Their use in Egypt dates back to an 

 unrecorded past and they frequently ap- 

 pear in the ornaments found upon mum- 

 mies. Readers of Roman history will re- 

 member that the Emperor Nero used an 

 emerald constantly as an eye glass. 



The Incas, Aztecs and other highly civ- 

 iilized peoples of South America were 

 found using these gems profusely for 

 purposes of adornment and for votive of- 

 ferings when first visited by the Span- 

 iards. It was partly the desire to secure 

 these gems which led Cortez and his fol- 

 lowers, early in the sixteenth century, to 

 undertake the conquest of Peru. Some 

 of the emeralds wrested from the Incas 

 by Cortez and brought to Spain are said 

 to have been marvels of the lapidary's 

 art. - One was carved into the form of a 

 rose, another that of a fish with golden 

 eyes, and another that of a bell with a 

 pearl for a clapper. 



During the years following Cortez' con- 

 quest large quantities of emeralds were 

 brought to Europe, and they became 

 much more popular and widely distribut- 

 ed than previously. Joseph D'Acosta, a 

 traveler of the period, says the ship in 

 which he returned from America to Spain 

 carried two chests, each of which con- 

 tained one hundred pounds' weight of 

 fine emeralds. 



From what locality the Peruvians 

 themselves obtained these gems is not 

 known, unless it was the Colombian lo- 

 cality at Muso, already described. The 

 Spaniards were led to these mines in 

 1558. They continued the working of 

 them, and there has been practically no 

 interruption in their operation since that 

 time. 



The ancients had many superstitions 

 regarding the emerald, one being that it 

 had a power to cure diseases of the eye. 

 Another was that it would reveal the in- 

 constancy of lovers by changing color. 



"It is a gem that hath the power to show 

 If plighted lovers keep their troth or no. 



If faithful, it is like the leaves of Spring ; 

 If faithless, like those leaves when with- 

 ering." 



So writes one poet. 



Again, they believed the emerald would 

 blind the eyes of the serpent : 



"Blinded like serpents when they gaze 

 Upon the emerald's virgin blaze." 



— Moore. 



Of these traditions, perhaps the only 

 one held in any esteem at the present 

 time is that which associates the emerald 

 with the month of June, making it the 

 talismanic gem or "birth stone" of per- 

 sons born in that month. 



The largest and most beautiful emer- 

 ald known to be in existence at the pres- 

 ent time is one owned by the Duke of 

 Devonshire. This is an uncut six-sided 

 crystal about two inches long and of the 

 same diameter. It is of perfect color, al- 

 most flawless and quite transparent. 



Like all other gems, the value of emer- 

 alds varies much according to their per- 

 fection. Those of the best grade are 

 worth at least one hundred dollars a carat. 

 The color should be a dark velvety green, 

 those of lighter shades being much less 

 valuable. Owing to the extreme brittle- 

 ness of the mineral, emeralds usually con- 

 tain flaws, so that "an emerald without a 

 flaw" has passed into a proverb to indi- 

 cate a thing almost unattainable. 



Aquamarine and other varieties of 

 Beryl seem not to have been as highly 

 esteemed as emerald by the ancients, al- 

 though Beryl is mentioned in the Bible, 

 and early writers describe gems evidently 

 belonging to the species. They were 

 probably less well known to the ancients, 

 as nearly all the localities from which 

 aquamarines and Beryls are now obtained 

 are of comparatively modern discovery. 

 They are gems in every way as worthy 

 as the emerald, however, and will doubt- 

 less become more popular as their quali- 

 ties are better known. 



Oliver Cummings Farrington. 



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