held
that wine drunk out of an Amethyst cup was powerless to intoxicate.
Pliny, however, supposed the gem to get its name from the fact of its
nearly, though not quite, approaching the colour of wine. Certain
Amethysts, having a rosy hue shining through their purple, were called
by the ancients—" Gems of Venus." The Mirror of Stones tells
concerning Amethysts, " Their virtue is to drive away drunkenness; for,
being bound on the navel, they restrain the vapour of the wine ; and so
dissolve the ebriety ; they repress evil thoughts, and give a good
understanding ; they make a man vigilant, and expert in business ; the
barren they render fruitful by drinking a lotion of it; they expel
poison ; they preserve military men, and give them victory over their
enemies; and prepare an easy capture of wild beasts, and birds."
The
Indian Amethyst exceeds the other four varieties in colour, beauty, and
price ; it is of a purple hue, mixed with rosy, and violet tints. The
Peruvians held a belief that if the names of the sun, and moon were
engraved upon an Amethyst, and it was hung about a person's neck,
together with a baboon's hair, or a swallow's feather; this would act
as a spell against witchcraft.
In
composition the Amethyst is made up chiefly of lime, magnesia, soda,
and oxide of iron. It belongs to the vitreous order of quartz. The
Oriental Amethyst—a Sapphire—is an entirely different Stone. The
Amethyst is distinguished from common quartz by its purple colour (in
every shade), and its transparent crystal. It was considered by the
ancients " a Gem of Fire."
Such radiations of violet light as the Amethyst
