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The Ruby.
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that of other red stones, it is yet believed that the Anthrax of the Greek Philosopher Theophrastus must have been the mineral which we recognise as Ruby ; whilst the Carbunculus of
Pliny probably included this and other stones of a somewhat similar
character. The Anthrax was so called in allusion to its vivid colour,
suggestive of that of a live coal, and the word Carbunculus likewise
referred to its fiery appearance. Of the various kinds of Carbunculus
known to the Ancients, the most valuable was that termed Lychnis, in
consequence of its lustre resembling that of a lamp. It is curious to
note that many old writers seem to have believed in the self-luminosity
of the Ruby and other red stones. Thus, the quaint old writer Sir John
Maundeville, describing his travels in the East in the fourteenth
century, says with regard to the many marvels of the Court of the Great
Chan of Cathay, " This Emperor hath in his chamber, in one of the
pillars of gold, a Ruby and a Carbuncle of half-a-foot long, which in
the night gives so much light and shining, that it is as light as day."
This statement however may be laid to rest with the numerous other
travellers' stories to be found in the pages of the credulous old
knight.
Before
Mineralogy became a science, and could call to its aid the services of
Chemistry and Physics, it was by no means surprising that various
stones of red colour should be confounded together ; thus the Spinel or
Balas, and the Garnet were often mistaken for thé true Ruby. The only
stone, however, to which the term Ruby in scientific strictness can be
applied is a variety of the mineral-species termed Corundum.
The name Corundum is derived from the Hindu word Kurandy and it is most probable that it first became known in Europe from the stone having ' been imported from
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