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372 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
speculators,
and indeed all who hope for a favorable turn of Fortune's wheel, should
look with favor on this stone. As medicinal gems', the ruby and the
moon-stone are especially recommended; the former for chronic
headaches and the latter for the manifold forms of nervousness. Lastly,
the diamond, if worn on the left side, wards off evil influences and
attracts good fortune. The unjustly maligned opal is asserted to be
robbed of all power to harm if it be associated with diamonds and
rubies.
Many
of the members of the French nobility are the owners and wearers of
talismanic ornaments of one kind or another. A powerful combination of
such ' ' life-preservers ' ' is credited to the Duc de Guiche. On his
right hand he wears three curiously chased rings, one on the first
finger, the second on the middle finger, and the third on the
"ring-finger." One of the rings is set with a sardonyx engraved with
the figure of an eagle, the second ring bears a topaz on which has been
graven a falcon, and the third ring shows a beautiful coral bearing
the design of a man holding a drawn sword in his right hand. Both the
stones and the special designs engraved on each one are in accord with
the oldest traditional lore in regard to talismans, and the stones
themselves are those indicated by the date of the duke's birth and by
his baptismal name. While such an array of finger-rings would hardly
appeal to the taste of an American man, the fashion of wearing an
appropriate series of rings has met with considerable favor among our
American mondaines, and certainly has the merit of lending an
individual signifi. canee to the rings selected for wear.43
The
magnificent star-sapphire set in the hilt of the richly chased and
ornamented sword given by the Greeks of America to King Constantine of
Greece, on Easter Day, 1913, just before the recipient succeeded to the
royal dignity,
* St. Louis Democrat, 1905.
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