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STONES OP HEALING 159
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moment,
or else a more powerful enchanter guided the fortunes of the enemy,
for the latter prevailed and the owner of the potent topaz was left
dying upon the field of battle. Alongside him was a poor wounded
soldier who was clamoring for a drop of water to quench his burning
thirst. Hearkening to this prayer, the dying necromancer threw his
topaz to the soldier, telling him to place it upon his heart. No sooner
did he do so than his thirst passed away, and we must suppose that his
wounds were also healed, for we are told that on the morrow he sought
everywhere on the battle-field for the corpse of his benefactor but
could find no trace of it.
Tavernier,
the great French Seventeenth Century jeweler-traveler, the first
European to visit the ruby mines, took with him a number of emeralds,
generally large. These were often cut from the top of the crystal,
usually darker in color, and simply domed off, preserving the original
hexagonal shape. Remarkable specimens are in the Indian Museum and the
South Kensington Museum, part of the jewels of Thebaud, King of Burma.
The finest emeralds of this type belonged to the late Sultan of Turkey;
one of the finest, a remarkable gem, cut rounded en cabochon, was with
the Bijoux du Sultan, S. M. Abd-Ul-Hamid II, sold at the Galerie
Georges Petit, November 28, 1914. It weighed 44 3/16 carats (old
system) or 45.29 carats (metric system). (See color plate.)
A
remarkable charm is a hemispherical, transparent aquamarine, with
figure of hump bull, found in ancient Babylonia. (See color plate.)
A
quaint, ancient amulet is carved out of fine knuckle bone, an eagle
with spread wings engraved on one side; portrait of a Parthian King.
(See color plate.)
A
Babylonian idol's eye, of sardonyx, was pierced and worn as charm
against the Evil Eye; later engraved with portrait of a Parthian King.
(See color plate.)
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