of stones in\nusing them for talismans or amulets. According to their form such stones\nare considered to procure favorable effects against famine, madness, or\ndeath; to induce sunshine or rain, or else to bring good luck in fishing\nor in sailing, each special use being suggested by some different form,\nthe color also being in some cases a determining factor. For the purpose\nof securing a better yield from fruit-trees a stone having the\napproximate shape of the fruit or with markings similar to those on\nfruit or tree is the one indicated by nature as the appropriate\ntalisman, as in the case of the cocoanut palm, where a stone marked with\nblack lines is the one chosen. Sometimes two different talismanic stones\nare used in this practice, a smaller one figuring the unripe fruit; when\nthe tree begins to bear, the small stone is buried at its foot, and as\nsoon as the fruit begins to mature, the small stone is removed and the\nlarger one, representing the ripe fruit, is buried in its place.[75]\n\nThe Scotch of a century or more ago are said to have considered that an\nisolated stone or boulder, firmly fixed in the earth, possessed powers\nof a peculiar sort, and some such stones were used to cure bruises and\nstrains and reduce swellings.[76] As it was also thought that a blow\nfrom a stone of this type was especially hurtful, this would be another\ncase of hom\u0153opathic treatment of which so many and various examples are\nafforded by the superstitious use of stones and gems, as well as of\nother objects to which certain advantageous qualities were attributed.\n\nSmall stone boulders have been made use of by ejected peasants in\nFermanagh, Ireland, in a magical incantation designed to draw down a\ncurse upon a merciless landlord. For this purpose the peasant would\ncollect a number of such stones, pile them up on his hearth as he would\nhave piled turf sods, and then put up a petition that all manner of bad\nluck and misfortune might befall the landlord and his descendants to\nremote generations. Hereupon he would gather up the stones again, and,\ncarrying them off, would scatter them about in bog-holes, pools or\nstreams, so that they should never be brought together again.[77] This\nwas evidently done in the belief that the curse could only be raised if\na counter-invocation were pronounced over the same collection of stones.\nAn allusion to a custom of turning stones about while reciting a formula\nof malediction is contained in the following lines by Dr. Samuel\nFerguson:\n\n They hurled their curse against the King,\n They cursed him in his flesh and bones,\n And even in the mystic ring,\n They turn\u2019d the malediction stones.\n\nOf all \u201cmagic stones\u201d none seem better to deserve this designation than\nthose mysterious and fascinating mineral specimens, veritable _lusus\nNatur\u00e6_, bearing imprinted upon them by nature\u2019s hand some likeness of\nthe human face or form. The grandeur and the overwhelming power of the\nmaterial world are probably as much or even more felt in our prosaic age\nthan they were in the earliest times, but this sentiment is sometimes\ncoupled with a sense of distrust\u2014happily neither general nor\npermanent\u2014as to the presence in this tremendous and inspiring aggregate\nof forces of any distinct and definite evidence of the working of an\nintelligence closely similar to our own. It seems not unlikely that to\nthis half-distrust is in great part due the fascination exercised by\nthese naturally designed stones. We know, indeed, that when examined\ncritically by the mineralogist, their strange markings become explicable\nas the results of fortuitous stratifications and juxtapositions, but to\nour instinctive appreciation they offer so close and startling an\nanalogy to the artistic reproductions consciously made by the hand of\nman, guided by his experience and intelligence, that we are almost\ninvariably impressed with a keener sense of our kinship with nature.\n\nSome very characteristic and interesting specimens of these natural\ndesigns were at one time in the possession of Queen Victoria, many of\nthem having been formerly among the treasures in the valuable and\nextensive collection of pearls and precious stones carefully gathered\ntogether by the famous banker and connoisseur, Henry Philip Hope. Quite\nrecently (April 20, 21, 1914) these objects, which had passed into the\nJ. E. Hodgkin Collection, were sold at Christie\u2019s in London. Perhaps the\nmost remarkable is thus described by B. Hertz in the Hope Catalogue:[78]\n\nNo. 62. A very beautiful lusus, in white and brown agate, representing a\nminiature face and neck, with light brown hair and white chaplet,\nsurrounded by a dark brown ground colour.\n\nSo singularly natural and artistic is this strange gem, that it is\ndifficult to banish the conviction that we are not gazing upon a fine\nexample of a miniature done by an impressionist.[79] Another\ninteresting, though somewhat less notable example, was a polished flint,\nof a brownish-gray hue, bearing a half-front miniature of an aged head\nand face marked in a light brownish-white;[80] still another offered the\nrepresentation of a human head, the face half turned away; this was also\na flint, the groundwork of a light horn-color, the design being of a\nstill lighter shade of the same color.[81]\n\nWhile nearly all these natural designs are in the flat, occasional\nexamples of relief or intaglio are recorded. As an instance may be noted\na remarkable double gem or medallion said to have been revealed on\nsplitting open a clump of copper ore from the Bottendorf copper mines.\nOn each of the two halves was marked the image of a male human head,\ndressed with a peruke, but while on one side the representation was in\nrelief, on the opposite half it was in intaglio.[82]\n\nA remarkable find of three of these naturally marked stones is stated to\nhave been made in the river Theiss, near the town of Winterhut, in 1556,\n\u201con a Monday after the festival of St. Gall.\u201d On one of these flint\npebbles was depicted a cross, a sword and a rod; the two others bore\nrespectively a cross and the Burgundian arms, all being as clearly\ndefined as though the work of the human hand.[83]\n\nThese smaller natural pictures were, however, greatly surpassed in\neffectiveness by some most extraordinary representations on slabs of\nstone, frequently on marble slabs, the strange arrangement of the\nveinings constituting veritable pictures of considerable extent and\nmarvellously deceptive quality. Thus in the church of San Lorenzo in\nFlorence was to be seen a natural marble on which were depicted two men\nbearing a bunch of grapes on a rod.[84] Another marble slab, preserved\nin the Danish Collection in Copenhagen and originally owned by James I\nof England, presented in most beautiful colors an image of a\ncrucifix.[85]\n\nTo the natural image found in a specimen of copper ore may be added a\nmuch more remarkable picture discovered in a piece of iron ore. This was\nfound on October 8, 1669, by a miner of the Innesberg mines. The clump\nof ore weighed about two pounds and when the miner split it open with a\nblow of his hammer, he was startled to see on the upper half a strange\nand marvellous design. Calling up a companion, he exclaimed: \u201cLook here!\nHere is the Blessed Virgin on this stone!\u201d On examining the other half,\nthe same design appeared there also. This remarkable find is said to\nhave been recorded in the book of the mine, the stone itself having been\ndelivered to the German imperial inspectors.[86]\n\nIt is well to bear in mind that the number of these _lusus natur\u00e6_\nseemed very much larger in the eyes of writers of a few centuries ago\nthan to us to-day, for the numerous petrifactions, showing a great\nvariety of animal and vegetable forms, were for a long period included\nin the same category with the stones bearing curiously deceptive\nmarkings or veinings. Much ingenuity was expended by early observers in\nthe attempt to explain the cause of these phenomena. The learned Jesuit,\nAthanasius Kircher, for example, after having proved experimentally that\ndesigns treated with certain chemical agents could be made to impress\nfigures upon stones, took refuge in the strange hypothesis that pictures\nmade on wood or some soft material by primitive miners had been left in\nthe mine and with the lapse of time had slipped down into crevices in\nthe rock, and, becoming tightly wedged in, had impressed the design on\nthe contact-rock; or else he suggested that the original material on\nwhich the design had been made might in process of time have, by some\nunknown means, been converted into marble.[87] As a striking example of\na picture of this class, Kircher notes and figures an image naturally\ndesigned on a stone slab in St. Peter\u2019s in Rome and bearing a remarkable\nlikeness to the Blessed Virgin of Loreto.[88]\n\nThe electric or magnetic gems, tourmaline, amber, and loadstone, possess\nnot only great scientific interest, but demonstrate the fact that a\ncertain energy really does proceed from some of these fair, ornamental\nobjects, an energy that produces a positive action from without upon the\nhuman body. This may well serve to make us less resolutely sceptical as\nto the possible presence in gem-stones of some other forms of emanation\nnot as yet susceptible of scientific determination.\n\nThe supersensitiveness of the innocent child-soul to the most delicate\nimpressions, and hence to the radiations or emanations from precious\nstones, is well brought out in the pretty tale by Saxe Holme (Helen Hunt\nJackson), entitled \u201cMy Tourmaline.\u201d[89] The particular specimen here\nimmortalized was one of the finest from the famous Mount Mica deposits\nin the State of Maine. One day, while on a country ramble, the little\nheroine\u2019s eye is caught by the color and sparkle of a brilliant crystal\nlodged in the gnarled roots of an old tree. In springing forward to\nsecure this pretty treasure the girl trips on the outstanding roots,\nfalls, and sprains her leg very seriously, so that she is laid up for\nsix weeks. However, the beautiful crystal is her great consolation\nthrough the long, dreary weeks, and, strange to say, she comes to feel\nthat it has a kind of life in it. This is manifested to her and also to\nsome others, on touching the stone, by a pricking or tingling sensation\nin the hand; but to the child the sensations excited by the wonderful\ncrystal, as perfectly formed as though cut by a lapidary, red at one\nend, green at the other, with a separating band of white, are much more\npronounced. When it is placed in the little silken bag that has been\nmade to hold it, and is laid against her cheek, her feverish\nrestlessness gradually disappears and gives place to tranquil sleep.\nMore than this, she is aware of a species of subconscious sympathy with\nthe tourmaline. So intense is this sympathy that although the child\nconsented to part with her crystal that it might be offered as a unique\nspecimen to a foreign museum, and was heart-broken to learn that through\nsome carelessness it had been lost while being taken thither, she\nrecognized its presence long years after, when, travelling in Europe as\na young bride, she entered the cabinet of an enthusiastic collector to\nview his specimens, and was in no wise surprised when she really found\nher \u201cStonie\u201d there among his prized tourmalines.\n\nIn connection with this pretty recital it is interesting to note that\nthe first chance observation of the attractive qualities of tourmalines\nis said to have been made in Amsterdam by a group of Dutch children\nwhose attention had been attracted by a number of tourmaline crystals\nbrought from the Orient, and who were puzzled to see bits of ash and\nstraw attracted to the stones. This came to the knowledge of some Dutch\nlapidaries, who for a time called the stone Aschentrekker, or\n\u201cAsh-Attractor.\u201d[90] Our name tourmaline is derived from _turmali_, the\nname given the stone by the natives of Ceylon.\n\nThere seems some little likelihood that certain examples of the gem\ncalled _lychnis_ and noted by Pliny may have been varieties of the\ntourmaline. As the first tourmalines brought to modern Europe came to\nHolland from Ceylon, we might conjecture that those kinds of _lychnis_\nsaid by Pliny to have been brought from India had a like origin. Of\nthese Indian specimens, the finest examples of this gem, one kind\nresembled the carbuncle or ruby, while another bore the designation\nIonia because its color was like that of the violet (in Greek _ion_).\nThe most striking peculiarity of the _lychnis_ was its power to attract\nstraws or bits of paper, when it had been heated by the sun\u2019s rays or by\nhand-friction.[91]\n\nSuch is the confusion in the statements made by the early Greek and\nLatin writers as to the emerald, under which generic name they seem to\nhave included almost all green stones of any ornamental or other value,\nthat we cannot absolutely reject the conjecture[92] that Theophrastus\n(third century B.C.), the earliest of these writers on precious stones,\n_might_ have referred to specimens of green tourmaline, when he states\nthat the true emerald appeared to have been produced from jasper, as one\nof the Cyprian specimens was said to have consisted of one-half jasper\nand the other half emerald, the metamorphosis as yet being\nincomplete.[93] We admit that if Theophrastus uses the word jasper here\nto signify the reddish variety, we would have the combination of green\nand red zones in a single crystal sometimes observable in tourmaline.\nHow this can be reconciled with the previous statement of the same\nauthor that the Cyprian \u201cemeralds\u201d which came from the copper mines of\nthat island were chiefly used for soldering gold, and hence seem to have\nbeen of the class of mineral called _chrysocolla_ by ancient writers,\nis, however, not easy to suggest.[94]\n\nThe so-called Brazilian emeralds mentioned by the Dutch mineralogist,\nJohann de Laet, as having been found shortly before 1647 in mines near\nSpiritus Sanctus, may perhaps have been green tourmalines. These\ncrystals were described by Gesner as of cylindrical form, striated, and\nof a vitreous lustre; their color was like that of the prase and they\nwere transparent. Although De Laet adds the assertion that the Oriental\nemerald (green corundum) was as hard as the sapphire, the Brazilian\nemeralds approached more closely to the Oriental in point of hardness\nthan did emeralds from any other source of supply;[95] and green\nsapphires have never been found in Brazil, while green tourmalines have\nbeen.\n\nThe earliest published work in which the electric properties of\ntourmaline are noted appears to be an anonymous or quasi anonymous\ntreatise published in 1707, certain initial letters of the quaint title\nbeing italicized to indicate the initials of the author\u2019s name.[96] The\nfirst scientist to derive the action of the so-called _Aschentrekker_ or\n\u201cAsh-Attractor\u201d from electric energy is said to have been the great\nLinn\u00e6us, who bestowed upon the tourmaline the name of the \u201cElectrical\nStone.\u201d[97]\n\nThe attractive properties of the tourmaline are said to have been first\nbrought to scientific notice by M. Louis L\u00e9mery, in a report made during\n1717 to the French Academy of Sciences; however, L\u00e9mery was inclined to\nattribute them to magnetic influence. That these phenomena of attraction\nand repulsion were really due to the electric properties of the stone\nwas first clearly brought out by the German physicist, Franz Ulrich\nTheodor Aepinus, and his conclusions were communicated to the Berlin\nAcademy of Sciences in 1756.[98] Aepinus made his experiments upon two\nspecimens of tourmaline from Ceylon, which had been furnished him by\nLehmann, a fellow-member of the Berlin Academy, who, as Aepinus frankly\nadmits, first drew his attention to the electric action of the stone.\nThat not only friction but heat also should develop the electric energy,\nboth positive and negative, of the tourmaline, serves to differentiate\nit from many other potentially electric substances, in the case of which\nfriction alone is effective.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A SIMPLE APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING THE ELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF THE\n TOURMALINE\n\n The stone is suspended from a hollow rod and will be attracted by the\n finger, if the latter be brought within a short distance of the\n tourmaline. When the stone has been slightly heated, its positive\n electricity will draw toward it the heart-shaped piece of paper,\n just as amber attracts paper, or magnetic iron does iron filings.\n]\n\nThe specimen shown by M. L\u00e9mery to the French Academy of Sciences in\n1717 is stated to have come from \u201ca river in the Island of Ceylon,\u201d and\nis described as being of small size, flat, orbicular, quite thin, of a\nbrown color, and smooth brilliant surface.[99] Its peculiar property of\nattracting and then repelling ashes or iron filings as well as bits of\npaper, was duly noted. This specimen had cost M. L\u00e9mery 15 livres. After\nreciting the constant repulsion and attraction exercised by a magnet\nupon the needle, the attraction by the opposite pole, and repulsion by\nthe same pole, he proceeds to remark that this Cinghalese stone acted\nquite differently, since it first attracted and then repulsed the same\nobject presented in the same way. This intermittent or irregular action\nwas in his opinion to be explained by the theory that a vortex was\nintermittently developed in the substance. As it begins the small bodies\nare attracted, when it ceases they remain stationary, but when it is\nrenewed \u201cand there emanates from the stone a material analogous to the\nmagnetic emanation\u201d then the bodies are repulsed. Another peculiarity\nwas that the body which had been repulsed could not again be attracted,\nwhence the conclusion was arrived at that the stone\u2019s repellent force\nwas superior to its attractive power. These necessarily somewhat inexact\nobservations are interesting as marking one of the earliest attempts to\nexplain these phenomena, even although the explanation is faulty.\n\nThe great French crystallographer, Abb\u00e9 Ha\u00fcy, relates his experiments on\na tourmaline crystal.[100] He set this crystal in steel clamps, with a\nlong stem which was inserted in a wooden handle, and then subjected the\ntourmaline to the heat of a brasier. As the heat augmented and\npenetrated the stone, its natural electric force became decomposed, the\ntwo component fluids being forced to separate from each other. It was\nnow necessary to cool the tourmaline off a little; when too much heated\nthe electrical phenomena were interrupted; they were also diminished in\nintensity when the stone became cool again. The perfect crystal chosen\nfor experiment clearly showed the negative and positive electrical\npoles; even the smallest pieces showed this, and, indeed, if a very\nsmall piece were broken off the positively electric side of a crystal,\nit would preserve this positive electricity and soon develop a negative\nelectricity also.\n\nWe may be somewhat loath to doubt the tale that little Dutch children\nwere the first to note what to them was the queer action of some bits of\ntourmaline, but preference should probably be given to the statement\nthat the discovery of the electric phenomena induced by heating in these\nstones was due to the fact that some Dutch jewellers put specimens of\ntourmaline in the fire to test their hardness, and then found that the\nstones attracted or repelled the ashes of the fire.[101]\n\nToward the middle of the eighteenth century Dr. Haberden, of London,\nconfirmed the deductions of L\u00e9mery and the somewhat later experiments of\nthe German physicist Aepinus, and the gay world of London took up the\nidea, causing the new stone to become a great favorite with the\nfashionable. One of Hogarth\u2019s inimitable designs depicts a spendthrift\nfop who has just been arrested while his attention was riveted on the\nstrange phenomena shown by the tourmaline.\n\nIn view of the important experiments made by Benjamin Franklin in the\nthen almost unexplored field of electricity, it is easy to understand\nthat the accounts of the newly-discovered electric properties of the\ntourmaline should have possessed considerable interest for him. This is\ntestified to by a letter he addressed to Dr. William Haberden, June 7,\n1759.[102] Herein he expresses his thanks for two tourmalines his\ncorrespondent had sent him, and states that he is returning the smaller\none. Of the electric phenomena he writes that he had heard some\n\u201cingenious gentlemen abroad\u201d had denied the negative electricity\ndisplayed by one side of a tourmaline, but he believes the failure to\nobserve could be explained by defective cutting of the specimens used,\nthe positive and negative planes having perhaps been obliquely placed;\nto obviate this he suggests that the positive and negative sides should\nbe accurately determined before the operation of cutting begins. The\nlarger of the specimens sent by Dr. Haberden was retained by Franklin,\nwho had it mounted on a pivot in a ring, so that either side could be\nturned outward at will. He notes as a curious circumstance that when he\nwore this ring, the natural heat of the finger sufficed to charge the\nstone, causing it to attract light bodies. Several of his experiments\nwere made with a cork ball suspended by a thread, and he claims that the\nattractive force of the positive face was increased by coating it with\ngold-leaf attached to the stone by white of egg. This greater effect he\nsupposed \u201cto be occasioned by the united force of the different parts of\nthe face collected and acting together through the metal.\u201d\n\nWhile the various corundum gems, ruby, sapphire, Oriental topaz,\nOriental amethyst, etc., offer a remarkable instance of the many\nvarieties of beautiful coloration observable in a practically identical\nsubstance, no single gem-mineral can be said to equal tourmaline in this\nrespect, more especially, however, in the combination of several colors\nsometimes disposed in bands, at other times in concentric circles in the\nsame crystal. When to this we add its peculiar electric qualities, we\nmay truly say that a fine tourmaline answers our idea of what a\ntalismanic gem or a gem-amulet should be better than any other of the\nbeautiful crystals with which bountiful nature has provided us. These\nmost attractive stones are to be found in widely separated regions on\nthe earth\u2019s surface, as fine examples have been discovered in the State\nof Minas Geraes, Brazil, and in our own land, in Maine and California\nespecially. Where the color is homogeneous we may have the splendid red\nor rose-colored variety called rubellite, from its resemblance to the\nruby, or the blue tourmaline gem named indicolite.\n\nIn times of old there was a belief that stones of various kinds would\nguard against the assaults of evil in the form of witchcraft, disease,\nand other disagreeable visitations. It was a warlike period in which\npeace was an unheard-of doctrine, and now that the idea of peace has\nbecome one of the ideals of present-day conditions, it is interesting to\nknow that nature has furnished us with a stone at once beautiful,\ninteresting, and illustrating the great fundamental principle of unity\nand peace.\n\nThe Peace Stone is formed by the union in one crystal of the green and\nthe red tourmaline, with an intervening band or zone of white, the\nlatter strikingly beautiful effect being due to the combination at this\npoint of the red coloring matter, manganese, and the iron constituent,\nthe source of the green hue; these two materials, by their union,\nneutralize each other, furnishing the transparent, colorless vein or\nzone. A slightly different combination of colors appears in a fine\ncrystal, found some years ago at Mount Mica, Oxford County, Maine; this\neven offers a kind of \u201ctriple alliance,\u201d as it shows blue in its lower\nhalf, passing through white and pink to a grass-green at the upper\nend.[103]\n\nThese three hues combined in one body, in indissoluble union in spite of\nthe differences of quality and color, yet represent one principle. This\naction of manganese in neutralizing the iron is well known to\nglass-makers; otherwise white glass could not be made. It would all be\ngreenish in tint were it not for the use of oxide of manganese, or\n\u201cglass-maker\u2019s soap,\u201d as it is termed, which neutralizes the production\nof a green tint by the iron and makes the white hue.\n\nThis beautifully symbolic stone is found in Paris, Maine, in San Diego\nCounty, California, and in Brazil. At times the outer edge of the stone\nis green, a transparent white zone surrounding the interior red zone,\nthe whole looking for all the world like a section of watermelon, and\nhence it is sometimes called the \u201cWatermelon Stone.\u201d Then again, the\ncolors are joined in longitudinal strips, showing them side by side.\nThis variety of tourmaline, although rare, is not especially costly, and\nis one more addition to the stones of sentiment, and more especially to\nthose appropriate as symbols of our fair ideal, universal peace.\n\nWe can see symbolized in them the great and consoling fact that, however\nmarked may be the differences between any two peoples, they need not be\ncause for enmity, but may instead become true and enduring sources of\npeace and bonds of union. The characteristic talents of each one will\nsupplement and complete those of the other, so that working together in\nharmony they may accomplish far more for each other and for humanity in\ngeneral than either could do singly.\n\nAt an early date amber was brought from the Baltic coast to Rome, and\nTacitus states that those who collected it called it _gl\u00e6sum_, a name\nlater applied to the glass introduced into that region by Roman traders.\nThe natives knew nothing of the nature or growth of amber, and had no\nuse for the material, only collecting it for export to Rome, where it\ncommanded such a high price as to excite their astonishment. Tacitus\ngives in the following words his theory of the origin and character of\namber\u2014his chief error being due to his belief that the substance was of\nvery recent formation.[104]\n\n Now you must know that amber is a juice of trees, since various\n creatures, some of them winged, are often found in it. They have\n become entangled in the liquid and then inclosed when the matter\n hardened. Therefore I believe that, as incense and balsam are exuded\n in the remote East, so in the luxuriant groves and islands of the West\n are juices which are forced out by the sun close to them. These flow\n into the neighboring sea and are washed up by the tempestuous waves on\n the opposite shore. If you test the quality of amber with fire, it may\n be lighted like a torch and burns with a small, well-nourished flame;\n then it is resolved into a glutinous mass resembling pitch or resin.\n\nBoth Juvenal[105] and Martial[106] relate that effeminate Romans used to\nhold balls of amber in their hands to cool them during the summer heat.\nIf any such agreeable sensation was really experienced, it must have\nbeen due to the well-known electric properties of this substance. It is\nstated that the Chinese often place pieces of amber on or in their\npillows,[107] a use that may have been suggested by the same\nconsiderations.\n\nAs a proof of the extravagant value set upon amber by the Romans of the\nfirst century, Pliny notes that a very diminutive figure of a man, cut\nout of this substance, sold for a higher figure than did a healthy,\nvigorous slave. The popularity of this material was also attested by the\nfact that in the gay world of Rome the term \u201camber hair\u201d was used to\ndesignate a rare and peculiar shade that became fashionable in this\nperiod.[108] It seems probable that this modish shade was somewhat\nlighter than the \u201cTitian hair\u201d once so much favored, although the\ndifference may not have been very great.\n\nA change of hue in amber was thought to portend a waning of love on the\npart of the giver, as is shown by the following not especially melodious\nlines from \u201cThe Fruits of Jealousy\u201d published by Richard Tofte in\n1615:[109]\n\n Thy tokens which to me thou sent\n In time may make thee to repent;\n Thy gifts do groan (bestow\u2019d on me)\n For grief that they thee guilty see.\n The amber bracelet thou me gave\n (For fear thou shouldst shortly wave[110])\n From yellow turned is to pale,\n A sign thou shortly will be stale.\n\nNot only for curative purposes and for general use as an amulet was\namber prized, but an amber necklace was sometimes regarded as an\nespecially auspicious decoration for a bride at her wedding, as is shown\nby an exceptionally fine necklace of facetted amber beads from\nBrunswick, Germany, made in the eighteenth century.\n\nOur earliest authority on the curative use of amber, the great\nencyclop\u00e6dist Pliny, states that in his day the female peasants of the\nvalley of the Po, in northern Italy, might be seen wearing amber\nnecklaces, principally as ornaments, but also because of their remedial\npowers; for even at this early period it was generally believed that\namber had most excellent effects in diseases of the throat and tonsils.\nThe peasants of this region were especially subject to such disorders,\nand Pliny conjectures that they were caused by the different sorts of\nwater in the neighborhood of the Alps.[111] He probably refers not only\nto diseases of the throat, properly so called, but also to a swelling of\nthe glands of the neck, the _go\u00eetre_ with which so many of the peasants\nliving on the slopes of the Alps, and in other mountainous regions of\ncentral Europe, are afflicted.\n\nThe golden-hued amber was called _chryselectrum_ by Callistratus, as\ncited by Pliny. This was said to attract the flame and to ignite if it\ncame in contact with the fire. If worn on the neck it was a cure for\nfevers; if powdered and mixed with honey and oil of roses it was\nbeneficial for dimness of vision, and its powder, whether taken by\nitself or in water with gum mastic, remedied diseases of the\nstomach.[112] In ancient and medieval times the fear of poison being\nadministered in food or drink was very great, and any substance that was\ncredited with the power to show the presence of poison, by some change\nin clearness or color, was highly valued. An amber cup was said to\nreveal the admixture of any of the various kinds of poison with the\nliquid it contained.[113]\n\nThe use of amber as a preventive of erysipelas finds a defender in Rev.\nC. W. King, who writes as follows:\n\n[Illustration:\n\n NECKLACE OF FACETED AMBER BEADS\n\n German. Eighteenth century.\n]\n\n That the wearing an amber necklace will keep off the attacks of\n erysipelas in a person subject to them has been proved by repeated\n experiments beyond the possibility of doubt. Its action here cannot be\n explained; but its efficacy in defence of the throat against chills is\n evidently due to its extreme warmth when in contact with the skin and\n the circle of electricity so maintained.[114]\n\nThe electrical property of amber was remarked as early as 600 B.C. by\nthe Ionic philosopher Thales, and from this observation may be dated the\nbeginnings of the study of electric phenomena.\n\nThat faith in the magic powers of amber beads still exists is\nillustrated in the case of an old Russian Jewess who recently died in\none of our charitable institutions. This woman is said to have reached\nthe age of one hundred and six years, and she ascribed her extraordinary\nlongevity to the possession of a necklace of very large amber beads,\nwhich had been given her by her mother, who also lived more than a\nhundred years. The daughter, a few days before her death, bestowed this\ntreasured heirloom upon _her_ daughter, for it is generally believed\nthat the virtues of gems largely depend upon their being received as\ngifts.\n\nIn northern Germany, also, for more than a century a string of amber\nbeads was looked upon as a favorite and necessary gift. The writer has\nseen hundreds of these strings, many of which have been worn for one,\ntwo, and sometimes more generations. The beads are round and usually\nfacetted; however, they have been abraded against each other for so long\nthat they are often flat disks, and a string originally fifteen or\nsixteen inches long will be twelve, and often only nine inches in\nlength, so much of the original spheres having worn away.\n\nA well-known physician of the sixteenth century, Johann Meckenbach,\nclaimed, in 1548, to have discovered the process of producing oil of\namber. Although Meckenbach was not entitled to the credit he claimed, as\nthe experiment had already been successfully made, he gained great\nrepute by this means, and when he communicated to Duke Albrecht of\nPrussia the secret of his process, the rulers of other lands overwhelmed\nthe duke with requests for a supply of the precious remedy. Ferdinand,\nArchduke of Austria, sent a special messenger the long journey to\nBerlin, twice in a year, for a few flasks of the oil, which was regarded\nas a cure for many diseases.[115] The oil of amber\u2014_oleum succini_ of\nthe Pharmacop\u0153ia\u2014has maintained its repute as a cure for various\naffections up to the present day. In some forms of gout and rheumatism\nit relieves the inflammation and pain in the joints; and its\nantispasmodic action makes it a valuable remedy in cases of asthma,\nwhooping-cough, hysteria, bronchitis, and infantile convulsions.[116]\n\nAn early version of the strange tale that ships were attracted by masses\nof rocks, or even mountains of loadstone, is given by Palladius (c.\n367\u2013c. 431 A.D.). He relates that the loadstone was produced on a group\nof islands called the Maniol\u00e6, which were on the route to Taprobane\n(Ceylon), and continues, \u201cif any ship constructed with iron nails\napproached these islands they were drawn by the power of the loadstone\nand their course was arrested. For this reason those voyaging to\nTaprobane use ships especially put together with wooden pegs.\u201d Probably\nthe legend arose from the fact that wood was often used in the case of\nvessels trading in this region, because iron was scarce and expensive.\nThis is the view of Procopius, who found the same story still current in\nthe sixth century.[117]\n\nIt has been noted as a curious fact that none of the ancient writers who\ntreat of the loadstone recognized that the attractive energy exerted by\nthis substance on iron was also exerted by iron upon the loadstone; on\nthe contrary, they constructed many ingenious hypotheses to explain why\nthis was not the case.[118] The strange fancy that in the presence of a\ndiamond a piece of loadstone was robbed of its attractive force, must\nhave arisen from an observation of the well-known electric properties of\nthe first-named stone, and from the idea that the much more valuable\nstone should have the greater power. Here, as in many other cases, we\nsee how little interest was taken in actual experiment by ancient\nwriters, a pre-conceived idea of the eternal fitness of things being the\nmain criterion.\n\nSpaniards of the thirteenth century believed that the magnetic power of\nthe loadstone would depart from it if it were steeped in the juice of\nleek or onion for three days; but the virtue would return to the stone\nif it were bathed in goat\u2019s blood. This recalls the queer notion that\nthe diamond could only be broken when moistened with goat\u2019s blood, both\nfancies having their origin in the idea that goat\u2019s, or rather ram\u2019s\nblood, was endowed with warmth and vitality to a higher degree than\nother blood.\n\nAn ingenious magnetic oracle is described by De Boot.[119] This\nconsisted of a round board, about the edge of which were marked the\nletters of the alphabet, while in the centre there stood a small wooden\nfigure, set on a pivot, and holding extended in one hand a little wand.\nOne foot of this figure was slightly advanced and within it was\nconcealed a small iron ball. The experimenter held in his hand a wooden\nsceptre, with a powerful loadstone at its top, and as he touched with\nhis sceptre the lower side of the board, beneath the spot on which any\none of the letters was marked, the attraction exercised by the loadstone\non the iron made the figure revolve on its pivot so that the little wand\npointed toward the letter indicated. In this way any word could be\nspelled out and appropriate answers given to any question. The device\nwould be too obvious at present, but in De Boot\u2019s time it would have\nserved well enough to mystify the spectators.\n\nThat the loadstone was highly esteemed in the sixteenth century was well\nversified by Robert Norman in \u201cThe Newe Attractive.\u201d\n\n\n THE MAGNES OR LOADSTONES CHALLENGE\n\n Give place ye glittering sparkes, ye glimmering Diamonds bright,\n Ye Rubies red, and Saphires brave, wherein ye most delight.\n In breefe yee stones enricht, and burnisht all with gold,\n Set forth in Lapidaries shops, for Jewels to be sold.\n Give place, give place I say, your beautie, gleame, and glee,\n Is all the vertue for the which, accepted so you bee.\n Magnes, the Loadstone I, your painted sheaths defie,\n Without my helpe, in Indian Seas the best of you might lye.\n I guide the Pilots course, his helping hand I am,\n The Mariner delights in me, so doth the Marchant man.\n My vertue lies unknowne, my secrets hidden are,\n By me the Court and Common-weale, are pleasured very farre.\n No ship could sayle on seas, her course to runne aright,\n Nor compasse shew the ready way, were Magnes not of might.\n Blush then, and blemish all, bequeathe to mee thats due,\n Your seates in golde, your price in plate, which Jewellers doo rewe.\n Its I, its I alone, whom you usurpe upon,\n Magnes my name, the Loadstone cald, the prince of stones alone.\n If this you can denie, then seeme to make reply,\n And let the Painefull sea-man judge, the which of us doth lye.\n\n\n THE MARINER\u2019S JUDGMENT\n\n The Loadstone is the stone, the only stone alone,\n Deserving praise above the rest, whose vertues are unknowne.\n\n\n THE MARCHANT\u2019S VERDICT\n\n The diamond bright, the Saphire brave, are stones that beare the name,\n But flatter not, and tell the troath, Magnes deserves the same.[120]\n\nIt was reported in the seventeenth century that ruptures were cured in\nBelgium by the help of the loadstone. The patient was first given a dose\nof iron filings, reduced to a very fine powder; thereupon a plaster made\nof crushed loadstone was applied externally to the affected part. This\nwas said to produce a cure in the space of eight days.[121] Probably the\nplaster was believed to draw the iron filings or some emanation from\nthem through the affected parts toward the surface.\n\nIn medieval Europe this mineral was greatly valued for its therapeutic\nvirtues. Trotula, the first of the female physicians connected with the\ncelebrated School of Salerno, the centre of medical culture in Europe in\nthe Middle Ages, and who wrote a treatise on female diseases,\nrecommended the use of the loadstone in childbirth. The stone was to be\nheld in the right hand, and the learned lady asserted that the wearing\nof a coral necklace would aid its beneficent effect. Both these\nsubstances are prescribed for this use by the Oxford teacher, John\nGadesden (1300), in his \u201cRosa Anglica.\u201d Francisco Piemontese, who taught\nin Naples about 1340, also recommends the loadstone, but he directs that\nit be strewn with the ashes obtained by burning the hoof of an ass or a\nhorse; according to this last authority, the stone should be held in the\nleft hand.[122]\n\nThat wounds caused by burning could be healed if powdered loadstone were\nsprinkled over them was confidently taught even in the seventeenth\ncentury. However, some ill effects were occasionally remarked when the\nsubstance was used medicinally, for it sometimes produced melancholia.\nIn this case an antidote was found in the emerald, and we are assured\nthat if a solution made from this stone were taken thrice a day for nine\nconsecutive days, the melancholia would pass away.[123]\n\nIn the sixteenth century in India, it was believed that a small quantity\nof loadstone taken internally preserved the vigor of youth, and Garcias\nab Orta relates that a king of Ceylon, when an old man, ordered that\ncooking utensils of this material should be made for him, and had all\nhis food cooked in these. Garcias claims to have this information direct\nfrom a Jew, Isaac of Cairo, who was ordered to make the vessels.[124]\n\nA loadstone amulet for the cure of gout is stated to have been worn by a\nnative of the English county of Essex. The stone was sewed up in a\nflannel covering to which was attached a black ribbon for suspension\nfrom the neck. Of course it was worn beneath the clothing, although the\nencasing flannel must have prevented direct contact with the skin. This\npiece of magnetic iron ore measured about an inch and a half in width,\nand was two-tenths of an inch thick. The patient, a Mr. Pelly, was an\nelderly man, who had suffered for some time from annually recurring\nattacks of gout which prostrated him for from three to four months.\nLearning of the reputed virtues of loadstones, more especially of those\nof Golconda, he sent to India for one and he is said to have been\nthereby relieved of his disease.[125]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Vignette from the \u201cLapidario de Alfonso X, Codice Original\u201d (fol. 12).\n Published in Madrid, 1881. This design shows the finding of the\n \u201cStone of Sterility.\u201d Author\u2019s library.\n]\n\nIn Persia a certain stone received the name of _Shahkevheren_ or \u201cKing\nof Jewels,\u201d for it was reputed to attract all other precious stones, as\nthe loadstone did iron. The greatest of the Sassanian monarchs, Khusrau\nII (590\u2013628), had occasion to test the power of this wonderful stone. He\nhad lost a ring of great price in the river Tigris, near the spot where\nsome time later the Mohammedans founded the city of Bagdad. Taking a\n_shahkevheren_ the monarch attached it to a line and literally fished\nfor his ring, using the magic stone as a bait. We are told that the ring\nwas recovered, and this must have greatly added to the reputation of the\n\u201cKing of Jewels.\u201d[126]\n\nIn the ninth century Arabic treatise, translated from an earlier Syriac\ntext and falsely attributed to Aristotle, a number of fabulous stones\nare noted. All of these were said to have attractive properties, and as\nthe loadstone attracted iron, they attracted various substances, each\nhaving its special affinity. First, we are told of the stone that\nattracted gold, then, in turn, of stones that attracted silver, copper,\nand other metals.[127] Probably the legend of the finding of these\nstones is based upon the employment of certain mineral substances in the\npurifying of gold, silver, etc. Among other fabulous or almost fabulous\nstones was one called _askab_, which, although of mean appearance, was\nable to break the diamond just as the diamond broke all other\nstones.[128] Have we here an allusion to the polishing of the diamond by\nits own dust? It is not improbable that this art, in an incomplete form,\nwas known to the Hindus long before it was practised and perfected in\nEurope.\n\nThe stone that attracted hair was the lightest of all stones and very\nfragile; a piece as large as a man\u2019s fist weighed but a drachm. It\nlooked like a piece of fur, but when touched was found to be a stone.\nThe strange powers of this extraordinary substance could easily be\ndemonstrated, for if placed on a hairy spot of man or beast the hair was\nextracted, while if it were rubbed over a bald spot the hair was made to\ngrow.[129] Probably the appearance of certain minerals covered with\nfine, hair-like spines, suggested the idea that the body of the stone\nhad attracted hair to itself, and thus gave rise to this strange belief\nin the depilatory power of the stone, or it may have been a form of\namber that, owing to its opacity, was not recognized as being the same\nas the transparent variety.\n\nThe Arabic Aristotle relates many wonderful tales of stones found by\nAlexander the Great during his Asiatic campaigns (327\u2013323 B.C.). While\nthese are all apocryphal, there can be no doubt that it was subsequent\nto these campaigns that western Europe was first made familiar with many\nof the precious stones of Persia and India. One of the stones reported\nby \u201cAristotle\u201d bore the name _el behacte_ or _baddare_, rendered in a\nHebrew version _dar_ (pearl?). This was the stone that attracted men, as\nthe loadstone attracted iron. A quantity of these stones were found on\nthe seashore by the soldiers of Alexander\u2019s army, but the men were so\nfascinated by their aspect as to be unable to gather them up. Therefore\nAlexander ordered that the soldiers should veil their faces, or close\ntheir eyes, and, after covering the marvellous stones with a cloth,\nshould take them away without once looking at them. Hereupon Alexander\ngave commands that a wall should be built around \u201ca certain city.\u201d[130]\nPossibly we have here a distant echo of the pearl gates of the New\nJerusalem.\n\nTwo other strange stones are described, one of these appearing on the\nsurface of the water only during the night, while the other shows itself\nduring the daytime and sinks beneath the surface as soon as the sun\nsets. The \u201cdaystones,\u201d according to the legend, were quite useful to\nAlexander in his campaigns, for if they were attached to the necks of\nhorses or beasts of burden, the horses would not neigh, and the other\nanimals would be equally mute as long as they bore the stones, so that\nthe passage of the army would not be revealed to the enemy. The\n\u201cnight-stones,\u201d on the other hand, produced an entirely opposite effect,\nfor when wearing them the animals uttered their respective cries\nunceasingly. We are not told that Alexander ever used them to provide an\nanimal symphony as martial music for his soldiers.\n\nReferring again to the subject of amber, as the objects placed in Roman\nsepulchral urns were always chosen because of some supposed religious or\ntalismanic quality, there is considerable significance in the fact that\nan urn of this type, preserved by Cardinal Farnese, contained a piece of\namber carved into the figure of an elephant. Coming down to modern\ntimes, there is record that the Macdonalds of Glencoe handed down as\nheirlooms four amber beads said to cure blindness, and there seems\nreason to conjecture that this substance was sometimes credited with\nbeing an antidote for the poison of snake bites, as a small perforated\nstone used as late as 1874 in the Island of Lewis for this purpose\nappears to be a semi-transparent amber.[131] Indeed, amber set as a\njewel to cure rheumatism is said to be offered for sale in London\nto-day, and the writer has learned that the late Rev. Henry Ward Beecher\nlong carried amber beads with him to ward off this malady.\n\n\n\n\n II\n On Meteorites, or Celestial Stones\n\n\nIt is somewhat difficult to obtain trustworthy accounts regarding the\noccurrence of meteorites in medieval and ancient times, as there was a\nstrong tendency to confuse the real meteorites with flint arrow-heads\nand hatchets derived from the stone age. A number of interesting facts\nbearing on the history of certain real or supposed aerolites were given\nin a recent lecture delivered by Prof. Hubert A. Newton in New Haven,\nConn.[132] Some of the more striking instances are here presented.\n\nAs an illustration of the way in which meteorites may have come to be\nreverenced in former times, we have the modern instance of a stone that\nfell in the region north of Zanzibar, on the East African coast, and was\nseen and picked up by some shepherd boys. At first all the efforts of\nthe German missionaries to buy this stone were fruitless, because the\nneighboring Wanikas looked upon it as a god, and, after securing\npossession of it, proceeded to anoint it with oil, clothe it with\napparel and decorate it with pearls. They also built a temple wherein\nthe stone received divine honors. This worship endured for some time,\nbut when, three years later, the nomad tribes of the Masai swooped down\non the Wanikas and burned their villages and massacred many of the\ninhabitants, the Wanikas lost all respect for the stone and were glad to\npart with it. This conduct was, after all, not entirely unreasonable,\nsince the fetish had failed to prove its divine power.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By Courtesy Soule Photo Co.\n\n THE \u201cMADONNA DI FOLIGNO,\u201d BY RAPHAEL\n\n In the Vatican Collection, Rome. The white curve in the middle of the\n background shows the passage of the meteor to the earth.\n]\n\nThis occurrence in the nineteenth century may well be typical of what\nmust have happened in past times. A case from the fifteenth century,\nnarrated by Professor Newton, is very interesting, since the treatises\non precious stones of that period and somewhat later contain many\nnotices of supposed meteorites. We are told that, on November 16, 1492,\na stone weighing 300 pounds fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace. Emperor\nMaximilian, who was then in Basel, caused the stone to be brought to the\nneighboring castle and summoned a state council to determine the\ncharacter of the divine message associated with its fall. The council\ndecided that the event signified some important occurrence in the\napproaching conflict between the French and the Turks, and the stone,\nwith an appropriate inscription, was suspended in the church, the\nstrictest injunctions being given that it should not be removed. Conrad\nGesner, in his treatise, \u201cDe figuris lapidum,\u201d[133] states that a\nfragment of this stone was given to him by a friend and that it\nresembled ordinary sandstone.\n\nWe are told that nineteen years later a shower of stones fell near\nCrema, east of Milan; these stones fell in French territory and at that\ntime the Pope was engaged in hostilities with the French. During the\nfollowing year, the French, who had long threatened the States of the\nChurch from their possessions in Lombardy, were forced to withdraw from\nItaly. In the celebrated painting by Raphael, known as the Madonna di\nFoligno, one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican, this Crema\nfire-ball is depicted.\n\nNaturally the recitals from ancient times are not as easily controlled\nas the more modern accounts and it is always possible that stones other\nthan meteorites were given a celestial origin by superstitious zeal. The\nblack stone of the Kaabah, which is probably noted by early Greek\nwriters and was an object of adoration for the Arabian tribes before the\ntime of Mohammed, was believed to have dropped from heaven together with\nAdam, and in many Greek legends images were said to have fallen from\nheaven. Of course in the case of real statues this is simply a vague\nsuperstition, but the stone venerated in Phrygia as an image of Cybele\nmay possibly have been a genuine meteorite.\n\nThe following facts in relation to this stone are presented by Professor\nNewton:\n\n It was a conical mass bearing a rude resemblance to a human head, and\n was said to have fallen near Pessinus. It was placed in the Temple of\n Cybele and worshipped as her image. During the second Punic war, in\n 205 B.C., because of Hannibal\u2019s prolonged invasion of Italy, the\n downfall of the Roman state was feared, and the Romans were terrified\n by a shower of stones from the sky. On consulting the Sibylline books,\n some verses were found to the effect that a foreign enemy could be\n driven from Italy if the Id\u00e6an mother (Cybele) was brought from\n Pessinus in Phrygia to Rome. An embassy was sent to King Attalus of\n Pergamos to request his consent to the transfer of the stone, and\n although he even refused obedience to the commands of the Delphic\n oracle, which required him to surrender the stone as an act of\n hospitality, he at last yielded when a violent earthquake shook the\n country, and the voice of the goddess was heard, enunciating these\n words: \u201cIt is my will. Rome is a worthy place for any god; delay\n not.\u201d[134]\n\nHerodian, who relates this story, proceeds to narrate the arrival of the\nstone at Rome, where Scipio Africanus was chosen to bear it to the\nTemple of Victory. A silver image of the goddess was made, the conical\nstone serving as the head. For five hundred years this image, later\ntransferred to the Temple of the Great Mother of the Gods, was an object\nof Roman worship. It has been described very fully by Arnobius (fl. 300\nA.D.).[135] He states that it was a small stone which could be easily\nand lightly carried in the hand; it was of a black hue and of rough\nsurface, and had many irregular projecting angles. As it was naturally\nmarked with the form of a mouth, it was inserted in the face of an image\nof the goddess to figure that feature.\n\nAs the stone was valueless, modern explorers long hoped that it might\nnot have been carried off from Rome by the spoilers, but the search for\nit has been in vain. In a rare volume describing excavations made in the\nPalatine hill in 1730, Professor Lanciani is stated to have found a\nstone that had been unearthed at that time in a chapel, lacking any\ninscription to indicate the divinity to whom it was dedicated. This\nstone was said to be \u201cof a deep brown color, looking very much like a\npiece of lava, and ending in a sharp point.\u201d The similarity of this\ndescription to that of Arnobius indicates that the Cybele stone may\nreally have been found in 1730, but it has since disappeared. It would\nhave been extremely interesting for mineralogists if they could have\nbeen enabled to examine this supposed meteorite, perhaps the very\nearliest regarding which we have such definite information.\n\nTo throw it into greater relief it was surrounded by a silver rim. When\nfirst brought to land from the ship on which it had been transported to\nRome, the sacred stone was confided to the care of a company of Roman\nmatrons who passed it on from one to another as it was solemnly borne to\nthe Temple of Victory.[136]\n\nWhether this stone was really a meteorite, as tradition taught, or\nwhether it was a fossil of the type later known as _hysteriolithus_, as\nwas conjectured by M. Falconnet, in 1770,[137] remains doubtful. Its\nlight weight, upon which quality Arnobius lays stress, and its peculiar\nform seem to favor somewhat the latter supposition. A similar stone to\nwhich divine honors were paid was in a temple on Mount Ida.\n\nIn prehistoric times meteorites were quite naturally supposed to possess\na special sanctity, and were indeed regarded as animated by the very\nessence of some divinity. The name b\u00e6tylus, given to these stones by\nGreeks and Romans, is derived from the Hebrew \u200f\u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05d9\u05ea\u05be\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc\u200e(bethel) or\n\u201chouse of God,\u201d a term indicating clearly enough the belief held by the\nancient Hebrews in regard to meteorites, or supposed meteorites.\nHowever, long before this designation had reached the Greeks, certain\nmeteorites had been accorded a peculiar reverence, and even worship. One\nof these was a black stone, called the Omphalos of Delphi. This was said\nto be the stone given by Rhea to Kronos when she substituted a stone for\nher offspring Zeus, to save him from being devoured by his father,\nKronos. Zeus himself (or Kronos) threw it down to the Earth and the spot\nwhere it struck was supposed to be the centre of the Earth, hence the\nname Omphalos, or \u201cnavel-stone.\u201d Meteorites probably played an important\npart in the development of civilization, for it is believed that the\nearliest iron tools and weapons were made from meteoric iron, apparently\nthe only supply available before the art of treating iron ores had been\nevolved.[138]\n\nWhile there is admittedly but scant evidence of the existence of a Stone\nAge in China, and still less to indicate that Chinese civilization\npassed through such a period, a certain number of stone artefacts, all\npolished, have been found within the limits of China. However, curiously\nenough in view of this state of things, we find that here, as almost\neverywhere else, these objects were popularly regarded as\n\u201cthunderbolts.\u201d Thus Chien Tsang-Ki, the author of a Materia Medica,\ncomposed in the first half of the eighth century of our era, states that\nobjects of this kind \u201chave been found by people who explored a locality\nover which a thunder-storm had swept and dug three feet in the ground\u201d;\nand he adds that some of these stone implements have two perforations.\nThey were named _pi-li-chen_, \u201cstones originating from the crash of\nthunder,\u201d and a still earlier writer, Chang (232\u2013300 A.D.) applies a\nsimilar designation to stone axes and wedges \u201cfrequently seen among the\npeople.\u201d Several centuries later Shen Kun (1030\u20131093 A.D.) testifies\nthat the people of his time found many stone \u201cthunder-wedges,\u201d in all\ncases after a thunder-storm; these were unperforated. It is generally\nbelieved that most of these stone implements had been made by a\nTungusian tribe, akin to the Manchus.[139]\n\nThis is partly due to the fact that it was natural, after a\nthunder-shower, for a search to be made. Then again, as thunder-showers\nare usually heavy rains, they were apt to loosen the soil and leave on\nthe surface heavy objects, more especially such materials as jade, of\nthe density of 2.9, or jadeite, of the density of 3.3. These are much\nheavier than the quartz, feldspar and other ingredients of the soil,\nwhich vary from 2.6 to 2.7 and are washed away. Finally, there is the\nnatural disinclination on the part of the Chinese to dig, from their\nbelief that it is wrong to explore the soil, and this disinclination on\ntheir part has done much to prevent a better knowledge of the Stone Age,\nand our knowledge of the races which must have preceded the civilization\nof China; many facts of mining interest have been neglected, as well, on\naccount of this prejudice. Perhaps within the next twenty years we may\nlearn something about a prehistoric race in China, for as traces of the\nexistence of such races have been found in every other country of the\nworld, there can be little or no doubt that such a race existed in\nChina, although as yet we have no distinct evidences of it.\n\nThe Babylonian royal astrologers taught that the mere fact of the\npassage of a meteor across the heavens, whether its course were from\neast to west, or from north to south, was a good omen, portending\nvictory and the successful issue of the royal projects. Especially\nfavorable was the augury when the meteor was very brilliant and left\nbehind it a trail that might be likened to the tail of a scorpion. This\nnot only foretold joy for the ruler and his house, but for the entire\ncountry; evil would be overcome, righteousness would reign supreme, and\nprosperity would prevail. A meteor of this type is recorded as having\nappeared at the time Nebuchadnezzar laid waste Elam about 1150 B.C. This\nrefers to the elder Nebuchadnezzar.[140]\n\nA curious series of cuneiform texts treats of the prognostics to be\ndrawn from the transformations of stars into various animals, metals,\nstones, etc. This is explained as referring to the apparent form or hue\nof the meteor itself, or of the trail it left behind. The\ntransformations into stones concern the dushu-stone, porphyry (or some\nother dark red or purple stone) and lapis lazuli. This omen is\ninvariably a favorable one.[141]\n\nThe Old Testament offers abundant testimony of the ancient belief that\ncertain stones were animated by a divine spirit. In regard to this,\nBenzinger writes:[142] \u201cIt was not Yahweh who found Jacob at Bethel but\nrather Jacob who found Yahweh there. He anoints the stone; that is, he\nsacrifices to it, for the divinity residing in the stone has caused his\ndream.\u201d According to Benzinger\u2019s opinion the Ark of the Covenant\noriginally served as receptacle for a stone of this type, and was hence\nregarded as sheltering a divinity.\n\nOne of the very earliest references to meteorites appears in the Book of\nJoshua (chap, x, verse 11), where we read, in the account of the battle\nfought by the Israelites against the Amorites and their allies, that\n\u201cthe Lord cast down great stones from heaven\u201d upon the Amorites, so that\nmore of the latter were killed by these stones than by the weapons of\nthe Israelites. Admitting the historical character of the account, this\nfall of meteorites probably took place in the twelfth century B.C. In an\nAssyrian cuneiform inscription, there is mention of the seven black\nstones of the city of Urka in Chaldea. These were _b\u00e6tyli_ and were\nregarded as representations of the seven planets.[143]\n\nThe fall of meteors is noted frequently in Chinese records, the first\ninstance dating from 644 B.C. Of a meteor that fell in 213 B.C., we are\ntold that it descended as \u201ca star which turned to a stone as it\nfell.\u201d[144] A meteorite that fell in China in 211 B.C. is said to have\nbeen the indirect cause of many deaths. The event took place during the\nreign of the tyrannical emperor Chi Hoang-ti, who had incurred the\nresentment of all the Chinese litterati by his wholesale burning of\nbooks. Some believer in the power of sorcery caused an inscription to be\ncut on this stone predicting the death of the hated emperor within a\nyear, and when news of the fact came to the monarch\u2019s ears he gave\norders to have the stone split up, and to put to death all the\ninhabitants of the place where it was found, this being no doubt looked\nupon as a most effective conjuration of the spell.[145]\n\nIn 405 B.C., Lysander won his great victory over the Athenian fleet at\n\u00c6gospotami in Thrace, and Plutarch writes, in his life of Lysander,[146]\nthat a stone which fell from the heavens a short time before the battle\nwas regarded by many as a portent predicting the dreadful slaughter that\nwas to ensue. At the time Plutarch wrote (circa 150 A.D.) this stone\ncould still be seen at \u00c6gospotami, where it was regarded with great\nveneration by the Chersonites. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras is said\nto have predicted the fall of this meteorite, as he had observed certain\nperturbations in the movements of the heavenly bodies. As Anaxagoras\ndied in 428 B.C., his prediction must have long antedated the fall of\nthe meteorite.\n\nA detail given in one of the early recitals might possibly have\nconstituted the basis of a prediction by some contemporary physicist. In\nthe latter part of his account of the phenomenon Plutarch quotes from a\nTreatise on Religion, by a certain Daimachus, to the effect that, for\nseventy-five days before the fall of the meteorite, a vast fiery body\nwas seen in the heavens, in appearance \u201clike a flaming cloud.\u201d This well\ndescribes the appearance of a great comet, and might be regarded as\nsignificant when we consider the latest modern theory of the origin of\nmeteors, according to which these bodies are detached particles of a\ncometary aggregation. Of this meteoric mass said to have fallen at\n\u00c6gospotami, Pliny states that it was as large as a wagon and of a dusky\nhue, adding that a brilliant comet was visible at the time of its fall.\nRegarding the assertion that Anaxagoras predicted the occurrence, Pliny\ndeclares that this prediction, if true, was a greater miracle than the\nfall of the meteor. A portion of the stone was preserved as a venerated\nrelic in the town of Potid\u00e6a.[147]\n\nThe site of the city of Seleucia is said to have been determined by the\nfall of an aerolite, and this stone is figured on some of the coins of\nthe Seleucid\u00e6, a thunderbolt appearing in its stead on other coins.\n\nIn the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, there was a stone partly fashioned\ninto the conventional form of the Ephesian Diana. This, it was asserted,\nhad fallen down from the heavens. The stone is mentioned in the Acts of\nthe Apostles (xix. 35), where we read that the city of the Ephesians was\n\u201ca worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the _image_ which fell\ndown from Jupiter.\u201d In this text the word \u201cimage\u201d has been supplied by\nthe translators, a more literal rendering being \u201cthat which fell down\nfrom the sky.\u201d This clearly shows that the stone only faintly indicated\nthe human form.\n\nTacitus says of the stone sacred to the Astarte (or Aphrodite) of\nPaphos, that it was a symbol of the goddess, not a human effigy, since\nit was an obscurely formed cone.[148] In his life of Apollonius of\nTyana, Philostratus, also, mentions this stone and tells us that when\nApollonius visited Paphos, he admired there \u201cthe famous symbolic figure\nof Aphrodite.\u201d[149] These \u201cliving stones\u201d \u03bb\u03b9\u03b8\u03bf\u03b9 \u03b5\u03bc\u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03bf\u03b9 were often\ncovered with ornaments and vestments, and it has been conjectured that\nthese adornments were, in some cases, changed so as to accord with the\ngarments appropriate to certain special festivals of the respective\ngods.[150]\n\nThe colossal emerald of the temple of Melkarth at Tyre is designated in\nthe fragments of Sanchoniathon as an \u03b1\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u1fc6 \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1, or star fallen\nfrom heaven. It was said to have been raised up by Astarte, and this\nlast myth is represented on the silver coins of Marium in Cyprus. Here\nthe radiance and splendor of the object suggested a stellar or celestial\norigin, and we see the same tendency at work in the application of the\nname _ceraunia_ (thunder-stones) to certain brilliant gems by\nPliny.[151]\n\nVirgil[152] seems to confound with thunder the detonation of a bolide,\nfollowed by a train of light, and he seems also to confound the bolide\nitself with a lightning flash, for he says that its fall diffused a\nsulphurous vapor far and wide. Seneca was more critical, for he regarded\nthe fact of thunder sometimes accompanying the fall of a meteorite as\nmerely a coincidence.\n\nAlthough, in the absence of exact and trustworthy contemporaneous\naccounts of the fall of these sacred stones, we cannot be absolutely\ncertain that they were meteorites, the testimony in several cases is\nsufficient to render this almost certain, while in many other cases\nthere is no reason to doubt the substantial accuracy of the tradition.\nThe choice of some of the _b\u00e6tyli_, however, was determined by their\nform alone, to which was ascribed a religious significance, not exactly\ncompatible with our religious ideas of to-day, but quite easily\nunderstood when we remember that the divine creative energy was\nconcretely represented in ancient times by many symbols offensive to our\nsense of propriety.\n\nIn the treatise \u201cOn Rivers,\u201d attributed to Plutarch, a stone is said to\nhave been found on Mount Cronius, which bore the name of \u201ccylinder.\u201d\nWhen Jupiter thundered, this stone, terrified by the noise, rolled down\nfrom the top of the mountain.[153] This passage is interesting as\nsuggesting one of the reasons which caused the name \u201cthunderbolt\u201d to be\ngiven to certain stones, for stones adapted to ornamental use might\neasily be exposed by the weathering of the rocks, and then detached by\nthe concussion produced by heavy thunder. Of course, the cylinder-stone\nhere mentioned must have more especially signified one of the\nprehistoric celts, but it is not unlikely that the name was also given\nto other, unworked stones, having a similar form.\n\nBefore Galba was chosen emperor, and when he was acting as governor of\nthe Basque provinces in Spain, a thunderbolt descended upon the shore of\na lake in that region. Search was made for the stones which were\nsupposed to have fallen, and Suetonius tells us that twelve axes were\nfound. This was regarded as a sure augury of Galba\u2019s elevation to the\nimperial dignity,[154] but for the archaeologist the presence of the\naxes merely signifies that this was the site of a lake dwellers\u2019\nvillage.\n\nIn some cases, the stone which was held to be a dwelling-place of the\ndivinity was also regarded as a representation, or epitome, of some\nsacred mountain. In the earliest stage of this belief, the god was\nsupposed to have his abode in the mountain, and later he was thought to\nanimate the stone which had a fancied likeness in shape to the mountain.\nA coin of the Roman emperor Elagabalus (204\u2013222 A.D.)[155] bears on its\nreverse a representation of one of the sacred stones of Astarte, namely,\nthat worshipped at Sidon. This is shown resting upon a car, and it seems\nprobable that it was transported from place to place, so that large\nnumbers of people could have the privilege of paying reverence to it.\n\nThere seems to be fairly strong reasons for the belief that the Black\nStone of the Kaaba at Mecca is an aerolite.[156] If the conjecture be\ncorrect, this stone occupies a unique place among meteoric masses, for\nit was an object of worship for many centuries before the advent of\nMohammed, and is to-day regarded with the highest reverence by one\nhundred and twenty millions of Mohammedans. One of the most solemn acts\nperformed by the pilgrims at Mecca is the kissing of the Black Stone,\nand should any one doubt that true religious enthusiasm is aroused by\nthis act, he should read the following words of Ibn Batoutah:[157]\n\n The eyes perceive in it a wonderful beauty, similar to that of a young\n bride; in kissing it one feels a pleasure that delights the mouth, and\n whoever kisses it wishes he might never cease to do so; for this is an\n inherent quality in it and a divine grace in its favor. Let us only\n cite the words of the Prophet in this connection: \u201cCertainly it is the\n right hand of God on earth.\u201d\n\nFor centuries before Mohammed\u2019s time the Kaaba at Mecca had been a\nfamous sanctuary and a religious centre for the nomadic Arabs. It is\nstated that there were 360 idols in the temple, a number which suggests\na connection with the year of 360 days in use among the Arabs. The most\ncelebrated of these idols bore the name of Hobal, and was the figure of\na man cut out of red agate. There was a tradition to the effect that\nthis idol had been brought from Belka in Syria. As one of the hands was\nbroken off, the Koreish, the Arab tribe having charge of the Kaaba,\nrepaired this defect by attaching a golden hand, in which were held\nseven arrows, plain shafts without heads or feathers, similar to the\narrows used for divination by the Arabs. For some occult reason the\nagate was supposed to exercise a certain control over meteorological\nphenomena, for in Persia it was believed to ward off tempests, while\nprayers for rain in time of drought were made to this agate image of the\nKaaba.[158]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _LE TEMPLE DE LA MECQUE_\n\n THE KAABA AT MECCA\n\n The letter A indicates the place where the Black Stone is inserted in\n the wall of the building. From \u201cHistoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des c\u00e9r\u00e9monies\n religieuses de tous les peuples du monde,\u201d by Abb\u00e9 Banier and Abb\u00e9\n Mascrier, Paris, 1741.\n]\n\nMuch has been written regarding the Black Stone, but perhaps the most\nsatisfactory description is that given by Burckhardt, who writes:[159]\n\n At the Northeast corner of the Kaabah, near the door, is the famous\n \u201cBlack Stone\u201d; it forms part of the sharp angle of the building at\n from four to five feet above the ground. It is an irregular oval,\n about seven inches in diameter, with an undulated surface, composed of\n about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well\n joined together with a small quantity of cement, and perfectly smooth;\n it looks as if the whole had been broken into many pieces by a violent\n blow, and then united again. It is very difficult to determine\n accurately the quality of this stone, which has been worn to its\n present surface by the millions of touches and kisses it has received.\n It appears to me like lava, containing several small extraneous\n particles of a whitish and of a yellowish substance. Its color is now\n a deep reddish-brown, approaching to black.\n\nThis description seems to support the conjecture that the stone is a\nmeteorite. The injuries it has sustained are attributed to various\naccidental or intentional causes. In the early part of the Mohammedan\nera the Kaaba was damaged by fire, and the intense heat caused the stone\nto break into three pieces. This injury was repaired, but some years\nlater (926 A.D.) the heretic sect of the Carmates captured and sacked\nMecca. Hoping to divert to another place the tide of pilgrims, and the\nriches they brought with them, the leader of the sect caused the stone\nto be wrenched from its place and borne away to Hedjez. During the sack\nof Mecca, or possibly in its violent removal, the stone was broken into\ntwo pieces,\u2014perhaps along the line of one of the old fractures. At first\nan offer of 50,000 dinars ($125,000) was made for the return of the\nstone, but before many years had passed the Carmates restored it\nvoluntarily, having been disappointed in their hope of attracting the\npilgrims. The Black Stone was destined to suffer still greater injury.\nIn 1022 A.D., Hakem, the ruler of Egypt, who suffered from megalomania\nand was disposed to claim divine honors for himself, dispatched an\nemissary to Mecca to destroy the stone. Mixing with the crowd of\npilgrims, this man approached the revered relic, and crying out \u201cHow\nlong shall this stone be adored and kissed?\u201d struck it a tremendous blow\nwith a club. The story runs that only three small pieces were broken\nfrom the stone, but as it is also stated that these pieces were\npulverized and the powder made into a cement to fill up the cracks, the\ninjury was probably much greater than the pious Mohammedans were willing\nto admit.[160]\n\nMohammedan tradition teaches that the Black Stone was sent from heaven\nand was once pure and brilliant; it only grew black because of the sins\nof men. Legend relates that Abraham stood on this stone during the\nconstruction of the Kaaba. This edifice was erected in a miraculous way,\nfor the stones came of themselves, all cut and polished, from the\nMountain of Arafat. However, no place was found for the Black Stone, and\nit was afflicted and said to Abraham: \u201cWhy have not I also been used for\nthe House of God?\u201d \u201cBe comforted,\u201d replied the Prophet; \u201cfor I will see\nthat you are more honored than any other stone of the edifice. I will\ncommand all men, in the name of God, that they shall kiss you when they\npass in the procession.\u201d[161]\n\nA fragment of the Black Stone of Mecca was brought to Bagdad in 951 A.D.\nby order of the Khalif Moti Lillah, and was inserted in the threshold of\nthe main entrance to the royal palace there. From a balcony directly\nabove the entrance was suspended a piece of tapestry taken from that in\nthe Kaaba, and it was so hung that its lower border was about on a level\nwith the face of anyone entering the portal. All who passed in were\nstrictly enjoined to touch their eyes with this tapestry and also to\nkiss the piece of the Black Stone, upon which no one was permitted to\ntread. These details are given in Khondemir\u2019s life of Abu Jafer Al\nMostasem, the last of the Khalifs, who died in 1258 A.D.[162]\n\nThe Kaaba at Mecca offers to the adoration of faithful Mohammedan\npilgrims to the shrine, not only the famous Black Stone, which is set in\nthe eastern corner of the building, but also another sacred stone\ninserted in the southern corner at a height of five feet from the\nground. This is designated as the \u201cSouthern Stone.\u201d The Kaaba itself is\na small rectangular structure, built of stone from the surrounding\nhills, and having a length of 12 metres (39.4 feet), a width of 10\nmetres (32.8 feet) and a height of 15 metres (49.2 feet). One of the few\nEuropeans who have been permitted to enter the sacred enclosure, Dr.\nSnouck-Hurgronje, does not believe that the Kaaba owes its origin and\nsanctity to the Black Stone, but that its foundation was rather due to\nthe presence of the well Zemzem, whose waters were already reported to\nhave a therapeutic quality in the early days of Islam, and which may\nhave earned its repute on this account. If, however, we admit that the\nmedical properties (of a purgative nature) are due to contamination or\npercolation posterior to the primitive time when the well Zemzem first\nattracted the reverence of the Arabs of this region, then the purity of\nthe water may account for its high place in the esteem of the Arabs. Of\nthe Black Stone, a native of Mecca who saw the stone when it had been\ntaken out of the wall of the building, in the course of the latest\nrestoration of the structure, states that its inner surface is of a\ngrayish hue.[163]\n\nThe Kaaba also contained the Maquam Ibrahim, a sacred stone preserved\nfrom pre-Islamite times, and brought into connection with the history of\nAbraham by the Mohammedan legends. This stone, enclosed in a receptacle\nof like material, was at one time buried in the ground underneath the\nbuilding, but receptacle and enclosed stone are now set within the iron\ngratings which partition off a part of the space inside the cupola over\nthe pulpit of the Mosque of Mecca.[164]\n\nAn Oriental poem by Assmai detailing the wonderful exploits of the hero\nAntar, describes the way in which he became possessed of a matchless\nsword. One day he came upon two knights in desperate encounter; on\nseeing him they paused in their strife and to his question as to its\ncause one of the combatants told him that they were brothers, sons of a\ngreat Arab emir, recently deceased. Their father had once found a black\nstone, in appearance like a common pebble, but possessed of such\npenetrative power that when a herdsman threw it at a camel it traversed\nthe animal\u2019s body, inflicting a gaping wound. The emir immediately\nrecognized that the stone must be a \u201cthunder-stone,\u201d as meteorites were\ncalled; he therefore secured possession of it and commanded his most\nskilful smiths to forge a sword from it. When this task had been\nsuccessfully performed the emir clothed the smith in a robe of honor,\nand then, drawing the new sword from its sheath, cut off his head with a\nsingle stroke. This served at once as a test of the weapon\u2019s quality and\nas an assurance that it would not soon be duplicated. On his death-bed\nthe emir called to him his youngest son and said to him: \u201cMy son, take\nthe sword and hide it from your brother, and when you shall see that he\nhas seized my goods and is squandering them in riotous living, and sends\nyou away, without reverence for the Lord of Heaven and Earth, take the\nsword away with you. If you bring it to the court of the Persian King,\nKhusrau Nushirwan, he will heap gifts and honors upon you, or if you\nelect to go instead to the court of the Byzantine C\u00e6sar, monarch of the\nServants of the Cross, he will give you as much gold and silver as you\nmay ask for.\u201d This was the tale told by the younger knight, who added\nthat when, after the father\u2019s death, the brother had sought in vain for\nthe famous sword, he had resorted to torture to extract from the favored\nson the secret of its hiding-place, and had brought the latter to this\nspot commanding him to find it and give it up, and when he refused so to\ndo, had attacked him. The hero Antar, like a veritable knight-errant,\ntook up the quarrel of the oppressed brother and slew his opponent,\nsecuring as a free-will offering of gratitude the magic sword.[165]\n\nThe forging of swords from meteoric iron was, in the opinion of the\nOrientalist Hammer-Purgstall, the origin of the characteristic surface\ngiven to the famous Damascus blades. A most interesting modern example\nof a meteoric-iron weapon is a dagger made by Von Widmanst\u00e4dt for\nEmperor Francis I of Austria, out of the famous Bohemian siderite long\npreserved in the Rathaus at Elbogen and known as the \u201cVerw\u00fcnschte\nBurggraf.\u201d On the surface of this blade, however, the lines were\nangular, while on the true Damascus blade the lines are wavy.[166] An\nunsuccessful attempt to forge a sword from a piece of meteoric iron is\nreported by Avicenna in the case of a siderite that fell at Jurgan in\n1009 A.D., from which swords that were ordered to be made by the Sultan\nof Khorassan could not be executed.[167]\n\nIn an Arabic work bearing the name of Avicenna and entitled \u201cThe Cure,\u201d\nthe writer mentions a meteorite which fell in the Jordan, and of which\nSultan Mohammed Ghazni wished to have a sword made for him, thus proving\nthat the Sultan believed that meteorites possessed marvellous\nproperties.[168]\n\nA number of Greek and Roman coins bearing representations of these\nsacred meteorites have come down to us, and more than two hundred\nspecimens may be seen in the section of meteorites in the Natural\nHistory Museum (K\u00f6niglich-kaiserliches naturhistoriches Hofmuseum) in\nVienna. These coins are of great value in determining the history of\nthose aerolites which were preserved in the temples of certain\ndivinities.\n\nThe Viennese collection of meteorites is the finest in the world, and\nthis is largely due to the zeal and intelligence of the late Dr.\nAristides Brezina, while superintendent of the department of mineralogy\nand meteorites in the Museum. In regard to the impression made upon the\nmind of man in ancient times by the fall of meteorites, Dr. Brezina\nwrites:[169]\n\n The ancients supposed the stars to be the domiciles of the gods;\n falling stars and falling meteorites signified the descending of a god\n or the sending of its image to the earth. These envoys were received\n with divine honor, embalmed and draped, and worshipped in temples\n built for them.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Title-page of one of the earliest treatises on meteorites.\n]\n\nThe coins to which we have alluded were usually struck in honor of the\nsanctuaries wherein the aerolites were objects of adoration, and the\ntemple is often rudely figured with the stone set up in the centre. In\nmany cases the meteorite was preserved in its original form, which, if\nconical, was regarded as a phallic symbol; in other cases, the mass was\nrudely shaped into the conventional form of some divinity.\n\nIt is stated in Spangenberg\u2019s Chron. Saxon. that in 998 A.D. two immense\nstones fell at Magdeburg during a thunder-storm. One of these is said to\nhave fallen in the town itself and the other in the open country, near\nthe river Elbe. The description of a meteoric fall given in an\neighteenth century treatise on meteors, presents a vivid picture of the\nphenomena attending\u2014or believed to have attended\u2014such a fall. We are\ntold that on June 16, 1794, at about seven o\u2019clock in the evening a\nthunder cloud was seen in Tuscany, near the city of Siena and the town\nof Radacofani. This cloud came from the north, and shot forth sparks\nlike rockets, smoke rising from it like a furnace; at the same time a\nseries of explosions was heard, not so much resembling the sound of\nthunder as that produced by the firing of cannon or the discharge of\nmany muskets. The cloud remained suspended in the air for some time,\nduring which many stones fell to the earth, some of which were found.\nOne of them is described as being of irregular form, with a point like a\ndiamond; it weighed about five pounds and gave out a \u201cvitriolic smell.\u201d\nAnother weighed three and a half pounds, was very hard, of the color of\niron, and \u201csmelled like brimstone.\u201d[170]\n\nThe following passage written in the fourteenth, or perhaps in the\nthirteenth century, shows considerable accuracy of observation:[171]\n\n There are some who fancy that the thunder is a stone, for the reason\n that a stone often falls when it thunders in stormy weather. This is\n not true, for if the thunder were a stone, it would wound the people\n and animals it strikes, just as any other falling stone does. However,\n this is not the case, for we see that the people who have been struck\n by thunder (sic) show no wounds, but they are black from the stroke,\n and this is because the hot vapor burns the blood in their hearts.\n Therefore, they perish without wounds.\n\nThe fall of a siderite twenty miles east of Lahore in India, on April\n17, 1621, is reported in contemporary records. From this iron, which\nweighed about 3\u00bc pounds, the Mogul Emperor Jehangir ordered two sabres\nto be made, as well as a knife and a dagger, and commanded that the fact\nshould be properly registered. Here, as in other similar cases, the\nweapons were believed to possess a quasi-magic power because of the\ncelestial origin of the material employed.[172]\n\nMichele Mercato[173] (d. 1593) gives a vivid description of the fall of\na meteor which was observed near Castrovilarii, in Calabria, January 10,\n1583. Some men in a meadow observed a black, whirling cloud rushing\nthrough the air, and saw it descend to the earth not far from where they\nwere standing. The noise accompanying the descent of the meteorite was\nso deafening that it was heard far and wide, and the poor men fell to\nthe ground almost unconscious from terror. People from the neighborhood\nhastened to the spot and, after restoring the terrified witnesses of the\nphenomena, discovered a mass of iron weighing thirty-three pounds at the\nspot where the black cloud had touched the earth.\n\nThe startling phenomenon of a rain of stones from the sky which took\nplace under rather queer circumstances is reported by the Jesuit priest\nAlvarus as having occurred in China in 1622. The Taoist priests of that\nland enjoyed the repute of being able to bring down rain from the sky by\ntheir magic or religious rites, and when, during the year mentioned,\nChina was visited by a drought of unexampled severity, the aid of these\nrain-makers was invoked. Yielding, perhaps not unwillingly, to the\npopular entreaty, a group of priests ascended a hill and proceeded to\npronounce their invocations. To the joy of the onlookers the sky became\ndarkened and a rushing sound was heard, at first mistaken for an\noncoming rainstorm, but to the dismay of all an immense shower of stones\nof all sizes fell upon the earth, destroying what remained of the\nparched fruits and grain crops, and killing or maiming many persons. So\nterrifying was the sight that the Jesuits who were watching the result\nof the affair half-believed that the Last Day had come. When the panic\nhad finally subsided, the people fell upon the unlucky Taoist priests\nand beat them soundly.[174]\n\nIn the \u201cAnnals of the Ottoman Empire,\u201d by Subhi Mohammed Effendi, there\nis an account of the fall of a meteor at Hasergrad, on the banks of the\nDanube, on the fourth of Saban, A. H. 1153 (October 25, 1740). The\nweather was fine, not a cloud was to be seen in the sky, and not a\nbreath of air was stirring. Suddenly there arose a whirlwind, the air\nbecame obscured with clouds of dust, rain fell in torrents, and it\nbecame dark as night. While all who were out of doors were hastening to\nseek shelter from the storm, three terrific peals of thunder were heard,\nas loud as the sound of many cannon. After the storm had passed several\nstrange masses partly of stone and partly of iron were discovered in a\nnearby field. The Vizier bore two of these as great rarities to the\nSultan in Constantinople.[175]\n\nThe influence exerted by popular beliefs, even upon the learned, is well\nillustrated by the opinion given by some of the leading French\nphysicists of the eighteenth century as to the character of meteorites.\nWhen a meteoric stone fell at Luce, Dept. Marne, France, September 13,\n1768, three French scientists, among them the celebrated Lavoisier, were\nsent to investigate the matter. In their report to the Academy of\nSciences, they state that there must have been some error in the\naccounts given of the event, for it was an assured fact that no such\nthings as _pierres de foudre_, or thunder-stones, existed. This was, of\ncourse, perfectly true, but Lavoisier and his companions did not stop to\nthink that stones might fall to the earth in some other way. The result\nof the investigation was summed up as follows:\n\n If the existence of thunder-stones was regarded as doubtful at a time\n when physicists had scarcely any idea of the nature of thunder, it is\n even less admissible to-day, when modern physicists have discovered\n the effects of this natural phenomenon are the same as those of\n electricity. There is no record that the fulgarite, the fused sand or\n rock struck by the lightning, has ever been used.\n\n The opinion which seems the most probable to us, and that which is\n most in accord with the accepted principles of physics as well as with\n the facts reported by Abb\u00e9 Bacheley, and our own investigation, is\n that the stone was originally covered with a slight crust of earth and\n turf, and was struck by lightning and so made visible.\n\nChladni reports in a pamphlet published in 1794 that the mass of\nmeteoric iron discovered by Dr. Pallas in Siberia, and known as the\nPallas or Krasnojarsk iron meteorite, was regarded by the Tartars as a\nsacred object which had fallen from heaven.[176] As it is somewhat\nunlikely that this belief could be accounted for by an ancient\ntradition, we must seek an explanation in the conviction among primitive\npeoples that any mass of rock or metal of unusual appearance and\ndiffering notably from the surrounding formations must have come from\nthe sky. In this way primitive instinct often anticipates the results of\nmodern scientific investigation. This siderite, of irregular form and\nweighing some 1500 pounds, was seen by Dr. Pallas in 1772, and deposited\nby him in 1776; he learned that it had been found in 1749 at the summit\nof a mountain situated between Krasnojarsk and Abakansk, by a Cossack.\nMost of this famous siderite is preserved in the St. Petersburg Museum.\n\nA singular circumstance in regard to the fall of a meteor, and one that\nin ancient times would have been explained in a miraculous way, is that\nduring the desperate and bloody battle of Borodino, won by Napoleon over\nthe Russians, September 6, 1812, a meteorite is said to have fallen near\nthe headquarters of the Russian general. This would certainly have been\nregarded\u2014after the event\u2014as a manifestation of divine wrath, and hence a\nprognostic of the Russian defeat. However, had the French been defeated,\nthe meteorite would have been looked upon as a sign of divine favor, and\nit would have been honored and reverenced. In modern times the natural\nphenomenon is taken for what it is worth, and the only interest excited\nis a purely scientific one.\n\nOf all the meteorites that have been discovered, the most remarkable are\nundoubtedly those found at Melville Bay, about 35 miles east of Cape\nYork, West Greenland, in 1894, by Admiral, then Lieutenant, Robert E.\nPeary, and brought by him to the United States in 1895 and 1897.[177]\nThey are now to be seen in the American Museum of Natural History, New\nYork. The first report of the existence of meteoric iron in the vicinity\ncame from Captain Ross, who in 1818 was given two iron knives, or\nlance-heads, by some Eskimo of Regent\u2019s Bay. An analysis of the metal\nrevealed the presence of nickel and immediately suggested a meteoric\norigin of the material; nothing more definite could be learned at the\ntime from the Eskimo than that the metal had been taken from an \u201ciron\nmountain\u201d not far away. In 1840, the King of Denmark, whose interest had\nbeen aroused in the matter, authorized the sending out of an expedition\nto seek for the suspected siderites, but the search proved unsuccessful;\na later attempt made by the officers of the _North Star_, a Franklin\nrelief ship, in 1849\u201350, also failed. For a time the determination of\nthe telluric origin of the supposed siderites discovered at Ovifak,\nDisko Island, West Greenland, by Baron N. A. E. Nordenskiold in 1870,\ncast some doubt upon the true meteoric character of the iron of which\nthe Cape York knives had been made, and rather discouraged further\nsearches. It was not until 1894 that these extraordinary masses of\nmeteoric iron were at last seen and located by a European, one of the\nhunters of the Tellikontinah tribe of Smith Sound Eskimos serving as\nLieutenant Peary\u2019s guide. The siderites were three in number, the two\nsmaller having been named by the Eskimo \u201cThe Dog\u201d and \u201cThe Woman,\u201d\nrespectively, while the largest was known as \u201cThe Tent.\u201d It now bears\nthe name of Ahnighito, that of the daughter of the explorer.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.\n\n \u201cAHNIGHITO,\u201d THE GREAT CAPE YORK METEORITE, WEIGHING MORE THAN 36\u00bd\n TONS\n\n In the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Obtained by\n Admiral Peary.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.\n\n \u201cTHE WOMAN,\u201d CAPE YORK METEORITE\n\n In the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Weight 3\n tons. Obtained by Admiral Peary.\n]\n\nThe two smaller ones reposed loosely upon gneissic rocks, but Ahnighito,\nfound on a small island some six miles away, on a terrace 80 feet above\ntide-water and about 100 feet from the shore, lay almost buried in rocks\nand sand.\n\nEskimo legend had woven its web about these enigmatic meteorites and the\nnatives saw in them an Innuit woman, who with her dog and tent had been\nhurled from the sky in a bygone age by Tornarsuk, the Evil One.\nOriginally the mass called \u201cThe Woman\u201d was said to have closely\nresembled the figure of a woman, seated and engaged in sewing, but by\nthe gradual chipping away of fragments of the iron this form had almost\ndisappeared. Peary was told that not long before, the \u201chead\u201d had fallen\noff and that a party of Eskimo had tried to carry it away, lashed to a\nsledge; however, as they were passing over the ice, it suddenly broke\nup, so that sledge, iron and dogs sank in the water and the Eskimo\nthemselves barely escaped with their lives.\n\nThe dimensions of Ahnighito, the largest siderite ever discovered, are\ngiven as follows: length, 10 feet 11 inches; height, 6 feet 9 inches;\nthickness, 5 feet 2 inches. It weighs something over 36\u00bd tons. The\nweight of \u201cThe Woman\u201d is 3 tons, and that of \u201cThe Dog\u201d 1100 pounds. The\nchemical compositions of these three siderites, which are regarded as\nhaving originally constituted a single mass, have been determined by J.\nE. Whitfield. In addition to small quantities of copper, sulphur,\nphosphorus and carbon, the following proportions of the main\nconstituents were ascertained:[178]\n\n The Dog The Woman Ahnighito\n Iron 90.99 91.47 91.48\n Nickel 8.27 7.78 7.79\n Cobalt .53 .53 .53\n\nThough smaller and less imposing by its mass than the greatest of the\nCape York meteorites, that called \u201cWillamette\u201d from having been found\ntwo miles northwest of the town of that name in Clackamas County,\nOregon, ranks as the fourth, or possibly the third largest iron\nmeteorite in the world, and is the largest discovered within the\nterritory of the United States; remarkable peculiarities of form make it\nan especially interesting object.[179] It was a chance find, made in\n1902 by two prospectors in their search for gold or silver. Noting what\nappeared to be a very slight rock projection they tapped this with their\nhammers and the sound of the blow revealed the presence of metal;\ndigging down here and there, they ascertained the existence of a\nconsiderable mass of iron. Although at first no one supposed that it was\na meteorite, before long this fact became known, and the finder, by very\nprimitive methods and by dint of tireless efforts, succeeded in\ntransporting the iron to his own land. His courageous attempt to acquire\npossession of it was not, however, crowned with success, as the courts\ndecided that the company owning the land whereon it had been found\npossessed the right to reclaim it from the finder.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.\n\n \u201cTHE DOG,\u201d CAPE YORK METEORITE\n\n In the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Weight 1100\n pounds. Obtained by Admiral Peary.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of Rochester (N. Y.) Academy of Sciences.\n\n TWO VIEWS OF THE WILLAMETTE METEORITE NOW IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF\n NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK CITY\n\n Found in Clackamas County, Oregon, near the town of Willamette. Weight\n 31,107 pounds.\n]\n\nWhen weighed on the railroad scales in Portland, Oregon, the net weight\nof this siderite was shown to be 31,107 pounds. The most striking\npeculiarity is the abundance of pittings and hollows and their unusual\nsize. That these resulted in part from the effects of the enormous heat\ngenerated by the swift flight of this weighty mass through the earth\u2019s\natmosphere, is generally admitted; but some of the deepest pits are\nbelieved to owe their origin to the decomposition of spheroidal nodules\nof troilite, and the cylindrical holes to the decomposition of rod-like\nmasses of the same substance. Willamette, which was donated to the\nAmerican Museum of Natural History, by Mrs. William E. Dodge, is 10 feet\nlong, 6 feet 6 inches high, and has a thickness of 4 feet 3 inches.[180]\nChemical analyses have been made by Mr. J. M. Davison of the University\nof Rochester and by J. E. Whitfield of Philadelphia. Their respective\ndeterminations are here given:\n\n Davison Whitfield\n Iron 91.65 91.46\n Nickel 7.88 8.30\n Cobalt .21 ?\n Phosphorus .09 ?\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n 99.83 99.76\n\nThe famous Ca\u00f1on Diablo meteorite possesses a surpassing mineralogical\ninterest.[181] In 1891, at the Tenth International Geologic Congress,\nWashington, D. C., the mineralogist Koenig announced that he had\ndiscovered some microscopic diamonds in this meteorite, and later\ninvestigations by Prof. Henri Moissan confirmed this discovery and\nenlarged its scope. A mass of the iron weighing about 400 pounds was\nused by Professor Moissan; this was cut by means of a steel ribbon saw.\nAs had been the case in Koenig\u2019s investigations, the saw soon\nencountered excessively hard portions that obstructed its operation, so\nthat twenty days\u2019 labor was requisite to separate the iron into two\nparts, each with a section area of nearly 100 square inches. On close\nexamination it became evident that the obstacles to the cutting\nconsisted of round or elliptical nodules, of a dark gray to black hue,\nand enclosed in the bright iron. These nodules were mainly composed of\ntroilite (iron protosulphide). After chemical treatment an insoluble\nresidue remained, consisting of silica, amorphous carbon, graphite and\ndiamond. Many of these very minute diamonds were black, but a few were\ntransparent crystals, octahedrons with rounded edges.[182] The presence\nof this diamond material in the interior of the iron mass of the\nmeteorite indicates their formation from carbon by the combined agencies\nof high temperature and great pressure, as in the case of the artificial\ndiamonds experimentally produced by Moissan in an iron mass first\nsubjected to intense heat in the electric furnace and then rapidly\ncontracted in volume by sudden chilling. The fervid imagination of early\nwriters would certainly have attributed wonderful talismanic powers to\nstones like these, probably generated in some lost planet and reaching\nour earth through the wastes of celestial space, could they have been\nable to observe and distinguish them with the incomplete optical\nresources of their time.\n\nThe first announcement of the discovery of these diamonds from the Ca\u00f1on\nDiablo meteorite was made by Dr. A. E. Foote, and not long after\nProfessor Koenig\u2019s determination of their character, the present writer\nsuggested an experiment that would afford absolute proof that the\nmaterial was really diamond. This was to charge a new skaif, or\ndiamond-polishing wheel, with the supposed diamond dust obtained from\nthe meteorite; should the material polish a diamond there could be no\ndoubt as to its character. On September 11, 1893, this experiment was\ntried at the Mining Building of the World\u2019s Columbian Exposition. After\nthe skaif had been charged with the residuum separated from the\nmeteorite by Dr. O. W. Huntington, it was given a speed of 2500\nrevolutions to the minute, and in less than fifteen minutes a small flat\nsurface had been ground down and polished on a cleavage-piece of rough\ndiamond held against the wheel. The experiment was then repeated several\ntimes on other diamonds and always successfully. This showed\nconclusively that the residuum of the meteorite contained many minute\ndiamond fragments.[183]\n\nA most important group of meteorites were found in 1886 in Brenham\ntownship, Kiowa County, Kansas, by some of the farmers of this district\nin the course of their farming operations.[184] Entirely unaware of\ntheir scientific value, the finders used these objects to weight down\nhaystacks, or for similar uses to which they would put small boulders.\nIn all some twenty of these specimens have been recovered, varying in\nweight all the way from 466 pounds down to a single ounce. Most of them\nwere taken from an area of about sixty acres, although some were\nscattered over a wider tract. The largest piece of the group, that on\nwhich the farmers had bestowed the fanciful name of the \u201cmoon\nmeteorite,\u201d had lain only three inches beneath the surface of the ground\nand broke a ploughshare when it was first struck; none of the masses\nappear to have been buried deeper down than from five to six inches. The\nlargest mass measures twenty-four inches across the widest part and\nfourteen and a half at the thickest part. These Kiowa meteorites are in\na sense gem-meteorites, for a number of beautiful and brilliant olivine\ncrystals occur in them; many are in two distinct zones, the inner one\nbeing a bright transparent yellow, while the outer one is of a dark\nbrown iron olivine, in reality a mixture of troilite and olivine. The\ncharacter and composition of the worked iron of meteoric origin found in\nsome of the Turner group of Indian mounds, in the Little Miami Valley,\nOhio, indicate that the latter may perhaps be brought into connection\nwith this group of meteorites. For here, as in the Frozen North among\nthe Esquimo, and in a number of other cases, the iron available for\nprimitive man was mainly that of meteorite origin.\n\nIn view of the relatively small number of meteorites that have fallen in\nhistorical times, and of the small part of the earth\u2019s surface actually\noccupied by human settlements, we need scarcely be surprised at the\nstatement that there is but one credibly recorded instance of the\nkilling of a human being by a meteorite. This unique disaster is said to\nhave happened at Mhow in India, and fragments of the meteorite which\nfell then are to be seen in museum collections. The great weight of some\nmeteorites would have rendered them very destructive had they not fallen\nin the open country; the heaviest single mass actually _known_ to have\nfallen, came to the ground at Knyahinya, Hungary, in 1866, and weighed\n547 pounds; it buried itself 11 feet in the ground. Of course much\nheavier aerolites and siderites, satisfactorily recognizable as such,\nhave been found, the heaviest being perhaps that at Bacubrit, Mexico, 13\nfeet in length with a width of 6 feet and a thickness of 5 feet; the\nweight of this mass is estimated to be some 50 tons. Of meteorites which\nhave fallen in more or less close proximity to human beings, may be\nnoted one at Tourinnes-la-Grosse, which broke the street pavement;\nanother at Angers, which fell into a garden, near to where a lady was\nstanding; and still another at Brunau, which passed through a cottage\nroof.[185]\n\nMany other accidents caused by meteorites or what were believed to be\nmeteorites are recorded, the credibility of some of the statements not\nbeing very convincing; others, however, appear to be quite worthy of\ncredence. Thus the Chronicle of Ibn Alathir relates that several persons\nwere killed by a rain of stones that fell to the earth in Africa in\nAugust, 1020 A.D.[186] In the middle of the seventeenth century the\ntower of a prison building in Warsaw is said to have been destroyed by a\nmeteorite.[187] A hundred years or so before, on May 19, 1552, there was\na great fall of stones, not far from Eisleben, one of which killed the\nfavorite steed of Count Schwarzenburg, while another wounded the count\u2019s\nbody-physician, Dr. Mitthobius, in the foot. This was witnessed by\nSpangenberg, who reports it in his Saxon Chronicle; he carried off some\nof the stones with him to Eisleben.[188] An eight-pound stone (probably\na siderite) is stated by a certain Olaf Erikson to have fallen on\nshipboard and killed two persons, at some time about the middle of the\nseventeenth century; this is rather indefinite information.[189] The\nmost remarkable happening, however, is reported from Milan from the end\nof the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century, when a\nvery small meteorite, weighing not quite an ounce, fell into the\ncloister of Santa Maria della Pace (now a cotton factory) and killed a\nFranciscan monk. Such was the velocity of this little stone that it\npenetrated deep into the monk\u2019s body, whence it was extracted and\npreserved for a long time in the Collection of Count Sett\u00e1la. The\ngreater part of this collection went later to the Ambrosian Library at\nMilan, but Chladni sought in vain there for any trace of the\ndeath-dealing meteorite.[190]\n\nAmong the Welsh peasants there is a belief that when a meteor falls to\nthe earth it becomes reduced to a mass of jelly. This they name _pwdre\nser_. The most plausible explanation offered for this fancy is that the\nautumn, the season when the largest number of meteors may be observed,\nis also the time of the year when the jelly-like masses of the\nplasmodium of Myxomycetes most frequently appear in the fields. A\npeasant who, after noting the apparent fall of a meteor, should go in\nsearch of it, might easily come across one of these lumps of plasma, and\nmight well be induced to think that he had found all that was left of\nthe meteor after its violent fall to the earth. Of course we have here\nto do with the apparent, not with the real, fall of a meteorite. In this\nconnection it is interesting to note that the _medusa_, or jelly-fish,\nhas been called a \u201cfallen star\u201d by sailors.[191]\n\nThis Welsh fancy that meteors or \u201cfalling-stars\u201d turned to a jelly when\nthey struck the earth appears to have been quite general in Great\nBritain, and the jelly-like substance was variously named \u201cstar-slough,\u201d\n\u201cstar-shoot,\u201d \u201cstar-gelly\u201d or \u201cjelly,\u201d \u201cstar-fall\u2019n.\u201d The Welsh _pwdre\nser_ literally means \u201cstar-rot.\u201d As early as 1641 Sir John Suckling\n(1609\u20131642) wrote the following lines which well describe the way in\nwhich these gelatinous substances came to be regarded as the remains of\na \u201cfallen star\u201d:\n\n As he whose quicker eye doth trace\n A false star shot to a mark\u2019d place\n Do\u2019s run apace,\n And, thinking it to catch,\n A jelly up do snatch.\n\nSir Walter Scott also, whose familiarity with superstitions was very\ngreat, has not failed to note this one in his \u201cTalisman,\u201d where the\nhermit says: \u201cSeek a fallen star and thou shalt only light on some foul\njelly, which in shooting through the horizon has assumed an appearance\nof splendour.\u201d Here the star itself is supposed to have had this\ngelatinous form.\n\nAn early writer,[192] noting this curious belief that \u201ca white and\ngelatinous substance\u201d was all that remained of a fallen star, declares\nthat he had clearly demonstrated to the Royal Society that the mass was\ncomposed of the intestines of frogs, and had been vomited by crows,\nadding that his opinion had been confirmed by the testimony of other\nscientific men. Huxley, from a description, conjectured that the\nsubstance was nostoc, a gelatinous vegetable mass, but this seems to be\nsomewhat doubtful. In 1744 Robert Boyle states that some of this\n\u201cstar-shoot\u201d was given to a physician of his acquaintance, who \u201cdigested\nit in a well-stopt glass for a long time,\u201d and then sold the liquor for\na specific in the removal of wens.[193]\n\nA jelly-like mass believed by him to be the remains of a \u201cfallen star\u201d\nwas found by Mr. Rufus Graves at Amherst, Mass., on August 14, 1819, and\nduly reported in the American Journal of Science.[194] As this gentleman\nwas at one time lecturer on chemistry at Dartmouth College, his\ntestimony is worth heeding, but there can be no doubt that while he\naccurately describes what he found, he was altogether mistaken in\nsupposing that the meteor fell precisely on the spot where he discovered\nthe gelatinous substance. As we have noted, it has recently been\nsuggested that these \u201cjellies\u201d are plasmodia of forms of Myxomycetes\nwhich do not appear to have any connection with the spot whereon they\nrest, but seem to have fallen from the air.[195]\n\nFalling stars are explained by the natives of Labrador and of Baffin\u2019s\nBay as being souls of the departed bound on an excursion to Hades in\norder to see what is going on there, while the phenomena of thunder and\nlightning are caused by a party of old women, who quarrel so violently\nover the possession of a seal that they bring the house down over their\nheads and shatter the lamps. These \u201cold women\u201d must, of course, be\nspirits of the upper air, not human beings.[196]\n\nIn some Australian tribes the sorcerers, or \u201cmedicine-men,\u201d taking\nadvantage of the superstitious dread of falling stars common among the\naborigines, pretend to have marked the spot where such a star has fallen\nand to have dug it up and preserved it in their medicine-bag. These\nsupposititious \u201cfallen stars\u201d are sometimes quartz pebbles, and in one\ninstance the curiosity of a European investigator was satisfied by the\ndisplay of a piece of thick glass, which the sorcerer strictly\nmaintained he had dug out of the ground wherein the star had\nfallen.[197]\n\nArrow-heads encased in silver were looked upon as the solid contents of\nthe lightning flash, and were not only thought to protect the house in\nwhich they were kept from being struck by lightning, but their\nprotective power was believed to extend to seven houses in the immediate\nneighborhood. An interesting example is a neolithic silex arrow-head\nfigured by Bellucci. This has been elegantly set in silver in modern\ntimes, and comes from Pesca Costanzo, in the province of Aquila, Italy.\n\nThe Italians are convinced that if the arrow-head, or similar object,\ncome in contact with a piece of iron, the \u201cessence of the lightning\u201d\ndeparts from it, revealing itself in a spark; hence they wrap it up,\ncarefully, in skin, cloth, or paper so as to guard it from harm.\nSometimes these objects are anointed with oil, a survival of the custom\nof making propitiatory offerings of oil. This usage in the case of\nsacred stones is very general, and is met with in places as remote from\neach other as Sweden, India and the Society Islands.[198]\n\nIn an Iroquois myth and legend, He-no, the god of thunder, is an object\nof great veneration because of the powerful aid he renders to those whom\nhe favors. He is believed to direct the rain which shall fertilize the\nseed in the earth, and also to give aid to the harvesters when the\nfruits of the earth have ripened. While traversing the celestial vault,\nin his journeyings hither and thither above the surface of the globe, he\nbears with him an enormous basket filled with huge boulders of chert\nrock. These he casts at any evil spirit he may encounter, and when on\noccasion a spirit succeeds in avoiding such a boulder, it will fall down\nto the earth surrounded by fire. We have here another version of the\nalmost universal myth of thunder-stones.[199]\n\nIn treating of the flint arrow-heads of the American Indians, Adair\nnotes that in form and material they closely resembled the \u201celf-stones\u201d\nwith which European peasants were wont to rub any of their cattle\nbelieved to have been \u201cshot\u201d by fairies or elves. A village in which one\nof these magic objects existed was considered to be particularly favored\nby fortune, as they not only served to protect the cattle from\nbewitchment but were equally efficacious in preserving human beings from\nthe spells of witches.[200]\n\nIn East Prussia, when cows are believed to have been bewitched so that\ntheir milk is under a spell, resort is had to the powers of a perforated\n\u201cthunder-stone.\u201d Such stones were ancient stone hammers with a central\nperforation for a handle. The stone is held beneath the cow at\nmilking-time, and the milk is allowed to pass through the\nperforation.[201] By this means the spell is broken and the milk becomes\nharmless.\n\nSuch perforated stones are also used to protect a house from being\nstruck by lightning. When a storm approaches nearer and nearer, the\nowner of one of these magic stones will thrust his finger through the\nhole, twirl the stone around three times, and then hurl it against the\ndoor of the room. When this has been done, the house is believed to be\nproof against lightning.[202]\n\nIn Westphalia the stone is laid upon a table alongside of a consecrated\ncandle, the shrewd peasants thus assuring for their houses the\nprotection of the church as well as that of the ancient God of\nThunder.[203]\n\nAnother phase of the superstition in regard to the stone axes known in\nmany different parts of the world as thunder-stones, because they are\nbelieved to have fallen during a thunder-storm, is given by Dr. Lund in\na letter written from Logoa Santa in Brazil. He states that the\ninhabitants rather look askance at these stones, believing that wherever\nthey are found the lightning is apt to strike, \u201cin order to seek its\nbrother!\u201d[204]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of the British Museum, London.\n\n FLINT AMULETS OF THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD, EGYPT\n]\n\nThe stone implements of various forms found in the shell-heaps of Brazil\nare called by the natives _Curiscos_ or \u201clightning-stones.\u201d The Guaranis\nname them \u201cstars fallen from heaven\u201d; the Cajuas, \u201cstones hurled by the\nthunder\u201d; and the Coarados, \u201caxe-stones.\u201d A high price is paid for these\nby the gold-seekers in Brazil, who believe that, by attraction, they\nshow the presence of gold beneath the surface, just as the divining-rod\nis supposed to be affected by the presence of water or by hidden\ntreasures.[205]\n\nThe peasants of Slavonic descent in Moravia have great faith in the\nvirtues of the \u201cthunder-stone.\u201d During Passion Week the stone has the\npower to reveal the location of hidden treasures, and it is also\nbelieved that warts on man and horse will disappear if they be rubbed\nwith such a stone before sunset. However, not only healing virtues are\nattributed, for if the stone be hurled at anyone and strikes him, it\ninflicts a mortal wound.[206]\n\nA poetic and appropriate name has been applied to the earliest of the\nchipped stone artefacts of primitive man by arch\u00e6ologists. They are\ncalled \u201cDawn Stones\u201d (eoliths), and the name characterizes these\ninteresting relics, the first steps in the development of sculptural\nart, as products of the dawn of human civilization.\n\nA curious survival of the adoration of stones is reported by the Earl of\nRoden in his \u201cProgress of the Reformation in Ireland.\u201d[207] A\ncorrespondent informed Lord Roden that in Inniskea, an island off the\ncoast of Mayo, there was, in 1851, a stone idol called in the Irish\ntongue Neevougi. This was said to have been preserved and worshipped\nfrom time immemorial. The stone is described as having been wrapped in\nso many folds of homespun flannel that it looked like a mass of that\nmaterial. This is explained by the custom of dedicating a dress of this\nflannel to the stone whenever its aid was sought, the garment being\nsewed on by an old woman who officiated as the priestess of the stone.\nPrayers were offered to this strange idol for the cure of diseases, as\nit was supposed to be endowed with extraordinary powers. A stranger\npetition sometimes made was that a storm might arise and wreck a ship\nupon the coast so that the thrifty islanders might profit by its\nmisfortune; on the other hand, with charming inconsistency, when they\nwished to go a-fishing or pay a visit to the mainland, the trusty stone\nwas expected to assure them fair weather and a calm sea.\n\nIn Tavernier\u2019s time (about 1650) many poor families living in the woods\nand on the hillsides in India, far from any village where there was a\ntemple, would take a stone, probably one of a peculiar shape, and would\nroughly paint on it a nose and eyes in red or green color. This being\ndone, the whole family would gather about this stone and reverently\nadore it as their idol.[208]\n\nIn certain districts in Norway, up to the end of the eighteenth century,\nsuperstitious peasants used to preserve round stones, and set them up in\na conspicuous place in their houses. At Yule-tide these stones were\nsprinkled with fresh ale. Some of them were worshipped as divinities,\nand every Thursday, or oftener, they were smeared with butter, or some\nsimilar substance, before the fire. This ointment was allowed to dry on\nthe stone, which was then returned to its place of honor. These\nceremonies were supposed to insure the health and happiness of the\nhousehold.[209]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Types of ceraunia or \u201cThunder-stones.\u201d From \u201cMuseum Wormianum.\u201d\n Lugduni Batavorum, 1655.\n]\n\nThe fact that special ceremonies were performed in connection with these\nstones on Thursday, as well as the name \u201cThor-stones\u201d applied to many of\nthem, indicates that in early times they were associated with the\nworship of the god Thor. The so-called thunderbolts\u2014usually flint\naxe-heads\u2014are believed to have been hurled at the trolls or elves by the\nthunder, so that these evil-disposed spirits might be subdued and\nprevented from fulfilling an old saying, according to which they would\ndesolate the earth. Originally it was Thor himself who was believed to\nhurl the thunderbolt.\n\nThese stones were supposed to be endowed with wonder-working powers.\nWhen a woman was in labor, ale was allowed to drip over a stone of this\nkind, and was then given to the woman to drink. All through the\nScandinavian countries the peasants believed that if such a stone were\nhung up in a house or on cattle, the trolls and other malevolent spirits\nwould be driven away, and all spells and witchcraft would be rendered\nharmless.[210]\n\nIn Sir William Brereton\u2019s account of his travels (1634\u20131635)[211] we\nread that he saw in the School of Anatomy at Leyden a stone called\n\u201c_Fulminis Sagitta_, or the dart of the thunderbolt, about the size of\nyour little finger.\u201d This was either a belemnite[212] or a stone\narrow-head of somewhat similar form. It bore a Latin inscription to the\nfollowing effect: \u201cMany believe that nursing children can be cured of\nrupture if this stone be attached to their thighs, or if they do not\nsuffer from this complaint, they will be preserved from it.\u201d\n\nOn the ridge-beam of an Irish cottage at Portrush was found a neolithic\ncelt of the kind believed by the peasantry to be \u201cthunderbolts.\u201d This\ncelt had been placed on the roof of the cottage to protect it from being\nstruck by lightning, a notion thoroughly in accord with the theory of\nsympathetic magic. In Surrey, England, a like belief is held as to the\nfossil belemnites, and nodules of iron pyrites such as have been found\nin Cretaceous formations near Cragdon are also thought to have fallen\nfrom the sky during a thunder-storm, and to possess peculiar powers in\nreference to the lightning.[213]\n\nIn Ireland the prehistoric stone arrow-head is believed to have been\nshot at man or beast by the fairies. Should an old woman be so lucky as\nto find one she will become highly honored in her village, and it is\nused as a cure for diseases produced by the wiles of evil spirits. To\neffect a cure, the _saigead_ (\u201carrow\u201d) must be placed in water, which is\nthen given to the sick person to drink.[214] Cows which have been\nwounded by the \u201cfairy-darts\u201d are also made to drink of this water. The\nIrish peasants wore the stone arrow-heads, set in silver, as amulets for\nprotection against injury from like weapons at the hands of the fairies.\nSimilar superstitions exist in the North of England.[215] Nilsson\nbelieves that the \u201celf-shots\u201d (the arrow-points or axe-points) of the\nIrish peasantry are identical with the \u201cLap-shots\u201d of the Swedish\npeasantry. These stones were thought to have belonged to the Laplanders,\nthe \u201cblack elves\u201d of the Edda, and were therefore used as a protection\nagainst the witcheries of these elves. The idea that the substance or\nthing that has caused an injury can effect a cure of this injury,\nappears in the Edda.[216]\n\nThe shepherds in the French Alps value the \u201cthunder-stones\u201d (_peyros de\ntron_) very highly. They are handed down from father to son as precious\nheirlooms, and when the flocks are driven to the pasturage, one of these\nwonder-working stones is embedded in a tuft of wool on the back of the\nbell-wether; this is supposed to serve as a protection for the whole\nflock.[217] In Spain the peasants call these stones _piedros del rayo_,\nor \u201clightning-stones.\u201d[218]\n\nThe names bestowed on such prehistoric stone implements by the\ninhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, of Java and Sumatra, all indicate\nthat they are believed to have fallen from the sky. In Malacca they are\ncalled _batu gontur_, \u201clightning-stones,\u201d and in Sumatra we have the\nname _anakpitas_, \u201cchild of the lightning.\u201d In the island of Nias, near\nSumatra, they are worn as amulets on the head or attached to the sword.\nThe Watubela islanders denominate them \u201cteeth of the thunder,\u201d a name\nwhich suggests the appellation glossopetra (\u201cstone-tongue\u201d), and like\nthis is evidently derived from the form of certain of these prehistoric\ncelts.[219]\n\nThe Burmans have given the highly poetic name of \u201crainbow-disease\u201d to\nthe disorder known to us as appendicitis, and they use the axe-heads and\nother pointed or sharpened arrow-heads of the Stone Age for the cure of\nthis malady, stroking the region affected with one of these implements.\nThe natives share in the delusion almost universal among primitive\npeoples, that these stone implements have fallen from the sky during\nthunder-storms, and that they partake of the nature of thunderbolts;\nhence they are supposed to destroy the rainbow-disease, as the approach\nof heavy storm clouds, charged with lightning, darken the sun and put an\nend to the beautiful natural phenomenon.\n\nIn the island of Mindanao, one of the Philippine group, the heathen\nManobos called the thunder the \u201cspeech of the lightning,\u201d and regarded\nthe latter as a kind of wild animal, so that whenever the lightning\nstruck the earth or a tree they believed that the animal had buried its\nteeth in the spot. They therefore looked upon any stone implement found\nthere as one of these teeth.[220]\n\nThe ancient stone hammers found in Japan are called _rai fu seki_,\n\u201cthunderbolts,\u201d or _tengu no masakari_, \u201cbattle-axes of Tengu,\u201d the\nwarder of the heavens. Other stone implements bear the name \u201cfox-axes,\u201d\nor \u201cfox-planes.\u201d These peculiar designations are employed because the\nfox is a symbol of the devil, and the stone axes are regarded as weapons\nof the devil. Of course this in no wise prevents their use as amulets or\nmedicinally; indeed, their powder is thought to be an especially\neffective remedy for boils and ulcers. Many such stones may be seen in\nthe temples, where they are carefully preserved and shown to the\npilgrims who visit the different shrines.[221]\n\nEven at the present day, the superstitious belief in the magic\nproperties of the prehistoric stone implements still survives among some\nof the Scandinavian peasants. They believe that these offer protection\nagainst lightning, and they are very unwilling to part with them. In\nsome regions the stone axes or arrow-heads are supposed to afford\nprotection against lightning, and they are occasionally used to relieve\nthe pangs of childbirth. In the latter case they are placed in the bed\nof the suffering woman. Another curious use to which they are put is as\na cure for an eruptive disease of children. Here the flint is struck\nsharply with a piece of steel, so that the sparks fall upon the child\u2019s\nhead.[222] This gives us an added proof of the association of these\nstone axes, etc., with fire and with the lightning flash.\n\nThe Burmese celts or stone hatchets are frequently of jade and differ\nfrom those usually met with in Europe and India, in that they are\nprovided with a chisel-edge instead of a double-sloped cutting edge. An\ninteresting account of the superstitions connected with these implements\nis given by Mr. Theobald,[223] from whom we quote the following passage.\nIt will be noted that the Burmese ideas are in almost exact accord with\nthose current in Europe.\n\n The Burmese call these implements _mo-jio_, thunder-chain or\n thunderbolt, and believe that they descend with the lightning flash,\n and, after penetrating the earth, work their way back by degrees to\n the surface, where they are found scattered about the fields among the\n lower hills, usually after rain, or on removing the crops. The true\n _mo-jio_ is supposed to possess many occult virtues, and it is not\n common to find one which does not show signs of having been chipped or\n scraped for medicinal purposes.\n\n One of the chief virtues of the _mo-jio_ is to render the person of\n the wearer invulnerable; and many an unlucky _mo-jio_ has succumbed to\n the popular test, which is to wrap it in a cloth and fire a bullet at\n it at short range. If the man misses the cloth, the authenticity and\n power of the charm is at once established; if the stone is fractured\n it is held not to be a real _mo-jio_.\n\n Fire will not consume a house which contains one, though I never heard\n of this ordeal being attempted. Last but not least is the known fact\n that the owner of a real _mo-jio_ can cut a rainbow in half with it.\n\nCertain recent happenings have suggested that the name \u201caviator-stone\u201d\nwould be a peculiarly appropriate designation for meteorites, and indeed\nthis new name would only serve to emphasize the legendary belief, that\nhe who bore with him a meteorite when he was in deadly peril would\nescape all injury. By a strange coincidence those who are willing to\ntake great risks and chances are generally more or less superstitious\nregarding small things, and a daring aviator recently remarked that on\none occasion, when his machine had suddenly fallen fifty feet, he felt\nfor his tie and said to himself: \u201cThis accident has happened because I\nforgot to put on my opal pin, but I have been saved from injury because\nI carried a meteorite.\u201d This aviator, having mentioned the incident to\nHarmon, a few minutes before the latter made his successful attempt to\nwin the Doubleday-Page aviation prize, Harmon immediately took the\nmeteorite which had been shown to him, saying: \u201cLet me have it.\u201d He\naccomplished his task, and although both the competing machines were\ninjured, the aviators themselves were saved.\n\nA meteorite, of course, cannot be claimed to be a preventive of danger\non all occasions, but several who have always carried them have seemed\nto escape all sorts of harm. Some years ago a meteorite was given to\nEdward Heron Allen, the famous writer on palmistry and the violin, and\nthis gifted man always wore it about him. One morning he awakened to\nfind that the entire roof above him had fallen in, except just that\nportion over his bed. He told the story to one of the best known ladies\nin Boston; one who is known for her public spirit, her love of art and\nher faultless manner of entertaining. This lady successfully urged Allen\nto give her the meteorite. A few days later, while out driving, a great\ntruck with two runaway horses attached to it struck her carriage.\nInstinctively she raised her muff to protect her face; the muff was\nalmost cut in two, but the lady was not hurt. A few days later, while\nshe was walking under some scaffolding, it fell, and the open part where\nthe hoists went up proved to be just where she stood. Although\nsurrounded by ruin, she remained unharmed.\n\n\n\n\n III\n Stones of Healing\n\n\nIn his commentary on Theophrastus, Sir John Hill touches upon the\nquestion of the medicinal virtues of precious stones. His researches\nregarding the causes and conditions determining color in stones, led him\nto the conjecture that the active principle, if it really existed, was\nto be sought in the coloring matter. As the opinion of a very clever\nstudent in his day, his words will bear quotation:[224]\n\n The greatest part of these [medicinal virtues] cannot but be seen at\n first view to be altogether imaginary; and as to the virtues of the\n Gems in general, it is now the reigning Opinion, that they are nearly\n all so, their greatest Friends allowing them no other than those of\n the common alkaline Absorbents. However, whether the metalline\n Particles, to which they owe their Colours, are, in either Quantity or\n Quality, in Condition to have any effect in the Body, is a Matter\n worthy of a strict and regular Tryal; and that would at once decide\n the Question between us and the Antients, and shew whether we have\n been too rash, or they too superstitious.\n\nThe so-called \u201cdoctrine of signatures\u201d treated of the marks set by\nnature upon certain objects to denote their usefulness in the cure of\ndiseases affecting different parts of the body, or their power to\nneutralize the effects of the bites of certain animals or reptiles. Of\nthis theory Martius says that the \u201csignatures\u201d are not to be sought in a\nfanciful resemblance to the form of the objects with the diseased parts\nof the human body, but rather in the color, odor, taste, composition,\netc., of the objects.[225]\n\nMedieval medical literature has no more interesting example than the\ntreatise entitled \u201cThesaurus Pauperum,\u201d or the \u201cPoor-man\u2019s Treasury,\u201d\nwritten by Petrus Hispanus, who later reigned for a brief period as pope\nunder the name of John XXI (1276\u20131277). The birthplace of the author was\nLisbon in Portugal, and he studied for some time at the University of\nParis, where his learning earned him high praise. Prior to his election\nas pope, he served for a time as first physician to Pope Gregory X\n(1271\u20131276). Most of the remedies prescribed in this little treatise are\nnaturally such as had long been popular among the peasantry, and the\ningredients of which could easily be secured; vegetable growths, plants,\nherbs and flowers, and certain parts of the more common animals, served\nhere, as in Pliny\u2019s day and earlier still, as those most highly favored.\nOf the comparatively few mineral substances whose use is recommended may\nbe noted the red variety of _chelidonius_ or \u201cswallow-stone,\u201d for the\ncure of epilepsy; the powder of the \u201ciris\u201d (probably an iridescent\nvariety of quartz) was also a cure for epileptics. Then we find, strange\nto say, a recommendation of such costly remedial agencies as emerald and\nsapphire, either of which if touched on the eye would heal diseases of\nthat organ. Cold stones placed on the temples and tightly bound on were\nsaid to arrest bleeding from the nose, and coral was a great help in\nsyncope. For stone in the bladder two mineral substances, \u201chumus\u201d and\n\u201csongie,\u201d are warmly recommended (the former can scarcely be held to\nsignify mere \u201csoil\u201d), as are also \u201cstones found in the gizzards of\ncocks\u201d (the _alectorius_) and those from the bladders of hogs. All these\nwere to be reduced to powder, dissolved in liquid, and taken in the form\nof potions. The use of stones and coral rather as amulets or talismans\nthan as remedies is occasionally mentioned. Thus the loadstone, if worn,\nis said to remove discord between man and woman; coral, if kept in the\nhouse, destroyed all evil influences, and if a woman wore touching her\nskin a concretion taken from the stomach of a she-goat that had not had\nyoung, this woman would never bear a child.[226]\n\nThe curious old medical treatise in verse called the \u201cSchola\nSalernitana,\u201d was translated into English by Sir James Harington in\n1607. The following lines give advice that is as appropriate to the\nconditions of our own age as to those of any other:[227]\n\n Use three physitians still, first doctor Quiet,\n Next doctor Merry-man and doctor Dyet.\n\nWhether with or without intention, the translator has omitted to render\nthe qualification given in the original: \u201cSi tibi deficiant medici\u201d (if\nother doctors are lacking).\n\nThe terrible plague known as the Black Death is said to have claimed\n13,000,000 victims in Europe in the years 1347 and 1348. A contemporary,\nOlivier de la Haye, in a poem describing this fearful visitation, gives\na number of recipes used, or to be used as remedies. In one of these\nthere appear as ingredients pearls, jargoons, emeralds and coral,\none-sixth of a drachm of each of these materials entering into the\ncomposition of the prescription.[228] The symptoms of this form of the\nplague, as described by the old writers, are said to resemble closely\nthose of the disease that was prevalent not long ago in some parts of\nAsia, especially in northern China and Manchuria.\n\nA famous class of medical remedies used in medieval times bore the\ngeneric name _theriaca_, or theriac, this designation being derived from\nthe Greek _therion_, signifying a beast, more specifically a poisonous\nanimal and hence also a serpent. These preparations were primarily\nantidotes for poison, but were also freely administered for any form of\n\u201cblood-poisoning,\u201d for malarial infection, malignant fevers and the\nlike. Principal ingredients were the \u201cArmenian stone\u201d (a friable, blue\ncarbonate of copper), pearls, charred stag\u2019s-horn, and coral. The\nVeronese physician, Francesco India, confidently affirms that this\nremedy not only cured the plague, but also protected those who had\npartaken of it from contracting the disease; this was said to be more\nespecially true of the _theriaca Andromachi_, or Venice treacle as it\nwas popularly called, which purported to be the invention of a Roman or\nGreek physician, Andromachus, who composed some medical poems dedicated\nto C\u00e6sar.[229]\n\nIn medieval Bohemia the knowledge of precious stones and their\nemployment for curative purposes is well attested. There exists a\nBohemian manuscript list of precious stones dated in 1391, in which no\nless than 55 different gems are noted. Their medicinal use in Bohemia at\nthis time is vouched for by the Synonima Apothecariorum where precious\nstones are listed among the materials of the apothecaries\u2019 art.[230]\n\nIn the testaments of royal and princely personages, medical stones are\noften bestowed as precious legacies. Thus in the will of the Hessian\nprince, Henry VIII of F\u00fcrstenberg, the following stones are mentioned as\nespecially costly objects: a \u201ccrabstone\u201d (Krebstein), a bloodstone, and\na gravel-stone, the latter being a piece of jade or nephrite.[231] The\ncrabstone, sometimes called crab\u2019s-eye, is a chalky concretion which\nforms on either side of the stomach of a crab or other crustacean during\nthe moulting period, and this was and is still used as an eye-stone for\nthe removing of foreign bodies that have entered the eye, the eye-stone\nbeing introduced under the eyelid. This results in a rapid flow from the\ntear-ducts which often washes away the foreign bodies, the passage of\nthe stone across the eyeball occasionally aiding in the work by rubbing\noff the body.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Interior of fifteenth century pharmacy. From Johannis de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus\n Sanitatis\u201d, Strassburg, 1483.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n THE \u201cORTUS SANITATIS\u201d OF JOHANNIS DE CUBA, PUBLISHED AT STRASSBURG IN\n 1483.\n\n The woodcut depicts Adam and Eve beneath the \u201cTree of Knowledge.\u201d\n]\n\nIn the sixteenth century sapphires, emeralds, rubies, garnets, jacinths,\ncoral and sardonyxes were used in all tonics prescribed to protect the\nheart against the effects of poison and of the plague. As it was noted\nthat these remedies were frequently ineffectual, an explanation was\nsought in the fact that spurious stones were often used, the\napothecaries either not having the knowledge to recognize the genuine\nstones, or being moved by a desire to profit by the substitution of some\ninferior substance. Hence physicians were warned to be on their guard\nagainst such deceptions, and only to employ thoroughly trustworthy\napothecaries for the compounding of their prescriptions. A substitution\nfrequently made was that of the so-called yellow chrysoprase (cerogate),\na stained chalcedony, for the jacinth, although the true jacinth of the\nancients was of the color of the amethyst. The grinding of coral in a\nbrass mortar, instead of in one of marble, was also regarded as a very\ndangerous proceeding, which would have the worst possible results for\nthe unlucky patient who took the powder, for some particles of the brass\nmight be rubbed away and mix with the coral. This was said to have often\nproduced very serious illness.[232]\n\nIn a price-list of a firm of German druggists, printed in 1757, all the\nprecious stones still appear. Here the cost of a pound of rock-crystal\nis six groschen ($.18); the same quantity of emerald was priced at eight\ngroschen ($.25), while the pound of sapphire was quoted at sixteen\ngroschen ($.50), of ruby at one thaler ($.75), and of lapis lazuli at\nfive thalers ($3.75). This indicates quite clearly the quality of the\nemerald, sapphire and ruby offered for sale. A pound of Oriental bezoar\ncommanded the highest price, sixteen thalers ($12).[233]\n\nRegarding the length of time during which various preparations retained\ntheir strength, Braunfels[234] states that, according to the opinion of\nthe Arabian physicians, the solution of lapis Armenus lasted for ten\nyears, while that of lapis lazuli could be preserved only about three\nyears. A list of the indispensable materials which should be in every\ngood pharmacy included the following precious stones:\n\n Jacinth\n Sapphire\n Emerald\n Topaz\n Margaritha (pearl)\n Magnes\n Coral\n Hematite\n \u00c6tites\n Jasper\n\nThe supposed medicinal properties of precious stones are subjected to a\nsearching criticism by the Veronese physician, Francesco India, writing\nin 1593.[235] After establishing the distinction between alimentary and\nmedicinal substances, he proceeds to exclude from the latter category\nthe jacinth, emerald, sapphire, etc., because although they could be\nreduced to a powder, they could not be dissolved, so that when taken in\na potion they could be absorbed in the human system.[236] Hence no such\neffects could properly be ascribed to them as were to be expected from\nthe regular and normal medicinal agencies. This writer ascribes the\noriginal use of such stones as remedies for malignant fevers and other\ndangerous diseases to the Arabs, adding that \u201chad they not made this\nmistake and thus led many physicians into error, they would have been\nbetter worthy of praise.\u201d[234] In fact he does not hesitate to pronounce\nthe emphatic opinion that these stones are not remedial agents fit to be\nadministered or used by any rational physician.[237] That powdered\nhematite (red oxide of iron) possesses an astringent quality and may\nreally be looked upon as a medicine, he fully recognizes, more\nparticularly its efficacy for the cure of diseases of the eye, but\nneither these nor similar qualities can be credited to sapphires,\nemeralds, or jacinths. At the same time he is not disposed to deny that\nthese stones may have some subtle effect upon the body when worn, or\nwhen held in the mouth for a time. Thus he agrees with Avicenna (Ben\nSina) that a jacinth worn over the heart may strengthen that organ, for\nhe knows of the power inherent in jasper to check a hemorrhage. In a\nword his argument is principally directed against the internal use of\npowders made from these hard and unassimilable stones.[238]\n\nRobert Boyle, writing in 1663, attempts to show that the theory of the\ntherapeutic action of precious stones is not incompatible with observed\nfacts. In this connection he says:[239]\n\n I am not altogether of their mind, that absolutely reject the internal\n use of Leaf-Gold, Rubies, Saphyrs, Emeralds, and other Gems, as things\n that are unconquerable by the heat of the stomach. For as there are\n rich Patients that may, without much inconvenience, goe to the price\n of the dearest Medicines; so I think the Stomach acts not on Medicines\n barely upon the account of its heat, but is endowed with a subtle\n dissolvent (whence never it hath it) by which it may perform divers\n things not to be done by so languid a heat. And I have, with Liquors\n of differing sorts, easily drawn from Vegetable Substances, and\n perhaps unrectified, sometimes dissolved, and sometimes drawn\n Tinctures from Gems, and that in the cold.... But that which I chiefly\n consider on this occasion is, that \u2019tis one thing to make it\n _probable_, that is, _possible_, Gold, Rubies, Saphyrs, etc., may be\n wrought upon by humane Stomach; and another thing to shew both that\n they _are wont_ to be so, and that they _are_ actually endowed with\n those particular and specifick Virtues that are ascribed to them; nay\n and (over and above) that these Virtues are such and so eminent, that\n they considerably surpass those of cheaper Simples. And I think, that\n in Prescriptions made for the poorer sort of Patients, a Physician may\n well substitute cheaper Ingredients in the place of these precious\n ones, whose Virtues are no half so unquestionable as their Dearnesse.\n\nWhether the somewhat mysterious illness and death of the popes Leo IV\nand Paul II could have been caused by the great quantity of pearls and\nprecious stones they were in the habit of wearing was a question\nseriously discussed by Johann Wolff, the supposed lethal effect being\nattributed to the coldness of such objects.[240] Indeed, the frigidity\nof precious stones was adduced by certain writers as one of the chief\nreasons for their remedial use in fevers.[241]\n\nNot only to King Frederick III of Denmark himself, to whom on his\ndeath-bed in 1670, a dose of pulverized bezoar was administered, but to\nhis queen and their children such remedies were given, there being\nrecord that on September 19, 1663, a prescription containing red coral\nand pearl-powder was compounded by the Court Pharmacy for the queen,\nwhile a few years earlier the inevitable bezoar and also a tonic\npearl-milk were administered to some of the royal offspring.[242]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FAMOUS PEARL NECKLACE OF THE UNFORTUNATE EMPRESS CARLOTTA, WIDOW OF\n EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN OF MEXICO.\n]\n\nSome interesting details as to the use of precious stone remedies for\nthe cure of illness appear in the manuscript notes of lectures given at\nthe Leyden Hospital by the seventeenth century physician, Lucas Schacht,\nin 1674 and 1675.[243] This shows that these remedial agents were there\nand at that time only used as a last resort, when the patient\u2019s\ncondition had become desperate, and the physician is usually obliged to\nrecord the fact that death ensued shortly afterwards. Thus we are told\nof the case of a certain Ludovicus Carels who was suffering from\ndifficulty of breathing and purulent expectoration; his body was so\ndistended that he could scarcely move his limbs, and he also had a\nsevere diarrh\u0153a. This was his condition on November 12, 1674, and the\nsymptoms steadily grew worse under a treatment of herb decoctions, until\na few days later, on November 21, it is noted that \u201che only thinks of\ndeath.\u201d Still the doctors waited until November 24 before they decided\nto administer a compound remedy consisting in part of the elixirs of\njacinth and pearl; three days later the patient died. In general the\nchief symptoms which justified the use of such remedies were those of\nhigh fever or great weakness.\n\nAlthough by the middle of the eighteenth century the belief in the\nspecial curative powers of precious-stone material had almost entirely\ndisappeared, giving place to a more scientific conception of the\nchemical composition of these bodies, still, we find, even in so capable\na writer as the German mineralogist, U. F. B. Br\u00fcckmann, a lingering\ntrace of the old idea, for while he declares that all intelligent\nphysicians have abandoned their use, he adds, \u201cif, however, any stone of\nthis kind has more effect than an ordinary earthy substance, it is the\nlapis lazuli, but we have a hundred other remedies equally efficacious\nand much cheaper.\u201d He also testifies to the fact that very little\ngenuine material was to be had from the apothecaries, he himself having\noften seen a yellow feldspar offered instead of a jacinth, and poor\ngarnets as substitutes for rubies.[244]\n\nToward the end of the eighteenth century, a famous cordial medicine,\ncalled \u201cGascoign\u2019s Powder,\u201d after the physician who compounded it, had\nan immense vogue in England. This man is said to have got more than\n\u00a350,000 ($250,000) from the sale of this single remedy. It is stated to\nhave contained Oriental bezoar (the most important ingredient), white\namber, red coral, crab\u2019s eyes, powdered hartshorn, pearl and black\ncrab\u2019s claws; certainly a most incongruous mixture and one well\ncalculated to test the resisting powers of the person to whom it was\nadministered.[245]\n\nA modern writer finds in the homeopathic theory of medicine an\nexplanation of the apparent therapeutic effects of precious stones.[246]\nFor if the smaller the dose the greater the effect, then such\nsuper-subtle emanations as are thought to proceed from precious stones\nmust have effects still more powerful than those of the most highly\ndiluted tinctures administered by homeopathists of the old school.\nChristian Science, however, with its bold denial of the existence of\ndisease, and with its purely spiritual treatment of the \u201cmental error\u201d\nthat is supposed to be at the root of all morbid symptoms, could even\nmore easily account for the apparent cures wrought by merely wearing\nprecious stones. The belief in their remedial virtue would serve to\nremove the morbid impression, and would restore the mind to its normal\nand healthy state.\n\nAn instance from our own day of the application of a mineral substance\nexternally for the cure of disease, appears in the use of the uranium\npitchblende occurring in Joachimsthal, Bohemia. This is enclosed in\nleather bags and applied to the head for the cure of headache. The most\nviolent pains are said to be relieved in a short time by this treatment,\nthe effect being produced by the radium contained in the\npitchblende.[247]\n\n\nAgate\n\nTreating of the medicinal virtues of agates, Pliny distinguishes between\nthe Indian agates, which were a remedy for diseases of the eyes, and\nthose from Egypt and Crete, which were especially adapted for curing the\nbites of spiders or scorpions.[248] This latter quality was probably\nattributed to the agate because it was believed to have a cooling\ninfluence upon the body. Damigeron directs that when used to cure the\nbites of venomous creatures the stone should be reduced to a powder,\nwhich was to be strewn over the wound; sometimes, however, this powder\nwas dissolved in wine and administered internally.[249] As an agate, if\nheld in the mouth, was supposed to quench thirst, it was recommended at\nan early period for the cure of fevers and inflammatory diseases.[250]\n\nIn Byzantine times the use of agate for inflamed eyes and for headaches\nis still advised by Psellus (eleventh century), who adds that it checks\nmenstruation and prevents the accumulation of water in cases of dropsy.\nThis he attributes to the wonderful absorbent power of the stone.[251]\nIt seems most probable that here some kind of hydrophane has been\nconfounded with the agate. The other use, that of checking hemorrhages,\npresupposes the use of a red variety of agate.\n\n\nBeryl\n\nThomas de Cantimpr\u00e9[252] tells us that the beryl cures quinsy and\nswollen glands in the neck if the affected part be rubbed with the\nstone. It is also useful as a remedy for diseases of the eye, and if\nwater in which it has been steeped be given to anyone suffering from an\nattack of hiccoughs, relief will be afforded.\n\nThe beryl was warmly recommended as a cure for injuries to the eyeball,\neven of the most serious kind. For use in such cases the stone was to be\npulverized in a mortar, and this powder then passed through a fine\nsieve. Of the minute particles thus secured, a small quantity was to be\nintroduced each morning into the injured eye, the patient being in a\nrecumbent posture. He was then to keep properly quiet with his eyes shut\nfor a considerable length of time after this operation. Although it was\nnot indeed claimed that where the power of sight had been destroyed it\ncould thus be restored, still even in case of such severe injury the\neyeball was healed sooner and assumed a better appearance. In less\nserious cases a cure was considered to be assured.[253]\n\n\nCarbuncle\n\nMany virtues are attributed to carbuncles. It is related that those who\nwear them can resist poisons and are preserved from the pest. They\ndissipate sadness, control incontinence, avert evil thoughts and dreams,\nexhilarate the soul and foretell misfortunes to man by losing their\nnative splendor.[254]\n\n\nChalcedony\n\nPerforated, spherical beads of milky white chalcedony are worn at the\npresent day by Italian peasant women to increase the supply of milk.\nHence the Italian name for such a bead, _pietra lattea_. Perforated\nbeads of white steatite, belonging to the early Iron Age, have been\nfound near Perugia, where the chalcedony beads are worn, and it is\nbelieved that these steatite beads were borne for the same purpose.[255]\n\n\nCoral\n\nCoral and safran, if wrapped in the skin of a cat, were believed to have\nmarvellous powers; and when emeralds were added to the coral the\ntalisman would drive off a mortal fever. To have the proper effect,\nhowever, it must be attached to the neck of the patient.[256] As a cure\nfor hydrophobia, dog-collars set with flint and Maltese coral were\nrecommended in Roman times; \u201csacred shells\u201d and herbs over which magic\nincantations had been pronounced were also attached to, or enclosed in\nthese collars. The use of coral in this case appears to have been due to\nthe belief in its power to dissolve the spell cast by the Evil Eye, for\nGratius, who flourished in the first century A.D. and was a contemporary\nof the poet Ovid, asserts that if such collars were put on dogs\nsuffering from hydrophobia, the gods were appeased, and the charm cast\nby \u201can envious eye\u201d was broken.[257]\n\nThe Hindu physicians found that coral tasted both sweet and sour, and\nthey asserted that its principal action was on the secretions of the\nmucous membrane, on the bile and on certain morbid secretions.[258]\nAlthough the chemical constituents of coral have but slight medicinal\nvalue, it is quite possible that some effects upon the secretions may\nhave been observed experimentally after the administration of a dose of\npowdered coral.\n\nAn old pharmacop\u0153ia gives elaborate directions for the preparation of\nthe \u201cTincture of Coral.\u201d A branch of very red coral was to be buried in\nmelted wax, and allowed to remain over a fire for the space of two days,\n\u201cafter which time you will see that the coral has become white, while\nthe wax has assumed a red hue.\u201d A fresh branch of coral is then to be\nput into the partially colored wax, and the above operation repeated;\nthe wax will then be \u201credder than before.\u201d It is now to be broken into\ncrusts, which are to be steeped in alcohol until the liquid has\nextracted the coloring matter from the wax and has become reddish. In\nthis way, after the removal of the wax by filtration, etc., a tincture\nwas obtained which is represented to have been an excellent tonic, and\nto have had the power to expel \u201cbad humors,\u201d by inducing perspiration,\nor by its diuretic action.[259] We strongly suspect that in this, as in\nmany modern \u201ctonics,\u201d the contents of spirit was the active principle.\n\nAn apparent confirmation of the widespread belief of former centuries\nthat red coral changed its hue in sympathy with the state of the\nwearer\u2019s health, caused perhaps by the exudations or sweats arising from\nfevers or other ailments, is given from personal experience by the\nGerman physician, Johann Wittich. Writing toward the end of the\nsixteenth century, this author relates that he was called in to attend a\nyouth named Bernard Erasmus, son of the burgomaster of Arnstadt. As the\nyouth sickened unto death a red coral which he was wearing turned first\nwhitish, then of a dirty yellow, and finally became covered with black\nspots. To the anxious questions of the youth\u2019s sister, Wittich could\nonly give a mournful answer, telling her to take away the coral, for\ndeath was surely approaching, and this prognostication proved to be only\ntoo true, as in a few hours young Erasmus was dead.[260]\n\nA rosary of coral beads was sometimes called in France a _pater de\nsang_, or \u201cblood-rosary,\u201d since it was believed to check hemorrhages. An\nanonymous author of an eighteenth century treatise on superstitions,\nassuming that this effect could be produced only by thickening the\nblood, asserts that such a rosary might do more harm than good, for if\nit possessed this power at one time, it must possess it constantly, and\nits action would be very injurious.[261] Pearls and corals were still\nfreely used as therapeutic agents in the last half of the seventeenth\ncentury, for we are told that Louis XIV (1638\u20131715), in 1655, took\ntablets containing gold and pearls, which had been prescribed for him by\nhis physician Vallot, and, in 1664, a remedy composed of pearls and\ncorals was recommended by the same authority.[262]\n\n\nCorundum\n\nA stone, which from the description seems to have been an almost\ncolorless variety of corundum with a faint reddish tint, is recommended\nin the Syrian Aristotle for the alleviation of diseases of the breast.\nTo have the proper effect this stone was to be worn on the region\naffected by the malady.[263]\n\n\nDiamond\n\nThe Hindu physicians claimed that they had found that the diamond had\nsix flavors; it was sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and acrid.\nSince the stone united all these apparently contradictory qualities, we\nhave no reason to be surprised that it should be supposed to cure all\ndiseases and lessen all ills. An elixir of great potency, stimulating\nand strengthening all the bodily functions, was made from the\ndiamond.[264]\n\nThe author of the Jaw\u00e2hir-n\u00e2meh (Book of Jewels), written about a\ncentury ago, gives some of the prevalent Hindu ideas regarding the\ndiamond. He asserts that the similarity of this stone and rock-crystal\nled to the belief that the latter was only an incomplete or \u201cunripe\u201d\nform of the diamond. For this reason rock-crystal was called _kacha_,\n\u201cunripe,\u201d and the diamond, _pakka_, \u201cripe.\u201d The same writer, after\nnoting the general belief that if a diamond were put in the mouth it\ncaused the teeth to fall out, states that some were not disposed to\nadmit this, as diamond dust had been used as a tooth-powder without any\nbad effects.[265] It might certainly serve to whiten the teeth, but any\none who trusted to this very drastic dentifrice would soon be sadly in\nneed of the dentist\u2019s help.\n\nAs a proof that the diamond was not much prized as an ornamental stone\nin the Middle Ages, although some of the praise bestowed upon it by\nPliny and other classical writers was copied and recopied in a more or\nless perfunctory way, we may cite the few lines devoted to the stone by\nPsellus, who lived in Constantinople in the eleventh century A.D. This\nwriter simply remarks of the diamond that it is hard and difficult to\npierce, adding, as its chief virtue, that it would quench the heat of\nthe \u201csemi-tertian\u201d fever.[266] The belief in this cooling quality of the\ndiamond was suggested by its lack of color coupled with its extreme\nhardness, the latter quality being thought to augment the refrigerant\npower supposed to be inherent in colorless crystals which resembled ice.\n\n\nEmerald\n\nThe emerald is especially commended for amulets to be suspended from the\nnecks of children; it is believed to preserve them from epileptic\nconvulsions and to prevent the falling sickness; but if the violence of\nthe disease is such that it cannot be overcome by the stone, the latter\nbreaks up. Bound to a woman\u2019s thigh it is said to hasten parturition;\nhanging from the neck it drives off vain fears and evil spirits. It\nstrengthens the memory, restores the sight, reveals adultery and gives a\nknowledge of the future, produces eloquence and increases wealth.[267]\n\nBesides the usual designation _marakata_ which Garbe believes to be\nderived from the Greek \u03c3\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2, the Sanskrit has several\ndistinguishing names for the emerald. One of these, _a\u00e7magarbhaja_,\nsignifies \u201csprung from the rock,\u201d and well describes the emerald in its\nmatrix. Another name is _garalari_, \u201cenemy of poison,\u201d indicating the\ngreat repute enjoyed by this stone in India as an antidote for all\nanimal, mineral and vegetable poisons.[268] In Mexico the emerald[269]\nbore the name Quetzalitzli, \u201cstone of the quetzal,\u201d because its color\nresembled the brilliant green of the plumes of the bird called in the\nMexican tongue _quetzal_. These plumes were worn as insignia of royalty\nby the sovereigns of Mexico and Central America, and hence the emerald\nwas regarded as an essentially regal gem, although its use was not\nconfined to royalty.\n\nThe tincture of emerald is recommended by the Arab physician Abenzoar as\nan internal remedy for the cure of dysentery, the dose prescribed being\nsix grains. He also claims to have cured one of his patients suffering\nfrom this disease by making him wear an emerald.[270] This illustrates\nthe use of the stone in Moorish Spain in the early part of the eleventh\ncentury, the period of the highest development of Moorish civilization,\nfor Abenzoar, or Ab\u00fb Meru\u00e2n, as he is sometimes called, was born in\nSeville about 1091 A.D. and died in 1161 or 1162.\n\n\nHematite\n\nThe curative properties of the hematite were generally recognized by the\nearly writers, and in this case they were not so much at fault, as this\nsubstance possesses considerable astringent properties. Galen recommends\nits use for inflamed eyelids, following in this the teachings of the\nEgyptian schools of medicine. If there were tumors on the eyelids, the\nhematite was to be dissolved in white of egg, and if the tumors were\nvery large it was to be boiled with fenugreek (f\u0153num gr\u00e6cum); if,\nhowever, there were no tumors, but simply a general inflammation of the\neyelids, a solution in water sufficed. At the outset a few drops of a\nweak solution were to be poured into the eye through a glass tube;\nshould this treatment not prove effective, the solution was to be made\nthicker and thicker, until at last it had to be dipped out on the point\nof the tube. If ground to a fine powder in a mortar, hematite cured\nspitting of blood and all ulcers. Galen advises great care in judging of\nthe quality and strength of the powder, which was to be poured on or\nspread over the sore, but in his own case he admits that he trusted to\nhis sense of taste to determine its quality.[271]\n\nSotacus as quoted by Pliny distinguishes five kinds of hematite, each\none of which possessed special medicinal virtues. The best was the\nEthiopic, which was a valuable ingredient in lotions for the eyes, and\nfor burns. The second kind was called androdamus and came from Africa;\nthis was very black, and was exceedingly hard and heavy, whence its name\n\u201cconqueror of man\u201d; it was reputed to attract silver, brass and iron. If\nrubbed with a moistened whetstone it gave forth a red juice, and was\nconsidered to be a specific for bilious disorders. The third kind was\nbrought by the Arabs; this gave scarcely any juice when rubbed with the\nwhetstone, but occasionally a little of a yellowish hue, and was useful\nfor burns and for all bilious disorders. The fourth kind was called\nelatite in its natural state and melitite when burned; and the fifth\nappears to have contained an admixture of schist. These shared in the\ngeneral virtues of the hematite, three grains of whose powder, when\ntaken in oil, would cure all blood diseases.[272]\n\nThat the cause of the friendship between Hector and Dolon was the\nlatter\u2019s ownership of a hematite is asserted in the Greek Orphic poem\n\u201cLithica.\u201d This statement must be derived from some annotation to the\nIliad made in the Alexandrine schools, for Homer himself knows nothing\nof it. In the fateful encounter of Hector with Achilles, the form and\naspect of Dolon are assumed by Athena to deceive Hector into the belief\nthat his friend was at his side to aid him in the unequal struggle. The\nblood of Uranus when wounded by Kronos is stated in \u201cLithica\u201d as the\ngenerating cause of hematite, and the stone is recommended as a cure for\neye-diseases.[273]\n\n\nJacinth\n\nA peculiarly stimulant and tonic effect exercised by the jacinth was\nnoted by Ben Sina (Avicenna), and to this is attributed its value as an\nantidote for poisons. Not, however, to the material composition of the\nstone was this effect to be attributed, for it proceeded from the mass\nin the same way as did the virtue of the magnet. Hence Ben Sina is\nopposed to the theory that the natural warmth of the body acted upon the\njacinth, when taken internally, producing a transmutation, dissolution\nand mingling of its substance with the volatile spiritual essence.[274]\n\nIn Constantinople, at a time when the plague was exceptionally\nprevalent, the citizens used to wear jacinths, because of the special\nvirtues these stones were supposed to possess as guardians against the\nplague. That jacinth amulets intended for therapeutic use were\noccasionally to be found in pharmacies, is attested by Ambrosianus, who\nstates that a jacinth the size of a human nail, and set in silver, was\nkept in a \u201cpharmacy in Poland.\u201d This stone, if held to a wound, was said\nto prevent mortification.[275]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JADE TONGUE AMULETS FOR THE DEAD. CHINESE\n\n Figs. 1\u20134, plain types; Fig. 5, carved in shape of realistic cicada\n (a. upper, b. lower face); Figs. 6\u20139, conventionalized forms of\n cicada. From \u201cJade,\u201d by Berthold Laufer.\n\n By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of National History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\n\nJade\n\nThe first mention of this material is made by Monardes, who says:[276]\n\n The so-called nephritic stone is a species of stone, the finest of\n which resemble the emerald crystal, and are green with a milky hue. It\n is worn in various forms, made in ancient times, such as the Indians\n had; some like fish, some like the heads of birds, others like the\n beaks of parrots and others again round as balls; all, however, are\n perforated, since the Indians used to wear them attached for nephritic\n or gastric pains, for they had marvellous efficacy in both these\n infirmities. Their principal virtue regards the nephritic pain, and\n the passing of gravel and stone, in such sort that a gentleman who\n owns one, the best I have ever seen, wearing it bound on his arm,\n passed so much gravel that he often takes it off, thinking that it may\n be injurious for him to pass such a quantity; and, indeed, when he\n removes the stone he passes much less.... This stone has an occult\n property, by means of which it exercises a wonderful prophylactic\n effect, preventing the occurrence of nephritic pain, and should it\n nevertheless ensue, removing or alleviating it. The duchess my lady,\n having suffered three attacks of this malady during a short period,\n had one of these stones set in a bracelet and wore it on her arm, and\n from the time she put it on, she has never felt any pain, although ten\n years have past. In the same way it has served many, who have realized\n the same benefit. Therefore, it is highly prized and it cannot now be\n worn so easily as in former times, as only caciques and noblemen own\n it, and rightly, since it has such wonderful effects.\n\nThe Chinese Taoist adept T\u2019ao Hung Ching, who flourished A.D. 500,\ndirects that when powdered jade is prescribed by a physician, carved\njade must not be used, nor unwrought jade that has been buried in tombs.\nWhile sometimes a very fine powder was recommended, the usual plan was\nto reduce the jade by pounding it into pieces the size of small pulse.\nWhen administered in this form the Chinese physicians asserted that the\npowder passed unchanged through the system, but that the essential\nprinciple, the innate virtue, was absorbed by the patient. It relieved\nheart-burn and asthma and stilled thirst. Taken regularly for a long\nperiod it acted as a powerful general tonic, and had the special effects\nof strengthening the voice and rendering the hair glossy; but all these\ngood effects could only be secured by the use of unwrought jade.[277]\n\nThe _lapis nephriticus_ (jade) was held to be a remedy for \u0153dematous\naffections of the feet. As this stone was so highly in favor in Europe\nfor a century or two after it had first been brought from America by the\nSpaniards, many were of the opinion that it should be constantly worn to\nexert its full curative power. There were some, however, who argued that\nwith this as with other remedies, constant and unremitting use weakened\nthe effect, so that when the wearer was suddenly attacked by some\ndisorder for which jade was a cure, his system would have become so\nhabituated to its action that it would no longer work as a remedy.[278]\n\nOf the _lapis nephriticus_ the old Danish writer, Caspar Bertholin,\nrelates in 1628 that four prominent citizens of Copenhagen, whom he had\nrecommended to wear it to break up the calculi with which they were\nafflicted, could testify to its worth, adding, somewhat na\u00efvely, \u201cat\nleast two of them can, for the two others are dead\u2014but not of the\nstone.\u201d He himself, however, although he had sent for specimens at great\nexpense, to Venice, Nuremberg and Batavia, could not gain any relief\nfrom his trouble, but nevertheless, firm in his conviction of the\nspecial curative power of jade, he asserts that the calculi which\ntormented him must have been exceptionally hard and flint-like, so that\nthey could not be broken up. The vogue enjoyed by this supposed remedy\nin the Denmark of the time is illustrated in the case of the reigning\nsovereign, Christian IV, who wore on his person a green nephrite until\nthe day of his death. This stone is still preserved in the Rosenborg\nMuseum collection among the relics of this king.[279]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FRONTISPIECE OF MUSEUM WORMIANUM\n\n Printed in Leyden in 1655, showing a part of the remarkable collection\n of specimens illustrating natural history owned\n by Olaus Wormius of Copenhagen.\n]\n\nJohannes de Laet was much impressed with the virtues of the _lapis\nnephriticus_ as were most of his learned contemporaries, since he\nassures his readers that an oblong, smooth, moderately thick stone in\nhis possession, having the color of honey and a very oily surface, had\ngiven his wife great relief from the severe pains caused by renal\ncalculus, when the stone was bound upon her wrist. This particular\nspecimen he sent a few years later to his Danish friend, Ole Worms, for\nthe latter\u2019s cabinet of natural history. De Laet writes that all the\nvirtues claimed for nephrite by Monardes in 1574, were observable in his\nspecimen.[280]\n\nAs late as 1726, there were some who retained faith in the curative\npower of jade, for a record of that date informs us that the traveller\nPaul Lucas had just come back to Paris from the Orient, and had brought\nwith him a specimen of the lapis nephriticus which he intended to have\ncut up into thin slabs to bestow upon such of his friends as were\nsuffering from gravel or calculus, or similar troubles.[281]\n\nAfter relating that a specimen of American jadeite had been sent to him\nprior to 1602, Cleandro Arnobio states that when he showed it to a\nSignor Michele Mercato, \u201ca man well versed in medicine and in the\nknowledge of minerals and herbs,\u201d the latter immediately recognized it\nand called it \u201cnephite,\u201d from its virtues, saying also that he had found\nit useful in aiding parturition. A pharmacist, to whom it was shown in\nturn, declared that he had used the stone in this way but did not know\nits name. This is perhaps the earliest use of the name nephrite, the\nform occurring in the Italian text being either due to a typographical\nerror, or to Arnobio\u2019s ignorance of the correct spelling.\n\nProceeding to dilate upon the many virtues of this stone, Cleandro\nquotes Aldobrando, \u201ca physician, physicist and philosopher of Bologna,\u201d\nwho described it as having usually a purple shade, almost like porphyry,\nwith various figures of herbs, flowers, knots and Arabic characters in a\nyellow color. There were, however, according to the same authority, some\nof a darker hue, with protuberances and bands of yellow and also black\nspots, as though the stone were a section of the spleen. This kind was\nrecommended and used in diseases of the spleen. In another variety, in\nthe midst of the purple color might be seen a yellow stain with pittings\nand hollows; this was thought to figure a section of the liver,\nspattered with bile, and such stones were employed with good effect to\ncure those suffering from bilious disorders. To discharge the bile a\ndose of four grains was administered, the powdered stone being\nthoroughly dissolved in wine. Still another kind, of a reddish hue,\n\u201clike coagulated blood,\u201d full of pittings and veinings, was thought to\nbe more especially valuable as a remedy for disorders of the blood and\nfor checking hemorrhages.[282]\n\nThe learned Ko Kei asserts that the body of a man who had taken nearly\nfive pounds of jade did not change color after his death and states that\nthe body having been exhumed several years later did not show the\nslightest alteration. Besides this, it was observed that there were gold\nand jade around the tomb. Since then (in China), in the Kan period, the\ncustom was followed of embalming the dead bodies of the emperors, and of\npreserving them in a garment ornamented with pearls and enclosed in a\ncase of jade.[283]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JADE BELL OF THE KIEN-LUNG PERIOD: 1731\u20131795.\n\n Carved out of a single piece of jade. Dimensions: height, 20 cm.;\n width 14.6 cm.; thickness, from 1 cm. to\n 3.8 cm. From Berthold Lauter, \u201cJade, a Study in Chinese Arch\u00e6ology and\n Religion,\u201d Chicago, 1912.\n\n By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of Natural History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\nThe Indians of Brazil prize the so-called Amazon stones (jade) more\nhighly than any other of the ornaments they wear. This is not chiefly\nbecause of their ornamental quality, but rather because these _ita\nybymbae_ (green stones) have in many cases been handed down from\ngeneration to generation for many centuries. They are of cylindrical,\ntabular or other regular form and polished, and are believed to be\namulets affording protection against many diseases as well as against\nsnake bites. They are worn suspended from the neck and are regarded as\nvaluable aids in difficult parturition. Because of their remedial\nvirtues they are sometimes called _ita po\u00e7anga_, or \u201cmedicine stones.\u201d\nThey are also found with the natives of the Caribbean islands and are\nthere called \u201cthe smooth stones from the far-off continent.\u201d[284]\n\nAs in all superstitions, so in those concerning jade in China, the fact\nthat ill luck instead of good luck fortuitously resulted from the use of\nthe material was explained in a way that did not do violence to the\nfundamental idea. We are told that on the road near Kneha, in Turkestan,\nthere lies a block of jade from the quarries of Raskam-Darya, in Eastern\nTurkestan. This block was on its way to Peking, when orders came from\nthe imperial court not to forward any more jade from this quarry. The\nreason was that the heir apparent had been taken ill after having slept\non a couch made of Raskam jade.[285]\n\n\nJasper\n\nIn the collection of the Biblioteca di Ravenna there is a red jasper\namulet engraved with a device representing Hercules strangling the\nNem\u00e6an Lion. Amulets of this type are recommended for the cure of the\ncolic by the Greek physician Alexander Trallianus, who flourished in the\nfirst half of the sixth century A.D. He directs that this design be\nengraved on a \u201cMedian stone,\u201d which is then to be set in a gold ring and\nworn by the patient.[286] The fact that the constellation Leo was\nbelieved to rule over the stomach, and possibly over the liver also,\nprobably determined the selection of the design. On the reverse of the\nRavenna amulet are inscribed the letters K K K, which are believed to\nstand for \u039a\u03c9\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae, \u201ccolic.\u201d[287]\n\nAfter noting the power of the jasper (probably the red variety) to check\nhemorrhages from any part, and its general effect upon the circulation\nof the blood in reducing the pulse, thus calming desire and quieting the\nrestless mind, Cardano turns to another of the reputed virtues of this\nstone, that of rendering the wearer victorious in battle. The true\nreason for this he finds in the stone\u2019s tendency to diminish passion,\nand hence to render the wearer timid and cautious, for \u201cthe timid\nusually conquer, since they avoid a doubtful contest if possible.\u201d\nGesner states that he saw \u201cin the possession of a writer of Lausanne,\u201d a\ngreen jasper, bearing the image of a dragon with rays, similar to the\ngem described by Galen.[288]\n\nOf the jasper, De Boot relates,[289] from his own experience, that for\nchecking hemorrhages the red variety is the most effective, and, in this\nconnection, he describes the case of a young woman in Prague, who had\nsuffered for six years from hemorrhages. Many different remedies had\nbeen tried without avail, and when De Boot was called in to attend the\ncase, he advised the woman to wear a red jasper. As soon as this stone\nwas attached to her person the hemorrhage ceased. After wearing the\njasper for some time, the woman thought she could safely lay it aside,\nbut whenever she did so the hemorrhage returned after a longer or\nshorter interval, while it always ceased immediately she resumed wearing\nthe stone. This seemed to prove conclusively that it checked the flow of\nblood. Eventually the woman was so effectively cured that she was able\nto give up wearing the stone. Green jasper, if worn attached to the neck\nso as to touch the gastric region, was, according to De Boot, a cure for\nall diseases of the stomach. The same writer alludes to the belief that\nthe virtue of this stone was enhanced if it were engraved with the image\nof a scorpion while the sun was entering the constellation Scorpio, but\nhe rejects this belief as entirely superstitious and futile, while\nadmitting that, to obtain the best results, the jasper should always be\nset in silver.\n\nPear-shaped pieces of red jasper seem to have been more especially\nfavored for use as amulets. Italian amulets of to-day show this, and\nBellucci finds that the form is chosen as representing a drop of blood,\nand thus aiding, by sympathetic magic, in the cure of hemorrhages or\nwounds, and preventing the infliction of the latter. Sometimes such\namulets of red jasper are attached to the bed-post by a red ribbon. In\nthe case of a particularly valued amulet of this type, Bellucci was\ninformed by the peasant owner that it owed its great virtue to having\nbeen blessed by the parish priest. Thus the traditional power of a pagan\namulet received the sanction of the church and the object was associated\nwith purely Christian amulets.[290]\n\n\nJet\n\nJet, the _gagates_ of the ancients, was said to have been first found in\nthe river Gagates in Lycia, whence its name was derived. Galen, the\ngreatest physician of ancient times, reports, however, that he searched\nin vain for this river, although he sailed in a small vessel along the\nwhole coast of Lycia, so that he might closely observe it. Still, he did\nnot give up his search for the material, even when he failed to find its\nreputed source, and in C\u00e6lo-Syria, on a hill on the eastern shore of the\nDead Sea, he came across certain black, crustaceous stones, which\nemitted a slender flame when placed in the fire. These must have been\nsmall masses of bitumen, and, according to Galen, they were used for\nchronic swellings of the knee-joint \u201cwhich are difficult to cure.\u201d[291]\n\nThe fumes of jet are mentioned as a remedy for the pest in one of the\nearliest Greek medical treatises, written by Nicander, who flourished in\nthe second century B.C. He declares that the most virulent pestilence\ncould be driven away if the bedrooms were fumigated with the smoke of\nthe slow-burning jet.[292] The plague was called the black plague and\nnaturally the aid of a black substance was sought to cure it.\n\nFor Pliny, jet was endowed with many medicinal virtues. Its fumes were a\ncure for hysteria and were said to reveal the presence of a latent\ntendency to epilepsy; connected with this in some way was the curious\nbelief, repeated by later authors with certain variations, that these\nfumes could also be used as a test of virginity. When powdered and mixed\nwith wine, jet relieved the pains of those suffering from toothache, and\nif the powder were combined with wax, a salve was produced that gave\nvery beneficial results in cases of scrofula.[293] Even as a toilet\npreparation jet was recommended for use, and a most excellent dentifrice\nis said to have been made from it. In this connection jet was credited\nwith tonic as well as cleansing properties, as is shown by the words of\nBartholom\u00e6us Anglicus, who declares that this material was especially\nbeneficial for \u201cfeeble teeth and waggyng,\u201d since it strengthened them\nand made them firm.[294]\n\nThe delusions and hallucinations of melancholic subjects were believed\nto be put to flight by the power of jet, either in its solid form or\nwhen reduced to a solution. The fact that this material was often used\nfor the beads of rosaries was thought to have some connection with its\nsupposed virtues, since the bad dreams or dreadful hallucinations\nsometimes accompanying melancholia were designated as \u201cdemons,\u201d and thus\nthe prayers counted off on jet beads might be supposed to have the\ngreater power to banish the devil and his black angels. The old writer\nwho cites these particulars about jet, adds that there was to be found\nin the river Nile a black stone the size of a bean, at sight of which\ndogs would stop barking, and which also drove away evil spirits. Here we\nhave another among many instances of the curious blending of the\ndoctrines of sympathy and antipathy, the black stone repelling the imps\nof darkness and nullifying the spells of the Black Art.[295]\n\n\nLapis Armenus\n\nThe _lapis Armenus_ was well known to the Arabs under the name _hajer\nArmeny_, and their medical writers describe it quite accurately and\ndistinguish it from the somewhat similar lapis lazuli, with which it was\noften confused in ancient times. Ibn Beithar states that if properly\nprepared it would not provoke nausea, as was otherwise the case. It was\nsaid to cause a very abundant evacuation of bile and must have been\nregarded as an efficient remedy for the bilious disorders so general in\nwarm climates.[296]\n\nA \u201cblue amulet\u201d against vertigo, melancholia and epilepsy could be made\nup of the following ingredients: shavings from an elk\u2019s horn and from a\nhuman skull, to be reduced to a fine powder, the excrement of a peacock,\nwhite agate, lapis lazuli or _lapis Armenus_, of which enough was to be\nused to give the required sky-blue tint. The whole mass was then to be\nsoftened by the addition of gum tragacanth, and formed into heart-shaped\ntablets, which were to be dried out in the air, and then smoothed on a\nturning-lathe. These amulets were to be worn attached to the neck or the\narm, sometimes they were enclosed in a little receptacle of silver or of\nred sandal-wood and suspended from the neck.[297]\n\n\nLapis Lazuli\n\nIn Papyrus 3027 of the Berlin Museum, a record that dates from about the\nfifteenth century B.C., and appears to be contemporaneous with the\ncelebrated Papyrus Ebers, we have directions for the curative use of\nthree stones as amulets; namely, lapis lazuli, malachite (Amazon stone?)\nand, probably, red jasper. The interpretation of the text offers\nconsiderable difficulty, but it seems that the stones were worked into\nthe form of beads and then strung on a cord and suspended from a sick\nchild\u2019s neck. Thereupon a formula was recited, calling upon the disease\nto pass through the beads and disperse itself through water and air, or,\nmore literally, to attach itself to the denizens of water and air. The\ntranslation of Dr. Adolph Erman is as follows:[298]\n\n [A red bead? of lapis lazuli thereon.]\n ... a green bead? of malachite is thereon.\n a red bead of jasper? is thereon\n\n O, ye beads! fall upon the haunches [of the ...] in the flood; on the\n scales? of the fish in the stream; on the feathers of the birds in the\n heavens. Hasten forth! _n\u0161w_, fall upon the earth\n\n Let this text be recited over the beads?, one of lapis lazuli, the\n other of jasper?, the other malachite, which are drawn on a string\n of ... and hung upon the neck of a child.\n\nErman does not venture to translate the name of the disease (n\u0161w), but\nsays that another word derived from the same root signifies a discharge\nfrom the nose. Possibly we have to do with croup or some similar disease\nof the respiratory organs.\n\nA curious prescription for the cure of cataract is given in the Ebers\nPapyrus,[299] dating from about 1600 B.C. The six ingredients are as\nfollows: genuine lapis lazuli, verdigris salve, a resinous substance\nperhaps similar to what is to-day called tabasheer, milk, stibium, and\n\u201ccrocodile-earth,\u201d the slime of the Nile. It is possible that the word\n_chesbet_, which usually signifies lapis lazuli, was understood in this\ncase as indicating some other stone, such as that known by the name of\n_lapis Armenus_\u2014this latter is a carbonate of copper and really\npossesses astringent properties.\n\nFor remedial use a lapis lazuli (_cyanus_) of deep hue is recommended by\nDioscorides. This stone was to be burned thoroughly and the resultant\npowder moistened so that a kind of paste was obtained. This was claimed\nto have an astringent and caustic effect, and was freely used as a\ncounter-irritant.[300] Probably here as in other cases a sulphate of\ncopper has been confused with the lapis lazuli. The ancients did not\nfavor the administration of lapis lazuli internally, and Braunfels[301]\ntherefore regarded the free use of pills of lapis lazuli which was\ncommon in his time as a source of grave danger. The _lapis Armenus_,\nhowever, if well prepared and properly washed, was less to be feared;\nbut, unfortunately, the genuine stone was rarely to be found in the\napothecaries\u2019 shops.\n\n\nMalachite\n\nMany medicinal virtues were ascribed to malachite. Worn as an amulet, it\naverted attacks of faintness, prevented hernia, and saved the wearer\nfrom danger in falling. In this latter respect similar powers seem to\nhave been admitted in the case of the green malachite as were attributed\nto the light blue or greenish-blue turquoise. If malachite were reduced\nto a powder, dissolved in milk and taken as a potion, it cured cardiac\npains and colic; mixed with honey, and applied with a linen cloth to a\nwound, it stanched the flow of blood, and cramps were relieved if this\nsolution were applied to the affected part; lastly, if mixed with wine,\nit was a cure for virulent ulcers.[302]\n\nPowdered malachite was sometimes administered medicinally, with what\nresults we have little definite information; certainly, if not very\ncarefully used, the effect would have been anything but favorable. A\nfriend of De Boot once told the latter that a dose of six grains of\npowdered malachite acted as a purgative, but the wary doctor confesses\nthat he never ventured to test the efficacy of this prescription.[303]\nIn Bavaria, at the present time, mothers and midwives are fond of\nwearing pieces of malachite set in rings or strung for use as necklaces.\nThese are believed to help the dentition of children and are also\nthought to bring more clients to the midwives. Amulets of this and other\nkinds were sold in Bavaria, in the seventeenth century, by wandering\nstudents and by gypsies.[304]\n\n\nMedian Stone\n\nOf the so-called Median stone we read, in Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s \u201cBuch\nder Natur,\u201d[305] that it had powers of good and evil; \u201cfor when\ndissolved in the milk of a woman who has borne a son, it restores sight\nto the blind.\u201d It also cured gout and insanity. If, however, anyone were\nso ill-advised as to dissolve the stone in water and partake of the\nsolution, he would die of hasty consumption; or if he simply bathed his\nforehead with the liquid, he would be robbed of his sight.\n\n\nOnyx\n\nA famous medicinal stone was at one time in the Abbey of St. Alban,\nfounded in 793 A.D. by Offa, King of Mercia, in honor of the British\nprotomartyr. In 1010, under Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham, a sumptuous shrine\nwas erected to receive St. Alban\u2019s body; this shrine was principally of\nsilver, and was richly adorned with precious stones, chosen from among\nthose in the treasury of the monastery. The records state that one of\nthese stones \u201cwas so large that a man could not grasp it in his hand.\u201d\nIt was believed to give great help to women in childbirth. Hence, it was\nnot set in the shrine, but was left free, so that it might be taken from\nhouse to house as required. The size of this stone and the fact that it\nwas not used for ornamentation might have induced the belief that it was\none of the singular \u201ceagle-stones,\u201d so celebrated in ancient and\nmedieval times, but it is expressly described as an onyx-gem, the gift\nof King Ethelred II (968\u20131016) to the monastery. From the description we\nlearn that on one side of this onyx was cut an image of Esculapius, the\ngod of healing, and on the other that of \u201ca boy bearing a buckler.\u201d As\nthe art of gem-cutting was practically unknown in Europe in the tenth\ncentury, this must have been an antique gem, and may have served as a\npagan amulet many centuries before it was placed upon the shrine of a\nChristian saint and used as a Christian amulet.[306]\n\nAn old manuscript of Matthew Paris[307] gives a sketch of the gem from\nthis author\u2019s own hand. As the special power exerted by this talisman\nwas to aid women in their confinements, it was loaned out from time to\ntime to such as were considered worthy of the honor. In one case,\nhowever, it came into untrustworthy hands, for the favored lady failed\nto return the gem when her immediate need of its help had passed,\nretaining it in her possession until her death, when she bequeathed it\nto her daughter. During her lifetime the latter appears to have had no\nprickings of conscience, but on her death-bed, possibly through the\nexhortations of her confessor, she made provision that the long-lost\nsardonyx should be returned to the Abbey. It is said to have borne the\nname Kaadman, which Mr. Thomas Wright regarded as a corruption of\n_cadmeus_ or _cameus_, early forms of our \u201ccameo.\u201d[308]\n\n\nPyrite\n\nIn Geneva and in the neighboring regions great virtues are ascribed to a\ncut and facetted iron (pyrite), very hard, susceptible of a high polish\nand of resplendent lustre. This is cut to resemble the rose or brilliant\nform of diamond, and is set in rings, buckles, and other ornaments. In\nappearance it resembles polished steel and is called _pierre de sant\u00e9_,\nor \u201chealth-stone,\u201d for it is believed to grow pale when the health of\nthe wearer is about to fail.[309] This substance is known as marcasite\nand is a bisulphide of iron. In the time of Louis XVI it was largely\nused for ornamental purposes; at present steel has almost entirely taken\nits place, although it is still utilized to a limited extent. Many\nbelieve that this is the material to which Victor Hugo alludes in his\ngreat romance, \u201cLes Miserables,\u201d as having been manufactured by Jean\nValjean.\n\n\nRock-crystal\n\nMedical men in Rome, in the first century, attested that no better\ncautery for the human body could be used than a crystal ball acted upon\nby the sun\u2019s rays,[310] and this use of the material seems to have been\nvery general at that time.\n\nIn his commentary on Andrea Bacci\u2019s gem-treatise, Wolfgang Gabelchover,\nthe German translator, says that a German name of rock-crystal in his\ntime, the early sixteenth century, was _Schwindelstein_\n(\u201cvertigo-stone\u201d), because it was believed to preserve the wearer from\nattacks of dizziness. Other remedial or physical effects of rock-crystal\nare also noted. Taken as a powder in dry wine, it was a cure for\ndysentery, and the physician, Christopher Barzizius, taught that if its\npowder were mixed with honey and administered to mothers, they would be\nthe better able to nurse their offspring.[311]\n\nThe following lines by Robert Wilson (d. 1600), a popular\nsixteenth-century comedy writer, credit amber and rock-crystal with\nqualities not commonly ascribed to them, although the fancied growth of\nrock-crystal from a piece of ice probably explains its supposed styptic\nvirtue:[312]\n\n LUCRE: And if they demand wherefore your\n wares and merchandise agree,\n You must say, jet will take up a straw;\n amber will make one fat;\n Coral will look pale when you be sick,\n and crystal stanch blood.\n\nThat a remedial tincture of rock-crystal could be made was firmly\nbelieved by the Danish chemist, Ole Borch (Olaus Borrichius, 1626\u20131690),\nand in his chemical lectures he gives the following directions as to the\nprocesses to be employed. A rock-crystal was to be heated to a high\ntemperature and then cast, while still warm, into cold water; it would\nthereupon break up into small fragments. By heating these particles\ntogether with tartaric salts, the whole mass would be reduced to a\nliquid solution. Half of the quantity, after cooling off, was to be put\ninto a distilling glass with the best \u201cspirit of wine\u201d and was to be\ndigested in a bath of lukewarm water. It would then be seen that the\nsolution became red. This process is repeated several times, and finally\nthe tincture is concentrated by distilling off the spirit of wine,\nleaving the pure rock-crystal tincture. Its remedial quality is stated\nto have been applicable to dropsy, scrofula, or hypochondriac\nmelancholia, if it were taken in doses up to forty drops in a proper\nmedium.[313]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n ANCIENT PERSIAN RELIC KNOWN AS THE \u201cCUP OF CHOSROES\u201d\n\n The engraved rock-crystal medallion in the centre depicts Khusrau II,\n Parwiz (A. D. 591\u2013628), in the peculiar and characteristic garb of\n the Sassanian monarchs. The strange wing-like adornments rising from\n each shoulder, and the moon crescent and sun-disk above the head,\n are especially noteworthy. In the Royal Museum, Bucharest, Roumania.\n]\n\nTo make the _magisterium_ of rock-crystal, a pound of the substance was\nto be heated to a high temperature and then dipped into spirits of\nvitriol. After this operation had been repeated ten times, the\nrock-crystal was to be ground, on a marble slab, to a very fine powder,\nwhich was a sure remedy for gout and for calculi formed in any of the\nbodily organs. The spirits of vitriol in which the rock-crystal had been\ndipped was sometimes filtered through blotting-paper and sold as crystal\nspirits of vitriol; this was asserted to be a powerful diuretic, from\nseven to ten drops being given at a dose in a cup of meat broth.[314]\n\nAs late as the last half of the eighteenth century a Dr. Bourgeois\nrecommended the use of rock-crystal, calcined and ground, as a very\nexcellent astringent in the most obstinate cases of diarrh\u0153a. In\nreporting this, Valmont de Bomare (1731\u20131807) adds that it would be\ndesirable to know the nature of the acid in rock-crystal and its state\nof combination.[315] Here, as in all cases where some of the\nconstituents of precious stones may really possess certain curative\npowers, a better result can be attained by using these constituents in\nother forms or combinations.\n\nThe wonderful therapeutic virtues of a Scotch lake named Loch-mo-naire\nare explained by a local legend as having arisen from certain magic\ncrystals which had been cast into its waters. These crystals, if placed\nin water, rendered the liquid a potion of great curative power. They\nwere the property of a woman who had gained by their possession a great\nreputation as a healer, but her success attracted the envy of a neighbor\nwho determined to secure for himself the woman\u2019s wonder-working stones.\nIn pursuance of this design he came to her, feigning illness. She saw\nthrough his deception and sought safety in flight, but he pursued her\nand was gaining rapidly on her, when she threw the stones into the\nwaters of the lake, crying out the Gaelic word _noire_, \u201cshame,\u201d and\nuttering the wish that its waters should be rendered powerful to cure\nthe sick, all except those of the clan Gordon to which the would-be\nthief belonged. As the correct translation of the name of the lake is\nsaid to be not \u201cLake of Shame\u201d but \u201cSerpent Lake,\u201d the legend appears to\nhave no good foundation, but is perhaps as true as any of the popular\ntales purporting to explain the origin of the virtues of healing springs\nor waters.[316]\n\nTo many stones was attributed the power of transmitting a certain\nremedial virtue to water or other liquid in which they were immersed.\nThis, as we have related, was the case with the white stone that St.\nColumba sent to King Brude at Inverness when the king\u2019s druid priest\nBroichan was suffering from disease. A peculiarity of this stone was\nthat if it were required in the case of a person about to die, it would\ndisappear from view. Thus its remedial powers could never be put to test\nunless success were assured.[317]\n\nThere can be no reasonable doubt that some remarkable cures have been\neffected by means of relics, or by drinking the waters of a spring\nbelieved to have been pointed out by some divine vision. From a purely\nscientific standpoint this can be explained as the result of an\nextraordinary stimulation of the nerve-centres, caused by the rapt\nenthusiasm of religious faith. The relics, or the pure water, simply\nserve as an object about which this faith crystallizes, so to speak, and\ngains a concrete and external form, which in turn reacts upon the mind\nof the believer. It is a well-known fact that a great shock, or imminent\nperil, has sometimes suddenly restored the power of motion to those who\nhave long been paralyzed. This view does not, however, necessarily\nexclude a religious interpretation of these phenomena when they are\nproduced by religious impressions, for the divine will manifests itself\nby natural means, and a true understanding of the regular and normal\nworking of these means should give us a deeper, truer, and purer faith.\n\n\nSapphire\n\nAs a substance for medicinal use, the Hindus declared the sapphire to be\nbitter to the taste and lukewarm. It had a remedial action against\nphlegm, bile and flatulence.[318] A similar action is ascribed to\nseveral other precious stones, the medicinal qualities attributed to\nthem being less differentiated among the Hindus than they were with the\nGreeks and Romans, or in medieval times.\n\nTo drink of a potion made from the sapphire was said to be helpful for\nthose who had been bitten by a scorpion, and for those suffering from\nintestinal ulcerations, or from growths in the eye; it also prevented\nboils and pustules, and healed ruptured membranes.[319] Here we see that\nthe sapphire shared with the emerald the power of strengthening the\nsight, and one authority asserts that if anyone looked long and intently\nat a sapphire, his eyes would be protected from all injury, and nothing\nharmful could befall them.[320]\n\nA medieval test of the antitoxin quality of the sapphire was to place a\nspider in a vessel to whose mouth a sapphire was so suspended that it\nwould swing backwards and forwards just above the spider. The supposedly\nvenomous insect was not long able to resist the power of the stone and\nfell a victim to its virtues. Wolfgang Gabelchover gravely asserts that\nthis experiment had often been successful.[321]\n\nThe removal of particles of sand or dust from the eye was said to be\nsuccessfully accomplished by \u201cwarming\u201d a sapphire over the eye, the\nvirtue of the stone thus passing into the eye and giving the organ the\nstrength necessary for the ejection of the troublesome foreign\nbody.[322] This attribution of a chemical action to the sapphire in\neye-trouble may be added to the many statements of its general curative\npowers in eye-diseases.\n\n\nTopaz\n\nThe thirteenth century Hindu physician Naharari states that the topaz\ntastes sour and is cold. It is a remedy for flatulence and is a most\nexcellent appetizer. Any man who wears this stone will be assured of\nlong life, beauty and intelligence.[323] Many a curious legend has been\nwoven about the old belief that the topaz quenched thirst. However,\npopular fancy does not endow any and every topaz with this power. One of\nthese thirst-removing topazes is said to have been in the possession of\na celebrated Hindu necromancer, whose services had been sought by one of\nthe petty rajahs of India on the day of a decisive battle. Either this\nnecromancer\u2019s art must have failed him at the critical moment, or else a\nmore powerful enchanter guided the fortunes of the enemy, for the latter\nprevailed and the owner of the potent topaz was left dying upon the\nfield of battle. Alongside him was a poor wounded soldier who was\nclamoring for a drop of water to quench his burning thirst. Hearkening\nto this prayer, the dying necromancer threw his topaz to the soldier,\ntelling him to place it upon his heart. No sooner did he do so than his\nthirst passed away, and we must suppose that his wounds were also\nhealed, for we are told that on the morrow he sought everywhere on the\nbattle-field for the corpse of his benefactor but could find no trace of\nit.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n 1. Emerald that belonged to the deposed Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid;\n weight 45.33 carats. Auctioned December 11, 1911, Paris.\n\n 1\u00bd. Side view of the emerald.\n\n 2. Almandite garnet (transparent) fashioned into a knuckle bone; on\n the upper surface is engraved an eagle with outspread wings, above\n which are the Greek characters \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03b3. Charm seal of some early\n knuckle-bone player.\n\n 3. Sardonyx idol-eye of a Babylonian bull, pierced for suspension.\n Engraved at a later period with the head of a Parthian king.\n\n 4. Aquamarine seal (transparent). Sassanian Pahlavi. Found in ruins of\n Babylonia.\n]\n\nTavernier, the great French Seventeenth Century jeweler-traveler, the\nfirst European to visit the ruby mines, took with him a number of\nemeralds, generally large. These were often cut from the top of the\ncrystal, usually darker in color, and simply domed off, preserving the\noriginal hexagonal shape. Remarkable specimens are in the Indian Museum\nand the South Kensington Museum, part of the jewels of Thebaud, King of\nBurma. The finest emeralds of this type belonged to the late Sultan of\nTurkey; one of the finest, a remarkable gem, cut rounded en cabochon,\nwas with the Bijoux du Sultan, S. M. Abd-Ul-Hamid II, sold at the\nGalerie Georges Petit, November 28, 1914. It weighed 44\u00b3\u2044\u2081\u2086 carats (old\nsystem) or 45.29 carats (metric system). (See color plate.)\n\nA remarkable charm is a hemispherical, transparent aquamarine, with\nfigure of hump bull, found in ancient Babylonia. (See color plate.)\n\nA quaint, ancient amulet is carved out of fine knuckle bone, an eagle\nwith spread wings engraved on one side; portrait of a Parthian King.\n(See color plate.)\n\nA Babylonian idol\u2019s eye, of sardonyx, was pierced and worn as charm\nagainst the Evil Eye; later engraved with portrait of a Parthian King.\n(See color plate.)\n\n\n\n\n IV\n On the Virtues of Fabulous Stones, Concretions and Fossils\n\n\nNot only precious or semi-precious stones were used as charms or\ntalismans and for curative purposes; a large number of animal\nconcretions also were and are still somewhat in favor. These\nconcretions, variously composed but usually containing a quantity of\ncarbonate of lime, are found in different parts of animals\u2019 bodies, and\nthey were believed to contain a sort of quintessence of the nature of\nthe animal in which they occurred. For this reason the _alectorius_,\nfrom the body of the cock, one of the most widely known of the animal\nstones in ancient times, was thought to confer valor upon the wearer,\nand is said to have been worn by athletes in their contests.\n\nIn the case of venomous, or supposedly venomous, creatures, such as the\ntoad and certain snakes, the stone was used as an antidote for poisons.\nThis virtue was thought to be notably present in the so-called bezoar\nstone, taken from the stomach of a species of goat, as well as from some\nother animals. As we shall see, legend sought to account for the\npeculiar qualities of the bezoar by the tale that the animals in whose\nbodies the stones were formed had been bitten by serpents. Indeed, it\nseems not unlikely that the belief in the curative properties of the\nbezoar stone originally owed its existence to the finding of some such\nconcretion in the body of an animal that had died from the effects of\nsnake-bite.\n\nAs is well known, certain pathological conditions induce the formation\nof stones of various kinds and shapes in the human body also. Here the\ntendency has been to use these stones to counteract the disease which\nproduced them. Renal or vesical calculi, for instance, were recommended\nfor diseases of the kidneys and bladder, a treatment quite in accord\nwith the popular idea of the homeopathic theory.\n\nAnother class of animal substances, namely, the fossil teeth of the\nshark, enjoyed a tremendous vogue at one time, and were known by the\nname of _glossopetr\u00e6_. These were usually regarded as stones, and\nbecause of their peculiar form were frequently assimilated to the\nbelemnites and even to the flint arrow-heads and other prehistoric flint\ninstruments, which were dug up in many places. All these flint artefacts\nwere believed to have been precipitated to the earth by the discharge of\nelectricity during a thunder-storm; in other words, they were\n\u201cthunderbolts.\u201d[324] The same idea was frequently held as to the origin\nof the _glossopetr\u00e6_, and those found on the island of Malta were\nbrought into connection with an incident of St. Paul\u2019s visit to that\nisland.\n\nIn many different countries, especially in the north of Europe, these\nflint arrow-heads and the fossil remains of similar form, were called\nfairy-darts or elf-shots, and were believed to be the enchanted weapons\nof the elves and fairies, who, in the old folk-lore, are represented as\nbeings of a very different quality from the fairies and elves of the\ntales of our childhood. In some parts of Europe at the present day, for\nexample in Ireland, the peasantry talk with bated breath of the doings\nof the \u201cgood people,\u201d for they shrink from using the word \u201cfairy\u201d lest\nit might offend these mysterious and generally malevolent beings. The\ndesignation \u201cgood people\u201d is therefore used to placate and flatter them.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Extracting toad-stone. From Johannis de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus Sanitatis,\u201d\n Strassburg, 1483.\n]\n\nVarious shell fossils were also used as talismans. Here the form\ngenerally determined the virtues they were supposed to possess. Some of\nthese strange forms lent themselves to an interpretation in line with\nthe primitive adoration of the life-giving forces of nature, and\nsuggested the use of such fossils to cure certain special diseases.\nOther of these petrifactions retaining the form of the enclosing shell,\nespecially those of circular shape, and with concentric rings, were\nbelieved to be of meteoric origin and to have fallen during thunder or\nrain; hence the names of _brontia_ and _ombria_. A certain class of\nthese fossils, with convolutions on the surface resembling the form of a\nsnake, were called snake-eggs (_ova anguina_), and, very naturally,\nenjoyed the repute of preserving the wearer from poisons. All these\nvarieties will be described in this and the following chapters.\n\nWhile some believed that the toad-stone was vomited by the animal,\nothers held that it constituted a part of the toad\u2019s head. That this was\nthe popular belief in Shakespeare\u2019s time is shown by the well-known\nlines in his \u201cAs You Like It\u201d (Act II, sc. 1):\n\n Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,\n Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.\n\nDe Boot, whose treatise was published about the time that Shakespeare\nwrote these lines, gives the following account of the result of his\nefforts to obtain a toad-stone according to the prescribed method:[325]\n\n I remember that, when a boy, I took an old toad and set it upon a red\n cloth that I might secure a toad-stone; for they say that it will not\n give up its stone unless it sits upon a red cloth. However, although I\n watched the toad for a whole night, it did not eject anything, and\n from this time I became convinced all the tales concerning this stone\n were merely fond imaginings.\n\nA stone called simply the \u201cIndian Stone,\u201d and said to be light and\nporous, is noted by pseudo-Aristotle, and to it is attributed the power\nto relieve those suffering from dropsy, by drawing the water to itself.\nIf weighed after having been applied to the patient, the stone was found\nto have increased in weight in proportion to the amount of water\nabsorbed, and when it was placed in the sun, water of a yellowish hue\nexuded, until, finally, the stone resumed its original appearance and\nweight.[326] Another and perhaps earlier authority gives the name\n\u201ctoad-stone\u201d to this material.[327]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BVFONITES\n\n Toad-stones. Natural concretions of claystone and limonite. From\n Mercati\u2019s \u201cMetallotheca\n Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nThe toad-stone was not only an antidote for poisons, but was also\nthought to give warning of their presence by becoming very hot. To fully\nprofit by this strange quality, the wearer of such a stone was advised\nto have it so set in a ring that it would touch the skin; in this way he\nwould be sure to have timely notice, if any poisoned food or drink were\noffered to him.[328] The writer who mentions this adds the following\ntale of the discovery of a toad-stone:\n\n A clerk once found a toad which had a round knob on its head,\n wherefore he thought that there must be a toad-stone. So he took up\n the toad and tied it firmly in the sleeve of his coat. When he\n returned from the fields and searched for the toad he found it not,\n although the sleeve of his coat was tightly bound below and he could\n not discover any opening through which the creature could have passed.\n This shows us that it is a great help to prisoners in jail.\n\nAnother early authority, Thomas de Cantimpr\u00e9, says of the toad-stone:\n\n If one take the stone from a living and still quivering toad a little\n eye can be seen in the substance; but if it be taken from a toad that\n has been some time dead, the poison of the creature will have already\n destroyed this little eye and spoiled the stone.\n\nIf the toad-stone be swallowed at meal-time it passes through the system\nand carries off all impurities.[329] Here the substance may have been\none of many concretionary materials,\u2014bauxite, impure pearls,\nconcretionary limestone, stalagmite, or even the eye-stones from the\ncrawfish; indeed, any material, white or gray, that had a semblance to a\ntoad color, and was then sold by the vendor of charm stones as coming\nfrom a toad\u2019s head.\n\nThe great Erasmus (1465\u20131536) made a pilgrimage to the famous shrine of\nthe Virgin in the church at Walsingham, in Kent. In his description of\nwhat he saw there he expressly notes a wonderful toad-stone:\n\n At the feet of the Virgin is a gem for which there is as yet no Latin\n or Greek name. The French have named it after the toad [crapaudine],\n because it represents so perfectly the figure of a toad that no art\n could do this so well. The miracle is all the greater that the stone\n is so small, and that the exterior surface has not the form of a toad,\n the image showing through it as though inclosed within.[330]\n\nAs we see, the stone of Erasmus contained the form or image of a toad.\nThis was not usually the case with the concretions that bore this name,\nand it appears probable that the \u201ccrapaudine\u201d of the shrine at\nWalsingham owed its peculiarity rather to art than to nature. A rather\nfar-fetched explanation of the origin of these substances is given by\nAmbrosianus, who relates that, in order to investigate the quality and\ncharacter of toad-stones, he killed a number of toads and took out their\nbrains. Although these were not hard when extracted, they became, in\ntime, as hard as stones.[331]\n\nA toad-stone which appeared to represent the form of this animal was\npreserved as an heirloom in the Lemnian family. It exceeded the size of\na walnut and was often seen to dissipate the swelling caused by the bite\nof a venomous creature in any part of the body, if it were rubbed\nquickly over the swelling. It, therefore, seemed to possess the same\nquality as was attributed to the animal from which it was taken, namely,\nto draw out and annul all poisons. If any neighbor of the Lemnian family\nwere bitten by a mouse, a spider, a dormouse, a wasp, a beetle, or any\nsuch creature, he soon sought the aid of this stone.[332]\n\nWe have noted De Boot\u2019s unsuccessful attempt to secure a toad-stone, but\nhe does not seem to have used the orthodox method for obtaining it.\nAccording to one authority,[333] the creature should be placed in a cage\ncovered with a red cloth and then set in the hot sunshine for several\ndays, until thirst forced the poor toad to eject his precious stone,\nwhich was to be removed as soon as possible lest it should be swallowed\nagain. Another method proposed is so cruel that it is a comfort to know\nthat the whole matter is little more than a fanciful conceit. In this\ncase, the toad was to be enclosed in a pot with many perforations, and\nthe vessel with its unlucky inmate was then to be placed in an ant-hill\nand left there until nothing remained of the toad except his bones and\nthe coveted stone. It is quite probable that any stone found in an\nant-hill after this procedure would be termed a \u201ctoad-stone,\u201d since the\ntoad was put away in order to find one. In some instances they may have\nbeen bony concretions from the head of the toad, or even pebbles that\nthe toad had swallowed.\n\nWhile it is quite possible that some of the so-called toad-stones may\nreally have been concretions found in the head of the toad, by far the\ngreater part were probably small pebbles sold as \u201ctoad-stones\u201d to those\nwho believed in the magic virtues of such a stone and were ready to pay\na good price for one. Where there is a demand there will always be a\nsupply, and the rarer the genuine article is, the greater is the\nincentive to imitation or substitution. In the case of some of these\n\u201ctoad-stones\u201d set in rings to serve as amulets, the material has been\nfound to be the fossil palatal tooth of the ray, a species of fish.[334]\n\nThe small share of material prosperity that fell to the lot of wits and\nliterary men in the England of the sixteenth century, even in the age of\nElizabeth, induced Thomas Nash (1567\u20131601) to liken the fate of the wit\nto that of the toad-stone, or, as he writes, of \u201cthe pearl,\u201d which was\nsaid to be in the head of the toad, this \u201cbeing of exceeding virtue, is\nenclosed with poison; the other, of no less value, compassed about with\npoverty.\u201d[335] A writer of the same period affirms that if the\ntoad-stone were touched to any part, \u201cenvenomed, hurt, or stung with\nrat, spider, wasp, or any other venomous beast,\u201d the swelling and pain\nwere diminished.[336]\n\nThe bones of the lizard were supposed to have medicinal virtues similar\nto those attributed to various \u201cstones\u201d found in animals. The following\ndirections are given by Encelius for securing these bones: \u201cPut a green\nlizard, while still alive, in a closed vessel filled with the best\nquality of salt. In a few days the salt will have consumed the flesh and\nthe intestines, and you can easily gather up the bones.\u201d[337] These were\nused as remedies for epilepsy and were considered to be as efficacious\nas the hoofs of the elk, a recommendation which seems to have been\nregarded as sufficient to convince the most sceptical of the remedial\nvirtues of the lizard\u2019s bones.\n\nThe crab furnished the stone called the crab\u2019s-eye, because in form it\nresembled an eye. Like almost all the animal concretions, it was\nprincipally used as a remedy for those suffering from vesical calculi,\nand no other concretion was believed to be so efficacious in breaking up\nor dissolving the calculi in the case of those who had long been\nafflicted with them. Those referred to by Encelius were from the\ncrawfish and are often used as eye-stones.[338]\n\nIn the last joint of a crab\u2019s claw was sometimes found a small\nconcretion closely resembling in size and appearance a grain of\nmillet-seed; it was in no wise like the \u201clapillus\u201d found in crab\u2019s eyes.\nWe have the testimony of Cardanus that he had preserved two such\nconcretions, one of which he had himself come across, while the other\nhad been found by a colleague. They were smooth and light, and of a\nreddish-white color. Because they were very rarely met with, the\ncircumstance was regarded as of good augury for the finder.[339]\n\nA round concretion (a calculus) from the liver of the ox is described by\nIbn Al-Beithar as being of a yellowish color and composed of successive\nsuperimposed layers. If secured at the time of the full moon it was\nbelieved to promote _embonpoint_, and was much prized by the Egyptian\nwomen for this virtue. The effect was to be attained by taking two\ngrains of the pulverized concretion, either with the bath or directly\nafter bathing, and thereupon a \u201cfat hen\u201d was to be eaten.[340] The\nlatter prescription, if regularly and frequently administered, might be\nthought to suffice without the powdered calculus.\n\nFrom the second stomach of heifers was sometimes obtained a dark brown\nor blackish concretion of very light weight and as round as a ball. This\nwas credited with great remedial virtues provided it had not fallen to\nthe ground.[341] There seems to have been a belief that the curative or\ntalismanic properties of animal concretions, or of the teeth of animals,\nwere weakened, or destroyed, if these objects came in contact with the\nearth. This belief was perhaps due to the idea that the mysterious power\nof the substance was originally derived from earth currents, or\nemanations, and that the active principle would return to the earth if\nthe object came in contact with it.\n\nThe _lapis carpionis_ or carp-stone, a triangular mass, was taken from\nthe jaws of the carp. It was smaller or larger according to the size of\nthe fish. The principal remedial use was against calculi, or for the\ncure of bilious diseases and colic.[342] These are bony plates from the\nupper part of the mouth of the carp. Such so-called \u201cstones\u201d were also\nsaid to check bleeding of the nose, a quality they owed to their\nastringent properties, quite noticeable if anyone tasted the powder made\nfrom them.[343]\n\nThe _cin\u00e6dias_, a white and oblong concretion, had in Pliny\u2019s time the\nreputation of possessing extraordinary powers, announcing beforehand\nwhether the sea would be clear or stormy.[344] In what way this weather\nprediction was manifested we are not told; perhaps the surface of the\nconcretion may have become dull or grayish when there was much humidity\nin the air. The cin\u00e6dia were said to be found in pairs in the fish of\nthat name; one pair being taken from the head of the fish and another\npair from the two dorsal fins. Power to cure diseases of the eye was\nconferred upon these concretions by putting nine of them, duly numbered,\nin an earthen jar together with a green lizard. Each day one of the\n\u201cstones\u201d was taken from the vessel in the numerical order, and on the\nninth day the lizard was liberated. Evidently it was thought that to\nkill the animal would interfere with the transmission of its virtue to\nthe concretions.[345]\n\nThe eye of the hyena was supposed to furnish a stone called _hy\u00e6nia_ and\nPliny writes that these animals were hunted to secure possession of it.\nLike rock-crystal and many other decorative stones, this _hy\u00e6nia_ was\nthought to give the power to foretell the future, if it were placed\nbeneath the tongue.[346] Because of the hyena\u2019s uncanny habit of feeding\non carrion, and unearthing dead bodies from graves, it has often been\nassociated with necromancy and with evil spirits.\n\nThe _lacrima cervi_, or \u201cstag\u2019s tear,\u201d is not to be confounded with the\nbezoar stone according to Scaliger, who maintains that it was a bony\nconcretion that formed in the corner of a stag\u2019s eye only after the\nanimal had passed its hundredth year; as the stag never attains this age\nhe might as well have said that the existence of this \u201ctear\u201d was a\nfable. However, he describes it as though he had carefully inspected a\nspecimen, saying that it was so smooth and light that it would almost\nslip through the fingers of anyone who held it in his hand. It had\nsimilar powers to those of the bezoar, being a powerful antidote to\npoisons and a cure for the plague if powdered and given with wine; these\ngood effects resulting from the excessively profuse perspiration that\nfollowed the administration of the dose.[347]\n\nThese fabled stag\u2019s tears, though often praised as substitutes for the\nbezoar, were not believed in by all the early writers, one of them,\nRollenhagen, giving expression to a caustic opinion that might do credit\nto a writer of our own day. Alluding to the many reports of the\nexistence of such \u201ctears,\u201d shed by the animals because of the pains they\nsuffered after indulging in a diet of serpents, he notes that all those\nwho make these statements are careful to place the habitat of these\neccentric stags as far away from their own land as possible, always\n\u201csomewhere in the Orient,\u201d probably at \u201cNowheretown,\u201d as he adds.[348]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Types of _cheloni\u00e6_ (tortoise-stones). Natural concretions. From\n Aldrovandi\u2019s \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648.\n]\n\nThe _chelonia_ is said by Pliny to have been the eye of the Indian\ntortoise. The magicians asserted that this was the most marvellous of\nall \u201cstones\u201d; for if bathed in honey and then placed in the mouth, when\nthe moon was either full or new, it conferred the power of divination,\nand this power lasted for one entire day.[349] This virtue was not,\nhowever, altogether peculiar to the _chelonia_, for it was shared by\nseveral other substances; in each case the stone was to be placed in the\nmouth, thus coming into more immediate contact with the organs of\nspeech, and stimulating to prophetic utterance. A later writer states\nthat it was the uterine stone from the tortoise that gave the gift of\nprophecy. That from the head cured headaches and averted lightning,\nwhile the stone taken from the liver, if administered in solution, was a\nremedy for ague.[350]\n\nThe wild ass was another of the animals that furnished concretions\nprized for their talismanic and medicinal powers. That taken from the\nanimal\u2019s head cured headache and epilepsy; that from the jaw made the\nowner indefatigable, so that he yielded to none in battle. It was also a\nremedy for ague and for the bites of venomous creatures, as well as a\nmarvellously efficacious vermifuge for children.[351] Very likely the\nstory of Samson, who wrought such slaughter among the Philistines when\narmed with the jawbone of an ass, may have suggested the fancy that the\nconcretion from the ass\u2019s jaw would give victory to the wearer.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Chelidonius, or \u201cSwallow-stones.\u201d From \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lugduni\n Batavorum, 1655.\n]\n\nPliny notes the opinion that a stone taken from the body of a young\nswallow, if worn attached to the human body, helps to strengthen the\nbrain, and he adds that the stone is said to be found in the young bird\neven when it has just broken the shell.[352] According to Thomas de\nCantimpr\u00e9 the swallow-stone is a talisman for merchants and\ntradesmen.[353] The merits of the _chelidonius_, as this stone was\ncalled, were fully recognized in Saxon England and are given due\nprominence in an Anglo-Saxon medical treatise, dating from the first\nhalf of the tenth century. When these \u201cswallow-stones\u201d had been obtained\nthey were to be carefully protected from contact with water, earth, or\nother stones. To secure the best results _three_ of them were to be\napplied to the person who stood in need of their remedial effects. Not\nonly did they cure headache and eye-smart, but they banished the dreaded\nnightmare, rendered futile the wiles of goblin visitors, and dissolved\nall fascinations and enchantments. The seekers after these wonderful\nstones are stoutly assured that they can only be found in \u201cbig\nnestlings.\u201d[354]\n\nThe _\u00e6tites_ (eagle-stone) is first mentioned by Pliny who states that\nit was found in the nests of eagles of a certain species, and adds that\nsome called this stone _gangites_. Fire had no power over it and it was\na useful remedy for many diseases. Its special virtue, however, was to\nprevent abortion, this use being suggested by the character of the stone\nitself, which \u201cwas as though pregnant, for when it was shaken another\nstone rattled within it, as though in a womb.\u201d The curative virtues of\nthe _\u00e6tites_, like that of the swallow-stone, only existed when the\nstone was taken from the bird\u2019s nest. This was probably a story told by\nthe vendors of such geodes to enhance the value of their wares, although\nthere may have been some foundation for it in folk-lore.\n\nThey are really hollow concretions of an iron stone, containing a piece\nof loose iron or hardened sand, or a concretion of some kind that\nrattles, and is called by the Italians _bambino_ or \u201cbabe.\u201d Such\nconcretions are found at many places on every continent, many fine ones\nhaving been found in Delaware. They vary in size from one to six inches\nacross. The small ones of a hard, smooth exterior that have become\npolished from wear, are especially valued as charms.[355]\n\nA passage in the treatise on stones by Theophrastus, pupil of Aristotle,\nmight seem to indicate that the _\u00e6tites_ was already known in the third\ncentury B.C. The words he employs are as follows: \u201cThe most astounding\nand greatest power of stones (if indeed this be true) is that of bearing\nprogeny.\u201d As both Pliny and Dioscorides name this stone or geode and\nfully describe its character, laying especial stress upon the loose,\nrattling material enclosed in its hollow interior, this fact giving rise\nin later time to the half-poetic name of \u201cthe pregnant stone,\u201d there is\nevery reason to believe that it was already known of three or four, or\neven more centuries before their time.[356]\n\nMarbodus of Rennes calls this stone \u201cthe guardian and defender of\nnests.\u201d[357] Enclosing as it did one or more smaller stones, it was\nthought to be symbolically designated as an aid to parturition.\nAccording as it was attached to the left arm or to the left thigh, it\neither retarded or accelerated the natural processes. This, however, by\nno means exhausted the virtues of the stone, for when worn on the left\narm of man or woman, it conferred sobriety, increased riches, and moved\nthe wearer to love; it also brought victory and popularity, and\npreserved children from harm. In addition to all its other powers this\nstone seems to have possessed a certain detective quality, to judge from\nthe following words of \u00c6tius, who wrote in the sixth century A.D.:[358]\n\n The \u00e6tites serves to discover thieves, if anyone places it in the\n bread which they eat; for whoever has committed a theft is unable to\n consume the bread. It has also been stated that, if cooked with any\n kind of food, the \u00e6tites unmasks thieves, since they cannot eat such\n food. If taken with wax from Cyprus, with fresh olive oil, or with any\n other calefacient, this stone greatly helps those suffering from\n rheumatism and paralysis.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n \u00c6tites. From Johannis de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus Sanitatis,\u201d Strassburg, 1483.\n]\n\nThe loose, enclosed concretion was named in Latin _callimus_, and we\nhave a detailed description from the sixteenth century of one of these,\nwhich belonged to Georgius Fabricius. Because of its curious markings he\nhad it set on a pivot in a ring, so that both sides of the stone could\nbe easily seen. The material was in part as clear as a rock-crystal,\nevidently a very translucent chalcedony, but the chief interest centred\nin the images or figures traced by nature upon the stone. These showed\nwhat seemed to be two forms, one of a cowled monk, and the other that of\na tall, beardless man; there was also a third, showing an undefined\nform. On the under side of this _callimus_ was marked the outline of a\ncrescent moon.[359]\n\nA seventeenth century writer, not otherwise uncritical, does not\nhesitate to declare that he had himself witnessed, in the case of a\nfig-tree, an instance of the special power exercised by the _\u00e6tites_.\nOne of these stones having been attached to this tree, all the fruit\ndropped off in, the space of ten hours, although tree had apparently\nlost nothing of its vigor, its foliage remaining as luxuriant as\nbefore.[360]\n\nAn old treatise on the _\u00e6tites_ gives the following names as applied to\nit in various languages:[361]\n\n Italian: Aquilina, pietra d\u2019aquila, pietra aquilina, ethite.\n French: Pierre de l\u2019aigle.\n Spanish: Piedra de l\u2019aguila.\n Polish: Orlovi Kamyen.\n Swedish: Oernarsteen.\n English: Eagle-stone.\n German: Adlerstein.\n Flemish: Adelersteen, arensteen.\n Arabic: Hager achtamach.\n Syriac: Abno dneshre.\n Chaldaic: Abno dineshar, or abno denishra.\n Hebrew: \u2019Eben ha-nosher.\n\nSome said that this stone might be found not only in the eagle\u2019s nest,\nbut also in that of the stork. This idea was, however, entirely\nerroneous in Bausch\u2019s opinion, for though he had caused diligent search\nto be made by all those who encountered such nests, no \u201ceagle-stone\u201d\ncould ever be found. To the supposed \u201cstork-stones\u201d had been given the\nname _lychnites_, as they were believed to be luminous, their light\nserving to frighten off any snakes which might be seeking the new-laid\neggs.[362]\n\nBausch enumerates and rejects a number of explanations to account for\nthe supposed presence of the _\u00e6tites_ in the nests of eagles. One theory\nwas that these stones served to give stability to the nest, and enabled\nit better to resist the assaults of the wind; others asserted that the\ncoolness of the stones lowered the unduly high temperature of the eggs\nand of the parent bird\u2019s body; others again were inclined to attribute\nto them a mysterious formative and vivifying power exerted on the eggs,\nor else a talismanic power protecting these from injury. While rejecting\nall these notions, as we have stated, and indeed denying the truth of\nthe assertion that such stones were ever found in eagles\u2019 nests, Bausch\ncites the authority of St. Jerome, in his commentary on Isaiah, chap.\nlxvi, that the amethyst had been found with the young of the eagle,\nbeing placed with them in the nest to protect them from venomous\ncreatures.[363]\n\nThat the \u201ceagle-stones\u201d were not always hollow is shown by a specimen\nowned in the eighteenth century by the English family Postlethwayte.\nThis was solid, and had been cut into the shape of a heart, a hole being\npierced at the upper end so that the stone could be worn suspended. In a\ncurious letter written April 25, 1742, by Martha Postlethwayte, sister\nof Sir Thomas Gooch, who successively presided over the episcopal sees\nof Bristol, Norwich and Ely, to her daughter Barbara Kerrick, the writer\nadvises her correspondent, in order to avoid a repetition of former\nmisadventures, to \u201cwear the eagle-stone and take Mrs. Stone\u2019s receit,\u201d\nand adds: \u201cI hope it may have good effect and make me a good\ngrandmother.\u201d The result was favorable, and must naturally have affirmed\nthe faith in the powers of the stone.[364]\n\nAn inventory of the furniture, plate, jewels, etc., of Charles V of\nFrance, made in 1379,[365] describes two stones preserved in a case of\ncypress-wood which the king always carried about with him. One of these\nwas called the \u201choly stone\u201d and aided women in childbirth. This was\nprobably an \u201ceagle-stone.\u201d It was set in gold and the setting was\nadorned with four pearls, six emeralds and two balas-rubies. The other\nstone, which cured the gout, was an engraved gem bearing the figure of a\nking and an inscription in Hebrew characters. This description suggests\none of the Gnostic gems so common in the early Christian centuries. The\ngem was suspended from a silver cord, so that it could be worn on the\nneck, or perhaps attached to some other part of the body. We find in the\n_comptes royaux_ of 1420 an electuary composed of powdered precious\nstones, for the cure of the infirmities of Isabel of Bavaria, who was\nfifty years old and had been for several years obese and a\nvaletudinarian.[366]\n\nIn some parts of the Orient the superstitious notion exists that the\n_\u00e6tites_ occasionally emits a wailing sound during the night, and this\nis said to be either an expression of the birth-pangs of the mother\nstone, or else the cry of its new-born offspring, the small stones\nenclosed within the geode, for the story goes that each night some of\nthese are generated.[367]\n\nThese \u201ceagle-stones\u201d still retain their repute in Italy, where they are\ncalled _pietre gravide_, or \u201cpregnant stones,\u201d and are considered by\nmany of the peasants as almost indispensable aids to parturition. They\nare in such demand that the lucky owners rent them for the nine months\nduring which they are worn. As soon as one case has been happily\nconcluded, the amulet is passed on to some other woman who is in need of\nit. A fee of five lire, or one dollar, is paid in each case, and a\npledge worth a hundred lire ($20) is required before the stone is handed\nover. Some amulets of this class bear Christian symbols.[368]\n\nGeodes of this description consisting of limonite are to be found in\nmany places. Some of them are of relatively recent formation, and one of\nthese shows curiously enough that in addition to its other virtues the\n_\u00e6tites_ can on occasion perform the functions of a savings-bank. This\nstrange specimen was found in 1846, at P\u00e9rigueux, department Dordogne,\nFrance. On opening the geode there appeared within some 200 silver coins\ndated in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; all of these were\nencrusted with the material forming the enclosing mass.[369]\n\nLong, white, rough stones, calcareous shell growths, were sometimes\ntaken from snails and cockles. These were believed to have a marked\ndiuretic action, and were therefore strongly recommended for certain\ndiseases of the kidneys and the bladder. They were also believed to be\nhelpful in cases of difficult parturition. Although no details are\ngiven, it seems most probable that the stones were reduced to a powder\nfrom which some sort of potion was concocted,[370] this having no more\naction than so much ground shell or marble dust.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Extracting an alectorius. From Johannis de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus Sanitatis,\u201d\n Strassburg, 1483.\n]\n\nThe _alectorius_ or \u201ccock-stone\u201d is one of the most famous of those real\nor supposed animal concretions that were known in ancient times. From\nthe age of Pliny\u2014and unquestionably long before his time\u2014there was a\npopular belief that this stone was only to be found in the gizzard of a\ncock which had been caponed when three years old, and had lived seven\nyears longer. This was believed to allow the substance to acquire its\nboasted virtue, for the longer it remained in the body of the capon, the\ngreater its power. Such a \u201ccock-stone\u201d never exceeded the size of a\nbean. From its association with the pugnacious fowl, the _alectorius_\nbecame a favorite stone with wrestlers, and the great and invincible\nMilo of Croton is said to have owed many of his victories to the\npossession of one, for if held in the mouth, it quenched the thirst and\nthus refreshed the combatant.\n\nMany other virtues of this stone are recorded; it rendered wives\nagreeable to their husbands, dissolved enchantments, brought new honors\nand powers in addition to those already enjoyed, and helped kings to\nacquire new dominions. How persistent was the faith in the virtue of the\n_alectorius_ is shown by the fact that the great astronomer Tycho Brahe\ngreatly valued a stone of this kind, not larger than a bean, and\nbelieved that it brought him luck in gambling and in love. Thomas de\nCantimpr\u00e9[371] says that the name signifies an allurer or enticer,\nbecause the stone excites the love of husbands for their wives.[372] In\norder to secure the due effect it should be held in the mouth, possibly\nbecause this would render the wife less eloquent.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n ALECTORIVS\n\n Alectorius. From Mercati\u2019s \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nA specimen of the _alectorius_ is listed in the inventories of Jean Duc\nde Berry (1401\u20131416). It is called there a \u201ccapon-stone\u201d and is\ndescribed as having red and white spots. Several other objects to which\ntalismanic virtues were ascribed are also noted, such, for instance, as\nthe \u201cmolar of a giant,\u201d set in leather; probably the tooth of a\nhippopotamus, or the fossil tooth of some antediluvian creature. There\nis also what is termed a \u201ctester,\u201d composed of several \u201cserpent\u2019s teeth\u201d\n(_glossopetr\u00e6?_), horns of the \u201cunicorn\u201d (narwhal\u2019s teeth) and stones\nregarded as antidotes to poison. These were all suspended by golden\nchains, and were valued at seventy-five livres tournois.[373]\n\nAs a companion piece to the \u201ccock-stone,\u201d the hen furnished a concretion\npossessing special virtues. This came from the fowl\u2019s gizzard and was of\na sky-blue color; its Arabic name was _hajar al-\u1e25attaf_. If it were worn\nby an epileptic, the attacks of his malady would cease; it favored\nprocreation and also nullified the effects of the Evil Eye, and it kept\nchildren from having bad dreams if placed beneath their heads when they\nwere sleeping. Thus the effects it was fancied to produce differed from\nthose ascribed to the _alectorius_.[374]\n\nIn medieval times bunches of dried \u201cserpent\u2019s tongues\u201d were sometimes\nhung around salt-cellars or attached to spits; but frequently, for royal\nor princely use, such tongues, or the jawbones of snakes, were set with\nvaluable precious stones and constituted a peculiar jewel termed in old\nFrench a _languier_, or _\u00e9preuve_ (tester); for these utensils, often\nvery rich and tasteful specimens of the goldsmith\u2019s art, were believed\nto show in some way the presence of the much-dreaded poison in any\nviands with which they were brought in contact.[375]\n\nThe Indians and Spaniards in South America made remedial use of a stone\nsaid to be obtained from the cayman or alligator, at Nombre de Dios,\nCartagena, etc. This was employed as a cure for various intermittent\nfevers. Monardes writes that he applied two of these _lapides caymanum_\nto the temples of a young girl suffering from an attack of fever, and\nfound that the fever was alleviated thereby; but he doubts that fevers\ncould be entirely cured by this treatment.[376]\n\nFrom New Spain was also brought the _lapis manati_, taken from the\nmanatee, or sea-cow. This does not appear to have been a stone, but\nrather the cochle\u00e6 of the animal, the small bones in the head which\ntransmit the auditory vibrations to the sensorium. They were highly\nvalued by the Indians for their remedial action in cramps and colic, and\nthe Spaniards collected them and brought them to Spain to enrich their\nvery miscellaneous pharmacop\u0153ia. Sometimes they were taken internally,\nbut often they were set in rings or worn suspended from the neck as\namulets. This stone, or bone, is described as oval in shape and of a hue\nresembling that of ivory. When pulverized and dissolved, the solution\nwas odorless and tasteless. They are in size often as large as a woman\u2019s\nclinched fist.[377]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Lapis manati. From Valentini\u2019s \u201cMuseum Museorum, oder Vollst\u00e4ndige\n Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt am Main, 1714.\n]\n\nThe ear-bones of fish, almost invariably in pairs, are still used as\namulets in Spain and Italy. One of their chief virtues is to protect\nchildren from the Evil Eye, as well as from accidents of any kind. They\nare also believed to preserve the wearer from deafness or diseases of\nthe ear.[378] This is quite in accord with the primitive fancy that the\ndifferent parts of the animal body had prophylactic or curative powers\nin relation to any disease of that portion of the human body.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Lapis malacensis, stone of the hedgehog or porcupine. From Mercati\u2019s\n \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nEven the spider was supposed to produce a stone having remedial power,\nespecially that variety called by the Germans Kreuzspinne\n(\u201ccross-spider\u201d). The belief was general in Germany, in the sixteenth\ncentury, that it was very unlucky to injure one of these spiders;\nindeed, Encelius writes that although he had never seen a\n\u201cspider-stone,\u201d he had never dared to dissect one of the spiders to seek\nfor the stone. He also remarks that it was in no wise strange this\nshould have such power, since spider-webs were used as remedies for many\ndiseases. Naturally enough the \u201cspider-stone\u201d was an antidote against\npoisons, and a belief was current that in a year when the plague was\nraging no Kreuzspinne was to be seen.[379]\n\nAn attempt to induce one of these spiders to secrete or produce its\nstone or calculus is told by Simon Paulli. On his return from France in\n1630, he stopped for the summer with his revered master, Sennart, at\nWittenberg, in order to pursue his studies. One day they found by chance\nthat an enormous spider had wandered into the rain-water holder, and the\nextraordinary size of the creature\u2014it was as big as a muscat\nnut\u2014suggested the idea of making it the subject of experiment. It was\ntherefore put into a glass jar with a quantity of powdered valerian\nroot, this material (or salt) being reputed to have a favorable\ninfluence in the production of the stone. However, the experimenters\nwere doomed to disappointment, for the poor spider was unable to live up\nto its reputation. Tired of waiting for nothing, recourse was finally\nhad to the drastic measure of dissection, but no stone of any kind could\nbe found. This convinced the observers that all the talk about spiders\u2019\nstones was mere foolishness or deception. In a note in the Miscellanea\nCuriosa, under date of 1686, the statement is made that such stones\ncould indeed be found, but only in the autumn season and in no other\npart of the year.[380]\n\nA small golden amulet, having the form of a heart and set with various\nstones, was strongly recommended to ward off the plague by Oswald Croll,\na writer of the early part of the seventeenth century. On the upper side\nof the heart-amulet should be set a fair blue sapphire; above, beneath,\nand at either side of this should be put a toad-stone, or a\n\u201cspider-stone,\u201d so as to give a cross effect. The \u201cspider-stones\u201d were\nasserted to be powerful enemies of the plague. On the under side of the\nheart a good-sized jacinth was to be set, the jacinth also being\ncredited with great virtue against plague or pestilence. The gold heart\nwas to be hollow within. To give a finishing touch to the efficacy of\nthe amulet it was necessary to take a living toad and keep the creature\nsuspended by its hind-legs until it died and dried up so that the body\ncould be reduced to a powder. This powder was then to be kneaded into a\nsort of paste with a little very sharp vinegar and introduced into the\nhollow interior of the gold heart.[381]\n\nThe \u201cfretful porcupine\u201d also contributed its stone to the series of\nconcretions; this was usually found in the animal\u2019s head, and was\nconsidered to be even superior to the bezoar as an antidote against\npoison. If steeped in water for a quarter of an hour, the water became\nso bitter that \u201cthere was nothing in the world more bitter.\u201d Another\nstone supposed to be found in the animal\u2019s entrails possessed like\nproperties, but was said to lose none of its weight when placed in\nwater, while the first-mentioned stone became lighter. Tavernier bought\nthree of these stones, paying as much as five hundred crowns for one of\nthem.[382]\n\nA jewel made of ambergris, in the J. Pierpont Morgan collection, is said\nto be the only specimen of its kind that has been preserved for us from\nmedieval times. The perfumed material has been skilfully carved into the\nsymbolic figures of a woman and three children. At one time believed to\nsymbolize Charity, the later theory is that these figures have a less\npure significance and rather denote the reproductive energies, for\nornaments of this material were credited with aphrodisiac powers;\nhowever, they were also believed to cure stomachic disorders. The\ndelicate perfume they exhaled was one of their chief titles to\nadmiration, and after the lapse of more than three centuries, this\nparticular jewel still emits a fragrant aromatic odor when it has been\nheld for some time in a warm hand. The style of the workmanship\nindicates that this is a piece of cinquecento Italian work. It was at\none time in the Wencke Collection, in Hamburg, and later formed part of\nthe Spitzer Collection, until the sale of the latter in 1893.[383]\n\nWhile many of the reports of the finding of immense masses of ambergris\n(in one the weight of the mass is given as three thousand pounds) may be\nclassed as at least highly improbable, still there is abundant\nunmistakable evidence that very large pieces have really occasionally\nbeen found. In Rome and in the Santa Casa of Loreto costly and\nartistically shaped pieces of ambergris were to be seen, which clearly\nindicated that the weight of the original unworked mass must have\ngreatly exceeded that of the ornamental object. There can be no doubt of\nthe authenticity of the details regarding a great piece of ambergris\nweighing 182 pounds bought in the year 1693 from King Fidori by the\nDutch East India Company for 11,000 rigsdalers or nearly $12,000 at the\ncurrent valuation of the coin of that time. In form it resembled a\ntortoise-shell, was 5 feet 8 inches thick, and 2 feet 2 inches long.\nAfter being long kept in Amsterdam as a curiosity, and having been\nviewed there by thousands of persons, it was finally broken up and sold\nat auction.[384] A lump extracted from a whale in the Windward Islands\nweighed 130 pounds and was sold for $3500, or nearly $27 a pound.\n\nThe livers of certain animals provided concretions called haraczi by the\nArabs; these were much used as remedies for epilepsy. The Turkish\nbutchers, when slaughtering animals, always examined the livers\ncarefully so as to secure these stones. As the Jews were said to suffer\nmuch from melancholia and epileptic disorders they valued the\nliver-stones very highly.[385]\n\nThe use of fossils as talismans and for the cure of diseases was mainly\ndue to their strange and various forms. As color played the most\nimportant part in the case of precious stones, each color being looked\nupon as possessing a certain symbolic significance fitting the stone for\nsome special use or uses, so in the case of fossils the form was the\ndetermining factor. Sometimes it was as the form of some creature held\nby the superstitious to be particularly endowed with mysterious\nqualities beneficial to mankind, at other times the fossil form\nsuggested some part of the human body, and was therefore believed to\nafford protection to this part, or to cure any disease affecting it.\nThis will be made clearer by a brief notice of some of the principal\nfossils which were favored in ancient and medieval times, either by\npopular superstition or by those who from interested motives made use of\nthese superstitions for the purpose of gain, although they may have only\nhalf believed in the real virtue of the objects they sold.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Lapis Judaicus. Pentremite heads. From \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lugduni\n Batavorum, 1655.\n]\n\nThe remedial quality of fossils, which were believed to have been formed\nfrom shells and marine animals deposited during the deluge, is ascribed\nby Mentzel to the fact that they had been produced by the action of\nfire, and hence had the same quality as though prepared and calcined by\nthe chemist\u2019s art. They were therefore believed to have great medicinal\nvirtues in the cure of diseases.[386]\n\nThe lapis Judaicus[387] is described as of oval form, in shape like an\nolive, and sometimes provided with a stem at the upper part as though it\nhad grown on a tree. The stone was soft and friable and in color either\nwhite or grayish. The \u201cmale\u201d variety had several rows of equidistant\nspines, while the \u201cfemale\u201d was quite smooth. The description and the\nfigured representations of the lapis Judaicus show that it was a form of\npentremite\u2014that is, a form of crinoid. This fossil, which was said to\ncome from Syria and Palestine, was taken in solution as a remedy for\ncalculus. The larger, male stones, were regarded as the better for renal\ncalculus and the smaller, female stones, for vesical calculus. Hence\nthis fossil was sometimes called tecolithos, from \u03c4\u03ae\u03ba\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, to dissolve,\nand \u03bb\u03af\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2, stone.[388] Pliny also states that this name was applied to\ncertain concretions found in sponges and supposed to possess similar\nvirtues.[389] Of the remedial use of this stone, or fossil, Galen states\nthat when prescribed for vesical calculi, it was pulverized in a mortar,\nand the powder being mixed with water, three glasses of the solution\nwere given. He adds, however: \u201cI must say that as far as I have seen\nthey have no effect, but they are efficient in the case of renal\ncalculi.\u201d[390]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Glossopetr\u00e6. Fossil shark\u2019s teeth. From \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lugduni\n Batavorum, 1655.\n]\n\nNo fossils were more prized than the so-called _glossopetr\u00e6_ or\n\u201ctongue-stones.\u201d Although these were really the fossilized or petrified\nteeth of a species of shark, Pliny and his sources believed them to be\nmeteorites, which \u201cfell from the sky when the moon was waning.\u201d This\nwas, indeed, a prevalent fancy regarding all dart-shaped, pointed or\nsharpened fossils, or flints. Because of this celestial origin, the\n_glossopetr\u00e6_ were said to control the winds and even to affect the\nmotions of the moon. At a later time the chief source of supply for\nthese petrified teeth was the island of Malta, and they were therefore\nsometimes called _lingues Melitenses_, or Maltese tongues; the Germans\nnamed them _Steinzungen_, or \u201cstone-tongues.\u201d According to popular\nbelief these so-called Maltese tongues were petrified snakes\u2019 tongues\nand they were brought into connection with the miraculous adventure of\nSt. Paul on the island of Malta, when he shook off a viper that had\nfastened on his hand, and sustained no injury from the bite (Acts,\nxxviii, 3\u20135). This was taken to signify that the poison had been taken\nfrom all the snakes on the island.[391]\n\nThe material called \u201cSt. Paul\u2019s Earth,\u201d said to be derived from \u201cSt.\nPaul\u2019s Cave,\u201d in the island of Malta, was reduced to a fine powder and\nmade into tablets. These were stamped with the Maltese cross; sometimes\non the opposite side some other figure was impressed. As there was\ntemptation to sell other material for the genuine, the purchaser was\nwarned to be on his guard. The virtues of this powder\u2014which was\ndissolved in wine or water\u2014were numerous, and were the same as those\nascribed to the \u201ctongues\u201d (_glossopetr\u00e6_) and to the \u201ceyes\u201d; for it was\nbelieved to be an antidote for poisons, cured the bites of venomous\ncreatures, and remedied many other ills. The \u201ceyes\u201d were set in rings so\nthat the material touched the wearer\u2019s skin; the \u201ctongues\u201d were worn\nattached to the arm or suspended from the neck. Sometimes vessels were\nmade from the earth. These were filled with wine or water, the liquid\nbeing allowed to stand until it had absorbed the virtues of the earth;\nit was then taken as a potion with good effects. The \u201ctongues\u201d and\n\u201ceyes\u201d were often dipped in wine or water and were supposed to transmit\ntheir curative powers to the liquid.[392]\n\nIn the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a strange belief was prevalent\namong the ignorant to the effect that the fossil sharks\u2019-teeth, the\n\u201ctongue-stones,\u201d were the teeth of witches who sucked the blood of\ninfants; these \u201cvampires\u201d were called _lami\u00e6_ in ancient times.[393]\nProbably the fact that a certain species of shark bore the name _lami\u00e6_\ngave rise to this idea, which was therefore merely due to a confusion of\nnames. Nevertheless we can easily understand that this popular belief\nadded to the repute of the _glossopetr\u00e6_, for the more dreaded the\nobject the greater the power it was credited with possessing. In the\nseventeenth century De Laet (d. 1649), the Dutch naturalist and\ngeographer, received in Leyden certain _glossopetr\u00e6_ sent him by a\nfriend in Bordeaux, who wrote that they would cure any one suffering\nfrom soreness of the mouth, whether this were the result of having eaten\nimpure food, or were produced by some derangement of the secretions. The\n\u201ctongues\u201d were to be dipped in spring water and would cause bubbles to\nform therein; as soon as these disappeared, the water was to be used as\na gargle, and the mouth was to be washed with it two or three times. De\nLaet\u2019s friend assured him that this treatment would cure the disorder in\ntwenty-four hours.[394]\n\nA seventeenth century amulet of a fossil shark\u2019s tooth, mounted in\nsilver and found in an excavation at Salzburg, Austria, was among the\nobjects exhibited by the writer for the New York branch of the American\nFolk-Lore Society, in the Department of Ethnology of the Columbian\nExposition held in Chicago, in 1893. They are frequently found at Lake\nConstance but are from the ancient fossiliferous formations and not from\nthe lake. They are often sold as amulets.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Belemnites. Fossilized bony end of extinct cuttlefish. From\n Aldrovandi\u2019s \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648.\n]\n\nFossils whose form suggested that of a more or less acutely pointed\nshaft, were thought to possess special powers, sometimes offensive as\nagainst enemies, and again defensive for the protection of the wearer.\nThus the belemnites,[395] considered to represent the form of a dart,\nwhen dissolved and taken as a potion, were said to prevent nightmare and\nto guard against enchantments. They are often either ash-colored or\nwhitish, and sometimes reddish-black. All these varieties were\nfrequently found during the sixteenth century in Hildesheim, and in the\nmarble grotto near the castle of Marienburg, called the \u201cDwarf\u2019s\nGrotto.\u201d[396]\n\nThe umbilicus marinus, a fossil shell, which in form bore a great\nlikeness to the human navel, was called \u201csea-bean\u201d by sailors. Usually\nof a pale saffron hue, some specimens have a reddish or blackish tinge.\nIn the sixteenth century it was believed to have astringent properties.\nWe are also told that women used it as one of the ingredients of a\ncosmetic for whitening the complexion.[397]\n\nCertain echinites (fossil sea-urchins) found on the Baltic coast are\ncalled by the peasants _Adlersteine_ and _Krallensteine_ (\u201ceagle-stones\u201d\nand \u201cclaw-stones\u201d), since they believe that while the substance was soft\neagles had seized them with their talons, thus producing the peculiar\nforms and markings. Whoever had a fossil of this description on his\ntable while a thunder-storm was raging ran no risk of being struck by\nlightning.[398]\n\nReich describes another variety of echinite, which was popularly known\nas a \u201ctoad-stone,\u201d the specimen he figures having been given him by a\ncertain Johannis Krauss. In this appeared some large cavities, whose\npresence Reich found it very difficult to explain, until Krauss informed\nhim that they had been made by a former owner of the fossil who had\nscraped out a few grains of the substance each year for medicinal use.\nHe was persuaded that his long life\u2014he attained the age of eighty\u2014was\nentirely owing to his employment of this remedy.[399]\n\nThe _trochites_ and _entrochus_, named R\u00e4derstein, or \u201cwheel-stone,\u201d by\nthe Germans, are other fossils to which remedial or talismanic virtue\nwas accorded in popular fancy. These \u201cwheel-stones,\u201d while detachable,\nfitted as closely together in the original formation as though they had\nbeen skilfully adjusted by a clever artisan.[400] De Laet states that\nwhen immersed in oil they gave forth bubbles and moved about\nspontaneously. Still another of these fossils believed to be amulets was\nthe _enastros_, which De Boot terms the _asteria vera_, or genuine\nasteria, since it not merely showed a star-shaped marking as did the\nfossil coral bearing the name astroites, but was shaped like a\nfive-pointed star. As with the _trochites_, chains of these little stars\nwere found, closely joined together but separable from one another. Some\ncalled them \u201cstar-seals,\u201d because the stellar imprint was sharp and\nclearly defined as though the work of an engraver or gem-cutter.[401]\nThese fossils are types of encrinites.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Brontia. Fossil sea-urchins. From Mercati\u2019s \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d\n Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\n[Illustration: TROCHITES]\n\n[Illustration: ENASTROS]\n\n Trochites\u2502Fossil\n \u2502Crinoid From Mercati, \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n Enastros \u2502Stems.\n\nThe sections of the stem-like fossils called _entrochus_ by the older\nwriters have been named St. Cuthbert\u2019s beads in later times, while the\nfossil called _lapis Judaicus_ has borne the name of \u201cstone-lily,\u201d\nbecause in form it resembles the lily. Ages ago the stem and flower-like\nhead united constituted a crinoid (a marine zoophyte). These aquatic\ncreatures\u2014half-plant and half-animal\u2014usually twine their roots about\nsome shell in the depths of the waters, but sometimes they become\ndetached and then, moving their delicate tentacles, they creep along the\nbottom of the sea.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Bucardites triplex. From Aldrovandi\u2019s \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6,\n 1648.\n]\n\nIn olden times parts, or segments, of an animal were worn as a\nprotection against harm from that particular creature, or else to endow\nthe wearer with some of its real or fancied qualities. In modern times\nthis tendency finds expression in the wearing of jewels of animal form,\nwherein precious stones are grouped and arranged so as to constitute\ndifferent parts of the creature\u2019s body. Such jewels are often looked\nupon as \u201cmascots.\u201d\n\nA peculiar fossil was known to the Germans by the name of Mutterstein,\nand is called _hysterolithus_ in the Latin treatises of Agricola, De\nBoot, etc., a word of Greek derivation signifying the resemblance of the\nobject to an organ of the body. These fossils are formed from the\ncontents of certain shells, and retain the shape of the enclosing shell,\nwhich has broken away. Some of these formations were called _enorchi_\nfrom a fancied resemblance to another organ and were regarded as phallic\nemblems, while others were thought to figure the heart, especially large\nspecimens being named _bucardites_, or \u201cox-hearts.\u201d This name is already\nemployed by Pliny. The _hysterolithus_ was used to cure various female\ndiseases, and to the _bucardites_ was accorded among other virtues that\nof increasing the wearer\u2019s courage.[402] The _hysterolithus_ is believed\nto be the same as the _autoglyphus_ mentioned by pseudo-Plutarch as\nhaving been found in the river Sagaris, in Asia Minor. Its peculiar\nshape was regarded as symbolizing Cybele, the mother of the gods, and\nthe story ran that if one of the unfortunate male victims of Eastern\njealousy should obtain a stone of this kind he would become reconciled\nto his sad lot and would cease to regret his lost manhood.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Types of Ombria (Fossil Sea Urchins). From Mercati\u2019s \u201cMetallotheca\n Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nIf we were inclined to accord the title of precious stones to stones\ngreatly esteemed for their talismanic virtues, a high place in this\ncategory would be assigned to the s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma-stone of the Hindus.[403]\nAmong the aboriginal inhabitants of India this was regarded as a symbol\nof the female principle in nature, and of its representative the goddess\nPrakrti, and in the later Hindu belief the stone was looked upon as the\nspecial emblem of the god Vishnu, the \u201cPreserver,\u201d the second personage\nof the Hindu Trimurti. It is therefore ardently revered by those who are\nmore especially devoted to the worship of Vishnu. These stones are\nfossil formations, either of ammonites or univalve mollusks of a spiral\norder, and consist of a number of spirals surrounding a circular,\ncentral perforation. They are generally the hardened filling of the\nshell itself, which has entirely weathered away. For the stone to be an\neffectual talisman, the diameter of the perforation should not exceed\none-eighth of the total diameter of the s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma. The best specimens\nare said to be found in Nepal, on the upper course of the Gandak\u00ee, which\nflows into the Ganges from the north, and is called the Salagrama River,\nbecause the sacred stone is found in it.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Cornu ammonis (Fossil Nautilus.) From \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lugduni\n Batavorum, 1655.\n]\n\nThere can be little doubt that we have here a substance similar to the\nfossils described by Pliny and his successors under the names _brontia_,\n_ombria_, _ovum anguinum_, and _cornu ammonis_, and it is most probable\nthat in India, as in Europe, these fossils were believed to have fallen\nfrom heaven, and were associated with the thunderbolt. Hence they would\nbe regarded by the Hindus as more especially sacred to Vishnu, who was\noriginally a divinity representing the various forms of light, one of\nhis manifestations being the lightning.\n\nThe s\u00e2lagr\u00e2mas must be carefully chosen, for not all of them are\nluck-bringing, some being bearers of ill-fortune. A black s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma\nbrings fame to the owner, and a red one, a crown; but one with an unduly\nlarge perforation would cause dissension and strife in a family, one\nwith irregularly formed spirals portends misfortune, and a brown one\nwould bring to pass the death of its owner\u2019s wife. Each faithful\nworshipper of Vishnu has one of these stones, but two may not be in the\nsame house. To give away a s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma would be equivalent to casting away\nevery prospect of good fortune. However, only one who belongs to the\nthree highest castes is entitled to become an owner of the sacred stone,\nin which the very spirit of Vishnu is supposed to dwell; neither a Sudra\nnor a Pariah enjoys this privilege, which is also denied to women.\n\nThe s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma is carefully wrapped in linen cloths, and must be often\nwashed and perfumed. The water with which it has been washed becomes a\nconsecrated drink. The master of the house must adore the stone once\neach day, either in the morning or in the evening. As the s\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma not\nonly brings happiness in this world but also insures felicity in the\nfuture world, it is held over the dying Hindu while water is allowed to\ntrickle through the orifice. This ceremony appears to have a certain\nanalogy to the rite of extreme unction administered in the Catholic\nChurch.\n\nIt is stated by Finn Magnusen that in Iceland, toward the beginning of\nthe last century, he saw superstitious peasants carefully guard small\nstones of peculiar appearance in pretty bags filled with fine flour.\nThey treated these stones with great reverence and either wore them on\ntheir persons or placed them in their beds or other furniture.[404]\n\nThe fossils known as _bronti\u00e6_, _ombri\u00e6_ and _chelonites_ were all\nbelieved to be antidotes for poison and also to make the wearer\nvictorious over his enemies. Hence they were sometimes set in the\npommels of swords. That these objects were equally potent in peace, is\nshown by the fact that Danish peasant women placed them in their milk\npails to ward off the effects of any spell that might have been cast\nover the cow\u2019s milk by a malevolent witch.[405]\n\nDavid Reich notes the four kinds of astroites, or \u201cvictory stones,\u201d\ngiven by De Boot; the first, marked with small stars; the second, with\nrose-like figures; the third, with wavy lines, like the convolutions of\na worm; the fourth, with obscure and indefinite markings. To these\nvarieties Reich adds a fifth, the convex side of which was marked with\nblack crosses, while the other, flat side, showed larger crosses\nsurrounded by circles; all these markings were so perfect that an artist\ncould scarcely imitate them; this specimen he had set, with other\nprecious gems, in a silver cross, the flat side of the fossil, at the\nback of the cross, being covered by a heart-shaped topaz.[406] These\nwere all specimens of fossil coral.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n _.ASTROITES._\n\n Specimens of Astroites (asteria), or fossil coral. From Mercati\u2019s\n \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d\n Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nThe saga of Dietrich of Bern relates of King Nidung that on the eve of a\nbattle in which his forces were much inferior to those of the enemy, he\nwas filled with despair to find that he had left his \u201cvictory stone\u201d in\nhis castle, miles away from where he had pitched his tent. Overmastered\nby his desire to regain possession of his stone at this critical time,\nNidung offered a large sum of money and his daughter\u2019s hand to anyone\nwho would bring it to him before the battle began. The distance was so\ngreat and the time so short that the task seemed utterly impossible, and\na young esquire, Velint by name, was the only one willing to risk the\nenterprise. He was favored in his quest by having a horse of wonderful\nstrength and endurance, by whose help he barely succeeded in making the\nlong journey to the castle and returning in time. King Nidung, wearing\nhis invincible stone, was the victor in the battle, and he did not fail\nto carry out his rather rash promise.[407]\n\nAmulets of fossil coral are freely used in Italy, especially in the\nprovince of Aquila, and are called \u201cwitch-stones\u201d (_pietre stregonie_).\nThese are similar to one type of the \u201casterias\u201d worn as amulets in\nancient and medieval times. Many of the Italian amulets are incised or\nengraved with Christian subjects, one figured by Bellucci bearing the\nhead of Christ on the obverse, and Christ on the cross on the reverse\nside; on others appears the image of the Virgin Mary.[408]\n\nCrystalline quartz will sometimes show a star either at base or apex, if\ncut _en cabochon_. This is due to the presence of acicular crystals of\nrutile or to air spaces. Those specimens from Albany, Maine and other\nplaces present this phenomenon, and Starolite and Astrolite or \u201cstar\nstone\u201d has been suggested as an appropriate name for this variety.\n\n\n\n\n V\n Snake-Stones and Bezoars\n\n\nThe bezoar stone, according to the usual belief, was taken from the\nintestines or the liver either of the goat or of the deer. The Arabs\ntold a strange tale as to the generation of this stone.[409] They said\nthat at certain seasons the deer were wont to devour snakes and other\nvenomous creatures, whereupon they would straightway hasten to the\nnearest pool and plunge into it until only their nostrils were above the\nwater. Here they remained until the feverish heat caused by the poison\nthey had swallowed was alleviated. During this time stones were formed\nin the corners of their eyes; these dropped as the deer left the pool,\nand were found on its banks. The stones were a sovereign antidote for\npoisons of all kinds. When reduced to a powder and taken internally, or\nwhen simply bound to the injured part, they effected a cure by inducing\na profuse perspiration. It is curious to note that this tale\nforeshadows, in a fanciful way, the latest progress of medical science;\nnamely, the use of a substance generated in the body of a diseased\nanimal as an antidote for the disease from which the animal suffered.\n\nWe are also told that Abdallah Narach narrates the case of the Moorish\nking of Cordoba, Miramamolin, as Monardes gives the name, to whom a\nviolent poison had been administered and who was cured by means of a\nbezoar stone. The king, overcome with gratitude for the preservation of\nhis life, gave his royal palace to the man who had brought him the\nstone. Monardes remarks: \u201cThis certainly was a royal gift, since we see\nthat at this day the castle of Cordova is something rare and of great\nvalue and the stone must have been highly prized when such a price was\npaid for it.\u201d[410]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Application of a besoar to cure a victim of poisoning. From Johannis\n de Cuba\u2019s \u201cOrtus Sanitatis,\u201d Strassburg, 1483.\n]\n\nThe first mention of the bezoar stone is by the Arabic and Persian\nwriters. In the Arabic work attributed to Aristotle, and which was\ncertainly written as early as the ninth and possibly in the seventh\ncentury, it is even described among the precious stones. The same is\ntrue of the oldest Persian work on medicine, namely, that of Abu Mansur\nMuwaffak, composed about the middle of the tenth century. A valuable\nmonograph on the bezoar was written in 1625 by Caspar Bauhin, a learned\nprofessor and physician of Basel; this work contains all that was then\nknown of the various qualities ascribed to this substance by the older\nauthors.\n\nThe bezoar does not appear to have been used medicinally in Europe\nbefore the twelfth century, when the so-called pestilential fevers\nbecame very prevalent. In their distress people turned to the lapis\nbezoar, which was so highly recommended by the Arabic physicians whose\nworks were, at that time, becoming more widely known through the\nintercourse between the Spaniards and the Moors. Caspar Bauhin\nwrites:[411] \u201cEven to-day princes and nobles prize it very highly and\nguard it in their treasures among their most precious gems; so that the\nphysicians are forced, sometimes against their better judgment, to\nemploy it as a remedy. So great are its virtues that many imitations are\nmade.\u201d\n\nThe name bezoar, derived from the Persian _padzahr_ (_pad_, expelling;\n_zahr_, poison), or some of its many variants, was often used to\ndesignate any antidote for poison, so that the Arabs would say that such\nor such a substance was the bezoar for a particular poison. This should\nbe understood to signify that the stone received its name because it was\nregarded as a specially powerful antidote.\n\nThe various authors give many different sources for the bezoar. We have\nalready cited Monardes and repeated his account; other writers asserted\nthat this concretion came from the heads of certain animals, others\nagain said that it was taken from their livers, and still others stated\nthat it was formed in the eye of the stag. Naturally, concretions of a\nsimilar form and quality may well have been obtained from any of these\nsources. Indeed, one of the most potent bezoars was that taken from the\nmonkey. A specimen of this kind is described and figured in the Museum\nBrittanicum[412] with the following description:\n\n A Monkey\u2019s Bezoar, very much resembling one from the goat, of an\n oblong shape broke in two, with a long straw, or some such like\n substance in its centre; its colour brown, pink, or deep yellow. I\n found it set as generally they are for preservation in a little chest,\n or case, of what is called _Lignum L\u00e6evisiunum_; the pith or medula of\n which appears to resemble the common elder, and may, for what I know,\n be as curious as the stone itself.\n\nToll quotes[413] Jacob Bontius to the effect that these monkey bezoars,\nwhich were rounded and a little longer than the finger, were considered\nthe best of all.\n\nAs the chief quality claimed for the bezoar was that it induced a\nprofuse perspiration, we might understand that it could have a\nbeneficial effect in some cases. It was also remarked that the solution\nof the stone blackened the teeth and those who used it were therefore\nobliged to take great care that the medicine should not touch their\nteeth.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Monkey bezoar. From Valentini\u2019s \u201cMuseum Museorum oder Vollst\u00e4ndige\n Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt am Main, 1714.\n]\n\nWe learn that a genuine stone was valued at 50 gold crowns (about $125)\nin Calcutta; another is said to have brought 130 crowns ($325). De Boot\nstates that a drachm of the powdered stone was worth two ducats ($5) in\nLower Germany and four ($10) in Upper Germany; why, he does not say.\n\nGarcias ab Horto, a Portuguese physician of Goa, in India, describes a\nvariety of the bezoar called the Lapis Malacensis, used as an antidote\nfor poisons in Malacca. This was found in the liver of the hedgehog, and\nthe substance was held in such esteem that of two found in the fifteenth\nCentury, one was sent as a very valuable gift to the Portuguese Viceroy\nat Goa. Garcias describes this as being of a light purple hue, bitter to\nthe taste and smooth as the skin of a toad. The custom was to steep the\nstone in water for some time and then to give this water to the patient\nas a medicinal draught. A specimen was brought to Rome from Portugal by\nCardinal Alexandrinus, and Mercato states that he had seen a test of its\nvirtues as an antidote for poisons. In the opinion of De Boot: \u201cAs an\nantidote for any poison which may have been administered, nothing more\nexcellent than the bezoar stone can be had.\u201d[414] It was even asserted\nthat if a bezoar set in a ring were frequently placed in the mouth and\nsucked, this would afford a cure for poison by inducing a profuse\nperspiration.[415] Besides its exceptional quality as an antidote for\npoisons, this stone was regarded as a panacea for all chronic and\npainful diseases, especially if taken each morning for several days,\nafter the use of a cathartic.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n 1. Hedge-hogstone from Malacca. 2, 3. Spurious stones of this type\n manufactured in Ceylon. From Kaempfer\u2019s \u201cAm\u0153nitatum exoticarum\n fasciculi V,\u201d Lemgovi\u00e6, 1712.\n]\n\nBesides this use as a remedy or antidote, the bezoar was credited with\nthe powers of an elixir of life, for some of the Hindus employed it as a\npreservative of youth and vigor. Twice a year, after dosing themselves\nwith a strong cathartic medicine, they would take ten grains of powdered\nbezoar daily for fifteen days, and they are said to have derived great\nbenefit from this treatment.[416]\n\nThe celebrated practical test of the bezoar\u2019s power as an antidote to\npoison, recorded by the famous French surgeon, Ambroise Par\u00e9\n(1510\u20131590), was performed in Paris with one which had been brought from\nSpain to Charles IX of France. Clearly the only perfectly satisfactory\nmeans of ascertaining whether the reputed virtues of this curious\nconcretion were really present was to make an experiment therewith upon\na living human being. Now it chanced that just at this time there was in\nthe royal prison a cook who had stolen two silver dishes from his\nmaster, and who, in accord with the pitiless laws of that period, had\nbeen condemned to death for this offence. Here was an excellent\nopportunity, therefore, to make a trial of the bezoar, but as the\nadjudged legal penalty could not well be arbitrarily changed to some\nother form of death, the matter was first laid before the condemned man\nhimself, with the promise that should he not succumb to the poison he\nwould be given his liberty. As at the worst this was taking a chance of\nlife in exchange for certain death, the cook readily consented. The\nnecessary preparations having been made, the poison was administered and\nimmediately thereafter the man was given a dose composed of a part of\nthe bezoar reduced to powder and dissolved in liquid. The effects of the\npoison were soon manifested by violent retching and purging, and when\nPar\u00e9 was called in an hour later, he found the man in great agony, with\nblood issuing from his nose, ears and mouth, and from the other bodily\napertures. He piteously complained that he felt as though consumed by an\ninward flame, and before another hour had passed he expired, crying out\nthat it would have been much better to have died by hanging. From his\nreport, Par\u00e9 seems not to have been present when the poison was given\nand not to have been informed of its character, as he merely states that\nfrom the results of his autopsy and from the symptoms he had observed,\nhe concluded that it was corrosive sublimate. Probably, conscientious\nand truly religious as he was, he was unwilling to take an active part\nin such an affair. The king ordered that his discredited bezoar should\nbe cast into the fire and destroyed. As an illustration of Ambroise\nPar\u00e9\u2019s humility and piety we may cite his remark on the recovery of one\nof his patients: \u201cI treated him and God cured him.\u201d[417] It was Par\u00e9 who\noperated upon Admiral Coligny after the unsuccessful attempt on the\nlatter\u2019s life made a few days before his assassination on St.\nBartholomew\u2019s Day, August 24, 1572, at the outset of the dreadful\nmassacre.\n\nAlluding to the ill-success attending the experiment performed by\nAmbroise Par\u00e9, in order to test effectively the supposed virtues of the\nsubstance as an antidote for poisons, Engelbert Kaempfer remarks that\nPar\u00e9\u2019s bezoar may have been of inferior quality, and, moreover, bezoars\ncould not be successfully used to counteract mineral poisons, but were\nonly useful when vegetable poisons had been taken. This opinion was\nprobably due to the fact that the bezoar itself is largely or in the\nmain a vegetable substance. That the interior layers of a specimen\nshould be inferior in quality to the external layers was not for\nKaempfer a proof of its spurious character, but might easily be\naccounted for by a change of pasturage in the case of the creature in\nwhose body the concretion had formed.\n\nThis writer asserts that he considered those bezoars to be genuine which\nwere of a partly resinous and partly mineral composition, so that when\npulverized they could be dissolved in nitric acid, the solution having a\nreddish hue. The Persians not only attributed to bezoars the same\nvirtues as did the Europeans, but also recommended the administration of\nthe bezoar elixir to persons in health, that they might avoid\ncontracting disease and prolong their lives, more especially if the dose\nwere taken at the beginning of the year. In general, however, he found\nthat where Europeans used the bezoar as a remedy, the Persians gave a\ndose of pearl tincture instead; but as rarities, or perhaps as\ntalismans, bezoars were even more highly prized in Persia than in\nEurope, for there was hardly a Persian of note who did not preserve one\nof these concretions among his treasures. The price depended upon\nperfection of form and color, as well as upon size, one weighing a\nmishkel (about 75 grains Troy) was commonly valued at one toman, the\nequivalent of 15 ounces of silver (about $20), according to Kaempfer\u2019s\ncomputation, but the price rose rapidly with the size of the bezoar in a\nproportion similar to that observable in the case of pearls. As Persian\nbezoars were so costly in Persia, and the home demand for them so great,\nthose sold by this name in Europe must have had another origin.[418]\n\nOf several experiments made with criminals to whom poison was\nadministered and then a dose of bezoar to test its virtues as an\nantidote, one of the most interesting has to do with a criminal\nincarcerated in the prison at Prague, in the reign of Emperor Rudolph\nII. To this man a drachm of the deadly poison _aconitum napellus_ was\nadministered. Five hours were allowed to elapse before the bezoar was\ngiven, so that the poison should have full time to be absorbed by the\nsystem. During this time the effects were fully manifested, oppression\nat the chest, pain in the gastric region, dimness of vision and\ndizziness. When the five hours had expired five grains of bezoar were\ngiven to the man in a little wine. After taking the dose he felt some\nrelief and vomited, but the bad symptoms soon returned and even became\naggravated, as though a supreme conflict for the mastery between poison\nand antidote were in progress. There was delirium, extreme tension of\nthe abdomen, repeated vomiting, and an irregular, feverish pulse;\nfinally an acute inflammation of the eyes supervened, causing such\nintense pain that the man declared he would rather die than endure it\nlonger. However, at the end of eight hours\u2019 time from the administration\nof the poison\u2014three hours after the dose of bezoar had been given\u2014all\nthe morbid conditions passed off, the patient was able to eat food with\nrelish and he slept quietly. In the morning he was perfectly well, and\nnever realized any subsequent bad effects. The emperor released him from\nprison and even bestowed a handsome reward upon him.[419]\n\nA strange experiment to determine the character and quality of bezoars\nis related by Kaempfer on the authority of Jager. The latter asserted\nthat while in Golconda he had the opportunity of examining recently\ncaptured gazelles for the presence of bezoars, and that by compressing\ntheir abdomens he could distinctly feel two such concretions in the case\nof one of the animals and five or six in the case of the other. They\nwere kept some days for further observation, but as they absolutely\nrefused all food, it was decided to kill them rather than have them\nstarve to death. This was done, but when the bodies were opened no trace\nof any bezoar could be found, and Jager conjectures that the substance\nof these concretions had been absorbed into the system of the animal for\nlack of any other nourishment.[420]\n\nIn his memoirs, Jehangir Shah relates that an Afghan once brought from\nthe Carnetic two goats said to have bezoar stones [p\u00e2zahar] in their\nbodies. Jehangir was much surprised to note that these animals were fat\nand healthy looking, as he had always been told that those having\nbezoars were invariably thin and wretched in appearance. However, the\nAfghan was shown to be correct in his conjecture, for when one of the\ngoats was killed and the body opened four fine bezoars were brought to\nlight.[421]\n\nAbout the beginning of the eighteenth century, Charles Jacques Poncet, a\nFrench physician, was called to the court of the Abyssinian monarch of\nthat time. One of the favorite remedies of this Frenchman was a kind of\nartificial bezoar, which he claims to have used with great success in\ncases of intermittent fever. This so-called bezoar he administered to\nthe sovereign and to two of his children, and he also revealed to the\nAbyssinian king the secret of its composition. He tells us that this\n\u201cEmperor of Ethiopia,\u201d as he terms him, showed great interest in medical\nscience, and listened eagerly to explanations of the character and\noperation of the various remedies.[422]\n\nThe Indians of Peru had their own theory as to the genesis of the bezoar\nstone. In relation to this Joseph de Acosta writes:[423]\n\n The Indians relate from the traditions and teachings of their\n ancestors, that in the province of Xaura, and in other provinces of\n Peru there are various poisonous herbs and animals which empoison the\n waters and pastures where they [the vicu\u00f1as, etc.] drink and eat. Of\n these poisonous herbs, one is right well known by a natural instinct\n to the vicu\u00f1a and to the other animals which engender the bezoar, and\n they eat of this herb and thus preserve themselves from the poison of\n the waters and pastures. The Indians also say that the stone is formed\n in the stomachs of these animals from this herb, whence comes the\n virtue it possesses as an antidote for poisons, as well as its other\n marvellous properties.\n\nOf the mineral bezoar, which was also regarded as an antidote against\npoisons, Mohammed ben Man\u00e7ur relates that various ornamental figures\nwere formed from it, such as small images of the Shah or little female\nfigures; these were perhaps regarded as talismans. Knife-handles were\nalso made of this material,[424] and here the use may have been\nconnected with the belief in the curative power of the bezoar, if\nbrought into direct contact with the skin, as would be the case when the\nknife-handle was grasped in the hand.\n\nA mineral bezoar bearing a close likeness to the animal concretion was\nfound in Sicily. This stone was usually round, sometimes oblong like an\negg, and sometimes compressed; its usual size was about that of a\npigeon\u2019s egg, the largest stone not surpassing the size of a hen\u2019s egg.\nIt was commonly white, occasionally of a somewhat ashy hue, and the\nsurface was generally smooth, though now and then it was rough with\nsmall protuberances. Its taste resembled that of the white _bolus\narmenus_. The composition of this stone was similar to that of the\nOriental bezoar of animal origin, having the same layers, and in the\ncentre a small mass of sand over which nature had imposed from eight to\nten layers, just as in the animal bezoar.[425]\n\nA peculiar bezoar is reported from Indrapura, India. This was said to\nhave been found in the skull of a rhinoceros, and was of light weight\nand of a black hue, varying to pale red when held against the light; it\nwas hard enough to cut glass. The owner believed it to be a panacea for\nall ills. For blood-spitting it was held in the mouth; for rheumatism,\nbruises, or burns, it was rubbed over the affected part; and for the\nbites of venomous creatures it was simply laid upon the wound; even\nthose at the point of death were revived by it.[426]\n\nAn amulet set with a bezoar stone is said to have possessed such a power\nto prevent bleeding that when a Malacca prince was killed in a battle\nwith his rebellious subjects, no blood was flowing from any of his\nnumerous wounds. On stripping the body a golden armlet set with a bezoar\ncame to view, and the moment this was removed blood began to flow freely\nfrom the wounds.[427]\n\nMercato writes of a marvellous Occidental bezoar, sent from Peru to Rome\nin 1534, as a gift to Pope Gregory XIII. It weighed no less than\nfifty-six ounces, although it was defective, since a large portion of\nthe exterior crust was missing, the second layer was partly broken away,\nand even the third layer was damaged in some places. This wonderful\nconcretion had been dedicated to one of the Peruvian gods, as a rare and\nprecious object, and it was taken away by the Spaniards when they\nspoiled the temple. Mercato says that this bezoar was \u201cof a truly\nmonstrous size, unheard of in all previous centuries, and it is still\nthe largest in the whole realm of nature.\u201d[428]\n\nThe bezoars of the New World seem to have differed considerably from\nthose of India. They had a rough surface, were usually of a gray color,\nof various sizes and forms, and composed of a number of superimposed,\ncoalescing layers, much thicker than those of the Oriental, or Indian,\nbezoar. They were usually of considerable size, either hollow within or\ncontaining seeds, needles and similar substances. They came from the\nWest Indies, especially from Peru, and were brought thence by the\nSpaniards and Portuguese. The greater number were found in a kind of\nchamois; however, we are told that the bezoar was not found in all these\nanimals, \u201cbut only in the old ones.\u201d[429]\n\nA letter written in the sixteenth century by one who had travelled\nextensively in India and in Peru, illustrates the ideas of that time\nregarding both Oriental and Occidental bezoars:\n\n A gentleman living about twenty-eight years in these Countries, writes\n to his Friend, that he saw those Animals out of which comes the\n Bezoar, and saith, they are very like _Goats_, only they have no\n Horns; and are so swift, that they are forc\u2019d to shoot them with guns.\n He tells us, that he and some Friends, on the 10th of _June_ 1568,\n hunted some of these Creatures, and in five Days kill\u2019d many of them;\n and that in one of the oldest of them, they made diligent Search for\n the stone, but found it not, neither in the Ventricle, nor in any\n other Part of the Animal. They ask\u2019d the Indians that attended upon\n them, where the Stones lay; they denied they knew anything of them,\n being very envious and unwilling to disclose such a Secret. At length\n (he saith) a Boy about twelve years old perceiving us to be very\n inquisitive, and to be very desirous of Satisfaction in that\n Particular, shew\u2019d us a certain Receptacle and (as it were) a _Purse_,\n into which they receive their eaten herbs, which afterwards when\n churned, they convey into the Ventricle.[430]\n\nThe same circumstances were observed by this informant in regard to the\nPeruvian bezoars, and from the \u201cpouch\u201d of one of these animals were\ntaken no less than nine stones, \u201cwhich, by the help of nature, seemed to\nbe made of the Juice of those salutiferous Herbs, which were crammed up\ninto this little Pouch.\u201d[431]\n\nWhile the Occidental bezoar from South America enjoyed a special repute\nin Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when bezoars were\nso freely used as poison-antidotes, and for the cure of fevers and other\ndiseases, it has been doubted whether the aborigines of South America\never valued them in any way before the time of the Spanish Conquest.\nWhat seems, however, to be a proof that they sometimes did so, is\nafforded by the discovery of a bezoar, probably taken from the body of a\nllama, in a tomb at Cojitambo, in the Ca\u00f1ari region of Ecuador. In spite\nof the contrary opinion expressed by Garcilasso de la Vega, there is\nreason to believe that such animal concretions were used by these\nIndians in magic practices. The Quichua name is _illa_, and Holquin in\nhis Quichua dictionary says that the natives believed that bezoars were\nluck-bringing stones. Another name, _quicu_, is vouched for by Arriaga,\nwho states that the Spaniards found some bezoars stained with the blood\nof sacrificial victims, thus showing that they were thought to possess a\ncertain religious or mystic significance. Another author, Don Vasco de\nContreros y Vievedo, writing in 1650, states that the most highly valued\nof these concretions among the natives of South America were those taken\nfrom the American tapir, which they called _danta_.[432]\n\nThe comparative value of Oriental and Occidental bezoars was still an\nopen question toward the end of the sixteenth century. In a letter\nwritten by Sir George Carew to Sir Robert Cecil, on October 10, 1594,\nthe former states that he had submitted a bezoar from the West Indies to\na London jeweler named Josepho, who had told him that had the substance\ncome from the East Indies he would value it as high as \u00a3100, but that\nnever having made trial of West Indian bezoars, he would not venture on\nan estimate, although he did not doubt but that they were quite as good.\nNevertheless he would not care to buy this one before having tested its\nvirtues experimentally.[433]\n\nThat good Queen Bess shared the beliefs of her age as to the virtues of\nstones is well known, and she appears to have regarded her bezoars as\nworthy of a place among the treasures of the Crown, for in the inventory\nof the jewels made at the accession of James I we read:\n\n Also one greate Bezar stone, sett in goulde that was Queene\n Elizabeth\u2019s, with some Unicorne\u2019s Horne, in a paper; and one other\n large Bezar stone, broken in peeces, delivered to our owne handes, by\n the Lord Brooke, the two and twentith day of Januarie, one thousand\n sixe hundred and twenty and two.[434]\n\nAfter the death of Rudolph II, in 1612, the Venetian envoy, Girolamo\nSoranzo, wrote to the Doge, \u201cNo other monarch has ever accumulated so\nmany jewels.\u201d He also communicates the fact that some at least of these\ngems were to follow him to the grave, for when interred, his head was\ncovered with a cap adorned with many valuable precious stones. However,\nRudolph\u2019s fondness for the more splendid gems and jewels was accompanied\nby a very particular taste for the collection of Oriental bezoars, of\nwhich a large number are noted as in his possession at the time of his\ndeath. These ranged in weight from 1 loth (\u00bd oz. Troy) to 25\u00bd loth (a\nlittle more than one pound Troy); most of them were provided with a rich\ngold setting, and one especially prized bezoar, weighing about 8 ounces,\nreposed in a silver box decorated with 32 diamonds and 26 rubies.\nAnother of very singular shape, resembling \u201cfour toes,\u201d is also entered\non the list. Besides these the imperial collection included several\nother curious animal concretions, probably regarded as having\ntherapeutic virtues, such, for instance, as a \u201cstone\u201d from the body of a\ndoe; this had been found by a certain Helmhardt J\u00f6rger and by him\npresented to the emperor; another of these treasured concretions came\nfrom the stomach of a stag. A specimen of the famed \u201ceagle-stone\u201d is\nalso listed; this had a double gold setting, and on it were inscribed\nthe words \u201cPiedra Geodas,\u201d showing that the real character of this stone\nas a geode was then well understood.[435]\n\nSome of the gold mounted bezoars of Rudolph II are still to be seen in\nthe Hofmuseum, at Vienna. One is surrounded by a gold band with a scroll\npattern; another has a capping of gold and stands upon a golden base,\nand still another, capped and belted with gold, is attached by a chain\nto a golden bowl. This was probably to be used as a test of the freedom\nfrom poison of any beverage in the vessel. A bezoar of the eighteenth\ncentury is mounted upon a tree of gold, against the trunk of which a\nwild boar is leaning. This may be only a decorative adjunct, or it might\nbe an indication of the particular animal source of this special\nbezoar.[436]\n\nThe bezoars of Borneo are taken either from monkeys or porcupines. For\nmedicinal use, the gratings are dissolved in water and the solution is\nadministered as required. Skeats relates that he was once asked $200 by\na native for a small stone, erroneously asserted to be a bezoar. This\nstone was carefully wrapped up in cotton and preserved in a tin box with\nsome grains of rice, the owner firmly believing that the stone fed on\nthe rice. A red monkey (semnopithecus) furnishes many of these bezoars,\nbut those from the porcupine are supposed to be so much the more\nefficacious that the Sultan of Saik claims all bezoars of this kind\nfound in his dominions as his personal property; nevertheless, many are\nsaid to be surreptitiously taken out of the country by Malayan or\nChinese traders. A remarkably fine specimen in the possession of the\nSultan is valued at $900; small ones may be worth no more than $40, but\nthe value increases very rapidly with the size of the concretion. Though\nit is confidently believed that the bezoars work wonderful cures in\ndiseases of the bowels and of the respiratory organs, the natives value\nthem chiefly as aphrodisiacs, this action being secured either by\nwearing them or by taking them in solution.[437]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BEZOARS OF EMPEROR RUDOLPH II, NOW IN THE HOFMUSEUM, VIENNA\n]\n\nThe Chinese work entitled P\u2019ing-chou-k\u2019o-t\u2019an, by Chu Y\u00fc, written in the\nfirst quarter of the twelfth century, mentions the _mo-so_ stone (the\nbezoar) and states that it was worn in finger rings. Should anyone have\nreason to suppose that he had taken poison, all he had to do in order to\nescape any bad effects was to lick the bezoar stone set in his ring. The\nChinese writer adds that it might thus be justly called \u201ca life\npreserver.\u201d[438]\n\nThe Dayaks of Borneo have a method for producing bezoars which they call\n_guligas_. This is to shoot an animal with an unpoisoned arrow. When the\nwound heals, there is often a hardening of the skin, which finally\nresults in the formation of a _guliga_. In some of these concretions the\npoint of the arrow still remains. The _guligas_ of natural formation are\nfrequently found between the flesh and the skin of apes and\nporcupines.[439]\n\nIn the eighteenth century Valmont de Bomare reports that the bezoars of\nthe hedgehog commanded the highest price. These were greasy and soapy,\nboth to the eye and to the touch, and of a greenish or yellowish color;\na few were reddish or blackish. They were so highly valued in Holland\nthat a Jew in Amsterdam asked 6000 livres ($1200) for a specimen in his\npossession as large as a pigeon\u2019s egg; and such bezoars were even rented\nin Holland and Portugal, at the rate of one ducat ($2.50) a day, to\nthose who were exposed to contagion, and believed that the bezoars, if\nworn as amulets, would protect them from the danger.[440]\n\nIn a letter to the Macon, Georgia, _Journal and Messenger_ of August,\n1854, Major J. D. Wilkes, of Dooley County, relates that while hunting\nhe shot down a fine buck. He states that on cutting up the animal he\nfound a stone of a dark greenish color, about where the windpipe joins\nthe lights. It was from an inch and a half to two inches long, and quite\nheavy for its size, although it appeared to be porous. Major Wilkes says\nthat he had heard of similar stones from old hunters, and had been told\nthat they possessed the power of extracting poison, but that they were\nrarely found. The communication proceeds to relate a case where this\nstone was successfully applied to a dog which had been bitten by a\nrattlesnake. We have here one of the few notices extant regarding an\nAmerican bezoar stone.[441]\n\nAn American bezoar taken from the stomach of a deer killed in the\nChilhowee Mountains, in Tennessee, was reported in 1866 by Prof. David\nChristy. In extracting this concretion the hunter had damaged the outer\nlayer, but when this was removed there remained a perfectly smooth,\nround body, about the size and shape of a hen\u2019s egg, and of a light\nbrown color. When Professor Christy obtained it, this bezoar had already\nacquired the reputation of possessing great though somewhat undefined\nvirtues; he presented it to Professor Wood of the Ohio Medical College\nin Cincinnati.[442]\n\nWriting of bezoars in the year 1876, Dr. Learned states that Signor\nKorkos, of Morocco, showed him one for which he had paid twelve dollars.\nIt was as large as a small walnut, the surface being smooth and\ncream-colored; a section revealed the presence of the concentric\ncircular layers characterizing the formation of this concretion. For\nremedial use it was rubbed on a stone until a sufficient quantity of its\npowder was obtained, which was then diluted in liquid and administered\nas a potion. Strict dieting and absolute rest in the house for seven\ndays were an essential part of the treatment, the bezoar powder being\nmore especially recommended in diseases of the heart, liver or other\ninternal organs, but for sore eyes and for rheumatism its virtues were\npraised. This illustrates a modern employment of the concretion in\nMohammedan Morocco.[443]\n\nSome medical authorities of the sixteenth century were disposed to\nregard the calculus produced by the human subject as superior in\nmedicinal efficacy to the far-famed bezoar. One of their arguments was\nthat as man was the highest type of organized being a human product must\nexceed in value one from an animal source; then again, his food was of\nthe best, superior in quality to that taken by the animals furnishing\nthe bezoars. For every theory a proof can be found if one is on the\nlookout for it, and therefore we need not be surprised if the virtues of\ncalculi or gravel were also supported by evidence. In 1624 or 1625 the\nDutch city of Leyden was visited by the plague, and to the great regret\nof the physicians there was no supply of bezoars on hand. Hereupon they\nwere driven to make use of human gravel, and found to their astonishment\nthat this was an even more excellent sudorific than the bezoar\nitself.[444]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Calculi taken from the bladder of Pope Pius V. From Mercati\u2019s\n \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana.\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719.\n]\n\nAlthough there is no direct relation between bezoars and the hair-balls\nsometimes found in the stomach or intestines of human beings, there is\nsome slight analogy, as the animal bezoar concretions seem to have been\nformed about a nucleus consisting of some indigestible material that has\nbeen swallowed by an animal. From the report of hospital surgeons, it\nappears that these hair-balls, which result from a long-continued habit\nof swallowing hair, are almost exclusively found in the bodies of women,\ngenerally of very young girls. The large size which they sometimes\nattain is very surprising; in several instances they have so filled up\nthe stomach that they are moulded by it into its exact shape. Although\nwhen a hair-ball has reached this size, and indeed long before, the most\nalarming symptoms set in, frequently recurrent vomiting being the most\ncharacteristic, we cannot but wonder how it is possible for _any_ food\nto enter and pass through the stomach under such conditions, the only\nexplanation being the great power of dilation this organ possesses. Its\ndisposition to patiently tolerate foreign bodies where it cannot expel\nthem, renders it often a poor guide in a diagnosis based upon the\npatient\u2019s personal experience. These hair-balls accumulate and lodge not\nonly in the stomach but also in the intestines, and in either case the\neventual result is almost certain to be fatal unless the obstacle is\nremoved by operation. Very occasionally only does nature react\nsufficiently to expel the impediment without surgical aid. Of course all\ntreatment is vain unless the morbid habit of hair-swallowing can be\novercome. This does not seem to be an accompaniment of a distinctly\ndiseased mental condition, although that is sometimes coincident, but\nmust assuredly result from some derangement or abnormality of the\nnervous centres, inducing a morbid and unnatural craving.[445]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Types of the Ovum Anguinum. Echinites (sea-urchins). From Aldrovandi\u2019s\n \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648.\n]\n\nThe serpent-stone, called by Pliny _ovum anguinum_, or \u201cserpent\u2019s egg,\u201d\nis said to have been worn by the Druid priests as a badge of\ndistinction. Pliny relates that he had seen one of them which was as\nlarge as a moderate-sized apple, its shell being a cartilaginous\nsubstance. It was supposed to be generated in midsummer out of the\nsaliva and slime exuding from a knot of intertwined serpents. When the\nmoisture had coagulated and formed into a sphere, this was tossed in the\nair by the hissing snakes, and, in order to preserve its efficacy as a\ntalisman, the finder had to catch it in a linen cloth before it fell to\nthe ground. Such \u201cserpent\u2019s eggs\u201d were in high favor with the Romans,\nwho believed they procured for the wearers success in all disputes and\nthe protection of kings. So great was the faith reposed in their magical\nvirtues that Claudius is said to have condemned to death a Roman knight,\none of the Vecontii, simply because he had an _ovum anguinum_ concealed\nin his bosom when he appeared in court during the trial of a lawsuit in\nwhich he was involved. In order to enhance the value of this amulet, the\nstory was circulated that great dangers were incurred in securing it;\nfor the snakes pursued any one who seized the egg and he could only\nescape by fording a river, across which they could not swim.[446] In\nlater accounts of this amulet it is described as a ring, sometimes\ncomposed of a blue stone with an undulating streak or stripe of yellow,\nthought to represent a snake.\n\nCertain so-called floating-stones have been found in a branch of Mann\nCreek, a tributary of the Weiser River, which flows into the latter near\nits confluence with the Snake River in Idaho.[447] These are hollow\nquartz globes, with a shell so thin that the air in the cavity more than\nmakes up for the specific gravity of the quartz. Some formation similar\nto this may possibly have been intended by Pliny in his description of\nthe _ovum anguinum_ or serpent\u2019s egg of the Druids, which floated if\nthrown into a stream, although it is perhaps more probable that these\n\u201cserpent\u2019s eggs\u201d were shells of the sea-urchin, as they are figured by\nDe Boot and other writers.\n\nThe snake-stone, legends regarding which are met with in so many\ndifferent parts of the world, is known to the Lapps of northern Europe,\nand strange to say, some of the elements of Pliny\u2019s old recital touching\nthe \u201cserpent\u2019s egg\u201d come out in the account given of it by this\nprimitive race, in general so far removed from any notion of classical\ntradition. Anyone in search of this stone must resort, according to the\nLapps, to the pairing place of snakes, for here they throw the stone,\nwhich is small and white, back and forth to one another; he must steal\nalong quietly until he is quite near to the snakes and then snatch the\nstone as it flies through the air, and run away with it as fast as he\ncan to the nearest piece of water. Should he reach the water before the\nsnake does\u2014for the reptile pursues him\u2014he gains the ownership of the\nstone; if, however, the snake first reaches the water, this is very\ndangerous for the man. Hence he should carefully search out the nearest\nwater before snatching the stone, and as the snake will not immediately\nknow what has become of it, and will hunt for it awhile before starting\nin pursuit of the thief, the latter will have time to come first to the\nwater.[448]\n\nTertullian writes that the wearing of stones taken from the head of a\ndragon or of a serpent was especially reprehensible in the case of a\nChristian; for how could a Christian be said to \u201cbruise the head\u201d of the\nOld Serpent (Gen. iii, 15) while wearing such a stone about his neck or\non his head, and thus testifying to a kind of serpent worship![449]\n\nThe Greek poem \u201cLithica,\u201d belonging to the fourth century B.C., also\ncelebrates the virtues of a \u201csnake-stone,\u201d which is to be pressed\nclosely on the bitten spot; but besides this application, the drinking\nof undiluted wine in which the stone _ostrites_ had been pulverized, is\nrecommended. This shows that the therapeutic value of alcohol as a\nstimulant to revive the nerve-centres, paralyzed by the animal poison,\nwas recognized at this time. An unusually precise description is given\nof the _ostrites_; it was round, hard, black and rough, and was marked\nby many wavy lines or veins. Some one of the many varieties of banded\nagate seems to answer best to this description.[450]\n\nThe legend that St. Patrick drove out all snakes from Ireland sometimes\ntook the form that the saint had transformed them into stones. This\nbelief is noted by Andrew Borde, physician and ecclesiastic, who,\nwriting in 1542, mentions some strange stones he had been shown on that\nisland:\n\n I have sene stones the whiche have had the forme and shape of a snake\n and other venimous wormes. And the people of the countrie sayth that\n such stones were wormes, and they were turned into stones by the power\n of God and the prayers of saynt Patrick. And English merchauntes of\n England do fetch of the erth of Irlonde to caste in their garden\u2019s, to\n keepe out and to kyll venimous wormes.[451]\n\nThe legendary serpent-stone is usually one taken from the reptile\u2019s\nhead, but Welsh tradition tells of one extracted from the tail of a\nserpent by the hero Peredur, and having the magic property that anyone\nholding it in one hand would grasp a handful of gold in the other. This\nstone was generously bestowed upon Etlym by the finder, who only secured\nit after vanquishing the serpent in a dangerous conflict.[452]\n\nThe snake-stone (or \u201cmadstone\u201d), in Arabic _\u1e25ajar al\u1e25ayyat_, is\ndescribed by the Arab writer Kazwini, as being of the size of a small\nnut. It was found in the heads of certain snakes. To cure the bite of a\nvenomous creature the injured part was to be immersed in sour milk, or\nin hot water, and when the stone was thrown into the liquid it would\nimmediately attract itself to the bitten part and draw out the\npoison.[453] The homeopathic idea plays a considerable r\u00f4le in the\nsuperstitions of the Arabs of northern Africa. To cure the bite or sting\nof the scorpion, the creature is to be crushed over the wound it has\ninflicted. If anyone is bitten by a dog, he should cut off some of the\nanimal\u2019s hair and lay this on the bitten part; if, however, the dog was\nmad, it must be killed, its body opened and the heart removed. This is\nthen to be broiled and eaten by the person who has been bitten.[454]\n\nMany beautiful glass beads of Roman, or perhaps of British fabrication,\nhave been found in Great Britain and Ireland. Upon some of these are\nbosses composed of white spirals, the body of the bead being blue, red,\nyellow, or some other brilliant color. These have been called \u201choly\nsnake beads.\u201d Probably most of them are merely ornamental productions\nand were not intended to represent serpent-stones. The curious test of\nthe genuineness of an _ovum anguinum_ mentioned by Pliny, namely, that\neven if set in gold, it would float up a stream against the current,\nindicates a very porous structure; perhaps some of these serpent\u2019s eggs\nwere hollow, vitrified clay balls with wavy lines on the surface.\n\nDe Boot, in his treatise on stones and gems,[455] figures the _ovum\nanguinum_, and says that its form was either hemispherical or\nlenticular. In his opinion the name \u201cserpent\u2019s egg\u201d was given to the\nstone because on its surface there appeared five ridges, starting from\nthe base and tapering off toward the top. These bore a certain\nresemblance to a serpent\u2019s or adder\u2019s tail. The stone was believed to\nprotect the wearer from pestilential vapors and from poisons.\n\nThe so-called \u201csnake-stones,\u201d many specimens of which have been found in\nBritish barrows, bear in the Scottish Lowlands the designation \u201cAdder\nStanes.\u201d They are also sometimes called adder-beads or serpent-stones.\nFor the Welsh they were _gleini na droedh_ and for the Irish _glaine nan\ndruidhe_, the meaning being the same, \u201cDruid\u2019s glass.\u201d Many interesting\nexamples were added to the collection of the Museum of Scotch\nAntiquaries, one of these being of red glass, spotted with white;\nanother of blue glass, streaked with yellow; other types were of pale\ngreen and blue glass, some of these being ribbed while others again were\nof smooth and plain surface. That the glass \u201csnake-stones\u201d were objects\nof considerable care and attention is indicated by the mending of a\nbroken specimen shown by Lord Landesborough at a meeting of the Society\nof Antiquaries in 1850. This broken bead had been repaired and\nstrengthened by the application of a bronze hoop.[456]\n\nThe supposed snake-stones are also to be found among the Cornishmen, who\nsometimes call these objects _milprey_ or \u201cthousand worms,\u201d and they\neven lay claim to the power of forcing a snake to fabricate the \u201cstone\u201d\nby thrusting a hazel-wand into the spirals of a sleeping reptile. In\nanother version it is not a bead that is formed but a ring which grows\naround a hazel-wand when a snake breathes on it. If water in which this\nring has been dipped be given to a human being or an animal that has\nbeen bitten by a venomous creature, all ill effects of the bite will be\nwarded off, the water acting as a powerful antidote to the poison.[457]\n\nThe belief that the snake-stone of Welsh legend\u2014in reality either a\nfossil or a bead\u2014was evolved from the venom or saliva ejected by a\nconcourse of hissing snakes, gave rise to a peculiar popular saying\namong the Welsh to the effect that people who are whispering together\nmysteriously, and apparently gossiping, or perhaps hatching some\nmischief, are \u201cblowing the gem.\u201d[458]\n\nMany of the glass beads known as \u201csnake-stones\u201d or \u201cDruid\u2019s glass\u201d are\nperforated, and this is fancifully explained as being the work of one of\nthe group of snakes which forms the bead. This particular snake thrusts\nits tail through the viscous mass before it has become hardened into a\nglass sphere. In various parts of Scotland such beads are treasured up\nby the peasants; according to the testimony of an English visitor of\n1699, who reports that they were hung on children\u2019s necks as protection\nfrom whooping-cough and other children\u2019s diseases, and were also valued\nas talismans productive of good fortune and protective against the\nonslaught of malevolent spirits. To guard one of these precious beads\nfrom the depredations of the dreaded fairies the peasant would keep it\nenclosed in an iron box, this metal being much feared by the\nfairies.[459]\n\nA type of snake-stone used in Asia Minor is described as being of a\npearly white hue, rounded on one side, and flat on the other. Toward the\nedge of the flat side runs a fine, wavy, bluish line, the undulations of\nwhich are fancied to figure a serpent. The victim of a snake-bite first\nhad the spot rubbed with some kind of sirup; then the stone was applied\nto the bitten spot, and it would adhere to the inflamed surface for\neight days; at the expiration of this time it would fall off. The bite\nwould be entirely healed and would not be followed by ill effects of any\nkind.[460]\n\nA novel theory in regard to the formation of a type of snake-stones is\ngiven by an old Chinese writer. This is that snakes, before they begin\nto hibernate, swallow some yellow earth and retain this in the gullet\nuntil they come forth again in the springtime, when they cast it forth.\nBy this time the earth has acquired the consistency of a stone, the\nsurface remaining yellow, while the interior is black. If picked up\nduring the second phase of the moon this concretion was thought to be a\ncure for children\u2019s convulsions, and for gravel, and was powdered and\ngiven in infusion. The infusion could also be applied with advantage\nexternally to envenomed swellings.[461]\n\nAn old manuscript found in a manor house in Essex, England, contains a\ntranslation, made in 1732 by an Oxford student, E. Swinton, of some\ndetails on the snake-stone, taken from a work published in the same year\nat Bologna by Nicolo Campitelli. After noting that these stones came\nfrom the province of Kwang-shi in China and from different places in\nIndia, their appearance and qualities are described. In color they were\nalmost black, some having pale gray or ash-color spots. The test of the\ngenuineness of such a stone was to apply it to the lips; if not a\nspurious one, it would cling so closely to the membrane that\nconsiderable force must be exerted to separate it therefrom. The usual\ndirections are given for its employment in the cure of snake bites, but\nits usefulness by no means ended here; its curative power was also\nexhibited in the case of \u201cScrophulous Eruptions and Pestilential Bubos,\u201d\nand it could be used in the treatment of malignant tremors, venereal\ndisorders, etc. With the manuscript was found a specimen snake-stone.\nThis was described as being a thin oval body, about an inch in length\nand three-quarters of an inch broad; the color was gray with light\nstreaks, and the surface was bright and polished. It was of the\nconsistency of horn, and the writer of the note in the \u201cLancet\u201d believes\nthat it was part of a stag\u2019s antler or some similar substance, from\nwhich the animal matter had been removed by the action of heat; many of\nthe Oriental snake-stones are of this type, but, as we have already\nseen, a great variety of more or less porous materials have been and are\nstill used in this way in different parts of the world. A practical\nexperiment was made in 1867 by Dr. John Schrott, who excited six cobras\nto bite a number of pariah dogs. Without delay the snake-stones were\napplied to the wounds, but they proved absolute failures, death\nresulting as speedily as though nothing had been done.[462]\n\nJean Baptiste Tavernier, the great Oriental traveller of the seventeenth\ncentury, gives the following description of the \u201csnake-stones\u201d found in\nIndia:[463]\n\n Finally, I will mention the snake-stone, which is about the size of a\n doubloon, some approximating to an oval form, being thicker in the\n middle and tapering toward the edges. The Indians say that it forms on\n the head of certain snakes, but I rather believe that the priests of\n these idolators make them think this, and that this stone is a\n composition of certain drugs. However this may be, it has great virtue\n to draw out all the poison, when anyone has been bitten by a venomous\n creature. If the part that has been bitten has not been punctured, an\n incision must be made, so that the blood can flow out, and when the\n stone has been applied, it does not fall off until it has absorbed all\n the poison which gathers about it. To clean it, woman\u2019s milk is used,\n or should this be lacking, cow\u2019s milk, and after ten or twelve hours\n steeping, the milk which has drawn out all the poison takes on the\n color of pus. Having dined one day with the Archbishop of Goa, he took\n me into his museum, where he had several curious objects. Among other\n things he showed me one of these stones, and having told me of its\n properties, he assured me that but three days before he had seen them\n tested, and presented the stone to me. As he was traversing a marsh on\n the Island of Salsate, whereon Goa is situated, to go to a country\n house, one of those who bore his palanquin, and who was almost\n entirely naked, was bitten by a snake and was immediately cured by\n this stone. I have bought several of them, and they are sold only by\n the brahmins, which makes me think the brahmins themselves make the\n stones. There are two methods of testing whether the stone is good or\n the product of some deception. The first of these tests is to place it\n in one\u2019s mouth, for then, if it be good, it springs up and cleaves to\n the palate; the second test is to place it in a glass full of water;\n if it is not sophisticated, the water begins to seethe, small bubbles\n rising from the stone at the bottom to the surface of the water.\n\nThevenot, a French traveller who visited India in 1666, about the time\nTavernier was there, asserts that the famous \u201cStones of the Cobra\u201d were\nmanufactured in the town of Diu, in Guzerat, and that they were made \u201cof\nthe ashes of burnt roots, mingled with a kind of Earth they have, and\nwere again burnt with that Earth, which afterwards is made up into a\nPaste, of which these Stones are formed.\u201d After describing the process\nemployed for cleaning the stones after they had been used, Thevenot adds\nthat if not freed from the absorbed venom the stones would burst.[464]\n\nDr. J. Davy examined and analyzed some of these \u201cstones,\u201d and found one\nof them to be a piece of bone partially calcined. When applied to the\ntongue or to any other moist surface it adhered firmly. Another, which\nlacked all absorbent or adhesive power, was said to have saved the life\nof four men. It therefore appears that while some of the \u201csnake-stones\u201d\nreally possessed some possible curative virtues, others were esteemed\nonly because of a superstitious belief in their magical properties.\nKaempfer, writing in 1712, informs us that these stones should always be\nused in pairs, and applied successively to the wound.[465] The belief in\nthe efficacy of such stones is still general in India, and one of the\nvarieties is supposed to be found in the head of the adjutant bird.[466]\n\nFrancisco Redi[467] describes the extraordinary healing power attributed\nto stones obtained from the heads of certain serpents, called by the\nPortuguese \u201c_cobras de capello_,\u201d found throughout Hindostan and Farther\nIndia. These stones are claimed to be an infallible remedy for the bites\nand stings of all kinds of venomous reptiles or animals, and likewise\nfor wounds made by poisoned arrows, etc. He repeats the usual tales of\ntheir adhering powerfully when applied to the bite or wound, and\nclinging to it like a cupping-glass until they had absorbed all the\npoison, when they would fall off spontaneously, leaving the man or\nanimal sound and free. Then follows the account of steeping the stones\nin milk to remove the poison, the milk assuming a color between yellow\nand green. These wonderful stones and the narrations concerning them had\nbeen brought to Italy by Catholic missionaries, who seemed to have\nentire faith in their powers; so that Redi says they offered to prove\nthe accounts by any number of experiments, such as would satisfy the\nmost incredulous, and prove to medical men that Galen was correct when\nhe wrote (Chapter XIV, Book I) that certain medicines attract poison as\nthe magnet does iron. For this purpose a search for vipers, etc., was\nrecommended; but, owing to the season being later and colder than usual,\nnone could at that time be obtained, as they had not emerged from their\nwinter quarters. An experiment was therefore substituted, after much\nconsultation among the learned men of the Academy of Pisa, whereby oil\nof tobacco was introduced into the leg of a rooster. This was regarded\nas one of the most fatal of such substances, and was administered by\nimpregnating a thread with it to the width of four fingers and drawing\nit through the punctured wound. One of the monks forthwith applied the\nstone, which behaved in the regular manner described. The bird did not\nrecover, but it survived eight hours, to the admiration of the monks and\nother spectators of the experiment.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Frontispiece and title-page of Francesco Redi\u2019s \u201cExperimenta\n naturalia,\u201d Amsterdam, 1675, and two specimen pages of this\n treatise, referring to the snake-stones believed to be taken from\n the Indian _Cobras de Capello_, or hooded snakes.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FORMS OF TABASHEER\n\n Bought at Fair at Calcutta, 1888, by Dr. Valentine Ball.\n]\n\nRedi states that he himself possessed some of these stones, as did also\nVincent Sandrinus, one of the most learned herbalists of Pisa. Redi\ndescribes them as \u201calways lenticular in form, varying somewhat in size,\nbut in general about as large as a farthing, more or less. In color some\nare black, others white, others black, with an ashy hue on one side or\nboth,\u201d etc.\n\nUp to the present time no one has apparently identified what Tavernier\nreferred to in speaking of snake-stones. It, however, occurred to the\nwriter, after receiving a quantity of tabasheer from Dr. F. H. Mallet of\nthe Geological Survey of India, who obtained it at the bazaar of the\nCalcutta Fair in November of 1888, that many, if not most of the Hindu\nsnake-stones must have been tabasheer. Tabasheer is a variety of opal\nthat is found in the joints of certain species of bamboo in Hindostan,\nBurma, and South America; it is originally a juice, which by evaporation\nchanges into a mucilaginous state, then becomes a solid substance. It\nranges from translucent to opaque in color, and is either white or\nbluish-white by reflected light, and pale yellow or slight sherry red by\ntransmitted light. Upon fracture it breaks into irregular pieces like\nstarch. As in Tavernier\u2019s account of its clinging to the palate and\ncausing water to boil when immersed, it actually has the property of\nstrongly adhering to the tongue, and when put into water emits rapid\nstreams of minute bubbles of air. It has a strong siliceous odor, but\nafter absorbing an equal bulk of water becomes transparent like a\nColorado hydrophane described by the writer several years ago before the\nNew York Academy of Sciences.\n\nAlthough tabasheer is mentioned in nearly all the textbooks, very little\nof it has reached the United States. It is highly interesting, since we\nhave here an organic product scarcely to be distinguished from a similar\nopal-like body found by Mr. Arnold Hague in the geysers of the\nYellowstone Park. Both tabasheer and the hydrophane were probably what\nwas called \u201cOculus Beli,\u201d \u201cOculus Mundi,\u201d and \u201cLapis mutabilis\u201d by\nThomas Nicol, Robert Boyle, and other writers of the seventeenth\ncentury, and \u201cWeltauge\u201d by the Germans.\n\nThe great capacity of this substance for absorbing a fluid would\nundoubtedly render it as efficacious for the purpose of absorbing poison\nas any other known stone, providing the wound were open enough; and its\ninternal use to-day as a medicine is possibly also due to this property.\n\nTabasheer, as known among mineralogists, is a corruption of the word\ntabixir, a name which was used even in the time of Avicenna, the Grand\nVizier and body surgeon of the Sultan of Persia in the tenth century. It\nplayed a very important part in medicine during the Middle Ages. As to\nits origin, Sir David Brewster[468] says that tabasheer is only formed\nin diseased or injured bamboo joints or stalks.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n SPECIMENS OF TABASHEER\n\n At the upper right-hand corner is figured a hydrophane, or \u201cMagic\n Stone,\u201d at the upper left-hand corner is a floating stone from\n Oregon. The tabasheer was bought at the Fair held in Calcutta in\n 1888.\n]\n\nGuibourt[469] differs from Brewster, inasmuch as he attributes the\ndifferent rates of growth to the fact that when there is a\nsuperabundance of sap the tabasheer is formed from the residuum. More\nrecently, Henry Cecil[470] says, \u201cIn the onrush of tropical growth in\nthe young shoot, nature, after flooring the knot, has poured in, as it\nwere, sap and silica sufficient for a normal length and width of stem to\nthe knot next above it. But by some check to the impulse, or by\nirregularity of conditions, the portion of stem thus provided for is\nshorter or narrower than intended, and the unused silica is left behind\nas a sediment, compacted by the drying residuum sap.\u201d\n\nThis latter view is sustained by Dr. Ernst Huth, who discusses the name,\nhistory, origin, and reputed virtues of this substance with much\nfulness.[471] In regard to its use in medicine during the Middle Ages,\nhe quotes a remarkable list of applications to the ills that flesh is\nheir to.\n\nHere it is cited as a remedy for affections of the eyes, the chest, and\nof the stomach, for coughs, fevers, and biliary complaints, and\nespecially for melancholia arising from solitude, dread of the past, and\nfears for the future. Other writers speak of its use in bilious fevers\nand dysentery, internal and external heat, and injuries and maladies.\n\nThe writer has examined a large number of so-called madstones, and they\nhave all proved to be an aluminous shale or other absorptive substance.\nBut tabasheer possesses absorptive properties to a greater degree than\nany other of the mineral substances examined, and it is strange that it\nhas never been mentioned as being used as an antidote. It may be\nconfidently recommended to the credence of any person who may desire to\nbelieve in a madstone.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Cobra de Capello. From Tavernier\u2019s Travels, English translation by\n John Philips, London, 1684.\n]\n\nThe writer believes that Tavernier\u2019s snake-stones may all have been\ntabasheer, or again, while some of them were of this substance, others\nmay have been artificially compounded by the authorized dealers of the\nBrahmin caste. The instance he gives of the successful use of such a\nstone is not altogether incredible, as, should one of the less active\npoisons be sucked out of a wound shortly after this were inflicted, a\ncure might well be effected. In view of the great difference in the\nvirulence of poisons and the varying degrees of the sensibility to toxic\neffects, it is not strange that the snake-stones should sometimes seem\nto give good results. Tavernier states that these stones were brought to\nIndia by Portuguese soldiers returning from service in Mozambique.[472]\nFor successful use a pair of them were needed, so that, when applied to\na snake-bite, as soon as one became saturated with the venom the other\ncould be immediately substituted. To have them always at hand, those\nnatives fortunate enough to own a pair of _pedras de cobra_ carried them\nabout in a little bag.[473]\n\nA curious traditional belief is current in some parts of India, notably\nin Ceylon, to the effect that the male cobra, during the night, uses a\ncertain luminous stone to lure its prey and to attract the female. This\nis probably the chlorophane, a variety of fluorite, a substance which\nshines with a phosphorescent light in the darkness, and this quality,\nquite mysterious in the eyes of the natives, may have induced them to\nassociate the stone with the snake, the epitome of all subtlety and\ncunning. Serpent-stones were supposed to exist in both ancient and\nmedieval times, and the belief in their existence is widespread among\nmany races of mankind.\n\nA chlorophane is also found in the microlite localities of Amelia\nCourt House, Virginia. The writer made a series of experiments and\nnoted that some of these specimens emit a phosphorescent light at a\nlow temperature. The material occurs in Siberia, and Pallas\ndescribes a specimen from this locality. When subjected to the heat\nof the hand, it gave out a white light, in boiling water a green\nlight, and when placed on a burning coal a brilliant emerald-green\nlight, visible at a considerable distance. Similar phenomena have\nbeen observed by the writer, who has found that very slight\nattrition, even the rubbing of one specimen against another in the\ndark, will produce phosphorescence.[474]\n\nThe real or supposed virtues of the \u201csnake-stones\u201d of Ceylon are\ndetailed at considerable length by the great Dutch naturalist, Rumphius.\nAfter noting the old tale that the \u201cnatural\u201d snake-stones came from the\n_cobra de capello_ (_Serpens pilosus_), he proceeds to relate the\ninformation he had been able to gather regarding the \u201cspurious\u201d stones\nof this type. These were fabricated by the Brahmins, the process being\nkept a profound secret; indeed, there were those who asserted that the\nBrahmins themselves had lost the art, as this had been possessed by but\na single family which had died out, leaving the secret unrevealed.\nRumphius describes these artificial stones as usually round and flat,\nthe size varying from that of a half-shilling piece to that of a\ntwo-shilling piece. Some were of lenticular form and a few were oblong;\nall had a white spot in the middle. In making the application, the\nbitten spot was first pricked until it bled, whereupon the stone was\nimmediately laid on and allowed to remain until it dropped off of itself\n\u201cjust as a leech would do.\u201d So intense was its absorbent activity that\nit would sometimes break, in which case a substitute had to be quickly\napplied. The saturated stone was placed in milk and the absorbed venom\nwas thus drawn out, turning the milk blue.[475]\n\nOne of the tales of the Gesta Romanorum treats of a serpent-stone of\nsingular medicinal virtue. According to the story\u2014which is, of course, a\nmere legend\u2014a certain Theodosius, who \u201creigned in a Roman city,\u201d was a\nmost prudent ruler, but was afflicted with blindness. In his care for\nthe welfare of his subjects he had decreed that when anyone who desired\njustice rang the bell at the palace gate, a judge must forthwith appear\nand try his case. Now it happened that a serpent had its nest near the\nbell-rope, and one day, while the reptile was absent, a toad took\npossession of the nest. Returning and finding the nest occupied, the\nserpent,\u2014evidently a worthy descendant of the original serpent of\nParadise, \u201cmore subtle than any beast of the field,\u201d\u2014wound its tail\nabout the bell-rope and pulled the bell. When the judge appeared, as in\nduty bound, he was struck by this strange spectacle, and reported it to\nthe emperor, who told him to right the wrong which had been done,\ndirecting him to expel and kill the toad. Not long after, the serpent\nmade its way into the palace and entered the emperor\u2019s room, bearing in\nits mouth a small stone. Proceeding to the emperor\u2019s couch, it crawled\nup, raised its head above the emperor\u2019s face and dropped the stone upon\nhis eyes. As soon as the stone touched the eyes, the emperor\u2019s sight was\nrestored. The serpent disappeared and was never seen again.[476]\n\nA representative type of \u201cmadstone\u201d is a concretionary calculus\noccasionally, but very rarely, found in the gullet of male deer. In form\nit bears a resemblance to a water-worn pebble and is usually of oblong\nshape, the largest specimens being 3 inches in length and 1\u00bd inches in\nwidth. The chemical analysis of Dr. H. C. White showed that the chief\ncomponent was tricalcic phosphate. His experiments demonstrated that\nwhile such a concretion would absorb water to the amount of 5 per cent.\nof its own weight, the quantity of blood or other fluid it was able to\nabsorb only amounted to 2.3 per cent. of its weight. When immersed in\nwater, after having been placed on a wound caused by the bite of a\nvenomous creature, the liquid absorbed was given out so as to discolor\nthe water, and the material exuded was found to be of toxic quality.\nHowever, experiments with animals that had been bitten by snakes or\nother reptiles, failed to show that the stone exercised any curative\neffect. Dr. White states that he has in his possession a \u201cmadstone\u201d\ndating from 1654, but this is of a different type, being a porous\nsandstone.[477]\n\nEven in South Africa snake-stones are known, but it appears that the few\nspecimens reported had been brought thither from the Dutch East Indies;\none such stone had been handed down for generations in a Dutch settler\u2019s\nfamily. From their appearance some of these snake-stones were judged to\nbe pieces of burnt hartshorn. A Boer farmer owned an amulet of this kind\nthat he would loan from time to time to neighbors who might have need of\nit. On one occasion, when the daughter of an English hunter had been\nbitten by a snake, the father sent off a man on horseback to borrow this\nsnake-stone. Owing to the unavoidable delay, some hours elapsed before\nit could be applied to the wound. The girl recovered after its use but\nthe wound did not heal satisfactorily, and this was attributed to the\nlength of time that had intervened between the attack of the snake and\nthe use of the remedial stone.[478]\n\nIn December, 1887,[479] the writer described a white opaque variety of\nhydrophane with a white, chalky or glazed coating, which had recently\nbeen brought from a Colorado locality. The absorbent quality of this\nstone is quite remarkable, and when water is allowed to drop on it, it\nfirst becomes very white and chalky, and then gradually perfectly\ntransparent. This property is developed so strikingly that the finder\nproposed the name \u201cMagic Stone\u201d for the mineral and suggested its use in\nrings, lockets, charms, etc., to conceal photographs, hair, and other\nobjects, which the wearer wishes to reveal only as caprice dictates.\n\n\n\n\n VI\n Angels and Ministers of Grace\n\n\nThe veneration of angels and the attribution to them of especial days or\nmonths, as well as the idea that they were guardians of those born on\nthose days or during those months, was the result of many factors. The\nbelief in the existence of angels is present in all parts of the Bible,\nbut in the earlier portions they are not individualized in any way. The\nangel of God, or of the Lord (_malach Elohim_ or _malach Yahveh_) was\nsimply a messenger of God, employed to communicate his will or else to\naccomplish some act of divine justice.\n\nIt is quite possible that the greater prominence given to angels among\nthe Jews after the Babylonian Captivity was not solely dependent upon\nBabylonian or Persian influence. We learn from the historical and\nprophetical books of the Old Testament that the Jews had, from the\nearliest times, worshipped other gods besides the God of Israel, and\nwere ever ready to assimilate the religious superstitions of the heathen\nworld. Several of the divinities that were worshipped in Babylonia and\nAssyria were also objects of adoration in Israel, not indeed by the\nchosen spirits of the nation from whom we receive our records, but by\nthe masses of the people. This very fact, however, served in a certain\nsense to maintain the purity of the national religion. As the\nsuperstitious inclinations of the populace were so fully satisfied from\nwithout, there was no necessity to develop or distort the national\nreligion in this direction. The Babylonian Captivity changed all this.\nIt was the \u00e9lite of the Jewish nation that was deported, and the\nsufferings and humiliations to which they were subjected in a foreign\nland only served to strengthen their faith in Yahveh and in his Law.\nHence it is, that when this tried and purified remnant returned to\nJud\u00e6a, rebuilt the fallen temple and reorganized the state, the latter\nbecame a theocracy in a much stricter sense than ever before, and from\nthis time we can really speak of Judaism as the religion of the whole\npeople.\n\nBut the inevitable tendency to split up the unity of the divine force, a\ntendency that makes itself felt in all religions and among all peoples,\nsoon asserted itself anew and in a different direction. As the people\nwere no longer allowed, we may even say were no longer inclined, to go\nafter foreign gods, they proceeded to develop the idea of divine\nmessengers or intermediaries which had always formed part of the\nnational faith, but had never been fully evolved. While Isaiah and\nEzekiel both knew of a division of the angels into certain categories\nas, for example, cherubim, seraphim, hayyot (living creatures), ofanim\n(wheels) and arelim, there is no attempt at individualization, and the\nfirst mention of an angel\u2019s name occurs in the Book of Daniel, which\nlater critics are disposed to assign to the second century B.C. It is\nmost natural to suppose that such names were known and were familiar to\nthe people long before that time. When we read in the Book of Daniel,\nxii, 1: \u201cAnd at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which\nstandeth for the children of Israel,\u201d it is easy to see that the idea\nthat certain special qualities were attributed to this angel was deeply\nrooted in the popular mind. In a previous verse, x, 13, we read:\n\u201cMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me,\u201d\u2014a conclusive proof\nthat a hierarchy of angels had already been thought out.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n Fossil Amethystine Lapis Anhydrite Banded Hematite\n Coral of Quartz Lazuli About 2500 Agate About About 2000\n the About 2500 About 2000 B.C. 2800 B.C. B.C.\n Devonian B.C. B.C.\n Period 1000\n B.C.\n\n Amethystine Lapis Lazuli Aragonite-banded Amazon Stone Black\n Quartz 2000 B.C. or 3000 B.C. About 1500 Serpentine,\n Probably earlier B.C. hard and\n Assyrian of compact.\n 700 B.C. Seals of this\n type are\n generally as\n old as 2500\n B.C.\n\n Marble, Jaspery Agate Aragonite Rock-Crystal Serpentine\n discolored by As late as Probably as old About 1200 (banded)\n fire About 800 B.C. as 3000 B.C. B.C. Probably as\n 2500 B.C. early as 2500\n B.C.\n\n Ferruginous Shell 3000 Jasper, banded Chalcedony, Agate\n Agate About B.C. or red and black Blue (banded)\n 800 B.C. earlier About 1200 B.C. Saphirine Assyrian of\n About 700 about 700\n B.C. B.C.\n\n ILLUSTRATIONS OF ACTUAL PRECIOUS STONES AND MINERALS USED FOR SEALS IN\n ANCIENT ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA\n\n Mostly from the collection in the American Museum of Natural History,\n New York City.\n\nThe great source of information in regard to angelology is the\nRabbinical literature which had its rise about the first century B.C.\nand culminated in the Talmuds of Babylon and Jerusalem in the fifth\ncentury A.D. As these compilations, although nominally commentaries on\nthe books of the Old Testament, are almost encyclopedic in their\ncharacter, they throw much light on this subject. In a monograph of\nKohut, entitled \u201cJ\u00fcdische Angelologie,\u201d[480] many extracts, belonging to\nan early period, are given. Seven princes of heaven were recognized and\namong these four were especially favored. They occupied a place near to\nthe Throne of Light and were bathed in its radiance. We are told that\n\u201cGod surrounded his Throne of Light with four angels: Michael, \u2018Who is\nlike God?\u2019 at the right; Gabriel, \u2018Might of God,\u2019 at the left; Uriel,\n\u2018Splendor of God,\u2019 before it; and Raphael, \u2018Salvation of God,\u2019 at the\nwest\u201d (Numeri Rabba, c. 2).[481] They represented various attributes of\nthe divine: Michael, goodness and mercy; Gabriel, punitive justice;\nUriel, the majesty of God, and Raphael, his providence. Michael and\nGabriel are particularly prominent and are called Royal Angels (\u200f\u05de\u05dc\u05db\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05df\n\u05d3\u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05db\u05d9\u05d0\u200e); they have especial care of Israel. As we have seen, Michael\nwas singled out by Daniel and he was commonly regarded as chief prince.\nGabriel was looked upon as the avenger and the executor of divine\njudgments and occupied the next place, while Uriel and Raphael are less\nfrequently alluded to, although the latter appears prominently in the\nBook of Tobit.\n\nIn the New Testament, also, Michael and Gabriel are evidently regarded\nas the chief angels, and Revelation places Michael at the head of the\nhosts of the good angels in their conflict with Satan and his followers.\nWe can see in the Gospels how widespread was the belief in demoniacal\npossession, and in the existence of evil spirits; it was almost\ninevitable that the aid of good spirits should be invoked to counteract\nthem, and although both Christianity and Judaism sternly rebuked any\ndirect worship of angels, they were regarded as ministering spirits, and\nit was only natural that the masses should be led to use their names on\namulets and talismans, and little by little to arrive at the belief that\na particular angel was entrusted with the welfare of each individual.\nThe same tendencies were at work in both religions, but a new\ndevelopment was initiated for the Christian church by the growing\nveneration of the early martyrs and of their relics. When this became\nmore pronounced, the saints to a great extent took the place of the\nangels; a passage from the writings of St. Ambrose composed in 377 A.D.\nshows us that this transformation of belief had already begun to make\nitself felt at that time. St. Ambrose writes: \u201cWe should address our\nsupplications to the angels who are appointed to guard us; we should\nalso address them to the martyrs, whose patronage seems assured to us by\na physical pledge\u201d (their relics).\n\nThe danger that the worshipping of angels might lead Christians away\nfrom the Church into magic practices and beliefs was clearly recognized\nin the early centuries, and at the Council of Laodicea, in 363 A.D., it\nwas proclaimed that Christians should not render worship to angels\noutside the church, or in private assemblies or associations. Whoever\nwas found guilty of such practices (of such idolatry, as it was called)\nwas pronounced anathema, as he was considered to have turned away from\nthe Lord Jesus Christ and worshipped idols. The first Council of Rome,\nheld in 492 A.D., expressly forbids the wearing of talismans inscribed\nwith the names \u201cnot of angels as they pretend, but rather with those of\ndemons.\u201d Indeed, there is abundant evidence that in this age, and even\nearlier, those addicted to angelolatry were not satisfied with the few\nangels named in the Holy Scriptures, but addressed their petitions to a\nmultitude of angels evolved from the fervid imagination of the\nsuperstitious among the Jews. Of these angels not recognized by the\nChurch, the following prayer of a certain Aldebert, condemned by the\nsecond Council of Rome, 745 A.D., gives us a few names: \u201cI pray and\nsupplicate the angel Uriel, angel Raguel, angel Michael, angel Adimis,\nangel Tubuas, angel Sabaoth and angel Simihel.\u201d In the judgment of the\nChurch fathers, all these names, with the exception of Michael,\ndesignated demons.[482]\n\nA manuscript of the ninth or tenth century in the Library of Cologne\ngives the following \u201cnomina angelorum\u201d, and instructs the reader as to\ntheir special virtues:\n\n If when it thunders you think of the Archangel Gabriel, no harm will\n befall you. If on awakening you think of Michael you will have a happy\n day. Have Orihel (Uriel) in mind against your adversary and you will\n prevail. When eating and drinking think of Raphael and abundance will\n be yours. On a journey think of Raguhel and everything will prosper.\n Should you have to lay your case before a judge, think of Barachahel\n and all will be explained. When you take part in a banquet, think of\n Pantasaron and all the guests will delight in you.[483]\n\nOn some medieval gems appear angel figures, one very curious specimen of\nthis class being an onyx, engraved in intaglio. On this gem, which is in\nthe British Museum, the engraver depicts the Annunciation, but the\nfigure of the Angel Gabriel is precisely that of a nude Cupid; hand and\nfoot are raised as though the little god (or angel) were dancing. It has\nbeen conjectured that this strange attempt at adapting a classic form is\ndue to the fact that the gem was cut in Constantinople during one of the\nviolent iconoclastic persecutions, and that the engraver thus sought to\nveil the true significance of his work. In this case, however, we must\nbelieve that the accompanying inscription was added at a later date, for\nit expressly names the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel, and the Virgin\n(\u201cMother of God\u201d).[484]\n\nAnother interesting gem, from about the same period, is a square\namethyst, measuring about 3 cm. in each direction. This bears, engraved\nin intaglio, a standing figure of Christ, without a halo; behind his\nhead is the monogram [Symbol], and in his left hand he holds a scroll\nwith the words (in Greek): \u201cIn the beginning was the Word\u201d; his right\nhand is stretched forth in benediction, and alongside the figure are the\nfollowing angels\u2019 names in Greek characters: Rapha\u00eal, Penel, Ouri\u00eal,\nIchthys, Micha\u00eal, Gabri\u00eal, Aza\u00eal. The fourth and middle name, Ichthys\n(fish) is the well-known anagram of the Greek words signifying \u201cJesus\nChrist, the Son of God, the Saviour,\u201d and the use of this as the name of\nan angel is thought to have been suggested by a passage in Isaiah (ix,\n6).[485]\n\nA \u201cprime \u00e9meraude\u201d among the Gorl\u00e6us gems is engraved with a design\nshowing two souls brought before God by the two guardian angels.[486]\nSomewhat the same belief in the guiding or conducting of souls after\ndeath is found in Plato\u2019s \u201cPh\u00e6don,\u201d where it is said that the _daimon_\nwhich had guided a person during life led his spirit to the place in\nHades where judgment was to be rendered.\n\nThe following list from Lodge\u2019s \u201cWit\u2019s Miserie,\u201d printed in 1596, gives\nthe seven good angels and sets over against them the seven bad angels,\neach of whom represents one of the seven deadly sins:\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of the American Numismatic Society, New York.\n\n ZODIAC MOHURS, COINED BY THE MOGUL SOVEREIGN SHAH JEHAN, ABOUT 1628.\n]\n\n Good Angels Bad Angels\n Michael Leviathan, pride\n Gabriel Mammon, avarice\n Raphael Asmodeus, lechery\n Uriel Beelzebub, envy\n Euchudiel Baalberith, ire\n Barchiel Belphagor, gluttony\n Salathiel Ashtaroth, sloth\n\nThe curious book called in Hebrew \u201cSepher de-Adam Kadmah\u201d and attributed\nto the angel Raziel, is supposed to belong to the twelfth or the\nthirteenth century, or at the earliest to the eleventh century,[487]\nalthough the redactor may have used some earlier materials. Legend\nstates that it was engraved upon a sapphire and was given by the angel\nRaziel to Adam when the latter was driven from Paradise. Handed down\nfrom generation to generation, it finally came into the possession of\nSolomon. The name Raziel signifies \u201csecret of God,\u201d in allusion to the\nrevelations contained in the book, which was supposed to protect the\nhouse wherein it was from all danger of fire.\n\nIn this book there is an interesting list of angels, denominated the\ntwelve princes, set over the twelve months of the year. The text of the\nfirst printed edition appears to be corrupt in some places, but the\nnames may be transliterated as follows:[488]\n\n Sh\u2019efiel, \u201cBalm of God\u201d Presiding over Nisan (April)\n Ragael, \u201cBalance of God\u201d Presiding over Ayyar (May)\n Didanor, \u201cOur Light\u201d Presiding over Sivan (June)\n Ta\u2019anbanu, \u201cAnswer for us\u201d Presiding over Tammuz (July)\n Tohargar, \u201cWhirlwind\u201d Presiding over Ab (August)\n Morael, \u201cFear of God\u201d Presiding over Elul (September)\n Hahedan, \u201cThe Brilliant\u201d Presiding over Tishri (October)\n Uleranen, \u201cTo chant, celebrate\u201d Presiding over Marchesvan (November)\n Anatganor, \u201cThou art the Guardian\u201d Presiding over Kislev (December)\n Mephniel, \u201cBefore God\u201d Presiding over Tebah (January)\n Tashnadernis, \u201cSaturnus\u201d Presiding over Shebat (February)\n Abarchiel, \u201cFire of God\u201d Presiding over Adar (March)\n\nThe following list, while probably of later date than the one we have\njust given, is more frequently cited as authoritative:[489]\n\n Orders Angels Tribes Signs\n Seraphim Malchidiel Dan Aries\n Cherubim Asmodel Reuben Taurus\n Thrones Ambriel Judah Gemini\n Dominations Muriel Manasseh Cancer\n Powers Verchiel Asher Leo\n Virtues Hamaliel Simeon Virgo\n Principalities Zuriel Issachar Libra\n Archangels Barbiel Benjamin Scorpio\n Angels Adnachiel Naphtali Sagittarius\n Innocents Hanael Gad Capricornus\n Martyrs Gabriel Zabulun Aquarius\n Confessors Borichiel Ephraim Pisces\n\nIn Rabbinical writings we are told that if a man fulfilled one of the\ncommandments, one angel was bestowed upon him; if he fulfilled two\ncommandments, he received two angels; if, however, he fulfilled all the\ncommandments, many angels were given him. This was a literal\nconstruction of the text Ps. xci, 11: \u201cFor he shall give his _angels_\ncharge over thee.\u201d These angels were believed to shield the believer\nfrom the attacks of evil spirits.[490]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n The medieval conception of the cosmos, the successive spheres of the\n planets, including the sun, and beyond these the crystalline heaven\n and the empyrean. In an outermost circle are named the great\n celestial powers, as recapitulated above the spheres. From a XIV\n century Italian MS. in the author\u2019s library.\n]\n\nThe Mohammedan Atlas, the angel appointed by God to bear the earth on\nhis shoulders, was given a rock of ruby to stand upon. Beneath this\nruby-rock, were, successively a huge bull, an immense fish, a mass of\nwater, and lastly darkness.[491] Thus the grand vision of \u201cthe face of\nthe deep\u201d over which hovered the Spirit of God, before the creative\nwords were spoken, giving form to the earth, is not altogether lost\nsight of in this Mohammedan fancy.\n\nLuther was a firm believer in the existence of guardian angels, and he\neven goes so far as to assert that the angels assigned to men differed\nin rank and ability as did the men themselves. Of this he says:\n\n Just as among men, one is large and another small, and one is strong\n and another weak, so one angel is larger, stronger, and wiser than\n another. Therefore, a prince has a much larger and stronger angel, one\n who is also shrewder and wiser, than that of a count, and the angel of\n a count is larger and stronger than that of a common man. The higher\n the rank and the more important the vocation of a man, the larger and\n stronger is the angel who guards him and holds the Devil aloof.[492]\n\nOur idea of a guardian angel is so spiritual and so pure that it is\ndifficult for us to understand the curious results this belief has\noccasionally produced among the primitive peoples. A weird tale is told\nof a Congo negro who killed his mother so as to gain an especially\npowerful guardian spirit.[493] The dreadful deed was perpetrated in the\nfull conviction that the mother\u2019s love would remain unshaken, while her\npower for good would be increased. Such ferocious egoism does not find\nan exact parallel among civilized peoples, but the underlying principle\nis unfortunately too often illustrated in our midst at the present day.\n\nThe belief in guardian angels has the best of Scripture warrant as\noffered by the text Matthew, chapter xviii, v. 10, where Christ speaking\nof little children says: \u201cTheir angels do always behold the face of my\nFather who is in Heaven.\u201d Another New Testament passage testifying\ndistinctly to the existence of this belief in the Apostolic Age, is in\nthe Acts of the Apostles (xii, 15), where we read that after the\nmiraculous rescue of Peter from his imprisonment, his friends could not\nbelieve the report that he had been seen standing at the door of their\ndwelling, and exclaimed: \u201cIt is his angel.\u201d\n\nThat not only individuals but nations also had special guardian angels\nwas, as we have already noted, a belief held to a certain extent among\nthe Jews after the Babylonian Captivity. To the trace of this in the\ntenth chapter of Daniel (vs. 13, 21), where Michael stands for Israel,\nmay be added the evidence afforded by the Greek Septuagint version of\nDeuteronomy xxxii, 8, part of the \u201cSong of Moses.\u201d Here the Revised\nversion based on our Hebrew text reads:\n\n He set the bounds of the peoples,\n According to the number of the children of Israel.\n\nThe Septuagint translators, however, must have had a slightly different\ntext before them for they render the last words: \u201cAccording to the\nnumber of God\u2019s angels.\u201d It therefore seems probable that they read in\nHebrew _ben\u00ea Elohim_ instead of _ben\u00ea Yisrael_. Of the _ben\u00ea Elohim_ or\n\u201cSons of God\u201d we read in Genesis, chapter vi, verse 2, that they wedded\nwith the \u201cDaughters of Men.\u201d This has been given a poetic form by Thomas\nMoore in his \u201cLoves of the Angels.\u201d The Book of Job also, in its\nPrologue in Heaven (i, 6\u201312), introduces the \u201cSons of God\u201d among whom\nappeared Satan, the \u201cAdversary.\u201d Of angel names, as has been noted,\nthere is Biblical warrant only for Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, the\nlast-mentioned, in the Apocryphal Book of Tobit; to these IV Esdras (not\na canonical book) adds Jeremiel and Uriel, names not admitted by the\nChurch.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n THE ANGEL RAPHAEL REFUSING THE GIFTS OFFERED BY TOBIT\n\n By Giovanni Biliverti. Pitti Palace, Florence.\n]\n\nThere has been preserved for us a most interesting calendar for the city\nof Rome, written by Furius Dionysius Filocalus in 354 A.D., and\ncontaining a series of drawings by his hand showing the symbolical\nfigures of the months of the year. Though the original manuscript is\nlost, several apparently faithful copies exist, one of which is in the\nImperial Library in Vienna. Much of this work deals with matters\nreferring to the Roman calendar, but perhaps its most valuable part is a\nlist of the early Christian saints and martyrs. As this is the earliest\nlist of the kind, of even earlier date than the rest of the work, we\ngive it here unabridged, as a most interesting documentary proof of the\nveneration in which the saints were held in the fourth, or, we should\nprobably say, in the third century.\n\n\n ITEM DEPOSITIO MARTIRUM[494]\n\n VIII kal. Jan. natus Christum in Betleem Jude\u00e6. mense Januario.\n\n XIII kal. Feb. Fabiani in Callisti et Sebastiani in Catacumbas.\n\n XII kal. Feb. Agnetis in Nomentana. mense Februario.\n\n VIII kal. Martias natale Petri de cathedra. mense Martio. non.\n Martias. Perpetu\u00e6 et Felicitatis, Afric\u00e6. mense Maio.\n\n XIIII kal. Jun. Partheni et Caloceri in Callisti, Diocletiano VIIII\n et Maximiano VIII [304]. mense Junio.\n\n III kal. Jul. Petri in Catacumbas et Pauli Ostense, Tusco et Basso\n cons. [258]. mense Julio.\n\n VI idus Felicis et Filippi in Priscill\u00e6 et in Jordanorum,\n Martialis Vitalis Alexandri et in Maximi Silani. hunc\n Silanum martirem Nouati furati sunt. et in Praetextat\u00e6,\n Januari.\n\n III kal. Aug. Abdos et Semnes in Pontiani, quod est ad ursum\n piliatum. mense Augusto.\n\n VIII idus Aug. Xysti in Callisti et in Praetextati Agapiti et\n Felicissimi.\n\n VI idus Aug. Secundi Carpofori Victorini, et Seueriani Albano. et\n Ostense VII ballisteria Cyriaci Largi Crescentiani Memmi\u00e6\n Julianetis et Ixmaracdi.\n\n IIII idus Aug. Laurenti in Tiburtina.\n\n idus Aug. Ypoliti in Tiburtina. et Pontiani in Callisti.\n\n XI kal. Septemb. Timotei, Ostense\n\n V kal. Sept. Hermetis in Basill\u00e6 Salaria uetere. mense Septembre.\n\n non. Sept. Aconti, in Porto, et Nonni et Herculani et Taurini.\n\n V idus Sept. Gorgoni in Lauicana.\n\n III idus Sept. Proti et Jacinti, in Basill\u00e6.\n\n XVIII kal. Octob. Cypriani, Afric\u00e6. Rom\u00e6 celebratur in Callisti.\n\n X kal. Octob. Basill\u00e6, Salaria uetere, Diocletiano IX et Maximiano\n VIII consul. (304) mense Octobre.\n\n pri. idus Octob. Callisti in via Aurelia. miliario III. mense\n Nouembre.\n\n V idus Nou. Clementis Semproniani Claui Nicostrati in comitatum.\n\n III kal. Dec. Saturnini in Trasonis. mense Decembre.\n\n idus Decem. Ariston in pontum.\n\nThis list, which begins with the great Christian festival of Christmas,\nenumerates the days on which Roman martyrs died and were buried. The\nmonths are given in their order and below their names appears a very\nbrief record, giving the day and place of burial and the name of each of\nthe martyrs. The first entry, for instance, reads: \u201cJanuary 20,\ninterment of Fabianus in the cemetery of Callistus.\u201d The earliest\nmartyrs mentioned are SS. Perpetua and Felicitas who died in 202 A.D.;\nthus all definite memory of the many martyrs of the first and second\ncenturies seems to have been lost. Even heretics do not appear to have\nbeen excluded, for as it is stated that the Novatians carried away the\nbody of Silanus, it seems more than probable that he himself belonged to\nthis heretical sect. As martyrs, all are regarded as equally entitled to\nthe highest veneration, regardless of what they may have passed through\non earth. Other communities than the Roman one possessed similar lists,\nas is clearly indicated by the words of Cyprian, in his thirty-ninth\nepistle, where he says: \u201cAs you remember, we offered the sacrifice for\nthem, just as we celebrated a commemoration of the sufferings of the\nmartyrs and of their anniversary days.\u201d\n\nTo many of the saints curative powers are attributed, and these powers\nare usually specialized so that each of these saints is invoked for aid\nagainst a different disease or defect. With very few exceptions it will\nbe found that some circumstance in the history or legend of the saint is\nthe origin of these beliefs. An exception may perhaps be made in the\ncase of the two saints to whom recourse is most frequent at the present\nday, namely, St. Anthony of Padua (June 13) and St. Anne, the mother of\nthe Virgin Mary (July 26). Relics of the latter saint, preserved in many\nparts of Europe and also in America, are regarded as endowed with\nwonderful therapeutic powers. Recently, in New York City, at the church\nof St. Jean Baptiste, a relic of St. Anne was shown to many thousands of\nthe faithful, and some wonderful cures are said to have been\naccomplished by its aid. Sceptics will be inclined to attribute such\ncures to the influence of suggestion, while Catholics will see in them a\nproof of the power of the saint\u2019s intercession on behalf of those who\nrepose their trust in her. St. Anthony is usually appealed to for\nsuccess in difficult enterprises, and more particularly for the\ndiscovery of lost articles. Here the belief in the successful\nintervention of the respective saints is more generalized and appears to\nhave grown up independently of any event chronicled in the legends, but\nthese instances are quite exceptional.\n\nAn exceedingly beautiful jewelled medallion said to have been given by\nPope Paul V, in 1614, to the Archbishop of Lisbon, Don Miguel de Castro,\nshows in the centre the figures of the Virgin and Child, surrounded by a\nsetting of old Indian, table-cut diamonds. The archbishop donated this\nto the Church of St. Antonia da Se, sometimes called the \u201cRoyal House of\nSt. Antonio,\u201d for this church was built on the site of the house in\nwhich dwelt the parents of St. Anthony, Don Martin de Bulhoes and Dona\nTeresa de Azavedo, and in which the saint was born on February 6, 1195.\nAt his baptism he was given the name Fernando, but later he changed this\nto Antonio. The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 completely wrecked this\nchurch, but the high altar wherein the medallion had been placed escaped\ncomparatively unharmed, and the jewel was found by some peasants, who\nlater sold it to the family of Machados e Silvas, in whose private\nchapel it reposed until within a few years.\n\nThe shrine of St. Anne de Beaupr\u00e9 may be seen in the Basilica of\nBeaupr\u00e9, about 20 miles distant from Quebec. It stands on the site of a\nsmall wooden sanctuary erected about the middle of the seventeenth\ncentury by some Breton mariners who, when in imminent danger of\nshipwreck while navigating the St. Lawrence, made a vow to build a\nchapel to St. Anne, the dearly-loved patron saint of their native\nprovince, at the spot where they should first come to land. St. Anne was\nregarded in French Canada as the patroness of seafarers and hence a\nlarge number of those who frequented her shrine were seafaring people.\nHowever, even more were attracted by the report of the marvellous cures\nof all kinds of diseases which were said to have taken place there.\nPilgrimages to this shrine continue to be made at the present time;\nindeed, the number of those who thus testify to their belief in the\npower of the saint has increased rapidly during the past thirty years.\nIn 1880 the pilgrims numbered 36,000; in 1900 the record showed 135,000,\nand in 1910 the number had increased to 188,266, a proof that the\ndevotees are more and more convinced that St. Anne\u2019s relics are the\nsources of great healing virtue.\n\nAll of the numerous relics of St. Anne exhibited in Canada and elsewhere\nare said to have come originally from the town of Apt in France, where,\naccording to Catholic tradition, her body was found by the Emperor\nCharlemagne in 792, and it is related that when the reliquary covering\nthe holy body was opened a fragrance as of balsam emanated from the\ninterior. How the body was transferred to Apt from its resting place in\nPalestine is a mystery not solved even in tradition, although some\nbelieve that it was brought thither by St. Auspicius, known as the\nApostle of Apt. The Basilica of Beaupr\u00e9 contains five of these precious\nrelics; one of them was brought to Canada from the Cathedral of\nCarcasonne, in France, about the year 1662, at the instance of\nMonseigneur de Laval, first bishop of Quebec, and founder of Laval\nUniversity. This is the first joint of the middle finger of the saint.\nThe devotees at the shrine first saw this precious gift March 12, 1670;\nit is adorned with two intersecting rows of pearls, forming a cross.\nAnother relic of peculiar importance is that given in 1892 by the late\nCardinal Taschereau. This is a bone from St. Anne\u2019s wrist measuring four\ninches in length. It is enclosed in a reliquary made of massive gold and\nstudded with precious stones, the gifts of those whose prayers to the\nsaint had been answered. In the ornamentation appear eight diamonds,\nfour amethysts, a fire opal, etc. At the bottom of the reliquary there\nis a gold plate with the inscription: \u201cEx brachio S. Annae,\u201d and a gold\nring set with twenty-eight diamonds. This jealously-guarded treasure is\nexhibited in the shrine but once a year, from July 26 to August 2, a\nperiod comprising St. Anne\u2019s Day and the week following it; at other\ntimes the reliquary is kept in the Sacristy, but may be seen on special\nrequest.\n\nA remarkable jewel in the treasury of the Basilica is the seal of Santa\nAnna, elected president of Mexico in 1832. A golden eagle, with eyes\nformed of two rubies, stands on a rock of lapis lazuli and bears the\nstamp of the seal; resting on his spread wings is a sphere of lapis\nlazuli in which the words \u201cDiaz, Mexico,\u201d are inlaid in letters of gold.\nThe seal is engraved with the initials of the president\u2019s name,\nsurrounded by a design embodying the insignia of his office.\n\nAt the feast of St. Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia (d. circa\n316), which occurs on February 3d in the Roman Church, the wick of a\ncandle is sometimes dipped in a vessel containing consecrated oil, the\nthroats of the faithful being then touched with this wick, to preserve\nthem from diseases of the throat. At other times the ceremony is\nperformed in a different way. The priest holds two candles, adjusted so\nas to form a cross, above the heads of those who come to seek the\nsaint\u2019s aid, and the following prayer is recited: \u201cThrough the\nintercession of St. Blaise may God free thee from diseases of the\nthroat, and from every other disease. (Per intercessionem S. Blasii\nliberet te Deus a malo gutteris et a quovis alio malo.)\u201d\n\nIt is related that this saint in his travels, once meeting a poor woman\nwhose only child had swallowed a fish-bone, relieved the child of its\ntrouble by offering up a prayer and laying his hand upon its throat. In\nthe prayer he adjures all who may suffer from a like trouble to seek his\nintercession with God.\n\nSt. Apollonia of Alexandria (February 9) is said to cure toothache and\nall diseases of the teeth, the reason for this being that at her\nmartyrdom all her beautiful teeth were pulled out. In a similar way St.\nAgatha, of Catania or Palermo, in Sicily, is endowed with the power to\ncure diseases of the breast, because it is related that before her\nmartyrdom her breasts were cruelly torn and mutilated.\n\nTo recite the formula of St. Apollonia was considered by the Spaniards\nof three centuries ago to be a cure for toothache. This fact is brought\nout by a passage in Don Quixote, when the knight\u2019s housekeeper is urged\nto recite it for her master\u2019s benefit when he is ailing. To this request\nthe woman quickly answers: \u201cThat might do something if my master\u2019s\ndistemper lay in his teeth, but, alas! it lies in his brain.\u201d This\nformula was probably used before the age of Cervantes, and has persisted\nto our own time. It is in verse and has been literally translated into\nEnglish as follows:[495]\n\n Apollonia was at the gate of Heaven and the Virgin Mary passed that\n way. \u201cSay, Apollonia, what are you about?\u201d \u201cMy Lady, I neither sleep\n nor watch, I am dying with a pain in my teeth.\u201d \u201cBy the star of Venus\n and the setting sun, by the Most Holy Sacrament, which I bore in my\n womb, may no pain in your tooth, neither front nor back, afflict you\n from this time henceforward.\u201d\n\nOf Santa Lucia (December 13), born in Syracuse on the island of Sicily,\na strange legend is told. A young man fell passionately in love with\nher, and wrote to her that her wonderful eyes pursued him even in his\ndreams. Moved by the Scripture text, \u201cIf thine eye offend thee, pluck it\nout,\u201d and longing to save the youth from sensual passion, Lucia cut out\nher beautiful eyes, placed them on a dish, and sent them to her lover\nwith the following message: \u201cHere thou hast what thou so ardently\ndesirest; I beseech thee leave me in peace.\u201d Very naturally, this saint\nis believed to cure all diseases of the eye.\n\nFor protection against highway robbers and thieves, St. Nicholas\n(December 6), Bishop of Myra, in Lycia, was invoked. Legend relates of\nthis saint that he restored to life three boys who had been murdered at\nan inn by the wicked innkeeper, a wretch who was in the habit of making\naway with his guests and then utilizing their bodies to enrich his menu.\nThis tale accounts for the fact that, under the familiar name of Santa\nClaus, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children.\n\nSt. Barbara (December 4), born in Heliopolis, is appealed to for\nprotection against lightning and injury by firearms. For this reason the\ngun-room on a ship is called in French the _sainte-barbe_. The legend,\nas usual, gives us the origin of the belief in the saint\u2019s special\npowers, for her heathen father is said to have been killed by a stroke\nof lightning, because of his having denounced his daughter, as a\nChristian, to the Roman authorities, and then executed judgment upon her\nwith his own hands. Of St. Barbara the legend says: \u201cShe was a fair\nfruit from an evil tree.\u201d[496]\n\nBeneath portraits or images of St. Christopher (July 25) there often\nappears a Latin verse to the effect that whoever gazes on the image will\nnot suffer from faintness or exhaustion on that day. As the saint is\nsaid to have been of great size and strength, the worshipper at his\nshrine was believed to acquire some of his physical power.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n SANTA BARBARA\n\n French school, 1520. Leaf of a triptych in the Museum of Budapest.\n]\n\nThe cure of diseases of the tongue was the province of St. Catherine of\nAlexandria (November 25), who was famed for her eloquence as well as for\nher devotion to the study of the Scriptures.\n\nSt. Roch, who was born in Montpelier toward the end of the thirteenth\ncentury (d. August 16, 1327), is regarded as the special guardian of\nthose afflicted with plague or pestilence. In his lifetime he went from\nplace to place ministering to those who suffered from the plague until\nfinally he himself succumbed to this malady. So great was the repute of\nSt. Roch\u2019s curative powers that the Venetians are said to have stolen\nhis body from Montpelier, where it was interred, and transported it to\nVenice, that they might have ever-present help in the numerous\npestilences from which this city suffered, because of the constant\ncommercial intercourse with the East.\n\nAnother saint who was invoked for help in plague and pestilence was St.\nSebastian (January 20), born in Narbonne in Gaul. In this case the story\nof the saint\u2019s martyrdom gave rise to the belief in his curative powers,\nfor the legend tells us that he was transfixed with arrows, and these\nmissiles were regarded as symbols of the plague. We have an illustration\nof this old belief in the first book of Homer\u2019s Iliad, where the\npestilence that visited the army of the Greeks is represented as due to\nthe shafts sped from Apollo\u2019s silver bow.\n\nAlthough no curative powers are attributed to them, no one of English\nspeech should forget SS. Crispin and Crispian, on whose day the battle\nof Agincourt was fought, in 1415. The old feud between France and\nEngland has been long forgotten, the rivalry between these nations has\ngiven place to a close friendship, and there is no trace of animosity in\nthe glow that warms an Englishman\u2019s heart when he reads the ringing\nwords put by Shakespeare into the mouth of Henry V:\n\n And Crispin Crispian shall ne\u2019er go by\n From this day to the ending of the world,\n But we in it shall be remembered.\n\nIt is related by Metaphrastus that when St. George was condemned to\ndeath by burning, his executioners (fearing that the flames of the pyre\nmight be extinguished because of his virtue) covered his body with a\ngarment of amiantos (asbestos); for it was believed that when this\nmaterial began to burn the flame could not be extinguished. But all\nprecautions were vain, for as soon as the saint was placed in the flames\nthe fire went out, contrary to the laws of nature, and not a hair of his\nhead was injured. This tale illustrates a curious but not unnatural\nmisunderstanding of the name asbestos, which really signifies\ninextinguishable, but was intended to mean that the substance would not\nburn, and hence that no flame could be extinguished in it.[497]\n\nIn an unpublished manuscript written by Aubrey are quoted the following\ncurious lines on the legend of St. George and the Dragon:[498]\n\n To save a mayd, St. George the Dragon slew,\n A pretty tale if all is told be true;\n Most say there are no Dragons, and \u2019tis sayd,\n There was no George; pray God there was a mayd.\n\nThe St. George thalers, coined by the counts of Mansfeld (Th\u00fcringen),\nenjoyed in bygone times a reputation as amulets for soldiers. This\nbelief is said to have originated from the actual preservation of a\nsoldier\u2019s life by one of these coins, which he had sewed up in the\nlining of his coat just over his heart for safe-keeping. A bullet which\nstruck him here and would otherwise have killed him, was diverted by\ncoming in contact with the thaler. Hungarian St. George thalers were\nregarded as amulets for sailors as well as soldiers. These coins derived\ntheir name from bearing the design of St. George and the Dragon.\n\nAmong the wonder-working saints none enjoyed greater repute in medieval\ntimes than Sainte Foy, the virgin martyr whose remains were taken from\nAgen to the abbey-church at Conques, a village on the hills of Aveyron.\nPilgrims came from far and near to the shrine of Sainte Foy, for she\nworked marvellous cures upon those who appealed to her for help, even\ngiving sight to the blind. Her grace appears to have been bestowed upon\nanimals as well as upon human beings, a fantastic legend relating that\nshe had raised donkeys from the grave! Naturally the pilgrims must bring\nrich gifts, as otherwise the saint might turn a deaf ear to their\nprayers.\n\nMany of these treasures may still be seen in this out-of-the-way church,\nwherein no one would suspect the existence of the rich specimens of\nearly goldsmiths\u2019 work that are carefully preserved in the treasury. The\nmost interesting of these treasures is a statuette supposed to represent\nthe saint. This is a seated figure, about 33 inches high and encrusted\nwith an immense number of precious stones, uncut emeralds, sapphires and\namethysts, as well as with many cameos and pearls; all these having been\noffered at various times to the saint.\n\nThe figure\u2014probably the representation of some ecclesiastic\u2014is seated\non an elaborate chair, originally surmounted by two golden doves. The\nsaint is said to have appeared in a vision to the Bishop of Beaulieu\nand expressly directed this adornment; these doves have disappeared\nand have been replaced by crystal balls. The execution of the\nstatuette\u2014constructed of wood covered with gold plates\u2014is stiff and\nconventional, but it is not unimpressive and gives evidence of\nconsiderable skill on the part of the artist. Nevertheless, it\ncertainly has nothing of the youthful grace we would associate with a\nvirgin martyr.[499]\n\nThe offering of precious stones to attract the favor of gods or saints\nis really a talismanic use of such gems and is intimately connected with\nthe wearing of gems for their talismanic or therapeutic effect. The gift\nestablished a sort of relation between the being whose help was desired\nand the petitioner, and the gem was the medium through which the favor\nwas bestowed.\n\nThe legend of the royal princess who was canonized by the Church as St.\nEnimie (d. 628 or 630 A.D.) contains an account of a miraculous spring\nand also enshrines the popular view of the cause of the strange outlines\nof an extensive mass of heaped-up boulders. This saint was a daughter of\nthe French king Clotaire II (d. 628). Her most ardent wish was to devote\nherself exclusively to the service of Christ, but her royal parent\ninsisted upon a marriage with one of the great nobles. The princess, who\nwas the fairest of the fair, put up an earnest prayer that the Lord\nwould destroy her beauty, even at the expense of some dreadful malady,\nso that she might cease to be an object of desire for men. Her prayer\nwas heard and she was stricken with leprosy which entirely blotted out\nher charms. Not long after this an angel appeared to her in a dream and\ndirected her to bathe in the Fountain of Boule, in the region of\nG\u00e9vaudan. On doing so she was immediately cured of her leprosy, but as\nsoon as she went away from the spring to return to the royal residence,\nthe malady returned. A second attempt had the same favorable and\nunfavorable results, and she now recognized that she must remain near\nthe spring. So after bathing there a third time and being again\ncompletely cured, she erected a monastery on the spot and became the\nprioress. The institution flourished, but a few years later the saintly\nprioress was horrified to see that the Devil was busy with her nuns.\nOnce more she sought for divine aid, and she was given authority to\nimprison the Evil One should she catch him in the monastery. This she\ndid, but the Devil was crafty enough to make his escape. Near the spot\nwhere the monastery stood was a mass of heaped-up boulders, through\nwhich led a way called the Chasm Road which led to a rocky aperture of\nunknown depth. This was fabled to afford egress and ingress to the Devil\nin his passage out of and back to the infernal regions. Along this road\nhe fled when he escaped from the monastery; St. Enimie fearlessly\npursued, but the agile demon was on the point of slipping back again\ninto his own realm, when the saint made a supreme appeal and called upon\nthe rocks to help her. As she raised her arms in supplication, one of\nthe largest boulders, called \u201cLa Sourde,\u201d moved of its own accord and\nfell upon the Devil, pinning him fast to the ground beneath its\nponderous weight. In his rage and despair he made frantic efforts to\nfree himself and his bloody claws left an imprint on the rock. This\nmark, still observable a half-century ago, though it has now\ndisappeared, was prosaically explained by scientists as a stain of\niron-oxide. The other boulders were in motion to assist in the good\nwork, but when the Devil had been caught they stopped short in their\ndownward course, and this is supposed to account for the strange angles\nat which they stand.[500] It would be pleasant to fancy that His Satanic\nMajesty eventually failed to make his escape, but unfortunately the\never-recurring instances of his activity from the age of St. Enimie down\nto our own time preclude this belief.\n\nAn heirloom in the family of Dom Pedro of Brazil is said to have been\nloaned to one of the pioneer aviators, Santos-Dumont, by Dom Pedro\u2019s\ndaughter, the Comtesse d\u2019Eu. This was a medal of St. Benedict and had\nbeen long regarded as a powerful talisman in the Braganza family. One of\nits princely members had a striking proof of this virtue in 1705, when,\nafter having worn the medal but two weeks, he was saved from deadly\nperil by the timely discovery and consequent defeat of a plot.\nSantos-Dumont had just experienced a terrible fall while experimenting\nwith his new airship in the Rothschild park near Paris, and this it was\nthat induced the Comtesse d\u2019Eu to loan him the talismanic medal, with\nthe injunction that he should always wear it on his person, and the\nassurance that if he did so no further harm could befall him. The\ntalisman seemed to do its work well, for although the aviator had many\nnarrow escapes, he was always saved from serious injury. Unfortunately,\nhowever, a thief picked it from the pocket of his coat while he was\nbusily engaged in work on an airship in a Paris machine-shop.[501]\n\nWhile it was customary to close the shops of the goldsmiths on Sundays\nand feast-days, a special exception permitted the \u201cConfr\u00e9rie de St.\nEloi,\u201d the goldsmiths\u2019 guild, to open a single shop (not always the same\none) on each Sunday and feast-day, the profits of the sales being\ndevoted to providing a dinner on Easter Day for the poor of the H\u00f4tel\nDieu.[502] This combination of commercialism and philanthropy has\nillustrations in our own day, and, whatever may be the ulterior motives,\nsome good results are certainly attained.\n\nThe Well of St. Cuthbert, near Cranstock, Newquay, England, long enjoyed\nthe repute of miraculously curing the ailments of infants. Not only were\ncurative powers attributed to the waters of the well, but also to a\nperforated stone alongside of it. As recently as 1868 a puny infant is\nsaid to have been passed through the orifice of this stone with the firm\nexpectation that this act would strengthen the infant and bring good\nluck to it.[503]\n\nIn the region of the Abruzzi, in Italy, more especially in the province\nof Teramo, wonderful virtues are attributed to the intercession of St.\nDonato. So great is thought to be his power to cure those afflicted with\nepilepsy that in this region the disease is called the malady of St.\nDonato. This saint, however, is credited with much more extensive\npowers, for he is believed to cure hydrophobia, to prevent the ill\neffects of the Evil Eye, and in general to bring to naught the\nenchantments of witches. Such being his powers, it is not surprising\nthat his image was added to many amulets, those figuring the lunar\ncrescent being frequently surmounted with the bust of the saint. This\ntype of amulet owes its supposed efficacy to the horn-like shape of the\ncrescent, horns or substances having a likeness to a horn, like certain\nbranches of coral, being regarded as a sure protection against the Evil\nEye. A curious amulet bears the bust of St. Donato surmounting a\ncrescent moon within which is the dreaded number thirteen. This fateful\nnumber is considered to be a source of misfortune for those who do not\nwear it inscribed on an amulet; but it becomes a source of good fortune\nand a happy life for those who possess such an amulet.[504]\n\nA notable instance of the use of a saint\u2019s name to facilitate the\nperpetration of a crime is afforded in the case of the poison known as\nAqua Tofana. This appears to have been a preparation of arsenic and was\nconcocted by a woman named Tofana, a native of Palermo, in Sicily, who\neventually took up her abode in Naples and devoted herself to the\npreparation and sale of her poison in Naples, Rome and elsewhere. To\ndivert suspicion she used vials marked \u201cManna of St. Nicholas of Bari,\u201d\nand bearing the image of this saint. Most of her clients are said to\nhave been women who were anxious to rid themselves of their husbands,\nand she must have had a large practice in this specialty, for so many\nhusbands died in Rome in a mysterious manner that in 1659 the\nauthorities finally took cognizance of the matter and instituted a\nsearching investigation. This revealed the fact that there existed in\nRome a secret society entirely composed of women who wished to \u201cremove\u201d\ntheir husbands by poison. The leader of this society and many of the\nmembers were duly executed, but Tofana does not seem to have been\nmolested.\n\nMany strange superstitions as to the saints prevail among the\nSpanish-speaking inhabitants of New Mexico. If a saint whose aid has\nbeen invoked fails to respond to the appeal, his image is shut up in\nsome receptacle until he vouchsafes to render the service desired. On\nthe other hand, if the image of a saint falls to the ground, this is\ninterpreted as a sign that the saint has performed a miracle. One means\nof forcing a saint to perform a miracle was to hang the image head\ndownward; this was especially recommended in the case of St. Anthony.\nAll strangers who presented themselves on St. Anthony\u2019s day or St.\nJoseph\u2019s day were to be hospitably received and entertained, for one of\nthem might be the saint himself. Those who wished to read the future\nwere instructed to put the white of an egg in a glass of water on the\neve of St. John\u2019s day; on examining the contents of the glass the next\nmorning they would see written in black characters on the white\nbackground a prophecy of what was to happen. On this saint\u2019s day women\nwere assured that if they cut the tip of their hair with an axe, or\nmerely washed it, they would be blessed with an abundant growth of hair.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BLOODSTONE MEDALLION, SHOWING THE SANTA CASA OF LORETO CARRIED BY\n ANGELS TO DALMATIA FROM GALILEE\n]\n\nA strange legend of angelic activity is that touching the miraculous\ntransportation through the air (from Galilee to Dalmatia) of the \u201cSanta\nCasa,\u201d the house wherein the Virgin Mary dwelt. This event is placed in\n1295, and the reverse of an Italian medallion engraved in 1508, during\nthe pontificate of Julius II, gives a representation of the journey to\nDalmatia, two angels sufficing to bear the little edifice. The sea, over\nwhich the house is being borne, is conventionally indicated by waves,\nbut the fact that the medallist has seen fit to show a relatively large\nfigure of the Virgin seated on the roof of the little structure and\nholding the Infant Jesus in her arms, scarcely adds to the realism of\nthe effect.\n\nQuite naturally Catholicism could not be satisfied with the pagan idea\nthat the constellations held sway over the different parts of the human\nbody, and the saints were substituted for the stars.\n\n The saints of the Romanists have usurped the place of the zodiacal\n constellations in their government of the parts of man\u2019s body, and so\n for every limbe they have a saint. Thus, St. Otilia keepes the head\n instead of Aries; St. Blasius is appointed to govern the necke instead\n of Taurus; St. Lawrence keepes the backe and shoulders instead of\n Gemini, Cancer and Leo; St. Erasmus rules the belly with the entrayls,\n in the place of Libra and Scorpius; in the stead of Sagittarius,\n Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces, the holy church of Rome hath elected\n St. Burgarde, St. Rochus, St. Quirinius, St. John, and many others,\n which govern the thighes, feet, shinnes and knees.[505]\n\nWhen we consider how many beautiful and symbolic rites and observances\nhave marked the celebration of saint\u2019s days and holidays in the Old\nWorld, and how few of these have been preserved by the inhabitants of\nour own country, we must find this most regrettable. Of late years there\nhas been a marked tendency to increase the number of holidays, and in a\nfew cases to revive the celebration of old holidays, but the popular\nidea of the best way to celebrate these occasions seems to be confined\nto making them carnivals of noise and disorder. This is largely owing to\na lack of intelligent guidance, for it is too much to expect that any\npeople, above all those so practical as our American people, can\nspontaneously evolve, at short notice, an emblematic expression of the\nidea underlying the festival. If, however, a beautiful and adequate\nsymbolism were presented in a concrete form, the masses of the people\nwould grasp its significance quickly enough, and would thus gain a\nhigher and better conception of the historic anniversary or the\ntime-honored festival they were called upon to celebrate.\n\nThe saint\u2019s days on which the summer and winter solstices fell were\nmemorized by distichs. For instance:\n\n St. Barnaby bright! St. Barnaby bright!\n The longest day and the shortest night.\n\n St. Thomas gray! St. Thomas gray!\n The longest night and the shortest day.\n\nThe former of the verses is probably the earlier, as St. Barnabas\u2019 Day\nis June 11, the day on which the summer solstice fell in England for\nsome time before the reform of the \u201cOld Style\u201d calendar, in 1752,\nreplaced this date; while St. Thomas\u2019 Day is December 21, the date of\nthe winter solstice in our modern calendar.[506]\n\nWriting of the origin of the rural superstitions in regard to the\nweather on certain saint\u2019s days, Wehrenfels quotes the distich:\n\n If Paul\u2019s Day be fair and clear\n It foreshows an happy Year.\n\nand continues:\n\n The contrary has happened a thousand Times, but however this cannot\n destroy the Rule. It once happened; certainly, say they, these Rules\n of the Husbandmen are not to be despised; see how exactly they are\n made good by Experience. Thus a great Part of Mankind reasons; which\n if one consider, he will neither depend much upon the Content of the\n common People in these Things, nor wonder at so great a Number of most\n silly Opinions.[507]\n\n\n VERSES ON SAINTS\u2019 DAYS AT VARIOUS SEASONS OF THE YEAR.[508]\n\n January 25. Saint Paul\u2019s Day:\n\n If the clouds make dark the sky,\n Great store of people then will die;\n If there be either snow or rain,\n Then will be dear all kinds of grain.\n (Robin Forby, \u201cVocabulary of East Anglia,\u201d London, 1830.)\n\n Somewhat different in a Latin form:\n\n Clara dies Pauli multas segetes nitant amni,\n Si fuerint nebul\u00e6, aut venti, erunt proelia genti.\n\n February 2. Candlemas Day:\n\n If Candlemas day be fair and bright,\n Winter will have another flight;\n If on Candlemas day it be shower and rain,\n Winter is gone and will not come again.\n (John Ray, \u201cA Collection of English Proverbs,\u201d 2d ed., Cambridge,\n 1678.)\n\n February 12. St. Eulalia\u2019s Day:\n\n If the sun shines on St. Eulalie\u2019s day,\n It is good for apples and cider they say.\n\n February 14. St. Valentine\u2019s Day:\n\n On St. Valentine\u2019s day\n Cast beans in clay\n But on St. Chad\n Sow good or bad.\n (Seed time of this Lenten crop limited between February 14 and March\n 2.)\n\n February 24. St. Matthias\u2019 Day:\n\n Saint Matthew (Sept. 21)\n Get candlesticks new;\n St. Mattheg\n Lay candlesticks by.\n\n March 1. St. David\u2019s Day:\n\n Quoth Saint David, \u201cI\u2019ll have a flood.\u201d\n Saith our Lady [Mch. 25] \u201cI\u2019ll have as good.\u201d\n (Referring to spring tides in Wales, from Poor Robin\u2019s Almanack,\n 1684.)\n\n June 15. St. Vitus\u2019 Day:\n\n If Saint Vitus\u2019 day be rainy weather,\n It will rain for thirty days together.\n (M. A. Denham, \u201cProverbs and Popular Sayings Relating to the\n Seasons,\u201d Percy Soc., 1846.)\n\n July 15. St. Swithin\u2019s Day:\n\n St. Swithin\u2019s day, if thou dost rain,\n For forty days it will remain;\n St. Swithin\u2019s day, if thou be fair,\n For forty days t\u2019will rain nae mair.\n (M. A. Denham, \u201cProverbs and Popular Sayings Relating to the\n Seasons,\u201d Percy Soc., 1846.)\n\n July 15: All the tears that St. Swithin can cry\n Aug. 24: Saint Bartholomew\u2019s dusty mantle wipes dry.\n (R. Inwards, \u201cWeather Lore,\u201d London, 1893.)\n\n July 20. St. Margaret\u2019s Day:\n\n \u201cMargaret\u2019s floods\u201d (heavy rains).\n\n July 25. St. James\u2019 Day:\n\n \u201cWhoever eats oysters on St. James\u2019 day will never want money.\u201d\n (M. A. Denham, \u201cProverbs and Popular Sayings Relating to the\n Seasons,\u201d Percy Soc., 1846.)\n\n August 24. St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day:\n\n St. Bartholomew\n Brings cold dew.\n (John Ray, \u201cA Collection of English Proverbs,\u201d 2d ed., Cambridge,\n 1678.)\n\n October 28. St. Simon and St. Jude:\n\n Simon and Jude\n All the ships on the sea home they do crowd.\n\n Dost thou know her then?\n Trap. As well as I know \u2019twill rain upon\n Simon and Jude\u2019s day next.\n (Middleton, \u201cThe Roaring Girl,\u201d Act 5, Sc. 1.)\n\n Now a continual Simon and Jude\u2019s rain beat all your feathers as flat\n down as pancakes!\n (Idem, Act II, Sc. 1.)\n\n November 11. St. Martin\u2019s Day:\n\n Expect St. Martin\u2019s summer, halcyon days.\n (Shakespeare, \u201cI Henry VI,\u201d Act 1, Sc. 2.)\n\n December 13. St. Lucy\u2019s Day:\n\n Lucy [bright] light\n The shortest day and the longest night\n (For a long time, before the change of the calendar, St. Lucy\u2019s Day\n corresponded to our 21st of December.)\n\n December 21. St. Thomas\u2019 Day:\n\n St. Thomas gray, St. Thomas gray\n The longest night and the shortest day.\n\n December 27. St. John the Evangelist\u2019s Day:\n\n Never rued the man\n That lead in his fuel before St. John.\n (Robin Forby, \u201cVocabulary of East Anglia,\u201d London, 1830.)\n\n Additional verses on Candlemas Day (Purification of the Blessed\n Virgin):\n\n If the sun shines bright on Candlemas Day,\n The half of the winter\u2019s not yet away.\n\n In Latin:\n\n Si sol splendescat Maria purificante,\n Major erit glacies post festum quam ante.\n\n\n SAINTS\u2019 DAYS\n\n ADRIAN. September 8. As also of his wife, Natalia. Anniversary of\n translation of his relics to Rome; anciently his festival on day\n of his martyrdom, March 4, 306. Patron of soldiers in Flanders,\n Germany, and northern France; also against the plague. Relics in\n Abbey of St. Adrian, Gearsburg, Belgium; and elsewhere.\n\n AFRA. August 5. Especially celebrated in Augsburg, of which city (her\n native one) she is patroness. Martyred Aug. 7, 304.\n\n AGATHA. February 5. Patroness of Malta, and Catania, Sicily. Died\n February 5, 251.\n\n AGNES. January 21. Supposed anniversary of martyrdom in 304.\n\n ALBAN. June 22. First English saint and martyr, died June 22, 303.\n Present town of St. Albans upon site of martyrdom.\n\n AMABLE. June 11. Patron of Riom, France. Died 475.\n\n AMBROSE. December 7. Patron of Milan. Died April 4, 397. Founder of\n church, now Sant\u2019 Ambrogio basilica Maggiore, Milan, in 387. One\n of four Latin Fathers.\n\n ANDREW. November 30. Apostle, patron of Scotland and Russia.\n\n ANNE. July 26. Supposed anniversary of her death. Mother of the Virgin\n Mary. Patroness of Canada.\n\n ANSELM. April 21. Archbishop of Canterbury (1033\u20131109).\n\n ANTHONY. January 17. Hermit (251\u2013356).\n\n ANTHONY OF PADUA. June 13. Died June 13, 1231.\n\n APOLLONIA. February 9. Martyred February 9, 250. Patroness of those\n suffering from toothache.\n\n ATHANASIUS. May 2. One of four Greek Fathers. Died May 2, 373.\n\n AUGUSTINE. August 28. Died 430. Patron of theologians and learning.\n Bishop of Hippo in Africa. One of four Latin Fathers.\n\n AUGUSTINE. May 26. Apostle to England in 596. Died May 26, 604.\n\n BABYLAS. September 1 (14) in Eastern Church; January 24 in Western\n Church (237\u2013250). Bishop of Antioch. Relics said to have silenced\n the revived oracle of Apollo at Delphi, during reign of Julian the\n Apostate.\n\n BARBARA. December 4. Patroness of Ferrara, Mantua and Guastalla,\n Italy, and of armourers and gunsmiths. Died December 4, 235 (?).\n\n BARNABAS. June 11. His birthday. One of the patrons of Milan. Apostle.\n\n BARTHOLOMEW. August 24. Apostle.\n\n BASIL THE GREAT. January 1, Eastern Church; June 14, Western Church\n (328\u2013380).\n\n BATHILDA. January 30 in France; January 26 in Roman Martyrology (died\n ca. 680).\n\n BAYO OR BAVON. October 1. Patron of Ghent (589\u2013653).\n\n BENEDICT. March 21. Founder of Benedictine Order (480\u2013543).\n\n BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX. August 20. Founder of Abbey of Clairvaux, one of\n the Fathers of the Church (1091\u20131153).\n\n BERNARD OF MENTHON. June 15. Founder of hospices in the Alps, \u201cGreat\n St. Bernard\u201d and \u201cLittle St. Bernard\u201d (923\u20131008?).\n\n BLAISE. February 3. Patron of Ragusa, and of those afflicted with\n throat diseases. Bishop of Sebaste, Cappadocia (died 316).\n\n BONIFACE. June 5. Apostle of Germany (680\u2013755).\n\n BRIDGET OR BRIDE. February 1. Patroness of Ireland (450\u2013521).\n\n BRUNO. October 6. Founder of Carthusian Order (1035\u20131101).\n\n CATHERINE. November 25. Patroness of Venice and appealed to against\n diseases of the tongue.\n\n CATHERINE OF SIENA. Patroness of Siena; lived in fourteenth century.\n\n CECILIA. November 22. Patroness of sacred music (died 100).\n\n CLEMENT. November 23. Patron of farriers and blacksmiths (died 100).\n\n COLUMBAN. November 21. Irish saint (543\u2013615).\n\n CRISPIN AND CRISPINIAN. October 25. Patrons of shoemakers (died 284).\n\n CUTHBERT. March 20. Patron saint of Durham, England (died 687).\n\n DAVID. March 1. Patron saint of Wales (446\u2013549).\n\n DECLAN. July 24. First bishop of Ardmore, Ireland.\n\n DENIS. October 9. Patron of France. Living in 250.\n\n DOMENIC. August 4. Founder of Dominican Order (1170\u20131221).\n\n EDMUND. November 20. King of East Anglia and martyr (died 870).\n\n EDWARD. March 18. King of England and martyr (962\u2013978).\n\n EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. October 13. King of England (1004\u20131066).\n\n ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY. November 19. Daughter of Alexander II, King of\n Hungary (1207\u20131231).\n\n ELMO (ERASMUS). June 2 (died 304).\n\n ELOY (ELIGIUS). December 1. Patron of goldsmiths (588\u2013659).\n\n EMERIC. November 4. Eldest son of St. Stephen of Hungary.\n\n ENGRACIA.\n\n ERIC (OR HENRY). May 18. Patron of Sweden (died 1151).\n\n ETHELREDA (AUDREY). October 17. Princess of East Anglia (died 679).\n\n EUPHEMIA. September 16. Patroness of Chalcedon (died ca. 307).\n\n FELICITAS. November 23. Patroness of male heirs (died 173).\n\n FILLAN. January 9. Scotch saint (died ca. 649).\n\n FILOMENA (FILUMINA, PHILOMENA). August 10. Supposititious saint.\n\n FRANCIS OF ASSISI. October 4. Founder of Franciscan Order (1182\u20131226).\n\n FRANCIS XAVIER. December 3. Patron and Apostle of India (1506\u20131552).\n\n FRIDESWIDE. October 19. Patroness of city and university of Oxford,\n daughter of Sidan, Prince of Oxford (died ca. 740).\n\n GENEVIEVE. January 3. Patroness of Paris.\n\n GEORGE. April 23. Patron of England, of Germany and Venice, of\n soldiers and armourers (born third century).\n\n GILES. September 1. Patron of Edinburgh (ca. 640\u2013).\n\n GREGORY THE GREAT. March 12 (born 540).\n\n GUDULA. January 8. Patron of Brussels (born middle of seventh\n century).\n\n HELENA. August 18. Wife of Constantius, mother of Constantine the\n Great (died 328).\n\n HENRY OF BAVARIA. July 15. Patron of Bavaria. Emperor (Henry II) of\n Germany (972\u20131024).\n\n HILARY. January 14 (died 368).\n\n HONORATUS. Bishop of Arles. Died January 6, 429.\n\n HONORATUS (HONOR\u00c9). May 16. Patron of bakers. Bishop of Amiens. (Died\n 690.)\n\n HUBERT OF LIEGE. November 3. Patron of the chase and of dogs (died\n 727).\n\n IGNATIUS LOYOLA. July 3. Founder of Jesuit Order (1491\u20131556).\n\n ISIDORE THE PLOUGHMAN (Isidro el Labrador). May 15. Patron of Madrid\n and of farmers (born ca. 1110\u20131170).\n\n JAMES THE GREAT. July 25. Apostle; patron of Spain and of pilgrims to\n Jerusalem (died 42).\n\n JANUARIUS. September 19. Patron of Naples (died 305).\n\n JEROME. September 30. Patron of scholars. One of the four Latin\n Fathers (342\u2013420).\n\n JOHN THE BAPTIST. June 24, or Midsummer Day.\n\n JOHN THE EVANGELIST. December 27 (died 101).\n\n JOSEPH. March 19.\n\n JULIAN HOSPITATOR. January 9. Patron of hospitals (died 313).\n\n JUSTINA OF PADUA. October 7. One of the patrons of Padua and Venice\n (died 303).\n\n KENELM. December 13 and July 17. Son of Kenulph, King of Murcia\n (812\u2013820).\n\n KEYNE (KEYNA). Cornish saint (died 689).\n\n KILIAN. July 8. Irish saint (died 689).\n\n LAWRENCE. August 10. Patron of Nuremberg, Genoa, and of the Escorial.\n\n LEONHARDT. November 6. Patron of prisoners and slaves; in Bavaria, of\n cattle (died ca. 560).\n\n LUCY (LUCIA). December 13. Patron of Syracuse, and against\n eye-diseases.\n\n LUDMILLA. September 16. Patron of Bohemia. Queen of that country (died\n ca. 920).\n\n LUKE. October 18. Patron of painters.\n\n MACAIRE THE ELDER. January 15. (Fourth century.)\n\n MACAIRE THE YOUNGER. January 2. (Fourth century.)\n\n MALO (MACLOU). November 15. Patron of St. Malo, France (died 627).\n\n MARGARET. July 20. One of the patrons of Cremona and of women in\n childbirth (died fourth century).\n\n MARK. April 25. Evangelist (died 68).\n\n MARTHA OF BETHANY. July 29. Patroness of cooks and housewives (died\n 84).\n\n MARTIN OF TOURS. November 11, Martinmas. Patron of Tours and of\n beggars, tavern-keepers and wine-growers (316\u2013397).\n\n MARY MAGDALENE. July 22. Patroness of Provence and of Marseilles as\n well as of penitent fallen women.\n\n MATTHIAS. February 24.\n\n MAURICE. September 22. Patron of Austria, Savoy, Mantua, and of\n foot-soldiers (fourth century).\n\n MICHAEL. September 29. Archangel.\n\n NICHOLAS. December 6. Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, patron of Russia,\n and especially of serfs and serfdom (died 342).\n\n OLAF. July 29. Patron of Norway. Not canonized but informally\n accepted.\n\n OUEN (OUINE). August 24. Patron of Rouen (595\u2013683).\n\n PANTALEONE. June 27. Patron of physicians (fourth century).\n\n PATRICK. March 17. Patron of Ireland (born ca. 386).\n\n PAUL. June 29 (with St. Peter), and January 25.\n\n PETER. June 29; also August 1, St. Peter\u2019s Chains, and January 18,\n Chair of St. Peter.\n\n PHILIP. May 1. Patron of Brabant and Luxemburg.\n\n PHILIP NERI. May 26. Founder of Oratorian Order (1515\u20131595).\n\n POLYCARP. January 26. Bishop of Smyrna (died 167).\n\n QUIETUS. (No day.) Bones in church of Our Lady of Grau, Hoboken,\n enshrined June 1, 1856, Archbishop Bailey officiating.\n\n ROCHE (ROCH, ROQUE). August 16. Patron of prisoners and the sick,\n especially the plague-stricken (born ca. 1280\u20131327).\n\n ROMAIN. October 23. Patron of Rouen (died 639).\n\n ROMUALD. February 7 (956\u20131027).\n\n ROSALIA. September 4. Patroness of Palermo (died 1160).\n\n RUMALD (RUMBALD). November 3. Patron of Brackley and Buckingham,\n England. Son of King of Northumbria.\n\n SCHOLASTICA. February 10. Sister of St. Benedict (died ca. 543).\n\n SEBALD. Son of a Danish king (eighth century).\n\n SEBASTIAN. January 20. Patron of Chiemsee, Mannheim, Oetting, Palma,\n Rome, Soissons, and of archers (fourth century).\n\n SECUNDUS. March 30. Patron of Asti (died 119).\n\n STEPHEN. December 26. Patron of horses.\n\n SWITHIN (SWITHUN). July 15. Patron of Winchester (died 862).\n\n SYMPHOROSA. July 18. Only in Greek Church. A Jewish martyr, the mother\n of the Maccabees (second century B.C.).\n\n THERESA. October 15. Patron of Spain (1515\u20131582).\n\n THOMAS \u00c0 BECKET. July 7 (1117\u20131170).\n\n THOMAS DIDYMUS. December 21. Apostle, patron of Portugal and Palma.\n\n URBAN. May 25. Pope and martyr (died 236).\n\n URSULA. October 21. Patroness of young girls, and of educational\n institutions (died 383).\n\n VALENTINE. February 14 (first century).\n\n VERONICA. Shrove Tuesday (first century).\n\n VICTOR. Patron of Marseilles (fourth century).\n\n VINCENT. January 22. Patron of Lisbon, Valencia, Saragossa, Milan, and\n Ch\u00e2lons.\n\n VINCENT DE PAUL. July 19. Founder of Order of the Sisters of Charity.\n\n VITUS. June 15. Patron of Bohemia, Saxony, Sicily, and of dancers and\n actors (third century).\n\n WALBURGA. February 25 (died ca. 778).\n\n WILLIAM. January 10. Patron of Bruges (died 1209).\n\n WINIFRED. November 3. British maiden of seventh century.\n\n\n\n\n VII\n On the Religious Use of Various Stones\n\n\nThe precious stone mentioned in the earliest biblical reference, Gen.\nii, 12, and there translated onyx, is rendered chrysoprase in the\nSeptuagint version, and is by others referred to the emerald on the\nground that the land of Havilah, where it is there said to occur, is\nthought to have been a part of what was later called Scythia, and as\nsuch would include the emerald region of the Urals. But the ancient\nemeralds are now known to have come largely from Upper Egypt, and such\nvague conjectures are of little use in determining what stone was really\nmeant in this most ancient allusion. Professor Haupt has even suggested\nthat we might translate the Hebrew word _shoham_ used in this passage by\n\u201cpearl,\u201d since he conjectures that one of the four \u201crivers\u201d surrounding\nthe land of Havilah was the Persian Gulf.\n\nFor all attempted identifications of the stones mentioned in the Old\nTestament, we are principally dependent upon the Greek version of the\nSeventy. As this was made in the Alexandrian period, not far from the\ntime of Theophrastus, whose work on gems we shall presently mention, the\nnames at that time adopted by the Greek translators may be regarded as\nfairly correct equivalents of the Hebrew. The difficulty lies more in\nthe translation of the classical names into the English, and arises\nlargely from the unscientific nomenclature of the ancients; the same\nname being employed for stones that resemble each other to the eye, but\nwhich are now well distinguished by chemical and physical differences\nformerly unknown.\n\nThere are some traces in the Bible of the use of precious stones as\namulets. In Proverbs xvii, 8, we read that \u201ca gift is like a precious\nstone in the eyes of the owner; whithersoever he turneth he prospereth.\u201d\nThis passage is rendered somewhat differently in the Authorized Version,\nbut the above translation is evidently more correct. The stones of the\nbreastplate were of course amulets in a certain sense, and possibly\noracles also, and it is therefore quite probable that the Hebrews shared\nin the belief common to all the peoples around them, although opposition\nof the orthodox to all magical practices prevented them from going into\nparticulars in regard to such superstitious fancies.\n\nIn support of his theory that the Urim and Thummim of the Hebrew\nhigh-priest signified the stones of the breastplate worn on the sacred\nephod, and should be rendered \u201cperfectly brilliant,\u201d Bellermann cites\nthe passage in Ezekiel (chap, xxviii, verse 14), where he writes of\n\u201cfiery stones\u201d in treating of the royal splendors of the ruler of the\ngreat commercial city of Tyre. As to the oracular utterances of the\nhigh-priest when, clad in the ephod and wearing the glittering\nbreastplate, he sought for the counsel of the Almighty, this author\nrejects the idea that the divine will was revealed by changes in the\nbrilliancy of the stones, by casting of lots, or by a mysterious use of\nthe ineffable name, the Tetragrammaton, J h w h (Jahweh), but believes\nthat the answer to the questions was communicated to the high-priest by\nan inner voice, an inspiration similar to that vouchsafed to the great\nprophets of Israel.[509]\n\nA curious analogy to the use by Christians of fragments supposed to have\ncome from the True Cross as amulets, was the employment by the Talmudic\nJews of chips from an idol or from something that had been offered to an\nidol, for the same purpose. It is needless to say that this was severely\ncondemned by the Rabbis.\n\nIt is interesting to note the statements of Arab historians that the\nmummy of Cheops, the Pharaoh of the Great Pyramid, was decorated with a\npectoral of precious stones. As the regal and priestly functions were\nunited in the monarch, we may have here the first form of the\nhigh-priest\u2019s breastplate.\n\nThe Arab historian Abd er-Rahm\u00e2n, writing in 829 A.D., states that Al\nMamoun(813\u2013833), son of Haroun-al-Raschid, entered the great pyramid and\nfound the body of Cheops:\n\n In a stone sarcophagus was a green stone statue of a man, like an\n emerald, containing a human body, covered with a sheet of fine gold\n ornamented with a great quantity of precious stones; on the breast was\n a priceless sword, on the head a ruby as large as a hen\u2019s egg,\n brilliant as a flame. I have seen the statue which contained the body;\n it was near the palace of F\u00f4stat.\n\nEssentially the same account is given by Ebub Abd el-Holem, another\nArab, who says:\n\n One saw beneath the summit of the pyramid a chamber with a hollow\n prison, in which was a statue of stone enclosing the body of a man,\n who had on the breast a pectoral of gold enriched by fine stones, and\n a sword of inestimable price, on the head a carbuncle the size of an\n egg, brilliant as the sun, on which were characters no man could read.\n\nIn the opinion of Mariette Bey these details are so circumstantial as to\nleave little doubt that the mummy of Cheops was found by Mamoun, but he\nbelieves that the body was covered with a gilt wrapper and that the\nstones were paste imitations. The ruby was probably the \u201cur\u00e6us,\u201d the\nsacred asp, emblem of royalty, and the wonderful sword may have been a\nsceptre or a poniard similar to those found in tombs of the eleventh\ndynasty and in that of Queen Aah-Hotep; the statue of green serpentine\noften occurs in later tombs. Should this view be correct, precious\nstones were imitated in glass at a very remote period.[510]\n\nAn exceedingly fine specimen of ancient Egyptian goldsmith\u2019s work, now\nin the Louvre Museum, Paris, is a pendant terminating in a bull\u2019s head,\neach of the horns being tipped with a little ball. Above the double\nreins are four rondelles, one of gold, two of a material still\nundetermined, and one of lapis lazuli; the different parts of the\npendant are connected by gold wire. Its most interesting and attractive\nfeature, however, is a polished hexagonal amethyst, engraved on both\nfaces. In each case the form of a priest is figured; in one he appears\nwith his official staff or wand, and in the other he is represented as\nbearing an incense-burner and offering the mineral and vegetable\nsacrifices; an Oriental pearl is set above the engraved amethyst. The\nreligious and sacrificial significance of this ornament, coupled with\nthe costliness of the materials and the superior excellence of the\nworkmanship, make it likely that we have here an amulet or talisman made\nfor some Egyptian of very high rank.[511]\n\nSt. Jerome (346?\u2013420 A.D.), in his commentary on Isaiah (liv, 11, 12),\nalludes to the verses of Ezekiel describing the glories of the King of\nTyre and the precious stones with which he was adorned. Evidently Jerome\nbelieved that this passage was to be taken symbolically, for he asks:\n\n Who could have so little judgment and intelligence as to think that\n any Prince of Tyre whatever should be set in the Paradise of God, and\n have his place among the Cherubim, or could fancy that he dwelt with\n the glowing stones, which we should without doubt understand as the\n angels and the celestial virtues.[512]\n\nIt would be both curious and interesting if we could trace a connection\nbetween the significance of the names of the Hebrew tribes and those of\nthe breastplate gems assigned to the tribes. In ancient times names were\nmuch more significant than they are to-day, and the tribal names in\nparticular possessed for the Hebrews a symbolic meaning, but this does\nnot appear to have induced any marked tendency to connect the colors or\nthe symbolic meanings of the different stones with the fame, or with the\ncharacteristics or fortunes of the several tribes. On the other hand,\nthe foundation stones, as symbols of the Apostles, became a favorite\ntheme with the early Christian writers. Possibly the neglect of ancient\nHebrew writers to perform a similar task in connection with the\nbreastplate stones might still be made good, even at this late date, and\nan effort in this direction might result in giving a wider range to the\nsymbolic value of certain well-known gems.\n\nThe name Reuben signifies \u201cBehold a Son,\u201d and this has been given a\nMessianic meaning by some commentators. In Jacob\u2019s enigmatic blessing,\n\u201cexcellency of dignity\u201d and \u201cexcellency of power\u201d are attributed to\nReuben, but this birthright is taken from him because of a heinous sin\nhe has committed. Still we might see in the carnelian, the gem of\nReuben, a symbol of \u201cdignity\u201d and \u201cpower.\u201d\n\nSimeon has been variously rendered \u201cHearing\u201d or \u201cHearkener.\u201d The\nblessing accuses him of an act of cruelty in which he was aided by his\nbrother Levi. To the peridot, or chrysolite, dedicated to Simeon, could\nbe appropriately assigned the meaning \u201cgood tidings.\u201d\n\nThe priestly functions of the tribe of Levi are expressed by the name\nitself which means \u201cattached\u201d or \u201cjoined,\u201d that is, to the altar. Hence\nin the emerald we should see the symbol of \u201cdedication\u201d or\n\u201cministration,\u201d in addition to its other and better known meanings, such\nas \u201chope,\u201d \u201cfaith,\u201d and \u201cresurrection.\u201d\n\nFor the tribe of Judah we have the ruby, and here the meaning of the\nname, \u201cpraised,\u201d fits in well with the dignity of the rare and glowing\nruby. This noble gem has always been a favorite adornment for royal\ncrowns and from Judah sprang the royalty of Israel. The blessing given\nto this tribe declares that \u201cthe sceptre shall not depart from Judah,\nnor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.\u201d This is often\ntaken to signify the consummation of the Kingdom of Israel in the\nKingdom of Heaven.\n\nIssachar, signifying \u201creward,\u201d or \u201cthe rewarded,\u201d suggests as symbolic\nmeanings of the tribal stone lapis lazuli, \u201csuccess\u201d and \u201cfruition.\u201d\nThis stone, the sapphire of the ancients, was typical of heaven,\nprobably owing to the appearance of the specimens most highly valued in\nolden times, those in which a number of golden spots are scattered over\nthe blue surface of the stone, which thus figure both the blue of heaven\nand the hosts of the stars.\n\nThe tribal name Zebulon signifies \u201cexaltation,\u201d and to this tribe is\nassigned a dwelling-place by the sea bordering on the domains of the\nrich Phenician seaport, Sidon. We could thus see in the gem of Zebulon,\nthe onyx, a symbol of dominion and authority. This could serve to offset\nsome of the old superstitions regarding the onyx, which was sometimes\ncharged with bringing discord and dissension.\n\nOf the tribe Joseph, we are told that it was to be increased, and this\nmeaning is contained in the name itself, which is rendered: \u201cMay God\nadd.\u201d To Joseph were promised \u201cblessings of heaven above,\u201d and\n\u201cblessings of the deep that lieth under.\u201d The sapphire, probably the\ntribal stone of Joseph, was known in ancient times by the name hyacinth\nand was a stone of good omen, bringing increase of health and wealth;\ntherefore its significance as a tribal gem does not differ essentially\nfrom the traditional one.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CHINESE JADE AMULETS FOR THE DEAD\n\n Figs. 1_a_ and _b_, pair of eye-protecting amulets; Fig. 2, presumably\n eye-amulets; Fig. 3, eye-amulet with design of fish; Figs 4\u20137, lip\n amulets, 4 and 7 in shape of fish; Figs. 8\u20139, amulets in the shape\n of monsters. From \u201cJade,\u201d by Berthold Laufer.\n\n By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of Natural History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\nBenjamin signifies \u201cson of the right hand,\u201d hence this name denotes\nstrength and power. This meaning accords well with what is said in\nJacob\u2019s blessing: \u201cBenjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he\nshall devour the prey and at night he shall divide the spoil.\u201d The\nbanded agate symbolizing this tribe would have the meaning \u201cstrength\u201d\nand \u201cmastery\u201d; indeed, according to other sources the agate was reputed\nto bring victory to the wearer.\n\nDan is the \u201cjudge\u201d among the tribes, according to the meaning of the\nname. In Jacob\u2019s blessing Dan is said to be \u201ca serpent by the way,\u201d and\n\u201can adder in the path.\u201d These metaphors, which may not strike us as\ncommendatory of the tribe, probably indicated the craft and courage of\nthe tribesmen in attacking and defeating their foes, and enriching\nthemselves with the spoils of war. The amethyst, as the tribal stone of\nDan, could thus signify both \u201cjudgment\u201d and \u201ccraft.\u201d\n\nTo the tribe of Gad was given the beryl, and the fact that spheres made\nfrom this stone were believed to be best adapted for use in\ncrystal-gazing makes it an especially appropriate gem for the tribe of\n\u201cgood fortune,\u201d this being the most probable signification of the name\n\u201cGad,\u201d although in the Bible the interpretation \u201ca troop,\u201d is given. The\nberyl would therefore signify \u201cgood luck\u201d and perhaps also\n\u201cco\u00f6peration.\u201d\n\nThe twelfth and last tribe, Asher, has the jasper for its gem. This\nwould also gain an auspicious significance from its association with\nAsher, which means \u201chappy.\u201d To the other meanings assigned to jasper\nmight be added that of \u201chappiness.\u201d As we have elsewhere remarked, there\nseems good reason to suppose that jade was frequently designated jasper\nin ancient times, and this stone was everywhere believed to possess\nwonderful magic powers.\n\nThe jasper[513] as an emblem of strength and fortitude is noted by St.\nJerome in his commentary on Isaiah (liv, 11, 12), where he writes that\nthe bulwarks or walls of the Holy City were strengthened by jasper.\nThese bulwarks served \u201cto overthrow and refute every proud attack\nagainst the knowledge of God, and to subject falsehood to truth.\nWhoever, therefore, is most convincing in debate and best fortified with\ntexts of Holy Scripture is a bulwark of the Church.\u201d[514] Jerome also\nalludes to the variety of jasper called _grammatias_, because of the\npeculiar markings, suggesting letters of the alphabet. This was believed\nto possess great talismanic virtue, especially in putting to flight\nphantoms and apparitions, since the markings were thought to signify\nsome potent spell, written on the stone by nature\u2019s hand. Of another\nkind of jasper, \u201cwhite as snow or sea-foam,\u201d[515] and having reddish\nstains, we are told that it symbolizes the spiritual graces, which\npreserve those endowed with them from vain terrors; and the learned\nFather quotes as descriptive of this stone the words of Solomon\u2019s Song\n(v, 10): \u201cMy beloved is white and ruddy.\u201d[516]\n\nWriting of the sapphire (lapis lazuli), one of the foundation stones of\nthe Holy City, St. Jerome likens it to heaven and to the air above us,\nadding, somewhat fancifully, that we might apply to the sapphire the\nwords of Socrates in the \u201cClouds\u201d of Aristophanes: \u201cI walk upon air and\nlook down upon the Sun.\u201d Turning then to Holy Scripture, Jerome notes\nthe well-known passage in Ezekiel (i, 26) where the Throne of God is\nsaid to have \u201cthe appearance of a sapphire stone,\u201d and finds in this\ntext a proof that blue denoted the glory of God.[517] The ingenuity of\nthe ancient commentators in finding hidden meanings in the simplest\nthings is well shown by the assertion of Thomas de Cantimpr\u00e9 that St.\nJohn placed the emerald fourth in the list of foundation stones, because\nthe _four_ evangelists are constant in their praise of chastity.[518]\n\nCertain gems and stones have a definite relation and appropriateness to\nthe various religious holidays and festivals. Notable among these is the\nrhodonite, a silicate of magnesia, named from the Greek word _rhodon_,\n\u201ca rose,\u201d because of its beautiful rose-pink hue. This is found more\nespecially in the Ural Mountains, and in Massachusetts, but in a number\nof other places as well. In the Ural Mountains one single mass was so\nimmense that ninety horses were needed to move the 22\u2013ton weight a\ndistance of thirty miles to the Imperial Lapidary Works at\nEkaterineburg; here the material was cut up into smaller masses to be\nfinally worked up in the Imperial Lapidary Works at Peterhof into a\nsarcophagus and tomb for the Emperor Nicholas I.\n\nThis stone is a great favorite in Russia, and is frequently cut into\negg-shaped ornaments, either in the form of a simple egg, or of one with\na halo and a moonstone effect at one end. It may well be termed the\n\u201cEaster Stone.\u201d For those unable to afford such an egg-shaped piece of\nrhodonite, a yellow fibrous gypsum or satinspar cut into a similar form\nmay be substituted. Jade cut in the same way is also sometimes favored,\nas well as many varieties of rock-crystal.\n\nIn marked contrast with the joyful festival of Easter stands the most\nsolemn day of the Christian year, Good Friday, and for this day also we\nhave a singularly appropriate stone, the variety of jasper known as the\nbloodstone. Here the red markings can be regarded as symbolical of the\nblood of Our Lord, shed for the salvation of mankind in the supreme\nsacrifice of the Passion. When the head of the Christ is cut in this\nstone it is often possible to utilize the red spots to figure the drops\nof blood flowing from the wounds inflicted by the Crown of Thorns.\n\nWith the glad tidings of Christmas Day is intimately associated the\nmemory of the Star of Bethlehem, which served as a beacon light to guide\nthe three wise men of the East to the humble manger wherein reposed the\nnewly-born Saviour of the World. Hence for this great Christian festival\nno gem can equal the star-sapphire, combining as it does the pure\nsapphire-hue, always looked upon as symbolic of the highest moral,\nspiritual, and religious sentiments, and the mysterious moving star,\nwhich, shifting its apparent place with the slightest movement of the\nstone, seems endowed with a wonderful independent life, just as the\nphenomenal star of Bethlehem, unlike the fixed and changeless stars of\nthe firmament, glided through the heavenly expanse, by a miraculous\nmotion, due indeed to some supernatural law, but differing in kind and\ndegree from all the usual, every-day aspects of nature.\n\nThe symbolism of precious stones presented in so many different ways by\nthe early ecclesiastical writers appears in the prayer offered by the\nArchbishop of Canterbury at the coronation of the kings and queens of\nEngland. While the king kneels upon a footstool, the archbishop takes\nSt. Edward\u2019s Crown and lays it upon the altar; whereupon he pronounces\nthe following words:\n\n[Illustration:\n\n LA MADONNA DELLA SALUTE, BY OTTAVIANO NELLI\n\n In the Basilica of S. Francesco at Assisi.\n]\n\n O, God, the crown of the faithful, who on the heads of Thy saints\n placed crowns of glory, bless and sanctify this crown, that as the\n same is adorned with divers precious stones, so this Thy servant,\n wearing it, may be replenished of Thy grace, with the manifold gifts\n of all precious virtues, through the King eternal, Thy Son our Lord.\n Amen.\u201d[519]\n\nIn a tractate \u201cOf the Crown of the Virgin,\u201d ascribed to Saint Ildefonso\n(607\u2013669), the writer describes this wondrous gold crown as adorned with\ntwelve precious stones, six splendid stars, and six beautiful and\nfragrant flowers, thus uniting the fairest treasures of earth and sky in\nhonor of the Queen of Heaven.[520]\n\nThe gems, stars and flowers are given in the following order: Topaz,\nSirius, sard, lily, chalcedony, Arcturus, sapphire, crocus, agate, the\nevening star, jasper, the rose, carbuncle, the Sun, emerald, the violet,\namethyst, the Moon, chrysolite, sun-flower, chrysoprase, Orion, beryl,\ncamomile. \u201cThat thus,\u201d the writer concludes, \u201cwith precious stones,\nradiant luminaries, and fair flowers, a splendid crown may be ennobled,\nbeautified and adorned, and may be the more willingly and gladly\naccepted by Our Lady.\u201d\n\nIn a private collection in Smyrna there is a black hematite engraved\nsomewhat in the style of an Abraxas gem; and certainly not Christian. On\nit is represented a galloping horseman, beneath whose steed is a\ncrouching man; above the rider\u2019s head appears a star. The reverse bears\nthe inscription: \u03c3\u03c6\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03af\u03c2 \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6, \u201cseal of God.\u201d In contrast with this is\nan intaglio carnelian of the Munich Royal Collection, with the figures\nof the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, and the Greek words \u1f21 \u1f10\u03b9\u03ba\u1f7c\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2\n\u1f01\u03b3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u039c\u03b1\u03c1\u03af\u03b1\u03c2, \u201cthe image of the Holy Mary.\u201d This is one of the best\nexamples of Byzantine work in gem-cutting.[521]\n\nOne of the very curious cases of the employment of a purely secular\nRoman gem for ecclesiastical uses is offered by the exceedingly\nbeautiful convex blue aquamarine engraved with the head of Julia,\ndaughter of Titus, a fine work of the Augustan Age, now in the French\nCabinet des M\u00e9dailles in Paris. This was donated in the ninth century by\nthe Carolingian emperor, Charles the Bald, to the Treasury of St. Denis,\nafter it had been given a setting of pearls and precious stones. In St.\nDenis it was placed at the apex of a reliquary, which became known as\nthe Oratorium of Charlemagne, and the head of the vain and worldly\nprincess is said to have been venerated by the pious monks and priests\nas that of the Virgin Mary. As a work of portrait art this gem is one of\nthe finest examples from classic times.[522]\n\nThe strange decadence and the conventionalized but profoundly earnest\nquality of Early Christian art is shown in an intaglio gem of the Royal\nNumismatic Museum in Munich. This is a dark-hued sardonyx of two layers,\nand the engraving depicts a bearded Christ, enthroned and accompanied by\nthe twelve apostles, six on either side, four of them beardless while\nthe remainder are represented with beards; they are all gazing\nreverently upon the central figure, behind whose head appear the arms of\nthe cross and above them the letters _I\u0305C\u0305_ _X\u0305C\u0305_ \u1f38\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2 \u03a7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2.[523]\nAnother somewhat similar Early Christian gem is a cameo cut in a\nsardonyx of three layers, the groundwork being a brownish-black, and the\nfigures of a light-bluish hue, the upper parts yellowish-brown. Here\nalso we have an enshrined Christ; above his head two angels hold a\ndiadem. This is of superior workmanship to the intaglio gem just\ndescribed.[524] There is a sardonyx cameo showing a rude figure of the\nProphet Daniel, a lion on either side of him, and inscribed with his\nname in Greek letters. This is of Byzantine workmanship.[525]\n\nThe reliquarium of Wittekind, now in the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Berlin,\nis considered to be probably the most important specimen of early\nFrankish goldsmith-work that has been preserved, and is richly set with\nprecious stones, some of these being ancient gems. This is one of a\nnumber of cases where engraved stones of Pagan times were used in the\nadornment of ornamental objects destined for Christian religious use.\nThe upper edge shows a row of entwined animal figures, and the front\nside has medallions with primitive bird forms in cloisonn\u00e9 enamel; on\nthe reverse side are very rudely executed repouss\u00e9 figures of saints.\nThis work is assigned to the latter part of the eighth century A.D., and\nis conjectured to have been a gift from Charlemagne to the Saxon King\nWittekind, on the occasion of the latter\u2019s conversion to Christianity in\nthe year 807. It was long preserved in Wittekind\u2019s foundation at Enger\nnear Herford, to which he had bequeathed his treasures; in 1414 it was\nremoved for safe-keeping to the Johanniskirche at Herford, where it\nremained until 1888, when it came into the possession of the Berlin\nKunstgewerbe Museum. This precious example of the earliest German work\nhas the form of a small portable satchel, in which could be placed those\nsacred relics the owner might wish to bear around with him because of\nthe protection they were assumed to afford.[526]\n\nOne of the most notable and valuable objects in the famous Guelph\ntreasure that has recently been brought back to the city of Brunswick as\na result of the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland\u2019s son, Ernest\nAugustus, with the daughter of Emperor William II, is an elaborately\ndesigned cross, a very fine specimen of the goldsmith\u2019s art of the\ntwelfth century. This with the other treasures was taken by the Duke of\nCumberland to Vienna for safe-keeping, at the time he gave up, in 1884,\nhis title as Duke of Brunswick, rather than acknowledge Prussian\nsupremacy. The cross, which has the form of a so-called \u201ccrutch-cross,\u201d\nwith rectangular projecting plates at the ends of the arms, was designed\nto serve as a reliquary, the relic shrine being in a cruciform capsule\nbehind a small, round-edged golden cross set in the midst of the cross\nproper. The precious relics reposing here were said to be bones of John\nthe Baptist, St. Peter, St. Mark the Evangelist, and St. Sebastian. On\nthe reverse side of the cross are set four large and beautiful sapphires\nand in the centre is a remarkably brilliant topaz.\n\nWhile nothing definite is known as to the goldsmith who executed this\nwork, its style and general character suggest the conjecture that it may\nhave been produced by the artist who made the \u201cCrown of Charlemagne\u201d in\nVienna, really a crown executed for Conrad III, King of the Germans\n(1093\u20131152), the first Hohenstaufen, and also several regal ornaments\nfor the latter\u2019s consort, Queen Gisela. In addition to the jewelled\ndecoration of its reverse, the front of the cross is set with many\npearls, and the form of these settings is one of the chief arguments\nadduced in favor of attributing it to the maker of the so-called \u201cCrown\nof Charlemagne.\u201d[527]\n\nAn ecclesiastical jewel of great beauty and remarkable historic interest\nis known as the Cross of Zaccaria. It was secured in 1308 by Ticino\nZaccaria at the capture of the ancient Greek colonial city Phoc\u00e6a, in\nAsia Minor, and was donated to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa.\nThis cross is of silver gilt, measuring 64 cm. in height and 40 cm. in\nwidth, and within it behind a crystal is set a piece of the Holy Cross.\nIt is profusely adorned with precious and semi-precious stones, there\nbeing 57 good-sized rubies, emeralds, sapphires, carnelians, malachites\nand amethysts, besides 44 smaller stones and 299 of still lesser size.\nThe jewel is now preserved in the Palazzo Bianco, Genoa.\n\nThe greatest treasure in the Cathedral of Chartres was the \u201cSacred\nShrine.\u201d It was made of cedar-wood covered with gold plates and was\nadorned with an immense number of precious stones including diamonds,\nrubies, emeralds, sapphires, jacinths, agates, turquoises, opals,\ntopazes, onyxes, chrysolites, amethysts, garnets, girasols, sardonyxes,\nasterias, chalcedonies, heliotropes, etc. These had been presented by\nmany different donors during a long period of time. In front of this\nshrine was a cross composed entirely of precious stones, comprising 56\nrubies and garnets, 18 sapphires, 22 pearls, 8 emeralds, 8 onyxes and 4\njacinths. When this was first placed in the cathedral is not known, but\nit was there in 1353, as it is noted in an inventory made at that time.\nAn uncut diamond weighing about 45 carats, and constituting one of the\nadornments of the shrine in 1682, was said to have been the gift of a\nmarshal of France; another ornament, an oval agate engraved with the\nVirgin and Child, may now be seen in the Louvre where it forms part of\nthe Sauvageot Collection.[528]\n\nThat all trace has been lost of an emerald engraved with the head of\nChrist and given to Pope Innocent VIII by Sultan Bajazet II about the\nyear 1488, is greatly to be deplored, even though there be no truth in\nthe legend or report that it had been engraved in the time of Christ by\nthe order of Tiberius C\u00e6sar. The evidence of two medals with Latin\nlegends and of certain old paintings with English inscriptions of the\nsixteenth century seems to prove the existence of the gem in the Vatican\ntreasury about the time specified, and it has been conjectured, with\nsome probability, that the emerald had been engraved by a Byzantine\nartist at some time before 1453, when Constantinople fell into the hands\nof the Turks, and that this gem formed part of the booty they then\nsecured. A print, often copied photographically and otherwise,\npurporting to be a representation of this emerald portrait of Christ,\nhas no evidential value, and has either been freely worked up from the\ndetails of the spurious letter of Lentulus to Tiberius, giving a\npersonal description of the Saviour, or still more probably from a\nRafaelesque type of Christ\u2019s head.[529]\n\nThe beads of rosaries, when blessed by the Supreme Pontiff, or by one of\nthe dignitaries of the Church, are considered to be endowed with a\ncertain special virtue in favor of the individual for whom the blessing\nis imparted. However, should this person loan the beads to another with\nthe intention of making him a partaker of this special blessing, or\nindulgencing, they lose their virtue. It is prescribed that these beads\nshould be made of stone, glass, or some other durable material not\neasily broken, in order that the effects of the blessing should not be\nlost, or perhaps that the object so blessed should be less liable to\ninjury. Various precious stones as well as pearls are used for this\npurpose, there being generally groups of ten small spheres, each group\nseparated from the other by a larger sphere, the ten smaller beads\nserving to numerate the paternosters while the large bead is passed\nthrough the fingers when a credo has been recited.\n\nA legend very popular in the Middle Ages has been conjectured to be the\nsource of the word \u201crosary\u201d as applied to a chaplet of beads for\ncounting prayers. This legend tells of a pious youth, who on each and\nevery day wove a garland of roses for the statue of the Virgin in the\nparish church. His religious zeal soon induced him to become a monk, and\nas the restrictions and duties of monastic life forced him to\ndiscontinue his floral offerings, he was much troubled in conscience,\nand was only relieved when the abbot told him that by reciting 150 aves\nat the close of each day, he would please the Virgin as much as by the\ngift of flowers. The prayers were faithfully said and they eventually\nbecame the occasion of a miracle. One evening, as the young monk was\ntraversing a dense forest, it suddenly occurred to him that he had\nforgotten to recite his aves. He knelt down quickly and began to pray;\nall at once he saw a radiant and beautiful figure standing before him,\nand he immediately recognized in it the Blessed Virgin. Graciously she\nbent over him and drew from his lips one rose after the other, until\nfifty roses of supernatural beauty lay upon the ground. Of these she\nthen made a garland and placed it upon the head of her faithful\nservant.[530]\n\nThe first literary allusion to rosaries in India is in a Jain treatise\nwritten about the beginning of our era. The Prakrit name here employed,\n_ganettiya_, is equivalent to the sanscrit _ganayitrika_, or \u201ccounter,\u201d\nand it is enumerated among the ten utensils of a Brahman ascetic. The\nother nine are the tridanda-stick, the water jar, the Bramanical thread,\nthe earthen vessel named karotik\u00e2, the bundle of straw used as a seat,\nthe clout, the six-knotted wood, the hook, and the finger-ring. It is\nsaid that no mention of rosaries has been found in Indian Buddhist\nliterature.[531]\n\nA splendid ecclesiastical ornament is described in the inventory of the\nroyal treasures in the Ch\u00e2teau de Fontainebleau made in 1560, on the\naccession of Charles IX. This was of gold and composed of a crucifix\nwith the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John. It was \u201cenriched with\n41 sapphires, 3 pointed diamonds and 12 balas-rubies,\u201d which served to\nmark the nails in the cross. The weight of the gold was 25 marks 5\nounces, and the value of the entire object, gold and precious stones, is\ngiven as 2720 \u00e9cus, or about $6120. The intrinsic value of the gold\nalone would be about $4240.[532]\n\nThe most impressive of the ecclesiastical ornaments in the Spanish\nchurches was the _custodia_, or monstrance, in which the Holy Eucharist\nwas borne through the streets on Corpus Christi day; indeed, only at\nthis time was the custodia publicly shown. It was in fact a large\nshrine, generally affecting the form of a church tower. The most ancient\nexample now in existence is in the Cathedral of Gerona. It is of gold,\nis 1.85 m. (over 6 feet) high, and weighs nearly 66 pounds. This work,\nin which the architectural style is an ornate Gothic, was completed in\n1458 by the goldsmith Francisco de As\u00eds Artau. One of the finest\nspecimens, however, was executed by Enrique d\u2019Arphe for Charles V and is\nin the Cathedral of Toledo. This _custodia_ measures no less than nine\nfeet in height and is three feet wide. Here also the form is that of a\nGothic tower; the cross at the apex was made by the goldsmith Lainez,\nand is adorned with 86 pearls and 4 large emeralds.\n\nThe shrine itself contains 795 marks\u2019 weight of silver (about 600\npounds), the gold in its composition weighing 57 marks, or about 38\npounds. The Venetian Navagero estimated its worth to be 30,000\nducats.[533]\n\nThe wife of Marshal Junot, the celebrated Duchesse d\u2019Abrant\u00e8s, seeks to\nexonerate her husband and to refute the many charges of spoliation\nbrought against him during and after the French occupation of Spain in\n1808 and the succeeding years. For her, Marshal Lannes was a much worse\noffender, and she asserts that after the siege of Saragossa in 1809,\nLannes secured possession of the immensely valuable treasures of the\nchurch of Nuestra Se\u00f1ora del Pilar, treasures valued at nearly\n$1,000,000. On his arrival in Paris, Lannes informed Napoleon that he\nhad brought with him from Spain \u201ca few colored stones of little value,\u201d\nand was graciously told that he could keep them for himself. The finest\njewel of this collection contained 1300 diamonds, nine of which were of\ngreat magnitude and value; the jewel was heart-shaped, and had in the\ncentre a dove, typifying the Holy Spirit, with wings extended. It had\nbeen given to the church by Do\u00f1a Barbara de Portugal, Queen of\nSpain.[534]\n\nAbout the year 1630 there could be seen in Paris a crucifix a foot and a\nhalf high, all of a single piece of yellow amber; on either side were\nthe figures of the Virgin Mary and of St. John respectively, each carved\nin most excellent style. The writer who gives this information, a lineal\ndescendant of Lodowyk van Berghem, commonly regarded as the first\ndiamond-cutter, tells from hearsay evidence of a marvellous emerald\nwhich six hundred years before his time, or about 1060, hung suspended\nfrom the top of the nave of the Cathedral of Mainz. It was \u201cas large as\nhalf-a-melon,\u201d and was of exceeding brilliance.[535]\n\nThe writer of a Bohemian poem on the legend of St. Catherine\u2019s betrothal\nto Christ, written about 1355, appears to have been, in one part,\ninspired by the glowing adornment of the Wenceslaus chapel in the\ncathedral of St. Veit. The poet gives an enthusiastic description of the\ngorgeous ornamentation of the mystic, imaginary temple in which the\nbetrothal takes place. The pavement is of aquamarine beryl, the walls\nare studded with diamonds in golden settings, the framework of the\nwindows is alternately of emerald or of sapphire, and the window-panes\nare not of stained glass, but of precious or semi-precious stones. Some\nof these are not ill fitted for this use, the transparency of rubies,\namethysts, spinels, jacinths, garnets, and similar stones, admitting\nquite sufficient light; but others mentioned here, such as turquoises,\nchalcedonys and jaspers, would permit but a dim ray of light to traverse\ntheir opaque or semi-opaque substance. It has been conjectured by some\nthat the poet drew his material from the account of the temple of the\nHoly Grail in the old German legend, probably through a Bohemian\nversion; but as he omits in his enumeration twelve of the stones given\nin the Grail legend, and adds a number of others, diamond, turquoise,\nchalcedony, garnet, etc., this literary source is not fully\nsatisfactory. Rather might it be believed that the splendid decoration\nof the Wenceslaus chapel and of the Karlstein Castle suggested the\nvision wrought out by the Bohemian poet, especially as among the stones\nhe mentions which are not in the Grail legend, we have the garnet, so\neminently a product of Bohemia.[536]\n\nA peculiar and very interesting facetted diamond of 6\u00b3\u2044\u2083\u2082 carats\ndisplays alternate black and white facets and presents the appearance of\na clearly defined Greek cross in black outline when viewed by\ntransmitted light. The original crystal, which came from Brazil and\nweighed 10\u00bd carats, was an octahedron and was of a jet black hue. The\nexpectation was that the result of its cutting would be the production\nof a black brilliant, but when one of the points of the octahedron had\nbeen removed to form the table, it became evident that the black tint\nwas only superficial, the body of the crystal being white. This\npeculiarity was then utilized by leaving some of the natural black faces\nof the crystal. This diamond was found to be of excessive hardness,\nrendering the task of cutting it an exceedingly arduous one. It is now\nin the possession of one of the Royal Household of Siam.[537]\n\nAmong the Buddhist legends current in India in the seventh century A.D.\nis one referring to the vases offered by the \u201cfour kings of heaven\u201d to\nthe Buddha. They first brought four gold vases, but the Buddha declared\nthat one who had renounced the world could not use such costly vases.\nSilver vessels were then substituted, and were also refused, as were\nsuccessively vases made of rock-crystal, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amber,\nruby and other precious materials. Finally, four stone vases were\nproffered. These were of violet color and transparent, but the fact that\nthey were not of precious material rendered them acceptable to the\nBuddha.[538]\n\nThe images of Buddha usually bear as adornment a small gem. This is most\nfrequently a moonstone, but occasionally a ruby or some other gem will\nbe used. The reason for this religious use of gems must not be sought\nonly in the idea that precious and costly objects are most fitting as\ndecorations of the sacred images, but it also implies a certain belief\nin the magic or quasi-sacred character of the gem itself.\n\nThe Saddharma-Pundar\u00eeka, one of the nine most sacred books of the\nBuddhists, composed perhaps as early as the beginning of our era, gives\nthe following description of a celestial st\u00fbpra, a sort of shrine\ncontaining a celestial being:[539]\n\n It [the _st\u00fbpra_] consisted of seven precious substances, _viz._,\n gold, silver, lapis lazuli, musaragalva, emerald, red coral, and\n Karketana stone.\n\n This _st\u00fbpra_ of precious substances once formed, the gods of paradise\n strewed and covered it with _mand\u00e2rava_ and great mand\u00e2ra flowers. And\n from that st\u00fbpra of precious substances there issued the voice:\n \u201cExcellent, excellent, Lord S\u00e2kyamuni! thou hast well expounded the\n Dharmapay\u00e2rya of the Lotus of the True Law. So is it, Lord; so is it,\n _sugata_.\u201d\n\nSome of the most valuable temple treasures in the Island of Ceylon were\npreserved in a pagoda near the frontiers of the realm of Saula. The\nreport of the gold and jewels accumulated here excited the avidity of\nthe Portuguese, then in control of a considerable part of the island,\nand finally an energetic attempt was made to gain possession of them.\nAlthough the existence of the pagoda was well attested, the Portuguese\nwere ignorant of its exact location in the tract of forest land wherein\nit stood. The expeditionary force consisted of 150 Portuguese and 2000\nLascars. On nearing the forest they placed themselves under the guidance\nof a native captured in the neighborhood. He led them through the\nwoodland, traversing it hither and thither, but no pagoda appeared.\nSuddenly the native exhibited signs of madness, which were at first\nbelieved to be simulated, but were later regarded as genuine, on which\nhe was made away with and another native substituted, however, with the\nsame result. One after another five natives showed the same symptoms and\nwere successively put to death, and at last the Portuguese were\ncompelled to abandon this unsuccessful quest. We have here either a\nremarkable example of fidelity to the temple, or else an instance of the\npsychic influence of the terror inspired by the risk of violating it.\nUndoubtedly the priests represented the result as due to supernatural\ninfluence, and perhaps really felt justified in doing so.[540]\n\nAn official account of the embassy of the Cinghalese monarch Kirti Sri\nto Siam, in 1750, offers a description of the magnificent pagoda erected\nover the Sacred Footprint of Buddha, at Swarna Panchatha Maha Pahath.\nThe free use of sapphires and rubies is quite natural, when we consider\nthat some of the finest specimens of these stones are still found in\nthis region:[541]\n\n Above the sacred footstep and made of solid gold was a pagoda\n supported on suitable pillars, forming a shrine. At the four corners\n were placed four golden _s\u00e9sat_, and from above hung four bunches of\n precious stones like bunches of ripe areca-nuts in size. On the edge\n of the roof hung ropes of pearls, and on the point of the spire was\n set a sapphire the size of a lime fruit. Within and overshadowing the\n footprint like a canopy, there hung from the middle of the spire a\n full-blown lotus of gold, in the middle of which was set a ruby of\n similar size. Chariots, ships, elephants, and horses with their\n riders, all made of gold, and of a suitable size, were placed on a\n golden support above the silver pavement. This was hung on wires of\n gold, to which were hung ornaments set with pearls the size of the\n _nelli_ fruit, as well as other jewelled ornaments, rings and chains.\n By some skilful device all this could be moved along the silver\n pavement.\n\nRecent excavations made by Dr. J. H. Marshall in the Punjab, India, on\nthe site of the ancient city of Taxila, captured by Alexander the Great\nduring his Indian campaign, have brought to light many valuable Buddhist\nremains, dating from about 2000 years ago. One of the most striking of\nthese is a relic casket taken from a _tope_ of the type called _dagoba_,\nthis name designating that class of those Buddhist structures designed\nespecially for the reception of relics. This relic casket is of\nsteatite, and contained a golden box within which was a fragment of\nbone, presumably regarded as a relic of the Buddha; around it were many\npearls as well as engraved carnelians and also a number of other\nprecious stones.\n\nA carved sapphire, once in the collection of the Marquess of\nNorthampton, shows a representation of the Hindu divinity, Siva. It is\nof Indian workmanship and the stone measures 1\u00bd inches in length, 1\u00bd\ninches in width and \u00be inch in thickness.[542]\n\nOne of the writers most familiar with Indian gem-lore recognizes that\nwhile the rich and educated Hindus of our day wear diamonds and other\ngems chiefly as ornaments, in ancient times these brilliant objects were\nmore largely employed in India to enrich the images of the gods, thus\nrendering the idols more impressive and causing them to be worshipped\nwith more intense fervor. In ancient India gemmed ornaments were\nbelieved to bring to the wearer \u201crespect, fame, longevity, wealth,\nhappiness, strength, and fruition\u201d; a list of benefits long enough to\nsatisfy the most exigent. However, as though this were not enough, we\nare further assured that these gems \u201cward off evil astral influences,\nmake the body healthy, remove misery and ill-fortune, and wash away\nsin.\u201d[543]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Ceremony annually observed in the Mogul Empire of weighing the\n sovereign against precious metals, jewels and other valuable\n objects, which were distributed as gifts. From \u201cHistoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale\n des c\u00e9r\u00e9monies religieuses de tous les peuples du monde,\u201d by Abb\u00e9\n Banier and Abb\u00e9 Mascrier, Paris, 1741.\n]\n\nThe oldest jewel offered to a shrine by an Indian potentate, of which we\nhave certain knowledge, was a magnificent pendant containing a number of\nprecious stones, the gift of Sundara Pandiyan, at a date prior to 1310\nA.D. Another magnificent gift was a gorgeous jewelled turban adorned\nwith diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, bestowed in 1623 by Trimal\nNayakkan.[544] These gifts or dedications show the prevailing tendency\nto propitiate the higher powers and insure success in royal enterprises.\n\nThe English ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, sent to the court of Shah\nJehangir by King James I, saw the Shah on the day of his great birthday\nfestival when he was weighed against a great variety of objects, jewels,\ngold, silver, stuffs of gold and silver, silk, butter, rice, fruits,\netc. All these things, heaped up on the scale balancing the one in which\nstood the Shah, were distributed as imperial gifts after the conclusion\nof the ceremony. Sir Thomas Roe declares that on this occasion (he\nmissed seeing the actual weighing) the monarch was adorned with a great\narray of jewels, and he adds: \u201cI must confess I never saw at one time\nsuch unspeakable wealth,\u201d a testimony of considerable value, for the\nEnglish Court in the time of James I was one by no means poor in jewels,\nthat sovereign having a great fondness for them. After the ceremony of\nweighing had been completed, Jehangir enjoyed the spectacle of a\nprocession of twelve troupes of his choicest elephants, each troupe led\nby a \u201clord elephant of exceptional stature.\u201d The finest of these had all\nthe plates on his head and breast set with rubies and emeralds, and all\nthe elephants as they neared the Shah saluted him with their\ntrunks.[545]\n\nIn Persia the pink and red coral was believed to have acquired its\nbeautiful color after removal from the water, and the odor of the\nmaterial was said to be a trustworthy means of discriminating between\ngenuine and imitation coral; genuine coral had the smell of sea-water.\nThe Chinese and the Hindus prized this substance very highly, because\namong them it was used to adorn the images of the gods.[546]\n\nThe perforated jade disk called _ts\u2019ang pi_ is still used as the symbol\nof the deity Heaven (T\u2019ien) in the temple of that divinity at Peking. By\na regulation of Emperor K\u2019ien-lung, the proper dimensions of this\nceremonial disk were rigidly established; the diameter of the disk\nproper was set at 6.1 inches, and its thickness at \u2077\u2044\u2081\u2080 of an inch; the\nperforation was to have a diameter of \u2074\u2044\u2081\u2080 of an inch. While the quality\nof the jade to be employed is not especially determined, the name\n_ts\u2019ang_ implies jade of a bluish shade. The veined type of stone is\nregarded as peculiarly adapted for this purpose.[547]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n PERFORATED JADE DISK CALLED _TS\u2019ANG PI_, A CHINESE SYMBOL OF THE DEITY\n HEAVEN (T\u2019IEN)\n\n From Berthold Laufer, \u201cJade, a Study in Chinese Arch\u00e6ology and\n Religion,\u201d Chicago, 1912, p. 157.\n\n By courtesy of the Author and Field Museum of Natural History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\nWe are apt to regard Tibet as the land least accessible to modern\ninfluence of any kind, and that least in touch with any aspect of\nEuropean civilization. It seems, therefore, not a little strange that at\nthe chief altar of the Royal Chapel in the Dalai Lama\u2019s palace on Potala\nHill, Lhasa, the elaborate _tse-boum_ (incense vase or vessel), used by\nthe Buddhist priests in their services, is a product of modern Parisian\nart, having been made in Paris about ten years ago. The vessel proper,\nwhich is carved from several exceptionally large pieces of coral, rests\nupon a flat, silver-gilt base, ornamented with two dragons, and is\ncrowned with an oval framework of lapis lazuli leaves; upon this\nframework is a coral statuette of Amitabha, the \u201cLord of Boundless\nLight,\u201d revered as the emanation of Adi-Buddha, supported by a lotus\nflower of white chalcedony. At the apex of the leafy oval rests a\nrepresentation in white chalcedony of a crescent moon, above is a sun in\nyellow stone from which springs a coral flame, symbolizing the radiance\nof wisdom (_nada_). Although the Dalai Lama was anxious to avail himself\nof the aid of French art for the embellishment of his altar, he took due\nprecautions that the religious character of the vessel should be\nproperly conceived and maintained, and therefore sent one of his\nhigh-priests to Europe to choose the artists best fitted for the\nexecution of the vessel, and this priest took the pains to make a\nspecial trip to Leghorn in order to select the coral appropriate for the\nsacred utensil. As will be noted, this material, so greatly prized by\nthe Tibetans, is that most prominent in this temple incense vase. The\ndragons attached to the silver-gilt platter have been placed there to\nhonor the Chinese, and are so affixed that they can be removed when no\nChinese representatives are present at the ceremonies. In the older\n_tse-boum_, to take the place of which this Paris product was executed,\nthe red-tinted ivory was used where coral appears in the newer vessel.\nThe employment of this color is due to the fact that it is the sacred\ncolor of Amitabha.[548]\n\nWithin the sacred precincts of the temple of Cho Kang, in Tibet, is a\nsplendid, life-size image of the Buddha formed of solid gold. The\npriests teach that it is of supernatural origin, and ascribe its\nexecution to the creative energy of Visvakarma, a personification of the\nformative energy in the cosmos. The gold in this image is, however, not\nabsolutely pure, but is alloyed with silver, copper, zinc and iron, the\nchoice of these four metal alloys being dictated by the significance of\nthe five metals in union as symbols of the world. The precious-stone\nadornment of this wonderful idol consists of magnificent diamonds,\nrubies, emeralds and _indranila_ or Indian sapphires. Pearl, turquoise\nand coral necklaces are twined around the figure\u2019s neck and crossed over\nits breast; on its head rests a golden coronet with a setting of\nturquoises, and rising from the rim of this coronet are five upright\nleaves within each of which is a small golden image of the Buddha; from\none of these hangs as a pendant a remarkably fine, large and flawless\npiece of turquoise, measuring six inches in length and four inches in\nwidth. All these splendors lavished upon the image of the great apostle\nof the simple life show but a poor comprehension of the deep meanings\nand tendencies of his early career.\n\nTreating of the religious associations of turquoise among the Tibetans,\nDr. Berthold Laufer writes:[549]\n\n Turquoises, usually in connection with gold, belong to the most\n ancient propitiatory offerings to the gods and demons; in the\n enumeration, gold always precedes turquois as the more valuable gift.\n They also figure among the presents bestowed on saints and Lamas by\n kings and wealthy laymen. The thrones on which kings and Lamas take\n their place are usually described as adorned with gold and turquoises,\n and they wear cloaks ornamented with these stones. It may be inferred\n from traditions and epic stories that in ancient times arrow-heads\n were made not only of common flint, but also occasionally of turquois\n to which a high value was attached. A powerful saint, by touching the\n bow and arrow of a blacksmith, transforms the bow into gold, and the\n arrow-head into turquois.\n\nIn the native languages of Mexico and Central America the name\n_chalchi\u1e25uitl_ most frequently designates jadeite, but it appears\nsometimes to have been applied to other stones of a green or\ngreenish-blue color, such as the so-called amazon-stone from the region\nof the Amazon River, and even occasionally to the turquoise. Thus the\ntalismanic value of the chalchihuitl seems to have depended rather upon\nits hue and its rarity, than upon its mineralogical character; indeed,\namong primitive peoples, stones of the same, or closely similar color,\nalthough of different composition, often bore the same name, and were\nconceived to have the same virtues whether talismanic or therapeutic.\nWriting of the rich gifts sent by Montezuma to Cort\u00e9s upon the latter\u2019s\narrival at San Juan de Ul\u00faa (1519), Bernal Diaz de Castillo\nmentions[550] \u201cfour chalchiuites, a kind of green stone of great value,\nand much esteemed by them [the Indians], more highly, indeed, than we\nesteem the emerald. They are of a green color.\u201d And he proceeds to state\nthat each one of these stones was said to be worth a great weight of\ngold.\n\nThe statue of the earth-goddess Couatlicue, found in the village of\nCozcatlan, Mexico, and now preserved in the National Museum of Mexico,\nshows, inserted in the cheek, a disk of jadeite.[551] Green seems thus\nto have been the color sacred to this goddess, which may remind us of\nthe attribution of the green emerald to Venus. Indeed, green as the\ncolor of foliage and plants must naturally have suggested itself as\neminently appropriate for an earth-goddess, just as its significance as\na symbol of life and generation connected it with the Goddess of Love.\n\nThe story of the emeralds brought from the New World by Hernan Cort\u00e9s\nmust have been quite familiar to sixteenth century writers, for we find\nBrant\u00f4me applying some details of this story to \u201ca beautiful and\nincomparable pearl\u201d said to have been brought from Mexico by Cort\u00e9s on\nhis return to Spain. This he later allowed to slip from his fingers into\nthe sea while showing it to a friend on board the ship that was bearing\nhim toward Algiers; it was lost in the sea, and in the words of Brant\u00f4me\n\u201cvanished from the sight of mankind, unworthy to possess such a miracle\nof nature.\u201d The loss of this pearl is looked upon by the French writer\nas a punishment for the \u201cinscription\u201d Cort\u00e9s had caused to be placed\nupon it: Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major;[552] this refers to\nJohn the Baptist and was, as we have seen, engraved upon one of the\nfamous emeralds of Cort\u00e9s. Brant\u00f4me believes that its application to a\nsimple product of nature was sacrilegious and the cause of the object\u2019s\nloss; he also sees in this loss an omen of the death of the Emperor\nCharles which occurred shortly afterward, and he draws attention to the\nfact that the \u201cAfricans\u201d called their kings \u201cprecious stones.\u201d[553]\n\nThe Aztec art-workers of the period immediately antedating the Spanish\nConquest had attained a high order of skill in the difficult work of\ninlaying carefully cut and shaped bits of precious material so as to\nproduce some form or design of symbolic or religious meaning. In judging\nthe artistic merit of such work, we must always remember that the Aztec\ninlayers were only provided with rude and primitive tools and implements\nfor the execution of their task, and extraordinary patience and\napplication must have been necessary to complete some of the objects\nthat have been preserved for us. This art seems only to have been\ncultivated in ancient Mexico and Central America, and perhaps Peru also;\nof the Mexican work some twenty-five examples have been saved. The\nSpaniards, shortly after their first landing, were given an opportunity\nto judge of the quality of this Aztec inlaying, for among the gifts sent\nby Montezuma to Cort\u00e9s, were five such objects, a mask with\nincrustations of turquoise, so disposed as to figure two intertwined\nserpents; a crozier, also with turquoise mosaic and ending in a\nserpent\u2019s head; a pair of large ear-rings of serpentine form decorated\nwith the _chalchihuitl_ stone (perhaps nephrite or jadeite); a mitre of\nocelot skin, surmounted by a large _chalchihuitl_, and also decorated\nwith turquoise mosaic, and a staff of office with similar inlays. A\nserpent-mask answering to the description of one of Montezuma\u2019s gifts is\nnow in the British Museum and is in a fairly good state of preservation,\nalthough unfortunately the two serpent-heads have been lost. Evidently\nthis mask was used in connection with the worship of Quetzalcoatl, the\nserpent-god, an incarnation of which deity the poor Aztecs at first\nbelieved Cort\u00e9s to be.[554]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of Dr. Edward H. Thompson.\n\n THE SACRED WELL OF CHICHEN ITZA\n\n Wherein, according to tradition, human victims and votive offerings of\n great value were cast.\n]\n\nSurpassing this mask in a certain strange and weird interest, and\nequalling it in artistic workmanship, is another most remarkable Aztec\nceremonial mask, also in the British Museum Collection. The foundation\nof this is the front part of a human skull, and its outer surface has\nbeen covered with an incrustation of turquoise and jet mosaic in five\nalternate bands, the upper, middle and lower ones being of jet, while\nthe two intermediate ones are of shaped pieces of turquoise; part of the\nnose has been removed and the space covered over by tablets of pink\nshell; protruding eyeballs are figured by convex disks of polished iron\npyrites with a bordering of white shell; a number of the teeth have been\nbroken out. Straps attached at the temples rendered it possible to bind\nthis mask to the face of an idol, or for a priest of high rank to wear\nit on solemn ceremonial occasions.\n\nSome three hundred yards or more from the great temple pyramid at\nChichen Itz\u00e1, Yucatan, Mexico, at the termination of the Sacred Way\ntraversed in times of tribulation, of pestilence or famine, by\nprocessions of priests conveying sacrifices to be offered to the\noffended divinities, was the Sacred Well. Into this the priests would\nthrow the ornaments and trinkets dedicated to the gods as\npeace-offerings. But such inanimate objects were regarded as\ninsufficient, and even animal sacrifices were deemed to be inadequate,\nand hence it often happened that prisoners of war and fair maidens were\ncast into the deep, still waters of the Sacred Well.[555]\n\nMany fragments of the carved stone ornaments have been recovered from\nthe depths of this Sacred Well, and even in their present imperfect\nstate, they testify to a considerable development of the lapidarian art\namong the ancient Mayas, and a high degree of artistic skill in the\nfashioning of such objects of adornment. Undoubtedly those used in this\nway as sacred offerings were considered to be amulets and therefore to\nbe the more acceptable in the sight of the gods.\n\nThat lapis lazuli was as much favored for religious use by the\naborigines of the New World as it was in ancient Egypt and in other\nparts of the Old World, is shown by the recent discovery of twenty-eight\ncarefully formed cylindrical beads of lapis lazuli among some very\nancient deposits in the island of La Plata, Ecuador. From the general\ncharacter of these deposits it is evident that they did not belong to\npermanent dwellers on the island, and there is every reason to believe\nthat they were left by visitors from the mainland, who came to the\nisland for the performance of certain sacred rites and ceremonies.[556]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of Dr. Edward H. Thompson.\n\n CARVED AND WORKED STONES FROM THE SACRED WELL AT CHICHEN ITZA,\n YUCATAN, MEXICO\n]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans held the turquoise in high esteem, and that Los\nCerrillos and other mines in Arizona and New Mexico were extensively\nworked prior to the discovery of America is proved by fragments of Aztec\npottery-vases; by drinking, eating, and cooking utensils; by stone\nhammers, wedges, mauls, and idols which have been discovered in the\ndebris found in many different localities.\n\nWhile Major Hyde was exploring this neighborhood in 1880, he was visited\nby several Pueblo Indians from San Domingo, who stated that the\nturquoise he was taking from the old mine was sacred, and must not go\ninto the hands of those whose Saviour was not a Montezuma, and these\nIndians offered, at the same time, to purchase all that might come from\nthe mine in the future.\n\nAbout ten miles from Tempe, Arizona, in ruins designated as Los Muertos,\nthere was found enclosed in asbestos, in a decorated Zu\u00f1i jar, a\nsea-shell coated with black pitch, in which were incrusted turquoise and\ngarnets, in the form of a toad, the sacred emblem of the Zu\u00f1i. Incrusted\nclam shells, representing toads, may be seen in the Brunswick\nCollection, the Christie Collection in the British Museum, and in the\nPitorini Museum, Rome.\n\nAt the annual Fiesta which is attended by the San Felipe, the Navajo,\nthe Isleta, the Acoma, the Jicorrilla, Apache and other Indians at the\nPueblo of Santo Domingo, a place situated about three miles west by\nsouth of Wallace Station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa F\u00e9 Railroad,\na carved wooden image of the saint, about four feet in height, and said\nto date from the time of the conquest in 1692, is carried in procession\nthrough the principal streets to a small tent made of the finest Navajo\nblankets, where it is placed on an improvised altar. Here various\nofferings are made. Among them strings of turquoise beads, both round\nand flat, of the choicest color, are suspended from the ears of the\nfigure, and from a string which encircles its neck. On the centre of the\nbreast is one of the curious turquoise-encrusted marine clam-shells\nsimilar to the one found by Lieutenant F. H. Cushing in the excavations\nnear Tempe, Arizona. The writer saw a fine example of this ornamental\nobject suspended from the neck of the Virgin of Santo Domingo, at the\nAnnual Fiesta, August 4, 1890. With the exception of a black band of\nobsidian running across the centre, the entire exterior of the shell is\ncovered with a sort of miniature pavement of little squares of turquoise\nwhich are cemented to it with a black shellac-like substance obtained\nfrom \u201cthe grease-wood\u201d plant common in New Mexico.[557]\n\nIt has been suggested that the types of ornamentation used by the\naborigines of Central America may become fashionable at the time of the\nopening of the Panama Canal. In jewelry the crawfish model, as shown in\na gold-plated ornament discovered in the Chiriqui district of Panama,\noffers a striking and peculiar form which might win favor; a curious\nfrog pattern could also be used. If the local usage in ancient times is\nto be considered, the emerald and other green stones would be given the\npreference for decoration, as stones of this color were the most in\nfavor among the primitive inhabitants of Central America because it\nsymbolized the verdure of field and forest, and hence youth and vigor.\nWhen set in gold these stones gained in symbolic value, for gold, having\nthe color of the sun, was regarded as typical of force, courage, and\nvitality.\n\nThe mystic lake of Guatavita, high up on the Andean plateau of Colombia,\nSouth America, was the chief holy place of the native Indians of this\nlocality hundreds of years ago, at a time when gold and emeralds were\nplentiful among them, luxuries unknown to their impoverished descendants\nof our day. Legend had taught them to regard this lake as the abiding\nplace of a powerful divinity or demon, whose good will must be secured\nat any price if dire disease were to be held aloof from the people. Four\nother sacred lakes on the plateau, Guasca, Siecha, Teusaca, and Ubaque,\nshared in a lesser degree with the principal one in the attribution of\nmysterious power. As early as 1534 word was brought to Sebastian de\nBelalcazar, founder of Quito, that in the course of the religious\nceremonies held by the Indians at the Lake of Guatavita, they were wont\nto cast into its waters immense quantities of gold-dust, emeralds and\nother precious stones. It was also related that at these semi-annual\nfestivals the Caciques and the principal chiefs, bearing valuable gifts\nof gold-dust and emeralds, were paddled out in canoes (or on rafts) to\nthe exact middle of the lake, this point being determined by the\nintersection of two ropes stretching from four temples erected at four\nequidistant points on its banks. Arrived at this spot the offerings were\ncast into the lake, and the Cacique of Guatavita, whose naked body had\nbeen coated with an adhesive clay, over which gold-dust was sprinkled in\nprofusion, sprang into the water, and after washing off the gold-dust,\nswam to the shore. This resplendent living golden figure strongly\nappealed to the Spaniards\u2019 imagination, and the name they bestowed upon\nthe Cacique, El Dorado (\u201cThe Golden,\u201d or \u201cGilded\u201d), is used to our day\nas a designation of a region or a spot exceptionally rich in gold. At\nthe moment the \u201cGolden Cacique\u201d made his plunge into the lake, the\nassembled people scattered along its banks turned their backs toward the\nwater, shouted loudly, and threw their propitiatory offerings over their\nshoulders into the lake.\n\nAttempts have often been made to secure the treasures by drawing off the\nwaters of the lake, but only with very partial success so far. The first\nserious effort is said to have been made by Antonio de Sepulveda, a\nmerchant of Santa F\u00e9, in United States of Colombia, who obtained a\nSpanish concession. In or about 1823 we have record of another\nunsuccessful venture on the part of Jos\u00e9 Ignacio Paris, in an account of\nColombia written in 1824 by Captain Charles Stuart Cochrane, of the\nRoyal Navy, who aided Paris in his efforts. The report that at the time\nof the Spanish Conquest, the Cacique of Guatavita caused gold-dust\nconstituting the burdens of fifty men to be cast into the lake, greatly\ncontributed to the zeal of the treasure-seekers in the vicinity. One of\nthe early attempts at least resulted in the recovery of so much treasure\nthat the Government\u2019s 3 per cent. share is said to have amounted to\n$170,000.\n\nIn none of these essays, however, was the lake really and effectually\ndrained off, and that of Paris in 1823 or 1824 failed in the same way,\nbecause of inadequate capital. He had succeeded in persuading sixteen\nshareholders to club together, each one contributing $500 to a common\nfund, but after not only this $8,000, but $12,000 more supplied by\nhimself had been expended, there still remained 33 feet of water in the\nlake.\n\nRecently an English company has recognized that the treasure must be\nsought at or even beneath the true bottom, as this existed at the time\nof the Spanish Conquest, and thus at levels considerably lower than\nthose of the bottom at the present time. The project is, after 30 feet\nof the present bottom has been removed, to set up a steam shovel and\nsink down 40 or 50 feet in search of the gold-dust, golden ornaments and\nemeralds believed to exist here.\n\n\n\n\n VIII\n Amulets: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental\n\n\nThe present and the following chapter are devoted to a study of the\ntalismanic virtues attributed to precious stones and gems, as\ndistinguished from the curative powers with which they were credited. It\nis sometimes difficult to establish a hard and fast dividing line\nbetween the two classes, as everything that conduces to the happiness\nand well-being of man also affects his bodily health, but a distinction,\ncorrect in the main, may be made by regarding the talismanic use as\ncovering all cases except those in which the stone was used where to-day\nsome really medicinal substance would be administered.\n\nA modern German writer on amulets has proposed to apply the term\n\u201cemanism\u201d (Emanismus) to the virtue existing or supposed to exist in\namulets and talismans, and gives as his opinion that their virtue is\nneither a spiritual nor a personal one, but the operation of forces, the\nlatter not being special, mysterious vital forces, but impersonal\nphysical components and qualities, and that these exercise their\ninfluence by means of emanation. Wundt has held that the very earliest\namulets were parts of the human body, and almost always such parts as\nwere believed to be the bearers of the soul.[558]\n\nRadiation or emanation of energy, without observable loss of substance,\nis a fact familiar enough to us to-day, but this phenomenon was not so\ngenerally accepted centuries ago. Still the lodestone always offered a\nstriking example with which all writers on such subjects were\nacquainted. A stranger argument in support of the truth of this property\nwas adduced by the seventeenth century physician, Sir Thomas Browne\n(1605\u20131682), who writes:[559]\n\n If amulets do work by emanation from their bodies upon those parts\n whereunto they are appended and are not yet observed to abate their\n weight; if they produce visible and reall effects by imponderous and\n invisible emissions, it may be unjust to deny all efficacy to gold, in\n the non-emission of weight or deperdition of any ponderous articles.\n\nWhile the learned doctor does not expressly state his belief in these\n\u201cimponderous and invisible emissions\u201d from amulets, he certainly does\nnot attempt to deny their existence.\n\nThe Bolivian natives believe that the so-called mountain-sickness, the\naffection from which some travellers suffer at high altitudes, probably\noriginates in subtle emanations from certain mineral veins. A\nconfirmation of the fact that such a belief exists, though not of the\ntruth of the theory, is found in the native name for this illness,\n_veta_, which signifies at once \u201cmountain-sickness\u201d and a vein or lode.\nThe fact that at the pass of Livichuco, on the trail from Challapata to\nSucre, there are considerable deposits of antimony, is regarded as\nsubstantiating this strange fancy.[560]\n\nAmong the Babylonians one of the most dreaded of the malign spiritual\npowers was the terrible female demon Labastu, and a long series of\namulets are recommended, one or more of which should be worn to ward off\nher pernicious influence. For some of these amulets precious stones were\nused, and the effect of color, probably a determining circumstance in\nthe selection of the particular stone, was to be strengthened by the\ncolor of the wrapping about the stone and of the cord by means of which\nit was to be hung from the neck, or attached to the right or left hand\nor foot, or to other parts of the body. As this dreadful spirit was\nchiefly feared as the inducer of disease, the location of the amulet was\nperhaps in some cases determined by the presence of local pain or\ndisorder; in this case it would be expected to act as a cure of disease\nrather than a mere preventive. The following passages refer to such\nstone amulets:[561]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n EYE AGATES\n\n Used as charms against the Evil Eye. East Indian.\n]\n\n Thou shalt wrap up a _shubu_-stone in white wool, and hang it on a\n white woollen cord, with four eye-stones (_en\u00e2ti_) and four par\u00ea, and\n bind it to thy right hand.\n\n A black _ka_-stone shalt thou enwrap in black wool, hang it on a black\n woollen cord, provide it with three eye-stones and three _par\u00ea_, and\n bind it to thy left hand.\n\n Thou shalt wrap a white _ka_-stone in red wool, hang it on a red\n woollen cord, with four eye-stones and four _par\u00ea_, and bind it to the\n right foot.\n\n An _appu_-stone shalt thou wrap up in blue wool, hang it on a blue\n woollen cord, furnish it with three eye-stones and three _par\u00ea_, and\n bind it to the left foot.\n\n Seven eye-stones and seven _par\u00ea_ shalt thou string on a black cord.\n\nThe _en\u00e2ti_ (eye-stones) here mentioned were most probably eye-agates\nsimilar to those still prized in the Mesapotamian region for their\nsupposed magical virtues, and more especially for protection against the\nEvil Eye. There is, indeed, a bare possibility that some form of the\ncat\u2019s-eye (known by that name to the Arabs) or one of the star-stones\nmay occasionally be signified by this Assyrian name. The word _par\u00ea_, as\nit is not preceded by the determinative character signifying stone, may\nrefer to some other material.\n\nAn immediate association of an animal eye with a turquoise, an example\nof the sympathetic magic to which we have frequently alluded, comes from\nPersia. During the celebration of the imposing ceremonies attending the\ngreat annual assemblage of pilgrims at the shrine of Mecca, it is\ncustomary to slaughter an immense number of sheep, and certain of the\nPersian pilgrims will secure possession of some of the eyes of their\nsacrificial victims, and will embed turquoises in them, firmly believing\nthat in this way they have composed an infallible amulet against the\nEvil Eye.[562]\n\nA Persian manuscript of a work entitled \u201cNozhat Namah Ellaiy,\u201d written\nin the eleventh century by Schem Eddin, the transcription being dated\n1304, asserts that the turquoise (piruzeh), though lacking in\nbrilliancy, was esteemed to be a stone of good omen, and one that would\nbring good luck, since this was indicated by its name, signifying in\nPersian, \u201cthe Victorious.\u201d[563]\n\nOne of the Egyptian tales from the time of the early dynasties shows the\nvalue placed upon the turquoise in Egypt at that time. This recital\noccurs in Baufra\u2019s Tale. The reigning Pharaoh, to relieve a fit of\nmental depression, took a pleasure trip on the palace lake in a boat\nrowed by twenty beautiful and richly attired maidens. While bending over\nher oar, one of the maidens let fall into the water from her\nhair-adornment a fine turquoise (Egypt _mafkat_, thus rendered by\nPetrie) and was deeply chagrined at the loss. However, the court\nmagician Zazamankh, who accompanied the sovereign, by his magic arts was\nable to provide a remedy, for on his reciting a charm of great power the\nturquoise rose up through the water so that it could be picked up from\nthe surface and returned to its disconsolate owner.[564]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n TYPES OF EGYPTIAN SEALS AND SCARABS IN THE MURCH COLLECTION,\n METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK\n\n Royal names: Fig. 1, XII Dynasty (2000\u20131788 B.C.), Usertasen III; Fig.\n 2, XIII Dyn. (1788\u20131680, B.C.), Sebekhetep III; Fig. 3, Hyksos\n Kings (1680\u20131580 B.C.), Aamu; Fig. 4, XVIII Dyn. (1580\u20131350 B.C.),\n Amenhetep I; Fig. 5, XIX Dyn. (1350\u20131205 B.C.), Rameses II; Fig. 8,\n XXII Dyn. (945\u2013745 B.C.), Sheshonk I; Fig. 9, XXV Dyn. (712\u2013663 B.C.),\n Taharka; Fig. 10, XXVI Dyn. (663\u2013525 B.C.), Psamtek I; Private\n names; Fig. 11, Shemses, \u201cAttendant\u201d; Fig 12, Rera, \u201cSuperintendent of\n the Storehouse of Offerings\u201d; Fig. 13, Ankh, \u201cAttendant\u201d; Figs.\n 14\u201316, scroll designs and ornamental groupings of hieroglyphs; Fig.\n 17, Goodluck amulet \u201cMay your name be established, may you have a\n son!\u201d\n Figs. 18\u201324, animal-back seals.\n]\n\nThe Egyptians believed that the different kinds of precious stones were\nendowed with certain special talismanic properties, and these stones\nwere combined in their necklaces in a way supposed to afford protection\nfrom all manner of malign influences. The beads were of various forms,\nsometimes round or oval, and at others, rectangular or oblong; besides\nthe stones in general use, such as the emerald, carnelian, agate, lapis\nlazuli, amethyst, rock-crystal, beryl, jasper and garnet, beads of gold,\nsilver, glass, faience, and even of clay and straw, were employed. To\ncomplete the efficacy of the necklace, small images of the gods and of\nthe sacred animals were added as pendants. Even on the mummies and mummy\ncases such ornaments are painted in imitation of necklaces or collars of\nprecious stones, with flowers, etc., as pendants.[565]\n\nOne of the most artistic and beautiful specimens of ancient Egyptian\ngoldsmiths\u2019 work was recently sent by Dr. Flinders Petrie, on behalf of\nthe Egyptian Research Account Society, to the Boston Museum of Fine\nArts. It is adorned with amethysts set in gold, the stones with their\nsymbolic settings constituting a charm of powerful amulets for the\nprotection of the wearer, who is believed to have been the Princess\nSat-Hathor-Ant, of the Twelfth Dynasty, the wife of the heir to the\nthrone. Dr. Petrie pronounces this to be one of the finest ancient\nEgyptian necklaces he has ever seen.\n\nThis splendid ornament came from tomb No. 154 at Haragh. It measures\n26.3 inches in length and is composed of 88 amethyst beads varying in\nlength from nearly a quarter-inch to about four-tenths of an inch (0.6\ncm. to 1 cm.) and in diameter from a little over a quarter-inch to over\nfour-tenths of an inch (0.7 cm. to 1.1 cm.). The beads are slightly\nflattened and the borings were made from both ends, meeting accurately\nin the centre in the majority of cases. In spite of small surface scars,\nthey are generally of very clear and even color.[566]\n\nSpecial chapters from the great Egyptian collection of hymns and\ninvocations known as the \u201cBook of the Dead\u201d were inscribed on certain\nparticular stones, as in the following instances:\n\nChapter XXVI of the Book of the Dead to be inscribed on, or recited\nover, a figure in lapis lazuli.[567]\n\n Chapter whereby the Heart is given to a person in the Netherworld.\n\n He saith: Heart mine to me, in the place of Hearts! Whole Heart mine\n to me, in the place of Whole Hearts!\n\n Let me have my Heart that it may rest within me; but I shall feed upon\n the food of Osiris, on the eastern side of the mead of amaranthine\n flowers.\n\n Be mine a bark for descending the stream and another for ascending.\n\n I go down into the bark where thou art.\n\n Be there given to me my mouth wherewith to speak, and my feet for\n walking; and let me have my arms wherewith to overthrow my\n adversaries.\n\n Let two hands from the Earth open my mouth: Let Seb, the Erp\u00e2 of the\n gods, part my two jaws; let him open my two eyes which are closed, and\n give motion to my two hands which are powerless; and let Anubis give\n vigor to my legs that I may raise myself upon them.\n\n And may Sechit the divine one lift me up, so that I may arise in\n Heaven and issue my behest in Memphis.\n\n I am in possession of my Heart, I am in possession of my Whole Heart,\n I am in possession of my arms and I have possession of my legs.\n\n [I do whatsoever my Genius willeth, and my Soul is not bound to my\n body at the gates of Amenta.]\n\nChapter XXVII of the Book of the Dead to be inscribed on, or recited\nover, a figure in green feldspar.[568]\n\n Chapter whereby the Heart of a person is not taken from him in the\n Netherworld.\n\n O ye gods who seize upon Hearts, and who pluck out the Whole Heart;\n and whose hands fashion anew the Heart of a person according to what\n he hath done; lo now, let that be forgiven to him by you.\n\n Hail to you, O ye Lords of Everlasting Time and Eternity!\n\n Let not my Heart be torn from me by your fingers.\n\n Let not my Heart be fashioned anew according to all the evil things\n said against me.\n\n For this Heart of mine is the Heart of the god of mighty names\n [Thoth], of the great god whose words are in his members, and who\n giveth free course to his Heart which is within him.\n\n And most keen of insight is his heart among the gods. Ho to me! Heart\n of mine: I am in possession of thee, I am thy master, and thou art by\n me; fall not away from me; I am the dictator to whom thou shalt obey\n in the Netherworld.\n\nWere there sufficient evidence as to the use of jade by the ancient\nEgyptians, we might be justified in finding an allusion to this\nsubstance in the 160th chapter of the Book of the Dead. This chapter was\nto be inscribed upon a small column made of a green stone (Renouf\ntranslates \u201cgreen feldspar\u201d), as appears in the text, which reads, in\npart, as follows:\n\n I am the column of green feldspar which cannot be crushed, and which\n is raised by the hand of Thoth.\n\n Injury is an abomination for it. If it is safe, I am safe; if it is\n not injured, I am not injured; if it receives no cut, I receive no\n cut.\n\n Said by Thoth: arise, come in peace, lord of Heliopolis, lord who\n resides at Pu.\n\nThe text is accompanied by a vignette in which Thoth is represented\nbringing the column enclosed in a box or casket. This is one of the\nforms of the _neshem_-stone, a name used in Egyptian as widely and\nvaguely as was _smaragdus_ in Latin. One thing is, however, quite\nevident, the material designated here must have been of exceptional\nhardness and toughness, for the special virtue of the column-amulet was\nto make the body as hard and indestructible as itself. Incidentally we\nmay recall that the hermetic work of Thoth, named by the later Greeks\nTrismegistos, the Thrice Mighty One, which was said to have been\nunearthed in a tomb, was inscribed upon _smaragdus_.\n\nThe larger part of the amulets used in ancient Egypt represented some\nliving creature. The most usual type is the bull\u2019s head, which was cut\nfrom carnelian, hematite, amazon stone, lapis lazuli, or quartz.\nPrehistoric Egyptian amulets representing the fly have been found; these\nwere of slate, lapis lazuli and serpentine. In historic times gold was\nemployed as the material. Other types occurring in prehistoric times are\nthe hawk, of quartz or limestone; the serpent, of lapis lazuli or\nlimestone; the crocodile and the frog. Carnelian was freely used as the\nmaterial for amulets in the earlier historic times, among the prevailing\nforms were the hand, the fist, and the eye; amulets figuring the lion,\nthe jackal-head, the frog, and the bee, also appear. Silver or electrum\nwas substituted for carnelian in the Middle Kingdom. At a later period\namulets were used less and less frequently.[569]\n\nThe mysterious virtues of the scarab are not yet forgotten in the East,\nin Syria at least, for we are told that this beetle is an object of much\nveneration among the Syrian peasants as an amulet. One use of it in this\nway is to enclose a specimen in a box and lay this upon the breast of a\nbabe in its cradle as a sure protection against the greatly-dreaded Evil\nEye. There is also a superstition in this region that if a \u201cscarab\u201d is\nfound lying helplessly on its back, anyone who charitably relieves it of\nits embarrassment by setting it on its feet, will be relieved of the\nguilt of a number of sins.[570]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n By courtesy of Herbert J. Ward and John Murray, Publisher.\n\n COLOSSAL SCARAB IN BLACK GRANITE, BRITISH MUSEUM\n\n Length 60 in., by 33 in. high. From \u201cThe Sacred Beetle\u201d by John Ward,\n F.S.A.\n]\n\nIt is difficult to see any other origin for the scaraboid, or imperfect\nscarab form, than that afforded by the Egyptian scarabs, some of which\ndate back to about 4000 B.C. Whether we can literally say that the\nscaraboid was introduced into Babylon by the Egyptians may be open to\nquestion, as the form itself appears to have been evolved by Etruscans\nand Greeks. Unquestionably the scaraboid was much more easily shaped\nthan the scarab proper, and for those traders who wished large supplies\nfor commercial purposes at a low cost, this was by no means a negligible\nquality.\n\nThe evolution of the ring from the cylindrical seal is of course purely\na matter of conjecture. Here, as is often the case in a chain or series\nof fossil remains, we have a succession of types which _may_ be\nconnected with one another genetically, but which _must_ not be so\nconnected. That is to say, we cannot prove the affirmative and can only\npoint to a probability.\n\nMany cut and engraved stones, some of which had evidently been used as\ntalismans, have been washed up on the shore at Alexandria, Egypt. Not\nall of these are completed, some being only half worked, as though the\nengraver had become dissatisfied with his design, or had found a flaw in\nthe material, or that they had been lost from boats or ships. It has\nbeen conjectured that these half-completed gems were the work of\nhousehold jewellers employed in the palaces of Alexandria.[571] In\nMas\u2019\u00fbdi\u2019s \u201cMeadows of Gold\u201d we read that in his time, in the tenth\ncentury A.D., there was what he terms \u201ca fishery for precious stones\u201d on\nthe sea-coast near Alexandria, Egypt. To account for this he relates two\nbits of legend. One of them represents these fragments of precious\nstones as having originally adorned the richly decorated vases and\nvessels of Alexander the Great, which were broken up and cast into the\nsea by Alexander\u2019s mother after his death. The other tale was to the\neffect that Alexander himself had gathered together a mass of jewels and\nordered them to be thrown into the sea near the Pharos, so that its\nneighborhood should never be deserted; for, Mas\u2019\u00fbdi remarks, wherever\nprecious stones are to be found, whether in mines or in the depths of\nthe sea, men are sure to assemble to seek for them.[572]\n\nThe prophet Isaiah in his third chapter, where he scores the wantonness\nand vanity of the Daughters of Zion (vs. 16\u201326), enumerates in detail\nthe various adornments of a Hebrew _mondaine_ toward the end of the\neighth century before Christ. Among the jewels and trinkets, amulets\n(_leh\u00e2sh\u00eem_; v. 20) are expressly mentioned, and also \u201ccrescents,\u201d these\nbeing probably of gold. While it is not possible to determine the\nmaterial of the amulets, the fact that they are named together with rich\nornaments of various kinds, rings, nose-jewels, bracelets, anklets,\netc., indicates that they were of precious material, and were possibly\nengraved precious stones or seals of some sort.[573] In the Song of\nSongs, which can scarcely be assigned to a later date than Isaiah, and\nmay have been written earlier, the seal is named in what is perhaps the\nmost beautiful passage of this unique poem, Chapter VII, verse 6:\n\n Set me as a seal upon thine heart;\n as a seal upon thine arm.\n For love is strong as death;\n passion is unyielding as Hades,\n The flashes thereof are flashes of fire;\n an all-consuming flame.\n\nThe golden \u201ccrescents\u201d were used as amulets by the Midianites for\nsuspension on the necks of their camels, at the period of the Hebrew\nconquest of Canaan, as appears from the eighth chapter of Judges (v.\n21).\n\nThe burying in a grave of valuable gems and ornaments worn by the\ndeceased during life must have been originally due to a belief that they\nserved as talismans to guard the remains from the malign influence of\nevil spirits, or perhaps even to afford protection and aid, by some\nstrange occult power, to the soul of the departed in the under or upper\nworld whither it had journeyed. In the New World, among the more highly\ncivilized and wealthy Indian tribes of the south, this custom was very\ngeneral, and rich spoils have been taken from their graves by the\nunsentimental settlers from Europe. In the Old World also this usage was\nquite common; Egyptian tombs have afforded jewels of gold and gems worth\nlarge sums intrinsically, apart from their arch\u00e6ological value, and only\nto note one among many instances, we may recall the treasures unearthed\nby the indefatigable Schliemann in the old Greek tombs of Mycen\u00e6.\nHowever, of all these finds none surpasses in interest that made by M.\nHenry de Morgan near Susa on February 10, 1901, when there was brought\nto light, from a depth of some six metres below the surface, a bronze\nsarcophagus containing the skeleton of a woman. Heaped upon the breast\nof the skeleton and strewn about the head and neck was a mass of\nfinely-wrought and artistic gems and jewels, including several detached\namulets. From coins found in the burial and also from the general\ncharacter of these relics, M. de Morgan believes that the interment must\nhave been made at some date between 350 and 330 B.C., just before\nAlexander\u2019s invasion of Persia.[574]\n\nThe jewels embrace a beautiful gold torque weighing 385 grams (something\nover one pound Troy). The hoop terminates in two lions\u2019 heads having\ncheeks of turquoise, while on the muzzle is a lapis lazuli flanked by\ntwo turquoises; on the top of the head is a plate of mother-of-pearl.\nBracelets similar in design and decoration to the torque go to complete\nthe parure. Of even greater interest than the gold torque was a\nthree-row pearl necklace, 238 of the pearls being still more or less\nwell preserved; originally there must have been from 400 to 500 of them.\nStill another valuable necklace consists of 400 beads of precious or\nornamental stone material and 400 gold beads. The stones represented are\nturquoise, lapis lazuli, emerald, agate, various jaspers, red and blond\ncarnelian, feldspar, jade (?), hyaline and milky quartz, amethyst of a\npale violet hue, hematite, several marbles and breccia. A fourth\nnecklace had a row of beads and pendants incrusted with carnelian, lapis\nlazuli and turquoise; here the sharp contrast of the bright red\ncarnelian disturbs the harmonious effect produced by the combination of\nthe dark blue lapis lazuli and the light blue turquoise.\n\nThe detached amulets are of various forms, one figuring a sphinx with a\nram\u2019s head; this was in white paste with green enamel. Another, of gold,\nwas rudely fashioned in the form of a lion or a cat, and there was also\na dove of lapis lazuli, poorly executed, the amulets (mainly of Egyptian\ntype) being of very inferior workmanship as compared with the jewels.\nStill they serve to confirm the belief that this heaping up in the tomb\nof all the dearest treasures cherished in life, was intended to exert a\npost-mortem influence upon the after-life of the dead woman.\n\nThat some of the Hebrew patriots who fought under the banner of Judas\nMaccab\u00e6us toward the middle of the second century B.C. were tinged with\nthe prevailing superstition regarding amulets, appears in a passage of\nthe second book of Maccabees, where it is stated that when Judas\ncollected together for burial the bodies of those patriots who had\nfallen in battle before Odolla, they were found to have worn beneath\ntheir tunics certain idolatrous amulets, a custom strictly forbidden to\nthe Jews. Their death was then looked upon as a signal instance of\ndivine justice, which \u201chad made hidden things manifest,\u201d and Judas\nexhorted the people to take this lesson to heart and guard themselves\nfrom sin.\n\nThe wealth of books on magic and divination produced in the ancient city\nof Ephesus, in Asia Minor, was so great that the designation \u201cEphesian\nwritings\u201d was quite generally given to writings of this kind, more\nespecially to denote short texts that could be worn as amulets or\ncharms. We read in the Acts of the Apostles (xix, 19) that after hearing\nthe fervent discourses of St. Paul, in which he eloquently attacked the\nsuperstitions of the Ephesians, many of those who owned books of this\ndescription were so deeply moved that they burned up all such books in\ntheir possession, to the value of 50,000 pieces of silver, that is to\nsay $9000, equivalent perhaps to $90,000, if we make due allowance for\nthe greater purchasing power of money nearly two thousand years ago. The\nsmall literary value of the writings of this sort that have been\npreserved for us indicates that the loss to posterity by this auto-da-f\u00e9\nwas not very considerable, and yet many queer superstitions and strange\nusages of which we now lack information must have been noted in these\nmagic rolls and sheets.\n\nThe following lines may serve to show how highly the jasper was esteemed\nin ancient times, this designation covering jade as well:[575]\n\n Auro, quid melius? Jaspis. Quid Jaspite? Virtus. Quid virtute? Deus.\n Quid deitate? Nihil.\n\n What is better than Gold? Jasper.\n\n What is better than Jasper? Virtue.\n\n What is better than Virtue? GOD.\n\n What is better than the deity? Nothing.\n\nThe first mention of the famous charm Abracadabra, which so often\nappears engraved on Gnostic gems, occurs in a Latin medical poem written\nby Serenus Sammonicus who lived in the third century and is said to have\nbequeathed his library consisting of sixty-two thousand volumes to the\nEmperor Gordian the Younger. The poem recommends this mystic word, or\nname, as a sovereign remedy for the \u201cdemitertian\u201d fever, if it were\nwritten on a piece of paper and suspended by a linen thread from the\nneck of the patient. To have its full efficacy the word should be\nwritten as many times as there are letters in it, but taking away one\nletter each time, so that the inscription assumed the form of an\ninverted cone.[576]\n\nIt is interesting to note that De Foe, writing in the seventeenth\ncentury of the Great Plague in London (1665), alludes to this strange\ntalisman as still in use.[577] Treating of the curious prophylactics\nemployed at that time, he reproaches those who employed such methods,\nand acted \u201cas if the plague was not the hand of God, but a kind of\npossession of an evil spirit, and that it was to be kept off with\ncrossings, signs of the zodiac, papers tied up with so many knots, and\ncertain words or figures, as particularly the word Abracadabra formed in\ntriangle or pyramid, thus:\n\n A B R A C A D A B R A\n A B R A C A D A B R\n A B R A C A D A B\n A B R A C A D A\n A B R A C A D\n A B R A C A\n A B R A C\n A B R A\n A B R\n A B\n A\u201d\n\nA curious charm which was extensively used as an amulet in medieval\ntimes consists of five Latin words so arranged that they can be read\nbackwards or forwards and also upwards or downwards. The disposition of\nthe letters is as follows:\n\n s a t o r\n a r e p o\n t e n e t\n o p e r a\n r o t a s\n\nThis charm has been preserved for us in Greek and Coptic as well as in\nRoman characters, and examples of it have been found cut in a marble\nslab above the chapel of St. Laurent at Rochemaur (Ard\u00e8che), France, and\nalso in the plaster wall of an old Roman house at Cirncester,\nGloucestershire, England. In a Greek manuscript in the Biblioth\u00e8que\nNationale, in Paris,[578] the Latin words are transliterated and\ntranslated as follows:\n\n \u03c3\u03ac\u03c4\u03bf\u03c1, the sower\n \u1f00\u03c1\u03b5\u03c0\u03bf, the plough\n \u03c4\u03ad\u03bd\u03b5\u03c4, holds\n \u1f40\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1, works\n \u03c1\u03cc\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2, wheels\n\nAnother and more ingenious explanation of this puzzle has, however, been\ngiven.[579] Beginning with the last word \u201crotas,\u201d and taking the other\nwords in their order, it is proposed to read as follows: \u201cThe\nplough-wheels (rotas), the laborer (opera), holds (tenet), creep after\nhim (arepo), I, the sower (sator).\u201d The chief defect in this version\nappears to be the assumption that \u201copera\u201d can be rendered \u201claborer,\u201d an\ninterpretation which is, at best, supported by a doubtful use of the\nword in that sense by Horace. This charm appears in an Italian\nmanuscript of the fourteenth century,[580] where it is recommended to be\nused for the assurance of a speedy delivery.\n\nTouching the wonderful and mystic power attributed to the seven vowels\nof the Greek alphabet by the Gnostics, C. W. King cites the following\nwords from the Pistis Sophia of Valentinus:[581]\n\n Nothing therefore is more excellent than the mysteries which ye seek\n after, saving only the mystery of the Seven Vowels and their forty and\n nine Powers, and the Numbers thereof. And no name is more excellent\n than all these [Vowels], a Name wherein be contained all Names and all\n Lights and all Powers.\n\nThe last sentence probably refers to the arrangement of these vowels\noften met with in inscribed Gnostic talismans, the so-called Abraxas\ngems. Here we often find them in the following order \u0399 \u0395 \u0397 \u0398 \u039f \u03a5 \u0391, and\nthe sound of these vowels really suggests the conventional pronunciation\nof the Hebrew name Jehovah (yehowah). The words quoted from the Pistis\nSophia are placed in the mouth of Jesus, and King calls attention to the\nfact that in Greek the same word is used for voice and vowel (\u03c6\u03ce\u03bd\u03b7). He\ntherefore believes that the passage in Revelations (x, 3\u20134): \u201cThe seven\nthunders uttered their voices,\u201d signifies that the sound of the seven\nvowels \u201cechoed through the vault of heaven, and composed that mystic\nutterance which the sainted seer was forbidden to reveal unto mortals.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A MEDIEVAL SPELL\n\n From a XIV century Italian MS. in the author\u2019s library. The efficacy\n of the spell is to be insured by reciting the accompanying\n invocation thrice.\n]\n\nCertain talismans were supposed to afford protection not only to\nindividuals but even to entire cities. Of this class were two talismans\ndescribed by Gregory of Tours. He relates that Paris had enjoyed from\nancient times a surprising immunity from serpents and rats, as well as\nfrom fires. However, in clearing out the channel beneath a bridge across\nthe Seine, the workmen found, embedded in the mud, two brazen images,\none of a serpent and the other of a rat; after these had been removed\nfrom their resting place, serpents and rats appeared, and conflagrations\nbecame common.[582]\n\nOf the many memorials of the Age of Charlemagne preserved in the\nCathedral Treasury at Aachen, that popularly known as the Talisman of\nCharlemagne always exerted a peculiar fascination over the minds of\nthose visiting the shrine, both because of its sacred character and on\naccount of the mystic power ascribed to it.\n\nThe \u201cTalisman\u201d is composed of two large sapphires, cut _en cabochon_,\none being of oval form and the other square, these constituting\nrespectively the front and back of the relic; enclosed between them is a\ncross made from wood of the Holy Cross said to have been found in\nPalestine by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. This is only\nvisible when looking through the oval sapphire set in front of the\nmedallion. The two sapphires are joined and framed by a band studded\nwith precious stones, and various other gems are set above and below\nthem. The oval sapphire is of a pale blue, and is furnished with a gold\nopenwork bordering. At the top of the medallion, in a square space is\nset a lozenge-shaped garnet, and around the oval sapphire forming the\nfront are placed successively, (1) an emerald, (2) a pearl, (3) a\ngarnet, (4) a pearl, (5) an emerald, (6) a pearl, (7) a garnet, (8) a\npearl, (9) an emerald, (10) a pearl, (11) a garnet, (12) a pearl, (13)\nan emerald, (14) a pearl, (15) a garnet, (16) a pearl.\n\nThe square sapphire at the back of the medallion is of poor quality and\nimperfect color; about it are sixteen settings, containing respectively,\n(1) (lacking), (2) a pearl, (3) a garnet, (4) a pearl, (5) an emerald,\n(6) a pearl, (7) a garnet, (8) a pearl, (9) an emerald, (10) a pearl,\n(11) a garnet, (12) a pearl, (13) an emerald, (14) a pearl, (15) a\ngarnet, (16) a pearl.\n\nOn the band are set the following stones: (1) a pearl, (2) a sapphire,\n(3) a pearl, (4) an amethyst, (5) a pearl, (6) a sapphire, (7) a pearl,\n(8) an amethyst, (9) a pearl, (10) an almost white sapphire, (11) a\npearl, (12) an amethyst, (13) a pearl, (14) a white sapphire.\n\nIn the summer of 1804, Empress Josephine went to Aix-la-Chapelle\n(Aachen) to take the waters there, and during her stay, on August 1, she\nvisited the tomb of Charlemagne in the Cathedral. We are told that\nNapoleon, who joined Josephine at Aix-le-Chapelle on September 3, had\nalready _authorized_ the Cathedral chapter to part with certain of the\nrelics and bestow them upon Josephine at the time of her visit to the\ntomb. This authorization, of course, was only a polite equivalent for a\ncommand, and was duly carried out, the most prized object secured by\nJosephine being precisely this famed talisman. It eventually came into\nthe hands of Hortense, Josephine\u2019s daughter, the mother of Napoleon III,\nand was inherited by him. It is said to be now in a private collection\nin Paris.[583] Empress Eug\u00e9nie is stated to have worn it at the time of\nthe birth of the Prince Imperial, and to have further shown her belief\nin the mystic, or magic, virtues of the talisman by sending it several\nyears later to Biarritz, that it might be kept for a time in the\nsick-room of M. Bacciochi, when he was prostrated by illness in that\ncity.[584]\n\nAn Anglo-Saxon treatise on the medical art, from the beginning of the\ntenth century, the original manuscript of which was owned by an\nAnglo-Saxon leech named Bald, as testified to by an entry on the\ntitle-leaf, gives the agate a prominent place as a talismanic and\ncurative agent. More especially is its power over the demon-world\nemphasized. Indeed it is asserted to serve as a sort of diagnostic of\ndemoniacal possession, the words being: \u201cThe man who hath in him\nsecretly the loathly fiend, if he taketh in liquid any portion of the\nshavings of this stone, then soon is exhibited manifestly in him that\nwhich before secretly lay hid.\u201d Less unfamiliar to those acquainted with\nthe early literature on the subject are the statements that the wearers\nof agates were guarded against danger from lightning, and from venom.\nThe liquid \u201cextract of agate,\u201d taken internally, also produced smooth\nskin and rendered the partaker immune from the bites of snakes.[585]\n\nAn extremely strange type of amulets found occasionally in Gallic\nsepulchres are disks made from human skulls. It appears to be a\nwell-ascertained fact that the operation of trephining was performed at\nthis early date, almost if not quite exclusively in the case of infants,\nand it is believed principally for the cure of epilepsy. If the child\nsurvived the operation its skull was thought to have acquired a certain\nmagic power. This idea had its rise in the belief that epilepsy was the\nresult of an indwelling evil spirit, so that if the disease disappeared\nas a result or sequence of the operation, this evil spirit was believed\nto have made his way out through the aperture. On the eventual death of\none whose skull had been successfully trephined, disks were sometimes\ncut just on the edge of the opening through which the possessing spirit\nhad slipped out, leaving as a trace of his passage some of his diabolic\nbut still potent virtue.[586] That the superstition regarding these\ncranial disks lasted well into the sixteenth century, even among some of\nthe educated, is proven by the fact that on a bracelet which belonged to\nand was worn by Catherine de\u2019 Medici, one of the talismans was a piece\nof a human skull.\n\nAttention was first called to the strange amulets taken from the human\nskull by the operation of trephining, by M. Pruneti\u00e8re, at a meeting of\nthe French Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Lyons in\n1873.[587] The specimen he then exhibited came from a sepulture in the\ndepartment of Loz\u00e8re. This particular example showed a break on the\nedge, and M. Paul Broca has conjectured that a small piece may have been\nchipped off, so that it might be pulverized and administered as a powder\nto persons suffering from disease of the brain, a treatment favored by\nthose who doubted the generally-believed supernatural origin of\nepilepsy, and suspected its source in some lesion of the brain or of the\nmeninges. For this, of course, no more efficient remedy could suggest\nitself, according to the old sympathetic theory of medicines, than a\npowder made from the skull of one who had been an epileptic. These\nskull-amulets have been unearthed in neolithic burials in various parts\nof France, a considerable number having been found by M. de Baye and\nothers in the department of Marne; a specimen was also found in an\nAlgerian sepulture by General Faidherbe.\n\nThe great Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos, a contemporary of Plato,\nadvised that resort should be had to the operation of trephining in many\ncases of injury to the head, and that the ancient Hindus were to a\ncertain extent familiar with it as a method of treating diseases of the\nbrain appears in one of the Buddhist recitals from a Tibetan source.\nHere it is related that Atreya, master of the King of Physicians,\nJ\u00eevaka, when appealed to for help by a man suffering from a distressful\ncerebral disorder, directed the man to dig a pit and fill it up with\ndung; he then thrust the man into this soft and savory mass until\nnothing but his head and neck protruded, and opened his skull. From it\nwas drawn out a reptile whose presence had caused the malady. J\u00eevaka\nseems to have been in consultation with his master in this interesting\noperation, and is said to have later extracted a centipede from a man\u2019s\nskull after making an aperture therein with a golden knife.[588] In\nneither of these cases, however, do we have any hint that disks or\nfragments from the human skull were used as amulets.\n\nA ghastly object much favored in France in the Middle Ages, as it was\nbelieved to give the owner the power to discover hidden treasures, was\nthe so-called _main-de-gloire_, or \u201chand of glory,\u201d which was the\ndesiccated hand of one who had met his death by hanging.[589]\n\nA remarkable talismanic bracelet owned by Catherine de\u2019 Medici was set\nwith a skull-fragment and with a representation of a \u201c_main-de-gloire_.\u201d\nThis is described in the catalogue made in 1786 of M. d\u2019Ennery\u2019s\ncollection. The settings of the bracelet, ten in number, comprised the\nfollowing objects, to each of which was probably ascribed some special\nsignificance and virtue.[590]\n\nAn oval \u201ceagle-stone\u201d (\u00e6tites), on which was graven in intaglio a winged\ndragon; above this figure was the date 1559, the year in which the\nbracelet was composed and that of the death of Catherine\u2019s husband,\nHenri II.\n\nAn octagonal agate, traversed by a number of tubular apertures, the\norifices of which could be seen on either side of the stone.\n\nA very fine oval onyx of three colors, bearing graven on its edge the\nfollowing names of angels: Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, Uriel.\n\nA large oval turquoise with a gold band.\n\nA piece of black and white marble.\n\nAn oval brown agate, with a caduceus, a star and a crescent engraved in\nintaglio on one of its faces, and on its edge the name Jehovah and\ncertain talismanic characters; on the other face were figured the\nconstellation Serpens, the zodiacal sign Scorpio and the Sun, around\nwhich were the six planets.\n\nAn oblong section of a human skull.\n\nA rounded piece of gold on the convex side of which was graven in relief\nthe \u201chand of glory\u201d (_main-de-gloire_); on the concave side appeared the\nSun and Moon done in repouss\u00e9 work.\n\nA perfectly round onyx, bearing graven in the centre the name or word\n\u201cPubleni\u201d; this possibly designated the original Roman owner of the\nstone.\n\nIn the opinion of a German writer of the eleventh or twelfth century,\nthe amethyst, if worn by a man, attracted to him the love of noble\nwomen, and also protected him from the attacks of thieves.[591] This\nstone was always prized because of its beautiful color, even though it\nwas never so rare or costly as some others. Some authorities assert that\nthe amethyst induces sleep.[592] Perhaps this was one of the means by\nwhich the stone cured inebriety, as it enabled its votaries to sleep off\nthe effects of their potations.\n\nAs testimony of the belief in the efficiency, remedial or talismanic, of\nprecious stones prevalent at the opening of the fifteenth century, may\nbe noted the presence among the manuscript books of Marguerite de\nFlandres, Duchesse de Bourgogne, of a work listed as follows: \u201cThe book\nof the properties of certain stones.\u201d It was carefully enclosed in a\ncrimson velvet covering.[593] Incidentally it is a rather interesting\nfact that at this early date, 1405, we find in Duchess Margaret\u2019s little\nlibrary two Bibles in French and a separate copy of the Gospels also in\nthat language. This serves to disprove the popular idea that\ntranslations of the Bible into the vernacular were in distinct disfavor\nwith Roman Catholics before the era of the Reformation. Of course until\nthe invention and use of the art of printing there could be no wide\ndiffusion of such translations.\n\nThe jacinth is described by Thomas de Cantimpr\u00e9 as being a stone of a\nyellow color. \u201cIt is very hard and difficult to cleave, or cut; it can,\nhowever, be worked with diamond dust. It is very cold, especially when\nheld in the mouth.\u201d Among many other virtues, it protects from\nmelancholia and poison, and makes the wearer beloved of God and men. It\nalso acts as a sort of barometer, since it grows dark and dull in bad\nweather and becomes clear and bright in fine weather.[594] Cardano says\nthat when the weather was fine the stone became obscure and dull, but\nwhen a tempest was impending, it assumed the ruddy hue of a burning\ncoal. It also lost its color when in contact with any one suffering from\ndisease, more especially from the plague.[595]\n\nAs a result of his study of precious stones, Cardano was induced to\naffirm that they had life, but he gravely states that he had never noted\nthat they possessed sex (a common belief in his day), although \u201cas\nnature delights as much in miracle as we do, some may be so constituted\nthat they are almost distinguished by sex.\u201d[596]\n\nThe beautiful sapphire has always been a great favorite with lovers of\nprecious stones and to it has been attributed a chastening, purifying\ninfluence upon the soul. Even Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy,\nwherein precious stones are rarely mentioned, takes occasion to write as\nfollows of the sapphire: \u201cIt is the fairest of all precious stones of\nsky colour, and a great enemy to black choler, frees the mind, mends\nmanners.\u201d[597]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FROM A PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH\n\n In the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, K. G., Hardwick Hall. The\n queen has jewels in her hair, a pearl eardrop, and two necklaces,\n one fitting close to the neck, the other falling over the breast.\n The stiff brocade skirt is embroidered with a wonderful array of\n aquatic birds and animals. On the left, the cushion of the chair of\n state is embroidered with the queen\u2019s monogram. Surmounting the\n chair is a crystal ball. The original canvas measures 90 \u00d7 66\n inches.\n]\n\nThe poets have sung the praises of the turquoise. In Shakespeare\u2019s\nMerchant of Venice, when the \u201camorous Jessica\u201d made off with her\nfather\u2019s jewels, Shylock particularly bewails the disappearance of his\nturquoise, crying out that he would not have lost it for \u201ca wilderness\nof monkeys.\u201d The poet Donne, also, writes of this stone and draws\nattention to its sympathetic quality in these words:\n\n As a compassionate turquoise that doth tell,\n By looking pale, the wearer is not well.\n\nThat Queen Elizabeth clung fondly to life is well known, and it is said\nthat she trusted much in the virtues of a talisman which she wore round\nher neck. This was a piece of gold engraved with certain mystic\ncharacters. The statement has also been made that at the bottom of a\nchair in which she often sat, was the queen of hearts from a pack of\ncards, having a nail driven through the forehead of the figure.[598]\nCould this have been a spell of witchcraft used against her hated rival,\nMary of Scotland?\n\nThe belief that turquoise changes its hue with the changing health of\nthe wearer leads an early seventeenth century author to offer it as a\nsymbol of wifely devotion, saying that \u201ca true wife should be like a\nturquoise stone, clear in heart in her husband\u2019s health, and cloudy in\nhis sickness.\u201d Although a more prosaic explanation than that of occult\nsympathy has been proposed for this asserted change of hue, we need not\ntherefore reject the more poetic fancy.[599]\n\nAmong the believers in the virtue of amulets must be counted the French\nreligious philosopher, Pascal. After his death in 1662 there was found,\nsewed up in his pourpoint, a piece of paper bearing a long and very\nstrange inscription. At the top was a cross with rays, a similar cross\nbeing drawn at the bottom of the text. This began with the following\nwords:\n\n Monday, November 23, the day of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and of\n others in the martyrology.\n\n The Eve of St. Chrysogone, martyr, and of others. From about half-past\n ten in the evening until about a half-hour after midnight,\n\n FIRE\n\nThen follow a series of ejaculations and short religious sentences, and\ntoward the end, after the name of Christ, thrice repeated, the words:\n\n I have separated myself from Him, I have fled from Him, denied Him.\n\nand finally the prayer that this separation might henceforth cease. The\noriginal text is said to be in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale in Paris with\nthe MS. of the \u201cPens\u00e9es.\u201d\n\nPascal is stated to have always kept this amulet on his person, removing\nit carefully from the lining of an old garment and putting in a new one,\nwhen this was assumed. The strange introduction referred to a vision of\nfire which he had had on the night in question, and this has been\nexplained as resulting from a severe nervous shock he had experienced\nsix months before, when driving along the banks of the Seine. As the\nvehicle neared Neuilly the horses took fright and ran away, dashing\ntoward the edge of the bank; just on the brink the reins broke and the\nhorses plunged down into the river, leaving the carriage in which Pascal\nwas sitting on the edge of the precipice. This shock impressed him so\nvividly that he would often see the precipice before him as distinctly\nas though it were a reality. In any case the matter is of interest as\nshowing that one of the most gifted men of the seventeenth century was a\nbeliever in amulets.[600]\n\nThe giving of corals to new-born infants was expressly forbidden in 1708\nin the bishopric of Bamberg, because of the superstition connected\ntherewith, although Christian painters of the fourteenth century often\nrepresented the child Jesus as holding corals in his hand. The\npersistence of the superstition as to the Evil Eye and the belief that\ncoral safeguarded the wearer therefrom, have impressed many cultured\nItalians of our day, and even so able and clear-headed a statesman as\nprime minister Crispi is said never to have gone to a parliamentary\nsitting without having with him a coral amulet.[601]\n\nSome characteristic Hindu amulets figure the god Jagannath (Lord of the\nWorld), or associated divinities, and also symbols related to the\nworship of this form of Krishna.[602] In the month Joyestha (May-June)\nhis world-renowned temple at Puri in Orissa is thronged with pilgrims\nfrom all parts of India, and on the great festival day his image and\nthose of his brother Balarana and of his sister Subhadra are taken out\nof the sanctuary and placed in an elaborately decorated car, which is\ndrawn through the streets of the city. The readiness of fanatical\nbelievers to sacrifice their lives by casting themselves beneath the\nwheels of this ponderous car, has made the expression \u201cCar of Jagannath\u201d\nalmost a household word, freely used by those who know little or nothing\nabout Hindu religion. The English Government has long since put a stop\nto these reckless and useless martyrdoms.\n\nMany of these amulets are made of a black steatite. One represents\nKrishna (Jagannath) standing and playing on a flute, another figures\nthis avatar of Vishnu with his wife Radha. A curious series presents\nJagannath, Balarana and Subhadra; the unnaturally large heads of the\nfigures and the truncated crowns and legs are explained by the fact that\nthe group was carved from the trisala of a tope of a Buddhist temple\nerected at Puri in the third century B.C., the Hindus of a later time\nhaving utilized this relic of a former faith for gods of their ethnic\nreligion. There are also a number of stamps, incised with emblematic\nfigures such as a shell, a _sankha_ wheel, a serpent, two footprints,\netc., so that the corresponding seal may be impressed in colored clay\nupon the arms of the faithful in the sanctuary of Jagannath. Many of the\namulets bearing the double footprint, emblematic of Vishnu\n(Krishna-Jagannath), are arranged in groups of five, all being\nperforated so that a group can be suspended on the person.\n\nThe footprints are explained by a curious legend to the effect that when\na dispute as to superiority arose between the gods of the Trimurti,\nBrahma, Siva and Vishnu, the selection of a test to decide this was left\nto Bhrigu, one of the ten patriarchs. He approached Brahma without\nsaluting him; this infuriated the god, but he restrained himself.\nApproaching Siva in turn, Bhrigu failed to return the god\u2019s salutation,\nwhich so enraged him that he raised his trident to slay the insulter,\nand was only prevented from doing this by the timely intervention of the\ngoddess Parvati. Nothing daunted Bhrigu pursued his test, and, finding\nVishnu reposing with his head in Lakshmi\u2019s lap, he kicked the divinity\nto arouse him. Vishnu, however, instead of losing his temper, quietly\narose; saluted the rash patriarch, and even thanked him for the\nreminder, and craved his pardon that he had not immediately greeted him,\nasserting that the kick (which must have been most vigorously\nadministered if it left _two_ footprints) had left on his breast a mark\nof good augury.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n COMPLETE VIEW OF THE ANCIENT JADE GIRDLE-PENDANT (FROM, KU Y\u00dc T\u2019U P\u2019U)\n\n From \u201cJade,\u201d by Berthold Laufer.\n\n By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of Natural History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\nA fine presentation of the style of jewels worn by the Mah\u00e2r\u00e2n\u00ee of\nSikkim, a full-blooded Tibetan by birth, is offered by a portrait of\nthis queen done in oil by Damodar Dutt, a Bengali artist, in 1908, while\nthe Mah\u00e2r\u00e2n\u00ee was sharing the captivity of her husband at Darjeeling,\nwhere they had been sequestrated by the British authorities for many\nyears. The elaborate and rather oppressive headdress is a typical\nadornment of the queens of Sikkim; the broad bandeaux are composed of\npearls, and a brilliant color effect is produced by the rows of\nalternating corals and turquoises. The gold ear-rings have a\nturquoise-inlay, in concentric rings, and from the queen\u2019s neck hangs a\nlong necklace of coral beads, separated at intervals by large spheres of\namber; a coral bracelet and two rings, with coral and turquoise setting\nrespectively, complete the very effective, if not especially costly,\njewelry.[603]\n\nJade girdle pendants having a talismanic quality were in great favor\nduring the period of the Chou dynasty (1122\u2013249 B.C.). The typical\ngirdle pendant of that time was a seven-jewelled one, each of the\ncombined ornaments being made of some one of the choice varieties of\njade. These adornments consisted of a top-piece or brooch, whence\ndepended a circular central plaque (y\u00fc), flanked by two square ornaments\n(k\u00fc); below followed a centre-ornament of segment form, on either side\nof which was a bow-shaped jewel. The girdle ornaments were rich in\nsymbolic significance, the rhythmic swinging of the jades caused a\nmusical note whenever they came in contact with one another, or with any\nmetallic object; as love-trinkets they had the most fortunate meaning;\nas indications of office they gained consideration and respect for the\nwearers of high rank, while for those of less distinction they were so\ndifferentiated as to become marks of the respective craft or\nvocation.[604]\n\nIn Siam the girls\u2019 heads are shaved, with the exception of the top of\nthe head, where a knot of hair is allowed to grow. On the fourteenth\nanniversary of the girl\u2019s birthday this \u201ctop-knot\u201d is cut off, the\noperation being accompanied by a solemn religious ceremony, to mark\nand consecrate the event, which denotes the passing of the girl into\nwomanhood. On this occasion, the members of the family gather together\nall the jewels they can secure for the adornment of the \u201cnew woman,\u201d\nand where they are not wealthy enough to provide brilliant and rich\nornaments from their own possessions kind friends will always be found\nready to supply the deficiency. In the case of the Siamese girl\nfigured in our plate, and of a girl companion, the Queen of Siam\nherself acted as fairy godmother to the extent of furnishing from her\nown private treasures a costly and suitable decoration. The gems and\nornaments worn were worth $20,000 and are said to have filled a small\nsteamer-trunk.[605]\n\nIn a favorite form of white jade amulet, the stone is cut flat and is\nthen inlaid with rubies in gold settings, so disposed as to indicate a\nflower-form. Jade amulets of this type are found in China and in various\nparts of northern Asia, and are believed to guard or free the wearer\nfrom palpitation of the heart.[606]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n TIBETAN WOMAN WITH COMPLETE JEWELRY\n\n From \u201cNotes on Turquois in the East,\u201d by Berthold Laufer.\n\n By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of Natural History,\n Chicago.\n]\n\nFlowers fashioned from precious stones make most attractive ornaments,\nand by their variety of coloring can be worn with almost any costume. A\ncelebrated beauty of London society has a number of pansies of different\ncolors, one made of rubies, another of sapphires, still another of\nemeralds, and so on through the range of colors. In this way she always\nhad a pansy according in color with that of her gown. As bridal gifts\nthese jewel-flowers are most appropriate, more especially when the\nlady-love bears a \u201cfloral name\u201d such as Violet or Rose.\n\nCoral ornaments of all sorts are in great demand in Tibet, and a fine\npiece of this material will bring about $20 an ounce, and is therefore\nliterally worth its weight in gold. The Venetian traveller, Marco Polo,\nwho visited Tibet in the latter half of the thirteenth century, already\nnoted that coral was in high favor there and that coral necklaces\nadorned the necks of the women and also those of the idols in their\ntemples. The love of personal adornment is very strong among the Tibetan\nwomen, and those in any way well-to-do load themselves with a mass of\njewelled ornaments, great pieces of amber, coral and turquoise\nconstituting the principal gem-material. The favor extended to coral,\napart from the religious significance of red as symbolical of one of the\nincarnations of Buddha, may perhaps have an esthetic basis as well, for\nred or pink affords a pleasant contrast to the dark complexions and hair\nof the Tibetans.[607]\n\nMuch more prized, however, than coral is the beautiful blue turquoise,\nwhich not only serves for purely ornamental use but is freely employed\nin the decoration of religious objects, such as the curious \u201cprayer\nwheels\u201d so indispensable a part of Tibetan ritual.\n\nThe talismanic quality of this stone is an important element in its\npopularity, as it is supposed to bring good fortune and physical\nwell-being to the wearer and to afford protection against contagion. The\nTibetans share in the quite general belief that the turquoise will grow\npale in sympathy with the present or prospective fortune and health of\nthe person wearing it, and as a loss of color is considered portentous\nof coming evil, such stones are gotten rid of as soon as possible to be\nreplaced by those of a brighter hue. The dealers who buy up for a\ntrifling sum these discolored turquoises often treat them with a dose of\nblue dyestuff which superficially restores the color, and it is stated\nthat many of the soldiers of the British expeditionary force to Tibet in\n1904 were at first deceived into buying these vamped-up stones, but they\nsoon discovered the deception and were more careful later on. Turquoises\nare also believed to guard against the Evil Eye, and a quasi-sacred\ncharacter is lent to some especially fine specimens by setting them in\nthe foreheads of statues of the Buddha or other religious images.[608]\n\nThe women of Tibet are said to prize most highly as amulets pieces of\ncloth adorned with turquoise or coral, which they have acquired from the\nLamas, who by the imposition of their priestly blessing have endowed\nthese objects with a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of the Tibetan\ndevotees. Another amulet favored in this far-off land is a small metal\nbox of gold, silver, or copper, and encrusted with turquoise. Within are\nenclosed little scrolls inscribed with mystic characters to conjure evil\nspirits and thwart their malevolent schemes for the tribulation of\nmankind.\n\nAn ingenious, if rather far-fetched explanation of the supposed power of\ncoral to avert lightning and hail is given by Fortunio Liceti. In his\nopinion, coral, being of a warm quality, overcomes the coldness of the\natmosphere, which produces lightning by the attraction of contraries,\nand hail by its own quality. This is a specimen of the attempts to find\na plausible physiological reason for the powers of gems, the writers\nnever for a moment hesitating to accept the popular beliefs in this\nrespect.[609]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n \u201cTHE LIGHT OF THE EAST\u201d\n\n Mural fresco painting by Albert Herter, in the Hotel St. Francis, San\n Francisco, California. The crystal ball upheld by the female figure\n is more highly esteemed in Japan than any other jewel. Note the fine\n contrast afforded by the black armor of the Japanese warrior to the\n white arm and pure crystal sphere.\n\n By Courtesy of the Artist and Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco.\n]\n\nAmong the Bhots of Landakh in the western part of Tibet, a large piece\nof amber or agate is often worn by the men suspended from the neck as an\namulet. Here as in so many other parts of the world, the amulet is\nbelieved to acquire especial efficacy when worn in this way, as it comes\nin immediate contact with the person of the wearer.[610]\n\nA very singular manner of using precious stones as talismans is noted in\nBurma.[611] There are certain talismans called _hkoung-beht-set_, which\nare inserted in the flesh beneath the skin. They are usually of gold,\nsilver, or lead, or else of tortoise-shell, horn, etc., but sometimes\nthey are rolled pebbles and occasionally precious stones. We are told\nthat when a prisoner is found to have such talismans on, or rather in\nhis person, the jailer cuts them out lest they should be used to bribe\nthe guards. The talismans owe much of their supposed power to\ninscriptions in mystic characters, and they are so highly favored that\nsome of the natives wear one or more rows of them across the chest.\n\nFor the Japanese, rock-crystal is the \u201cperfect jewel,\u201d _tama_; it is at\nonce a symbol of purity and of the infinity of space, and also of\npatience and perseverance. This latter significance probably originated\nfrom an observation of the patience and skill required for the\nproduction of the splendid crystal balls made by the accurate and\npainstaking Japanese cutters and polishers.\n\nThe belief of Mohammedans in the Evil Eye claims the authority of the\nProphet to the effect that \u201cthe \u00e1\u00efn (eye) is a reality.\u201d The Arabs also\ndesignate the Evil Eye as _nuzra_, \u201cthe look,\u201d and _nafs_, \u201cbreath or\nspirit.\u201d It is not commonly regarded as the result of a definite\nmalevolent intention, but rather as an effect engendered by envy at the\nsight of anything especially beautiful or attractive. Indeed, sometimes\nthe bare expression of great admiration is supposed to produce evil\nresults, as is illustrated by the assertion that when a man, on seeing\nan exceptionally large and fine stone, exclaimed, \u201cWhat a large stone!\u201d\nit immediately broke into three pieces.\n\nIn the Sahara, the horns of oxen, and sometimes their skulls with the\nhorns attached, are set over the entrances of dwellings to protect the\nresidents from this dreaded influence; in Tunis and Algiers, boars\u2019\ntusks are also used in this way. However, the most favored weapons of\ndefence are the outstretched fingers of the hand, sometimes but two\nfingers, but more often all five. The gesture of holding out the fingers\ntoward the envious person is frequently accompanied by the utterance of\nthe words: _Khamsa fi \u0227\u00efnek_, \u201cfive (fingers) in your eye!\u201d The number\nfive has thus acquired such a special significance that Thursday, as the\n_fifth_ day of the week, is looked upon as the appropriate day for\npilgrimages to the shrines of those saints whose protection against the\nEvil Eye is believed to be most potent.[612]\n\nThe Arabs of Arabia Petra\u00e6 believe that when anyone casts longing and\ncovetous eyes upon any animal belonging to another, part of his soul\nenters the animal and the latter is doomed to destruction if it remains\nin the possession of the rightful owner. The same idea prevails in the\ncase of a child whose possession is envied, or who is unduly admired.\nWhere the identity of the one who has cast the spell is known, there is\na fair chance of rendering it harmless if a piece of the guilty one\u2019s\ngarment can be stolen and the animal or child rubbed with it. The virtue\nof coral as a protection from such dangers is generally believed, and\nalmost every woman, child, mare and camel, wears or bears a coral amulet\nof some kind. A special variety of amulets against the Evil Eye, worn by\nequestrians, are small, smooth flint-stones, gathered at a spot where\ntwo valleys unite; and, for horses, protection is believed to be\nafforded by a ring of blue glass or blue porcelain, suspended from the\nneck. Another queer superstition among these Arabs regarding the Evil\nEye is that if a child yawns, this is supposed to be a sign that he has\nbeen smitten by the evil spell, and the mother is advised to place\nglowing coals on a plate, strew alum over the coals, and bear the plate\naround the child.[613]\n\nOver the entrance gate of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, may be seen\nthe representation of a hand, and this is regarded as having been\nfigured there to serve for a talisman against the Evil Eye,[614] just as\nsome of the Arabs are still wont to paint or figure a so-called\n\u201cFatima\u2019s Hand\u201d on doors or door-posts for a similar purpose. The idea\nwhich has been advanced that the \u201chorse-shoe arch\u201d had some connection\nwith the belief in the luck-bringing quality of the horse-shoe, is,\nhowever, scarcely to be admitted as an explanation of this most\ncharacteristic feature of Moorish architecture.\n\n\n\n\n IX\n Amulets of Primitive Peoples and of Modern Times\n\n\nThe folk-lore tales of the settlement called Milpa Alta, in the Federal\nDistrict, Mexico, not far from Mexico City, have preserved many legends\nfrom old Aztec times, as this community was originally settled by some\nnoble Aztec families fortunate enough to escape with their goods from\nthe Spaniards at the time of the conquest by Cort\u00e9s. In several of these\nlegends the chalchihuitl (a green stone, often nephrite or jadeite) is\nmentioned. Thus it is said that when some minor divinity sees fit to\nconfer upon a man or woman the endowments of a _tlam\u00e1tque_ or \u201csage,\u201d he\ngave warning of this in a dream, and the truth of the vision was\nconfirmed when, during the ensuing day, the dreamer found on the ground\nwithin his enclosure idols of _chalchihuitl_, or fragments of obsidian,\nwhich were believed to have fallen from the sky, this usually occurring\nduring a rainstorm. Evidently the rain had washed them out of the earth\nor volcanic ash in which they had been buried. These objects were\nimmediately picked up and preserved, as they signified that the person\nwhose dream had thus been verified was admitted to the companionship of\nthe gods. There appears to have followed some initiation ceremony to\nrender definite the consecration of the chosen _tlam\u00e1tque_, and this was\nto be connected with a fiery ordeal, the traces of which in scars or\nsevere burns, and sometimes even in the loss of eyesight, served to\nrecommend the \u201csage\u201d to those seeking his aid. This was called for in\ncases of illness and also for the finding of hidden treasure and for\npredictions of the weather. In attempting to effect cures, the\n_tlam\u00e1tque_ made use of pieces of jade as talismans, fortified by\nelaborate exorcisms and prayers.[615]\n\nAmong the lower classes of the Mexican Indian population of Milpa Alta,\nto cure diseases the aid of a _tepo pohque_ (one who purifies the\ndisease) is sometimes called in. This once very general custom is,\nhowever, gradually falling into disuse. The progress of popular\nscepticism is illustrated by the half-apologetic tone in which this is\nexplained in the words: \u201cIf he does no good, he will do no harm, and\nbesides he is so cheap.\u201d The healer may be either a man or a woman. One\nof the most important helps is a chain of chalchihuitl beads. After\ninvocations of the various appearances of Christ and of the Virgin\nchronicled in local tradition, and of the patron saints (for these\nIndians are devout Roman Catholics), the healer chooses out a\nchalchihuitl bead with which he pretends to extract the \u201cair\u201d from the\nsick person. He successively touches with it the patient\u2019s temples, the\nsides and top of the head, the stomach, and lastly the affected part, at\nthe same time forcibly drawing in his own breath, producing thereby a\npeculiar noise. The use of the stone is sometimes supplemented by that\nof two eggs, one being held in each of the healer\u2019s hands. A different\ntype or form of chalchihuitl is used for each different disease, and as\na final operation the affected part is moistened with alcohol, and then\n\u201cmassaged\u201d with the stone, bathing with a hot decoction of herbs being\nalso resorted to in some cases.[616]\n\nA characteristic object secured in the Province of Chiriqui, Republic of\nPanama, is a singular amulet of a fine quality of green translucent jade\n(jadeite). This is fashioned into a conventional representation of a\nparrot with a disproportionately long beak. The details of the bird-form\nare but roughly indicated, what is supposed to represent the head and\nbody being but a trifle larger than the beak. In the region of the neck,\nmarked by a peripheral incision, there is a hole through which a cord\nfor suspension was probably passed. The type resembles that of the\nChiriquian gold parrots, and differs from that of the amulets of Las\nGuacas, Costa Rica. As a much larger number of jade objects have been\nfound at this latter place than occur at Chiriqui, it has been\nconjectured that the common source was a deposit of jade somewhere in\nCosta Rica.[617] Chiriqui has also yielded a plain, highly-polished\namulet of pale green jade; the front is convex and is traversed by a\ngroove; a small hole has been pierced near the top to facilitate\nsuspension.\n\nThe South American Indians had a class of stone love-amulets,\nrepresenting more or less clearly two embracing figures. It was claimed\nby their magicians that these had not been cut or fashioned in any way,\nbut were so formed by nature, and were endowed with the power of\nattracting to the wearer the love of the chosen object of affection.\nThese special amulets bore in the native language the names of\n_huacanqui_ and _cuyancarumi_. They were said to be found buried in the\nearth where a thunderbolt had descended, and were thus a particular\nclass of the so-called \u201cthunder-stones,\u201d and a high price could be\nobtained for one, more especially if the owner had to deal with a woman.\nA characteristic specimen, presumably from Ecuador, is of black\nserpentine.[618]\n\nThe Araucarian Indians of Chili and Argentina, who occupied a region\n1000 miles in length, bordering on the Pacific Ocean, according to facts\ncommunicated by the Rev. Charles Sadleir, had their medicine _women_,\ninstead of medicine-men. These women carried with them a quartz crystal\n(as did many of the medicine-men of the Indian tribes) or a rolled\nfragment of quartz found in the river beds. They affirmed that this\ncrystal had been entered by a mighty spirit who dwelt in one of the\ngreat volcanoes which existed in that region (called _pillan_ in the\nnative tongue). This spirit inspired the medicine-woman with a knowledge\nof what she should tell those who came to her for advice or for\nforecasts of the future.\n\nA medicine-woman will never show the crystal, because, as the abode of a\nspirit, it must not be seen. While it is to be supposed that the\nservices of these \u201cdoctoresses\u201d are not altogether gratuitous, the\nAraucarians as a general rule detest gold, although they willingly\naccept silver. This preference for the less valuable metal is due to the\ntraditions handed down to them from the time the Spaniards persecuted\ntheir ancestors for the gold they owned, or were thought to own.\n\nThese Indians have a peculiar belief in regard to the nature of the\nsoul, which they regard as a dual being formed of a superior essence, or\nspirit, which they call _pullu_, and an inferior essence, or soul, to\nwhich they give the name _am_.\n\nAn agate charm in the shape of a dog\u2019s head was found in the Valley of\nMexico. The material used here was a banded agate with a rich stain in\nthe centre. The great variety of markings presented by these stones\nrendered them especially attractive for use as amulets, since fancy\ncould easily trace designs and figures of symbolic significance\ncalculated to secure success or protection.\n\nOf all quaint ideas in amulet making and naming, none is stranger than\nthat of employing for this purpose artificial eyes from Peruvian\nmummies. Originally eyes of the giant cuttlefish (_loligo gigas_), they\nwere used by the ancient Peruvians to replace the natural eyes of the\ndead because these substitutes were more durable. Of course the rather\ngrewsome source whence these mummy-eye amulets were secured, bringing\nthem measurably in touch with a sort of necromancy, made them all the\nmore sought after by the superstitious natives. An example from a mummy\nfound at Cuzco, Peru, was exhibited by the writer in the Folk-Lore\nCollection at the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.[619]\n\nA strange animal figure from the Pueblo Bonito ruins, rudely carved out\nof stone and having a band composed of pieces of turquoise set about the\nneck, was undoubtedly an amulet. Two depressions in the stone where the\neyes should be indicate that these were of inlaid turquoise. In spite of\nthe imperfect form of this object, it gives evidence in some of its\ndetails to the skill of the native artist who executed it, especially in\nthe care he has taken to protect the soft stone from the attrition of\nthe cord used for its suspension, a piece of bird-bone having been\nintroduced into the perforation near the neck, and the ends of the hole\ncountersunk and filled with gum into which a piece of turquoise was set;\none of these caps still remains in place. Frog forms, entirely of\nturquoise, also appear in Pueblo Bonito, several tadpoles and frogs of\nthis material having been found in the burialroom explored by Mr.\nPepper. Sometimes the form is barely indicated by the protuberant eyes\nand a slight incising which marks the place of the neck.[620]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n TURQUOISE INCRUSTED OBJECTS, PROBABLY AMULETS, FOUND AT PUEBLO BONITO,\n NEW MEXICO\n\n The work of ancient Indian dwellers in this region. From George H.\n Pepper, American Anthropologist, vol. vii, Pl. xvii. 1. Turquoise\n incrusted bone. 2. Jet frog with turquoise eyes. 3. Jet plaque with\n turquoise setting.\n]\n\nThe Pueblo Bonito ruins in New Mexico have furnished some very effective\nexamples of turquoise inlaying by the Indians of an earlier time who\ndwelt in this region. The symbolic forms, the precious material used for\nthe inlays, and the labor and skill expended in the execution of certain\nof these works, indicate that they must have been regarded as amulets.\nPerhaps the finest inlaying-work is shown in the turquoise decoration of\na fragment of bone of peculiar shape, having alternate bands of jet with\na chevron-decoration of interlaced triangular pieces of jet and\nturquoise. Another of these jet and turquoise amulets is a frog, the\nbody being of jet and the protruding eyes of turquoise; about the\ncreature\u2019s neck runs a band of turquoise mosaic. Still another of these\nrelics is a square plaque of jet with an inlaid turquoise at each of the\nfour corners; two of these inlays have fallen out.[621]\n\nThe history of the turquoise, a stone which has been mined in Persia for\nthousands of years, and has long been prized as one of the most\nbeautiful and attractive of the semi-precious stones, has been very\nfully and ably treated in an exceedingly comprehensive monograph\nrecently published by Dr. Joseph E. Pogue.[622] This valuable and\ninteresting work contains extracts from all the older and more modern\nwriters on the subject, and also describes the stone fully from a\nmineralogical point of view, besides discussing it from the historic\nstandpoints.\n\nSo highly was the turquoise esteemed among the Pima Indians of southern\nArizona, that the loss of one was looked upon as a most ominous event,\nportending for the owner a serious illness or physical disability, which\ncould only be cured by the magic rites of a medicine-man. When one of\nthose worthies is called in to avert the impending misfortune, his\nfavorite remedy consists in placing a piece of slate, a turquoise and a\ncrystal in a vessel filled with water, the liquid being administered in\nregular doses to the threatened victim. The threefold remedy, comprising\na specimen of the lost stone, is supposed to outweigh and counteract the\nprobable evil influences of the lost turquoise alone.[623]\n\nThe magic power that dwelt in these Indian fetishes was named _oyaron_\nin the Iroquoian tongue, and each person or kindred was believed to have\na special _oyaron_ which exerted a controlling power over their good or\nevil fortune. The material object in which this entity would take up its\nabode was determined in a peculiar way. When a youth had attained\nmaturity, he was entrusted to the charge of an old man who took him to a\nfar-away lodge in the wilderness. Here he had his face, shoulders and\nbreast blackened to symbolize his lack of spiritual or occult\nenlightenment. He was then compelled to fast for a considerable time and\nwas instructed to carefully note his dreams, and if he should have an\nexceptionally vivid dream regarding any specific object, to tell his\nguardian of it. The fact was then duly reported to the wise men of the\ntribe, who decided whether the object was the chosen abiding place of\nhis _oyaron_. This having been satisfactorily determined, an object of\nthe kind was sought out and was preserved and treasured by the one to\nwhom it had been assigned in the vision. Perhaps the familiar spirit\nmight have elected to dwell in a calumet, a pipe or a knife, or else in\nsome animal, plant, or mineral form.[624]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n INDIAN MEDICINE-MAN\n\n From \u201cHistoire G\u00e9n\u00e9rale des C\u00e9r\u00e9monies Religieuses du tous les Peuples\n du Monde,\u201d by Abb\u00e9 Banier and\n Abb\u00e9 Mascrier, Paris, 1741.\n]\n\nThe Mid\u00eawiwin, or, as it is sometimes erroneously called, the \u201cGrand\nMedicine Society\u201d of the Ojibway Indians, is an association composed of\nshamans, whose supposed powers are much in request among these Indians\nof the northwest. Two other classes of medicine-men exist among them to\na very limited extent, the W\u00e2beno, \u201cMen of the Dawn,\u201d and the Jessakid\nor \u201crevealers of hidden things.\u201d The members of this latter class, who\noperate singly, are regarded as very dangerous and generally malevolent\nsorcerers, having the power to call evil spirits to their aid, and are\neven believed to practise the fearful art of drawing a man\u2019s soul out of\nhis body, so that he either becomes insane or dies. The turtle is\nregarded by the Jessakids as the abode or symbol of the mightiest\nspirit. However, the Mid\u00eas, members of the Mid\u00eawiwin, are far the most\nnumerous, and it is to them that the Indian looks for help and health.\nWhile they usually \u201ctreat\u201d their patients in their own abodes, when the\ndisease fails to yield to the might of ordinary incantations and spells,\nthe assistance of the great magic stone in the Medicine Lodge or\nMid\u00eawigen must be resorted to. For this purpose the sick person is\ncarried thither and is laid on the ground constituting the floor of the\nlodge, so that the diseased part of his body may touch the stone. In\naddition to this magic stone, which is set in the ground near the\nentrance, three magic wooden posts rise up, one behind the other, and at\nthe end opposite the entrance is set a painted wooden cross, the base of\nwhich is cut four-square, each side having a different coloring, namely,\nwhite, for the East, the source of light; green, for the South, the\nsource of rain which brings the verdure; red, for the West, where the\nred glow of the sunset appears and whither the spirits of the departed\nwend their way after death, and, lastly, black, for the cold and\npitiless North, the origin of disease, famine and death.[625]\n\nThe various adjuncts of the sorcerer\u2019s trade are carefully preserved by\nthe Mid\u00ea or Jessakid in his medicine-bag. A good specimen of this was\nmade out of the skin of a mink, _Putorius vison_, Gapp., and adorned at\none end with two fluffy white feathers.[626] Often a flat, black,\nwater-worn pebble will be one of the great treasures in this sack. The\nvirtues of a stone of this type are said to have been put to a curious\ntest on the person of a Jessakid at Leech Lake, Minn., in 1858. The man\noffered to wager $100 that if he were securely tied up, hand and foot,\nwith stout rope, but having his stone resting on his thigh, he could\nremove the bonds without assistance. The wager was taken up and the test\nduly applied; the Jessakid being left alone in his tent tightly and\nfirmly bound. Before long he called out to those on the watch outside\nthe tent that search should be made for the rope at a certain spot\nnearby. This was done and the rope was found with the knots undisturbed,\nwhile the Jessakid was to be seen calmly seated on the ground, smoking a\npipe and still bearing his magic black stone on his thigh.[627]\n\nFrench missionaries of the early part of the eighteenth century reported\nthat the Indian wizards of some of the northwestern tribes would take a\npebble the size of a pigeon\u2019s egg, and mutter over it certain\nconjurations. This, they assert, caused the formation of a like stone\nwithin the body of the person who was to be bewitched.[628] The\nmedicine-men of certain Canadian tribes of this time were not content\nwith muttered conjurations in treating their patients, but would not\ninfrequently resort to the charm supposed to be exerted by dancing and\nhowling before the sick person. The nervous shock produced by a\ncombination of such grotesque movements and discordant cries might well\n\u201crouse\u201d the patient, and perhaps had sometimes good effects in restoring\nvitality.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Canadian Indian Medicine-man. From \u201cHistoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des c\u00e9r\u00e9monies,\n m\u0153urs, et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde,\u201d by\n Abb\u00e9 Banier and Abb\u00e9 Mascrier. Vol. VII. Paris. 1741.\n]\n\nAn interesting use of the R\u00f6ntgen rays to detect hidden amulets is noted\nby Stewart Culin. It was conjectured by Mr. Cushing that some pieces of\nturquoise, conceived to be the hearts of fetichistic birds, were\nconcealed beneath the heavy wrapping of brown yarn that binds the\nfinger-loops of the prehistoric throwing stick in the Museum of the\nUniversity of Pennsylvania. This object was too valuable and too fragile\nto permit of its examination, and therefore the R\u00f6ntgen rays were used,\ndisclosing the presence of four stone beads, presumably of turquoise, as\nMr. Cushing had indicated.[629]\n\nAs the Point Barrow Eskimos are so largely dependent on fishing, they\nespecially favor amulets or talismans referring to this, and in many\ncases the peculiar power of the talisman is accentuated by giving it a\nspecially significant form. Thus, from Utkiavwin was brought a piece of\ndark crimson jasper two inches long, rudely fashioned by chipping into\nthe form of a whale, and also a similar figure made from a water-worn\nquartz pebble.[630] Another Point Barrow amulet consisted of three small\nfragments of amber, carefully wrapped up and placed in a cottonwood box\n1\u00bd inches in length. This box was cleverly made of two semicircular\npieces of the wood, the flat faces having been hollowed out so as to\nleave space for the amber. They were then bound together by loosely\nknotted sinew braid.[631]\n\nA black jade, adze-shaped, that may have served as a fisherman\u2019s\ntalisman for the Point Barrow Eskimo, was brought from Utkiavwin. It\nmeasured 5.1 inches in length, and was slung with a thong and whalebone,\nso that it could be suspended. Its weight is so considerable as to make\nit somewhat burdensome for wear on the person, but as one of these\nEskimo wore a stone weighing two pounds suspended from a belt, the jade\nartefact may really have been worn in this way. The form suggests that\nof a sinker, as was also the case with the two-pound stone, and it may\nhave earned its repute as a talisman from having been used in former\ntimes by some exceptionally fortunate or skilful fisherman, in the\nbelief that it would transmit his good luck to anyone wearing it.[632]\nAn artefact of somewhat similar form, 1.4 inches in length, and made of\nred jasper, came from the same locality; this was slung in a sinew band\nfor suspension.[633]\n\nThe native Greenlanders of a couple of centuries ago had a great variety\nof amulets, and Hans Egede, in his Description of Greenland, notes these\n\u201cAmulets or Pomanders\u201d which the natives wore about the neck or arms,\nthe materials being of the most heterogeneous kind, pieces of old wood,\nold fragments of stone, bones of various animals, the bill and claws of\ncertain birds, and many other objects whose form or associations had\nsuggested the possession of a magic potency.[634] A similar account of\nold Greenland amulets is given by David Crantz, another early author,\nwho even asserts that some of the amulets were so grotesque that the\nnatives themselves occasionally laughed at them. In the absence of any\nmore definite talisman, recourse was sometimes had to the expedient of\nbinding a leather strap over the forehead or around the arm.[635]\nPossibly, however, some talisman was hidden beneath this strap, or else\nit may have been designed to serve as a point of support for an amulet\nthat had been taken off at the time the traveller saw the strap.\n\nAnimal amulets, that is to say, amulets for animals, are in use in the\nArctic regions, one class of these being stones that have fallen from a\nbird-rock. These the Eskimo attach to their dogs, proceeding upon the\ntheory that as these pieces of rock in falling from a great height have\ntraversed the air with tremendous rapidity, they will communicate the\nquality of fleetness to the dogs.[636] This transmission of an acquired\nquality of the stone to the person wearing it is shown in other\ninstances, a favorite amulet with the Eskimos being a piece of an old\nhearth-stone. This is believed to give strength to the wearer, because\nthe stone has so long endured the attacks of fire, the strongest and\nfiercest element. Such fragments of stone are often worn by Eskimo\nwomen, who wrap them up in pieces of seal-skin, making in this way a\ndecoration to be worn on the neck.[637]\n\nNot only does the medicine-bag of an Eskimo medicine-man serve to guard\nhis trusted amulets and talismans, but some of these wonder-doctors\nclaim to be able to draw within it the soul of a sick child, so as to\nkeep this soul hidden away from all harm and danger. In fact, the\nopinion has been expressed that many personal amulets have owed their\nrepute to their supposed power as soul-guardians, the owners\u2019 souls\nhaving been transferred to the material body of the amulet, which is\nmore easily concealed and kept out-of-the way of injury than is the\nhuman body, the tabernacle of the spirit. A trace of this belief has\nbeen found by some in the term _batt\u00ea ha-nephesh_, used by Isaiah (chap,\niii, ver. 20). These feminine adornments are called \u201cperfume boxes\u201d in\nthe Revised Version, but the literal meaning is \u201chouses of the soul (or\nlife).\u201d[638]\n\nThe natives of southwestern Australia regard shining stones with so much\nveneration that only sorcerers or priests are believed to be worthy to\nhandle them, and so great is the faith in the innate power of such\nobjects that any ordinary native does not dare to touch them and cannot\neven be bribed so to do. For the preservation of the virtue of these\nstones it is considered essential that no woman shall be permitted to\ntouch them, or even to look upon them. A particular form of talisman is\nmade by winding lengths of opossum yarn about a fragment of quartz, of\ncarnelian, of chalcedony, or some other attractive stone, and thus\nforming a round ball about the size of a crochet-ball; these are worn\nsuspended from the girdle. Talismans of this type are very highly prized\nfor their supposed power to cure diseases, and in case of illness a\ntribe which is not provided with one will borrow it from a more\nfortunate tribe.[639] White quartz is used by the natives in New South\nWales, Australia, for the manufacture of a charm to cast a spell over an\nenemy. This charm is called _muli_, and consists of a fragment of white\nquartz to which a piece of opossum-fur has been gummed; it must then be\nsmeared with the fat of a dead body and placed in a slow-burning fire.\nIt is confidently believed that the person over whom the spell is cast\nwastes slowly away and dies.[640]\n\nJade carvings of an exceedingly peculiar type are the _hei-tikis_\n(neck-ornaments) greatly prized among the Maoris of New Zealand. The\ngrotesque representation of the human form here realized by the native\ncarvers, the association of these objects, treasured up as heirlooms,\nwith the personality of some renowned ancestor, the story that the\nspecial portraiture to be made was sometimes communicated in a dream or\nvision, all this induces the belief that in former times, though perhaps\nnot at the present time, the Maoris looked upon their _hei-tikis_ as\namulets, or possibly even as fetiches.[641]\n\nThe Dowager Queen Alexandra is said to greatly value as a talisman a\npendant consisting of a nugget of massive gold surmounted by a figure of\na hunchback, executed in green enamel. The nugget is hollowed out and\nopens when a secret spring is touched; within appears a heart-shaped\nornament made of New Zealand jade. The story runs that this jewel was\ngiven to his mother by the late Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of\nthe present King George V.[642]\n\nThe popularity in England of these queer _hei-tiki_ amulets, made from\nthe _punamu_ or \u201cgreen-stone\u201d (nephrite) of New Zealand, has been\nascribed by many to the wearing by Queen Alexandra of ornaments made of\nNew Zealand jade, and to the report that every member of the \u201cAll\nBlacks,\u201d an almost invincible English foot-ball team, carried some\nlittle trinket made from this material while he was engaged in play. The\npopular faith in \u201clucky jade\u201d was further corroborated by the story that\nLord Rosebery had on his person a jade amulet when his horse Cicero won\nthe Derby and that Lord Rothschild was wearing such an amulet as his\nhorse St. Amand carried his colors to victory.[643] When we consider to\nhow great an extent popular enthusiasm is excited in England by her\ngreat and classic horse-races, we need not hesitate to believe that\nthese reports did much to render jade amulets generally fashionable.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HEI-TIKI AMULETS OF NEW ZEALAND\n\n Made of the jade found on the island, the punamu, or \u201cgreen-stone.\u201d\n Illustrates the two types of this \u201cneck-ornament,\u201d\n one with the eyes slanted to the left, the other to the right.\n]\n\nAn old Polynesian legend recounts that jade was brought to New Zealand\nfrom a distant land by a certain Ngahue, who sought by this means to\nsave the precious material from an enemy who coveted it. He settled at\nArahua, on the west coast of the middle island, and in this region he\nfound an eternal and safe resting place for his jade, which he valued\nabove all things.[644] This legend has often been adduced as a proof\nthat the New Zealand jade was brought from other countries, but as it\nproceeds to state that Ngahue made neck and ear ornaments of this\nmaterial, there is at least as great probability that we have here the\nsupposed origin of the _hei-tiki_ ornaments, and that the legend\ntestifies to the popular belief that the art of making these objects\ncame to New Zealand from without.\n\nThe quasi-magic character of New Zealand jade (nephrite) in the eyes of\nMaoris of the olden time is proved by the fact that certain\nsuperstitious restrictions were established in regard to the cutting of\nnephrite, one of these being that no woman should be allowed to approach\nthe jade-cutters while they were engaged in their task. For the drilling\nof holes in jade implements or amulets the cord-drill was employed, and\nthe surface of the object received its polish by rubbing it with a piece\nof sandstone, after it had been roughly fashioned, by chipping, to the\ndesired form. The toughness of jade is such that infinite patience and\nlong-continued effort must have been necessary to complete any ornament\nor implement under these primitive conditions.[645]\n\nA curious and characteristic jade artefact, known as _nbouet_ or\n_koindien_, is found among the natives of New Caledonia. This is a more\nor less circular disk of jade, with a cutting edge. In most cases this\ndisk is attached through two perforations to a straight cylindrical\nhandle, having a slit at the upper extremity into which the jade disk is\nintroduced. The lower extremity has an ovoid termination, or else it is\nset in a cocoanut shell, usually covered with the integument of a\npteropod. Attached are pendants of beautiful marine shells, and\nsometimes the cocoanut shell is filled with small pebbles so that it can\nbe used as a rattle. These _nbouet_ were originally used as cleavers to\ncut up the dead bodies for the cannibalistic orgies, and this use seems\nto have been thought to impart a kind of talismanic virtue to the\nobjects, for they eventually became insignia of the chiefs of the native\ntribes.[646]\n\nThe ornament most highly prized by the natives of New Caledonia is a\nnecklace of perforated jade beads. One of these necklaces, in the rich\ncollection of Signor Giglioli, contains 122 jade beads, somewhat larger\nthan peas; another necklace comprises eight beads alternating with small\nshells of the _oliva_, a species of mussel. As a pendant hangs an\n_oudip_, or slung-shot, of steatite.[647] Necklaces of this kind are\ncalled _peigha_ by the natives, and the high esteem in which they are\nheld probably arises from their supposed talismanic powers. The jade\nornaments or artefacts found in the neighboring Loyalty Islands have all\nbeen brought from New Caledonia, and we are told that so great was the\nvalue placed upon them that the natives of the Loyalty Islands often\ntraded their young girls in exchange for objects made from the greatly\ncoveted jade.\n\nFrom a Fijian mission teacher at Goodenough Island comes a tale of a\nmagic crystal. Many years ago some Europeans embarked in a boat manned\nby two Fijians to visit one of the smaller islands of the group. After\nthey had landed and gone off to explore the island, one of the Fijians\nsaid to the other: \u201cYou look after the boat while I take a look around.\u201d\nHe had not gone far when he saw two strange men, one of whom fled at his\napproach; the other he seized, holding on to him fast, although dragged\nalong for a considerable distance until after scrambling up a hill the\nstrange man finally loosed himself and disappeared in the hollow of a\ntree-trunk. For some time the Fijian lay in a trance, but awakening from\nthis he found his way back to the boat. In the course of the afternoon\nthe strange being appeared to him suddenly and told him \u201cto go back to\nthe tree, where he would find a small stone wrapped up in a piece of\ncalico.\u201d This he duly sought and found; it proved to be a crystal, like\nglass. In the night time the man or spirit again appeared and strictly\nenjoined the Fijian not to let anyone see his crystal but told him that\nif he wished for anything he only had to look into the stone. The\npossession of this treasure earned a wonderful repute for the Fijian as\na medicine-man, as when any sick person sought for help one look into\nthe stone revealed the proper remedy for the disease. All this time,\nhowever, no one had been allowed to see his crystal, or to suspect the\nsource of his wisdom. At last his fame reached the ears of some European\ndoctors, who called him in to help them in their hospital work, and\nwhile he was at the hospital two young men came in and asked him to\nprescribe for a sick friend. The Fijian consented, but, unluckily for\nhim, the men saw him take out his crystal and look into it before\nprescribing the treatment. They told this to the doctors and the man was\nlocked up for two years, his crystal being taken away from him. The\nmission teacher who related the story believed that Sir J. Thurston, at\nthis time governor of the islands, had secured possession of the\nconfiscated crystal.[648] It is rather difficult to determine in what\nproportions truth and fiction are represented in this tale.\n\nThe doctrine of sympathy finds an echo among the natives of Melanesia.\nIn the Banks Islands, for instance, if a native comes across a piece of\ncoral to which the action of the waves has imparted the form of a loaf\nof bread, this will be taken to signify that such a coral has an\naffinity with the bread-fruit tree, and the native will bury it under\nsuch a tree in the confident expectation that its fruit-bearing quality\nwill be enhanced thereby. Chance may perhaps seem to prove the truth of\nhis belief, and in this case he will permit his neighbors to bury stones\nnear his own, so that somewhat of its virtue may pass into them.[649]\n\nTo have one\u2019s life depend upon the safe preservation of a talisman may\nnot always be a blessing, as appears in a Kalmuck story. A Khan who\nowned such a talisman thought that he had concealed it so effectively\nthat no one could find it, and hence he did not hesitate to make the\ndiscovery of its hiding-place a crucial test of the skill of a wise man\nwho came to visit his court. The sage proved equal to the emergency and\nfound the talisman while its owner was asleep, but was so rejoiced at\nthe successful accomplishment of the task that he very irreverently\nclapped a bladder on the sleeping Khan\u2019s head, who was so much enraged\nat the indignity that he ordered the wise man\u2019s immediate execution.\nHowever, the latter quickly made use of the magic power over the Khan\u2019s\nlife that the possession of the talisman gave him, and cast it down so\nviolently as to break it. No sooner had this happened than blood spurted\nfrom the Khan\u2019s nostrils and death overtook him.[650]\n\nAgate amulets still find favor in Spain, a number of interesting\nexamples having recently been acquired in that country by Mr. W. L.\nHildburgh, many of them being offered for sale in small stalls, both in\nthe capital, Madrid, and in other of the Spanish cities.[651] In a\nnumber of cases these amulets are milky white agates, this hue\nrecommending their use as lactation amulets. In one specimen, however,\nsecured in Seville, the agate showed seven concentric white stripes,\nprobably indicating that it had been used as a charm against the Evil\nEye as well as to favor the secretion of milk.\n\nFor the latter purpose, in lieu of agate, white glass beads are often\nsold, a dealer in a small stall in Madrid having in his stock a string\nof fifty such beads which he sold one by one to the women who had faith\nin their efficacy; agate beads of combined grayish, reddish and white\ncoloration are also to be found.\n\nQuite an ambitious type of these popular amulets is figured by Mr.\nHildburgh (Pl. i, p. 64, fig. 7). This is a triple pendant, with chain\nattached for suspension, the upper part being an agate grayish-white and\nreddish, probably rendering it at once a lactation amulet and one\nserving still another use as a woman\u2019s amulet. The middle of this\npendant was of blue glass banded with other colors, and the terminal was\nof black glass, spotted blue, yellow and red; both of these glass\nobjects are supposed to have served against the Evil Eye. Thus this\nparticular amulet combined a number of virtues.\n\nCoral is a favorite material for amulets in Spain as in many other\nlands, being shaped for this purpose as a \u201cfig-hand\u201d or into some other\nof the diverse forms to which a certain symbolic significance has been\ngiven. One amulet of rock-crystal is reported, which may have been taken\nfrom some old reliquary; this was used against the Evil Eye. Amber also,\nin its way as generally popular as coral, is freely used in Spain by the\nmakers of amulets; being generally given the form of beads. The wearing\nof these is regarded as very effective in the case of teething children.\nFor some reason or other, a preference is given to facetted beads, in\nspite of the risk that the sharp edges may irritate the sensitive and\ndelicate skin of an infant.[652]\n\nSome of the \u201cfig-hand\u201d amulets made and sold in Madrid are of jet, the\npeculiar hand form being in many cases so highly conventionalized as to\nbe barely indicated. These are believed to be efficacious not only\nagainst the Evil Eye, as the other amulets of this form, but also for\nthe preservation of the hair. When worn for this purpose the women of\nMadrid are said to carry them upon any part of the person, but those of\nToledo place them in the hair itself, so that the desired effect may be\nmore immediate.[653]\n\nIn southern Russia amulets enjoy high power both among Jews and\nChristians. Especially are they valued for the protection of children\nand for the cure of their diseases. An imitation wolf\u2019s-tooth, made of\nbone, set in a ring, is one of these amulets; however, while such\nimitation teeth are used, the natural teeth are greatly preferred. As an\namulet against the Evil Eye the wing-bones of a cock will be used. This\nmalign influence is held in such awe by the common people that they do\nnot even dare to use the word \u201cevil\u201d of it and call it \u201cthe _good_ eye.\u201d\nCarnelian beads purporting to have been brought from Palestine command\nwhat is regarded as a good price, three roubles being paid for a single\none; these are great favorites with the Jews more especially, one of\ntheir supposed virtues being to prevent abortion.[654]\n\nThe religious fervor of the Russians is illustrated by the character of\nthe amulet said to be constantly worn by the Czar as a protection\nagainst the dangers which hourly threaten him. This is a ring in which\nis set a piece of the True Cross, the sacred material which was believed\nto lend a mighty potency to the famous \u201cTalisman of Charlemagne.\u201d A less\nvenerable belief is said to render the Czar superstitiously careful to\nsee that an ancestral watch in his possession is always kept wound up,\nfor a family legend tells that should this watch ever stop the glory of\nthe reigning house would pass away.[655]\n\nOf bone amulets there is a great variety. Among those used in the\nBritish Isles may be noted a hammer-shaped type, fashioned out of a\nsheep\u2019s bone, worn by Whelby fishermen as protection from drowning;\nsimilarly shaped bone amulets find favor with some London laborers as\npreventives of rheumatism. This is the type of Thor\u2019s Hammer, still\npopular with the Manxmen. The strange resemblance of the os sacrum of\nthe rabbit to a fox\u2019s head has recommended its use as a talisman, or\nluck-bringer, and a London solicitor is stated to have owned an example\nwhich he had mounted as a gold scarf-pin, the likeness to an animal head\nbeing brought out still more by the insertion of onyx eyes.[656]\n\nThe talismanic power of the turquoise is still credited in provincial\nEngland, for in the counties of Hampshire and Sussex it is believed that\nwhen two persons station themselves on opposite banks of a frozen stream\nor pond, on a Christmas Day, and each one slides a turquoise to the\nother over the ice, both of them will be blessed with good fortune for\nthe following year and will prosper in all their undertakings. If the\nstream or pond were at all wide, the fact of having accomplished this\nfeat successfully might indeed be taken as proof of considerable\ndexterity, and might perhaps indicate that one who could succeed in this\nlittle exploit had a chance of making his way in more important matters.\n\nThe natural markings on agate pebbles often present designs having some\nspecial symbolical significance, and could then be looked upon by the\nsuperstitious as amulets of notable power, much exceeding in efficacy\nthose artificially formed. A strange instance in illustration of this is\nan agate pebble picked up not long since on Newport Beach, Rhode Island.\nThis stone is clearly and definitely marked with the mystic Chinese\nmonad, a device that is widely known in the United States from its\nadoption as a symbol by the Northern Pacific Railroad.\n\nA limestone pebble with peculiar markings is in a private collection in\nNew York. This somewhat resembles in shape the famous magatama jewel of\nthe Japanese, and the markings suggest that, like the latter, it may\nhave had a phallic significance, or at least one connected with the\nworship of the reproductive powers. The markings indicate an attempt to\nfigure an undeveloped being, and possibly the object was intended for\nuse as an amulet to facilitate parturition.\n\nThe prevailing reaction against the purely materialistic beliefs so\ngenerally accepted a score or more of years ago, finds expression in a\nmarked tendency toward a renewal\u2014in a greatly modified form, of\ncourse\u2014of the old fancies or instinctive ideas touching the virtues of\ngems. Thus one modern writer at least was bold enough to suggest not\nlong since that \u201cthe efficacy of charms and precious stones may be\nrecognized and placed on a scientific basis before many years are\npassed.\u201d[657]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HILT OF JEWELLED SWORD GIVEN BY THE GREEKS OF THE UNITED STATES ON\n EASTER DAY, 1913, TO THE CROWN PRINCE OF GREECE, LATER KING\n CONSTANTINE XII. See page 373\n\n View from above, showing the splendid star-sapphire, a symbol of\n success, set at the apex.\n]\n\nThe belief in the hidden powers of precious stones was used as the theme\nof one of Hoffman\u2019s novels, \u201cDas Fr\u00e4ulein von Scud\u00e9ry.\u201d Here the hero,\nRen\u00e9 Cardillac, is represented as a man for whom the possession of\nprecious stones has become indispensable, and who is happy only when he\ncan handle them and watch the play of light and color emanating from\nthem. They exert a kind of hypnotic influence over him, and so intense\nand absorbing is his devotion to them that he even resorts to murder\nrather than part with one of his darling stones.\n\nIn the course of a meeting of the English Folk-Lore Society, one of the\nmembers expressed the opinion that the revival of interest in amulets\nand talismans and in all sorts and kinds of \u201cmascots\u201d was largely due to\nthe articles printed about such things in certain of the daily and\nweekly papers. These items, put in a taking way and read with avidity,\nmore especially by those who were already predisposed to a belief in the\nmythical or magical, served to spread these fancies far and wide\nthroughout the land. The president of the society, Dr. Gaster, in\nclosing the discussion, said that \u201cfrom his experience the modern belief\nin amulets as aids to luck was genuine and widely spread.\u201d[658]\n\nOne of the latest Parisian oracles on mystic subjects, the Baroness\nd\u2019Orchamps, says that emeralds should not be worn by women before their\nfiftieth year, although men may wear this gem without danger at any age.\nSapphires, on the other hand, may be worn by both sexes at all times,\nsince they have a potent influence for good luck. Hence speculators, and\nindeed all who hope for a favorable turn of Fortune\u2019s wheel, should look\nwith favor on this stone. As medicinal gems, the ruby and the moonstone\nare especially recommended; the former for chronic headaches and the\nlatter for the manifold forms of nervousness. Lastly, the diamond, if\nworn on the left side, wards off evil influences and attracts good\nfortune. The unjustly maligned opal is asserted to be robbed of all\npower to harm if it be associated with diamonds and rubies.\n\nMany of the members of the French nobility are the owners and wearers of\ntalismanic ornaments of one kind or another. A powerful combination of\nsuch \u201clife-preservers\u201d is credited to the Duc de Guiche. On his right\nhand he wears three curiously chased rings, one on the first finger, the\nsecond on the middle finger, and the third on the \u201cring-finger.\u201d One of\nthe rings is set with a sardonyx engraved with the figure of an eagle,\nthe second ring bears a topaz on which has been graven a falcon, and the\nthird ring shows a beautiful coral bearing the design of a man holding a\ndrawn sword in his right hand. Both the stones and the special designs\nengraved on each one are in accord with the oldest traditional lore in\nregard to talismans, and the stones themselves are those indicated by\nthe date of the duke\u2019s birth and by his baptismal name. While such an\narray of finger rings would hardly appeal to the taste of an American\nman, the fashion of wearing an appropriate series of rings has met with\nconsiderable favor among our American mondaines, and certainly has the\nmerit of lending an individual significance to the rings selected for\nwear.[659]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JEWELLED SWORD GIVEN BY THE GREEKS OF THE UNITED STATES, ON EASTER\n DAY, 1913, TO CROWN PRINCE CONSTANTINE, LATER KING CONSTANTINE XII\n OF GREECE\n\n Top of scabbard, showing didrachm of Alexander the Great.\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JEWELLED SWORD GIVEN BY THE GREEKS OF THE UNITED STATES, ON EASTER\n DAY, 1913, TO CROWN PRINCE CONSTANTINE, LATER KING CONSTANTINE XII\n OF GREECE\n\n Side view of hilt.\n]\n\nThe magnificent star-sapphire set in the hilt of the richly chased and\nornamented sword given by the Greeks of America to King Constantine of\nGreece, on Easter Day, 1913, just before the recipient succeeded to the\nroyal dignity, may be looked upon as a talisman designed to assure good\nfortune and long life to the sovereign, as well as prosperity to the\nstate over which he rules. This sword, which was made by Tiffany &\nCompany, is even more noteworthy because of its artistic merit than on\naccount of its intrinsic value. Another talismanic embellishment of the\nsword is an inlaid didrachm of Alexander the Great (356\u2013323 B.C.); it is\na well-known fact and one frequently recorded by ancient and medieval\nwriters, that the coins of this monarch were often treasured up as\namulets or talismans.[660] In the present instance, indeed, the charm,\nif charm there be, should work most effectively, as we can imagine no\nmore appropriate guardian of the present ruler of Greece than the\ngreatest hero and the mightiest conqueror the Greek race ever produced.\n\nThis sword was presented to His Majesty Constantine XII, King of the\nHellenes, by the Greek residents of the United States, to commemorate\nhis defeat of the Turks at Salonika and Janina. By these victories of\nthe Greek armies under King Constantine, who was at that time the Crown\nPrince of Greece, the Greek people of Macedonia and Epirus were\nliberated from the Turkish yoke, and these rich provinces were added to\nthe Greek crown. The Committee of Presentation consisted of Mr.\nCaftanzoglu, Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires of Greece in Washington; Mr. D. Vlasto,\neditor of \u201cAtlantis\u201d; Dr. Breck Trowbridge, president, and Dr. T.\nTileston Wells, vice-president of the Society of American Philhellenes,\nwith the co\u00f6peration of Dr. George F. Kunz, a member of the council of\nthe above society.\n\nThe green variety of microcline, a potash-feldspar, is known as the\n\u201camazon-stone.\u201d It is found at Amelia Court House, Virginia, at Pike\u2019s\nPeak, Colorado, at Rockport, Cape Ann, and in the Ural Mountains in\nRussia. It has recently been proposed as the stone for the Suffrage\nparty. This amazon-stone could be cut in little beads of a beautiful\npale green and after appropriate mounting they could be worn suspended\nby a ribbon from the button-hole. As the stone is inexpensive it ought\nto meet with favor among the hundreds of thousands who are aggressive in\ntheir advocacy of this cause.\n\nAmong the many persons of our day who still have or had a lingering\nfaith in the efficacy of amulets, may be mentioned the late actress,\nMrs. Annie Yeamans, who left special directions in her will that a\nlittle amulet attached to a gold chain which she constantly wore, should\nbe left on her body and buried with her. We may call this superstition\nor sentiment, as we will, but there seems to be an almost invincible\ntendency to associate something of those dear to us and lost to us with\ninanimate objects that may have been theirs, and the memories called up\nby some simple trinket show that psychologically a certain power really\ndoes exist in such objects. The sentiment they awaken is only in\nourselves, and the impression that awakes it as well, but the presence\nof the inanimate object actually conditions the awakening of the\nfeeling. Thus we can scarcely deny to amulets a certain inherent quality\nin this respect.\n\nOften some strange, quaint, or bizarre design seen in the shop of a\ndealer in antiques will make a peculiar and individual appeal to the\nobserver, and will be chosen by him as his personal amulet, as though\nfate had destined the object for his special use. So we are told that\nMr. Augustin Osman, the artist, secured possession of a singular gold\nornament representing a human skull; upon it was figured in opals the\nword \u201cAve.\u201d On the first night after the acquisition of this object, the\nartist had a vivid dream, in which the impression was conveyed to him\nthat he would always enjoy good fortune as long as the golden skull\nremained in his possession. Evidently the opals took nothing in his\nopinion from the luck-producing quality of this grewsome ornament;\nindeed, it seems more probable that they added to it.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n THE BIRTH OF THE OPAL\n\n Autographed for this work by the authoress, Ella Wheeler Wilcox\n]\n\nA curious modern talisman is the work of M. Charles Rivaud, who has\nfrequently exhibited splendid specimens of artistic jewelry at the Paris\nSalon; this talisman cleverly combines artistic merit with a dash of\nAfrican magic. It is a slender bracelet composed of interlaced spirals\nof oxidized silver and gold; around the circlet is twined a hair taken\nfrom an elephant. Among the tribesmen of the Soudan the hairs of this\nanimal are believed to be endowed with great talismanic virtue; indeed,\nthey enjoyed a similar repute among the ancient Romans. Whether this\nbelief was due to the idea that the wearer of the hair was assured a\nmighty protection, typified by the enormous strength of the elephant, or\nwhether to the fact that the elephant was with some peoples a divine\nsymbol, we cannot easily determine.\n\nThe opal has long since emerged from the slight cloud of disfavor due to\na most erroneous fancy that it was in some way associated with ill-luck.\nThis idea, possibly in its origin explainable by the comparative\nfragility of the gem, found a consistent and earnest opponent in the\nlate Queen Victoria, whose influence did much to make opals fashionable.\nOf late years they have become favorite bridal gifts, the exceptional\nvariety of color in the beautiful examples from the White Cliff mines in\nNew South Wales, having also contributed to the renewed popularity of\nthe stone. A parure of these opals was not long since bestowed upon the\nEmpress Augusta by Emperor William of Germany, and one of the finest\nAustralian opals is a treasured possession of the Duchess of\nMarlborough.\n\nA very attractive example of symbolic jewelry has lately been made by a\njeweler\u2019s firm of Besan\u00e7on, France. This ornament is composed of three\nkeys, to which are given the respective names, Key of Love, Key of Good\nFortune, and Key of Heaven. They are to open up for the wearer the\ntreasures of true love, of wedded bliss, and, finally, of paradise. A\nlegend from the time of the Crusades suggested the form of this pretty\njewel. Mourning the departure of a knight on the long and perilous\njourney to Palestine, a Proven\u00e7al maiden wandered through the woodland,\nseeking peace and consolation in its quiet recesses. As she passed along\nthe leafy pathways, she all unconsciously gave utterance to her longings\nand fears in softly spoken words. All at once a bright light beamed\nabout her, and a radiant fairy advanced toward her and gave her an ivory\ncasket in which lay three jewelled keys, masterpieces of the goldsmith\u2019s\nart. The first of these, the fairy assured her, would open the young\nknight\u2019s heart to receive her image; the second would open the church\ndoor to admit her, a happy bride; and the third, when life\u2019s journey was\no\u2019er, would unlock for her the gates of Paradise.\n\nOn the deservedly popular watch bracelets, things of beauty as well as\nutility, the precious stones used for decoration are sometimes selected\nfor the significance of the first letters of their names when read in\nsequence. The following example may be noted:\n\n D iamond\n E merald\n A methyst\n R uby\n\n S apphire\n A gate\n R uby\n A methyst\n\nIn this way any name or endearing epithet can be prettily expressed.\n\n\n\n\n X\n Facts and Fancies about Precious Stones\n\n\nMany interesting facts about precious stones do not properly refer\neither to their talismanic or curative powers, and yet serve in not a\nfew cases to indicate more or less clearly the reasons which have\ndetermined popular fancy or superstition in attributing particular\nvirtues to a given stone.\n\nAs an instance of the strange vagaries of belief in the influence\nexerted by certain of these stones, we may take the statement that\npowdered agate dissolved in beer was used by the Bretons as a test of\nvirginity. If a young girl were unable to retain this delectable mixture\non her stomach, she was supposed to be impure.[661] The ability to stand\nthis test seems rather to prove the possession of a strong stomach than\na clear conscience.\n\nRainbow Agate is a name appropriately applied to agates showing a\nbeautiful prismatic effect. These are composed of quartz and chalcedony\nin very fine layers. The writer secured a splendid specimen of this type\nof agate set in a jewel which had formed part of an old Saxon\ncollection; it may possibly have come from India. The prismatic play of\ncolor differs from that observed in quartz iris, in that the iridescence\nis due to the minute interference lines and not, as with the iris, to\ninternal fractures.\n\nThe greatest interest was manifested in the eighteenth century in these\nagates, one of which was described in a special pamphlet under the\ntitle, \u201cRegenbogen Achat,\u201d and illustrated with a colored plate. The\neffect was that of a spectrum rather than the iris effect of the\ncrystalline quartz. This iris was also highly valued, and great favor\nwas set upon brilliant examples of what was in reality rock-crystal\nfractured, the small fracture-planes causing the breaking up of the\nlight and producing the rainbow or iris effect. In fact it was a\nspectrum produced by the mixture of quartz between the chalcedonic\nlayers.\n\nCellini has a marvellous story to tell of a luminous carbuncle. A\ncertain Jacopo Cola, a vine-grower, going into his vineyard one night\nnoticed what appeared to be a bit of glowing coal at the foot of one of\nthe vines, but on reaching the spot he was unable to locate the source\nof this radiance. Very wisely he retraced his steps to the spot whence\nhe had first observed the light, which became again apparent, and when\nhe now very carefully approached the vine he found that the gleam\nproceeded from a rough little stone, which he joyfully picked up and\ncarried off with him. He showed it to a number of his friends and among\nthem chanced to be a Venetian envoy, an expert on precious stones, who\nimmediately recognized that the find was a carbuncle. Thereupon taking a\nbase advantage of the finder\u2019s ignorance, he succeeded in buying the\nstone for only ten scudi, and then hastened away from Rome, lest his\ndeception should be discovered. Not long afterwards this same Venetian\nwent to Constantinople and sold the stone to the Sultan of the time for\n100,000 scudi, a profit of 10,000 per cent.[662] The fact that the\nvintner could only see the gleam from a given spot is in itself\nsufficient proof that what he noted was merely the reflection of some\ndistant light striking a smooth surface of the stone at a certain angle.\n\nAmong the many virtues credited to carnelian by the Mohammedans may be\nnoted its power to preserve the equanimity and gravity of the wearer in\nthe midst of disputes or inordinate laughter. A special and peculiar\nutilization of this material was to employ splinters of it as\ntoothpicks. Their use not only whitened the teeth but also prevented\nbleeding of the gums. The Prophet, according to tradition, asserted that\nthe wearer of a carnelian ring would never cease to be happy and\nblessed.[663]\n\nThe chrysolite is now regarded as a semi-precious stone only, yet\nShakespeare presented this gem as the type of excellence in its kind\nwhen he wrote (\u201cOthello,\u201d Act V, Scene 2):\n\n Nay, had she been true,\n If heaven would make me such another world\n Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,\n I\u2019d not have sold her for it.\n\nIt is interesting to note that this appreciation of the beauty of the\nchrysolite is also shown in an old Greek glossary of alchemical terms,\nwhere occur the words: \u0399\u03b5\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u03bb\u03af\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u1f76 \u03a7\u03c1\u03c5\u03c3\u03cc\u03bb\u03b9\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2, \u201cSacred stone means\nthe chrysolite.\u201d[664]\n\nSuch was the sacred quality ascribed to strings of coral beads in some\nparts of Africa, not long since, that they were regarded as the most\nprecious gifts a ruler could bestow. If the favored recipient were so\nunfortunate as to lose this royal donation\u2014which was a mark of high\nrank\u2014he himself, as well as all involved in the theft, incurred the\npenalty of death. A writer of the seventeenth century, Palisot de\nBeauvais, relates that in Benin human victims were sacrificed at a\n\u201ccoral festival,\u201d when the corals of the king and royal family were\ndipped in the victim\u2019s blood, so as to placate the coral fetish and\nensure a further supply of the precious material.[665] Possibly human\nblood was believed to strengthen the special virtue supposed to be\ninherent in this red substance.\n\nThere is a note of republican simplicity in the reported wearing of\ncoral ornaments on ceremonial occasions by the present Queen of Italy.\nIndeed, the assertion that this is done to stimulate the coral industry\nin Italy may be true, as nothing would better tend to do this than such\nan example of royal favor for coral. Certainly this is in marked\ncontrast with the almost exclusive use of pearl ornaments of all kinds\nso characteristic of Queen Margarita, whose devotion to the pearl, now\nperhaps the most costly of gems, had a poetic appropriateness for one\nbearing her name, and we can scarcely imagine the Pearl of Savoy without\nher splendid parures and necklaces of pearls. Still, undoubtedly this\nnew departure renders it possible for all Italian women, rich or poor,\nto loyally follow the example set by their Queen Helena, and there is\nlittle danger that the rich will ever neglect to avail themselves of the\nexclusive privilege they possess of owning and wearing diamonds, pearls,\nrubies, sapphires and emeralds, which surpass coral as much in beauty as\nthey do in price.\n\nA comparatively recent attempt to use diamond dust as a poison is said\nto have been made in 1874 on Colonel Phayre, British Resident at the\ncourt of the then reigning Gaikwar of Baroda. The colonel was in the\nhabit of refreshing himself after his morning walk with a glass of\nsugared water flavored with a little lime-juice. One day, on taking a\nsip of his customary beverage, he noted that it had a strange taste, and\ninstead of drinking it he saved it up and had it analyzed. The analysis\nrevealed the presence of arsenic in quantity sufficient to cause death,\nand of diamond dust as well. Here, as in the case of Sir Thomas\nOverbury, the really innocuous diamond material was accompanied by an\nactual poison. The current belief in the poisonous quality of the\ndiamond is reflected in the words \u201cmortal as diamond dust,\u201d used by\nHorace Walpole in one of his letters to the Countess of Ossory.[666]\n\nA German writer of the seventeenth century quotes with admiration a\nwonderful tale told by Johannes Bustamantius to the effect that he had\nseen a marriage of two diamonds, the two crystals being so firmly drawn\ntoward each other by mutual sympathy that when they were put in one\nplace they would cling to one another, as with an \u201cunending kiss,\u201d as\nthough one were a man and the other a woman, and he asserts that the\nunion was blessed with offspring. This curious idea has been repeatedly\nput forth by certain of the older writers as we have had occasion to\nnote elsewhere.[667]\n\nAfter expatiating on the mechanical skill displayed by the Indians of\nthe New World, an early Spanish traveller gives the following details\nregarding their success as gem-cutters:[668]\n\n Yet all that we have said is surpassed by the ingenuity of the Indians\n in working emeralds, with which they are supplied from the coast of\n Manta and the countries dependent on the government of Atacames,\n Coaquis or Quaques. But these mines are now entirely lost, very\n probably through negligence. These curious emeralds are found in the\n tombs of the Indians of Manta and Atacames; and are, in beauty, size\n and hardness superior to those found in the district of Santa F\u00e9; but\n what chiefly raises the admiration of the connoisseur is, to find them\n worked, some in spherical, some cylindrical, some conical, and of\n various other figures; and all with a perfect accuracy. But the\n unsurmountable difficulty here is, to explain how they could work a\n stone of such hardness, it being evident that steel and iron were\n utterly unknown to them. They pierced emeralds and other gems, with\n all the delicacy of the present times, furnished with so many tools;\n and the direction of the hole is also very observable; in some it\n passes through the diameter, in others only to the centre of the\n stone, and coming out at its circumference they formed triangles at a\n small distance from one another, and thus the figure of the stone to\n give it relief was varied with the direction of the holes.\n\nThe existence of emeralds in the region near Berenice is vouched for\nby Ptolemy. The mines of emerald here were duly entered in the map of\nthe patriarch and the Arabs are said to have dug for them; but, Pocock\nwrites, \u201cAs all stones that may be found belong to the Grand Signior,\nthe Arabs are very well satisfied that the presence of emeralds should\nnot be suspected, because he would have the profit, and the\ninhabitants might be obliged to work in the mines for a very small\nconsideration.\u201d[669]\n\nThe number of ancient hematite artefacts found in the United States\nindicates that this material was more largely used within its\nterritorial limits for implements and ornaments than in any other part\nof the world;[670] indeed the somewhat sweeping statement has been\nventured that it does not seem to have been used outside of this section\nof the New World; however, some exceptions to this rule must be\nadmitted. That certain of these ornaments were used as amulets is highly\nprobable, and they were undoubtedly regarded as objects of great value,\nsince with the primitive tools at his command the Indian cutter must\nhave found his task a very hard one, requiring the expenditure of much\ntime and patience. In the Andover Collection there is an exceptionally\nfine specimen from Ross County, Ohio. It is of heavy pure hematite,\nwhich has been worked into the form of a pendant; notches have been made\nat both ends, as a form of decoration, and on the lower, broad end,\nfourteen lines have been incised; the edges are slightly beveled and the\npatina indicates the antiquity of the work. The lines have evidently\nbeen made by a flint cutting-implement.[671] Another probable hematite\namulet is a rudely fashioned fish effigy. Here the appearances of eye\nand gill (only on one side) are evidently merely natural irregularities\nof surface, which it has been conjectured determined the cutter to add a\nmouth and round off the material so as to approximate a fish-form; the\nhematite is black and of fine quality. This relic comes from Cole Camp,\nBenton County, Missouri.[672] The larger number of these hematite\nartefacts are from Missouri, southern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,\nWest Virginia and Kentucky, and considerable numbers have been turned up\nin Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin, and parts of Arkansas. Only a\nrelatively small number were taken out of burials or graves, the\nmajority of specimens having been secured on or near the surface.\n\nShah Jehangir relates in his memoirs that M\u00fbnis Kh\u00e2n, son of Mihtar\nKh\u00e2n, presented him with a jug of jasper (jade), which had been made in\nthe reign of M\u00eerz\u00e2 Ulugh Beg G\u00fbrg\u00e2n, in the honored name of that prince.\nIt was a very delicate rarity and of a beautiful shape. Its stone was\nexceedingly white and pure. Around the neck of the jar were carved\ncharacters expressing the auspicious name of the M\u00eerz\u00e2 and the Hijra\nyear. Jehangir ordered them to inscribe his name and the auspicious name\nof Akbar on the edge of the lip of the jar.[673]\n\nJade ornaments of ancient workmanship have been found in Syria, and it\nis quite likely that in many cases where the designation plasma is used\nby ancient writers, true jade, or nephrite, was the material. As there\nwas no specific designation for jade, the different varieties were\nassimilated to other stones of like color and appearance, so that, among\nothers, the names jasper, plasma and even _smaragdus_ were used to\ndenote jade.\n\nMortuary tablets of jade have been used from time immemorial in China\nfor the reception of historic inscriptions, the toughness and durability\nof the material making it especially desirable for this purpose. In the\ncase of rulers, such tablets not only bore the names of the deceased\nsovereign but also an epitome of the leading events of his reign, and\nadditions were made to this record from time to time so that in historic\nvalue they may be compared with the clay tablets of Babylonia and\nAssyria. One of these interesting monuments found its way to San\nFrancisco, after the looting of the Forbidden City by the international\narmy of relief in 1901. On it appeared a record of the treaty between\nthe United States and China in 1868, and the other records went back to\nthe death of Shun Chi in 1661. Probably owing to exposure to the weather\nthe earlier inscriptions were not very legible.\n\nAt all important Chinese marriage ceremonies the priest carries what is\nknown as a \u201cmarriage sword.\u201d This is usually about twelve or thirteen\ninches in length and the sheath is often studded with various pink\nstones, cut _en cabochon_. The stones most favored for this decoration\nare pink tourmaline, rubellite from the Shan Mountains, or rose-quartz,\nand the natural color of these gems is often intensified by placing a\npink paste or foil beneath them; occasionally the coloration of the\nstones is enhanced by dipping them in a pink aniline solution. A piece\nof green jade is usually set as a boss at the hilt of this symbolical\nsword. In one remarkable specimen the guard consisted of a piece of\nwhite jade with the figure of a dragon carved in relief upon it; the\nsword-blade was of bronze. At the marriage ceremony the bridegroom is\ngiven the sword to hold, and the bride the sheath; as the wedding ring\nis placed upon the bride\u2019s finger, sword and sheath are brought\ntogether.\n\nAmong the innumerable forms of jade decoration or carving, produced by\nthe indefatigable and painstaking Chinese artists, is a small curved\nwand often having a trefoil termination; sometimes the entire wand is of\njade, and at other times it is of teakwood adorned with jade medallions,\nfrequently showing birds and flowers. This wand was used as a kind of\nsceptre of office, and the official entitled to bear it would hold it in\nboth hands when standing before the emperor. Its name, _ju-i_, means\n\u201cmay all be,\u201d and is to be taken as a wish that everything may turn out\nfortunately. In modern times the _ju-i_ is carried as a lucky charm,\nalthough its official significance is not forgotten. This form of wand\nis said to have been introduced into China from India, at the time of\nthe Buddhist propaganda, and in representations of Buddhist priests they\nare sometimes shown carrying one of them. In ancient India it was taught\nto be one of the seven precious objects, the _septa-ratna_, mentioned in\nthe Vedas.[674] This Indian origin is, of course, highly probable, but\nit is strange that in ancient Egypt also, curved wands of a somewhat\ndifferent type, made of ivory and embellished with symbolical figures,\npossessed the same blended significance of marks of official dignity and\nmagic wands.\n\nA large mass of lapis lazuli was found in one of the Inca graves of Peru\nby Se\u00f1or Emilio Mont\u00e9s, and was exhibited by him in the Centennial\nExhibition of 1913. With the exception of one corner that has been\nchipped off, the block is of symmetrical form, the dimensions being, in\ninches, 24 \u00d7 14 \u00d7 9, and the weight 312 pounds. The smoothed surface\ngives evidence of careful and fairly successful polishing by the native\nlapidaries. This exceptionally fine specimen of lapis lazuli is now in\nthe Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.[675] Evidently in\nancient Peru as in the Old World the \u201ccelestial hue\u201d of lapis lazuli was\nthought to render it most appropriate for use as a memorial offering to\nthe dead or as a talisman by the aid of which their heavenward journey\nmight be made easier.\n\nThe so-called \u201cblack onyx\u201d has almost entirely replaced jet. This is a\nchalcedony impregnated with a carbonic matter, such as blood or a\nsolution of sugar, the carbonate of which is charred by sulphuric acid,\ngiving a rich, velvety, black hue to the stone, which takes a high\npolish. However, a certain limited amount of the old \u201cWhitby Jet\u201d once\nso highly favored is still mined and worked up into ornaments in the\nneighborhood of Whitby on the northeast coast of England, in the\ndistrict of Leeds, although but fifty persons are now engaged in this\nindustry which fifty years ago gave employment to 1500 workers. Some\nSpanish jet is also used, a material harder and more brittle than that\nfound in England.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Autographed for this work by the author of the poem, Dr. Edward\n Forrester Sutton.\n]\n\nThe story was current that Pope Leo X (1475\u20131521) had a precious stone,\nprobably some type of \u201cmoonstone,\u201d[676] which grew brighter as the moon\nwaxed, exhibiting the soft, silvery brilliance of our satellite, and\nthen gradually lost its brightness as the moon waned, growing paler and\ndimmer and becoming quite obscure as the moon\u2019s disk ceased to be\nillumined by the sun. As a mate to this, Pope Clement VII (1475\u20131534)\nwas reputed to have in his possession a stone with a golden spot which\nmoved across the surface in exact accord with the apparent motion of the\nsun across the heavens from sunrise to sunset.[677] These are\nundoubtedly fables that were circulated intentionally, or more probably\nthrough pure love of exaggeration, in order to enhance the merit of two\nexceptionally fine specimens of moonstone and sunstone in the papal\ntreasury.\n\nIn the eighteenth century the collection of the Duke of Brunswick\ncontained a magnificent ancient drinking-cup, of the kind used in\nsacrificial ceremonies, cut from a single piece of onyx; this cup was\nsaid to have formed part of the rich spoils taken from Mithridates by\nthe Romans under Pompey. It was valued in the duke\u2019s inventory at\n150,000 thalers, and Catherine II of Russia is stated to have offered\nfour times that sum, or 600,000 thalers ($400,000) for this unique\ncup.[678]\n\nIn the symbolism of the Manichean sect, an early Christian heresy owing\nits origin to a direct and predominant influence of Persian ideas,\npearls occupy a prominent place. A legendary or poetic pearl called \u201cthe\nbright moon\u201d was the symbol of compassion, and one of the treatises ends\nwith the words: \u201cOur heart has received the majestic splendor of the\npearl granting every wish.\u201d We are also told of \u201ca diamond pillar\u201d which\nsustains humanity, and the Messenger of Light is likened to a perfumed\nmountain entirely composed of a mass of jewels.[679]\n\nThe recital of two Arab travelers, Hasan ibn Vazid and Sulaiman, who\nvisited India in the ninth century, contains a curious theory of the\nformation of pearls or rather of the pearl-oyster. The primal matter is\nassumed to be a gelatinous moss, analogous to that of a species of alg\u00e6.\nThis floats upon the water and attaches itself to the keels of ships,\nwhere it hardens, develops a shell, and finally drops off to sink into\nthe depths of the sea. The formation of the pearl itself is then\ndiscussed and the theory noted in Pliny\u2019s Natural History and so often\nrepeated after his time, namely, that pearls are formed from the \u201cdew of\nheaven,\u201d is cited; but the writer adds: \u201cOthers say that they [the\npearls] are produced in the oysters themselves. This appears more\nprobable and is confirmed by experience; for the greater part of those\nobserved in the oysters are firmly attached there and are immovable.\nThose which are mobile are called by the merchants seed-pearls.\u201d As a\ntrue Mohammedan the writer concludes with the pious ejaculation: \u201cGod\nknows how the matter really stands!\u201d[680]\n\nThe same travellers relate the story of the discovery of a pearl under\nvery singular conditions. An Arab came to Bassora with a very fine\npearl. He took it to a druggist whom he knew and asked the latter how\nmuch it was worth. The merchant estimated it at a hundred pieces of\nsilver, to the great surprise of the Arab, who demanded whether anyone\ncould be found willing to pay so much. Without hesitation the merchant\ndeclared that he was ready to give the price himself, and immediately\npaid over the money. He then took his purchase to Bagdad, where he\nsecured a large profit on his investment. On concluding his sale the\nArab told the Bassora druggist how he had secured his pearl. One day,\nwhile walking along the Bahrein coast, he saw on the sands a dead fox,\nwhose mouth was tightly compressed by a strange object. On closer\nobservation this proved to be an enormous pearl-oyster shell. Evidently\nthe fox had thrust his snout into the shell while the valves were open\nso that he might devour the soft contents, but the valves suddenly\nclosed upon him and he had died of suffocation. On prying open the shell\nthe Arab found therein the pearl which was destined to bring him what he\nregarded as a fabulous sum.[681]\n\nThe women of the Arab town occupying a site close to that on which stood\nthe Babylon of ancient times, wore, as a favorite adornment, nose-rings\nof gold set with a pearl and a turquoise. The English traveller, John\nEldred, who traversed Mesopotamia in 1583, found this custom so general\nthat he writes: \u201cThis they doe be they never so poore.\u201d[682]\n\nFor years a statement has been going through the press that pearls are\nliable to become diseased and die, and that the famous necklace of\npearls presented by President Thiers of France to his wife, and\nbequeathed by Mme. Thiers to the French Government, had lost their\nlustre and died, perhaps owing to the death of the owner. For there is\nan old belief that pearls, as well as opals and turquoises, lose some of\ntheir lustre when the owner or wearer becomes ill, and change to a dull\nand lifeless hue when the owner dies. An examination of the necklace by\nthe writer showed that the pearls were in good condition, and to confirm\nhis statement to this effect he had the director of the Louvre Museum\nwrite him a letter. In this official communication the director not only\nstates that the pearls had not sickened and died, but that they were in\nas \u201chealthy\u201d a condition as they had ever been.\n\nThe invariable experience of the writer has been that whenever pearls\nhave been said to have suffered in this way, the true explanation has\nbeen that they were old and poor at the time of their purchase, and that\nthis romance was started on its travels as an excuse to cover up the\ndefect of such pearls and to arouse the belief that they had been\nremarkably beautiful and valuable when they were originally acquired.\n\nAs though to make amends to the Queen Gem for such disadvantageous\nrumors, considerable publicity has recently been given to a report that,\nin the Mus\u00e9e de Monaco, there was a luminous pearl whose beauties were\nrevealed by an inner light, so that darkness had no power to dim its\nlustre. In a thoroughly impartial spirit, the writer went to the\nfountain-head for information in this matter, and received as answer\nfrom the director of the museum that there was no such pearl in the\ncollection and that he had absolutely no faith in the luminosity of\npearls.\n\nAs has been seen, both of these legends must be set aside as false, and\nwe fear there is just as little truth in a report that a genuine\n\u201cpearl-powder\u201d is now used by the fair ladies of Paris and by their\nnumerous imitators. The story goes that the Arab workmen engaged in\npearl-piercing in India are noted for the clearness\u2014we can hardly say,\nthe lightness\u2014of their complexions, and that this is supposed to be\nattributable to the fact that, when resting from their difficult task,\nthey are in the habit of taking up some of the pearl-dust that has\nfallen on the floor and rubbing their faces with it. As the conditions\nunder which these men work are eminently unsanitary, those who noted the\nclearness and smoothness of their complexions came to the conclusion\nthat there must be something especially beneficial in pearl-dust, and\nbrought the matter to the notice of a French chemist. The latter\nproceeded to utilize the suggestion and compounded a new cosmetic. He\ndid not, however, pin his faith to the pearl-dust alone, but wisely\nadded a number of other ingredients.\n\nStill another mythical tale in reference to pearls has to be refuted.\nFor some time past numerous specimens of a so-called \u201ccocoanut-pearl\u201d\nhave been brought from the East. These are very white pearls, resembling\nin hue the hard meat of the cocoanut, and said to have been produced in\nthe cocoanut, just as other pearls are produced in certain species of\nmollusks. However, the writer has always found them to be pearls\nsecreted by the gigantic mollusk _Ostrea Singapora_.\n\nA strange poetic fancy regarding the transmutation of parts of the human\nform into gems of the sea appears in Ariel\u2019s song in Shakespeare\u2019s\n\u201cTempest\u201d:\n\n Full fathom five thy father lies,\n Of his bones are coral made;\n Those are pearls that were his eyes,\n Nothing of him that doth fade\n But doth suffer a sea-change\n Into something rare and strange.\n _Tempest_, Act I, Sc. ii.\n\nSome natives of the Sulu Archipelago believe that the nautilus pearl is\na most unlucky object to possess, for should a man engage in a fight\nwhile wearing such a pearl he would inevitably be killed. Hence, when a\nnative by chance comes across one of them, he very quickly throws it\naway, as a probable bringer of ill-luck. Occasionally, however, such\npearls fall into the hands of those who are less influenced by\nsuperstition, and one weighing 72 grains was given, in 1884, to an\nAustralian gentleman, by Mohammed Beddreddin, brother-in-law of the\nSultan of Sulu. This was a perfect, pear-shaped pearl of a creamy-white\nhue and somewhat translucent; it is composed of the porcelanous, not of\nthe nacreous constituent of the shell.[683]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n East Indian Baroque pearl. Weight over 1700 grains, Holland, 1775.\n]\n\nIt has been stated that this Sulu superstition is not shared by the\nnatives of Celebes Island, near Borneo, for here such pearls are kept as\ncharms and talismans. One of an irregular pear-shape, weighing 27\u00bd\ngrains, has been found on the northern coast of the island.[684] The\nfinding of a nautilus pearl by a Chinese woman in Borneo is noted by\nRumphius, who describes it as being as large as a bean and white as a\npiece of alabaster, hard and bright, but of very irregular shape. The\nfinder put it in a closed box, and was not a little surprised to\ndiscover when she opened the box after a time that the original pearl\nhad engendered another one the size of a lentil; later it had two other,\nsmaller offspring. The woman carefully treasured her find as a lucky\nstone which would bring her good fortune in her search for mussels.\nRumphius shrewdly conjectures that the smaller concretions had broken\noff the larger one while it was enclosed in the box.[685]\n\nThe well-known lines in Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cOthello\u201d:\n\n Of one whose hand, like the base Judean\u2019s,\n Cast away a pearl richer than all his tribe.\n\nhave been explained in many different ways by the commentators, one of\nwhom (Steevens) saw in them a reference to the following story current\nin Venice in the sixteenth century. A Jew, after long and perilous\nwanderings in the East, succeeded in bringing with him to Venice a great\nnumber of fine pearls. These he disposed of there at satisfactory\nprices, with the exception of one pearl of immense size and\nextraordinary beauty, upon which he set a price so high that no one was\nwilling to pay it. Finally, the Jew invited all the leading gem-dealers\nto meet him on the Rialto, and when as many of them as answered his call\nhad assembled, he once more, and for the last time, offered his peerless\npearl for sale, detailing all its perfections in eloquent terms.\nHowever, he made no concession in the price, and the dealers unanimously\nrefused to purchase it, probably expecting that the Jew would at last be\nforced to make a reduction, but to their amazement, instead of doing\nthis, he threw his pearl before their very eyes into the waters of the\ncanal, preferring rather to lose it than to cheapen it.[686]\n\nThe belief that the growth of pearls in the pearl-oyster was due to\nrain-drops is perpetuated in the Arab proverb: \u201cThe rain of the month of\nNisan brings forth pearls in the sea and wheat on the land.\u201d[687] This\nspring month was, and is still, the period when pearl-fishing begins in\nthe Orient. Another pearl proverb repeats the evangelical saying in this\nform: \u201cDo not throw pearls under the feet of swine.\u201d\n\nA Tonquinise legend of the origin of pearls represents them as springing\nfrom the blood of a young princess who was slain by the king, her\nfather, because she had betrayed to her husband the secret of a magic\nbow, whose death-dealing arrows always flew to their mark. In his anger\nat his daughter\u2019s act, the father drew his scimitar and beheaded her,\nbut with her last breath she prayed that her blood might be turned to\npearls. Her prayer was heard and now the finest pearls of this land are\nfound in the waters about the place where she died.[688]\n\nFrom blue sapphires the color may be extracted so that they become\nwhite, in such sort that they excellently imitate the diamond, so well,\nindeed, that the fraud can only be detected by an expert jeweller. This\nart was known at an early period, and no doubt induced many writers to\nascribe certain of the qualities of the diamond to the sapphire. As\nillustrating this, a Rabbinical author states that a certain man went to\nRome to sell a sapphire. The purchaser said to him: \u201cI will buy it\nprovided I may first test it.\u201d He placed it on an anvil and struck it\nwith a hammer; the anvil was split and the hammer was broken to pieces\nbut the stone remained in its place uninjured.[689]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CLEOPATRA DISSOLVING HER PRICELESS PEARL AT THE BANQUET TO MARK ANTONY\n\n Tapestry. Eighteenth century.\n]\n\nThe virtues of the sapphire are enumerated at length by Bartolom\u00e6us\nAnglicus, the old scholastic philosopher, who flourished in the first\nhalf of the thirteenth century and taught theology in the famous\nUniversity of Paris.[690] After noting the old dictum according to which\nthe sapphire was the \u201cgem of gems\u201d and one worthy to adorn the fingers\nof kings, Bartolom\u00e6us proceeds to instruct his readers in regard to the\nwonderful curative powers of this beautiful gem. These appear always to\nbe connected with its supposed calming and cooling influence. Thus it\nreduced the temperature in fevers and checked the flow of blood; for\ninstance, if attached to the temples it stopped nose-bleed; if the heart\nwere unduly excited, this agitation could be controlled by the power of\nthe sapphire. Too profuse perspiration was also checked if a sapphire\nwere worn. It shared with the diamond the virtue of reconciling discord.\nIts power as an antidote to poison was believed to be proved by an\nexperiment in which a spider was placed in a box with a sapphire. After\na short time the poor spider expired, done to death by the supreme\nvirtue of the celestial stone. A like story was told by ancient writers\nin regard to the emerald. Of course, the chastening virtues of the\nsapphire are not forgotten, virtues which have caused it to be selected\nas especially appropriate for the rings of cardinals and high church\ndignitaries; this belief arose from the association of purity with the\ncolor of the heavens, the pure, unadulterated blue of the cloudless sky.\n\nOne of the rarest and most beautiful of the corundum gems of Ceylon is\nlocally known there by the name _padparasham_. It is of a most rare and\ndelicate orange-pink hue, the various specimens showing many different\nblendings of the pink and orange. The significance of the Cinghalese\nname seems to be somewhat obscure, but a probable conjecture explains it\nto mean \u201chidden ray of light\u201d; another etymology would see in the first\nsyllable, _pad_, an abbreviation of _padma_, lotus, the petals of this\nflower often having a soft orange tint. In this case the meaning would\nbe \u201chidden lotus,\u201d as though the very color-essence of the flower were\nenclosed within and shone through the gem.[691]\n\nA Persian treatise on precious stones was composed by Mohammed Ben\nMansur[692] in the thirteenth century of our era. This work was written\nfor Sultan Abu Na\u00e7r Behadirchan, and consists of two divisions, the\nfirst treating of precious stones and the second of metals. It is\ninteresting to note in this treatise the recognition of the essential\nlikeness of the Oriental ruby, sapphire, topaz, etc.; these varieties of\ncorundum are all grouped under the single designation \u201c_yakut_.\u201d Ben\nMansur writes:[693]\n\n The yakut is six-fold: 1, the red; 2, the yellow; 3, the black; 4, the\n white; 5, the green or peacock-hued; 6, the blue or smoky-hued. Some\n divide the yakut into four classes: red, yellow, dark, and white,\n reckoning the peacock-hued and the blue among the dark. The yakut cuts\n all stones except carnelian and diamond.\n\nAlthough the Oriental carnelian is hard and difficult to cut or polish\nonly popular prejudice accounts for this statement, as it falls far\nshort of the diamond in hardness.\n\nPseudo-Aristotle, writing some time from the seventh to the ninth\ncentury A.D., was the first to define clearly the three leading\nvarieties of the corundum gems (yakut) as the same mineral substance,\nand differing only in color. These are the ruby, the Oriental topaz\n(jacinthus citrinus) and the sapphire. Instead of according different\nmedicinal or talismanic virtues to these three precious stones, this\nwriter states that each and all of them, when set in rings or worn\nsuspended from the neck, protected the wearer from danger in epidemics,\ngave him the honor and good will of his fellow-men, and also the\nprivilege of having his petitions accorded.[694]\n\nThe great Athenian comic poet, Aristophanes (c. 448\u2013c. 385), makes\nStrepsiades, one of his characters in the \u201cClouds,\u201d assert to Socrates\nthat he knows of a stone having the virtue of saving him from the\npayment of a claim of five talents, for which suit has been brought\nagainst him. This stone, called \u1f53\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 in Greek, was to be found in the\nstock of those who dealt in medicines; it was transparent and with it\nfire could be kindled. The philosopher, although he knows the stone well\nenough, fails to see how it could be made to help the defendant in a\nsuit at law, and asks Streposiades what he proposes to do with it. The\nlatter is not at a loss for an answer and declares that when the clerk\nproceeds to write down the charge on his waxen tablet, he, Streposiades,\nwill hold the stone in the sun\u2019s rays so that its beam of light will\nfall upon the tablet and melt the wax, thus quite literally \u201cwiping out\nthe charge.\u201d[695]\n\nRock-crystal was so highly prized in Roman times that one of the\ngreatest treasures preserved in the Capitol was a mass of this stone,\nweighing fifty pounds, that had been dedicated by Livia, wife of\nAugustus C\u00e6sar. Vessels of great size were also made from this material,\none of the largest being a bowl owned by Lucius Verus, the colleague of\nMarcus Aurelius, the dimensions of which were so great that the stoutest\ntoper of the time could not empty it at a single draught. If we can\ntrust a statement of Mohammed Ben Mansur, the Arabs and Persians of a\nlater age must have far surpassed the Romans in the size of their\ncrystal vessels, for he says that a Mauritanian merchant owned a basin\nof rock-crystal within which four men could seat themselves at the same\ntime. It is true that this basin was composed of two pieces of the\nmaterial.[696]\n\nThe Chinese word for crystal, _ching_, was originally represented by the\nsymbol [Symbol]; that is, three suns, an attempt to figure the\nrefraction and dispersion of light by the crystal.[697] The _soui che_\nstone of the Chinese which is said to quench thirst if it be placed in\nthe mouth, is almost certainly rock-crystal, for the Chinese, in common\nwith the ancient Greeks and Romans, believed this substance to be a\ntransformation of water, a kind of fossil ice. A similar power was\nattributed by Pliny to one of the varieties of agate.[698]\n\nLabrets of quartz are used in Central Africa and we have a very\ninteresting description by M. A. Lacroix regarding these ornaments as\nworn by the natives of a part of the French possessions. In the land of\nthe Bandas the natives highly prize a piece of rock-crystal so shaped\nthat it can be introduced into the lower lip. This usage is confined to\nthe basins of the Ombella, the Kemo and the Tomi, affluents of the\nOubanghi.\n\nThe following description of the labrets was communicated to M. Lacroix\nby M. Lucien Fourneau, Administrator of the Colonies:\n\n These objects, called _bagu\u00e9r\u00e9s_, consist of hyaline quartz, perfectly\n transparent; they are very regularly cut, and measure from four to\n seven cm. (two to three inches) in length. Some have the form of a\n very elongated and pointed cone, without any protuberances, the\n greatest diameter being about one cm. (about half an inch); the\n others, thinner and sharper, have at the base a rim destined to hold\n them in place; in all cases a pad of thread constituting a kind of\n permanent plug, assures and completes their stability. Some women wear\n as many as three of these singular ornaments, thrust, point downwards,\n into the same lip.\n\nThe most regular quartz crystals are selected, and these are chipped off\nand roughly shaped by blows struck with a hard substance; the quartz is\nthen set in a wooden handle, and the final shaping and polishing are\naccomplished by friction upon a round slab of quartzite or sandstone.\nThese slabs show grooves along which the crystals have been rubbed. On\nan average the time required is four or five days of five hours. The\ncompleted ornament is valued at nine pounds of red wood worth about\n$1.20; sometimes one can be secured for three chickens, worth sixty\ncents.[699] Those who cannot afford quartz labrets substitute wood,\nglass, or pewter. M. Lacroix draws our attention to the fact that a\nstudy of the processes employed in shaping and polishing these pieces of\nquartz is of great importance for the elucidation of the methods in use\nduring the Stone Age.[700]\n\nA nose-jewel from the New Hebrides consists of a crystal of hyaline\nquartz reduced to a cylindrical form, one extremity having been pointed,\nwhile the other retains the natural faces of the crystal. This was\npassed through the septum of the nose, and was most likely worn as an\namulet.[701]\n\nRock-crystal has been used extensively in the past year with ornaments\nof ribbon-like or plaque-like effects. Sometimes all the parts are made\ninto the exact shape of a bowknot, with a bordering of platinum and\ndiamonds, or of platinum and diamonds with a calibre-cut onyx; that is,\nthe rock-crystal material is cut into minute square or oblong stones,\nwhich are run into double triangular edges that hold them. The crystals\nare dulled, and frequently have the appearance of moonstones. At times,\nindeed, moonstones are used in their place. Sometimes these panels, or\nbits and pieces of rock-crystal, are drilled, diamonds set in platinum\nare inserted into the drill-holes, and the ornament is engraved in\nclassic designs of Watteau-like effects.\n\nThe origin of Burmese rubies is thus explained in a Burmese legend\ncurrent in the region of the Ruby Mines. According to this legend, in\nthe first century of our era three eggs were laid by a female _naga_, or\nserpent; out of the first was born Pyusawti, a king of Pagan; out of the\nsecond came an Emperor of China, and out of the third were emitted the\nrubies of the Ruby Mines.[702]\n\nDealing in precious stones was by no means an unusual occupation in\nEurope more than four hundred years ago, as is shown by the fact that a\ncertain Peter, one of the secret agents of Perkin Warbeck, a pretender\nto the throne of England in Henry VIII\u2019s reign, was called in the secret\ncorrespondence of the conspirators, \u201cThe Merchant of the Ruby.\u201d Such\ndealers frequently travelled from place to place, and usually offered\ntheir wares to princes and nobles; hence the statement in a letter that\nthe Merchant of the Ruby \u201cwas not able to sell his wares in Flaunders\u201d\nmight not seem suspicious if the letter were intercepted and read,\nalthough the meaning was that the emissary had been unable to obtain\nsuccor in Flanders for the cause of the pretender.[703] Probably this\ndesignation also contained a covert allusion to the Red Rose of York,\nfor Perkin Warbeck gave himself out to be Richard, Duke of York.\n\nA sixteenth-century traveller, the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, after\nsaying that \u201cthe rubies grow in India,\u201d proceeds to state that those of\nfinest quality and greatest value were for the most part gathered in a\nriver called Pegu and were named _nir puce_ by the Malabars. As a test\nof their fineness, the Hindus would touch them with the tip of the\ntongue, the coldest (densest) being the best. When a superior ruby was\nthus picked out, the examiner would attach a little wax to its finest\npoint, and so pick it up and look through it against a bright light; by\nthis means any blemish would immediately become apparent. These rubies\ncame not only from the river of Pegu but from other parts of the land of\nthe same name, often being discovered in deep mountain clefts. However,\nthey were not cut and polished in that country, but were merely cleaned\nand sent for cutting to \u201cPalecote and the country of Narsynga.\u201d[704]\n\nThe balas-ruby (originally a spinel from Badakshan) was one of the most\nadmired precious stones in medieval times, before the diamond was helped\nto its proud pre\u00ebminence by having its beauties revealed through the\nexercise of the diamond-cutters\u2019 skill. Almost all the large \u201crubies\u201d of\nwhich we read, those of Europe at least, were balas-rubies, as were also\nby far the greater part of the so-called rubies in Oriental royal\ncollections of that and later times. The great Italian poet Dante uses\nthis stone (_balascio_) as a symbol of the glowing radiance of divine\njoy in the following lines from the Divina Commedia (Paradiso, ix,\n67\u201369):\n\n L\u2019altra letizia, che m\u2019era gi\u00e0 nota\n Preclara cosa, mi si fece in vista\n Qual fin balascio in che lo sol percota.\n\nIn very ancient times as well as at the present day (if we admit that\nthe _anthrax_ of Theophrastus really was ruby and not a pyrope garnet),\nthe ruby was the most valuable of all precious stones, the Greek writer\nstating that at the time he wrote, about 260 B.C., an exceedingly small\nspecimen would sell for as much as forty gold pieces. His statement that\nthese stones came from Carthage and Marseilles should not induce us to\nprejudge the question as to their real character, as many articles of\nAsiatic commerce were distributed from these parts, more especially from\nthe great Carthaginian seaport.[705]\n\nA variety of sapphire, having, to a certain extent, the coloration of\nthe ruby, was called by natives of Ceylon in the sixteenth century\n_nilacandi_;[706] this might be rendered sapphire-ruby. These stones are\npurple-red by daylight, but artificial light kills the blue and they\nappear red. They are frequently called phenomenal sapphires or\nalexandrite sapphires.\n\nIndian poetic fancy has connected the creation of sapphires in Ceylon\nwith the fair maidens of that island.[707]\n\n When the young Cingalese maidens sway, with the tips of their fingers,\n the stems of the lavali blossoms, then do the two dark blue eyes of\n the Daitya fall, eyes with a sheen like that of the lotus in full\n bloom.\n\n Hence it is that this island, with its long sea-coast and its\n interminable forests of ketskas, abounds in magnificent sapphires,\n which are its glory.\n\nThe following pretty bit of Oriental imagery occurs in a Cinghalese poem\non the deeds of Constantino de S\u00e1, a Portuguese Captain-General. Here\nthe poet, writing of a river that flowed through the island, calls it\n\u201cthat lovely stream, the Kaluganga, which meandered as a sapphire chain\nover the shoulders of the maiden Lanka.\u201d[708] Lanka is a Cingalese name\nfor Ceylon.\n\nThe depth of the coloration of sapphires and other stones was believed\nto indicate their degree of \u201cripeness,\u201d the pale stones being \u201cunripe.\u201d\nAs an illustration of this, Cardano instances a sapphire he had\nexamined, a small part of which was blue, while the rest resembled a\ndiamond. Specimens of this kind exist in several collections.[709] The\nwriter has seen many that are dark blue when viewed from above, and\nalmost white when viewed through the back. The Cinghalese lapidaries had\nvery cleverly cut a crystal that was white, with a thin coating of blue,\nso that the blue was at the back, fully realizing the wonderful\ndispersive power of the sapphire, and that it would appear dark blue if\nviewed from above. The value was naturally only trifling compared with\nthat of a perfectly even-colored gem.\n\nAl-Ber\u00fbn\u00ee (973\u20131048 A.D.) gives as the hues of the \u201cred _yakut_\u201d (ruby),\npomegranate-colored safran (henna), purple, flesh-colored, rose-colored,\nand of the shade of a pomegranate blossom. Other colors of the _yakut_\n(corundum crystals) were yellow (Oriental topaz), gray, green (Oriental\nemerald), white (white sapphire), and black. A henna-colored _yakut_, if\nweighing one mitqal (about 24 carats), was valued at 5000 dinars\n($12,500), if its weight was half as much, or about 12 carats, it was\nesteemed to be worth 2000 dinars ($4500), but for one weighing as much\nas 2 mitqals (48 carats) no definite price could be given, probably\nbecause of its great rarity and costliness.[710]\n\nThe Sanskrit name for the topaz, _pita_, signifies \u201cthe yellow stone.\u201d\nThis Sanskrit word is thought by many to be the original of the Hebrew\n_pitdah_, a stone of the high-priest\u2019s breastplate. Another Sanskrit\nname is pushparaga, \u201cflower-colored.\u201d[711] It must be borne in mind,\nhowever, that these names refer not to our topaz but to yellow corundum,\nor Oriental topaz, as it has often been called.\n\nA topaz of exceptional size is that known as the \u201cMaxwell-Stuart\nTopaz\u201d[712] from the name of the owner. It was brought from Ceylon to\nEngland with a lot of inferior rubies and sapphires for use in\nwatchmaking, and was believed to be simply a piece of quartz. So little\nwas it appreciated that when sold at auction it only brought \u00a33 10s.\n($17.50). When on closer examination its true quality became apparent,\nthe owner decided to have it cut in brilliant form. The operation\nrequired twenty-eight days\u2019 consecutive work, the diamond-wheel being\nused, and resulted in the production of a fine cut stone of a pure white\nhue, weighing 368\u00b3\u00b9\u2044\u2083\u2082 carats. When the cutting was partially completed,\na \u201cfeather\u201d became apparent that would have spoiled the table, but as it\nwas still possible to reverse the position of table and culet, this was\ndone, and the \u201cfeather\u201d removed. At this time, in 1879, this topaz could\nlay claim to being the largest cut stone in existence, although its size\nis considerably surpassed now by that of the largest Cullinan diamond,\n516\u00bd carats.\n\nThe same exceptional position taken by jade among the Chinese is\noccupied by turquoise among the Tibetans; these are so emphatically\nprimates among gem-minerals that the very name \u201cstone\u201d seems a\ndesignation unworthy of them, and as a Chinese would say, \u201cit is _jade_,\nnot a stone,\u201d so would a loyal Tibetan exclaim of his favorite gem, \u201cit\nis a _turquoise_, not a stone.\u201d Another indication of the exceptional\nrank of turquoise in Tibet is that, as with the famous Oriental and\nEuropean diamonds and also with some celebrated balas-rubies, certain of\nthe first turquoises of Tibet have received individual names, such, for\nexample, as \u201cthe resplendent turquoise of the gods\u201d and \u201cthe white\nturquoise of the gods.\u201d A tradition relates that the largest turquoise\nfound up to that time was discovered in the eighth century A.D. by King\nDu-srong Mang-po on the summit of a mountain near the sacred Tibetan\ncity of Lhasa.[713]\n\nIn 1613, Shah Abbas of Persia sent to Jehangir six bags of\n\u201cturquoise-dust,\u201d weighing in all some 23\u00bd pounds Troy. However, the\nmaterial proved to be of very inferior quality, for the jewellers\nsearched in vain through the whole mass for a single stone fit for\nsetting in a ring. Jehangir consoles himself with the reflection that\n\u201cprobably in these days turquoise-dust is not procurable such as it was\nin the time of Shah Tahmasp.\u201d[714]\n\nWhen the Syrian monarch Antiochus XIII visited Syracuse during the\npr\u00e6torship of Caius Verres, he bore with him many richly adorned\nvessels, some of them being of gold set with gems after the Syrian\nfashion. However, the finest of all was a wine-cup carved out of a\nsingle piece of precious-stone material. When this had once met the gaze\nof the greedy Verres, he did not rest until he had got it into his\npossession. To attain his end he resorted to a most ignoble stratagem.\nProfessing his ardent admiration of this as well as of the other\nrichly-adorned and finely-wrought vessels, Verres requested that they\nmight be left with him for a short time so that he might contemplate\nthem at his leisure, and might also have an opportunity to submit them\nto examination by his goldsmiths with a view to having some copies\nexecuted. Antiochus readily acceded to this request, but when after the\nlapse of a few days he wished to regain possession of his things, Verres\nput him off from day to day, on one pretext or another. Finally, as\nAntiochus refused to take the more than broad hints that the precious\nobjects should be bestowed as gifts, Verres spread the rumor that a\npiratical fleet was on its way from Syria to attack Sicily, and forced\nAntiochus to leave the island that very day, retaining the borrowed\nvessels in spite of all remonstrances.[715]\n\nThat precious stones should be used to decorate the teeth seems a rather\nqueer development of art, although the practice is not altogether\nunknown at the present day, when we hear now and again of diamonds being\nset in teeth to satisfy the vanity of some eccentric individual. In\npre-Colombian times, however, there is abundant evidence that this\nstrange form of personal adornment was by no means rare, several\nexamples having been unearthed from burials in Ecuador, and evidence of\nthe usage being offered by remains from Mexico and also from Central\nAmerica. Among the Mayans here jadeite seems to have been the stone\nprincipally favored for this purpose, while in Mexico hematite has been\nmet with in Oaxaca, turquoise in Vera Cruz, and at other places in the\nland, rock-crystal and obsidian.[716] For the insertion of the stones,\nthe primitive dental artists carefully and skilfully cut or rubbed away\nthe enamel from a section of the front part of the tooth to be\ndecorated, and then applied the precious stone, cut to the required\nshape, as an inlay. The way in which this was done gives evidence of a\nremarkably high degree of skill in this line of work; in many cases an\ninlay of gold was used, instead of a precious stone, and it has even\nbeen conjectured that some of these gold inlays represent a kind of gold\nfilling for the protection of the tooth. While this is open to question,\nthe undoubted fact that new teeth were occasionally inserted to take the\nplace of those which had fallen out or decayed, as shown in several\nspecimens, might be regarded as corroborative of the broader assumption.\nThe expert workmanship of these pre-Colombian \u201cdental surgeons\u201d is\nclearly manifested in the good condition of the teeth whence so much of\nthe enamel had been removed, showing that the inlays must have been so\nclosely adjusted that the tooth was effectively protected from the\nintroduction of moisture.\n\nOne of the latest fashionable fads, suggested by the great variety of\nbright-colored costumes worn by the _mondaines_ (and others) at the\npresent day, is the selection and wear of jewelry set with stones of the\nsame color as the striking gown. Thus with a costume of glowing red, the\nruddy ruby would be chosen, a sky-blue costume would insure the wearing\nof the justly popular sapphire, dress of a golden-yellow hue would call\nfor one of the shades of topazes, while the \u201cnew brown,\u201d now so much in\nvogue, finds its complementary stone in topaz of a slightly darker\nshade. The grass-green costume would suggest one of the many beautiful\nshades of the tourmaline, and jewelry of the pink tourmaline would be\nappropriate to garments of this color. With their wonderful play of\ncolor, opals would accord with all varieties of hue in costume and might\nthus be worn with either of the other more especially matched stones.\n\nAn old account of the London trades and guilds, in writing of the\njewellers\u2019 art, makes the following statement regarding the\nqualifications of a jeweller, as appropriate to our own times as to any\nother.[717]\n\n He ought to be an elegant Designer, and have a quick Invention for new\n Patterns, not only to range the stones in such manner as to give\n Lustre to one another, but to create Trade; for a new Fashion takes as\n much with the Ladies in Jewels as in anything else; he that can\n furnish them oftenest with the newest Whim has the best Chance for\n their Custom.\n\n\n\n\n Index\n\n\n A\n\n Aazem, great name of God, on rain-stone,5\n\n Abarchiel, angel of March, 248\n\n Abbott, Charles E., vii\n\n Abdos, St., 252\n\n Abenzoar, 136\n\n Abracadabra charm, 326, 327\n\n Abraham, 86\n\n Abrant\u00e8s, Duchesse d\u2019, 295\n\n Acontus, St., 252\n\n Acosta, Jos\u00e9 de, 210\n\n Acrostics in jewels, 375\n\n Actinolite, 29\n\n Acts of the Apostles in burning of Ephesian magic books, 325\n\n Adair, 107\n\n _Adlerstein_, 193\n\n \u00c6gospotami, meteor of, 79, 80\n\n Aepinus, Franz Ulrich Theodor, 54\n\n _\u00c6tites_, 20, 124, 173\u2013178\n names of, in various languages, 175\n\n \u00c6tius, 174\n\n Agapitus, St., 252\n\n Agate, 30, 31, 291, 317, 324\n amulets of, in Spain, 368\n as Anglo-Saxon talisman, 331\n banded, stone of Benjamin, symbolical meaning of, 283\n curative use of, 129\n dog\u2019s head amulet of, from Mexico, 351\n \u201ceye-,\u201d 315\n idol of red, in Kaabah, 84\n pebbles of, with natural markings, 377\n \u201crainbow agate,\u201d 377, 378\n\n Agatha, St., 257, 272\n\n Agincourt, battle of, 259\n\n \u201cAhnighito,\u201d great Cape York meteorite, 97\n\n Alban, St., stone in Abbey of, 151\u2013153\n\n Al-Beruni\u2019s statement of prices of precious stones in eleventh century,\n 403\n\n Alcathous, 2\n\n Alchemist\u2019s gold, 14, 16\n medallion transmuted into, 15\n medal made from, 15, 16\n\n Alchemy, 14\u201316\n\n _Alectorius_, 20, 119, 160, 179, 180, 181\n\n Alexander the Great, 299, 322, 324, 378\n wonderful stones found by, 70\n\n Alexandra, Queen, talisman of, 362\n\n Allen, Edward Heron, 116\n\n Amazon stones, 143, 148, 304, 320\n symbol of Suffrage Party, 374\n\n Amber, 60\u201364, 297, 343, 345, 358\n account of, by Tacitus, 60\n beads, 61\u201363\n bulls of Romans, 60\n crucifix of yellow, 295\n curative power of, 62\n electrical property of, 63\n hair, 61\n necklace of, as aid to longevity, 63\n oil of, 64\n\n Ambergris, 185, 186\n\n Ambrose, St., 243, 272\n\n American Folk Lore Society\u2019s exhibit in Chicago, 190, 191, 352\n\n American Museum of Natural History, 32, 34, 96, 99\n\n Amethyst, 58, 123, 296, 330, 335\n engraved, in Egyptian amulets, 280\n necklace of, ancient Egyptian, 317\n stone of Dan, symbolical meaning of, 283\n\n Amitabha, emanation of Adi-Buddha, coral statuette of, in Royal Chapel\n at Lhasa, Tibet, 303\n\n Amulets and talismans, 313\u2013376\n Abracadabra, 326, 327\n against Evil Eye, 345\u2013347\n Babylonian, 314, 315\n Chinese jade wands as, 385\n detected by R\u00f6ntgen rays, 358\n Egyptian necklace of, 317\n Egyptian, with engraved amethyst, 280\n encircled with elephant\u2019s hair, 375\n explanations of influence of, 313, 314\n for animals, 360\n fragments of skull used as, 331\u2013334\n from Pueblo Bonito ruins, 352\n from Russia, 308\n Gnostic, with seven vowels, 328\n _hei-tikis_ of New Zealand jade, 361\n Hindu, 330, 340\n in the Bible, 278, 322, 323, 325, 360\n in Ecuador, to arouse love, 350\n in Egypt, 317\u2013321\n in old Italian MS., 327, 328\n in Persian grave, 324\n jade, in Panama, 349\n life preserving, story of, 366, 367\n \u201cmummy eyes,\u201d Peruvian, 350\n of agate and coral in Spain, 367, 368\n of Catherine de\u2019 Medici, 334\n of hematite, 383\n of Mexican Indians, 348\n of Paris, 329\n of the Czar, 309\n Pascal\u2019s, 337\n pearls as, 392\n Queen Elizabeth\u2019s, 337\n set in the skin in Burma, 345\n \u201cTalisman of Charlemagne,\u201d 329\u2013331\n teeth and bone used as, 368, 369\n Tibetan, 343\u2013345\n used by Eskimos, 358, 359\n\n Anatganor, angel of December, 248\n\n Anaxagoras, predicts fall of meteorite, 80\n\n \u201cAngelical stone,\u201d for visions, 16\n\n Angels, 241\u2013251\n figures of, on medieval gems, 245\n guardian, 244, 246, 248, 249, 250\n in Song of Moses, 250\n Luther\u2019s opinion of guardian, 250\n Mohammedan, world-bearer, on ruby-rock, 248\n not to be worshipped outside the church, 244\n of months, in Sepher de-Adam Kadmah, 247, 248\n seven good, and seven bad, 246, 247\n\n Anglo-Saxon \u201cLaece Bok,\u201d of Bald, 331\n\n Anna, Santa, President of Mexico, 256\n\n Anne, St., 253, 272\n de Beaupr\u00e9, shrine of, 254\u2013256\n jewel dedicated to, 256\n relics of, 255, 256\n\n Antar, Persian hero, legend of, 88, 89\n\n Anthony, St., of Padua, 253, 266, 272\n medallion given to church of, by Pope Paul V, 254\n\n _Anthrax_, 401\n\n Aphrodite, 81\n\n Apollo, 3\n\n Apollonia, St., of Alexandria, 272\n legend of, 257\n\n Apollonius of Tyana, 81\n\n Aquamarine, engraved with head of Julia, 288\n\n \u201cAqua Tofana,\u201d 266\n\n Ariston, St., 252\n\n Aristophanes, 284\n\n Aristotle, pseudo-, 5, 69, 70, 163, 396\n\n Arnobio, Cleandro, 140, 142\n\n Arnobius, 74\n\n Arphe, Enrique d\u2019, 294\n\n Aschentrekker (ash-attractor), a Dutch designation of tourmaline, 52,\n 54\n\n Asis Artau, Francisco d\u2019, 295\n\n _Askal_, stone said to break the diamond, 69\n\n Assos, Asia Minor, stone of, 3\n\n Astarte, 81, 83\n\n Asteria, 291\n\n _Astroites_, 199\n\n _Atnongara_-stones of Australian medicine-men, 16\n\n Aubrey, John, 260\n\n Auspicius, St., 255\n\n Autoglyphus, 196\n\n \u201cAviator-stone,\u201d 116, 117\n\n Avicenna (Ben Sina), 90, 125, 138\n\n Aza\u00eal, angel, 246\n\n\n B\n\n Baccii, Andrea, 153\n\n _B\u00e6tyli_, 76, 82\n\n Bajazet II, Sultan, 291\n\n Balas-ruby, 401, 404\n\n Bannockburn, Battle of, 25\n\n Barbara de Portugal, Queen of Spain, 295\n\n Barbara, St., 273\n legend of, 258\n\n Barbosa, Duarte, 401\n\n Barnabas, St., 268, 273\n\n Baroda, Gaikwar of, 380\n\n Bartholom\u00e6us Anglicus, 147, 394, 395\n\n Bartholomew, St., 271\n\n Basill\u00e6, St., 252\n\n _Batt\u00ea ha-nephesh_ of Hebrews, 360\n\n Bauhin, Caspar, 202\n\n Bausch, 175, 176\n\n Belaleazar, Sebastian de, 311\n\n Belemnites, 112, 161, 191\n\n Bellermann, Johann Joachim, 278\n\n Belucci, Prof. Giuseppe, 107, 145, 200\n\n Benzinger, 78\n\n Berghem, Lodowyk van, 295\n\n Berlin Academy of Sciences, 54\n\n Bertholin, Caspar, 139\n\n Beryl, 287, 317\n curative use of, 130\n stone of Gad, symbolical meaning of, 283\n\n Bezoar, 13, 17, 123, 126, 160, 170, 201\u2013220\n American, 218, 219\n etymology of name, 203\n from monkeys, 203\n from skull of rhinoceros, 211\n genesis of, according to Peruvians, 210\n mineral, 211\n Occidental, 212\u2013215\n prices of, 204, 208, 214, 216, 218\n Queen Elizabeth\u2019s, 215\n Rudolph II\u2019s, 215, 216\n test of, as poison antidote, by Ambroise Par\u00e9, 205\u2013207\n by Emperor Rudolph II, 208, 209\n\n \u201cBlack magic,\u201d 29\n\n \u201cBlack stone\u201d of Kaabah at Mecca, 73, 84\u201388\n\n Blaise, St., 256, 257, 267, 273\n\n Blake, W. W., vii\n\n Bloodstone, 121, 286\n\n Bomare, Valmont de, 155, 217\n\n \u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d extracts from, 318\u2013320\n\n Boot, Anselmus de, 65, 144, 145, 151, 162, 165, 192, 199, 204, 223, 226\n\n Borodino, battle of, 96\n\n Borrichius, Plaus, 154\n\n Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 317\n\n Boulder\u2019s, legends of, 38 _sqq._, 263\n\n Boyle, Robert, 105, 125\n\n Braddock, Charles, vii\n\n Brant\u00f4me, Seigneur de, 305, 306\n\n Brereton, Sir William, 111\n\n Brezina, Aristides, 90\n\n British Museum, 32, 307\n\n Broca, Paul, 332\n\n Broichan the Druid and St. Columba, 24, 156\n\n _Brontia_, 162, 197, 198\n\n Browne, Sir Thomas, on amulets, 314\n\n Bruce, Robert, 25\n\n Br\u00fcckmann, U. F. B., 127\n\n _Bucardites_, 196\n\n Buddha, gem on images of, 297\n jewelled pagoda over sacred footprint of, 299\n solid gold image of, 303, 304\n vases offered to, 297\n\n _Bufonitis_, or \u201ctoad-stone,\u201d 163\n\n Burckhardt, 85\n\n Burgarde, St., 267\n\n Burton\u2019s \u201cAnatomy of Melancholy,\u201d on stone charms, 336\n\n\n C\n\n Caftanzoglu, 373\n\n _Callimus_, inclusion in _\u00e6tites_, 174, 175\n\n Callistratus, 62\n\n Callistus, St., 252\n\n Caloceri, St., 251\n\n Candlemas Day, 269, 272\n\n Ca\u00f1on Diablo meteorite, 99\u2013101\n diamonds in, 100, 101\n\n Canticles, 284, 322\n\n Cantimpr\u00e9, Thomas de, 12, 130, 164, 172, 180, 285, 336\n\n Cape York meteorites, 96\u201398\n chemical composition of, 98\n\n Carbuncle, 279, 387\n curative use of, 130\n luminous, story of, told by Cellini, 378\n\n Cardano, Girolamo, 144, 167, 336\n\n Carew, Sir George, 214\n\n Carnelian, 291, 297, 300, 317, 324, 361, 368, 378\n rings, Mohammed\u2019s good augury of, 379\n stone of Reuben, symbolical meaning of, 281\n used for amulets in ancient Egypt, 320\n\n Carpoforus, St., 252\n\n Carrington, Hereward, vii\n\n Catherine II, Empress, 387\n\n Catherine, St., of Alexandria, 259, 295\n\n Catlin, George, 35, 36\n\n Catlinite, 35, 37\n\n Cat\u2019s-eye, 11, 29\n\n Cecil, Henry, 235\n\n Cecil, Sir Robert, 214\n\n Cellini, Benvenuto, 20, 378\n\n _Ceraunia_, 82\n\n Ceylon, temple treasure in, 298, 299\n\n Chalcedony, 30, 31, 123, 131, 287, 291, 296, 301, 303, 361\n\n Chalchihuitl, 304, 305, 307, 348\n\n Charlemagne, Emperor, 189, 255, 288, 290\n talisman of, 329\u2013331\n\n Charles V, Emperor, 294, 306\n\n Charles V of France, 177\n\n Charles IX of France, 294\n\n Charles the Bald, 288\n\n Charm in old Italian MS., 327, 328\n\n _Chelidonius_, or \u201cswallow-stone,\u201d 119, 172\n\n _Chelonia_, 170, 171, 198\n\n Cheops, mummy of, decorated with precious stones, 279\n\n _Chesbet_, Egyptian name of lapis lazuli, 149\n\n Chicken Itz\u00e1, Sacred Well of, 307, 308\n\n Chinkstone (phonolite), 2\n\n Chladni, 95, 104\n\n Chlorophane, 237\n\n Christ, head of, engraved on emerald, 291, 292\n\n Christian II of Denmark, his magic pebble, 21\n\n Christian IV of Denmark, 140\n\n Christopher, St., 258, 259\n\n Christy collection, 309\n\n Christy, David, 218\n\n _Chrysocolla_, 53\n\n Chrysolite (peridot), 287, 291\n a sacred stone, 379\n in Shakespeare\u2019s Othello, 379\n\n Chrysoprase, 123, 277, 287\n\n _Cin\u00e6dias_, 169\n\n Claudian\u2019s epigrams on rock-crystal, 32\n\n Claui, St., 252\n\n Clemens, St., 252\n\n Clement VII, Pope, 387\n\n Clerc, G. O., vii\n\n Clotaire II, 262\n\n Cochrane, Capt. Charles Stuart, 312\n\n Coligny, Gaspard de, 207\n\n Color, harmony of, between gowns and jewels, 407\n\n Columba, St., and white pebbles, legend of, 24, 25, 156\n\n Conrad III, King of the Germans, 290\n\n Constantine the Great, 329\n\n Constantine XII, of Greece, star-sapphire in sword of, 372\u2013373\n\n Coral, 30, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 126, 298, 301, 304, 341, 371\n amulets of, in Spain, 368\n Crispi\u2019s amulet of, 339\n curative use of, 131\u2013133\n greatly favored in Tibet, 343\n in Benin, Africa, 379\n ominous change of hue, 132, 133\n selected for Dalai Lama\u2019s incense vessel, 303\n \u201ctincture of,\u201d 132\n worn by Queen Helena of Italy, 380\n\n _Cornu ammonis_, 197\n\n Cort\u00e9s, Hernan, 305, 307\n\n Corundum, 133\n varieties of, 396\n\n \u201cCrab\u2019s eye,\u201d 167\n\n \u201cCrabstone,\u201d 121, 122\n\n Crantz, David, 359\n\n _Crapaudine_, or \u201ctoad-stone,\u201d 164, 165\n\n Crescentius, St., 252\n\n Crispi, Francesco, 339\n\n Crispin and Crispian, SS., 259, 273\n\n Cross, jewelled, of Duke of Brunswick, 289\n of Zaccaria, 290, 291\n\n \u201cCrown of the Virgin,\u201d 287\n\n Crystal, magic, of a Fijian, 364\u2013366\n\n Crystal balls as curative amulets, 25\n\n Culin, Stewart, 358\n\n Curative \u201ccrystals\u201d of Australian medicine-men, 16\n of Kainug\u00e1 Indians of Paraguay, 18\n of New Guinea medicine-men, 19\n\n Curative use of gems, 118\u2013159\n for \u201cBlack Death\u201d plague, 120\n Francesco India\u2019s opinion of, 124, 125\n in Bohemia, 121\n in Denmark, 126\n in Leyden, 126, 127\n of particular stones, 129\u2013159\n prices of stones, 123\n Robert Boyle on, 125, 126\n\n Cushing, Lieut. F. H., 310, 358\n\n _Custodia_, or monstrance, examples of, in Spain, 294, 295\n\n Cuthbert, St., 273\n well of, 265\n\n Cybele, image of, a meteorite, 74, 75\n\n Cyprianus, St., 252, 253\n\n Cyriacus, St., 252\n\n\n D\n\n _Dagoba_, jewelled Buddhist reliquary, 300\n\n Damigeron, 129\n\n Daniel, Book of, 242, 243, 250\n\n David, St., 270, 273\n\n Davison, J. M., 99\n\n \u201cDawn stones\u201d (eoliths), 109\n\n Declan, St., 273\n stone named after him, 43\n\n De Foe, Daniel, 326\n\n Delphi, Omphalus of, probably a meteorite, 76\n\n \u201cDepositio Martirum\u201d of 354 A.D., 251, 252\n\n \u201cDevil\u2019s stone,\u201d boulder in East Prussia, 42\n\n Diamond, 16, 61, 294, 300, 304, 372, 387\n curative use of, 135\n in Ca\u00f1on Diablo meteorite, 99\u2013101\n said to have been given as poison in Baroda, 380\n uncut, in \u201cSacred Shrine\u201d of Chartres, 291\n with cross effect in black and white, 296, 297\n\n Diana, 81\n\n Diaz de Castillo, Bernal, 305\n\n Didanor, Angel of June, 247\n\n Dieris of Central Africa, rain-stones of the, 6\n\n Dietrich of Bern, Saga of, story of \u201cVictory Stone\u201d from, 199, 200\n\n Dioscorides, 150, 173\n\n Dodge, Mrs. William E., 99\n\n Dog-collars set with coral as cure for hydrophobia, 131\n\n Dolmens, curative stones of, 38\n whirling stones of, 39\n\n Domingo, Santo, Fiesta de, 309\n\n Donato, St., amulets of, 265\n\n Donne, John, 337\n\n Dragons, gem-bearing, of India, 11\n\n Draper, Mrs. Henry, vii\n\n \u201cDruid\u2019s glass,\u201d 227, 228\n\n\n E\n\n \u201cEaster stone,\u201d 285\n\n Ebers papyrus, 148, 149\n\n Echinites, 192, 193\n\n Egede, Hans, 359\n\n Elagabalus, Emperor, 83\n\n Eldred, John, 389\n\n Electric gems, 51\u201364\n\n Elephants, 299, 301\n\n \u201cElf-stones,\u201d 108, 109, 110, 161\n\n Elizabeth, Queen, 215, 337\n\n Eloy, St., 264, 273\n\n \u201cEmanism,\u201d term used to denote influence of amulets, 313\n\n Emerald, 4, 16, 29, 53, 68, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 131, 136, 277,\n 278, 287, 291, 294, 298, 304, 310, 317, 324, 330, 343, 371, 395\n ancient, from Berenice, Egypt, 382\n cast into sacred lake of Guatavita, Colombia, 311\n curative use of, 135\n dedicated to Venus, 305\n engraved with head of Christ, 291, 292\n in cathedral of Mainz, 295\n of Hernan Cort\u00e9s, 305\n of Temple of Melkarth at Tyre, 81\n stone of Levi, symbolical meaning of, 281\n\n _Enastros_, 192, 194\n\n Encelius, 167\n\n Enimie, St., legend of, 262, 264\n\n _Entrochus_, 192, 194\n\n Ephesian writings for amulets, etc., 325\n\n Ephesus, Temple of Diana at, 81\n\n _\u00c9preuve_, or tester, 181\n\n Erasmus, 164\n\n Erasmus, St., 267\n\n Erman, Adolph, 149\n\n Erosion of stones and pebbles, 22\n\n Ethelred II, 152\n\n Eug\u00e9nie, Empress, 331\n\n Eulalia, St., 269\n\n \u201cEvil eye,\u201d 131, 265, 315, 320, 339, 344, 345\u2013347, 367, 368\n\n \u201cExpanding stone,\u201d 45\n\n\n F\n\n Fabianus, St., 251, 253\n\n Fairbanks, Arthur, vii\n\n \u201cFairy stones,\u201d 37\n\n Farrington, O. C., vii\n\n \u201cFatima\u2019s hand,\u201d 347\n\n Feavearyear, A. W., vii\n\n Feldspar, 30, 77, 324\n in \u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d 318, 319\n\n Felicissimus, St., 252\n\n Felicitas, St., 251, 253, 274\n\n Felix, St., 252\n\n Ferdinand III, Emperor, 15\n\n Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, vii\n\n Filippus, St., 252\n\n Filocalus, Furius Dionysius, calendar of, 251\n\n Floating-stones, 223\n\n Flower jewels, 342, 343\n\n Foote, A. E., 101\n\n Fossils and concretions, virtues of, 160\u2013190\n\n Fox, John, Jr.\u2019s \u201cTrail of the Lonesome Pine,\u201d 37\n\n Foy, Sainte, statuette of, 261, 262\n\n Francis I of Austria, 89\n\n Franklin, Benjamin, on tourmaline, 57\n\n Frederick III of Denmark, 126\n\n French Academy of Sciences, 54\n\n\n G\n\n Gabelchover, Wolfgang, 153, 158\n\n Gabriel, archangel, 243, 245, 246, 250 334\n\n Galactite, 3, 4\n\n Galba, Emperor, 83\n\n Galen, 136, 137, 146, 188, 232\n\n Garcias ab Orta, 68, 204\n\n Garcilasso de la Vega, 214\n\n Garnet, 123, 291, 296, 309, 317, 330\n\n \u201cGascoigne\u2019s powder,\u201d 127, 128\n\n Gaster, 371\n\n \u201cGem of Sovranty\u201d or \u201cGem of the King of Kings,\u201d 11\n\n Gem-cutters, American Indian, 381\n\n George V, King, 362\n\n George, St., 261, 274\n legend of, 260\n thalers, 260\n\n Gesner, Conrad, 4, 54, 73, 144\n\n Gesta Romanorum, snake story from, 238\n\n Giglioli, Enrico H., 364\n\n Girasol, 291\n\n _Gl\u00e6sum_ (amber), 60\n\n _Glossopetr\u00e6_, 161, 180, 188\u2013190\n\n Gnostics, magic jewels of, 328\n\n \u201cGodstones\u201d buried with the dead, 23\n\n \u201cGolden Cacique\u201d (El Dorado) at Lake Guatavita, 311\n\n Gordian the Younger, Emperor, 326\n\n Gorgonus, St., 252\n\n _Grammatias_, variety of jasper, 284\n\n Green, Miss Bella Da Costa, vii\n\n Gregory X, Pope, 119\n\n Gregory XIII, Pope, 212\n\n Gregory of Tours, his account of Paris talismans, 329\n\n Guatavita, Lake of, treasures thrown in, 310\u2013312\n\n _Guligas_ (bezoars) artificially induced by Dayaks of Borneo, 217\n\n\n H\n\n Haberden, William, his researches on tourmaline, 56, 57\n\n Hadrian, Emperor, 1\n\n Hahedan, angel of October, 248\n\n Hair-balls, 220, 221\n\n _Hajar al-hattaf_, or \u201chen-stone,\u201d 181\n\n Hajar al-hayyat (\u201cmadstone\u201d), 225\n\n _Hajer al-Kelb_, \u201cdog-stone,\u201d 11, 12\n\n _Hajer al-mathar_, Arabic rain-stone, 5\n\n Hammer-Purgstall, 89\n\n Harington, Sir James, 120\n\n Haupt, Paul, 277\n\n Ha\u00fcy, Abb\u00e9, 56\n\n Haye, Olivier de la, his poem on \u201cBlack Death,\u201d 120\n\n Hei-tikis, carved jades of New Zealand, 361\n\n Helena, Queen, 380\n\n Helena, St., 329\n\n Heliotrope, 291\n\n Hematite, 124, 125, 320\n American Indian artefacts of, 382, 383\n black, Abraxas gem of, 287\n curative use of, 136\u2013138\n\n He-no, Iroquois god of thunder, 107\n\n Henri II, of France, 334\n\n Herculanus, St., 252\n\n Hermetes, St., 252\n\n Herodian, 74\n\n Hertz, B., 48\n\n Hildburgh, W. L., 367\n\n Hildegard, St., her theory of curative stones, 13\n\n Hill, Sir John, 118\n\n Hippocrates of Cos, 333\n\n Hofmann, Johann Peter, alchemist, 15, 16\n\n Hoffman\u2019s \u201cFr\u00e4ulein von Scud\u00e9ry,\u201d 371\n\n Holme, Saxe (pseudonym), 51\n\n Holmes, W. H., vii\n\n Hope, Henry Philip, collection of, 48\n\n Hortense, Queen, 330\n\n Hugo, Victor, 153\n\n Huntington, O. W., 101\n\n Huth, Ernst, 235\n\n Huxley, Thomas, 105\n\n Hyacinth (sapphire?), 282\n\n _Hy\u00e6nia_, 169\n\n Hydaspes River, stone of, 2\n\n Hyde, Major, 309\n\n Hydrophane, or \u201cmagic stone,\u201d 240\n\n _Hysterolithus_, 75, 195, 196\n\n\n I\n\n Ibn Al-Beithar, 11, 148, 167\n\n Ibn Batoutah, 84\n\n Ibn Kadho Shobah, 4\n\n Ichthys, angel, 246\n\n Iliad, 138\n\n Inclusions in crystals, 31, 34\n\n India, Francesco, 121, 124\n\n \u201cIndian stone,\u201d 163\n\n Innocent VIII, Pope, 291\n\n Isabel of Bavaria, precious-stone remedy of, 177\n\n Ivory, 303\n\n Ixmaracdus, St., 252\n\n\n J\n\n Jacinth, 123, 124, 125, 127, 184, 291, 296\n curative use of, 138\n\n Jacinti, St., 252\n\n Jackson, Helen Hunt, 51\n\n Jacob\u2019s stone at Bethel, 76, 78\n\n Jade, 4, 77, 121, 283, 285, 324, 348, 359, 383, 384, 404\n amulets of white, 342\n as preservative of dead body, 142\n carved amulets of, in Panama, 348, 349\n Chinese girdle pendants of, 341\n Chinese wands of, 384\n curative use of, 139\u2013143\n disk of, in Temple of Heaven, Peking, 302\n Eskimo talismans of, 358\n _hei-tiki_ amulets of, from New Zealand, 361\n in Egypt, 319\n in New Caledonia, 363, 364\n mortuary tablets of, Chinese, 384\n of New Zealand, 362\n ornaments of, from Syria, 384\n Queen Alexandra\u2019s, 362\n\n Jadeite, 77, 304, 305\n\n Jagannath, 339, 340\n\n James I of England, 49, 301\n\n James, St., 271, 274\n\n Jargoon, 120\n\n Jasper, 4, 30, 53, 124, 148, 286, 287, 296, 317, 324, 383\n curative use of, 144, 145\n Eskimo talisman of, 358\n stone of Asher, symbolical meaning of, 283\n talismanic virtue of, 284\n\n Jehangir, Mogul Emperor, 92, 208, 301, 383, 405\n\n Jeremiel, angel, 251\n\n Jerome, St., 176, 274\n on jasper talismans, 284\n on jewels of Prince of Tyre, 280\n\n Jerusalem, Temple of, 9\n stones of the New, 70\n\n Jessen, Peter, vii\n\n Jet, 352, 386\n curative use of, 146, 147\n\n Jeweller\u2019s dictum in old London, 407\n\n Job, Book of, 250\n\n John XXI, Pope, 119\n\n John, St., 267, 271, 274\n\n John the Baptist, 290, 306\n\n Joseph, St., 266\n\n Josephine, Empress, 330\n\n Judd, Neil M., vii\n\n Julianetes, St., 252\n\n Julius II, Pope, 267\n\n Jupiter the Thunderer, 82\n\n Juvenal, 60\n\n\n K\n\n Kaabah at Mecca, black stone of, 73, 84\u201388\n\n Kaempfer, Engelbert, 207, 209\n\n Khusrau Nushirwan, 89\n\n Khusrau II, 69\n\n K\u2019ien-lung, Emperor, 302\n\n King, Rev. C. W., 62, 328\n\n Kircher, Athanasius, his theory of _lusus natur\u00e6_, 50\n\n Koenig, 99, 100\n\n Kohut, 243\n\n _Krallenstein_, 193\n\n Krishna, 37\n\n\n L\n\n _Lacrima cervi_, \u201cstag\u2019s tear,\u201d 170\n\n Laet, Johann de, 53, 54, 141, 190, 192\n\n \u201cLake George diamonds,\u201d 26\n\n _Lami\u00e6_, 190\n\n Lanciani, 75\n\n _Languier_, or \u201ctester,\u201d 181\n\n Lannes, Marshal, 295\n\n _Lapides caymanum_, 181\n\n _Lapis Armenus_, 124, 149\n curative use of, 147, 148\n\n _Lapis carpionis_, 168, 169\n\n _Lapis Judaicus_, 187, 194\n\n _Lapis lazuli_, 78, 123, 124, 148, 149, 280, 284, 297, 298, 301, 317,\n 320, 324\n in \u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d 318\n large mass of, found in Indian grave, 386\n religious use of, in Ecuador, 308\n stone of Issachar, symbolical meaning of, 282\n\n _Lapis Malacensis_, 204\n\n _Lapis manati_, 181, 182\n\n _Lapis nephriticus_ (jade), 140\n\n Laufer, Berthold, 304\n\n Laurence, St., 267\n\n Laurentus, St., 252\n\n Lavoisier, 94\n\n Lebour, Mrs. Nona, vii\n\n L\u00e9mery, M. Louis, 54\n\n Leo IV, Pope, 126\n\n Leo X, Pope, 386\n\n Leopold, Emperor, 16\n\n Liceti, Fortunio, 344\n\n _Lingucs Melitenses_, 189\n\n Linn\u00e6us, 54\n\n \u201cLithica,\u201d Orphic poem on stones, 137, 224\n\n Lithomania, 19\n\n \u201cLiver-stones,\u201d 186\n\n Livia, wife of Augustus, 397\n\n Loadstone, 64\u201368, 119, 313\n as elixir of youth, 68\n oracle, De Boot\u2019s, 65, 66\n for the gout, 68\n of Maniol\u00e6 Islands, 64\n Robert Norman\u2019s poem on, 66, 67\n\n Loch-mo-naire in Scotland, legend of, 155, 156\n\n \u201cLoda\u2019s stone of power,\u201d 35\n\n Los Muertos, Zu\u00f1i, jar with turquoise inlays found at, 309\n\n Lough Neagh, Ireland, legend of yellow crystal there, 35\n\n Louis XIV, 133\n\n Louis XVI, 153\n\n Louvre Museum, 280, 291, 389\n\n Lucia, St., 258, 271, 275\n legend of, 257\n\n \u201cLucky stone,\u201d 28\n\n Luminous stone of male cobra, 237\n\n Lusus Natur\u00e6, stones bearing naturally marked images, 47\u201351\n\n Luther, Martin, 249\n\n _Lychnis_ of Pliny (tourmaline?), 52\n\n _Lychnites_, 176\n\n Lysander, 79\n\n\n M\n\n Maccab\u00e6us, Judas, 325\n\n \u201c_Madstones_,\u201d 225 _sqq._\n\n _Mafkat_ (Egyptian for turquoise?), 316\n\n Magic stones, 1\u201371, 109 _sqq._\n belief in, condemned by Church Councils, 38, 39\n \u201cday-stone\u201d and \u201cnight-stone,\u201d 70\n of Guernsey, 40\n of Island of Arran, 40\n of Island of Fladda, 40\n stone that attracts hair, 69, 70\n\n _Magnes_ (loadstone), 124\n\n Magnusen, Finn, 198\n\n _Main-de-gloire_, 334\n\n Malachite, 148, 291\n curative use of, 150\n\n \u201cMalediction stones\u201d in Ireland, 46, 47\n\n Mallet, F. H., 233\n\n Mamoun, Khalif, 279\n\n Maquam Ibrahim, sacred stone in Kaabah at Mecca, 88\n\n Marbodus of Rennes, 174\n\n Marco Polo, 343\n\n Margaret, St., 270, 275\n\n Margarita, Queen of Italy, 380\n\n Marguerite de Flandres, 335\n\n Mariette, 279\n\n Mark, St., 290\n\n Marquette, Jacques, 35\n\n Marriage sword, Chinese ceremony of, 384, 385\n\n Marshall, J. H., 299\n\n Martial, 60\n\n Martin, St., 271\n and the Devil, legend of, 44\n\n Mary of Scotland, 337\n\n Mask, ancient Mexican, with turquoise inlays, 306, 307\n\n Mas\u2019\u00fbdi\u2019s \u201cMeadows of Gold,\u201d 321, 322\n\n Matthias, St., 270\n\n Meander River, magic stone of, 12\n\n \u201cMedian stone,\u201d for colic, 144, 151\n\n Medici, Catherine de\u2019, 332\n her bracelet of charms, 334\n\n Medicine-men, 348, 349, 353\u2013358\n cure by dancing and howling, 357\n in Australia, 17\n medicine-bag of, 356, 360\n of the Kainug\u00e1 Indians, Paraguay, 18\n of New Guinea, 19\n\n Medicine-women of Araucarian Indians, Chili, 351\n\n Megara, sonorous stone at, 2\n\n Megenberg, Konrad von, 12, 151\n\n Memmi\u00e6, St., 252\n\n Memnon, Vocal, 1\n\n Mentzel, Christian, 187\n\n Mephniel, angel of January, 248\n\n Mercato, Michele, 93, 212\n\n _Mesticas_ of the Malays, 17, 18\n invulnerability conferred by, 18\n\n Meteorites, 72\u2013117\n accidents caused by, 102\u2013104\n coins representing, 90, 91\n collection of, in Vienna, 90\n from Cape York, 96\u201398\n from Kiowa Co., Kansas, 101, 102\n from Willamette, Ore., 98, 99\n of \u00c6gospotami, 79, 80\n of Bacubrit, Mexico, 103\n of Book of Joshua, 79\n of Ca\u00f1on Diablo, 99\u2013101\n of Castrovilarii, Calabria, 93\n of Diana Temple at Ephesus, 81\n of Eisleben, 103\n of Ensisheim, 73\n of Knyahinya, Hungary, 102\n of Lahore, India, 92\n of Luce, Dept. Marne, France, 94\n of Magdeburg, 91\n of Mecca (Black Stone), 73, 84\u201388\n of Paphos, 81\n of Pergamos, brought to Rome, 74\n of Radacofani, Italy, 91\n of Zanzibar, 71\n Pallas, or Krasnojarsk, 95\n _pwdre ser_, or \u201cstar-rot\u201d of Welsh, 104\u2013106\n Swords made of, 88\u201390, 92\n \u201cVerw\u00fcnschte Burggraf\u201d of Elbogen, 89, 90\n\n Michael, archangel, 243, 245, 246, 250, 334\n\n Mid\u00eawiwin, or Great Medicine Society of the Ojibways, 354, 355\n magic stone of, 354\n medicine-bag used by, 356\n\n Milinda, King, 11\n\n Milo of Croton, wore an _alectorius_, 179\n\n _Milprey_, \u201cthousand worms,\u201d Cornish name of a snake-stone, 227\n\n \u201cMineral stone,\u201d for turning pebbles into precious stones, 16\n\n Mohammed, 74, 84\n\n Mohammed Ben Mansur, 396, 397\n\n Mohammed Ghazni, Sultan, 90\n\n Moissan, Henri, 100\n\n Monardes, Nicolo, in jade, 139, 201, 203\n\n Montezuma\u2019s gifts to Cort\u00e9s, 305, 307, 309\n\n Months, angels of the, 247\n\n Moonstone, remarkable, of Pope Leo X, 386\n\n Moonstone Beach, Santa Catalina Island, pebbles from, 30\n\n Moore, Thomas, 250\n\n Morael, angel of September, 248\n\n Morgan, Henry de, 323\n\n Morgan, J. Pierpont, 185\n\n \u201cMummy eyes,\u201d Peruvian, 352\n\n Museum of University of Pennsylvania, 358\n\n\n N\n\n Napoleon I, 96, 295\n\n Napoleon III, Emperor, 330\n\n Nash, Thomas, 166\n\n Nautilus pearls, 391\n\n Nebuchadnezzar I, 78\n\n Necklace of the Egyptian Princess Sat-Hathor-Ant, XII Dynasty, 317, 318\n\n _Neshem_-stone, 320\n\n New Caledonian stone amulets, 45\n\n New Zealand jade, _punamu_ or \u201cgreen-stone,\u201d 361\u2013363\n\n Newton, Hubert A., 72, 73, 74\n\n Nicholas I, Emperor, 285\n\n Nicholas, St., 275\n legend of, 258\n\n Nicholas, St., of Bari, \u201cmanna\u201d of, 266\n\n Nicostratus, St., 252\n\n Noah\u2019s rain-stone, 4, 5\n\n Nonnus, St., 252\n\n Nordenskiold, Baron N. A. E., 97\n\n Norman, Robert, poem on loadstone, 66\n\n _Nung-gara_, or Australian medicine-men, 17\n\n\n O\n\n _Oleum succini_, 64\n\n _Ombria_, 162, 197, 198\n\n Onyx, 277, 335, 369\n curative use of, 151\u2013153\n stone of Zebulon, symbolical meaning of, 282\n wonderful cup of, belonging to Duke of Brunswick, 387\n\n Opal, 372, 374, 407\n favored by Queen Victoria, 375\n parure of, for Empress Augusta, 375\n\n Orchamps, Baronesse d\u2019, 371\n\n Osman, Augustin, 374\n\n _Ostrea Singapora_, 391\n\n _Ostrites_, 224, 225\n\n Otilia, St., 267\n\n Overbury, Sir Thomas, 381\n\n Ovid, 131\n\n _Ovum anguinum_, 162, 197, 221\u2013224, 226\n\n _Oyaron_, Indian amulet-control, 354\n\n\n P\n\n _Padparasham-gem_ (corundum) of Ceylon, 395\n\n Palladius, 64\n\n Par\u00e9, Ambroise, 206, 207\n\n Paris, Matthew, 152\n\n Paris talismans, Gregory of Tours\u2019 account of, 329\n\n Parthenus, St., 251\n\n Pascal, Blaise, amulet of, 337, 338\n\n _Pater de sang_, or \u201cblood-rosary,\u201d 133\n\n Patrick, St., 43, 225\n\n Paul II, Pope, 126\n\n Paul V, Pope, 254\n\n Paul, St., 269, 275\n at Malta, 161, 189\n\n Pausanius, 2\n\n \u201cPeace Stone,\u201d 58\n\n Pearls, 20, 120, 124, 126, 127, 277, 280, 291, 294, 299, 300, 304, 305,\n 330, 341, 380, 387\n Arabic theory of genesis of, 388, 394\n \u201ccocoanut,\u201d supposed, 391\n from Philippines, 391, 392\n immense baroque, 392\n Mme. Thiers\u2019 necklace of, 389\n necklace of, in Persian grave, 324\n of nautilus, 391\n \u201cpowder,\u201d 390\n Rumphius on supposed breeding of, 392\n story of a luminous, 390\n story of, thrown into Venetian canal by pearl-dealer, 393\n strange tale of, 388, 389\n\n Peary, Admiral Robert E., 96\n\n \u201cPebble-mania,\u201d 19, 20\n among birds, 20\n\n Pebbles, ornamental, 19\u201331\n worn by Hindus, 37\n\n Penel, angel, 246\n\n Pepper, George H., 352\n\n Peridot (chrysolite), 281\n\n Perkin Warbeck, 401\n\n Perpetua, St., 251, 253\n\n Persian princess, jewels in her grave, 323\u2013325\n\n Pescadero Beach, Cal., pebbles from, 30\n\n Peter, St., 250, 251, 276, 290\n\n Peter\u2019s, St., in Rome, 51\n\n Petrie, Flinders, 317\n\n Petrograd Museum of Natural History, 95\n\n Petrus Hispanus (Pope John XXI), 119\n\n Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 32\n\n Philippine pearls, 391, 392\n\n \u201cPhilosopher\u2019s Stone,\u201d 14, 16\n\n Phonolite, 2\n\n _Pierre de sant\u00e9_, 153\n\n _Pierres de foudre_, 94\n\n \u201c_Pierres tourniresses_,\u201d or whirling stones, 39\n\n _Pietre gravide_, or \u201cpregnant stones,\u201d 178\n\n Pilatus Mountain, Lake Lucerne, galactite found on, 4\n\n \u201cPipestone,\u201d 35\n\n _Piropholos_, stone from heart of a poisoned man, 12\n\n Pitchblende, 129\n\n _Pitdah_, stone of high-priest\u2019s breastplate, 403\n\n Plasma-emerald, 20\n\n Plato\u2019s Ph\u00e6don, _daimon_, or guardian angel in, 246\n\n Pliny, 3, 32, 52, 62, 80, 82, 129, 137, 146, 169, 170, 172, 173, 188,\n 196, 221, 222, 224, 226\n\n Plutarch, 80, 82\n\n Pogue, Joseph E., 353\n\n Point Barrow Eskimos, amulets of, 358, 359\n\n Ponce de Leon, 14\n\n Poncet, Charles Jacques, 210\n\n Pontianus, St., 252\n\n \u201cPorcupine-stone,\u201d 184, 185\n\n Precious stones thrown up on coast of Alexandria, Egypt, 321\n\n Procopius, 64\n\n Protus, St., 252\n\n Psellus, 129, 135\n\n Ptolemy the Geographer, 382\n\n _Pwdre ser_, \u201cstar-rot,\u201d 104\u2013106\n\n Pyrite, curative use of, 153\n\n\n Q\n\n Quartz, 324\n for labrets and for nose-jewels in Africa, 398, 399\n from Indian mounds, 26\n from Lake George, 26\n from Yucatan, 26\n of large size, from North Carolina, 26\n rutilated, 32\n used by Araucarian medicine-women, 351\n with inclusions, 30\u201334\n\n Quartz pebbles, 19 _sqq._\n in Indian skeleton\u2019s hand, 28\n in prehistoric graves, 24\n polished by water or glacial action, 21, 22\n with inclusions, 29, 30\n\n Quirinius, St., 267\n\n\n R\n\n Radium, 129\n\n Raguel, angel, 245\n of May, 247\n\n \u201cRainbow agate,\u201d 377, 378\n\n \u201cRainbow-disease,\u201d 114\n\n Rain-making stones, 4\u20137\n Arabic, 5\n from Karmania, 5\n of Africa tribes, 5, 6\n of Australian tribes, 6\n of Noah, 5\n Persian, 5\n stone crosses as, 7\n Turkish, 4\n\n Raphael, archangel, 243, 245, 250\n\n Raziel, angel, 247\n\n Redi, Francesco, 232\n\n Redondo Beach, Cal., pebbles from, 30, 31\n\n Red-paint People of Maine, 28\n\n Reed, Sir Charles Hercules, vii\n\n Reich, David, 192, 199\n\n Religious use of precious stones, 277\u2013312\n\n Renouf, P. Le Page, 319\n\n Revelation, Book of, 243\n\n Rhodonite used for tomb of Nicholas I, 285\n as \u201cEaster Stone,\u201d 285\n\n Rivaud, Charles, 375\n\n Roch, St., 259, 267, 276\n\n Rock-crystal, 123, 170, 285, 297, 317\n as a rain-stone, 6, 7\n Chinese name of, 398\n curative use of, 153\u2013157\n immense vessels of, 398\n \u201cperfect jewel\u201d of Japanese, 345\n recommended in law suit by Aristophanes, 397\n See also Quartz\n\n Roe, Sir Thomas, 301\n\n \u201cRoland\u2019s Foot,\u201d stone at Toufailles, France, 43\n\n R\u00f6ntgen rays to detect amulets, 358\n\n Rosaries, 202\n Hindu, 293\n legend of, 293\n\n Rose-quartz, 384\n\n Royal National Museum of Munich, 288\n\n \u201cRoyal stone,\u201d from eagle\u2019s head, 13\n\n Rubellite, 384\n\n Ruby, 11, 16, 58, 123, 125, 291, 294, 296, 297, 299, 314, 343, 407\n of Pegu, 401\n on mummy of Cheops, 279\n Mohammedan Atlas stands on, 248\n origin of Burmese, 400\n stone of Judah, symbolical meaning of, 282\n \u201cThe Merchant of the,\u201d 400\n\n Rudolph II, Emperor, 208, 215\n\n Rumphius, Georg Eberhard, 18, 238, 244, 392\n\n\n S\n\n Sabaoth, angel, 245\n\n \u201cSacred shrine\u201d of Cathedral of Chartres, 291\n\n Sacred stone of Kiowa Indians, 44\n\n Sadlier, Rev. Charles, vii\n\n Saints\u2019 Days, alphabetical list of, 272\u2013276\n\n _S\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma_-stone of Hindus, 196\u2013198\n emblem of Vishnu, 196\n neither Sudra nor Pariah may wear, 198\n\n Sammonicus, Serenus, 326\n\n Sanchoniathon, 81\n\n Santa Casa of Loreto, 186, 267\n\n Santos-Dumont\u2019s loadstone, 264\n\n Sapphire, 11, 16, 31, 58, 119, 123, 124, 125, 284, 285, 287, 290, 291,\n 294, 299, 304, 330, 336, 343, 407\n Bartholom\u00e6us Angelicus on, 395\n carved, from India, 300\n curative use of, 157, 158, 184\n in talisman of Charlemagne, 329\n of Ceylon, 402\n stone of Joseph, symbolical meaning of, 282\n test of a, 394\n\n Sarcophagus-stone, 3\n\n Sard, 287\n\n Sardonyx, 123, 291, 372\n engraved gem of, 288\n\n Saturninus, St., 252\n\n Sauvageot collection, 291\n\n Scarabs, 320, 321\n\n Schliemann, Heinrich, 323\n\n Schola Salernitana, 120\n\n Schrott, John, 230\n\n _Schwindelstein_ (vertigo-stone), 153\n\n Scipio Africanus, 74\n\n Sebastian, St., 251, 259, 276, 290\n\n Secundus, St., 252, 276\n\n Seiler, Wenzel, alchemist, 15\n\n Seleucia, meteorite of, 81\n\n Semnes, St., 252\n\n Sempronianus, St., 252\n\n Seneca, 82\n\n \u201cSepher de-Adam Kadmah,\u201d 247\n\n Serpentine, 320, 350\n\n \u201cSerpents\u2019 eggs,\u201d 221\u2013224, 226\n\n Seuerianus, St., 252\n\n _Shahkevheren_, or \u201cKing of Jewels,\u201d 68, 69\n\n _Shah-muhra_, Persian magic stone, 13\n\n Shakespeare, 162, 260, 337, 379, 391, 393\n\n _Shamir_, mysterious Hebrew stone, 7\u201310\n Arabic legend regarding, 9\n in the Bible, 7, 8\n in Rabbinical legend, 8\n\n Sharks\u2019 teeth, fossil, 190\n\n Sh\u2019efiel, angel of April, 247\n\n _Shoham_-stone, 277\n\n Siamese girl\u2019s consecration, jewels worn at, 342\n\n Signatures, doctrine of, 118\n\n Silanus, St., 252\n\n Simon and Jude, SS., 271\n\n Skulls, disks from, as talismans, 331\u2013334\n in Buddhist legend, 332, 333\n in neolithic times, 333\n on bracelet of Catherine de\u2019 Medici, 334\n\n _Smaragdus_, 319, 320, 384\n\n \u201cSnake-stone,\u201d 221\u2013240\n\n Snouck-Hurgronje, Dr. C., 87\n\n Socrates, 397\n\n Solomon, 9, 10\n\n \u201cSouthern stone\u201d in Kaabah at Mecca, 87\n\n Spangenberg\u2019s Saxon Chronicle, 103\n\n \u201cSpider-stone,\u201d 183, 184\n anecdote of, 183\n\n Spinel, 296\n\n Spitzer collection, 185\n\n \u201cSt. Paul\u2019s earth,\u201d 189\n\n Star-sapphire, as Christmas gem, 286\n set in hilt of sword given King Constantine XII of Greece, 372, 373\n\n Steatite, 300\n\n _Steinzungen_, 189\n\n Stone Age in China, 76\u201378\n\n \u201cStone of the Banner,\u201d 25\n\n \u201cStones of the cobra,\u201d 231, 232, 235\u2013238\n\n _St\u00fbpra_, celestial, Hindu shrine, 298\n\n Suckling, Sir John, 104\n\n Suetonius, 83\n\n Suffrage Party, amazon-stone as symbol of, 374\n\n Sunstone, 387\n\n Sutton, Edward Forrester, vii\n\n Swithin, St., 270, 276\n\n Swords made of meteoric iron, 88\u201390, 92\n\n Symbolic jewel composed of three keys, 375\n\n Sympathetic magic, doctrine of, 366\n\n\n T\n\n Ta\u2019anbanu, angel of July, 247\n\n Tabasheer, 149, 233, 235\n\n Tacitus, 60, 81\n\n Talismans, see amulets\n\n Tan Sien Ko, vii\n\n Tashnedernis, angel of February, 248\n\n Tasmanian rain-makers, 34\n\n Taurinus, St., 252\n\n Tavernier, Jean Baptiste, 110, 185, 230, 231, 235\n\n _Tecolithos_, 188\n\n Teeth as amulets, 368\n inlaid with precious stones, 406, 407\n\n Tetragrammaton, 278\n\n Thales, 63\n\n Thebes, 1, 2\n\n Theophrastus, 3, 53, 118, 173, 401\n\n _Theriaca Andromachi_ or \u201cVenice treacle,\u201d 121\n\n \u201cThesaurus Pauperum\u201d of Pope John XXI, 119\n\n \u201cThetis\u2019s hair stone,\u201d 29\n\n Thevenot, M. de, 231\n\n Thiers, Mme., pearl necklace of, 389\n\n Thomas, St., 268, 271\n\n Thoth, named \u201cTrismegistos\u201d by the Greeks, 320\n\n \u201cThunder-stones,\u201d 76, 86, 83, 92, 94, 106\u2013116, 161, 350\n\n Thurston, Sir J., 366\n\n Tiberius C\u00e6sar, 291, 292\n\n Tibetan jewelry, 341\n\n Tiffany and Co., 373\n\n Timoteus, St., 252\n\n Toad-stone, 162\u2013167, 192\n\n Tobit, Book of, 243, 250\n\n Tofte, Richard, 61\n\n Tohargar, angel of August, 247\n\n Topaz, 11, 58, 124, 287, 290, 291, 372, 407\n curative use of, 158, 159\n etymology of name, 403\n \u201cMaxwell-Stuart,\u201d 404\n\n Tourmaline, 51\u201360, 384, 407\n as Peace Stone, 58\n brought to Holland from Ceylon, 52\n experiments on, by Aepinus, 54\n by L\u00e9mery in 1717, 55\n from Mount Mica, Maine, 51\n letter of Franklin on, 57, 58\n named Aschentrekker by Dutch, 52\n story of, \u201cMy Tourmaline,\u201d by Helen Hunt Jackson, 51, 52\n\n Trallianus, Alexander, 144\n\n Trephining in primitive times to obtain skull-talismans, 332, 333\n\n Tribes, Hebrew, meaning of their names, 281\u2013284\n\n _Trochites_, 192, 193\n\n Trowbridge, Breck, 373\n\n _Tse-boum_, or incense vase, in Dalai Lama\u2019s palace at Lhasa, 302\n\n Tubuas, angel, 245\n\n _Turmali_, Cinghalese name of tourmaline, 52\n\n Turquoise, 20, 159, 291, 296, 310\n amulets of, from Pueblo Bonito, 352\n book on, by Dr. Joseph E. Pogue, 353\n favorite stone in Tibet, 343, 344, 404\n in ancient Egyptian tale, 316\n in ancient Persian jewels, 324\n inlays of, in Mexican masks, 306, 307\n large pendant of, on Buddha\u2019s statue, 304\n meaning of Persian name of, 316\n offered to image of Santo Domingo, 309\n of Los Cerrillos, 309\n religious favor given to, in Tibet, 304\n set in sheep\u2019s eyes, 316\n Shylock\u2019s, 337\n valued by Pima Indians of Arizona, 353\n\n Tycho Brahe, 179\n\n\n U\n\n Uleranen, angel of November, 248\n\n _Ultunda_-stones of Australian medicine-men, 16\n\n _Umbilicus marinus_, 191\n\n Uriel, archangel, 243, 245, 246, 251, 334\n\n Urim and Thummim, 278\n\n\n V\n\n Valentine, St., 270, 276\n\n Vases offered to the Buddha, 297\n\n Verres, Caius, 405, 406\n\n Verus, Lucius, 397\n\n Victoria, Queen, 48, 375\n\n Victorini, St., 252\n\n Vienna, Natural History Museum of, 90\n\n Virgil, 82\n\n \u201cVirgin\u2019s milk,\u201d 4\n\n Vishnu, double footprint of, legend regarding, 340\n\n Vitus, St., 270, 276\n\n Vlasto, D., 373\n\n Volmar, 13\n\n\n W\n\n Wada, T., vii\n\n Walpole, Horace, 381\n\n Walpurgis, St., Day, 21\n\n Ward, W. Hayes, vii\n\n \u201cWatermelon stone,\u201d variety of tourmaline, 58\n\n Weighing of the Mogul Emperor, 301\n\n Wells, T. Tilestone, 373\n\n Wenceslaus Chapel in St. Veit\u2019s at Prague, adorned with precious\n stones, 296\n\n \u201cWhitby jet,\u201d 380\n\n White, H. C., 239\n\n \u201cWhite magic,\u201d 29\n\n White quartz of Clan Donnachaidh, 24, 25\n in Indian mounds, 27\n from Pueblo region of Southwest, 27\n\n White stones in burials, 23, 24, 27\n in Isle of Man, 34\n oaths taken on, 35\n\n Whitfield, J. E., 98, 99\n\n Wilkes, Major J. D., 218\n\n Willamette meteorite, 98, 99\n chemical composition of, 99\n\n Wilson, Robert, 154\n\n \u201cWitch-stones,\u201d 200\n\n Wittich, Johann, 132\n\n Wolff, Johann, 126\n\n Wright, Thomas, 153\n\n Wundt, Wilhelm Max, 313\n\n\n X\n\n Xystus, St., 252\n\n\n Y\n\n Yeamans, Mrs. Annie, 374\n\n Ypolitus, St., 252\n\n\n Z\n\n Zemzem, well of, at Mecca, 87\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Rosenfeld, \u201cSinging and Speaking Stones\u201d; Scientific American Suppl.\n No. 1720, p. 395, Dec. 19, 1908.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n Johannis Laurentii Philadelpheni Lydi qu\u00e6 extant excerpta; ed. Hase,\n etc., Lipsi\u00e6 et Darmstadii, 1827, p. 104.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n \u201cLa Statue vocal de Memnon,\u201d by M. Letronne, in M\u00e9m. de l\u2019Institut de\n France, Acad\u00e9mie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. i, 42, 1.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n See Theophrasti, \u201cDe lapidibus (Peri lith\u00f4n),\u201d ed. by John Hill,\n London, 1746, pp. 15\u201317; cap. 10.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 59.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n De M\u00e9ly, in La Grande Encyclop\u00e9die; art. pierres pr\u00e9cieuses.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n Conradi Gesneri, \u201cDe rerum fossilium,\u201d etc., Tiguri, 1565, fol. 49\n verso.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n Giovanni B. Rampolli, \u201cAnnali Musulmani,\u201d vol. ix, Milano, 1825, p.\n 481, note 75.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n \u201cExposition de ce qu\u2019il y a de plus remarquable et des merveilles,\u201d by\n Abdorrashish, surnamed Yakuti, a geographical work of the fifteenth\n century, transl. into French and published in Notices et Extraits des\n Manuscrits de la Biblioth\u00e8que du Roi, vol. ii, pp. 452, 520, 534;\n Paris, 1789.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n F. Stuhlmann, \u201cMit Emin Pascha im Herz von Africa,\u201d Berlin, 1894, p.\n 588.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n S. Gason, \u201cThe Dieyeric Tribe\u201d in \u201cNative Tribes of South Australia,\u201d\n pp. 276 sqq.; see also: A. W. Howitt, \u201cThe Dieri and Other Kindred\n Tribes of Central Australia.\u201d\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n H. L. P. Cameron, \u201cNotes on Some Tribes of New South Wales.\u201d Journ. of\n Anthrop. Inst., vol. xiv (1885), p. 362.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n J. L. van der Toorn, \u201cHet animisme bij den Minangkabaner der\n Padangsche Bovenland, Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land-en Volkerkunde van\n Nederlandsch Indie,\u201d vol. xxxix, 1890, p. 86.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Martin, \u201cDescription of the Western Islands of Scotland,\u201d in\n Pinkerton\u2019s \u201cVoyages and Travels,\u201d vol. iii, p. 594.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n See Pinder, \u201cDe adamante,\u201d Berolini, 1829, pp. 70 sqq., where the use\n of the word _adamas_ to designate iron is said to have been\n conjectured by Schneider, in his \u201cAnalecta ad hist. rei met. vet.,\u201d\n pp. 5, 6. Adamas as a man\u2019s name occurs in the \u201cIliad,\u201d xii, 140 and\n xiii, 560.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n Julius Ruska, \u201cDas Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des Muhammad ibn\n Mahmud al Kazwini,\u201d Beilage to the Jahresbericht of the Oberrealschule\n Heidelberg, 1895\u201396.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n Camilli Leonardi, \u201cSpeculum lapidum,\u201d Venetia, 1502, fol. xxix.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n Philostrati, \u201cVita Apollonii,\u201d Lib. iii, cap. 8.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n \u201cThe Questions of King Milinda,\u201d trans. by T. W. Rhys Davids; Sacred\n Books of the East, vol. xxxvi, Oxford, 1894, pp. 14, 303.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n Trait\u00e9 des Simples of Ibn Al-Beithar, in Notices et Extraits des\n Manuscrits de la Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale, vol. xxiii, p. 409; Paris,\n 1877.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n De M\u00e9ly, \u201cLe trait\u00e9 des fleuves de Plutarche,\u201d in Revue des \u00c9tudes\n Grecques, vol. v (1892), p. 332.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n Konrad von Megenberg, \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr. Franz Pfeiffer,\n Stuttgart, 1861, p. 456.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n Volmar, \u201cSteinbuch,\u201d ed. by Hans Lambel, Heilbronn, 1877, p. 24.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n St. Hildegard\u00e6, \u201cOpera omnia,\u201d in Pat. Lat., ed. J. P. Migne, vol.\n cxcvii, col. 1260.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n D\u2019Herbelot, \u201cBiblioth\u00e8que Orientale,\u201d La Haye, 1778, p. 230.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n Clouston, \u201cA Group of Eastern Romances,\u201d Glasgow, 1889.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n \u201cN\u00fctzliche Versuche und Bemerkungen aus dem Reich der Natur,\u201d\n N\u00fcrnberg, 1760; cited by Bolton.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Bolton, \u201cContributions of Alchemy to Numismatics,\u201d New York, 1890, pp.\n 17, 18.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n Ashmole, \u201cTheatrum chemicum Brittanicum,\u201d London, 1652, pp. 4\u20136.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n Spencer and Gillen, \u201cThe Native Tribes of Central Australia,\u201d London,\n 1899, pp. 525\u2013529.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n Rumphius, \u201cD\u2019Ambonische Rariteitskamer,\u201d Amsterdam, 1741, p. 291.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n Rumphius, \u201cD\u2019Ambonische Rariteitskamer,\u201d Amsterdam, 1741, pp. 291,\n 292.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n Vogt, \u201cDie Indianer des oberen Paran\u00e1,\u201d Mitteilungen d. Anthrop.\n Gesellsch. in Wien, 1904, vol. xxxiv, pp. 206, 207.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Hovorka and Kronfeld, \u201cVergleichende Volksmedizin,\u201d vol. 11, p. 900;\n communication from Dr. Rudolf P\u00f6ch.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n Benvenuto Cellini, \u201cDue trattati, uno intorno alle otto principali\n arti dell\u2019oreficeria,\u201d etc., Fiorenzi, Valente Panizzi & Marco Peri,\n 1568, fol. 10 recto.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n Axel Garboe, \u201cKulturhistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene, med s\u00e6rligt\n Henblik paa det 17. Aarhundrede,\u201d Kobenhavn og Kristiania, 1915, p.\n 225; citing a manuscript in the Royal Library at Copenhagen.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n See Herbert E. Gregory, \u201cNote on the Shape of Pebbles,\u201d in The\n American Journal of Science, vol. xxxix, pp. 300\u2013304; March, 1915;\n also for two succeeding paragraphs.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n See Herbert E. Gregory, \u201cNote on the Shape of Pebbles,\u201d in The\n American Journal of Science, vol. xxxix, pp. 303, 304; March, 1915.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n W. G. Wood-Martin, \u201cTraces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland,\u201d London,\n 1902, vol. i, p. 329.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n Ibid., 1902, vol. i, op. cit., p. 330.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n Nona Lebour, \u201cWhite Quartz Pebbles and their Arch\u00e6ological\n Significance\u201d; reprint from Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and\n Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, January 30, 1914, p.\n 11.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n Ibid., pp. 13 and 14, citing Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries\n of Scotland, 1860\u20131, vol. iv, pt. i, p. 219.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n Ibid., p. 12, citing Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of\n Scotland, 1860\u20131, vol. iv, pt. i, p. 219.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n William Thomas and Kate Pavitt, \u201cThe Book of Talismans, Amulets and\n Zodiacal Gems,\u201d London, 1914, p. 52.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n From letter of Mr. Neil M. Judd, Assistant in Arch\u00e6ology in the United\n States National Museum, communicated by Dr. W. H. Holmes, Head Curator\n of the Department of Anthropology in that institution.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n Communicated by Dr. Charles C. Abbott.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n Warren K. Moorehead, \u201cThe Red-Paint People of Maine,\u201d pp. 42, 43.\n Reprint from the _American Anthropologist_ (N. S.), vol. xv, No. 1,\n January-March, 1913.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n See the present writer\u2019s \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d\n New York, 1892, p. 128.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n See N. F. Moore, \u201cAntient Mineralogy,\u201d 2d ed., New York, 1859, p. 190.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n George Frederick Kunz, \u201cGems, Jewelers\u2019 Materials and Ornamental\n Stones of California,\u201d California State Mining Bureau, Bulletin No.\n 37, Sacramento, 1905, pp. 71\u201373.\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n Plinii, \u201cHistoria naturalis,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 73.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n Collection des auteurs Latin, ed. by M. Nazaire; vol. i, Lucain,\n Silius Italicus, Claudien, text and French trans., Paris, 1850, pp.\n 737, 738.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n Torsten Kolmodin, \u201cLapparne och deres Land; Skildringar och Studier,\u201d\n Pt. III, Stockholm, 1914, p. 14.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n Nona Lebour, \u201cWhite Quartz Pebbles and their Arch\u00e6ological\n Significance\u201d; reprint from Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and\n Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, January 30, 1914, p.\n 10.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n W. G. Wood-Martin, \u201cTraces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland,\u201d London,\n 1902, vol. i, p. 331.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n Finn Magnussen, \u201cForsog til Forklaring over nogle Steder af Osian\u201d;\n Det Skandinaviske Litteraturselskabs Skrifter, 1813, Pt. II, pp. 237,\n 251.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n W. G. Wood-Martin, \u201cTraces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland,\u201d London,\n 1902, vol. i, p. 330.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n Kunz, \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d New York, 1890, pp.\n 206\u2013210.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n Basher, \u201cCatlinite, Its Antiquity as a Material for Tobacco Pipes,\u201d\n Am. Nat., vol. xvii, p. 745, July, 1883.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n Renel, \u201cLes religions de la Gaule avant le Christianisme,\u201d Paris,\n 1906, p. 387.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n Wirt Sikes, \u201cBritish Goblins; Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Myths, Legends\n and Traditions,\u201d London, 1880, p. 362.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n Renel, \u201cLes religions de la Gaule avant le Christianisme,\u201d Paris,\n 1906, p. 369.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n Ibid., 1906, p. 368.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n Paul Sebillot, \u201cThe Worship of Stones in France,\u201d trans. by Joseph D.\n McGuire, _American Anthropologist_, Jan.-Mar., 1902, vol. iv, No. 1,\n p. 98; citing Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Antiquaires, vol. i, p. 429.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n Martin, \u201cDescription of the Western Isles,\u201d in Pinkerton\u2019s \u201cVoyages\n and Travels,\u201d vol. iii, pp. 646, 627.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n Sir Edgar McCulloch, \u201cGuernsey Folk Lore,\u201d London, 1903, p. 150.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n Ibid., p. 157; fig. on p. 156.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n Kuhn, \u201cNorddeutsche Sagen,\u201d Leipzig, 1848, p. 69.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n Hermann, \u201cDie erratischen Bl\u00f6cke im Regierungsbezirck Danzig,\u201d Berlin,\n 1911, p. 41; in vol. ii, Pt. I, \u201cBeitr\u00e4ge zur Naturdenkmalpflege,\u201d ed.\n by H. Conwentz.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n Walsh, \u201cCuriosities of Popular Customs,\u201d Philadelphia, 1911, p. 325.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n Armand Vir\u00e9, \u201cPierres \u00e0 gravures et Pierres \u00e0 l\u00e9gendes dans le Lot et\n le Tarn et Garonne\u201d; in Compte Rendu of the Ninth Session of the\n Congr\u00e8s Pr\u00e9historique de France, Paris, 1914, p. 349.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n Ibid., p. 350.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n Dr. Walter Hough in \u201cHandbook of American Indians north of Mexico,\u201d\n ed. by Frederick Webb Hodge, Smithsonian Inst.; Bur. of Am. Ethn.,\n Bull. 30; Washington, 1910, Pt. 2, p. 194.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n Wirt Sikes, \u201cBritish Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Myths, Legends\n and Traditions,\u201d London, 1880, p. 365.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n Father Lambert, \u201cMoeurs et Superstitions des N\u00e9o-Cal\u00e9doniens,\u201d Noumea,\n 1900, pp. 217, 218, 222, 292\u2013304.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n See Scott\u2019s \u201cBorder Minstrelsy,\u201d vol. iv, Pt. II, p. 645.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n Lean\u2019s Collectanea (by Vincent Stuckey Lean), vol. ii, Pt. I, Bristol,\n 1903, p. 476; see W. F. Wademan in Jour. Roy. Hist, and Arch. Assoc.\n of Ireland, July, 1875.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n Catalogue of the collection of pearls and precious stones formed by\n Henry Philip Hope, Esq. Systematically arranged and described by B.\n Hertz, London, 1830.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n Op. cit., p. 106.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n Op. cit., No. 66, p. 106.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n Op. cit., No. 65, p. 106.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum Museorum, oder der Vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d\n Franckfurt am Mayn, 1713, Pt. II, p. 41; figured.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n Ulyssis Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 527;\n figured on p. 528.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum Museorum,\u201d p. 42; citing description by Major in\n his \u201cTractatus de cancris et lapidibus petrifactis,\u201d p. 64.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n Ibid., p. 42; Pl. IX, fig. 3.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n Ibid., p. 41; figured. From report in Miscellan. Acad. Germ. Cur.,\n Decur. I, Ann. I, Obs. CXIII, p. 232.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n Athanasii Kircheri, \u201cMundus subterraneus,\u201d Amstelodami, 1665, vol. ii,\n pp. 42 sqq.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n Op. cit., vol. i, p. 39; Pl. IV, fig. 6.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n Scribner & Co., 1886.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n The Germans called it Aschenzieher.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n Pliny, \u201cNaturalia historia,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 29. In his recently\n published \u201cCurious Lore of Precious Stones\u201d the present writer\n suggested that Pliny\u2019s _lychnis_ might have been a spinel, but while\n some of these \u201cardent stones\u201d may have been spinels, those displaying\n the phenomenon of attraction must have been tourmalines.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n A. C. Hamlin.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n Theophrasti, \u201cDe lapidibus, peri t\u00f4n lith\u00f4n,\u201d ed. by John Hill,\n London, 1746, pp. 71\u201373 (cap. xlvi).\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n Idem, pp. 68\u201371 (cap. xlvi); see also Hill\u2019s note on p. 69.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n Johannis de Laet, Antwerpii, \u201cDe gemmis et lapidibus, libri duo,\u201d\n Lugduni Batavorum [1647], pp. 36, 40.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n \u201c_Curiose Speculationes_ bey schlaflosen N\u00e4chten ... von einem\n _L_iebhaber der _I_mmer _G_ern _S_peculirt,\u201d Chemnitz und Leipzig, bey\n Conr. Stosseln, 1707, 857, pp. 80.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n Johann Gustav Donndorf, \u201cNatur und Kunst,\u201d Leipzig, 1790, p. 516.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n \u201cHistoire de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres,\u201d vol.\n xii, 1756; Berlin, 1758, pp. 105\u2013121.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n See Historie de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie Royale des Sciences Ann\u00e9e mdcccxvii Paris,\n 1719, pp. 7, 8.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n Abb\u00e9 Ha\u00fcy, \u201cTrattato dei caratteri fisici delle pietre preziose,\u201d\n Ital. trans. by Luigi Configliachi, Milano, 1819, pp. 135\u2013138; see\n Plate II, fig. 49.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n Aepinus, l. c.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. by John Bigelow, New York\n and London, 1888, vol. x, pp. 282\u2013285.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n See the writer\u2019s \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d New\n York, 1890, Pl. 4, and also his \u201cPrecious Stones\u201d in 20th Annual\n Report of the U. S. Geological Survey, Pt. VI, Washington, 1899, p.\n 577.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n Cornelii Taciti, \u201cLibri qui supersunt,\u201d vol. ii, Lipsi\u00e6, 1885, p. 243.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n Sat. vi, 572; ix, 50.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n Lib. v, 37, 9; xi, 8, 6.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n Pfizmeier, Sitzungsbericht d. phil.-hist. Kl., Wien, 1866, vol. xliii,\n p. 195.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 12.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n Lean\u2019s Collectanea, vol. ii, Pt. II, Bristol, 1903, p. 640.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n Waver. Especially interesting as all amber changes in time.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 11.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d Lib. xxxvii, cap. 12.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n Severus Sammonicus, \u201cPreceptes m\u00e9dicaux,\u201d text and French trans. by L.\n Baudet, Paris, 1845, pp. 84, 85.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n King, \u201cNatural History of Precious Stones,\u201d etc., London, 1865, p.\n 334, note.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n Raumer, \u201cHistorisches Taschenbuch,\u201d I Ser., vol. vi, Leipzig, 1835, p.\n 366.\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n Pyle, \u201cThe Therapeusis of Precious Stones,\u201d in his \u201cMedicine,\u201d\n Detroit, 1897, vol. iii, p. 115.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n Palladii, \u201cDe gentibus Indie,\u201d ed. Biss\u00e6us, London, 1665, p. 4.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n Martin, \u201cObservations et th\u00e9ories des anciens sur les attractions et\n la repulsion magn\u00e9tiques,\u201d in Atti dell\u2019 Accademia Pontefici dei Nuovi\n Lincei, vol. xviii, p. 18 (1864\u201365).\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n \u201cGemmarum et lapidum historia,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 466; Lib. II, cap.\n 204.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n From Robert Norman\u2019s \u201cThe Newe Attractive,\u201d London, 1581.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 566.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n Ploss, \u201cDas Weib,\u201d Leipzig, 1895, vol. ii, p. 350.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, pp. 564, 566.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n Garcias ab Orta, \u201cAromatum historia\u201d (Latin version by Clusius),\n Antverpi\u00e6, 1579, p. 178. See also Valentine Ball in Proc. Roy. Ir.\n Soc., 3d Ser., vol. i, p. 662; Colloquy xliii, of the work of Garcias,\n translated from the Portuguese original.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n William Jones, \u201cCredulities Past and Present,\u201d London, 1880, pp. 160,\n 161; citing \u201cPanorama,\u201d vol. vii.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n D\u2019Herbelot, \u201cBiblioth\u00e8que Orientale,\u201d La Haye, 1778, p. 229.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n Rose, \u201cAristotle de lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo,\u201d in Zeitsch. f\u00fcr D.\n Alt., New Series, vol. vi. 1875.\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n Ibid., p. 358.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n Ibid., p. 370.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n Ibid., p. 379.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n Nona Lebour, \u201cAmber and Jet in Ancient Burials,\u201d reprint from\n Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and\n Antiquarian Society, Nov. 27, 1914, pp. 4, 5.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n American Journal of Science, 4th Ser., vol. iii, pp. 1\u201313, New Haven,\n 1897.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n Tiguri, 1565, f. 66.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n Titi Livi, \u201cAb urbe condita,\u201d lib. xxix, cap. 11.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n \u201cAdversus Gentes,\u201d lib. vii.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n Prudentius \u201cHymnus X,\u201d 11, 156, 157. This writer was born in 348 A.D.\n and died about 410.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n \u201cDissertation sur la pierre de la M\u00e8re des Dieux,\u201d in M\u00e9m. de l\u2019Acad.\n des Inscrip. et Belles Lettres, vol. xxxviii, p. 370; Paris, 1770.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n Miers, \u201cFall of Meteorites in Ancient and Modern Times,\u201d Science\n Progress, vol. vii, No. 8, July, 1898, p. 351.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n Laufer, \u201cJade: A Study in Chinese Arch\u00e6ology and Religion,\u201d Chicago,\n 1912, pp. 54, 55, 57, 63, 64; Field Museum of Natural History, Pub.\n 154, Arch\u00e6ological Series, vol. x.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n Morris Jastrow, Jr., \u201cDie Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens,\u201d vol.\n ii, Pt. II, Giessen, 1912, pp. 689, 690.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n Ibid., pp. 692\u2013694.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n Benzinger, Hebr\u00e4ische Arch\u00e4ologie, Freiburg i. B., 1894, p. 370.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n Lenormant, \u201cLettres Assyriologiques,\u201d Paris, 1872, vol. ii, p. 118.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n Miers, \u201cFall of Meteorites in Ancient and Modern Times,\u201d Science\n Progress, vol. vii, No. 8, July, 1808, p. 349.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n E. F. F. Chladni, \u201cVerzeichniss der herabgefallenen Stein- und\n Eisenmassen,\u201d p. 5; Gilbert\u2019s Annalen der Physik, vol. 1.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n Plutarchi, \u201cVit\u00e6,\u201d Lipsi\u00e6, 1879, p. 394; Lysander, 12.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n C. Plinii Secundi, \u201cHistoria naturalis,\u201d Venetiis, 1507, fol. 8,\n recto; lib. ii, cap. 60.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n Cornelii Taciti, \u201cOpera,\u201d Lipsi\u00e6, 1885, p. 52.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n Philostratus, \u201cApollonius of Tyana,\u201d trans. by Baltzer, Rudolstadt i.\n Th., 1883, p. 143 (iii, 59).\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n Lenormant, in Daremberg and Saglio\u2019s Dict., des antiq. grecques et\n romaines, vol. i, Paris, 1873, p. 645.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n F. Lenormant, in Daremberg and Saglio\u2019s Dict. des antiq. grecques et\n romaines, vol. i, p. 645, Paris, 1873. See Fig. 739.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n Aen. ii, 692\u2013698.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n De M\u00e9ly, \u201cLe trait\u00e9 des fleuves de Plutarche\u201d; in Revue des Etudes\n Grecques, vol. v (1892), p. 334.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n Suetonii, \u201cOpera,\u201d Lipsi\u00e6, 1886, p. 203; Galba, 8.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n This name signifies \u201cMountain-God\u201d and its assumption by the emperor\n marked his devotion to the worship of the divinity animating the stone\n of Emesa, El Gabal, which Elagabalus had conveyed to Rome, where it\n remained until 222 A.D. This stone was regarded as a miniature\n representation of the sacred mountain near Emesa. The stone is figured\n on the aureus of the emperor Uranius Antonius. See Ch. Lenormant, Rev.\n Numismatique, 1843, p. 273, sq., Pl. IX, No. 1.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n Lenormant, \u201cLettres Assyriologiques,\u201d Paris, 1872, vol. ii, p. 123.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n \u201cVoyages d\u2019Ibn Batoutah.\u201d Translation by C. Defremery and B. R.\n Sanguinette, vol. i, 3d Ed., Paris, 1893, p. 314.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n Sale, \u201cThe Koran\u201d (Preliminary Discourse), Phila., 1853, p. 14.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n Burckhardt, \u201cTravels in Arabia,\u201d London, 1829, p. 137.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n Burckhardt, \u201cTravels in Arabia,\u201d London, 1829, p. 167.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n Chardin, \u201cVoyage en Perse,\u201d Amsterdam, 1735, vol. iv, p. 171.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n Giovanni B. Rampolli, \u201cAnnali Musulmani,\u201d vol. viii, Milano, 1824, p.\n 589, note 104.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n Dr. C. Snouck-Hurgronje, \u201cMekka,\u201d Haag, 1888, vol. i, pp. 2, 4, 5.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n Op. cit., p. 11.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n From Hammer-Purgstall\u2019s \u201cFundgrube des Orients,\u201d vol. iv, Heft 3;\n cited by E. F. F. Chladni, \u201cNeues Verzeichniss der herabgefallenen\n Stein- und Eisenmassen,\u201d p. 55; Gilbert\u2019s Annalen der Physik, vol. 1.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n E. F. F. Chladni, \u201cNeues Verzeichniss der herabgefallenen Stein- und\n Eisenmassen,\u201d p. 58; Gilbert\u2019s Annalen der Physik, vol. 1.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n Ibid., p. 5.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n Berthelot, \u201cHistoire des Sciences: La Chimie au Moyen-\u00e2ge,\u201d Paris,\n 1893, vol. iii, p. 225.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n Brezina, \u201cThe Arrangement of Collections of Meteorites\u201d; Proceedings\n of the American Philosophical Society, vol. xliii, Jan.-Dec., pp. 212,\n 213.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n King, \u201cRemarks Concerning Stones said to have Fallen from the Clouds,\u201d\n London, 1796, p. 4.\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n Megenberg, \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 92.\n (This is based on Thomas de Cantimpr\u00e9\u2019s \u201cLiber de natura rerum,\u201d\n written about 1240.)\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n E. F. F. Chladni, \u201cNeues Verzeichniss der herabgefallenen Stein- und\n Eisenmassen,\u201d p. 17; Gilbert\u2019s Annalen der Physik, vol. 1. (From copy\n having MS. notes and emendations by the author.)\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n Metallotheca Vaticana, Rom\u00e6, 1719, p. 248.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n Ulyssis Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum Metallicum,\u201d pp. 528, 529.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n Fundgruben des Orients, vol. iv, p. 282; Wien, 1814.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n King, \u201cRemarks Concerning Stones said to have Fallen from the Clouds,\u201d\n London, 1796, p. 26.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n Lieut. Robert E. Peary, \u201cNorthward over the \u2018Great Ice,\u2019\u201d New York,\n 1897, vol. ii, pp. 553 sqq.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n Edmund Otis Hovey, \u201cThe Foyer Collection of Meteorites,\u201d American\n Museum of Natural History, Guide Leaflet No. 26, December, 1907, pp.\n 23\u201327.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n Henry A. Ward, \u201cWillamette Meteorite\u201d; Proc. Rochester Acad. of Sc.,\n vol. iv, pp. 137\u2013148, plates 13\u201318.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n Edmund Otis Hovey, \u201cThe Foyer Collection of Meteorites,\u201d American\n Museum of Natural History, Guide Leaflet No. 26, December, 1907, pp.\n 27, 28.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n See the present writer\u2019s \u201cDiamond and Moissanite; Natural, Artificial\n and Meteoric,\u201d a lecture delivered at the Twelfth General Meeting of\n the American Electro-chemical Society in New York City, October 18,\n 1907; here the literature on this important meteor is fully given. Two\n other interesting meteorites are described by George F. Kunz and\n Ernest Weinschenk in the American Journal of Science, vol. xliii, May\n 1892, pp. 424\u2013426, figures.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n See Henri Moissan, \u201c\u00c9tude de la m\u00e9t\u00e9orite de Ca\u00f1on Diablo,\u201d Comptes\n Rendus de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences, vol. cxvi (1893), pp. 288 sqq.; see\n also his paper on the Ovifak meteorite, Comptes Rendus, vol. cxxi\n (1895), pp. 483 sqq.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n G. F. Kunz and O. W. Huntington, \u201cOn the Diamond in the Ca\u00f1on Diablo\n Meteoric Iron and on the Hardness of Carborundum,\u201d American Journal of\n Science, vol. xlvi, December, 1893.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n George F. Kunz, \u201cOn Five American Meteorites,\u201d American Journal of\n Science, vol. xl, Oct., 1890, pp. 312\u2013323.\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n Lazarus Fletcher, in Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. xviii, p.\n 263; article Meteorites.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n Chladni, op. cit., p. 8.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n Petri Borelli, \u201cHist. et observ. phys.-med.,\u201d 1676; cited by Chladni,\n op. cit., p. 20.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n Chladni, op. cit., p. 14; see also Gilbert\u2019s Annalen, vol. xxix, p.\n 376.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n Chladni, op. cit., p. 19.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n Chladni, op. cit., p. 22.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n See \u201cNature\u201d for June 23 and July 21, 1910.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n Merrett, \u201cPinax rerum naturalium Britannicarum,\u201d London, 1667, p. 219.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n \u201cThe Works of the Hon. Robert Boyle,\u201d vol. i, p. 244, London, 1744.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n Vol. ii, pp. 335\u20137, 1820.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n Edward E. Free in Nature, Nov. 3, 1910, No. 2140, vol. lxxxv.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n Arnaldo Faustini, \u201cGli Eschimesi,\u201d Torino, 1912, p. 41.\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n Edward M. Curr, \u201cThe Australian Races,\u201d Melbourne and London, vol.\n iii, p. 29.\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n Bellucci, \u201cIl feticismo in Italia,\u201d Perugia, 1907, pp. 17 sqq.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n Harriet Maxwell Converse, \u201cMyths and Legends of the N. Y. State\n Iroquois,\u201d edited and annotated by Arthur Caswell Parker\n (Ga-wa-so-wa-neh), New York State Museum Bulletin, No. 125, Albany,\n 1908, p. 40.\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n Adair, \u201cHistory of the American Indians,\u201d London, 1775, p. 425.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n Frischbier, \u201cHexenspruch und Zauberbann,\u201d Berlin, 1870, p. 19.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n Ibid., p. 107.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n Hartmann, \u201cBilder aus Westfalen,\u201d Osnabr\u00fcck, 1871, p. 144.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n Lund, \u201cOm de Sydamericanske Vildes Steen\u00f6xer,\u201d Annaler for Nordisk\n Oldkyndighed, Copenhagen, 1838\u20131839, p. 159.\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n Rath, in Globus, vol. xxvi, p. 215 (Braunschweig, 1874).\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n Koudela and Jetteles in Anthrop. Gesellsch. Wien, vol. xii, p. 159\n (1882).\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n Quoted by Sir J. E. Tennant in Notes and Queries, vol. v, 1852, p. 121\n (No. 119, Feb. 7, 1852).\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n \u201cLes Six Voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier,\u201d La Haye, 1718, vol. ii,\n p. 439; liv. iii, chap. xi.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n Magnusen, \u201cOm en Steenring med Runeindskrift,\u201d Annaler for Nordisk\n Oldkyndighed, Copenhagen, 1838\u20131839, p. 133.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n Magnusen, \u201cOm en Steenring med Runeindskrift,\u201d Annaler for Nordisk\n Oldkyndighed, Copenhagen, 1838\u20131839, pp. 132\u2013134.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n Brereton, \u201cTravels in Holland, the United Provinces, England, Scotland\n and Ireland, 1634\u20131635,\u201d Chetham Soc., London, 1844, p. 41.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n The fossilized horny process of an extinct cuttlefish.\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n A. E. Wright and E. Lovett, \u201cSpecimens of Modern Mascots and Ancient\n Amulets of the British Isles,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xix, 1908, p. 298; Pl.\n VI, fig. 2.\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n Mooney, \u201cThe Medical Mythology of Ireland,\u201d Am. Phil. Soc., vol.\n xxxiv, p. 143, 1887.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n Henderson, \u201cFolk-lore of Northern England,\u201d pp. 185, 186.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n Nilsson, \u201cThe Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia,\u201d trans. by the\n author and ed. by Sir John Lubbock, 3d ed., London, 1868, pp. 200,\n 201.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n Tournier, Bull. de la Soc. d\u2019Anthrop., 1874, p. 386.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n Bull. de la Soc. d\u2019Anthrop., 1860, p. 96.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n Morgan, \u201cMat\u00e9riaux pour l\u2019hist. primitive,\u201d Paris, 1885, p. 484;\n Verhandl. Berl. Anthrop. Ges., 1879, p. 300; Von Rosenberg, \u201cDer\n Malayische Archipel,\u201d Leipzig, 1878, p. 175.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n Semper, \u201cDie Philippinen,\u201d W\u00fcrzburg, 1869, p. 61.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n Von Siebold, Jr., Verhandl. Berl. Anthrop. Ges., 1878, p. 431.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n Sven Nilsson, \u201cThe Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia,\u201d trans. by\n the author and ed. by Sir John Lubbock, 3d ed., London, 1868, p. 199.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, vol. x, pp. 255\u2013259.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n Theophrastus\u2019s \u201cHistory of Stones,\u201d with an English version by John\n Hill, London, 1746, p. 73.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n Martius, \u201cUnterricht von der Magi\u00e6 Naturali,\u201d Leipzig, 1717, p. 290.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n From a fourteenth century Italian MS. translation of the treatise in\n the author\u2019s library; see fol. 8, recto, col. 2; fol. 9, recto, col.\n 1; fol. 10, recto, col. 2; fol. 14, verso, col. 1; fol. 17, verso,\n col. 1; fol. 25, verso, col. 1; fol. 26, verso, col. 1; fol. 26,\n verso, col. 2; fol. 29, verso, col. 2.\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum, ed. Sir Alexander Cooke, Oxford, 1830,\n p. 125. This edition contains reproductions of many curious woodcuts\n from the old German editions of Curio, published in 1559, 1568 and\n 1573.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n Havard, \u201cHistoire de l\u2019orf\u00e9vrerie,\u201d Paris, 1896, p. 359; Olivier de la\n Haye, \u201cPo\u00e8me sur la grande peste de 1348,\u201d verses 3162 sqq.\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n Francisci Indi\u00e6, \u201cHygiphylus sive de febre maligna dialogus,\u201d Veron\u00e6,\n 1593, pp. 125, 126.\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n Dr. B. J\u00e9zak, \u201cAus dem Reiche der Edlesteine,\u201d Prag, 1914, p. 65.\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n Kobert, \u201cEin Edlestein der Vorzeit,\u201d Stuttgart, 1910, p. 36.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n Andrea Matthiolus, \u201cCommentaries sur Discoride,\u201d Lyon, 1642 (written\n in 1565), p. 538.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n F\u00fchner, \u201cLithotherapie,\u201d Berlin, 1902, p. 44.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n Braunfels, \u201cReformation der Apptecken,\u201d Strassburg, 1536, fol. XIV b,\n XX b.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n Francisci Indi\u00e6, \u201cHygiphylus, sive de febre maligna dialogus,\u201d Veron\u00e6,\n 1593.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n Op. cit. pp. 115 sqq.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n Op. cit., p. 116.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n Op. cit., pp. 118\u2013122.\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n Boyle, \u201cOn the Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy,\u201d Oxford, 1664,\n p. 108.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n Johannis Wolffii, \u201cCuriosus amuletorum scrutator,\u201d Francofurti et\n Lipsi\u00e6, 1692, p. 564.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n J. B. Silvatici, \u201cControversi\u00e6 medic\u00e6,\u201d Francofurti, 1601, p. 223.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n Axel Garboe, \u201cKunsthistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene,\u201d Kjbenhavn og\n Kristiania, 1915, p. 254.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n See Axel Garboe, \u201cKulturhistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene, med s\u00e6rligt\n Henbilk paa det 17. Aarhundrede,\u201d Kjbenhavn og Kristiania, 1915, pp.\n 141 sqq.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n U. F. B. Br\u00fcckmann, \u201cAbhandlung von Edelsteinen,\u201d Braunschweig, 1757,\n pp. 4, 5 of preface.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n John and Andrew Van Rymsdyk, \u201cMuseum Brittanicum,\u201d 2 ed. revised and\n corrected by P. Boyle, London, 1791, p. 51.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n Fernie, \u201cPrecious Stones for Curative Wear,\u201d Bristol, 1907, p. 256.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n Von Hovorka and Kronfeld, \u201cVergleichende Volksmedizin,\u201d Stuttgart,\n 1908, vol. i, p. 355. Communication of Dr. Christof Hartungen, Jr.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n Damigeron, \u201cDe lapidibus,\u201d ed. Abel, Berol., 1881, p. 177.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. xxxvi, cap. 54.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n Orphei, \u201cLithica,\u201d ed. Abel, Berol., 1881, vs. 610 sqq.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n Pselli, \u201cDe lapidum virtutibus,\u201d ed. Bemond, Lug. Bat., 1745, p. 10.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s fourteenth century version, \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d\n ed. by Dr. Franz Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 436.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n Andre\u00e6 Baccii, \u201cDe Gemmis et Lapidibus Pretiosis\u201d (Latin version by\n Wolfgang Gabelchover of the Italian original), Francofurti, 1603, pp.\n 100, 101, Note of Gabelchover.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n Johannis Braunii, \u201cDe Vestitu Sacerdotum Hebr\u00e6orum,\u201d Amstelodami,\n 1680, pp. 672\u20133.\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n Belucci, \u201cCatalogue de l\u2019Exposition de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019Anthropologie\u201d\n (Ex. de 1900), pp. 278\u2013279.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n Severus Sammonicus, \u201cPreceptes m\u00e9dicaux,\u201d text and trans. by L.\n Baudet, Paris, 1845, pp. 76, 77.\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n Gratii Falisci, \u201cCynegeticon\u201d; collection des auteurs Latin, ed.\n Nizard, vol. xvi, Paris, 1851, p. 786, lines 401\u2013405.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien\u201d; Naharari\u2019s \u201cRajanigha\u1e47\u1e6du,\u201d Varga\n XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 76.\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n L\u00e9mery, \u201cCursus Chymicus,\u201d Latin version by De Rebecque, Geneva, 1681,\n p. 338.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n Johannes Wittichius, \u201cBericht von den wunderbaren Bezoardischen\n Steinen,\u201d Leipzig, 1589, p. 56, cited in Axel Garboe\u2019s\n \u201cKunsthistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene,\u201d Kobenhavn og Kristiania,\n 1915, p. 98.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n \u201cHistoire critique des practiques superstitieuses; par un pr\u00e9tre de\n l\u2019Oratoire,\u201d Paris, 1702, p. 326.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n Hovorka and Kronfeld, \u201cVergleichende Volksmedizin,\u201d Stuttgart, 1908,\n vol. i, p. 107.\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n Rose, \u201cAristoteles De lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo,\u201d in Zeitsch. f\u00fcr D.\n Alt., New Series, vol. vi, pp. 378, 379.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien\u201d; Naharari\u2019s \u201cRajanigha\u1e47\u1e6du,\u201d Varga\n XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 80.\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n \u201cOriental Accounts of the Precious Minerals,\u201d trans. by Raja\n Kalikishan, with remarks by James Prinsep; Journ. Asiat. Soc. of\n Bengal, vol. i, Calcutta, p. 354.\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n See Pinder, \u201cDe adamante,\u201d Berolini, 1829, p. 66.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n Johannis Braunii, \u201cDe Vestitu Sacerdotum Hebr\u00e6orum,\u201d Amstelodami,\n 1680, p. 659.\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien\u201d; Naharari\u2019s \u201cRajanigha\u1e47\u1e6du,\u201d Varga\n XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 76.\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n The emerald of Mexico was evidently the jade or the _piedra del\n hijada_.\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n Gabriel Colin, \u201cAvenzoar, sa vie et ses \u0153uvres,\u201d dissertation for\n doctorate in Univ. of Paris, 1911, pp. 164, 165.\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n Claudii Galeni, \u201cOpera omnia,\u201d ed. K\u00fchn, Lipsi\u00e6, 1826, vol. xii, pp.\n 195, 196; De simplic. med., lib. vii, cap. 2.\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n Plinii, \u201cHistoria Naturalis,\u201d lib. xxxvi, cap. 38.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n \u201cLithica,\u201d lines 636 sqq.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n Avicenn\u00e6, \u201cLiber canonis,\u201d Basile\u00e6, 1556.\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 965.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n Monardes, \u201cDelle cose che vengono portate dall\u2019Indie Occidentali,\u201d\n Venetia, 1575, Bk. II, chap. XIV, p. 46.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n T\u2019ang Jung-tso, \u201cY\u00fc-shuo\u201d (a discourse on jade), trans. by Stephen W.\n Bushell; Investigations and Studies in Jade, The Bishop Collection,\n New York, 1900, pp. 329, 330.\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n Jacobi Wolff, \u201cCuriosus amuletorum scrutator,\u201d Francofurti et Lipsi\u00e6,\n 1692, pp. 218, 219; citing principally, Bartholini, \u201cDe lapide\n nephritico.\u201d\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n Axel Garboe, \u201cKulturhistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene, med s\u00e6rligt\n Henblik paa det 17. Aarhundrede,\u201d Kobenhavn og Kristiania, 1915, pp.\n 204, 205; citing Caspar Bertholini, \u201cDe lapide nephritico opusculum,\u201d\n 1628.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n Johannes de Laet, \u201cDe gemmis et lapidibus libri duo,\u201d Lugduni\n Batavorum [1647], p. 84.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n \u201cSammlung von Natur und Medicin-wie auch hierzu geh\u00f6rigen Kunst- und\n Litaratur-Geschichten,\u201d Breslau, 1726, p. 262.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n Cleandro Arnobio, \u201cTesoro delle Gioie,\u201d Venetia, 1602, pp. 139\u2013141.\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n \u201cLes Lapidaires,\u201d etc., F. de M\u00e9ly, vol. i, Les lapidaires chinois,\n Paris, 1896, p. 178.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n Martius, \u201cBeitr\u00e4ge zur Ethnographic und Sprachkunde Amerika\u2019s zumal\n Braziliens,\u201d Leipzig, 1867, vol. i, p. 729.\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n Grombtchewski, Berichte der Geog. Gesellschaft zu St. Petersburg, vol.\n xv, p. 454 (1889).\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n Alexandri Tralliani, \u201cDe medicamentis,\u201d Basile\u00e6, 1556, p. 593.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n Revue Arch\u00eaologique, 3rd ser., vol. i, pp. 299 sqq.\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n Gesneri, \u201cDe figuris lapidum,\u201d Tiguri, 1565, fol. 113, verso.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n \u201cGemmarum et lapidum historia,\u201d Lugd. Bat., 1636, pp. 251\u20133.\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n Bellucci, \u201cIl feticismo primitivo in Italia,\u201d Perugia, 1907, pp.\n 87\u201390.\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n Claudii Galeni, \u201cOpera omnia,\u201d ed. K\u00fchn, Lipsi\u00e6, 1826, vol. xii, p.\n 207; De simplic. med., lib. vii, cap. 2.\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n Nicandri, \u201cTheriaka,\u201d Parisiis, 1557, p. 2.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. xxxvi, cap. 34.\n\nFootnote 294:\n\n Bartholom\u00e6i Anglici, \u201cDe proprietatibus rerum,\u201d London, Wynkyn de\n Worde, 1495, lib. xvi, cap. 48; De gagate.\n\nFootnote 295:\n\n Johannis Baptist\u00e6 Port\u00e6 \u201cPhytognomica,\u201d Francofurti, 1591, pp. 170,\n 171.\n\nFootnote 296:\n\n Ibn el Beithar, \u201cTrait\u00e9 des simples;\u201d French trans. of L. Leclerc in\n \u201cNotices et Extraits de MSS. de la Bib. Nat.,\u201d etc., vol. xxiii, Pt.\n 5, Paris, 1877, pp. 418, 419.\n\nFootnote 297:\n\n \u201cDer R\u00f6misch Kaiserlichen Akademie der Naturforscher ... Abhandlung,\n Siebenter Theil,\u201d N\u00fcrnberg, 1759, p. 90.\n\nFootnote 298:\n\n Erman, \u201cZauberspr\u00fcche f\u00fcr Mutter und Kind,\u201d Philosophische und\n Historische Abhandlungen der K\u00f6nig. Pr. Akad. d. Wissenschaften, 1901,\n Berlin, p. 9.\n\nFootnote 299:\n\n \u201cPapyrus Ebers, Die Maase und das Kapitel \u00fcber die Augenkrankheiten,\u201d\n by Georg Ebers. In the Abhandl. d. phil. hist. Klasse der K\u00f6nigl.\n s\u00e4chs. Gesell. d. Wissenschaften, vol. xi, Leip., 1890, p. 318.\n\nFootnote 300:\n\n Dioscorides, \u201cDe materia medica,\u201d lib. v, cap. 106.\n\nFootnote 301:\n\n Braunfels, \u201cVon Edelsteinen,\u201d Strassburg, 1536, fol. xlviii, a.\n\nFootnote 302:\n\n De Boot, \u201cGemmarum et lapidum historia,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 264, lib.\n ii, cap. 113.\n\nFootnote 303:\n\n Ibid., loc. cit.\n\nFootnote 304:\n\n H\u00f6fler, \u201cVolksmedizin und Aberglaube,\u201d M\u00fcnchen, 1893, pp. 38, 39.\n\nFootnote 305:\n\n Konrad von Megenberg \u201cDas Buch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr. Franz Pfeiffer,\n Stuttgart, 1861, p. 452.\n\nFootnote 306:\n\n Dugdale, \u201cMonasticon Anglicanum,\u201d London, 1819, vol. ii, pp. 184, 185;\n also extract from Cotton MS., Nero D vii, on p. 217.\n\nFootnote 307:\n\n De vit. abbot.\n\nFootnote 308:\n\n Thomas Wright, \u201cOn Antiquarian Researches in the Middle Ages,\u201d in\n Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxx, London, 1844, pp. 444\u2013446; cut on page 444.\n\nFootnote 309:\n\n Collin de Plancy, \u201cDictionnaire Infernal,\u201d Bruxelles, 1845, p. 415.\n\nFootnote 310:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. xxxvii, cap. 10.\n\nFootnote 311:\n\n Andre\u00e6 Bacii, \u201cDe gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis\u201d (Latin translation by\n Wolfgang Gabelchover of Italian original), Francofurti, 1603, p. 103.\n\nFootnote 312:\n\n Wilson, \u201cThe Three Ladies of London,\u201d 1584. The three female\n characters are symbolical or allegorical and are named respectively,\n Lucre, Love, and Conscience.\n\nFootnote 313:\n\n From MS. of Borch\u2019s lectures of 1685, in the Royal Library at\n Copenhagen, Thottske Collection, 744; cited in Axel Garboe\u2019s\n \u201cKulturhistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene,\u201d Kobenhavn og Kristiania,\n 1915, p. 215.\n\nFootnote 314:\n\n \u201cDer R\u00f6misch Kaiserlichen Akademie der Naturforscher ... Abhandlungen,\n Siebenter Theil,\u201d N\u00fcrnberg, 1759, pp. 162, 163.\n\nFootnote 315:\n\n Valmont de Bomare, \u201cDictionnaire raisonn\u00e9 universel,\u201d Paris, 1775,\n vol. iii, p. 118.\n\nFootnote 316:\n\n Walsh, \u201cCuriosities of Popular Customs,\u201d Philadelphia, 1911, p. 624.\n\nFootnote 317:\n\n MacCulloch, \u201cReligion of the Ancient Celts,\u201d Edinburgh, 1911, p. 332.\n\nFootnote 318:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien\u201d; Naharari\u2019s \u201cRajanigha\u1e47\u1e6du,\u201d Varga\n XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 83.\n\nFootnote 319:\n\n Johannis Braunii, \u201cDe vestitu sacerdotum Hebr\u00e6orum,\u201d Amstelodami,\n 1680, p. 659; citing pseudo-Dioscorides.\n\nFootnote 320:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 972.\n\nFootnote 321:\n\n Andr\u00e6 Baccii, \u201cDe gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis,\u201d Francofurti, 1603,\n p. 68. Note of Gabelchover to his Latin version of the original\n Italian.\n\nFootnote 322:\n\n Frederici Jacobi Schallingi, \u201c\u039f\u03a6\u0398\u0391\u039b\u039c\u0399\u0391 sive disquisitio\n hermetico-galenica de natura oculorum,\u201d Erffurdt, 1615, p. 125.\n\nFootnote 323:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien\u201d; Naharari\u2019s \u201cRajanigha\u1e47\u1e6du,\u201d Varga\n XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 79.\n\nFootnote 324:\n\n See Chapter II, pp. 106\u2013116.\n\nFootnote 325:\n\n Anselmi B\u0153tii de Boodt, \u201cGemmarum historia,\u201d Hanovi\u00e6, 1609, p. 52.\n\nFootnote 326:\n\n Rose, \u201cAristoteles de lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo,\u201d Zeitschr. f\u00fcr d.\n Alt., New Series, vol. vi, 1875, pp. 373, 374.\n\nFootnote 327:\n\n Petra, \u201cSpecilegium Solesmense,\u201d Parisiis, 1855, p. 370.\n\nFootnote 328:\n\n \u201cLe Grand Lapidaire de Jean de Mandeville.\u201d From the edition of 1561,\n ed. by J. S. del Sotto, Vienne, 1862, p. 90.\n\nFootnote 329:\n\n In Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr. Franz Pfeiffer,\n Stuttgart, 1861, p. 437.\n\nFootnote 330:\n\n Erasmi, \u201cColloquia,\u201d Lipsi\u00e6, 1713, p. 596.\n\nFootnote 331:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 814.\n\nFootnote 332:\n\n Lemnii, \u201cDe miraculis occultis natur\u00e6,\u201d Francofurti, 1611, pp. 212,\n 213.\n\nFootnote 333:\n\n Mizauld, \u201cHundert curieuse Kunst-st\u00fccke,\u201d in Martius\u2019 \u201cUnterricht von\n der Magi\u00e6 Naturali,\u201d Leipzig, 1717, p. 290.\n\nFootnote 334:\n\n Smith, \u201cJewellery,\u201d London, 1908, p. 151.\n\nFootnote 335:\n\n \u201cAnatomy of absurditie,\u201d 1589; p. 40 of Collier\u2019s reprint. Lean\u2019s\n Collectanes, vol. ii, Pt. II, Bristol, 1903, p. 643.\n\nFootnote 336:\n\n Lupton, \u201cOne Thousand Notable Things.\u201d\n\nFootnote 337:\n\n Encelii, \u201cDe re metallica,\u201d Francofurti, 1557, pp. 219, 220.\n\nFootnote 338:\n\n Idem, pp. 218, 219. See also p. 121 of the present book.\n\nFootnote 339:\n\n Cardani, \u201cDe subtilitate,\u201d Basil\u00e6, 1554; lib. vii, p. 211.\n\nFootnote 340:\n\n Trait\u00e9 des Simples of Ibn Al-Beithar in \u201cNotices et Extraits des\n Manuscrits de la Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale,\u201d vol. xxiii, pp. 416\u2013417;\n Paris, 1877.\n\nFootnote 341:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. xi, cap. 79.\n\nFootnote 342:\n\n Encelii, \u201cDe re metallica,\u201d Francofurti, 1557, p. 218.\n\nFootnote 343:\n\n Lemnii, \u201cDe miraculis natur\u00e6,\u201d Francofurti, 1611, p. 213.\n\nFootnote 344:\n\n Ibid., lib. xxxvii, cap. 56.\n\nFootnote 345:\n\n Ibid., lib. xxix, cap. 38.\n\nFootnote 346:\n\n Ibid., lib. xxxvii, cap. 60.\n\nFootnote 347:\n\n Danielis Sennarti, \u201cEpitome naturalis scienti\u00e6,\u201d Francofurti, 1650,\n lib. v, cap. 4, pp. 438, 439; citing Scaliger, Exercit. 112.\n\nFootnote 348:\n\n G. Rollenhagen, \u201cWahrhaffte L\u00fcgen von Geistlichen und Naturalichen\n Dingen,\u201d Wahrenberg, 1680, p. 93.\n\nFootnote 349:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. xxxvii, cap. 56.\n\nFootnote 350:\n\n Leonardi, \u201cSpeculum lapidum,\u201d Venetia, 1502, fol. xxviii.\n\nFootnote 351:\n\n Ibid., fol. xxiv.\n\nFootnote 352:\n\n C. Plinii Secundi, \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d ed. Janus, Lipsi\u00e6, 1880, p.\n 249, lib. xxx, cap. 11.\n\nFootnote 353:\n\n In Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s version \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. Pfeiffer,\n Stuttgart, 1861, p. 440.\n\nFootnote 354:\n\n Rev. Oswald Cockayne, \u201cLeechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early\n England,\u201d London, 1865, vol. ii, p. 307 (Bk. iii, cap. i, of \u201cLaece\n Boc\u201d).\n\nFootnote 355:\n\n \u201cNaturalis historia,\u201d lib. x, cap. 4, and lib. xxx, cap. 44.\n\nFootnote 356:\n\n Theophrasti, \u201cDe lapidibus\u201d (Peri lith\u00f4n), ed. by John Hill, London,\n 1746, p. 16; cap. 10; see Hill\u2019s note, pp. 16\u201319.\n\nFootnote 357:\n\n Marbodei, loc. cit.\n\nFootnote 358:\n\n A\u00ebtii, Tetrabiblos, Basile\u00e6, 1542, p. 77.\n\nFootnote 359:\n\n Conradi Gesneri, \u201cDe figuris lapidum,\u201d Tiguri, 1565, pp. 142, 143;\n with figures of ring. Pliny already mentions the callimus, \u201cNaturalis\n historia,\u201d lib. xxxvi, cap. 39.\n\nFootnote 360:\n\n Bauschii, \u201cDe lapide \u00e6tite,\u201d Lipsi\u00e6, 1665, p. 64.\n\nFootnote 361:\n\n Ibid., p. 9.\n\nFootnote 362:\n\n Ibid., pp. 9, 10.\n\nFootnote 363:\n\n Ibid., pp. 11, 12.\n\nFootnote 364:\n\n Albert Hartshorne, F.S.A., in Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of\n London, Sec. Series, vol. xxii, p. 517, May 27, 1909.\n\nFootnote 365:\n\n MS. 8356 of the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale, f. LXXII, verso.\n\nFootnote 366:\n\n F. de M\u00e9ly La Grande Encyclop\u00e9die, vol. xxvi, p. 884.\n\nFootnote 367:\n\n Julius Ruska, \u201cDas Steinbuch des Aristoteles,\u201d Heidelberg, 1912, p. 4,\n citing Petermann, \u201cReisen im Orient,\u201d vol. ii, p. 132.\n\nFootnote 368:\n\n Bellucci, \u201cIl feticismo in Italia,\u201d Perugia, 1907, p. 94, note.\n (Figures on pp. 94 and 95.)\n\nFootnote 369:\n\n Lacroix, \u201cMin\u00e9ralogie de la France,\u201d Paris, 1893\u20131910, vol. iii, p.\n 399.\n\nFootnote 370:\n\n Lemnii, \u201cDe miraculis natur\u00e6,\u201d Francofurti, 1611, p. 213.\n\nFootnote 371:\n\n In Konrad Von Megenberg\u2019s version, \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr. Franz\n Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 435.\n\nFootnote 372:\n\n The writer erroneously derives the name from the Latin verb\n _allectare_, the true derivation being from the Greek \u1f00\u03bb\u03ad\u03ba\u03c4\u03c9\u03c1, a cock.\n\nFootnote 373:\n\n Guiffrey, \u201cInventaires du Duc de Berry,\u201d vol. i, p. 166.\n\nFootnote 374:\n\n Julius Ruska, \u201cDas Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des Muhammad ibn\n Mahmud al-Kazw\u00een\u00ee,\u201d Beilage to the Jahresbericht of the\n Oberrealschule, Heidelberg, 1895\u201396, p. 15.\n\nFootnote 375:\n\n Chab\u0153uf, \u201cCharles le T\u00e9m\u00e9raire \u00e0 Dijon,\u201d 1474; in M\u00e9m. de la Soc.\n burg. g\u00e9og. et hist., vol. xviii, p. 137.\n\nFootnote 376:\n\n Monardes, \u201cSemplicium medicamentorum ex novo orbe delatorum historia\u201d\n (Latin version by Clusius), Antverpi\u00e6, 1579, p. 51.\n\nFootnote 377:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum, oder Vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt\n am Main, 1714, Bk. III, cap. 27, \u00a7\u00a7 1, 4.\n\nFootnote 378:\n\n W. L. Hildburgh, \u201cFurther Notes on Spanish Amulets,\u201d in Folk Lore,\n vol. xxiv, No. 1, p. 70, March 31, 1913. Sec. Plate I, Fig. 27.\n\nFootnote 379:\n\n Encelii, \u201cDe re metallica,\u201d Francofurti, 1557, p. 219.\n\nFootnote 380:\n\n See text in Axel Garboe\u2019s \u201cKulturhistoriske Studier over \u00c6delstene,\u201d\n Kjbenhavn og Kristiana, 1915, p. 56, note from Simon Paulli,\n \u201cQuadripartitum botanicum,\u201d Argentorati, 1667, p. 163.\n\nFootnote 381:\n\n Oswaldus Crollius, \u201cBasilica chymica,\u201d Frankfurt, 1623, p. 213.\n\nFootnote 382:\n\n \u201cLes six voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier,\u201d Pt. II, Paris, 1678, p.\n 470; liv. ii, chap. 24.\n\nFootnote 383:\n\n Williamson, \u201cCatalogue of the Collection of Jewels and Precious Works\n of Art, the Property of J. Pierpont Morgan,\u201d London, 1910, pp. 12\u201314.\n\nFootnote 384:\n\n Caspar Neumann, \u201cDisquisitio de ambra grysea,\u201d Dresden, 1736, pp. 80,\n 81.\n\nFootnote 385:\n\n Gimma, \u201cDella storia naturale delle gemme,\u201d Napoli, 1730, vol. i, p.\n 479.\n\nFootnote 386:\n\n Christiani Mentzelii, \u201cLapis Bononensis,\u201d Bilefeldi\u00e6, 1675, p. 47.\n\nFootnote 387:\n\n Mercati, \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719, p. 227.\n\nFootnote 388:\n\n Plinii, \u201cHistoria Naturalis,\u201d lib. xxxvii, cap. 68.\n\nFootnote 389:\n\n Ibid., lib. xxxvi, cap. 35. See also Dioscorides V, 155; \u00c6tius II, 19.\n\nFootnote 390:\n\n Claudii Galeni, \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Kuhn, Lipsi\u00e6, 1826, vol. xii, p.\n 199. De simplic. med., lib. vii, cap. 2.\n\nFootnote 391:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum, oder Vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt\n am Main, 1714, lib. i, cap. 24, \u00a7 2.\n\nFootnote 392:\n\n \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1655, pp. 7\u20139.\n\nFootnote 393:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, lib. iv, cap. 10, p.\n 600.\n\nFootnote 394:\n\n \u201cMuseum Wormianum,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1655, p. 65.\n\nFootnote 395:\n\n This is the fossilized horny part of the tail of an extinct\n cuttlefish, and numerous specimens have been found in the marl of New\n Jersey as well as in many other places.\n\nFootnote 396:\n\n Gesneri, \u201cDe figuris lapidum,\u201d Tiguri, 1565, fol. 89, verso, 90,\n recto.\n\nFootnote 397:\n\n Mercati, \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719, pp. 138\u2013139. Figure on\n p. 138.\n\nFootnote 398:\n\n Andree, \u201cEthnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche,\u201d New Ser.,\n Leipzig, 1889, p. 33.\n\nFootnote 399:\n\n Reichii, \u201cMedicina Universalis\u201d [Vratislavi\u00e6, 1691], p. 76. See Fig.\n 4, opp. p. 72.\n\nFootnote 400:\n\n De Boot, \u201cGemmarum et lapidum historia,\u201d ed. Toll, Lug. Bat., 1647, p.\n 410; lib. ii, cap. ccxxvii, and also De Laet, \u201cDe gemmis et\n lapidibus,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1647, p. 138.\n\nFootnote 401:\n\n Ibid., p. 300; lib. ii, cap. cxlviii.\n\nFootnote 402:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum, oder Vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt\n am Main, 1714, vol. ii, p. 11.\n\nFootnote 403:\n\n See, in regard to this stone, Oppert, \u201cDer Sal\u00e2gr\u00e2ma-Stein,\u201d\n Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Ethnologie, XXXIV Jahrgang, Berlin, 1902, pp. 131\u2013137.\n\nFootnote 404:\n\n Magnusen, \u201cOm en Steenring med Runeindskrift,\u201d Annaler for Nordisk\n Oldkyndighed, Copenhagen, 1838\u20131839, p. 133.\n\nFootnote 405:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum, oder die vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d\n Frankfurt am Main, 1714, vol. ii, p. 12.\n\nFootnote 406:\n\n Reichii, \u201cMedicina universalis\u201d [Vratislavi\u00e6, 1691], p. 75. See Fig.\n 3, opp. p. 72.\n\nFootnote 407:\n\n Peringskiold, \u201cWilkina Saga eller historia on Konung Diedrich of\n Bern,\u201d Stockholmis, 1715, pp. 57, 58.\n\nFootnote 408:\n\n Bellucci, \u201cIl feticismo in Italia,\u201d Perugia, 1907, pp. 100\u2013104.\n\nFootnote 409:\n\n Nicolo Monardes, \u201cDelle cose que vengono portate dall\u2019Indie\n occidentali,\u201d Venetia, 1575, pp. 95\u20136.\n\nFootnote 410:\n\n Ibid., pp. 104\u20135.\n\nFootnote 411:\n\n Caspar Bauhini, \u201cDe lapidis bezaaris ortu natura,\u201d etc., Basile\u00e6,\n 1625, p. 3.\n\nFootnote 412:\n\n Museum Brittanicum, John and Andrew van Rymsdyk, London, pp. 50\u201351.\n\nFootnote 413:\n\n De Boot, \u201cDe lapidibus,\u201d ed. Toll, Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 367.\n\nFootnote 414:\n\n \u201cDe lapidibus,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1636, p. 370. See also Mercati,\n \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719, p. 179, with figure of stone from\n hedgehog.\n\nFootnote 415:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum,\u201d Bononi\u00e6, 1648, p. 809.\n\nFootnote 416:\n\n Ibid., p. 809.\n\nFootnote 417:\n\n Ambroise Par\u00e9, \u201c\u0152uvres Compl\u00e8tes,\u201d Paris, 1841, vol. iii, pp. 341,\n 342.\n\nFootnote 418:\n\n Engelberti Kaempferi, \u201cAm\u0153nitatum exoticarum fasc. V,\u201d Lemgovi\u00e6, 1712,\n pp. 402, 403.\n\nFootnote 419:\n\n Andre\u00e6 Baccii, \u201cDe gemmis et lapidibus pretiosis,\u201d Francofurti, 1603,\n p. 193; Latin version by Wolfgang Gabelchover of the original Italian.\n\nFootnote 420:\n\n Kaempferi, \u201cAm\u0153nitatum exoticarum fasciculi V,\u201d Lemgovi\u00e6, 1712, pp.\n 400, 401.\n\nFootnote 421:\n\n The T\u00fbzuk-i-Jahangiri or memoirs of Jehangir trans. by Alexander\n Rogers, London, 1909, p. 240; Orient. Trans. Fund, N. S., vol. xix.\n\nFootnote 422:\n\n \u201cVoyage d\u2019Ethiopie\u201d; in Lettres \u00e9diflantes et curieuses, IV Recueil,\n Paris, 1713, p. 103.\n\nFootnote 423:\n\n De Acosta, \u201cHistoire Naturelle et Morale des Indes,\u201d tr. by Cauxois,\n Paris, 1600, f. 206 r. and v.\n\nFootnote 424:\n\n Von Hammer, \u201cAusz\u00fcge aus dem persischen Werke, Buch der Edelsteine,\n von Mohammed ben Manssur,\u201d in Fundgruben des Orients, vol. vi, p. 134;\n Wien, 1818.\n\nFootnote 425:\n\n Boccone, \u201cRecherches et observations naturelles,\u201d Amsterdam, 1674, pp.\n 238, 239.\n\nFootnote 426:\n\n F. Nix, in Tijdschrift voor Ind. Taal, Land en Volk, vol. v, p. 151.\n\nFootnote 427:\n\n Julii Reichelti, \u201cDe Amuletis,\u201d Argentorati, 1676, p. 75.\n\nFootnote 428:\n\n Mercati, \u201cMetallotheca Vaticana,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1719, p. 175.\n\nFootnote 429:\n\n Valentini, \u201cMuseum museorum, oder Vollst\u00e4ndige Schau-B\u00fchne,\u201d Frankfurt\n am Main, 1714, bk. iii, cap. 13, \u00a7\u00a7 1, 2, p. 446.\n\nFootnote 430:\n\n Pancirollus, \u201cThe History of Many Memorable Things,\u201d London, 1715, p.\n 288.\n\nFootnote 431:\n\n Ibid., loc. cit.\n\nFootnote 432:\n\n R. Verneau and P. Rivet, \u201cEthnologie ancienne de l\u2019Equateur,\u201d Paris,\n 1912; vol. vi of Mission du service g\u00e9ologique de l\u2019arm\u00e9e pour la\n mesure d\u2019un arc de m\u00e9ridien \u00e9quatorial en Am\u00e9rique du Sud, 1899\u20131906,\n pp. 235, 236; figure (nat. size) on p. 235.\n\nFootnote 433:\n\n Historical Manuscripts Commission, MSS. of the Marquis of Salisbury,\n Pt. V, London, 1894, p. 3.\n\nFootnote 434:\n\n Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxi, p. 153, London, 1837. From Warrant of Indemnity\n given by King James I to the guardians of the crown jewels.\n\nFootnote 435:\n\n Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerh\u00f6chsten\n Kaiserhauses, vol. xx, Pt. II, pp. lxv, xcvii, Wien, 1899.\n\nFootnote 436:\n\n Figured in Jeweler\u2019s Circular Weekly, Dec. 17, 1913, p. 53; Charles A.\n Brassler, \u201cGold Mounted Specimens of Bezoar.\u201d\n\nFootnote 437:\n\n Skeat, \u201cMalay Magic,\u201d London, 1900, pp. 274 sqq.\n\nFootnote 438:\n\n Chau Ju-Kua, \u201cChu-fan-chi\u201d (\u201cA Description of Barbarous Peoples\u201d),\n trans. by Friedrich Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, St. Petersburg, 1911, p.\n 16, and p. 90, note 7.\n\nFootnote 439:\n\n Von Dewall, \u201cAanteekeningen omtrent de Noordoostkust van Borneo;\u201d\n Tijdschrift voor Ind. Taal. Land en Volk, vol. iv, p. 436.\n\nFootnote 440:\n\n Valmont de Bomare, \u201cDictionnaire raisonn\u00e9 universel,\u201d Paris, 1773, p.\n 556.\n\nFootnote 441:\n\n Edwards, \u201cHistory and Poetry of Finger Rings,\u201d New York, 1855, pp.\n 110, 111.\n\nFootnote 442:\n\n \u201cScientific American,\u201d vol. xv, No. 19, p. 299; November 3, 1866.\n\nFootnote 443:\n\n Dr. Learned, \u201cMorocco and the Moors,\u201d 1876, p. 281.\n\nFootnote 444:\n\n S. de Vries, \u201cCurieuse Aenmerkingen der byzonderste Oost en\n West-Indische Verwonderens-waerdige Dingen,\u201d Utrecht, 1682, Pt. II,\n pp. 912, 913.\n\nFootnote 445:\n\n See Ledra Hazlit, M.D., \u201cHair-balls of the Stomach and Intestines,\u201d\n Jour. A. M. A., vol. lxii, No. 2, pp. 107\u2013110, with illustration; and\n G. A. Moore, \u201cHair Cast of the Stomach with Respect of a Case,\u201d Boston\n Medical and Surgical Journal, Jan. 1, 1914.\n\nFootnote 446:\n\n Plinii, \u201cNaturalis Historia,\u201d lib. xxix, cap. 12.\n\nFootnote 447:\n\n Kunz, Dept. of Mining Statistics.\n\nFootnote 448:\n\n Johann Turi, \u201cMuittalus samid birra; en bog om Lappernas liv.\u201d; text,\n and Danish trans. by Emilie Demnant, Kj\u00f8benhavn, 1911, p. 184 (p. 62\n of text).\n\nFootnote 449:\n\n Tertulliani, \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d Parisiis, 1879, vol. i, col. 1425, De\n cultu feminarum.\n\nFootnote 450:\n\n \u201cLithica,\u201d lines 336 sqq.\n\nFootnote 451:\n\n The fyrste boke of the introduction of Knowledge made by Andrew Borde\n of Psysycke Doctore. Ed. by Furnival, London, 1870, p. 121. Early\n English Text Soc., Extra Series No. X.\n\nFootnote 452:\n\n Wirt Sikes, \u201cBritish Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Myths, Legends\n and Traditions,\u201d London, 1880, p. 366.\n\nFootnote 453:\n\n Julius Ruska, \u201cDas Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des Mu\u1e25ammad ibn\n Mahmud al-Kazw\u00een\u00ee,\u201d Beilage to the Jahresberichte of the\n Oberrealschule, Heidelberg, 1895\u201396, p. 15.\n\nFootnote 454:\n\n Edmond Doutt\u00e9, \u201cMagie et Religion,\u201d Alger, 1909, p. 145; quoting\n Largeau, \u201cLa Sahara alg\u00e9rienne,\u201d p. 80.\n\nFootnote 455:\n\n \u201cGemmarum et lapidum historia,\u201d Lug. Bat., 1636, pp. 347\u2013349.\n\nFootnote 456:\n\n Daniel Wilson, \u201cThe Arch\u00e6ology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,\u201d\n Edinburgh, 1851, pp. 303, 304. Two specimens figured on p. 304.\n\nFootnote 457:\n\n John Brand, \u201cObservations on the Popular Antiquities of Great\n Britain,\u201d London, 1849, vol. iii, p. 371.\n\nFootnote 458:\n\n Wirt Sikes, \u201cBritish Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Myths, Legends\n and Traditions.\u201d London, 1880, p. 360.\n\nFootnote 459:\n\n J. G. Frazer, \u201cBalder the Beautiful,\u201d London, 1913, vol. i, p. 16.\n\nFootnote 460:\n\n Arakel, \u201cLivre d\u2019histoire,\u201d chap. liii; in Collection d\u2019historiens\n armeniens, French transl. by M. Brosset, St. Petersburg, 1874, vol. i,\n p. 545.\n\nFootnote 461:\n\n F. de M\u00e9ly, \u201cLes lapidaires de l\u2019antiquit\u00e9 et du moyen \u00e2ge,\u201d vol. i,\n \u201cLes lapidaires chinois,\u201d Paris, 1896, pp. 237\u2013238.\n\nFootnote 462:\n\n \u201cAccount of the Snake Stone,\u201d in Lancet, vol. 177, London, July-Dec.\n 1909, p. 1478.\n\nFootnote 463:\n\n \u201cLes six voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier,\u201d Pt. II, Paris, 1678, pp.\n 410, 411; Bk. II, ch. xxiv.\n\nFootnote 464:\n\n \u201cThe Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant,\u201d London, 1686, Pt.\n III, p. 32; Bk. I, chap. 18.\n\nFootnote 465:\n\n Davy, \u201cAn Analysis of the Snake-stone,\u201d Asiatic Researches, vol. xiii,\n p. 318; Kaempfer, \u201cAmoen. Exit.,\u201d pp. 395\u2013397; cited in Yule-Burnell,\n \u201cA Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Other Phrases,\u201d\n London, 1886, pp. 643, 644.\n\nFootnote 466:\n\n \u201cJungle Life in India,\u201d p. 83.\n\nFootnote 467:\n\n Redi, \u201cExperimenta,\u201d Amstelodami, 1675, pp. 4\u20138.\n\nFootnote 468:\n\n Edinburgh Philos. Journal, No. 1, p. 147; Philos. Trans., cix, p. 283;\n and \u201cThe Natural History and Properties of Tabersheer,\u201d 1828;\n Edinburgh Journal, viii, p. 288.\n\nFootnote 469:\n\n Jour. de Pharmacies, xxvii, pp. 81, 161, 252; and Phil. Mag., x, p.\n 229.\n\nFootnote 470:\n\n Nature, xxxv, p. 437.\n\nFootnote 471:\n\n \u201cDer Tabixir in seiner Bedeutung f\u00fcr die Botanik, Mineralogie, und\n Physik\u201d; X. Sammlung. Naturwissenschaftlicher Vortr\u00e4ge, Berlin, 1887.\n\nFootnote 472:\n\n Tavernier, \u201cVoyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes,\u201d Paris, 1718,\n vol. ii, p. 392; liv. ii, chap. 24.\n\nFootnote 473:\n\n Engelberti Kaempferi, \u201cAm\u0153nitatum exoticarum fasciculi V,\u201d Lemgovi\u00e6,\n 1712, pp. 395, 396.\n\nFootnote 474:\n\n Kunz, \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d 2d ed., New York,\n 1892, p. 183.\n\nFootnote 475:\n\n Rumphius, \u201cD\u2019Amboinsche Rariteitskamer,\u201d Amsterdam, 1741, pp. 303\u2013305.\n\nFootnote 476:\n\n \u201cDie Gesta Romanorum,\u201d ed. Wilhelm Dick, Erlangen, 1890, p. 127.\n\nFootnote 477:\n\n Dr. H. C. White, \u201cThe Chemical and Physical Characters of the\n So-called \u2018Mad-Stones,\u2019\u201d British Association for the Advancement of\n Science, 73d Report, Meeting of 1903 at Smithfield, London, 1904, p.\n 605.\n\nFootnote 478:\n\n \u201cLancet,\u201d vol. 164, Jan.-June, 1903, p. 343.\n\nFootnote 479:\n\n American Journal of Science, vol. xxxiv, Dec., 1887. See also Kunz,\n \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d New York, 1892, p. 144.\n\nFootnote 480:\n\n Leipsic, 1866.\n\nFootnote 481:\n\n Kohut, loc. cit., p. 25.\n\nFootnote 482:\n\n Dictionnaire d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie Chr\u00e9tienne, ed. by Dom Fernand Cabrol and\n Dom H. Leclercq, vol. i, Pt. II, Paris, 1907, col. 2088.\n\nFootnote 483:\n\n Ibid., col. 2089.\n\nFootnote 484:\n\n Dictionnaire d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie Chr\u00e9tienne, ed. by Dom Fernand Cabrol and\n Dom H. Leclercq, vol. i, Pt. II, Paris, 1907, cols. 2089, 2090.\n\nFootnote 485:\n\n Dictionnaire d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie Chr\u00e9tienne, ed. by Dom Fernand Cabrol and\n Dom H. Leclercq, vol. i, Pt. II, Paris, 1907, cols. 2088, 2089.\n\nFootnote 486:\n\n Macarius (L\u2019Heureux), \u201cAbraxus seu Apistopistus,\u201d Antwerp, 1657, Plate\n XIX, No. 78 (Gorl\u00e6us, 1695, Pl. CCXVIII, No. 430).\n\nFootnote 487:\n\n Zunz, \u201cDie gottesdienstliche Vortr\u00e4ge der Juden,\u201d Berlin, 1832, p.\n 167. Zunz conjectures that Eleazar of Worms (1176\u20131238) may have\n written a portion of this work.\n\nFootnote 488:\n\n \u201cSepher de-Adam Kadmah,\u201d Amsterdam, 1701, fol. 34 verso. The\n interpretations of the several names are from Schwab\u2019s \u201cVocabulaire de\n l\u2019ang\u00e9lologie,\u201d Paris, 1897, except in the case of Ragael, where\n Schwab gives \u201cangel of the moment.\u201d\n\nFootnote 489:\n\n Barrett, \u201cThe Magus,\u201d London, 1801, p. 138.\n\nFootnote 490:\n\n Weber, \u201cJ\u00fcdische Theologie,\u201d 2d ed., Leipzig, 1897.\n\nFootnote 491:\n\n Lane, \u201cArabian Society in the Middle Ages,\u201d ed. by Stanley Lane-Poole,\n London, 1883, p. 106.\n\nFootnote 492:\n\n Schindler, \u201cDer Aberglaube des Mittelalters,\u201d Breslau, 1858, p. 4.\n\nFootnote 493:\n\n Peschel, \u201cV\u00f6lkerkunde,\u201d Leipzig, 1885, p. 272. Quoted from Winwood\n Reade\u2019s \u201cSavage Africa.\u201d\n\nFootnote 494:\n\n Achelis, \u201cDie Martyrologien,\u201d p. 8.\n\nFootnote 495:\n\n Parmele, \u201cTothe-Lore,\u201d reprint from the International Dental Journal,\n January, 1899, p. 14.\n\nFootnote 496:\n\n Symeonis Logothet\u00e6, cognomento Metaphrast\u00e6, \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Migne,\n Parisiis, 1864, vol. iii, col. 315.\n\nFootnote 497:\n\n Aldrovandi, \u201cMuseum metallicum, Bononi\u00e6,\u201d 1648, p. 653.\n\nFootnote 498:\n\n Thoms, \u201cAnecdotes and Traditions,\u201d London, 1839, p. 103 (Camden Soc.\n Pub.).\n\nFootnote 499:\n\n See plate in the present writer\u2019s \u201cCurious Lore of Precious Stones,\u201d\n J. B. Lippincott Company, 1913, opp. p. 356.\n\nFootnote 500:\n\n Mlle. Marie K\u00f6nig, \u201cPoup\u00e9es et l\u00e9gendes de France,\u201d Paris, n. d., pp.\n 77\u201380.\n\nFootnote 501:\n\n St. Louis Democrat, 1905.\n\nFootnote 502:\n\n De Lespinasse, \u201cLes m\u00e9tiers et corporations de la ville de Paris,\u201d\n Paris, 1892, p. 11.\n\nFootnote 503:\n\n Nature, vol. lxxxvi, p. 429; Oct. 6, 1910.\n\nFootnote 504:\n\n Bellucci, \u201cIl feticismo in Italia,\u201d Perugia, 1907, pp. 113\u2013119.\n Figures.\n\nFootnote 505:\n\n Pettigrew, \u201cOn Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice\n of Medicine and Surgery,\u201d p. 36. (Quotation from Melton,\n \u201cAstrologaster,\u201d p. 20.)\n\nFootnote 506:\n\n Notes and Queries, 2d Series, vol. viii, London, 1859, p. 242.\n\nFootnote 507:\n\n Wehrenfels, \u201cA Dissertation on Superstition,\u201d p. 36; prefixed to\n \u201cOccasional Thoughts on the Power of Curing the King\u2019s-Evil,\u201d London,\n 1748.\n\nFootnote 508:\n\n Lean\u2019s Collectanea, vol. i, Bristol, 1902, pp. 373\u2013384.\n\nFootnote 509:\n\n Johann Joachim Bellermann, \u201cDie Urim und Thummim, die \u00e4ltesten\n Gemmen,\u201d Berlin, 1824, pp. 21, 22. For a full account of the\n breastplate see the present writer\u2019s \u201cThe Curious Lore of Precious\n Stones,\u201d Philadelphia and London, 1913, chap. viii, pp. 275\u2013306.\n\nFootnote 510:\n\n Wallace-Dunlop, \u201cGlass in the Old World,\u201d London, n. d., p. 6.\n\nFootnote 511:\n\n From \u201cJewellers\u2019 Circular Weekly,\u201d Nov. 12, 1913.\n\nFootnote 512:\n\n Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Migne, vol. iv, Parisiis,\n 1865, cols 543, 544.\n\nFootnote 513:\n\n Sometimes believed to be rock-crystal.\n\nFootnote 514:\n\n Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Migne, vol. iv, Parisiis,\n 1865, col. 544.\n\nFootnote 515:\n\n A stained or colored massive quartz.\n\nFootnote 516:\n\n Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Migne, vol. iv, Parisiis,\n 1865, col. 545.\n\nFootnote 517:\n\n Ibid. col. 544.\n\nFootnote 518:\n\n Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s version, \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr. Franz\n Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 459.\n\nFootnote 519:\n\n The Complete Ceremonies and Procedures Observed at the Coronation of\n the Kings and Queens of England, London, n. d., p. 28.\n\nFootnote 520:\n\n Sanctorum Hildefonsi, Leodegarii, Juliani, \u201cOpera Omnia,\u201d ed. Migne,\n Parisiis, 1882, coll. 283\u2013318.\n\nFootnote 521:\n\n Adolf Furtw\u00e4ngler, \u201cDie Antiken Gemmen,\u201d Berlin, 1900; vol. i, Plate\n LXVII, Nos. 5, 2; described in vol. ii, p. 309.\n\nFootnote 522:\n\n Ibid., vol. i, Plate LXVIII, fig. 8; described in vol. ii, p. 307.\n\nFootnote 523:\n\n Op. cit., vol. i, Plate LXVII, in No. 7; described in vol. ii, p. 307.\n\nFootnote 524:\n\n Op. cit., vol. I, Plate LXVII, No. 3; described in vol. ii, p. 307.\n\nFootnote 525:\n\n Op. cit., vol. i, Plate LXVII, No. 1; described in vol. ii, p. 307.\n\nFootnote 526:\n\n Handbuch der K\u00f6niglichen Museum zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbe Museum, by\n Julius Lessing, Berlin, 1892, p. 14.\n\nFootnote 527:\n\n The Jewellers\u2019 Circular, Wednesday, December 16, 1914, vol. lxix, No.\n 20, p. 43.\n\nFootnote 528:\n\n F. de M\u00e9ly, \u201cLe Tr\u00e9sor de Chartres 1314\u20131793,\u201d Paris, 1886, pp. 16\u201321,\n 30.\n\nFootnote 529:\n\n See C. W. King, \u201cEarly Christian Numismatics,\u201d London, 1873, pp.\n 95\u2013112; \u201cThe Emerald Vernicle of the Vatican.\u201d\n\nFootnote 530:\n\n Thurston, \u201cHistory of the Rosary in all Countries,\u201d Journal of the\n Society of Arts, vol. 1, p. 271; London, 1902.\n\nFootnote 531:\n\n Leumann, \u201cRosaries Mentioned in Indian Literature;\u201d in Trans. of the\n Ninth Cong. of Orient; (1892), London, 1893, pp. 883\u2013889.\n\nFootnote 532:\n\n Inventory of royal treasures in the Ch\u00e2teau de Fontainebleau, Bibl.\n Nat. MS. franc. 4732; fol. 3 of transcript in author\u2019s library from\n the collection of M. E. Molinier.\n\nFootnote 533:\n\n Carlos Justi, \u201cLos Arfe\u201d; in Espa\u00f1a Moderna, vol. 299, November, 1913,\n pp. 83, 87.\n\nFootnote 534:\n\n M\u00e9moires de Madame la Duchesse d\u2019Abrant\u00e8s, Paris, n. d., vol. 7, p.\n 447.\n\nFootnote 535:\n\n Robert de Berquen, \u201cLes Merveilles des Indes,\u201d Paris, 1661, pp. 87,\n 32.\n\nFootnote 536:\n\n Dr. B. Je\u017eek, \u201cAus dem Reiche der Edelsteinen,\u201d Prag, 1913, pp.\n 128\u2013131.\n\nFootnote 537:\n\n See G. F. Kunz, \u201cFive Brazilian Diamonds,\u201d Science, vol. iii, p. 649,\n No. 69, May 30, 1884.\n\nFootnote 538:\n\n Heuen Tsang, \u201cM\u00e9moires sur les contr\u00e9es occidentales,\u201d French trans.\n by Stanislas Julien, Paris, 1857, vol. i, p. 482.\n\nFootnote 539:\n\n \u201cThe Saddharma-Pundar\u00eeka, or the Lotus of the True Law,\u201d trans. by H.\n Kern, Oxford, 1884, p. 228.\n\nFootnote 540:\n\n See J. Ribeyro, \u201cHistoire de l\u2019Isle de Ceylon,\u201d French trans. of Abb\u00e9\n le Grand, Amsterdam, 1701, pp. 184, 185.\n\nFootnote 541:\n\n An account of King Kirti Sri\u2019s embassy to Siam in 1672, Saka (1750\n A.D.), trans. from Sinhalese by P. E. Pieris. Extract from Jour. Roy.\n As. Soc., vol. xviii, No. 54 (1903).\n\nFootnote 542:\n\n Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, vol. xvii, p.\n 168, illustration.\n\nFootnote 543:\n\n Surindro Mohun Tagore, \u201cMani Mala,\u201d Pt. II, Calcutta, 1881, pp. 573,\n 601, 703.\n\nFootnote 544:\n\n Hendley, \u201cIndian Jewellery,\u201d London, 1909, p. 106; see Major H. H.\n Cole, \u201cPreservation of the Natural Monuments of India,\u201d Pl. 52.\n\nFootnote 545:\n\n \u201cJournal of Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador of James I to Shah Jehangir,\n Mogul Emperor of Hindoostan\u201d; in Kerr\u2019s Collection of Voyages and\n Travels, Edinburgh, 1824, vol. ix, p. 288.\n\nFootnote 546:\n\n Von Hammer, \u201cAusz\u00fcge aus dem persischen Werke, Buch der Edelsteine,\n von Mohammed Ben Manssur\u201d; in Fundgruben des Orients, vol. vi, p. 138;\n Wien, 1818.\n\nFootnote 547:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cJade, a Study in Chinese Arch\u00e6ology and Religion,\u201d\n Chicago, 1912, p. 157.\n\nFootnote 548:\n\n J. Deniker, \u201cThe Dalai Lama\u2019s new Tse-boum from Paris,\u201d Century\n Magazine, vol. lxvii, No. 4, Feb., 1904, pp. 582\u2013583, with\n illustration.\n\nFootnote 549:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cNotes on Turquois in the East,\u201d Field Museum of\n Natural History, Anthropological Series, vol. xiii, No. 1, Chicago,\n July, 1913, p. 11.\n\nFootnote 550:\n\n \u201cVerdadera historia de los sucesos de la conquista de la Nueva\n Espa\u00f1a,\u201d Bib. de Aut. Esp., vol. xxvi, Madrid, 1866, p. 35.\n\nFootnote 551:\n\n Dr. Eduard Seler, \u201cSimilarity of Design of Some Teotihuacan Frescoes\n and Certain Mexican Pottery Objects,\u201d in Proceedings of the\n International Congress of Americanists, XVIII Session, London, 1912;\n Pt. II, London, 1913, p. 200.\n\nFootnote 552:\n\n \u201cAmong them that are born of woman there hath not arisen a greater.\u201d\n Matt. xi, 11.\n\nFootnote 553:\n\n \u201c\u0152uvres du Seigneur de Brant\u00f4me,\u201d Londres, 1779, vol. v, pp. 35, 36.\n\nFootnote 554:\n\n W. H. Holmes, \u201cMasterpieces of Aboriginal American Art,\u201d II, Mosaic\n Work; reprint from Art and Arch\u00e6ology, vol. I, no. 3, Nov., 1914; see\n pp. 96, 97, and Figs. 2 and 3, pp. 92, 93.\n\nFootnote 555:\n\n Edward H. Thompson, \u201cThe Home of a Forgotten Race\u201d; in The National\n Geographic Magazine, vol. xxv, No. 6, pp. 585\u2013608; June, 1914.\n\nFootnote 556:\n\n Fewkes, \u201cArch\u00e6ological Investigations on the Island of La Plata,\n Ecuador,\u201d Field Columbian Museum Pub. No. 56; Anthrop. Ser., vol. ii,\n No. 5, Chicago, 1901, pp. 266 sqq.\n\nFootnote 557:\n\n George F. Kunz, \u201cGems and Precious Stones of North America,\u201d New York,\n 1890, pp. 61, 62.\n\nFootnote 558:\n\n Karutz, \u201cDer Emanismus,\u201d in Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Ethnologie, 45th Jahrgang,\n 1913, Heft III, Berlin, 1913, pp. 559, 560.\n\nFootnote 559:\n\n Browne, \u201cPseudodoxia Epidemica,\u201d London, 1650, Bk. II, chap. 5, p. 65.\n\nFootnote 560:\n\n Scientific American, June 28, 1913, p. 575.\n\nFootnote 561:\n\n Morris Jastrow, Jr., \u201cDie Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens,\u201d vol. I,\n Giessen, 1905, pp. 335\u2013339.\n\nFootnote 562:\n\n Pogue, \u201cThe Turquois,\u201d Washington, 1915, citing an article by Sikes,\n In \u201cFolk-lore,\u201d vol. xii, p. 268, London, 1901.\n\nFootnote 563:\n\n Cited by Joseph E. Pogue, in \u201cThe Turquois\u201d; Memoirs of the National\n Academy of Sciences, vol. xii, pt. ii, Third Memoir, Washington, 1915,\n p. 13. From Ouseley, \u201cTravels in Various Countries of the East, more\n Particularly Persia,\u201d London, 1819, vol. i, pp. 210\u2013212.\n\nFootnote 564:\n\n Pogue, \u201cThe Turquois,\u201d Washington, 1915, citing Petrie \u201cEgyptian\n Tales, First Series, Fourth to Twelfth Dynasty,\u201d London, 1895, pp.\n 16\u201322.\n\nFootnote 565:\n\n Budge, \u201cThe Mummy,\u201d Cambridge, 1894, pp. 330\u2013331.\n\nFootnote 566:\n\n Communicated by Dr. Arthur Fairbanks, Director of the Boston Museum of\n Fine Arts.\n\nFootnote 567:\n\n \u201cLife Work of Sir Peter Le Page Renouf,\u201d vol. vi, Paris, 1907.\n\nFootnote 568:\n\n \u201cThe Life Work of Sir Peter Le Page Renouf,\u201d vol. iv, Paris, 1907, p.\n 71.\n\nFootnote 569:\n\n Flinders Petrie, \u201cThe Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt,\u201d Edinburgh and\n London, 1909, p. 79.\n\nFootnote 570:\n\n Carlo Landberg, \u201cProverbes et dictons de la province de Syrie, Section\n de Sayda,\u201d Leyden, 1883, pp. 313, 314.\n\nFootnote 571:\n\n Oskar Schneider, \u201cUeber Anschwemmung von antiken Arbeitsmaterial an\n der Alexandriner K\u00fcste,\u201d in \u201cNaturwissenschaftliche Beitr\u00e4ge zur\n Geographie und Kulturgeschichte,\u201d Dresden, 1883, pp. 4, 5, 6.\n\nFootnote 572:\n\n Ma\u00e7oudi, \u201cLes Prairies d\u2019Or,\u201d text and French trans. by Barbier de\n Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, vol. ii, Paris, 1863, pp. 436, 437,\n chap, xxxii.\n\nFootnote 573:\n\n Gesenius in his Hebrew Dictionary even conjectures that the leh\u00e2sh\u00eem\n may have been shells, which when held to the ear gave forth sounds\n believed to have an ominous significance.\n\nFootnote 574:\n\n Delegation en Perse, vol. viii, Recherches Arch\u00e9oligiques 3 \u00e8me S\u00e9rie,\n Paris, 1905, pp. 36\u201358.\n\nFootnote 575:\n\n \u201cCurieuse Kunst und Werck-Schul,\u201d N\u00fcrnberg, 1705, p. 994.\n\nFootnote 576:\n\n Pr\u00e9ceptes M\u00e9dicaux de Serenus Sammonicus, text and trans. by L.\n Baudet, Paris, 1845, pp. 74\u201377.\n\nFootnote 577:\n\n De Foe, \u201cA Journal of the Plague Year,\u201d London, 1895, p. 38 (vol. ix\n of Works ed. by Aitken).\n\nFootnote 578:\n\n Ms. Gr. No. 2411, fol. 60. See C. Werscher, Bull. de la Soc. Nat. des\n antiq. de la France, 1874, vol. xxxv, pp. 153 sqq.\n\nFootnote 579:\n\n King, \u201cEarly Christian Numismatics,\u201d London, 1873, p. 187.\n\nFootnote 580:\n\n In the author\u2019s library.\n\nFootnote 581:\n\n King, \u201cEarly Christian Numismatics,\u201d London, 1873, pp. 229, 230.\n\nFootnote 582:\n\n Gregorii Episcopi Turonensis, \u201cHistoria Francorum,\u201d ed. Arndt, and\n Krusch, Para I, Hannover\u00e6, 1884, p. 349, lib. viii, cap. 33.\n\nFootnote 583:\n\n Dictionnaire d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie Chr\u00e9tienne, ed. by Dom Fernand Cabrol and\n Dom H. Leclercq, Fasc. xxv, Paris, 1911, cols. 696\u2013698, with cuts of\n the talisman taken from those given by E. Aus\u2019m Weertht to illustrate\n a paper in the Jahrb. des Vereins der Alterthumsfreunde im Rheinlande,\n vols. xxxix-xl, p. 265\u2013272, Plates IV, V, VI, Bonn, 1866. The original\n photographs were taken by express permission of Napoleon III.\n\nFootnote 584:\n\n Emile Ollivier, \u201cL\u2019Empire Lib\u00e9rale,\u201d Paris, 1897, vol. ii, p. 55.\n\nFootnote 585:\n\n Rev. Oswald Cockayne, \u201cLeechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early\n England,\u201d London, 1865, vol. ii, p. 299 (Bk. II, cap. 66 of the \u201cLaece\n Boc\u201d).\n\nFootnote 586:\n\n Renel, \u201cLes religions de la Gaule avant le Christianisme,\u201d Paris,\n 1906, p. 97.\n\nFootnote 587:\n\n See Paul Broca, \u201cSur la tr\u00e9panation du cr\u00e2ne et les amulettes\n cr\u00e2niennes de l\u2019\u00e9poque n\u00e9olitique,\u201d Revue d\u2019Anthropologie, vol. vi,\n 1877, pp. 1\u201342, 193\u2013225; and also his \u201cAmulettes cr\u00e2niennes et\n tr\u00e9panation pr\u00e9historique\u201d in the same Revue, vol. v, 1876, pp. 106,\n 107.\n\nFootnote 588:\n\n Kumagusu Minakata, \u201cTrepanning among Ancient Peoples,\u201d Nature, Jan.\n 15, 1914, pp. 555, 556; citing Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, 1910, vol.\n xiii, p. 518, and E. A. Schiefner, \u201cTibetan Tales,\u201d trans. Ralston,\n 1906, p. 98.\n\nFootnote 589:\n\n Pierre Lacroix, \u201cSciences et Lettres au Moyen Age,\u201d Paris, 1877, p.\n 250.\n\nFootnote 590:\n\n Martin, \u201cHistoire de France,\u201d vol. x, Paris, 1844, p. 451, note. From\n a communication of Pierre Lacroix, citing as authority: \u201cCatalogue des\n tableaux, antiquit\u00e9s, pierres grav\u00e9es, etc., etc., du cabinet de feu\n M. d\u2019Ennery, \u00e9cuyer,\u201d by Remi and Miliotti, Paris, 1786.\n\nFootnote 591:\n\n Birlinger, \u201cKleinere deutsche Sprachdenkm\u00e4ler\u201d; in Germania, vol. iii\n (1863), p. 303.\n\nFootnote 592:\n\n Cardani, \u201cDe subtilitate,\u201d lib. vii, Basile\u00e6, 1560, p. 473.\n\nFootnote 593:\n\n Inventaire des biens de Marguerite de Flandres Duchesse de Bourgogne,\n Bibl. Nat., coll. Moreau, 1727; on fol. 96 of transcription in\n author\u2019s library, from the collection of M. E. Molinier.\n\nFootnote 594:\n\n Konrad von Megenberg\u2019s old German version \u201cBuch der Natur,\u201d ed. by Dr.\n Franz Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 449.\n\nFootnote 595:\n\n Cardani, \u201cDe rerum varietate,\u201d lib. v, Basile\u00e6, 1557, p. 100.\n\nFootnote 596:\n\n Cardani, \u201cPhilosophi opera qu\u00e6dam,\u201d Basile\u00e6, 1585, p. 330.\n\nFootnote 597:\n\n \u201cAnatomy of Melancholy,\u201d Bk. II, \u00a7 4, i, 4.\n\nFootnote 598:\n\n Agnes Strickland, \u201cLives of the Queens of England,\u201d vol. vii, pp. 770,\n 778.\n\nFootnote 599:\n\n Alex. Nicholes, \u201cA Discourse of Marriage and Wiveing,\u201d 1615, Hasl.\n Misc. II, 180; cited in Lean\u2019s Collectanea, vol. ii, Pt. II, Bristol,\n 1903, p. 641.\n\nFootnote 600:\n\n F. Lalut, \u201cL\u2019amulet de Pascal,\u201d in Annales m\u00e9d. psych., I ser., vol.\n v, pp. 157\u2013180; and P. E. Littr\u00e9, \u201cM\u00e9decine et m\u00e9decins,\u201d Paris, 1872,\n pp. 95\u201397.\n\nFootnote 601:\n\n \u201cDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart,\u201d ed. by Friedrich Michael\n Schiele, vol. i, T\u00fcbingen, 1909, col. 455.\n\nFootnote 602:\n\n Enrico H. Giglioli, \u201cDi alcuni ex-voto amuleti, ed altri oggetti\n litici adoperati nel culto di Krishna, sotto la forma di Jagan-natha a\n Puri in Orissa,\u201d Archivio per l\u2019Antropologia, vol. xxiii, pp. 87\u201389;\n Firanzi, 1893.\n\nFootnote 603:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cNotes on Turquois in the East,\u201d Field Museum of\n Natural History, Publication 169; Anthropological Series, vol. xiii,\n No. 1. Chicago, July, 1913; see text opposite frontispiece plate.\n\nFootnote 604:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cJade, a Study in Chinese Arch\u00e6ology and Religion,\u201d\n Chicago, 1912, pp. 194 sqq.\n\nFootnote 605:\n\n Communicated by Dr. Charles S. Braddock, formerly physician to the\n court of Siam, under date of February 13, 1903.\n\nFootnote 606:\n\n Hendley, \u201cIndian Jewellery,\u201d London, 1909, p. 27; Plate XV, Figs. 112,\n 113.\n\nFootnote 607:\n\n L. Austine Waddell, \u201cLhasa and its Mysteries, with a Record of the\n Expedition of 1903\u20131904,\u201d London, 1905, pp. 347, 348.\n\nFootnote 608:\n\n Ibid., pp. 348, 349.\n\nFootnote 609:\n\n Fortunio Liceti, De annulis, cap. 19.\n\nFootnote 610:\n\n Hendley, \u201cIndian Jewellery,\u201d London, 1909, p. 59.\n\nFootnote 611:\n\n H. Shway Yoe, \u201cThe Burman: His Life and Nations,\u201d in \u201cIndian\n Jewellery,\u201d by T. H. Hendley. The Journal of Indian Art and Industry,\n Jan., 1909, vol. xii, No. 105, p. 143.\n\nFootnote 612:\n\n Edmond Doutt\u00e9, \u201cMagie et Religion,\u201d Alger, 1909, pp. 320 sqq.\n\nFootnote 613:\n\n Alois Musil, \u201cArabia Petr\u00e6a,\u201d Wien, 1908, vol. iii, pp. 314, 315.\n\nFootnote 614:\n\n Lean\u2019s Collectanea (by Vincent Stuckey Lean), vol. ii, Pt. I, Bristol,\n 1903, p. 468.\n\nFootnote 615:\n\n Professora Isabel Ramirez Casta\u00f1eda, \u201cEl Folk-Lore de Milpa Alta, D.\n F., Mexico,\u201d in Proceedings of the International Congress of\n Americanists, XVIII Session, London, 1912, Pt. II, London, 1913, pp.\n 352\u2013354.\n\nFootnote 616:\n\n Ibid., pp. 356, 357.\n\nFootnote 617:\n\n George Grant McCurdy, Ph.D., \u201cA Study of Chiriquian Antiquities,\u201d New\n Haven, Conn., 1911, p. 42, figs. 45 and 49; Mem. of the Conn. Acad, of\n Arts and Sciences, vol. iii, March, 1911.\n\nFootnote 618:\n\n R. Verneau and P. Rivet, \u201cEthnologie ancienne de l\u2019Equateur,\u201d Paris,\n 1912, vol. vi of Mission du service G\u00e9ologique de l\u2019arm\u00e9e pour la\n mesure d\u2019un arc de m\u00e9ridien equatorial en Am\u00e9rique du Sud, 1899\u20131900,\n pp. 222, 223, Plate XIII, fig. 4.\n\nFootnote 619:\n\n George Frederick Kunz, \u201cFolk-lore of Precious Stones,\u201d Chicago, 1894;\n reprint from Memoirs of the International Congress of Anthropology;\n see p. 269.\n\nFootnote 620:\n\n George H. Pepper, \u201cThe Exploration of a Burial-room in Pueblo Bonito,\n New Mexico,\u201d Putnam Anniversary Volume, New York, 1909, pp. 229, 230,\n 236, 237.\n\nFootnote 621:\n\n George H. Pepper. The plate is from the \u201cAmerican Anthropologist,\u201d New\n Series, vol. vii, pl. xvii.\n\nFootnote 622:\n\n \u201cThe Turquois. A Study of its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology,\n Arch\u00e6ology, Mythology, Folklore and Technology.\u201d By Joseph E. Pogue.\n Third Memoir, vol. xii, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.\n C., 1915, 162 p., plates 22, 4to.\n\nFootnote 623:\n\n Pogue, \u201cThe Turquois,\u201d citing Russell, \u201cThe Pima Indians,\u201d in 26th\n Annual Report of the Bureau of Amer. Ethnology, 1904\u20131905, p. 112.\n\nFootnote 624:\n\n \u201cHandbook of American Indians North of Mexico,\u201d ed. by Frederick Webb\n Hodge; Smithsonian Inst., Bur. of Am. Ethn., Bull. 30, Pt. II, p. 178;\n Washington, 1910.\n\nFootnote 625:\n\n W. J. Hoffman, \u201cThe Mid\u00eawiwin, or Grand Medicine Society of the\n Ojibway\u201d; 7th Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1885\u201386, Washington,\n 1891, pp. 149\u2013300, with many illustrations.\n\nFootnote 626:\n\n Loc. cit., Pl. XI, fig. 7, opp. 220.\n\nFootnote 627:\n\n W. J. Hoffman, \u201cThe Mid\u00eawiwin, or Grand Medicine Society of the\n Ojibway\u201d; 7th Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1885\u201386, Washington,\n 1891, p. 277.\n\nFootnote 628:\n\n L\u2019Abb\u00e9 Banier and l\u2019Abb\u00e9 Mascrier, \u201cHistoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des c\u00e9r\u00e9monies,\n m\u0153urs, et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde,\u201d Paris,\n 1741, p. 101.\n\nFootnote 629:\n\n Free Museum of Science and Art, Bulletin No. 4, Jan., 1898, p. 183\n (with figures).\n\nFootnote 630:\n\n John Murdoch, \u201cThe Point Barrow Eskimo,\u201d 9th Report of the Bureau of\n Ethnology, 1887\u201388, Washington, 1892, p. 435.\n\nFootnote 631:\n\n Ibid., p. 439, fig. 426.\n\nFootnote 632:\n\n Ibid., p. 438; see fig. 425.\n\nFootnote 633:\n\n Ibid., p. 439.\n\nFootnote 634:\n\n Hans Egede, \u201cA Description of Greenland,\u201d London, 1745, p. 194 (Eng.\n trans.).\n\nFootnote 635:\n\n David Crantz, \u201cThe History of Greenland\u201d: London, 1767, vol. i, p. 216\n (Eng. trans.).\n\nFootnote 636:\n\n Rasmussen, \u201cThe People of the Polar North,\u201d Philadelphia, 1908, p.\n 139.\n\nFootnote 637:\n\n Ibid., p. 139.\n\nFootnote 638:\n\n J. G. Frazer, \u201cBalder the Beautiful,\u201d London, 1913, vol. ii, p. 155.\n See also by the same writer, \u201cFolk-lore in the Old-Testament,\u201d in\n Anthropological Essays, presented to E. B. Tyler, Oxford, 1907, pp.\n 148 sqq.\n\nFootnote 639:\n\n Sir George Grey, \u201cJournals of Two Expeditions of Discovery,\u201d London,\n 1841, vol. ii, pp. 340, 341.\n\nFootnote 640:\n\n Bonney, Journ. of the Anthrop, Inst., vol. xiii, p. 130.\n\nFootnote 641:\n\n For further details concerning these strange ornaments, see the\n writer\u2019s \u201cCurious Lore of Precious Stones,\u201d J. B. Lippincott Company,\n Philadelphia and London, 1913, pp. 87\u201390.\n\nFootnote 642:\n\n Fernie, \u201cPrecious Stones for Curative Wear,\u201d Bristol, 1907, p. 39.\n\nFootnote 643:\n\n A. E. Wright and E. Lovett, \u201cSpecimens of Modern Mascots and Ancient\n Amulets of the British Isles,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xix, 1908, p. 293.\n\nFootnote 644:\n\n Grey, \u201cPolynesian Mythology,\u201d London, 1855, p. 132.\n\nFootnote 645:\n\n Elsdon Best, \u201cThe Stone Implements of the Maori,\u201d Dominion Museum\n Bulletin, No. 4, Wellington, New Zealand, 1912.\n\nFootnote 646:\n\n Giglioli, \u201cMateriali per lo studio della Et\u00e0 della Pietra,\u201d Archivio\n per l\u2019Antropologia e l\u2019Etnologia, vol. xxxi, pp. 79, 80; Firenze,\n 1901.\n\nFootnote 647:\n\n Ibid., pp. 82, 83.\n\nFootnote 648:\n\n \u201cFolk Lore,\u201d vol. xxiv, No. 2, July, 1913, Story sent to R. R. Marett\n by Mr. D. Jenness of Baliol College, Oxford.\n\nFootnote 649:\n\n Fraser, \u201cThe Golden Bough,\u201d Pt. I, \u201cThe Magic Art,\u201d London, 1911, vol.\n i, p. 164.\n\nFootnote 650:\n\n J. G. Frazer, \u201cBalder the Beautiful,\u201d London, 1913, vol. ii, p. 142;\n citing B. Julg, \u201cKalm\u00fcckische M\u00e4rchen,\u201d Leipzig, 1866, No. 12, pp. 58\n sqq.\n\nFootnote 651:\n\n W. L. Hildburgh, \u201cFurther Notes in Spanish Amulets,\u201d in Folk Lore,\n vol. xxiv. No. 1, March 31, 1913, pp. 63\u201374; 2 plates.\n\nFootnote 652:\n\n W. L. Hildburgh, \u201cNotes on Spanish Amulets,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xvii,\n 1906, pp. 454\u2013472. See Plate VIII, fig. 29, opp. p. 462.\n\nFootnote 653:\n\n W. L. Hildburgh, \u201cFurther Notes on Spanish Amulets,\u201d in Folk Lore,\n vol. xxiv, No. 1, p. 66, March 31, 1913; one of those amulets is shown\n in Plate I, fig. 4, p. 64.\n\nFootnote 654:\n\n S. Weissenberg, \u201cS\u00fcdrussische Amulette,\u201d in Zeitschrift f\u00fcr\n Ethnologie, 1897, pp. 367\u2013369.\n\nFootnote 655:\n\n From Jewellers\u2019 Circular Weekly, Feb. 5, 1913, p. 153.\n\nFootnote 656:\n\n A. E. Wright and E. Lovett, \u201cSpecimens of Modern Mascots and Ancient\n Amulets of the British Isles,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xix, p. 295, Plate V,\n fig. 1.\n\nFootnote 657:\n\n See A. E. Wright and E. Lovett, \u201cSpecimens of Modern Mascots and\n Ancient Amulets of the British Isles,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xix, 1904, pp.\n 288\u2013303; citing Bratly, \u201cThe Power of Gems and Charms,\u201d London, 1907.\n\nFootnote 658:\n\n A, E. Wright and E. Lovett, \u201cSpecimens of Modern Mascots and Ancient\n Amulets of the British Isles,\u201d Folk Lore, vol. xix, p. 303.\n\nFootnote 659:\n\n St. Louis Democrat, 1905.\n\nFootnote 660:\n\n See the writer\u2019s \u201cThe Curious Lore of Precious Stones,\u201d J. B.\n Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London, 1913, p. 125; also pp.\n 68, 96.\n\nFootnote 661:\n\n Wilhelmus Parisiensis, quoted in Pancirollus, \u201cHistory of Many\n Memorable Things,\u201d London, 1715, vol. i, p. 42.\n\nFootnote 662:\n\n Benvenuto Cellini, \u201cDue trattati, uno intorno alle otto principali\n arti dell\u2019 oreficeria,\u201d etc., Fiorenzi, Valenti Panizzi & Marco Peri,\n 1568, fol. 10.\n\nFootnote 663:\n\n Edmond Doutt\u00e9, \u201cMagie et Religion,\u201d Alger, 1909, pp. 83, 84.\n\nFootnote 664:\n\n Berthelot, \u201cCollection des anciens alchemistes grecs,\u201d Paris, 1888,\n 1889, vol. i, p. 9 of text.\n\nFootnote 665:\n\n Roth, \u201cGreat Benin, Its Customs, Art and Horrors,\u201d Halifax, England,\n 1903, p. 95.\n\nFootnote 666:\n\n See Wilt\u2019s \u201cHistory of India,\u201d vol. ii, p. 197. Cited in Lean\u2019s\n Collectanea, vol. ii, Pt. II, Bristol, 1903, p. 641.\n\nFootnote 667:\n\n C. G. Jentsch, \u201cDissertatio physico-historica de gemmis,\u201d Lipai\u00e6,\n 1706, p. 19. See also the present writer\u2019s \u201cThe Curious Lore of\n Precious Stones,\u201d Philadelphia and London, 1913, p. 41.\n\nFootnote 668:\n\n Ulloa\u2019s Voyage to South America, trans. of John Adams, in Pinkerton\u2019s\n Voyages and Travels, vol. xiv, London, 1813, p. 546.\n\nFootnote 669:\n\n Pocock\u2019s \u201cTravels in Egypt,\u201d Pinkerton\u2019s \u201cVoyages and Travels,\u201d vol.\n xv, London, 1814, p. 238.\n\nFootnote 670:\n\n See Warren K. Moorehead, \u201cHematite Implements of the United States,\u201d\n Bulletin VI of the Department of Arch\u00e6ology, Phillips Academy,\n Andover, Mass., Andover, 1912.\n\nFootnote 671:\n\n Ibid., p. 81, Fig. 41.\n\nFootnote 672:\n\n Ibid., p. 91, Fig. 47.\n\nFootnote 673:\n\n Note on jade copied from the T\u00fbzuk-i-J\u00e2hangiri, or memoirs of\n Jahangir, trans. by Alexander Rogers, London, 1909, p. 146; Orient.\n Trans. Fund, N. S., vol. xix.\n\nFootnote 674:\n\n See The Morgan-Whitney Collection of Chinese Jades and other Hard\n Stones, donated to the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, City Park, New\n Orleans, 1914, p. 32; plate opp. p. 33.\n\nFootnote 675:\n\n Communicated by Dr. O. C. Farrington.\n\nFootnote 676:\n\n See in praise of the moonstone the poem autographed for this work by\n the poet, Edward Forrester Sutton.\n\nFootnote 677:\n\n Petri Servii, \u201cDissertatio de unguento armario,\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1643, p. 43.\n\nFootnote 678:\n\n Johann August Donndorf, \u201cNatur und Kunst,\u201d Leipzig, 1790, vol. ii, p.\n 497.\n\nFootnote 679:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cNotes on Turquois in the East,\u201d Chicago, 1913, p.\n 50, vol. xiii, No. 1, of Anthropological Series of Field Museum of\n Natural History; citing a translation by MM. Chavannes and Pelliot\n entitled: \u201cUn trait\u00e9 manich\u00e9en retrouv\u00e9 en Chine,\u201d pub. in Journal\n Asiatique, 1912.\n\nFootnote 680:\n\n \u201cAncient Accounts of India and China by Two Mohammedan Travellers,\u201d\n trans. by Abb\u00e9 Renaudot, London, 1733, p. 96.\n\nFootnote 681:\n\n \u201cAncient Accounts of India and China by Two Mohammedan Travellers,\u201d\n trans. by Abb\u00e9 Renaudot, London, 1733, pp. 97, 98.\n\nFootnote 682:\n\n See Hakluyt, \u201cThe Principal Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of\n the English Nation,\u201d London, 1589.\n\nFootnote 683:\n\n H. Lyster Jameson, in \u201cNature,\u201d Oct. 7, 1912.\n\nFootnote 684:\n\n See \u201cNature,\u201d Oct. 24, 1912, p. 220.\n\nFootnote 685:\n\n Rumphius, \u201cD\u2019Amboinische Rariteitskamer,\u201d Amsterdam, 1741, p. 62.\n\nFootnote 686:\n\n Schiller\u2019s \u201cWerke,\u201d ed. by R. Boxberger, vol. iv, Berlin and\n Stuttgart, n. d., pp. 179, 180, note; from a communication to the\n editor by Dr. R. K\u00f6hler of Weimar, in illustration of the following\n lines of Schiller\u2019s \u201cDon Karlos,\u201d Act II, Sc. 8:\n\n Dem grossen Kaufmann gleich\n Der, unger\u00fchrt von des Rialto\u2019s Gold,\n Und K\u00f6nigen zum Schimpfe, seine Perle\n Dem reichen Meere wiedergab, zu stoltz\n Sie unter ihrem Werte loszuschlagen.\n\nFootnote 687:\n\n G. W. Freytag, \u201cArabum proverbia,\u201d Bonn\u00e6 ad Rhenam, 1843, vol. iii,\n Pt. 1, p. 495.\n\nFootnote 688:\n\n Helvetius, \u201cDe l\u2019esprit,\u201d vol. ii, p. 17.\n\nFootnote 689:\n\n Johannis Braunii, \u201cDe Vestitu Sacerdotum Hebr\u00e6orum,\u201d Amatelodami,\n 1680, p. 683.\n\nFootnote 690:\n\n From a XIII century MS. of his work, \u201cDe Proprietatibus Rerum,\u201d fol.\n clxi, recto and verso. This vellum MS. was originally in the\n possession of the Carthusian Monastery of the Holy Trinity at Dijon.\n Now the property of I. Martini of New York.\n\nFootnote 691:\n\n Leopold Claremont, \u201cSinghalese Gems,\u201d in The Jeweler and Metalworker,\n pp. 1936a\u20131936g, December 15, 1913.\n\nFootnote 692:\n\n Abridgment by Von Hammer in the \u201cFundgruben des Orients,\u201d Wien, 1818,\n vol. vi.\n\nFootnote 693:\n\n Ibid., p. 129.\n\nFootnote 694:\n\n Rose, \u201cAristoteles de lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo,\u201d in Zeitschr. f\u00fcr\n Deutsches Altertum, New Series, vol. vi, p. 386.\n\nFootnote 695:\n\n Aristophanes, \u201cClouds,\u201d lines 768 sqq.\n\nFootnote 696:\n\n A. R. Tutton, in Society of Arts, London.\n\nFootnote 697:\n\n Chalfant, \u201cEarly Chinese Writing,\u201d Mem. of Carnegie Museum, vol. iv,\n No. 1, Pittsburgh, 1906, Pl. VI, No. 75.\n\nFootnote 698:\n\n De M\u00e9ly, \u201cLes lapidaires chinois,\u201d Paris, 1896, p. lxiv.\n\nFootnote 699:\n\n Lacroix, \u201cSur le travail de la pierre polie dans le Haut-Oubangi\u201d; La\n G\u00e9ographie, bulletin of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie, Paris, Oct. 15,\n 1909, pp. 201\u2013206; figures.\n\nFootnote 700:\n\n \u201cSur le travail de la pierre polie dans le Haut-Oubanghi,\u201d Comptes\n Rendus de l\u2019Acad. d. Sc., vol. cxlviii, 1909, p. 1725.\n\nFootnote 701:\n\n Giglioli, \u201cMateriale per lo studio della Et\u00e0 della Pietra,\u201d Archivio\n per l\u2019Antropologia e l\u2019Etnologia, vol. xxxi, p. 85, Firenze, 1901.\n\nFootnote 702:\n\n Communication from Taw Sein Ko.\n\nFootnote 703:\n\n Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxvii, pp. 175, 207. London, 1838.\n\nFootnote 704:\n\n \u201cA Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the\n Beginning of the Sixteenth Century, by Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese,\u201d\n trans. by Henry E. Staney, London, 1866, p. 208; Hakluyt Soc. Pub.,\n vol. xxxv.\n\nFootnote 705:\n\n Theophrasti, \u201cDe lapidibus (Peri lith\u00f4n),\u201d ed. by John Hill, London,\n 1746; cap. 31.\n\nFootnote 706:\n\n Garcias ab Orta, \u201cAromatum historia\u201d (Lat. version by Clusius),\n Antverpi\u00e6, 1579, lib. i, p. 175.\n\nFootnote 707:\n\n Finot, \u201cLes lapidaires indiens,\u201d Paris, 1896, p. 39, from the\n \u201cRatnaparikha\u201d of Buddhabhatta.\n\nFootnote 708:\n\n Ribeiro\u2019s \u201cHistory of Ceylon,\u201d tr. by P. E. Pieris, Galle, n. d., Pt.\n II, p. 317.\n\nFootnote 709:\n\n Cardani, \u201cPhilosophi opera qu\u00e6dam lectu digna,\u201d Basile\u00e6, 1585, p. 329.\n\nFootnote 710:\n\n Eilhard Wiedmann, \u201cUeber den Wert von Edelsteinen bei den Muslimen,\u201d\n in \u201cDer Islam,\u201d vol. ii, 1911, pp. 347 sqq.\n\nFootnote 711:\n\n Garbe, \u201cDie indische Mineralien; Naharari\u2019s Rajanighantu, Varga XIII,\u201d\n Leipzig, 1882, p. 79.\n\nFootnote 712:\n\n J. H. Collins, \u201cThe History of a Remarkable Gem. The Maxwell-Stuart\n Topaz.\u201d Mineralogical Magazine No. 13, 1879.\n\nFootnote 713:\n\n Berthold Laufer, \u201cNotes on Turquois in the East.\u201d Field Museum of\n Natural History, Anthropological Series, vol. xiii, No. 1, Chicago,\n July, 1913, pp. 5, 8.\n\nFootnote 714:\n\n The T\u00fbzuk-i-J\u00e2hang\u00eer\u00ee, or memoirs of Jahangir, trans. by Alexander\n Rogers, London, 1909, p. 238; Orient. Trans. Fund, N. S., vol. xix.\n\nFootnote 715:\n\n M. Tullii Ciceronis, \u201cIn Verrem,\u201d lib. iv, Oratio nona, cap. 27.\n\nFootnote 716:\n\n Marshall H. Saville in the American Anthropologist, vol. xv, No. 3,\n July-September, 1913.\n\nFootnote 717:\n\n R. Campbell, \u201cThe London Tradesman,\u201d London, 1747, p. 143.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in\n spelling.\n 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.\n 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.","title":"The magic of jewels and charms","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":140251}