In
saying to such an invalid that an emerald placed under his pillow would
drive away melancholy, dispel nightmare, calm the palpitations of the
heart, induce agreeable thoughts, bring success to enterprises, and
dissipate the anxieties of the soul, a cure was certain to be effected
simply by the faith which the invalid had in the efficacy of the
remedy. The hope of cure in such affections is the cure itself; and in
all the numerous cases where the mind has had an influence upon the
bodily system, the imaginary cause must produce a very real effect.
Finally, that eternal deception of the human spirit, which registers
all the cures, but does not take into account the cases where the
curative means have failed of their end, contributed to maintain the
belief in the occult virtues of precious stones. It is not half a
century ago since sufferers would borrow from rich families gems
mounted in rings, to apply to afflicted parts. When the trinket was
introduced into the mouth as a cure for toothache, sore throat, or
ear-ache, the precaution was taken to secure it with a strong thread,
lest it should be swallowed by the patient.
"
It is unnecessary to say that if we are asked today, whither are gone
all these beliefs which to our fathers were incontestable, we answer
that they are gone with the 'lunar influences' so powerful in the time
of Louis XIV., to take their place in the vast limbo of human errors."
