Gems and Precious Stones.

By EDWARD J. WATHERSTON, F.S.S.

IN TWO PARTS.

PART I.

HE singular fascination attending gems, or precious stones, and the extraordinary high value set upon them, is one of the most curious facts in the history of mankind. It cannot be rationally explained. In themselves the so called precious stones are valueless, or nearly so. Excepting the diamond, in the glass-cutter's hands, and the ruby for the purposes of wire-drawing, and the jewelling of watches, they serve no earthly purpose of usefulness; and yet they rank among the highest and most coveted of worldly possessions. How came this to be? The answer is threefold. Originally, in the dawn of history, as far as our eye can see back into it, gems were considered magical objects, or "charms," protecting the wearer against all sorts of mundane evils, including illness; next, by a slight transition, denoting however considerable progress, the gems were simply believed to be medicinal agents, but unique in their kind, and of inestimable value as such; and, finally, by a further transition, leading up to our own days, the gems were, by nearly universal consent, adopted as the highest expression of accumulated riches. There was something like an economical necessity in this modern appreciation of gems. With the advance of commerce and industry, and the attendant growth of wealth, men felt the necessity of possessing, so to speak, concentrated expressions of earned or hereditary

riches. Gold and silver did not suffice. The

possessor of a million wants a big ship to carry his treasure in the shape of gold, while in the shape of diamonds and rubies he can carry his million in the hollow of his own hand, or hang it around the neck of his wife.

GEMS AS "CHARMS."

The belief in gems as being endowed with the most marvellous powers, ridiculous as it may seem to the modern mind, was in reality a legitimate offspring of what has been not

inappropriately called "natural" religion. Looking around him, and above him, through the universe, dim to his eyes, man first of all perceived that while the mass of objects on earth were the same occurring in masses, there existed a few things that were very rare. And among the rarest of rare things were the precious stones. But they were not only found in small quantities, and of the most diminutive size compared with other things, but they had peculiar forms, with a lustre of their own resembling that of the stars. They were unlike all other substances found under and above the earth. It was quite logical that they should be considered before all things "precious," specially created by supernatural powers, and endowed as such with supernatural virtues. supernatural virtues. The belief, originating probably in India, the cradle and first home of all gems and precious stones, spread rapidly through the ancient world, as recorded among others in many passages of the Bible. Thus we are told, in the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus, that gems were an indispensable adjunct in the attire of the High Priest. "And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummin; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord : and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually." It is probable that the "Urim" and the "Thummin" were large diamonds, although Epiphanius, the early Christian bishop and learned historian, describes them as of a sky colour, and they, therefore, may have been sapphires, valued equal to diamonds in ancient times. According to Epiphanius, the Urim and the Thummin in the "breastplate of judgment" of Aaron were endowed with special virtues, for "the change in the colour of them, when he came out from the sanctuary, manifested the favour or anger of Jehovah."

Josephus, the famous Jewish writer, governor of Galilee not long after the death of Jesus Christ, is still more explicit in regard to the wonderful gems adorning the High Priest. In his "Antiquities of the Jews" Josephus says that the successors of Aaron were "armed" with twelve magical jewels. "I mean that which was in the nature of a button on his right shoulder, bright rays

darting out thence, and being seen even by those who were remote, which splendour yet was not natural in the stone. This has appeared a wonderful thing to such as have not too far indulged themselves in philosophy, so as to feel contempt for divine revelation. But I must speak of what is still more wonderful. God declared beforehand, by these twelve stones which the High Priest bore on his body, and which were inserted into his breastplate, at what times the Jews should be victorious in battle. For so great was the splendour shining forth from the stones at such times, when the army began to march, that all the people became convinced at once that they were fighting under the assistance of God. Whence it came to pass that such Greeks as had a respect and veneration for our laws, possibly because they could not disprove them, called the High Priest's breastplate the 'Oracle.'"

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Not only the natives of India, the Egyptians, the Jews, and other nations of ancient history, had full faith in the occult power of gems, but even the highly cultivated Greeks believed in it. The Greek trust in the wonder-working power of precious stones is expressed in numerous works of their classical writers, and stands forth strikingly in an "Ode on Gems," by the national singer Orpheus. In this poem, of about eight hundred pages, a list is given of all the precious stones known to the Greeks, and the supernatural qualities ascribed to each of them. Orpheus calls gems in general "the highest gift of Jove to mortals," bestowed upon them as a sure remedy against all earthly woes." All precious stones, says Orpheus, are hidden by the gods underground, "in mystic caves," and whosoever can discover them will be rewarded by "endless blessings;" to the possessors care and sorrow will be unknown, as well as illness, and they will always obtain victory in battle." Coming to specify the virtues of each individual gem, Orpheus advises that "if thou wearest a piece of the agate stone on thy hand, the immortal gods will ever be pleased with thee; and if the same be tied to the horns of thy oxen when ploughing, or round the ploughman's sturdy arm, wheat-crowned Ceres will descend from heaven with full lap to throw

:

it upon thy furrows." Of the ruby Orpheus says "From off the altars thou, like the crystal [garnet or carbuncle] dost send forth a flame without the aid of fire ;" and of the topaz: "Adorned with it man may gain at once the heart of every woman, and woman the heart of every man." Happy Greeks! The acquisition of a topaz must surely, among them, have made the course of true love to run for ever smooth.

The belief in precious stones as "charms," dating back to the most remote ages, is still flickering at the present time. It exists yet in parts of our Indian empire, and is said to be notably strong in Persia. That august visitor to our shores, the Shah, has, on good authority, a number of gems in the possession of which he puts the firmest faith, as a protection against all earthly ills and misfortunes. Accidental circumstances perhaps helped to strengthen this faith, for on one occasion the bullet of a would-be assassin glanced off from the casket of jewels which the "King of Kings" wears alway on his breast. It may be that, on this account, the Shah of Persia has come to be the proprietor of the largest collection of jewels in the world, the total being valued at from three to four millions sterling.

GEMS AS MEDICINAL AGENTS.

The admiration of precious stones, as being able to cure diseases of all kinds, though of later date than the faith in the jewels of the "breastplate of the High Priest,” mentioned in Exodus, and the "highest gift of heaven" according to Orpheus, was none the less equally strong and lasting. But it is notable that while the belief in gems as "charms" evidently had its home in Asia, the only producer of them for many centuries, the faith in precious stones as medicinal agents originated among the ancient Greeks. This is made tolerably clear by the utterances of most of the classical authors of Greece, more particularly so by numerous expressions in the before-cited poem of Orpheus "On Gems." According to Greek legends, the curative power of precious stones was first discovered through their being found in the head of serpents, or of "vipers." It is thus, sings great Orpheus :-

For all the ills that out of earth arise,
The earth herself the antidote supplies,
She breeds the viper; she, too, gives the sage
The very means to quell the viper's rage.
All sorts of gems spring from her womb so wide,
Which ailing mortals with sure help provide.
For all the virtues potent herbs possess,
Gems in their kind have, nor in measure less.
Great is the force of herbs, but greater far,
The virtues that in stones inherent are.
For in the stone implanted mother earth,
Eternal force unfading from its birth.
Short-lived are herbs; they quickly fade away,
And but in life their potency bear sway;
When past their prime they dry and withered lie,
And little help there is in things that die.
Herbs as the source of life and health we own,
But everlasting life exists in stone,

As num'rous as the flow'rs spring from the ground,
So many gems are in earth's bosom found.

Orpheus enumerates twenty-seven gems as cures, "for all the ills that out of earth arise," placing at the head of the list the "crystal," probably the ruby, which he calls the "transparent image of eternal light" and in the second rank the "Adamas," or diamond, so named from its hardness, which gave rise to the expression of "adamantine chains." In both the Greek and the Roman writers there are endless references to the curative power of precious stones. From many of the allusions it appears that the dictates of fashion here, as everywhere else, had much influence over the prevailing belief in the virtue of particular stones, now one and now another being held up as specially efficacious for the cure of certain diseases. Thus, while the "Crystal" and the "Adamas" stood for a long time among the Greeks at the head of medicinal agents, that position was afterwards assumed by the "Sardius," or the Oriental carnelian. "No other stone," records Pliny, "was so great a favourite with the Greeks as this, and the plays of Menander and of Philemon abound in allusions to it." The cause of this favouritism lay probably in the facility with which the carnelian could be cut by the engraver, the dull red, flesh-coloured stone offering by itself no other attractions. Such engraved stones, either in the form of intaglios or of cameos, constitute to some extent an epoch in the history of gems, as it modified the original idea of stones being possessed of inherent virtues. To this came now to be added the conception that these powers might be raised, or changed, by

pictures and inscriptions from the hand of the engraver.

The current of ideas that led to the engraving on precious stones is very clearly sketched out by Camillo Lionardo, an Italian writer of the fifteenth century, himself a firm believer in the power of "charms" and "amulets." Taking up the argument that the ancient Greeks and Romans, following in the footsteps of the Egyptians and Persians, were perfectly reasonable in attaching value to engraved stones, Lionardo goes on to say: "All things in Nature have a certain form, and are subject to certain influences. So, also, precious stones, being natural productions, have a prescribed form, and as such are subject to the universal influence of the planets. Hence, if these stones be engraved by a skilful person, under some particular influence, they receive a special virtue, as if they had been endowed with additional power through that engraving. And should it happen that the power intended by the engraving be the same as that of the natural quality of the stone, its particular virtue will be doubled, and thereby its efficacy greatly augmented."

The ancient writers give us numerous prescriptions as to the proper use and application of engraved stones. It is not a little curious to observe many of the rules laid down as the employment of various "charms." Thus, "a ram or a bearded man's head [the god Ammon] engraved on sapphire, will protect the wearer from all infirmities, from poison and from oppression." An engraved beryl, "with the dragon in front, has power to evoke the water spirits and force them to speak and it will also call up the dead of your acquaintance, obliging them to answer your questions." Another Greek writer lays it down that a stone engraved with a design showing "a man with a long face and beard, his eyebrows raised, sitting behind a plough, and holding up a fox and a vulture, with four men lying upon his neck," will, "when placed under your head while sleeping, make you dream of treasures, and the right way of discovering them." There were most remarkable virtues in another kind of cut stone, representing Hercules and Jove, "Man seated, and a woman standing before him with her hair hanging down loose on her back, the man

looking up to her: this cut on carnelian has the virtue that whoever is touched therewith shall be led to the owner's will immediately." And, again, as related by Lionardo, "Man with a wand in his hand, seated on an eagle, engraved on hephaestitis [carbuncle], or crystal, which stone must be set in a copper ring: whosoever looks upon it on a Sunday, before sunrise, shall have victory over all his enemies, and if he looks upon it on a Thurs

day, all men shall obey him willingly. But he must be clothed in white, and abstain from eating pigeon." Highly recommended was another gem-engraving, upon "Chalcedonius," so called from being met with in copper mines near the city of Chalcedon. We learn that "a goat engraved on chalcedonius leads to amass wealth: keep this in thy money-box, and thou art certain to get rich." It is sad to record that the ancient chalcedonius, frequently referred to by Pliny, is no more found, the mines of Chalcedon having become exhausted more than a thousand years ago. The stone now going by the name of chalcedony is an agathe-onyx, closely allied to, and scarcely to be distinguished from the Hungarian opal.

The faith in engraved stones as constituting "charms and "amulets" flourishes, as is well known, nearly as vigorously in the East at the present day as it did in ancient Greece and Rome, and is not extinct even in Europe. There are few potentates in Asia or Africa who have not around their neck, mostly pressed against the heart, some gem to protect them against evil. The late King Francis II. of Naples wore constantly a necklet made up of engraved "amulets," supposed to be similar in virtue to the Greek stone with the man on the eagle, which conferred "victory over all enemies." To these "charms" his Majesty trusted to the very last-until, it is to be supposed, General Garibaldi had driven him from home and throne. Throughout Spain and Italy there exists, among the lower classes, full faith in "amulets," especially in such as adorn the statues of the Madonna and the favourite saints. In the rest of Europe the belief met its death-stroke in the advent of Protestantism. However, it

is related by Vaughan, Bishop of Chester, that Queen Elizabeth cured, by touch, scrofulous diseases "by virtue of some

precious stones belonging to the crown of England that possessed this miraculous gift." This was evidently still the belief in Queen Elizabeth's time, though it is more than doubtful whether the strongly-minded Royal lady shared it. What is not doubtful is that she was strongly attached to precious stones-as precious stones.

GEMS AS "CONCENTRATED WEALTH." chiefly for objects which we now call superWhile, in former times, gems were valued stitious, the modern view of them, that as representatives of riches-the artistic aspect, that of representation of beauty, being quite leaving alone their lustre, is very inferior to a secondary one, since the shape of gems, that of gold and silver ornaments produced by the jeweller's and goldsmith's art—necessarily gave rise to a great change in the appreciation of their value. Many of the gems of the Grecian and Roman periods, which were then thought most costly, are of little value now; while, on the other hand, some more scarcely looked at in former times, are now reckoned among the precious stones. Strictly speaking, the term "precious" is now generally reduced to about half-a-dozen among the gems, the remainder going by the appellation of "half-pure," or "halfprecious." At the head of the precious latter, under circumstances, more valuable stones stand the diamond and the ruby-the

than the former.

said that a certain market price, determined To some extent it may be by size, form, purity, and colour, attaches to diamonds and rubies. This can scarcely be said as regards other precious stones, and still less of the long list of "half-precious" gems. (To be continued.)

A Chapter on Early Steam Mavigation.

STEAM-BOATS IN 1543.

From "El Instructor," a Spanish Periodical. HE learned writer, Navarrete, in his valuable Collection of the Discoveries made by the Spaniards, published within the last few years, has shown by the most authentic testimonies

that the first experiment on record of impelling vessels by the motive power of steam, was made at Barcelona, in 1543, with all the success which the inventor anticipated; a period not less than eighty-five years before Brancas published the idea in Italy; more than a century before the Marquis of Worcester, in England, applied the power of steam to the purposes of labour; and nearly three hundred years before Fulton, combining the advantages of all contemporary engines, succeeded in producing an effective steam-boat in the United States of North America. However singular this may appear to some, it is completely authenticated by various records in Spain, particularly in those of Simancas, where the circumstances are so fully detailed as to place the subject beyond a doubt.

In 1543, a mechanic of Marina, named Blasco de Garay, offered to exhibit in the presence of the Emperor Charles V., a machine by means of which a vessel might be impelled without the assistance of sails or

The proposition, in the first place, appeared ridiculous; but the engineer remained so convinced that the power of the machine would be adequate to the production of the effect announced, that he commenced anew his representations to the government, supplicating his Majesty to command the execution of the project. The Emperor, in consequence, appointed a commission to proceed to Barcelona to witness the experiment, and to report upon the result. The engineer, Garay, secure now of making a proof of his invention, prepared a merchantship, called La Trinidad, of 200 tons burthen (thus states the record), and the commissioners having arrived, the experiment was made on the 17th June, 1543. Immediately upon a given signal, the vessel was put in motion; proceeding forward, it turned from one side to the other, according to the will of the steersman, and finally returned to the place whence it started, without the assistance of sails, oars, or any visible machinery, except an immense cauldron of boiling water, a complicated number of wheels within, and paddles gyrating without.

The multitude assembled on the sea-shore remained filled with admiration at the sight of

this prodigy, the port of Barcelona resounded with applauses, and the commissioners, who witnessed the performance with the greatest enthusiasm, related to the Emperor that Garay had accomplished with his machine as much as he had undertaken to do. But the head of the commission, Ravago, who was then chief-treasurer of the kingdom, either through ignorance, or some other of those unseen causes which influence the conduct of statesmen, showed himself but little favourable either to the inventor or the machine. After confessing the success of the experiment, and expressing his approbation of the ingenuity of Garay, he endeavoured to persuade the Emperor that the invention. would be of little or no utility; that its complicated construction would require constant repairs attended with immense expense; that the vessel would not proceed at the rate of more than a league an hour, and much more slowly when freighted; and, finally, that the boiler, unable to resist the force of the steam for any extended period, would frequently burst, and become productive of the most dreadful accidents. Such was the substance of the opinion given by this covetous or invidious minister.

Though Charles V. remained persuaded by the representations of his treasurer, he was not insensible to the merits of the inventor, whom he promoted to the rank of an officer, and in addition to the expenses of the experiment, presented him with a reward of 200,000 maravedis from the royal treasury, equivalent to 66,000 "reales de Vellon," a very considerable sum at that period; and the munificence of which proves that the invention of Garay equalled, if it did not surpass, the most extraordinary productions of that era. The military expeditions planned by the Emperor at that time, when the profession of arms constituted the glory of Spain and the honour of the Spaniards, rendered the occasion ill-adapted for the introduction into Europe of the advantages of steam navigation; and the honour which ancient Barcelona might have acquired by this noble discovery would not have been disputed at the present moment by a people of North America who, at the period alluded to, were far from being in existence.

It being established, then, as an incon