"The Magic of Jewels and Charms" 



A BOOK THAT OPENS VISTAS OF ETHNOLOGICAL AND 

 ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCH 



Bv HERBERT J. SPIXDEN 



IN his newly piil)lishe(l book/ Dr. 

 George E. Kunz combines his au- 

 thoritative statements on precious 

 stones as such, with a wealth of liter- 

 ary, ethnological and antiquarian detail. 

 While charming the casual reader with 

 an easy style and an ever-changing sub- 

 ject matter, he presents his scientific 

 facts in a fashion that is fundamentally 

 methodical. Moreover, he gives so many 

 definite references to scientific papers 

 and first descriptions that he appears to 

 open the gates of research rather than to 

 close them. There is often something 

 dismally definitive about a book written 

 by a recognized authorit\-, in that the 

 evidence upon which the conclusions are 

 based may be stated so broadly that 

 it cannot be tested or contested. The 

 dictum of unbending authority is like the 

 word of the Prime Minister, which may 

 not be answered even when it fails to 

 convince. 



Jewels are precious because we make 

 them so and not because they minister 

 to our animal needs. But outside of the 

 absolute aesthetic interest in color, clarity 

 and fine craftsmanship, and the com- 

 mercial interest of rarity, there still 

 remains in our days a romantic and 

 superstitions interest, coming down from 

 times when jewels and charms were 

 believed to have use as well as beauty. 

 Among all primitive and most civilized 

 peoples many stones are regarded with 

 superstitious reverence for their magical 

 properties. 



1 The Magic of Jewels and Charms. By George 

 Frederick Kunz. Svo., pp. xv + 422, and 90 illustra- 

 tions in color, doubletone and line J. B. Lippincott 

 ■Company, Philadelphia. 



Magic .stones are not gems alone, but 

 under this name are included such 

 fabulous wonders as the statue of Mem- 

 non at Thebes, which greeted the dawn 

 with ^•ocal and musical notes. Accord- 

 ing to early belief, the sarcophagus was 

 a stone cyst that consumed the body of 

 the dead person placed within it, or per- 

 haps caused this body to turn to stone. 

 Many stones were regarded as ha\ing 

 special curati\e properties, usually in 

 accordance with the primitive doctrine 

 that like cures like, studied by anthro- 

 pologists under the broader manifesta- 

 tions of "sympathetic magic." Thus 

 galactite (nitrate of lime) was connected 

 with the idea of mother's milk liecause 

 a solution of it greatly resembles milk. 

 In many cases, however, the magical 

 character does not seem to depend upon 

 a quality of similarity so much as upon 

 a quality of test and apparent success. 

 Many fetishes, or luck stones, belong in 

 this category. Often these are peculiar 

 pebbles found under the guidance of a 

 dream and kept by the finder as a syml)ol 

 of his luck. Sometimes these fetishes 

 suggest some animal or object, and then 

 take o\er the proper character or special 

 favor of the animal or object suggested. 

 The philosophical corollaries of the 

 fetish or charm-stone idea are often very 

 interesting. It seems almost impossible 

 to separate stones that have curative 

 properties from those that have broader 

 talismanic virtues. 



When the more strictly religious use 

 of various stones is taken up in the book, 

 we are led through the mazes of pagan 

 and Christian ceremonies; we have ac- 



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