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Smaragdus, Emerald

Sardonyx Page of 453 Smaragdus, Emerald Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
       
     
 
SMARAGDUS.
311
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
It has been frequently asserted by writers on Gems, as Dutens (p. 36), K. 0. Mùller (Archaiol. § 313, 2), that the ancients were not acquainted with the true Emerald (Glucina, Alumina, Silica), which they pretend was unknown in Europe before the discovery of Peru, from whence in the present day the market is exclu­sively supplied. In spite of the vast quantity of Emeralds occurring in Indian jewelry, both in their native form and rudely cut into pear-drops and " tables," Tavernier declares his firm conviction that this gem was never produced in the East, neither on the mainland, nor in the islands ; and that having made the strictest inquiries in all his journeys, no one was able to point out to him any place in Asia where they are found, and hence arrives at the conclusion that all Emeralds brought from the East Indies must have been imported thither from Peru by the way of the Philippine Isles. In support of this opinion Dutens asserts that in all the old Treasuries, like that of Loretto, St. Denys, &c, every kind of precious stone is to be found except the Emerald amongst the presents made to these ancient reposi­tories by princes and other pious persons, previous to the dis­covery of the New World : a conclusive argument (if well-founded) that the Emerald was not known to them before. And to give greater weight to this opinion, he says it was supported by the authority of the famous mineralogist, M. d'Augny.1
But the careful consideration of the facts about to be stated will inevitably lead us to a very different conclusion, for they demonstrate that the Romans at least were plentifully supplied with the true Emerald, and even possessed the Green Ruby, Pliny's Smaragdus Scythicus, a much harder, and much rarer
1 Dillons tiles tu show that the Siuarugdus was our Peridot.
  
 
 
  
       
Sardonyx Page of 453 Smaragdus, Emerald
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