262 PRECIOUS STONES. 



sleep. This quality was attributed to it by Albertus Magnus. "Without 

 precisely rejecting this notion, Cardan confesses that he carries ordinarily 

 a very large hyacinth, and that it has never appeared to contribute any- 

 thing toward making him sleep ; but he adds immediately, and with perfect 

 naivete, that his hyacinth has not the true color, and may possibly be far 

 from good. It was also believed that the hyacinth increased riches, aug- 

 mented power, fortified the heart and brought joy to the soul. He describes 

 the turquoise which, mounted in a ring, secures the horseman from all in- 

 jury if he falls from his horse; and adds: 'I have a beautiful turquoise 

 which was given me for a keejDsake, but it has never occurred to me to test 

 its virtues, as I do not care, for sake of the experiment, to fall from my 

 horse.' Babinet says : ' For all maladies of a nervous or moral nature, 

 where imagination might exert a great influence, precious stones were cer- 

 tainly a sovereign remedy. In saying to such an invalid that an emerald 

 placed under his pillow would drive away melancholy, dispel nightmare, 

 calm the palpitations of the heart, induce agreeable thoughts, bring success 

 to enterprises, and dissipate the anxieties of the soul, a cure was certain to 

 be effected simply by the faith which the invalid had in the efficacy of the 

 remedy. The hope of cure in such affections is the cure itself, and in all 

 the numerous cases where the mind has had an influence upon the bodily 

 system, the imaginary cause must produce a very real effect. Finally, that 

 eternal deception of the human spirit, which registers all the cures, but 

 does not take into account the cases where the curative means have failed 

 of their end, contributed to maintain a belief in the occult virtues of 

 precious stones. It is not half a century ago since sufferers would borrow 

 from rich families gems mounted in rings, to apply to the affected parts. When 

 the trinket was introduced into the mouth as a cure for toothache, sore 

 throat or ear ache, the precaution was taken to secure it by a strong string, 

 lest it should be swallowed by the patient." 



The earliest diamond mines were those of G-olconda, in India. For 

 many years they furnished employment for thousands of people, and though 

 now they are exhausted, their products glitter in every coronet in the 

 world. In modern times the mines of Brazil have furnished annually $4,- 

 000,000 or $5,000,000 worth to the world, and constituted the principal 

 source of supply till eight years ago, when diamonds were discovered in 

 abundance in South Africa. 



"The South African diamonds are found over many hundred square 

 miles of territory. The jirinciiDal diggings are situated in the valley of 

 the Vaal river, to the northeast of the Orange Eiver Free State, and within 

 the boundary of the Cape Colony as now defined. The country here rises 

 into long stony ridges, consisting of irregular fragments of hard rock im- 

 bedded in ferruginous gravel, which varies in character and compactness, 

 being sometimes quite loose, and sometimes forming a compact lime-ce- 

 mented mass. It is in this gravel that the diamonds are found. They 

 occur at various depths down to twenty feet or more, but the usual depth 



