144 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
enchantment,
and its peculiarities depended entirely upon its mysterious character,
which might equally well have been attributed to a diamond, a ruby, or
a sapphire. The life of the stone was bound up with the life of
Hermione; it sparkled when she was gay, it shot out red gleams when she
was angry; and when a few drops of holy water were sprinkled over it,
they quenched its radiance. Hermione fell into a swoon, was carried to
her chamber, and the next day nothing but a small heap of ashes
remained on the bed whereon she had been laid. The spell was broken and
the enchantment dissolved. All that can have determined the selection
of the opal rather than any other precious stone is the fact of its
wonderful play of color and its sensitiveness to moisture. Hence we are
perfectly justified in returning to the older belief of the manifold
virtues of the opal, only remembering that this gem is a little more
fragile than many others and should be more carefully handled and
guarded.
The
opal, October's gem recalls in its wonderful and varied play of color
the glories of a.bright^October day in the country, when earth and sky
vie with each other in brilliancy and the eye is fairly dazzled with
the bewildering variety of color.
It
rarely happens that Pliny gives any information as to particular
jewels, almost all his notices of precious stones being confined to
descriptions of their form and color, and data regarding what was
popularly believed as to their talismanic or therapeutic power. In the
case of the opalus, however, he writes as follows: "There
exists to-day a gem of this kind, on account of which the senator
Nonius was proscribed by Antony. Seeking safety in flight, he took with
him of all his possessions this ring alone, which it is certain, was
valued at
