CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL.
From the
earliest times gems and precious stones have been prized on account of
their beauty and for the purposes of personal adornment; this is amply
shown by the numerous references to them by the ancient authors; Pliny,
in Books XXXVI. and XXXVII. of the Natural History, quotes from many of
these works, all of which, except that of Theophrastus, are now lost. A
considerable number of these writers were Greeks, and several of them
would appear to have lived in or visited more Eastern lands, where very
probably their interest in the precious stones was largely brought into
being. King, in his work on " The Natural History of Precious Stones,"
calls attention to the fact that Socatus, one of the authors quoted by
Pliny, speaks of having seen a certain wonderful gem in the possession
of the King, which according to Greek usage would mean the king
of Persia; this gives us a definite conÂception of the antiquity of
this love of gems. Another author quoted by Pliny is spoken of as
Zachalias the Babylonian—again pointing to the connection between the
study of this subject and the ancient civilisation of the East. This
relation may be accounted for by the fact that
P.S.
B
