and well known, chiefly in two places-in Cyprus in the copper-mines, and in the island that lies over against Calcedon. In the latter spot they find the more peculiar specimens-for this species of gem is mined after, like other metals—and rods are made of it in Cyprus, quite by itself, and that too in great numbers. But few are met with of sufficient size for a signet-stone, since most of them are too small, for which reason they use it for the soldering of gold, for it solders quite as well as the Chrysocolla; and some even suspect both to be of the same nature, as they are certainly both exactly alike in colour. Chrysocolla, however, is abundantly found both in gold-mines and still more so in copper-mines, as in those of Stoba. But the Emerald, on the contrary, is rare, as we have observed, and it appears to be produced from the Jasper; for it is said that once there was found in Cyprus a stone of which the one half was Emerald, the other half Jasper-as being not yet completely transformed by the action of the fluid. There is a peculiar mode of working up this gem so as to give it lustre, for in its native state it has no brilliancy." Olympic victor: Etruscan. Emerald. Probably these are the cylindri pendants so often seen in antique of the Romans, the long and slender works. "An Indian beryl erst, great Tryphon's skill The Beryl is of little value at the present day, both in consequence of its extreme softness and of the abundance in which it is now produced in many parts of the world, and that, too, often in masses of enormous magnitude, whose size reminds one of the monstrous Smaragdi spoken of by Theophrastus and Apion. In the British Museum are two Beryls from Acworth, New Hampshire, one of the weight of 48 lbs., the other of 83 lbs. This stone is of the same chemical constitution as the Emerald, the basis of both being glucine in almost the same proportion, but it is much softer, and yields to the file. 3 Addæus was an Alexandrian epigram, therefore, fixes the date of poet under the first Ptolemies. This the engraver Tryphon. I have met with but few indubitably antique intagli in this stone, although it was subsequently a favourite material with the artists of the Renaissance and later times. Antique engravings on Beryl are almost as rare as on the Emerald :, but those on the former stone, as far as my experience goes, all belong to an earlier period, being usually fine works of the Greek school, whilst I have never met with intagli on Emerald which were not clearly of Roman work. Besides the Taras on the Dolphin, already mentioned, one of the most exquisite relics of Magna Grecian art in existence, a Cupid similarly mounted, also on a fine Beryl, is one of the chief ornaments of the Cracherode Collection in the British Museum. This stone was of the same degree of rarity amongst the ancients as the Smaragdus itself, for it was then obtained from India alone. It is the vast supply from Germany and America that has so sunk the value of this gem in modern times. It possesses very great lustre, and the lighter variety is often used in jewellery, under the name of Rhine Diamond and persons have often flattered themselves with being the owners of a true Diamond of enormous value, which, on examination by a skilful lapidary, has proved to be merely one of these comparatively worthless stones. : This was the only gem facetted by the Romans, who cut it into a sexangular pyramid, as otherwise it had no lustre. Beryls were highly prized at Rome, both for the purpose of ear-drops, and of ornamental, i. e. not engraved, ring-stones. When Cynthia's shade appears to Propertius he remarks that "Et solitam digito beryllon adederat ignis." The finest amon st these few is the Taras riding on a dolphin, of the Merteus-Schaathausen Collection, a Greek work of the highest merit. In the same collection are a few more intagli on Beryl of fair Roman work. The funeral pile had with its fire defaced The sparkling beryl which her finger graced." A line affording a proof, if any were wanted, that the favourite rings of the deceased were burnt together with the corpse; a fact which fully accounts for the number of fine intagli, partly or wholly calcined, which every collector meets with not unfrequently, and often with the greatest regret at the destruction of some matchless specimen of the skill of the engraver. The Indians had the art of tinging crystal so as to pass it off for the Beryl.5 They also cut this stone into long cylindrical beads, and wore them strung on elephants' hair, believing that their lustre was heightened by the perforation. But the most perfect in colour were not bored, but used for wear by having each end secured by a gold boss. It is a curious fact that Beryllus is the low Latin term for a magnifying glass; hence the German "Brille," spectacles. Nicolas de Cusa, Bishop of Brixen (who died 1454), gave the name of Beryllus to one of his works, "because by its aid the mind would be able to penetrate into matters which otherwise it would be unable to penetrate." And in his second chapter he says, "The Beryl is a shining, colourless, transparent stone, to which a concave as well as a convex form is given by art; and, looking through it, one sees what was previously invisible." Probably the first idea of this invention was got by accidentally looking through a double convex and clear Beryl (or one cut en cabochon, a very usual 5 At present the Indians paint the back of every coloured gem they set to improve the colour, for which reason they never set them transparent. From this deceitful practice of giving a false beauty to the stones, those set in Indian orna ments are, when taken out, rarely found to be of much value, as all of high intrinsic value are sold to the European market, the inferior samples, when painted, being considered good enough for the native jewellery. form of ancient transparent stones), and thence concluding that a clear piece of glass of the same shape would produce the same effect. Thus the observer by induction was led to apply a similar fact to that of Nero's use of his Emerald lorgnette to the working-out of a most important result; through the happy thought that the marvellous effect was due not to the material, but to the shape of the stone. 66 AMETHYST. Α' λίθος ἔςτ' ἀμέθυστος, ἐγὼ δ ̓ ὁ πότας Διόνυσος Anth. ix. 748. On wineless gem I toper Bacchus reign; The common Amethyst is only crystal coloured purple by manganese and iron. and iron. The deeper the tint, the less brilliant is the stone; for which reason the ancient engravers preferred the light-coloured variety, which of all gems, next to the Jacinth, possesses the greatest lustre. This pale kind was supposed by Lessing and many others to be the Hyacinthus of Pliny, which, according to him, differs from the Amethyst, "inasmuch as the violet splendour of the Amethyst is diluted in this gem, and, so far from filling the eye, does not even |
