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Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and ligatures have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented thus _italic_ and superscripts thus y^{en}.
The position of hand drawn hieroglyphs has been indicated thus
[hieroglyph]. All other examples of text within braces is original.
Huntilite, in the index, possibly refers to Heliolite in the text, but
it is not clear which is intended.
The 510 footnotes are located at the end of the book.
The Curious Lore of Precious Stones
LIPPINCOTT’S PRACTICAL BOOKS FOR THE ENRICHMENT OF HOME LIFE
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF DECORATIVE WALL-TREATMENTS. BY NANCY MCCLELLAND.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF LEARNING DECORATION AND FURNITURE. BY EDWARD
STRATTON HOLLOWAY.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF CHINAWARE. BY HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN and
ROGER WEARNE RAMSDELL.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES. BY GEORGE LELAND HUNTER.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF OUTDOOR FLOWERS. BY RICHARDSON WRIGHT, Editor of
_House and Garden_.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF FURNISHING THE SMALL HOUSE AND APARTMENT. BY
EDWARD STRATTON HOLLOWAY.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF INTERIOR DECORATION. BY HAROLD DONALDSON
EBERLEIN, ABBOT MCCLURE and EDWARD STRATTON HOLLOWAY.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF PERIOD FURNITURE. BY HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN
and ABBOT MCCLURE. Revised and Enlarged.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF ORIENTAL RUGS. BY G. GRIFFIN LEWIS.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF AMERICAN ANTIQUES. BY HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN
and ABBOT MCCLURE.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF ARCHITECTURE. BY C. MATLACK PRICE.
THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF ITALIAN, SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE FURNITURE. BY
HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN and ROGER WEARNE RAMSDELL.
[Illustration: Asteria—Star Sapphire
Ceylon
Asteria—Star Sapphire
Ceylon
Asteria—Star Sapphire
Ceylon
Asteria—Star Sapphire
Ceylon
Ruby—Asteria—Ceylon
Asteria—Star Sapphire
Ceylon
Sunstone
Perth, Canada
Moonstone—with white
light—Ceylon
Moonstone—bluish
chatoyancy—Ceylon
Iris—Brazil,
South America
Alexandrite—Green
Ceylon
Cat’s Eye—Ceylon
Alexandrite—Red by
artificial light—Ceylon
Precious Opal—Hungary
Fire Opal
Queretera, Mexico
Black Opal—Lightning Ridge,
New South Wales
PHENOMENAL GEMS (GEMS EXHIBITING PHENOMENA)
From the J. P. Morgan Collection,
American Museum of Natural History, New York]
The Curious Lore of
Precious Stones
BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR SENTIMENTS
AND FOLK LORE, SUPERSTITIONS,
SYMBOLISM, MYSTICISM, USE IN MEDICINE,
PROTECTION, PREVENTION, RELIGION, AND
DIVINATION. CRYSTAL GAZING, BIRTH-STONES,
LUCKY STONES AND TALISMANS,
ASTRAL, ZODIACAL, AND PLANETARY
BY
GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ
A.M., PH.D., D.SC.
WITH 86 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR, DOUBLETONE AND LINE
PHILADELPHIA & LONDON
J. B. Lippincott Company
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
SIXTH IMPRESSION
PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
WITH HEARTFELT APPRECIATION OF THE NOBLE SPIRIT THAT CONCEIVED
AND FOUNDED THE MORGAN-TIFFANY COLLECTION OF GEMS
AND THE MORGAN-BEMENT COLLECTIONS OF MINERALS AND METEORITES
OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND THE
MORGAN COLLECTION OF THE MUSÉE D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE OF
PARIS, AND WHOSE KINDLY ADVICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE
DONE SO MUCH FOR THE PRECIOUS STONE ART, THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE
J. PIERPONT MORGAN
Preface
The love of precious stones is deeply implanted in the human heart,
and the cause of this must be sought not only in their coloring and
brilliancy but also in their durability. All the fair colors of flowers
and foliage, and even the blue of the sky and the glory of the sunset
clouds, only last for a short time, and are subject to continual
change, but the sheen and coloration of precious stones are the same
to-day as they were thousands of years ago and will be for thousands of
years to come. In a world of change, this permanence has a charm of its
own that was early appreciated.
The object of this book is to indicate and illustrate the various ways
in which precious stones have been used at different times and among
different peoples, and more especially to explain some of the curious
ideas and fancies that have gathered around them. Many of these ideas
may seem strange enough to us now, and yet when we analyze them we
find that they have their roots either in some intrinsic quality of
the stones or else in an instinctive appreciation of their symbolical
significance. Through manifold transformations this symbolism has
persisted to the present day.
The same thing may be said in regard to the various superstitions
connected with gems. Our scientific knowledge of cause and effect may
prevent us from accepting any of the fanciful notions of the physicians
and astrologers of the olden time; nevertheless, the possession of
a necklace or a ring adorned with brilliant diamonds, fair pearls,
warm, glowing rubies, or celestial-hued sapphires will to-day make a
woman’s heart beat faster and bring a blush of pleasure to her cheek.
Life will seem better worth living to her; and, indeed, this is no
delusion, for life is what our thought makes it, and joy is born of
gratified desire. Hence nothing that contributes to increasing the sum
of innocent pleasures should be disdained; and surely no pleasure can
be more innocent and justifiable than that inspired by the possession
of beautiful natural objects.
The author, who possesses what is believed to be the most comprehensive
private library on this subject, has obtained many references from
material which he has been gathering during the past twenty-five years.
Many of the types exist in the collection of folk-lore precious stones
exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, and now in the
Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Other types are drawn from
the Morgan Collection exhibited at the Paris Expositions of 1889 and
1900, which, with additions, is now in Morgan Hall, in the American
Museum of Natural History, New York City.
Other prominent references are the collection of precious stones in
the California Midwinter Memorial Museum, in Golden Gate Park, San
Francisco; the Tiffany collection of precious stones, exhibited at the
Atlanta Exposition of 1894, now in the National Museum in Washington;
the collection exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition, and presented
to the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, by the late J. Pierpont
Morgan; the collection exhibited at the exposition held in Portland,
Oregon, in 1905; and the collection of gems and precious stones
exhibited at the Jamestown Exposition, 1907. All of these collections,
either entirely or very largely, have been formed by the author.
Some references to sentiment connected with precious stones are
embodied in the little work, now in its 21st edition, entitled: “Natal
Stones, Sentiments and Superstitions Associated with Precious Stones,”
compiled by the writer, who has examined nearly all the principal
collections in the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Asiatic
Russia.
For courtesies, information and illustrations, I am indebted to the
following, to whom my thanks are due:
Prof. Taw Sein Ko, Superintendent of the Archæological Survey, of
Burma; Dr. T. Wada, of Tokyo, Japan; Dr. G. O. Clerc, President of the
Société Ouralienne des Amis des Sciences Naturelles, Ekaterinebourg,
Russia; Dr. Charles Braddock, late Medical Inspector to the King
of Siam; Sir Charles Hercules Reed, Curator of Archæology, and Dr.
Ernest A. Wallis Budge, Egyptologist, British Museum, London; A.
W. Feavearyear, Esq., London; Dr. Salomon Reinach, Director of the
Archaælogical Museum of St. Germain-en-Laye, France; Prof. Giuseppe
Belucci, of the University of Perugia; Dr. Peter Jessen, Librarian
of the Kunstgewerbe Museum, of Berlin; Miss Belle DaCosta Green; Dr.
Frederick Hirth, Chinese Professor, Columbia University, New York; Dr.
Clark Wissler, Curator of Archæology, Dr. L. P. Gratacap, Curator of
Mineralogy, American Museum of Natural History; Dr. Berthold Laufer,
Oriental Archæologist, and Dr. Oliver C. Farrington, Curator of Geology
and Mineralogy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Hereward
Carrington, Esq., Psychist, New York; Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Archæologist
and Babylonian Scholar; Mrs. Henry Draper, New York; H. W. Kent, Esq.,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Consul General Moser,
Colombo, Ceylon; W. W. Blake, Mexico City, who has done so much to
encourage Mexican archæological investigation; the late A. Damour, of
Paris, the great pioneer of mineralogical archæology; the late Dr. A.
B. Meyer, of Dresden, who, more than anyone else, proved that the
_Nephritfrage_ or the jade question was to be solved by chemical and
mineralogical investigation; the late Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore,
of Calcutta; and Dr. A. M. Lythgoe, Egyptologist, Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
G. F. K.
SEPTEMBER, 1913.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I. SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR SOURCES 1
II. ON THE USE OF PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES AS
TALISMANS AND AMULETS 19
III. ON THE TALISMANIC USE OF SPECIAL STONES 51
IV. ON THE USE OF ENGRAVED AND CARVED GEMS AS TALISMANS 115
V. ON OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 143
VI. ON CRYSTAL BALLS AND CRYSTAL GAZING 176
VII. RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES, PAGAN, HEBREW, AND
CHRISTIAN 225
VIII. ON THE HIGH-PRIEST’S BREASTPLATE 275
IX. BIRTH-STONES 307
X. PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES OF PRECIOUS STONES 338
XI. ON THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS
STONES 367
Illustrations
COLOR PLATES
PAGE
PHENOMENAL GEMS (GEMS EXHIBITING PHENOMENA) _Frontispiece._
MAHARAJA RUNJIT SINGH, WITH PEARLS AND GEMS 42
CARDINAL FARLEY’S RING,—SAPPHIRE WITH DIAMONDS 104
GEMS FROM THE MORGAN-TIFFANY COLLECTION 107
SELF-PRINTS OF DIAMONDS, SHOWING PHOSPHORESCENCE 170
CROSS, ATTACHED AS PENDANT TO THE CROWN OF THE GOTHIC KING
RECCESVINTHUS (649-672 A.D.) 293
DOUBLETONES
ROCK-CRYSTAL AMULET SET IN SILVER 10
ROCK-CRYSTAL PLACQUE, ANCIENT MEXICAN 10
NECKLACES FROM EGYPT. FIRST CENTURY 20
MOSAICS OF TURQUOISE AND ENAMELLED CARNELIAN BEADS 26
NECKLACES FROM EGYPT 37
AFRICAN AGATE CHARMS 54
AMBER ORNAMENTS 58
CHALCEDONY VOTIVE CHARM FROM MEXICO 65
CURIOUS ALTAR OF POWALAWA INDIANS OF ARIZONA 65
KABYLE JEWELRY 68
JASPER PENDANT 93
PIECE OF NATURAL LOADSTONE FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES 93
ARAGONITE PENDANT 93
OBSIDIAN MASK, FROM THE FAYOUM, EGYPT 99
TURQUOISE NECKLACE, THIBET 110
PHŒNICIAN SCARAB, WITH ENGRAVED SCORPION 123
ANCIENT BABYLONIAN CYLINDER IMPRESSION, BEARING FIGURES OF THE
GOD NEBO AND A WORSHIPPER, AND SYMBOLS OF SUN AND MOON 123
A SMALL JADE CELT ENGRAVED WITH GNOSTIC INSCRIPTIONS IN THE
FOURTH CENTURY 123
MOSS AGATE MOCHA STONES, HINDOOSTAN 132
AGATES USED AS VOTIVE CHARMS AND SET IN RINGS 149
ROCK-CRYSTAL BALL PENETRATED BY CRYSTALS OF RUTILE 176
GLASS BALL, PERFORATED AND MOUNTED IN METAL 183
BALL OF JET, PERFORATED AND MOUNTED IN METAL 183
EYE AGATE, SHOWING A NUMBER OF CIRCULAR MARKINGS 183
DR. DEE’S SHEW STONE 190
OBSIDIAN MIRROR, WITH NATIVE TEXTILE STRING 190
ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERES AND NATURAL CROSS 196
BABYLONIAN CYLINDERS AND PERSIAN BEADS 204
ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERES WITH JAPANESE MOUNTINGS 209
CRYSTAL BALL, SUPPORTED BY BRONZE DRAGON 217
METHOD OF GRINDING CRYSTAL BALLS AND OTHER HARD STONE OBJECTS
IN GERMANY AND FRANCE 219
JAPANESE METHOD OF CHIPPING, GRINDING AND POLISHING ROCK-CRYSTAL
BALLS 219
ROCK-CRYSTAL SPHERE WITH THREE-FIGURE MOUNTING 221
“PHANTOM CRYSTAL” OF QUARTZ (ROCK-CRYSTAL) 224
ROCK-CRYSTAL BALLS 224
AMBER HEART-SHAPED AMULET 228
AN INSCRIBED SCARAB OF THE TYPE KNOWN AS A HEART-SCARAB 228
BABYLONIAN AXE HEAD 233
MANI MÁLÁ, OR CHAIN OF GEMS 242
SCULPTURED JADE MOUNTAIN WEIGHING 640 LBS 245
VOTIVE ADZE OF JADEITE FROM MEXICO 249
STATUE OF A MAORI WARRIOR, BY SIGURD NEANDROSS 254
JADEITE CELTS 264
STAUROLITE CRYSTALS (FAIRY STONES) 271
FRONTISPIECE OF THE “VESTITUS SACERDOTUM HEBRÆORUM,” OF
JOHANN BRAUN, AMSTERDAM, 1680 275
SILVER CROSS WITH QUARTZ CAT’S-EYE 286
SPECIMENS OF CHIASTOLITE (LAPIS CRUCIFER) 286
FACSIMILE OF THE BETROTHAL RING OF THE VIRGIN IN THE CATHEDRAL
OF PERUGIA 317
MOSS AGATES 330
THE FIGURES OF THE PLANETS WITH THEIR SIGNIFICANT STONES 332
THE ZODIACAL STONES WITH THEIR SIGNS 343
NECKLACES (FIRST CENTURY, A.D., AND ANCIENT PERSIAN) 346
STATUETTE KNOWN AS THAT OF SAINTE FOY, IN THE ABBEY-CHURCH
AT CONQUES, DEPT. AVEYRON, FRANCE 356
INSCRIPTION ON A SMALL PIECE OF LIMESTONE, IN CURSIVE EGYPTIAN
WRITING—AN ANCIENT PRESCRIPTION 368
NECKLACES—(1) CARNELIAN BEADS; (2) ONYX BEADS 370
FACSIMILE PAGE OF ITALIAN VELLUM MANUSCRIPT TREATISE OF THE
VIRTUES OF GEMS 374
INITIALS FROM THE LAPIDARIO DE ALFONSO X 377
LINE CUTS IN TEXT
TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE POETICAL TREATISE ON
PRECIOUS STONES BY MARBODUS, BISHOP OF RENNES, PRINTED
IN FRIBURG, 1531 15
TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE GREEK TREATISE BY ST.
EPIPHANIUS ON THE GEMS OF THE BREASTPLATE, WITH A LATIN VERSION 16
TITLE PAGE OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST TREATISES ON PRECIOUS STONES
PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND 17
PEARL DEALER 42
AN AIR-SHIP OF 1709 53
THE TREE THAT EXUDES AMBER 56
A PRACTICAL TEST OF THE VIRTUES OF THE BLOODSTONE TO PREVENT
NOSE-BLEED 60
CARNELIAN SEAL, WORN BY NAPOLEON I, NAPOLEON III, AND THE PRINCE
IMPERIAL 64
SPECIMEN PAGE OF ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT OF FOURTEENTH CENTURY 77
OBSIDIAN MIRROR, FROM OAXACA, MEXICO. NOW IN TROCADÉRO
MUSEUM, PARIS 99
ROCK-CRYSTAL SKULL, ANCIENT MEXICAN 100
ENGRAVED HELIOTROPE 124
ENGRAVED RED JASPER 124
GNOSTIC GEMS 127
ANTIQUE JADE CELT CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN 129
MONOGRAM OF THE NAME OF CHRIST ENGRAVED ON AN ONYX GEM 136
TWO GOLD RINGS SET WITH ENGRAVED ONYX GEMS 138
THE “ORPHANUS JEWEL” IN THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN 147
TITLE PAGE OF ROBERT BOYLE’S WORK ON THE ORIGIN AND VIRTUES
OF GEMS 169
TITLE PAGE OF A GROUP OF TREATISES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS, COLLECTED
AND EDITED BY CONRAD GESNER AT ZÜRICH IN 1565 258
THE HEBREW HIGH-PRIEST ATTIRED WITH HIS VESTMENTS 279
THE BREASTPLATE UNFOLDED, I, II; EPHOD WITH BREASTPLATE FOLDED
AND ATTACHED, III 281
TITLE PAGE OF THE EDITION OF MARBODUS ON PRECIOUS STONES, PUBLISHED
IN COLOGNE, 1539 290
CARNELIAN, ENGRAVED WITH THE ZODIACAL SIGNS, TAURUS, LEO AND
CAPRICORN; IN THE CENTRE A SIX-RAYED STAR, THE FORM OF ONE OF
THESE RAYS DENOTING A COMET 322
The Curious Lore of Precious Stones
I
Superstitions and Their Sources
From the earliest times in man’s history gems and precious stones have
been held in great esteem. They have been found in the monuments of
prehistoric peoples, and not alone the civilization of the Pharaohs, of
the Incas, or of the Montezumas invested these brilliant things from
Nature’s jewel casket with a significance beyond the mere suggestion of
their intrinsic properties.
The magi, the wise men, the seers, the astrologers of the ages gone
by found much in the matter of gems that we have nearly come to
forgetting. With them each gem possessed certain planetary attractions
peculiar to itself, certain affinities with the various virtues, and
a zodiacal concordance with the seasons of the year. Moreover, these
early sages were firm believers in the influence of gems in one’s
nativity,—that the evil in the world could be kept from contaminating
a child properly protected by wearing the appropriate talismanic,
natal, and zodiacal gems. Indeed, folklorists are wont to wonder
whether the custom of wearing gems in jewelry did not originate in the
talismanic idea instead of in the idea of mere additional adornment.
The influence exerted by precious stones was assumed in medieval times
without question, but when the spirit of investigation was aroused in
the Renaissance period, an effort was made to find a reason of some
sort for the traditional beliefs. Strange as it may seem to us, there
was little disposition to doubt that the influence existed; this was
taken for granted, and all the mental effort expended was devoted to
finding some plausible explanation as to how precious stones became
endowed with their strange and mystic virtues, and how these virtues
acted in modifying the character, health, or fortunes of the wearer.
When the existence of miracles is acknowledged, there will always be
a tendency to regard every singular and unaccountable happening as a
miracle; that is to say, as something that occurs outside of, or in
spite of, the laws of nature. We even observe this tendency at work in
our own time. As regards visual impressions, for instance, if a child
of lively imagination enters a half-lighted room and sees a bundle of
clothes lying in a corner, the indistinct outline of this mass may be
transformed to his mind into the form of a wild animal. The child does
not really see an animal, but his fear has given a definite outline and
character to the indefinite image printed on the retina.
The writer has always sought to investigate anything strange and
apparently unaccountable which has been brought to his notice, but he
can truly say he has never found the slightest evidence of anything
transcending the acknowledged laws of nature. Still, when we consider
the marvellous secrets that have been revealed to us by science and
the yet more wonderful things that will be revealed to us in the
future, we are tempted to think that there may be something in the old
beliefs, some residuum of fact, susceptible indeed of explanation, but
very different from what a crass scepticism supposes it to be. Above
all, the results of the investigations now pursued in relation to the
group of phenomena embraced under the designation of telepathy,—the
subconscious influence of one mind over an absent or distant mind,—and
the wireless transmission of power in wireless telegraphy and
telephony, may go far to make us hesitate before condemning as utterly
preposterous many of the tales of enchantment and magical influence.
If the unconscious will of one individual can affect the thoughts and
feelings of another individual at a great distance and without the
intervention of any known means of communication, as is confidently
asserted by many competent investigators in the domain of telepathy,
their claims being supported by many strange happenings, perhaps the
result of coincidence, but possibly due to the operation of some
unknown law, does this not give a color of verity to the statements
regarding the ancient magicians and their spells?
Auto-suggestion may also afford an explanation of much that is
mysterious in the effects attributed to precious stones, for if the
wearer be firmly convinced that the gem he is wearing produces certain
results, this conviction will impress itself upon his thought and hence
upon his very organism. He will really experience the influence, and
the effects will manifest themselves just as powerfully as though they
were caused by vibrations or emanations from the material body of the
stone.
All this may serve to explain the persistence of the belief in magic
arts. A few hundred years ago, a Hungarian woman was accused of
having murdered two or three hundred young girls, and at her trial
she confessed that her object was to use the blood of her victims to
renew her youth and beauty, for the blood of innocent virgins was
supposed to have wonderful properties. In some parts of England today
there is a superstitious belief that an article of clothing worn by a
person, or anything he has habitually used, absorbs a portion of his
individuality. Therefore, it sometimes happens that a handkerchief,
for instance, will be stolen and pinned down beneath the waters of a
stream on a toad, the pins marking the name of the enemy, the belief
being that as this cloth wastes away, so will the body of him who had
worn it. In medieval and later times this was the common practice of
the sorcerers, although they frequently composed a wax figure rudely
resembling the person against whom the spell was directed, and then
thrust pins into this figure or allowed it to melt away before a slow
fire. The enchantment of the sorcerer was supposed to have caused some
essence of the personality to enter into the image, and therefore the
living and breathing being felt sympathetically the effects of the
ill-treatment inflicted upon its counterfeit.
The persistence of the most cruel and unnatural practices of old-time
sorcery is illustrated by the fact that only a few years ago, in the
island of Cuba, three women were condemned to death for murdering a
white baby so as to use the heart and blood as a cure for diseases.
Four other women were sentenced to from fourteen to twenty years’
imprisonment as accomplices. When such things happen in Cuba, it
is not surprising that in half-civilized Hayti similar crimes are
committed. Here the Voodoo priests and priestesses, _papalois_ and
_mamalois_ (papa-kings and mama-queens) require from time to time a
human sacrifice to appease their serpent-god. One strange case is
related where a stupefying potion, inducing a state of apparent death,
was secretly administered to a sick man. When the attending physician
pronounced him dead, he was duly interred; but, two days after,
the grave was found open and the body had disappeared. The Voodoo
worshippers had carried the man away so as to revive him and then
sacrifice him at their fearful rites.
In a poem addressed to Marguerite de Valois,—“La Marguerite des
Marguerites,” as she was called,—by Jean de la Taille de Bondaroy,[1]
we read of the diamond that it came from gold and from the sun. But we
are told that not only are precious stones endowed with life, they also
are subject to disease, old age, and death; “they even take offence if
an injury be done to them, and become rough and pale.” The sickness of
the pearl has been a theme for centuries, and in many cases is only
fancied. It is but a subterfuge or deception for a lady to remark that
her pearls have sickened; by referring to this sickness, her friends
are naturally led to believe that at one time her pearls were fine,
perfect ones, when in reality they may never have been so.
The opinion given in 1609, by Anselmus De Boot, court physician to
Rudolph II of Germany, regarding the power inherent in certain precious
stones,[2] embodies the ideas on this subject held by many of the
enlightened minds of that period.
The supernatural and acting cause is God, the good angel and the evil
one; the good by the will of God, and the evil by His permission....
What God can do by Himself, He could do also by means of ministers,
good and bad angels, who, by special grace of God and for the
preservation of men, are enabled to enter precious stones and to guard
men from dangers or procure some special grace for them. However, as
we may not affirm anything positive touching the presence of angels
in gems, to repose trust in them, or to ascribe undue powers to them,
is more especially pleasing to the spirit of evil, who transforms
himself into an angel of light, steals into the substance of the
little gem, and works such wonders by it that some people do not place
their trust in God but in a gem, and seek to obtain from it what they
should ask of God alone. Thus it is perhaps the spirit of evil which
exercises its power on us through the turquoise, teaching us, little
by little, that safety is not to be sought from God but from a gem.
In the next chapter of his work, De Boot, while extolling the remedial
power of a certain group of stones, insists upon the falsity of many of
the superstitions regarding these objects.[3]
That gems or stones, when applied to the body, exert an action upon
it, is so well proven by the experience of many persons, that any one
who doubts this must be called over-bold. We have proof of this power
in the carnelian, the hematite, and the jasper, all of which when
applied, check hemorrhage.... However, it is very necessary to observe
that many virtues not possessed by gems are falsely ascribed to them.
Paracelsus, the gifted and brilliant thinker, scientist, and, we
must probably add, charlatan of the sixteenth century, whose really
extraordinary mental endowment was largely wasted in the effort to
impress his followers with the idea that he had a mystic control over
supernatural agencies, was the owner of a talismanic jewel which he
asserted to be the dwelling-place of a powerful spirit named “Azoth.”
Some old portraits of the philosopher, or pseudo-philosopher, figure
him wearing this jewel, in whose virtues we may fairly doubt that he
himself believed, but which furnished part of the paraphernalia be
freely employed to gain influence over the credulous.[4]
The following passage from the “Faithful Lapidary” of Thomas Nicols,[5]
who wrote in the middle of the seventeenth century, illustrates the
prevailing opinion in England at that time as to the virtues of
precious stones:
_Perfectionem effectûs contineri in causa._ But it cannot truly be
so spoken of gemms and precious stones, the effects of which, by
Lapidists are said to be, the making of men rich and eloquent, to
preserve men from thunder and lightning, from plagues and diseases, to
move dreams, to procure sleep, to foretell things to come, to make men
wise, to strengthen memory, to procure honours, to hinder fascinations
and witchcrafts, to hinder slothfulness, to put courage into men, to
keep men chaste, to increase friendship, to hinder difference and
dissention, and to make men invisible, as is feigned by the Poet
concerning Gyges ring, and affirmed by Albertus and others concerning
the _ophthalmius lapis_, and many other strange things are affirmed
of them and ascribed to them, which are contrary to the nature of
gemms, and which they as they are materiall, mixt, inanimate bodies
neither know nor can effect, by the properties and faculties of their
own constitutions: because they being naturall causes, can produce
none other but naturall effects, such as are all the ordinary effects
of gemms: that is, such effects as flow from their elementary matter,
from their temper, form and essence; such as are the operations of
hot and cold, and of all the first qualities, and all such accidents
as do arise from the commixtion of the first qualities: such as are
hardnesse, heavinesse, thicknesse, colour, and tast. These all are the
naturall faculties of gemms, and these are the known effects of the
union of their matter, and of the operation of the first qualities one
upon another.
The long-continued concentration of vision on an object tends to
produce a partial paralysis of certain functions of the brain. This
effect may be noted in the helplessness of a bird when its gaze is
fixed upon the glittering eyes of a serpent, or in the unwilling
obedience yielded by a lion or some other wild animal when forced to
look into the intent eyes of its trainer. In the same way those who
gaze for a long time and without interruption on a crystal or glass
ball, on an opal, a moonstone, a sapphire, or a cat’s-eye, may become
partially hypnotized or even fall into a profound sleep. The condition
induced, whether it be that of semi-trance, of hypnotism, or simply
due to the imaginative workings of the brain, is believed to give an
insight into the future. This hypnotic effect is probably caused by
some gleam or point of light in the stone, attracting and fixing the
beholder’s gaze. The moonstone, the star sapphire, and the cat’s-eye
are all gems which possess a moving light, a moving line, or three
crossed lines, and they are believed by the Orientals to be gems of
good luck. Indeed, it is supposed in the East that a living spirit
dwells within these stones, a spirit potent for good.
Superstitious fancies bear the same relation to truth that the shadow
of a form does to the form itself. We know that the shadow has no
substantial existence, and yet we know equally well that it is cast by
some real body; in the same way we may be sure that, however foolish
a superstition may appear to be, it has some foundation in fact.
Indeed, superstition is associated with the highest attribute of the
human mind,—imagination. The realities about us gain much of their
charm from sentiment, and all that is great in art and literature
owes its being to the transforming energy of pure imagination. Morbid
imagination, on the other hand, distorts and degrades the impressions
it receives and produces only unlovely or ignoble forms and ideas.
Sentiment may best be expressed as the feeling of one who, on a
warm summer’s day, is rowing along a shady brook or resting in some
sylvan dell, with nothing to interfere with his tranquil mood and
nothing to spur him on to action; thus he has only suggestions of
hope and indulges in rosy views of life. Reality, on the other hand,
may be likened to a crisp winter’s morning when one is filled with
exhilaration, conscious of the tingle of the cold, but comfortable in
the knowledge of wearing a tightly-buttoned garment which will afford
protection should the elements become disturbing. Superstition, lastly,
can be said to resemble a dark, cold, misty night, when the moon is
throwing malevolent shadows which are weird and distorted, while the
cold seems to seize one by the throat and arouse a passionate desire
to free one’s self from its grip in some way, to change a horrible
nightmare into a pleasant dream.
In the early part of the last century a series of very interesting
experiments designed to demonstrate the effects produced upon a
sensitive subject by the touch of precious stones and minerals, were
made in the case of the “Seeress of Prevorst,” Frederike Hauffe (b.
1801), a woman believed to possess remarkable clairvoyant powers.[6]
When pieces of granite, porphyry, or flint were placed in her hand,
she was not affected in any way. The finest qualities of fluorspar,
on the other hand, had a marked action, relaxing the muscles, causing
diarrhœa, and producing a sour taste in the mouth; occasionally a
somnambulistic state was induced. This latter condition was also
produced by Iceland spar and by the sapphire. While the substances so
far noted depressed the vital energy, sulphate of barium stimulated the
muscles, produced an agreeable warmth of the body, and made the subject
feel as though she could fly through the air. If the application of
this material was long continued, the pleasurable sensation found
expression in laughter. In the case of witherite, a carbonate of
barium, this effect was produced to an even greater degree, for if
water in which this mineral had been dipped were swallowed, spasms of
laughter resulted.
Rock-crystal also was found to possess a strongly stimulating
influence, for if put in the hand, it aroused the subject from a
half-slumber, and if placed on the pit of the stomach, it had the
power to awaken the seeress from a somnambulistic trance, while at
the same time an aromatic odor was diffused around. When, however,
the application was continued for some time, the muscles stiffened,
until finally an epileptic state ensued. Indeed, the rigidity produced
was so great that the limbs resisted all attempts to bend them. The
same effect, but in a much less degree, was caused by glass, even by
looking at it, or by the tones emitted by a glass object when struck.
All colorless silicates, the diamond, and even gypsum, had a similar
effect, as did also heliotrope and basalt, either of which caused a
bitter taste in the mouth.
The most powerful action was that exerted by hematite, the oxide
of iron in this substance inducing a kind of paralysis, with a
sensation of inner chill; this condition could only be relieved by
the application of a piece of witherite. Octahedrons of magnetite
(loadstone) caused a sensation of heaviness and convulsive movements
of the limbs, even when the material, wrapped up in paper, was brought
near the subject. Spinel, in whose composition oxide of chromium
enters, caused the same symptoms as loadstone, except that in this
case the force seemed to exert itself from the hand upward along the
arm, while with the loadstone the action was downward along the arm
to the hand, owing to the attractive quality of this magnetic iron.
Ruby called forth a sensation of coldness in the tongue, and rendered
this member so heavy that only incoherent sounds could be emitted;
the fingers and toes also became cold, and the body was agitated by
a violent shivering; but to all these bad symptoms succeeded a sense
of elasticity and well-being, not, however, without a vague fear that
the stone might cause a renewal of the physical depression. When
chrysoprase was used, chills and shivering resulted, beginning at the
breast and spreading thence over the whole body.
[Illustration: ROCK-CRYSTAL AMULET SET IN SILVER.
Bohemian, tenth century. Field Museum of Natural History.]
[Illustration: ROCK-CRYSTAL PLACQUE, ANCIENT MEXICAN.
Field Museum Collection, Chicago.]
We have touched upon the hypnotic influence exercised by gems, but
there can be no doubt that the subject has not been as carefully
studied as it deserves to be. That the hypnotic state can be induced
by gazing fixedly upon a bright object held just above the eyes is a
well-known fact, but quite probably a similar though not so pronounced
effect results from gazing on a bright object just before the gazer’s
eyes. In the case of colored precious stones, the effects of the
various color-rays combine with the light effects and strengthen
the impression upon the optic nerve. All this, however, concerns
only the purely physical impression, but we know that very often the
hypnotic state is produced by a mental impression, by the belief,
or the fear, that the state will supervene. With precious stones as
hypnotizing agents, the mental impression is widely different, for
here the physical impression is heightened by the consciousness of the
value and rarity of the material. The fascination that a fine set of
jewels, with all their sparkle and color, exercises upon the mind of a
woman who sees them in their glorious radiance on the neck, the arms,
and the head of another woman, is not only due to the beauty of the
spectacle, but is largely owing to the consciousness that they are rare
and valuable objects and are perhaps eloquent witnesses of the power
of love. A dash of envy sometimes serves to render the emotion more
complex.
The names of precious stones and semi-precious stones are frequently
used as adjectives, and when so employed convey something more to the
mind than do the corresponding adjectives of color. We may instance
the following expressions: the “Emerald Isle” and “emerald meadows”;
“sapphire seas” and “sapphire eyes”; “ruby wine,” “ruby lips,” and,
in Shakespeare, “the natural ruby of your cheeks”; “coral lips” and
“coral ears”; “pearly teeth” and “pearly skin”; “turquoise skies”;
“amethystine locks” and, in Roman times, “amber hair.” In all these
cases the name of the precious mineral is really used as a superlative
of the adjective, suggesting the choicest variety of the color or
shade. The phrases “hard as adamant” and “clear as crystal” show a
similar use of the name of a precious or ornamental stone to express
the highest grade of a given quality.
Before the introduction of the “point” system in typography three of
the grades of type bore the names of precious stones,—namely, “diamond
type,” “agate type,” and “emerald type”; this latter designation is
employed only in England, where “agate type” is called “ruby type.”
Another size was denominated “pearl type.”
A fanciful tale written not long ago treats of the practical
inconveniences which would result, could such metaphorical expressions
find a realization in fact.[7] At the birth-feast of a certain
princess, one of the fairies was not invited; she, nevertheless, made
her appearance. After the other fairies had endowed the child with many
good qualities, the neglected fairy said, “I will give her vanity,
and her vanity shall change her beauty to the things it is said to
resemble.” However, a friendly fairy came to the rescue, saying, “I
will give her unselfishness, and by it she shall turn her beauty back
to what she wishes it to be.”
The result can easily be imagined. As the little princess grew up,
those who wished to flatter her vanity spoke of her “teeth of pearl,”
of her “golden hair,” of her “coral lips,” and of her “sapphire eyes.”
Upon this her teeth changed to pearls, her hair to spun gold, her
lips to coral, and her eyes to two magnificent sapphires. However,
beautiful as these were, they did not grant the power of sight, so that
the unhappy princess became blind. Not long after this a revolution
deprived the king and queen of their throne and they were reduced to
great poverty. In these straits the daughter sacrificed her “gold-hair”
to relieve their wants, and immediately the spell was dissolved and she
regained all her natural beauty.
Shelley, who saw the world illumined by the rainbow hues of poetic
fancy, wrote of “diamond eyes,” “an emerald sky,” “the emerald heaven
of trees,” “the sapphire ocean,” “sapphire-tinted skies,” “the sapphire
floods of interstellar air,” and “the chrysolite of sunrise.” For some
reason, he does not use the ruby, a favorite stone with many poets, and
psychologists might find in this a proof that red appeals less strongly
to the idealist than do the other colors.
The principal literary sources for the talismanic and therapeutic
virtues attributed to ornamental stones may be divided into several
groups, at first more or less independent of each other, but combined
to a greater or lesser extent by later writers. Pliny gives, sometimes
rather grudgingly, a number of superstitions current in his time, but
the Alexandrian literature of the second, third, and fourth Christian
centuries provides a much richer field for these superstitions, as
shown in the Orphic poem “Lithica,” the “Cyrianides,” attributed to
Hermes Trismegistus, the little treatise “On Rivers,” which bore the
name of Plutarch, and last, but not least, in the work by Damigeron,
which purported to be written by an Arab king named Evax, and sent
by him to Tiberius or Nero. The influence exerted by the legends
surrounding the stones of the high priest’s breastplate, and those
chosen as foundation stones for the New Jerusalem, will be treated of
elsewhere.
In the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, a new literature on this
subject made its appearance, probably in Asia Minor. Some of the works
were originally written in Syriac and later translated into Arabic.
Others were composed in the latter language. This source was drawn
upon for the production of the Lapidarium of Alfonso X, of Castile.
This compilation, although dating in its present Spanish form from the
thirteenth century, is based upon a much older original in “Chaldee”
(Syriac?). There can be little doubt that many Hindu superstitions,
no longer preserved for us in the literature of India, are reproduced
in these Syrio-Arabic works, wherein we have also much that is of
Alexandrian origin. This indeed is easily explained by history, for the
Arabs, through their widely extended conquests, were led to absorb and
amalgamate the data they secured, directly or indirectly, from the East
and the West.
While this literature was developing in the Mohammedan world, the
tradition of Pliny and Solinus was transmitted to the Christian world
of the seventh and succeeding centuries by Isidorus of Seville. This
brings us to the remarkable poetical treatise on the virtues of
precious stones by Marbodus, Bishop of Rennes, a work written at
the end of the eleventh century, and often quoted as that of Evax;
indeed, it purports to be by him and really contains a good part of the
material composing the treatise of Damigeron or Evax. At the same time
Marbodus drew freely upon Pliny, either directly or through Isidorus.
For the Middle Ages this poem of Marbodus, already translated into Old
French in the twelfth century, became known as the “Lapidario” _par
excellence_, and furnished a great part of their material to medieval
authors on this subject. Soon, however, extracts from the Arabic
sources became available, and the whole mass of heterogeneous material
was worked over and recombined in a variety of ways.
[Illustration: Title page of the first edition of the poetical treatise
on precious stones by Marbodus, Bishop of Rennes, printed in Friburg,
1531.]
This complex origin of the traditions explains their almost
incomprehensible contradictions regarding the virtues assigned to
the different stones, and also the fact that the qualities of one
stone are frequently attributed to another one, so that, in the
later works on this subject, it becomes quite impossible to present
a satisfactory view of the distinguishing qualities and virtues of
the separate stones. The habit of copying, without discrimination or
criticism, whatever came to hand, and the aim to utilize as much of
the borrowed material as possible, is scarcely less a characteristic
of the seventeenth and eighteenth century writers than it is of those
of a later date. This is in part an excusable and even an unavoidable
defect, but it should be minimized as much as possible.
[Illustration: Title page of the first edition of the Greek treatise by
St. Epiphanius on the Gems of the Breastplate, with a Latin version.
Edited and issued at Zürich in 1566 (1565) by Conrad Gesner.]
The treatise known under the title “Cyrianides” was, as we have noted,
a product of the Alexandrian school. It was asserted to be the work
of Hermes Trismegistus, the name given by the Greeks to the Egyptian
god Thoth. Here we have a specimen of the species of magic known as
litteromancy, or divination by means of the letters of the alphabet,
since a stone, a bird, a plant, and a fish, each beginning with the
same letter and signifying the four elements, are given for each of the
twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet. These four objects were to
be grouped together to form a talisman, the bird being usually engraved
on the stone, while a portion of the fish and of the plant was placed
in the bezel of the ring in which the stone was to be set.[8] Another,
almost contemporary work, is the exceedingly curious and interesting
treatise by St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia, on the twelve gems
on the “Breastplate of Judgment” of the high priest (Ex., xxviii,
15-21). This unique production is in the form of a letter addressed
to Diodorus, Bishop of Tyre, and it is peculiarly valuable as the
first of a long series of attempts to elucidate the question as to the
identity of the twelve stones. The special virtues of each stone are
also given, and this treatise may be regarded as the prototype of all
the Christian writings on the symbolism of stones.
A most interesting medieval treatise on the virtues of precious stones
forms part of the _De rerum natura_ of Thomas de Cantimpré (1201-1270),
who was a pupil of Albertus Magnus and composed his work between 1230
and 1244. The Latin text has never been printed, but the book was
translated into German by Konrad von Megenberg about 1350. Strange to
say, the translator did not know the name of the writer and supposed
when he began to translate the book that it was by Albertus Magnus. In
many cases Thomas de Cantimpré merely copies the statements of older
authors, but occasionally he gives us new material, or at least a new
version of his originals.
[Illustration: Title page of one of the earliest treatises on precious
stones published in England.]
The renowned medieval philosopher and theologian, Albertus Magnus
(1193-1280), for a short time Bishop of Ratisbon, and who later taught
theology in the University of Paris and had the great St. Thomas
Aquinas for a pupil, was not altogether free from the superstitious
notions of his time, traces of which appear in certain of his
numerous writings. Many years after his death some of this material
was extracted from his works and, amplified by additions from other
sources, was published under the title “Secrets des vertus des Herbes,
Pierres et Bestes.” Of this there are two versions, one being an
epitome of the other and termed respectively “Le Grand Albert” and
“Le Petit Albert.” These little books were often reprinted and widely
circulated, and eventually enjoyed great popularity among the French
peasants. Indeed, even to the present day they may still be met with in
out-of-the-way parts of rural France.
Among literary deceptions one of the boldest was that practised in the
early part of the seventeenth century by Ludovico Dolce. This writer
made, in 1565, a literal translation into Italian of the “Speculum
lapidum” of Camillo Leonardo, printed in Venice in 1502, and he had the
courage to issue it as his own work, under the title “Trattato delle
gemme chè produce la natura.” In view of the general familiarity with
Latin among the better classes at that period, and the numerous fine
libraries existing in Venice at the time, it seems most extraordinary
that Dolce should have been successful in palming off this work as his
own, but even to-day citations are made from Dolce’s “Trattato delle
gemme” and from Leonardo’s “Speculum lapidum,” as though these were
distinct works.
II
On the Use of Precious and Semi-Precious Stones as Talismans and Amulets
The use of precious stones in early times as amulets and talismans
is shown in many ancient records, and several scholars have assumed
that the belief in the magic efficacy of stones gave rise to their use
as objects of personal adornment. It is, of course, very difficult
either to prove or to disprove such a theory, for, even in the case of
the oldest texts, we must bear in mind that they do not in the least
represent primitive conditions, and that many thousands of years must
have elapsed before a people could attain the grade of civilization
necessary for the production of even the simplest literature. For this
reason, certain investigators have preferred to seek for a solution of
this problem in the customs and habits of the so-called uncivilized
peoples of our own time; but we must not forget that conditions which
seem to us very rudimentary are, nevertheless, the result of a long
process of development. Even if this development was arrested many
centuries or millenniums ago, it must have required a very considerable
period of time to evolve such usages and conventions as are found even
among the lowest races. Indeed, many uncivilized peoples have very
complicated rules and observances, testifying to considerable thought
and reflection.
Fetichism in all its forms depends upon an imperfect conception of
what constitutes life and conscious being, so that will and thought
are attributed to inanimate objects. We can observe this in the case
of animals and very young children, who regard any moving object as
endowed with life. In the case of stones, however, it seems probable
that those supposed to be the abode of spirits, good or evil, were
selected because their natural form suggested that of some animal or
of some portion of the human body. On the other hand, the wearing of
what we call precious stones is more likely to have been due to the
attraction exercised by bright colors upon the eye of the beholder and
to the desire to display some distinguishing mark that would command
attention and admiration for the wearer. This tendency runs through the
higher animal kingdom, and its workings have served as a foundation for
the theory of natural selection.