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256 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES
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worn by women. The four gods of the lapidaries were looked upon as the
discoverers and teachers of the art of cutting precious stones and of
piercing and polishing them, as well as of the making of labrets and
ear-flaps of obsidian, rock-crystal, or amber. They also were the
inventors of necklaces and bracelets.48
The
stones worn by Chinese mandarins as a designation of their rank were
undoubtedly determined originally by religious or ceremonial
considerations. They are as follows ; it will be noticed that red
stones are given the preference :
Red or pink tourmaline, ruby (and rubellite)........1st rank.
Coral or an inferior red stone (garnet) ............2d rank.
Blue stone (beryl or lapis-lazuli)..................3d rank.
Rock-crystal ...................................4th rank.
Other white stones..............................5th rank.
The
knowledge of classical mythology was so slight among the ecclesiastics
of the Middle Ages that some very queer attributions of the subjects
engraved on Greek and Roman gems were made during this period. A
reliquary containing a tooth of the Apostle Peter, preserved in the
Cathedral of Troyes, was set with antique gems which had been plundered
by French and Venetian crusaders from the treasure-house of the Greek
Emperor in Constantinople, when that city was sacked in 1204 during the
Fourth Crusade. Among these gems was one representing Leda and the
Swan—certainly a curious subject for the adornment of a Christian
reliquary. Another Greek or Roman gem, long preserved in a church, was
furnished by its Christian owners with an inscription
" Sahagun, " Historia general de las eosas de Nueva Espafia," Mexico, 1829, vol. ii, pp. 389-391, lib. ix, cap. xvii.
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