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PRECIOUS STONES.
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CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN, PROPERTIES, CLASSIFICATION, LOCALITIES, IMITATIONS,
AND ANTIQUITY OF PRECIOUS STONES. Origin. — A desire to penetrate the hidden mysteries of
nature's operations is innate in man, and has led to some of the grandest and the most useful achievements of the human mind. This longing to become acquainted with her laws and to account for her phenomena stimulated the activity of ancient thought as it now incites modern investigation, and has given birth to many of the innumerable theories that have always marked the progress of science. The various speculations in regard to the origin of precious
stones afford some curious illustrations of the mental peculiarities of different nations as well as individuals ; as, for example, the Greeks, with their poetical and religious biases, referred them to the direct agency of their divinities, or to some of the forces of nature personified and invested with mysterious powers. The youth who rocked the cradle of the infant Jupiter on the Island of Crete was transformed into the adamas, and here we have the origin of the diamond. A beautiful nymph beloved by Bacchus was changed into the amethyst, representing the color of this god's favorite beverage. The sources of amber were numerous : drops of perspiration exhaled by the goddess Ge, — the Earth,— the tears shed by the sisters of the ill-fated 7
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