40 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
for this a "sweet-smelling" loadstone should be chosen, and should be cut heart-shaped and engraved with the figure of Hecate.16
A
costly Chinese amulet consists of the diamond, the ruby, and the
emerald, to which are added the pearl and coral; Oriental sapphire and
topaz are classed with the ruby. An amulet containing these five
substances is thought to combine the protecting influences of the
different deities presiding over them, and is supposed to lengthen the
wearer's life. Sometimes these five princely gems are wrapped up in a
paper bearing the names of the respective divinities, to which is added
the name of the moon, and those of the twenty-seven constellations, or
houses of the moon. Such an amulet, suspended at the entrance of a
house, is believed to afford protection to the inmates.17
In the language of the ancient Mexicans blood was called chalchiuhatl, or "water of precious stones," as the quintessence of what were regarded as the most costly things.18
Although such poetic designations are in modern times mere figures of
speech, among primitive peoples they are more significant, and it is
highly probable that with the Aztecs, as with other peoples, the
wearing of precious stones was believed to enrich the blood and thus to
promote health and vigor, for "the blood is the life."
That gems had sex is asserted bv the earliest writers
