porarily
to serve a particular purpose, we may note the cigarette ring, provided
with a straight sliding rod the end of which clasps the middle of a
cigarette, so that when a whiff has been taken, the hand may be freely
used without laying aside or dropping the cigarette. Another smokers'
ring is one provided with a projection for stopping a pipe, rendering
it possible for the ardent pipe-smoker to keep his pipe-bowl well
filled and well packed without soiling the tips of his fingers. These
pipe-stopping rings are sometimes of rich materials, in one instance
the stopper was of a beautiful white zircon, finely contrasting with
the rich yellow gold of the ring proper. Rings of this kind were very
much in vogue in the eighteenth century, and one appears on the hand of
a gentleman in one of Hogarth's engravings.
The
name " swivel ring " is applied when the head of the ring is loose, and
is loosely secured by a bar to the band or circlet, so that the ring
will swing around. This type is frequently used in scarab rings, or
where there is a double intaglio, a double miniature, or other double
object, or where the ring is what is known as a concealed seal ring,
the outside part being a gold ornament or a stone.
One
of the " surprise rings " in which a hinged outer section of the hoop
can be made to detach itself, on a spring being pressed, so that a
concealed surface appears, shows on its hidden surface a number of
magical signs and the names of the angels or spirits Ashmodel, Nachiel,
Zamiel, and others. Wearing a ring of this kind, the adept could reveal
his belief in the magic arts to others of his sect or fraternity, thus
bearing about with him a secret passport admitting him to their
confidence.38
88 Frederick William Fairholt, "Rambles of an Artist," London, 1880, p. 141, fig. 171.
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