58 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
story,
who easily persuaded the dealer that the markings could just as well
signify the initials of some other name. Sendal adduces this as a proof
that the letters read on such pieces of amber were as much the product
of the observer's imagination as of the markings on the material.14
Those who secured amber so mysteriously marked by Nature's hand
probably felt that they had obtained a talisman of great power,
especially destined for their use.
While
the special and traditional virtue of the amethyst was the cure of
drunkenness, many other qualities were attributed to this stone in the
fifteenth century. For Leonardo,15 it had the power to
control evil thoughts, to quicken the intelligence, and to render men
shrewd in business matters. An amethyst worn on the person had a
sobering effect, not only upon those who had partaken too freely of the
cup that intoxicates, but also upon those over-excited by the
love-passion. Lastly, it preserved soldiers from harm and gave them
victory over their enemies, and was of great assistance to hunters in
the capture of wild animals. The amethyst shared with many other stones
the power to preserve the wearer from contagion.16
A
pretty legend in regard to the amethyst has been happily treated in
French verse. The god Bacchus, offended at some neglect that he had
suffered, was determined to avenge himself, and declared that the
first person he should meet, when he and his train passed along,
should be devoured by his tigers. Fate willed it that this
" Sendelii, " Eleetrologite," Elbingae, 1725, Pt. I, p. 12, note. 15 Camilli Leonardi, " Speculum lapidum," Venetia, 1502, fol. 22. MJohannis de Cuba, " Hortus Sanitatis," [Strassburg, 1483] tractatus de lapibus, cap. vii.
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