344 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
sympathy
with the present or prospective fortune and health of the person
wearing it, and as a loss of color is considered portentous of coming
evil, such stones are gotten rid of as soon as possible to be replaced
by those of a brighter hue. The dealers who buy up for a trifling sum
these discolored turquoises often treat them with a dose of blue
dyestuff which superficially restores the color, and it is stated that
many of the soldiers of the British expeditionary force to Tibet in
1904 were at first deceived into buying these vamped-up stones, but
they soon discovered the deception and were more careful later on.
Turquoises are also believed to guard against the Evil Eye, and a
quasi-sacred character is lent to some especially fine specimens by
setting them in the foreheads of statues of the Buddha or other
religious images.47
The
women of Tibet are said to prize most highly as amulets pieces of cloth
adorned with turquoise or coral, which they have acquired from the
Lamas, who by the imposition of their priestly blessing have endowed
these objects with a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of the Tibetan
devotees. Another amulet favored in this far-off land is a small metal
box of gold, silver, or copper, and encrusted with turquoise. Within
are enclosed little scrolls inscribed with mystic characters to
conjure evil spirits and thwart their malevolent schemes for the
tribulation of mankind.
An
ingenious, if rather far-fetched explanation of the supposed power of
coral to avert lightning and hail is given by Fortunio Liceti. In his
opinion, coral, being of a warm quality, overcomes the coldness of the
atmosphere, which produces lightning by the attraction of contraries,
and hail by its own quality. This is a specimen of the attempts to find
a plausible physiological reason for the powers of gems, the
"Ibid-, pp. 348, 349.
