THE LOST ARTS. 65 



distinguished from precious stones. He mentions 

 artificial hyacinths, sapphires, and emeralds, and a 

 kind of black glass, which closely resembled the 

 obsidian stone. It is certain that great excellence 

 was reached in this department, as in one of the 

 collections of antiquities at Rome imitations of 

 chrysolite and emerald are shown, which are very 

 perfect. They have not the smallest blemish, 

 either externally or internally, and the colors are 

 faultless. In coloring glass the ancients must have 

 been acquainted with the metallic oxides, as they 

 offer the only pigments capable of withstanding the 

 intense heat required in glass fusions. They col- 

 ored glass so perfectly, and imitated gems so suc- 

 cessfully, that the hucksters .and cheats of those 

 times were able to deceive even the wives of the 

 emperors. For Trebellius Pollio informs us of the 

 whimsical way in which Galh'enus punished an ad- 

 venturous wretch who sold his wife a piece of glass 

 for a jewel. Granted that they manufactured some 

 excellent or even remarkable specimens of glass ; 

 that they gave tints most exquisite ; that they made 

 costly vessels, or drinking-cups, tables, vases, or 

 even panelled rooms with it, what did they more 

 than we ? Do we not make gems so perfect as to 

 deceive those most experienced ? Are not two 

 thirds of the brilliants that refract light so beauti- 

 fully in the bracelets and rings worn "by modern 

 5 



