Theophrastus refers to a variety of this precious stone used
for ornamenting gold vessels, the color harmonizing well with
that metal, a quality belonging to our emerald. The Persians
used it to embellish their goblets, a practice adopted by the
Romans.
The emerald mentioned by Ezekiel as an article of
merchandise in the Tyrian fairs may have been that stone, or
turquoise, which is still mined at the foot of Mt. Sinai, or
some other green gem. The jasper of the New Jerusalem, a
"most precious stone," combining the green of the jasper with
the transparency of the crystal, may have been the emerald.
In Pliny's account of precious stones, it is stated that the
smaragdus was found in very large masses. Theophrastus
says it is scarce and of small size, unless we credit the
commentaries of the Egyptian rulers, which relate that a specimen sent to the King of Babylon was four cubits in length
and three in breadth, and that the obelisk in the Temple of
Jupiter, forty cubits high, was made of four emeralds. It is
believed, at the present time, that these and other gigantic
specimens were glass, as Alexandria, in Egypt, was noted for
its glass manufactures. It is possible that some of these
enormous emeralds were beryl, since crystals of the size of
those from Grafton, New Hampshire, could have answered the
purpose. Theophrastus speaks of a " bastard emerald " found
in the copper-mines of Cyprus, which very likely was malachite
or chrysocolla, or, as Hill suggests, rock-crystal tinged with
green. He says the true emerald seems to be a production of
jasper, giving as proof that a certain crystal known to him was
half emerald and half jasper. The prase, or plasma, has been
called the "mother of emeralds" ; and it is possible the jasper,
in some of its varieties, may have constituted the matrix of
this gem.
