AQUA MARINE. 3& 
over all the others, finds delight in resting upon this. 
In value it is rated next to the ruby ; and, when of good 
colour, is set without foil and upon a black ground, 
like a brilliant diamond. Emeralds of inferior lustre are 
generally set upon a green gold foil. These gems ap- 
pear to greatest advantage when table cut (Fig 9), and 
surrounded by brilliants, the lustre of which forms an 
agreeable contrast with the quiet hue of the emerald. 
They are sometimes formed into pear-shaped ear-drops ; 
but the most valuable stones are generally set in rings. 
A favourite mode of setting emeralds among the opu- 
lent inhabitants of South America is to make them up 
Into clusters of artificial flowers on gold stems. 
The largest emerald that has been mentioned is one 
said to have been possessed by the inhabitants of the 
valley of Manta, in Peru, at the time when the Spa- 
niards first arrived there. It is recorded to have been 
as big as an ostrich's egg, and to have been worshipped 
by the Peruvians, under the name of the Goddess, or 
Mother of Emeralds. They brought smaller ones as 
offerings to it, which the priests distinguished by the 
appellation of daughters. Many fine emeralds are 
stated to have formerly been bequeathed to different 
monasteries on the Continent ; but most of them are 
said to have been sold by the monks, and to have had 
their place supplied by coloured glass imitations. These 
stones are seldom seen of large size, and at the same 
time entirely free from flaws. 
The emerald, if heated to a certain degree, assumes 
a blue colour ; but it recovers its proper tint when cold. 
When the heat is carried much beyond this, it melts 
into an opaque coloured mass. 
The precious stone called oriental emerald (56) is a 
green and very scarce variety of the oriental ruby. 
68. The BERYL, or AQUA MARINE, is a light or 
mountain green variety of the emerald, sometimes straw-coloured , 
bluish, yellow, or even white. 
These stones are of such frequent occurrence, even 
