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48 The Burning and Colouring of Precious Stones.
THE DYEING OF PRECIOUS STONES.
The
possibility of giving artificial colours to Precious Stones was not
unknown to the Romans. Pliny relates that recipes ware offered for sale
which professed to turn Rock-Crystals into Emeralds and other
transparent gems ; that in India many Precious Stones were produced by
dyeing Rock-Crystal, and that the Ethiopians deposited the pale
Carbuncle in vinegar for fourteen days, when it was alleged that it
would shine brilliantly for a similar number of months.
Respecting
the artificial colouring of certain Agates, Pliny says that in his day
more of these stones were probably coloured artificially than naturally
: and that in Arabia the Agate-nodules, if cooked seven days and seven
nights in honey, will, when prepared by the artist, present veins,
stripes and spots, which increase their effectiveness as ornaments
This
notion of honey purifying the Agate seems to be the foundation of the
following beautiful idea : " All kinds of Precious Stones, cast into
honey, become more brilliant thereby, each one according to its colour,
and all persons become more acceptable in their vocation, when they
join devotion with it : household cares are thereby rendered tranquil,
the love of husband and wife more sincere, the service of the prince
more faithful, and all kinds of business more easy and pleasant."—Extract from the Introduction to " The Devout Life" by S. Francis de Sales. Chap. III., par. 13. 1708.
In
Oberstein and Idar—two neighbouring localities near Kreuznach, on the
river Nahe, famous for many centuries for the industry of working in
Agate—the artists have been eminently successful in colouring not only
the surface but the inner depths of a great variety of siliceous
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