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The
spinel ruby seems to have been known to the ancients equally with the
corundum ruby, and the two were probably often confounded. The natives
of India call the spinel the pomegranate ruby, and believe to this day
that it possesses valuable medicinal properties.
In
the Middle Ages it was believed that if one touched with this gem the
four corners of a house, orchard, or vineyard they would be protected
from lightning, storms, and blight.
The
Arabs had a tradition that sea cows gathered spinels from the Kokaf
Mountains, and left them on the ground in Ceylon. Stone-gathÂerers
would then throw lumps of clay over the gems, and leave them until the
cows, " disappointed at not finding the stones, and fretting and fuming
with rage," returned to the sea, when their human rivals would come and
get the stones.
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97
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