148 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
Evidently this imperial gem was regarded as sui generis, for Albertus has just described the ophthalmus lapis, a
name frequently bestowed upon the opal in medieval times, reciting the
virtues usually ascribed to the opal for the cure of diseases of the
eye, and the magic power of the stone to render its wearer invisible,
wherefore it was denominated pair onus furum, or "patron of thieves."
In
the Middle Ages the opal mines of Cernowitz, in Hungary, were very
actively exploited, and at the opening of the fifteenth century more
than three hundred men are said to have been employed here in the
search for opals. At that time, and for many centuries after, no breath
of suspicion ever tarnished the fame of the opal as not only a thing of
rare beauty, but also a talisman of the first rank. We are told that
blond maidens valued nothing more highly than necklaces of opals, for
while they wore these ornaments their hair was sure to guard its
beautiful color. The latter superstitions probably arose from the
frangibility of the stone and its occasional loss of fire.
From
the earliest times the baleful influence of the Evil Eye has struck
terror into the souls of the ignorant and superstitious. It is believed
by some that the name "opal"—written "ophal" in the time of Queen
Elizabeth—was derived from ophthalmos, the eye, or ophthal-mius, pertaining
to the eye, and that hence the foolish superstition regarding the ill
luck of the opal had some connection with the belief in the Evil Eye.
However, this is altogether incorrect, since the stone called ophthal-mius by
early writers, and which seems to have been the opalus of the ancients
and our opal, was believed to have a wonderfully beneficial effect upon
the sight, and if it
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