Gems and Precious Stones [pp. 393-401]

394THE LADIES' REPOSITORY. [Nov.,
body is assured, it takes upon itself, so
that the wearer escapes all hurt,-a property beyond the scope of reason. I can
solemnly affirm that I always wear one
in a ring, the nature of which I can never
sufficiently admire." He then proceeds
to relate the manner in which he became
possessed of this ring. A neighbor who had
been in the habit of wearing a turquoise
ring of great beauty died; his property
was put utp for sale, and the elder De
Boot purchased this ring and presented
it to his son. To the great disappointment of the latter, however, the gem had
become pale and faded; so much so that,
as he expresses it, he thought it scorn to
wear so unsightly a gem, and took it to
an engraver to have his coat-of-arms cut
upon it. This done, he wore the turquoise ring as a signet. What was his
surprise to find the stone gradually recovering its color, and that at the end of
the month its azure hue was restored.
But the wonder did not cease here. De
Boot was traveling home to Bohemia
from Padua, where he had been to take
his doctor's degree, when, in the dark,
his horse stumbled and fell with his
rider from a bank on to a road ten feet
belowv. Neither horse nor rider was the
worse, but when De Boot washed his
hands the following morning, he perceived that the turquoise wvas split in two.
He had the larger half reset, and continued to wear it, when again he met
wvith an accident which was like to have
caused him a broken bone, and again the
turquoise took the fracture upon itself,
and had to be reset once more. After
such proof, who could doubt? Not De
Boot himself, evidently.
The torquoise has always been a favorite gem for the betrothal ring, the fashion
having had its origin in the belief that
the permanence of its hue would depend
upon the constancy of the donor.
Indifferent as we may be to the merits
of precious stones in general, it must be
admitted that the diamond has, from
time immemorial, occupied a certain
position in the history of nations. Thus
it was one of the stones which adorned
the breastplate of the Hebrew highpriests. Homer tells us thlat Juno wore
diamonds in her ears. The ancients
maintained that the diamond imparted
courage to the wearer. Certain it is that
diamonds, at this moment, represent several millions of money. The value of
diamonds received at the port of Boston
for one week in May last, was $27,901,
besides all that may have been smuggled.
Some are in want of bread, and others
are suffering for diamond jewelry!
The name and history of every stone
valued at a sum ablove $4,ooo. is nowv perfectly known, and its whereabouts ascertained, whether it be at Amsterdam, Paris,
Moscow, or London. The moment that
a diamond is discovered exceeding this
value, the stone, as it were, attains a sort
of etat civil in the world of lapidaries.
Numerous attempts have been made to
produce artificial diamonds, but they have
all been in vain. It is even doubtful
whether microscopically small crystals
have been formed. Diamonds are, however, very well imitated by pastes, wvhich
possess all the beauty and fire of the real
stones, and flash in our street-cars, theaters, and shop windows, quite secure from
detection, except by a shrewd judge of
human nature as well as of stonles. In
order to fabricate a diamond by science,
it is first necessary to dissolve chl)arcoal.
Then follow processes requiring cLystallization, mingling of pure water, a little
carbonate of sulphur, and certain proportions of liquefied phosphorus. Still all
this may not yield a thoroughly deceptive
diamond.
Plato believed this stone to be created
by the rays of certain stars. Apparent
extremes that sometimes meet are the
dreams of the poet and the realizations
of the philosopher. The stars, says the
former, are diamonds in the sky; diamonds, says one who, in I876, may claim
the latter title, are stars upon the earth.
Who will deny that they have too many
virtues to be of worldly origin? And to
no mundane process within our knowledge can their birth be assigned. None
can do more than speculate upon their
THE LADIES' REPOSITOR Y.
[Nov.,
394