336 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHAEMS
invention and use of the art of printing there could be no wide diffusion of such translations.
The
jacinth is described by Thomas de Oantimpré as being a stone of a
yellow color. "It is very hard and difficult to cleave, or cut; it
can, however, be worked with diamond dust. It is very cold, especially
when held in the mouth." Among many other virtues, it protects from
melancholia and poison, and makes the wearer beloved of God and men. It
also acts as a sort of barometer, since it grows dark and dull in bad
weather and becomes clear and bright in fine weather.33
Cardano says that when the weather was fine the stone became obscure
and dull, but when a tempest was impending, it assumed the ruddy hue of
a burning coal. It also lost its color when in contact with any one
suffering from disease, more especially from the plague.84
As
a result of his study of precious stones, Cardano was induced to affirm
that they had life, but he gravely states that he had never noted that
they possessed sex (a common belief in his day), although "as nature
delights as much in miracle as we do, some may be so constituted that
they are almost distinguished by sex." 35
The
beautiful sapphire has always been a great favorite with lovers of
precious stones and to it has been attributed a chastening, purifying
influence upon the soul. Even Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy,
wherein precious stones are rarely mentioned, takes occasion to write
as follows of the sapphire: "It is the fairest of all precious stones
of sky colour, and a great enemy to black choler, frees the mind, mends
manners." 3e
"Konrad von Megenberg's old German version "Buch der Natur," ed. by Dr. Franz Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861,.p. 448.
u Cardani, " De rerum varietate," lib. ν, Basilea, 1557, p. 100. " Cardani, " Philosoph! opera quaedam," Basilea, 1585, p. 330. - " Anatomy of Melancholy," Bk. II, § 4, i, 4.
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