OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 165
Strange
tales were told of a luminous "carbuncle" on the shrine of St.
Elizabeth (d. 1231) at Marburg. This stone was set above the statuette
of the Virgin, and it was said to emit fiery rays at night. However,
Creuzer informs us that it was only a very brilliant rock crystal of a
yellowish-white hue. The shrine was an elaborate work of art in silver
gilt, and was literally covered with precious stones to the number of
824, besides two large pearls and a great many smaller ones. All these
gems were stripped from their settings when the shrine was taken from
Marburg to Cassel in 1810.37
At
the Dusseldorf Exhibition of 1891, the writer saw what was called "The
Ring of St. Elizabeth," purporting to be set with her miraculously
luminous ruby. The stone in the setting proved, however, to be a large
almost flat carbuncle garnet of no great brilliancy, set in a narrow
rim of gold.
After
noting the reports of medieval travellers regarding the wonderful
luminous rubies of the sovereigns of Pegu and repeating the tale that
the night was illumined by their splendor, Cleandro Arnobio adds that
it did not appear that any such rubies were to be found in his day.
Nevertheless, he had heard from an ecclesiastic of a certain jewel that
showed brightly at night. This stone, however, was not a ruby, but was
of a pale citron hue, and hence Arnobio inclines to believe that it was
either a topaz or a yellow diamond.38 This probably refers to the Marburg "carbuncle."
The luminous "ruby" of the King of Ceylon is noted by Chau Ju-Kua,39 a Chinese writer of about the middle
" Creuzer, " Antik geschnittene Steine vom Grabmahl der heil-igen Elizabeth," Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1S34, pp. 25, 26.
38 Arnobio, "II tesoro delle gioie," Venice, 1602, p. 34.
"See the English translation of this "Chu-fan-eh'i," by Friedrich Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, St. Petersburg, 1911, p. 72.
