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136 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
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mineral and vegetable poisons.48 In Mexico the emerald 46 bore
the name Quetzalitzli, "stone of the quetzal," because its color
resembled the brilliant green of the plumes of the bird called in the
Mexican tongue quetzal. These plumes were worn as insignia of
royalty by the sovereigns of Mexico and Central America, and hence the
emerald was regarded as an essentially regal gem, although its use was
not confined to royalty.
The
tincture of emerald is recommended by the Arab physician Abenzoar as an
internal remedy for the cure of dysentery, the dose prescribed being
six grains. He also claims to have cured one of his patients suffering
from this disease by making him wear an emerald.47 This
illustrates the use of the stone in Moorish Spain in the early part of
the eleventh century, the period of the highest development of Moorish
civilization, for Abenzoar, or Abu Meruân, as he is sometimes called,
was born in Seville about 1091 a.D. and died in 1161 or 1162.
The
curative properties of the hematite were generally recognized by the
early writers, and in this case they were not so much at fault, as this
substance possesses considerable astringent properties. Galen
recommends its use for inflamed eyelids, following in this the
teachings of the Egyptian schools of medicine. If there were tumors on
the eyelids, the hematite was to be dissolved in white of egg, and
if the tumors were very large it was to be boiled with fenugreek
(foenum graecum) ; if, however, there were no tumors, but simply a
general inflammation of the eyelids, a
"Garbe, "Die indische Mineralien"; Naharari's "Kajanighantu," Varga XIII, Leipzig, 1882, p. 76.
"The emerald of Mexico was evidently the jade or the piedra del hijada.
*' Gabriel Colin, " Avenzoar, sa vie et ses œuvres," dissertation for doctorate in Univ. of Paris, 1911, pp. 164, 165.
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