BIRTH-STONES	323
	ences promised by the old authorities. Thus, there is absolutely no excuse for playing fast and loose with an ancient, popular, and quasi-religious belief in the special virtue of one particular stone for each month, and that one the gem long prescribed by usage. As it might seem appropriate that one born in the United States should wear a gem from among those which our country furnishes, the following list was some time since prepared by the writer, not in any sense as a substitute for the real birth-stones, but as possible acces­sory gems (when they were not identical), gems which might be worn from a spirit of patriotism. Of course where the stone in question is really that traditionally recommended, the fact that it is at the same time an American gem-stone is an added argument in its favor.
	The year is divided into four seasons or cycles,— spring, summer, fall, and winter,—and each season has its particular gem. The emerald is the gem of the spring, the ruby the gem of summer, the sapphire the gem of autumn, and the diamond the gem of winter.