126 EMERALD, 



account they were in the habit of wearing 

 it about their persons engraved as a seal, 

 that they might have it to look at. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether the eyes of the 

 ancients derived an}' other benefit from its 

 use in this way beyond the pleasure they 

 experienced in beholding such a beautiful 

 object, and the assurance the}' conveyed of 

 the possession of an ornament of such rarity 

 and value as we are told the Emerald Avas 

 in those days. 



It was, also, said to possess the peculiar 

 property of causing water to appear of its 

 own colour. "A stone of a middling size will 

 do this to a small quantity only of the water 

 into which it is put, a large one to the 

 whole; but a bad one to no more than a 

 little of it, which lies just about it." (Theo- 

 phrastus.) 



Reduced to powder, and taken internally, 

 in a dose of fron^ 4 to 10 grains, it Avas ac- 

 counted a certain antidote for poisons, and 

 the bites of venomous animals, as well as a 

 remedy for fluxes, the plague, infectious 

 fevers, haemorrhages, and dysentery. 



Worn externally, as an amulet, it was 

 also regarded by the ancients as a cure for 

 epilepsy, to possess the power of assuaging 

 terror, and driving away evil spirits ; and 

 when tied to the belly or thigh of pregnant 

 women, of delaying or hastening delivery ; 

 they also thought it an infallible preserva- 

 tive of chastity, to the violation of which it 

 possessed such an innate antipathy as to fly 

 to pieces if worn in a ring on the finger of 

 any person transgressing. 



Whether the Emerald has lost its virtues, 

 or more powerful remedies have superseded 

 it, at all events, amongst the more civilised 

 nations of the world, it has long since ceased 

 to be used as a luedicine. By the more im- 

 aginative people of the East, it is still be- 

 lieved to be endowed with certain medical 

 and talismanic properties, to avert bad 

 dreams, cure palsy, and the cold and bloody 

 flux, and to impart courage to the wearer. 



In the ■commentaries of the kings of 

 Egypt, according to Theophrastus, it is re- 

 corded that an Emerald four cubits in 

 length and three in breadth was sent as a 

 present from a king of Babylon : and that in 

 their temple of Jupiter there was an Obelisk, 

 composed of four Emeralds, which was 

 forty cubits long, and in some places four 

 and"^ in others two cubits wide. As, how- 

 ever, the author describes the Emerald to 

 be a stone both scarce and small, and 

 speaks, elsewhere, of Bastard Emeralds or 

 the pseudo-Smaragdus, most likely the 

 Stones mentioned above were only Beryl, 



EMERALD. 



and not true Emerald. At all events 

 there can be no doubt many stones (of a 

 green tint) were confounded under the term 

 'XfA.ke^Dty'b or Emerald, by Theophrastus and 

 other old writers on minerals. 



Necklaces of Emerald have been found at 

 Herculaneum and in the Etruscan tombs. 



The largest known Emerald is the pro- 

 pert}' of the Duke of Devonshire. This 

 magnificent stone, which was brought to 

 England by Dom Pedro, measures two 

 inches in length, and 2^-, 2g, and 1| inches 

 across the three diameters. It is a six- 

 sided prism, weighing 8 oz. 18 dwts, but 

 there is a small piece of quartz attached 

 to it, which would diminish that weight by 

 3 or 4 dwts. Owing to flaws it is but parti- 

 ally fit for the purposes of the jeweller. It 

 was obtained from the mines at Muzo. A 

 smaller but more splendid specimen is in the 

 possession of Mr. Hope. It cost £500, and 

 weighs 6 ounces. Emeralds of less beauty 

 but of larger size are found in Siberia. A 

 specimen in the Royal collection measures 

 141 inches in length and 12 in breadth, and 

 weighs 1 6| lbs. tro}^ 



Mount Zabarah in Upper Egypt affbrds a 

 less distinct variety, and was largely worked 

 by the ancient Egyptians. Theophrastus 

 states that the ancient locality of the true 

 Emerald was the copper mines of Cyprus, 

 and an island over against Carthage. It 

 was believed to be produced from the Jasper, 

 for it was said there had been found in 

 Cyprus a stone, one half of which was 

 bmerald, and the other Jasper, as yet not 

 changed. 



In Ezekiel, chap, xxvii. 16, it is written : 

 " Syria was thy merchant by reason of the 

 multitude of the wares of thy making : the}' 

 occupied in thy fairs with Emeralds, purple, 

 and broidered work, and fine linen, and 

 coral, and agate." (See also chap, xxviii. 

 13.) In Exodus, chap, xxviii. 18, the 

 Emerald is mentioned as occupying the 

 fourth place amongst the twelve stones 

 representing the twelve tribes of Israel, 

 wbich formed the pectorate of the Jewish 

 high -priest, and was symbolical of the tribe 

 of Judah, the name of which was engraved 

 upon it. 



Localities. The most celebrated modern 

 locality is the famous mine of Muzo in New 

 Grenada. This mine is situated 4 miles 

 west of Muzo (in lat. 5° 39' 50" N. and 76° 

 45' west of Paris ), in the eastern Cordillera 

 of the Andes, about 75 miles N.N.E. of 

 Santa-Fe'-de-Bogota. The matrix in which 

 the Emeralds occur is a limestone contain- 

 ing ammonites, and is composed of: 



