INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



is still sufficient to deprive that gem of a popularity 

 that is warranted by its beauty and pleasing qualities. 



A few years ago a financier who had suffered great 

 business reverses, as well as deaths in his family, 

 brought his "opal" ring to a jeweler and offered to 

 sell it, having become convinced that wearing the 

 ring with its unlucky stone was the cause of his mis- 

 fortunes. The jeweler, after examining the ring, 

 smilingly informed the stricken financier that the stone 

 was not an opal, but a star-stone and not supposed 

 to be unlucky at all. 



Fully to understand how deeply rooted an inheritance 

 is any superstition about gems, it must be remembered 

 that for ages and ages, from the most remote periods 

 in history until well into the middle of the present era, 

 gems were valued quite as much for their occult powers 

 as for their beauty. The amethyst, as we have seen, 

 was believed to be a lucky talisman. The chrysolite 

 and the topaz possessed the power of "cooling boil- 

 ing water, and quieting angry passions." If placed in 

 a vessel containing poison the gem lost its luster, but its 

 brilliancy was unimpaired if no poison were present. 

 It may be surmised that chrysolite and topaz were 

 favorite gems with certain unpopular persons in olden 

 times. 



But after all it was unnecessary to take the trouble 

 to test suspected concoctions with a topaz if one were 

 wearing a ruby or a diamond, as these gems protected 

 the wearer against all poisons. Yet the diamond it- 

 self was thought to be a deadly poison. Benvenuto 

 Cellini tells in all seriousness of an attempt to poison 



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