CATALOGUE OF GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 165 



Ahmed Ben Abdalaziz, in his Treatise on Jewels, says that if a 

 serpent fix his eyes on the luster of emeralds he immediately becomes 

 blind. Thus Moore in "Lalla Rookh" : 



Blinded like serpents when they gaze 

 Upon the emerald's virgin blaze. 



The Shah of Persia has a small casket of gold studded with emeralds, 

 said to have been blessed by Mahomet, which has the property of 

 rendering the royal wearer invisible so long as he remains celibate. 



The San Greal was a chalice made from a single emerald, and which 

 possessed the power of preserving chastity, prolonging life, curing 

 wounds and disease, and other wonderful properties. The Holy 

 Grail was used at the Last Supper, and in it were caught the last drops 

 of the blood of Christ as he was taken from the cross. In the legends 

 and poetry of the Middle Ages are many notices of the Greal — a sub- 

 ject revived by Tennyson. 



The Romans used it to rest, strengthen, and preserve the eyes, a 

 practice which persisted through the Middle Ages, during which pe- 

 riod water in which the stone had stood was used as a specific for 

 ophthalmia. 



Boetius de Boot gives directions for its treatment for use as a drug 

 as follows: 



Pound the emerald in an iron mortar, sift the powder through the muslin, theR co\er 

 it with spiritos urinae; the spirit must be distilled off, leaving the powder of a gray 

 color, but which will communicate that of the emerald to the spirits of wine. 



This taken internally was considered a powerful remedy for many 

 diseases, such as dysentery, epilepsy, venomous bites, fevers, etc. 

 According to Sanskrit medicine — 



The emerald is cool, good in poisoning, sweet, and purgative, helps digestion, cures 

 biliousness, removes disrelish, is nutritious, and wards off spectral influences. (Ta- 

 gore, Treatise on Gems.) 



The Hindu authorities held that the perfect emerald was an in- 

 fallible remedy for all cases of poisoning; cleansed men from sin, 

 brought about success in war, and rendered successful the rites per- 

 formed according to the Atharva-Veda. The defective emerald led 

 to sickness, injury, loss of male children, and rendered one liable 

 to bites. (Mani-Mala.) 



The Persian and Arabian sages taught that, whether worn or taken 

 as a medicine, the emerald — 



bestows contentment of mind; quickens the pulse; gives nourishment to the soul, 

 heart, brains, and stomach; cures epilepsy; removes all bodily pain; stops the vomit- 

 ing and purging of blood; is an antidote to poison; allays unnatural thirst; and is a 

 panacea for jaundice, liver troubles, stricture, gravel, and leprosy. 



If administered in doses weighing 8 wheat corns to a patient suffering from poison, 

 it neutralizes its action, provided it be taken soon enough. To prevent vomiting of 

 blood, the dose of the emerald should be the weight of 4 barleycorns. The powder, 



