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Ch. 14: Emerald, Aquamarine, Beryl

Ch. 14: Emerald, Aquamarine, Beryl Page of 401 Ch. 14: Emerald, Aquamarine, Beryl Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
       
     
 
THE BERYL.
27s
  
 
 
  
 
The emerald was used in Pliny's time, as it has been since,
to rest the eyes after overstraining them on difficult work, and
it was also employed as lenses for near-sighted persons, and for
mirrors. The Emperor Nero, who was very near-sighted, v
endeavored to remedy this defect, when witnessing the gladiatorial combats at Rome, by using a lens cut from this precious
stone. Historians mention this fact in their descriptions of
this notorious despot, corroborated by his portraits, in which
the eyes are remarkably full, indicating myopy. If it was used
for that object, it was quite probable it was hollowed out to
serve as a concave lens and not as a mirror to reflect distant
views. It is said, however, that he used this gem to reflect the
images of any lurking assassin, a danger to which he was
imminent.
To prove that the emerald has served the purposes of a
reflecting body a story is told of the Emperor Maximilian IL,
who, on his visit to Ratisbon, when presented with a gold cup
full of ducats, detected one of his courtiers helping himself to
the contents, by the reflection of the scene in the emerald of
the ring upon his finger.
The Hindoos have always valued the emerald very highly
for ear-pendants and bracelets, which they drill and string as
beads. These perforated gems are cut in two when used by
European lapidaries. Tavernier testifies that all East Indians
who could afford it wore in their ears a ruby and an emerald
strung between pearls.
False emeralds were manufactured in the time of Pliny
from rock-crystal and other inferior stones, by plunging the
heated mineral into verdigris dissolved in turpentine. They
were also imitated very successfully in glass, an art practised
at the present day. The emerald column in the Temple of
Melkart, at Tyre, which excited the wonder of Herodotus, was
  
 
 
  
       
Ch. 14: Emerald, Aquamarine, Beryl Page of 401 Ch. 14: Emerald, Aquamarine, Beryl
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