120 A Book of Precious Stones
superstition
that the fiery stone was unlucky, and this became prevalent everywhere.
The cause of this has been attributed to Walter Scott's novel Anne of Geierstein. A
genuine reason why opal may have come to be regarded as unlucky by its
possessors is its mutability. The changes which may occur in the opal
are not only numerous but freakish and uncanny. Brilliant opals have
lost their fires and lustre forever, while others have lost and
recovered them. In other cases dull specimens have suddenly developed
brilliancy. Mediocre specimens will sometimes, when moistened with oil
or water, exhibit a fine colour play, which will vanish when the
stones dry, and this peculiarity has been utilised for profit by
dishonest dealers. A! stone thus acquired would be unlucky for the
purchaser.
Credit
for the reinstatement of the opal in public favour is believed by the
author to be due in great part to the late Queen Victoria, who, in many
ways, demonstrated her royal favour for the stone of many fires and
colours, and there is no doubt that the Queen's motive was to benefit
her colonial subjects in Australia, where opals had been discovered.
Queen Victoria gave to each of her daughters,
