Historical
Survey of Precious Stones. Ideas entertained by the Ancients and in the
mediaeval age, concerning its Nature and Properties of Precious Stones.
Their Crossification based upon the analysis of Modern Chemistry.
"Though
the same sun with all-diffusive rays Blush in the rose, and in the
diamond blaze, We prize the effort of His stronger power. And justly
set the gem above the flower."
Brilliant
objects have from time immemorial proved wonderfully fascinating to
men. No wonder then that precious stones, those sparkling "blossoms
of the rock," to whose rare beauty nature has added the crowning gift
of durability, should have kindled a passion for possession and
inspired ardent search.
In
our own day the exceptional value of gems depends simply upon their use
as ornaments, and their service in certain important optical and other
instruments. With the ancients their importance rested on very
different grounds. They attributed to these peerless little objects the
most extraordinary gifts; they ascribed to them a spiritual as well as
material potency—a power alike to cure diseases,
