imperfect and opaque crystallisation, of the same
origin as the ruby and sapphire. The gems
themselves are clear, though rarely colourless.
Small specimens are much less valuable in proportion
than larger sizes, for they are far more
abundant, but a perfect ruby of five carats is
worth twice as much as a diamond of the same
weight, and one of ten carats three times as
much.

The ruby was called by the Greeks anthrax,
or live coal, from its brilliant blood-red colour
and exquisite beauty, which, like the diamond,
is rather improved than diminished when seen
by artificial light. From the intense blaze of
blood-red, the colours of the ruby pale down by
admixtures of blue through rose-red to lilac.
Exposed to the rays of the sun, or heated, the
ruby, like the diamond, becomes phosphoric.
In the middle ages it was believed to be an
antidote to poison, to dispel bad dreams, and to
warn its owner of misfortune, by a darkening of
its colour until the danger was past.

There is a very celebrated ruby, set under the
back cross in the crown of England. It remains
in its natural shape—that of a heart—and
has received no polish. Its colour is that of a
Morella cherry, and it is semi-transparent. It
was brought from Spain by Edward the Black
Prince, and was afterwards worn by Henry the
Fifth at Agincourt. Other rubies of very large
size are recorded, but few of them are polished,
and fewer still are cut.

The sapphire is an exquisite blue variety of
ruby; soft, rich, velvety, and delicate in the
extreme by day, but losing much beauty by
artificial light, even sometimes changing its
tint. Occasionally it sparkles with great vividness
in the sun, as a star with distinct rays, but
such stones are only semi-transparent. There
is a violet variety, called by jewellers the
Oriental amethyst. It is a gem of great rarity
and beauty, and takes a very brilliant polish,
owing to its extreme hardness.

Like the ruby, the sapphire was held by the
ancients and during the middle ages, in high
honour. It was considered emblematic of
purity. To look at one, preserved the eyesight;
placed on the brow, it stopped hæmorrhage.
The powder of sapphire was a sovereign remedy
against plague and poison, and if merely
placed over the mouth of a phial containing a
venomous insect, the insect died on the instant.
It is a Jewish superstition that the first tables
of the law given by God to Moses were of this
stone. It is certain, at any rate, that both
rubies and sapphires have long been employed
in the East to engrave upon, notwithstanding
their great hardness.

Who has not looked with admiration at the
rich, soft, lively meadow-green of the EMERALD!
It is a gem which, when pure, comes next in
value to those hard brilliant stones just described,
but large specimens without flaw are
really almost unknown. It loses nothing by
exposure to artificial light.

The emerald is the lightest of all the clear
valuable gems. It is soft, and is found in regular
crystals, often with the rock in which it
has been formed. These crystals are long six-sided
prisms, and though formerly found in the
East, are now met with only in Peru, and, indeed,
it is only of late years that even this resource
has been available. The largest stone on record
was in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and
weighed nearly nine ounces. It measured two
inches in length, and two and a quarter inches
across.

A singular superstition has at all times attached
to emerald mines. From the age of
Pliny, when the Scythians obtained these stones,
to our own times, there is a belief that the
mines are guarded by demons, griffins, and
wicked spirits. The mine "Les Esmeraldas,"
in Peru, could not be visited by Mr. Stevenson,
"owing to the superstitious dread of the natives,
who assured me that it was enchanted,
and guarded by a dragon, who poured forth
thunder and lightning on those who dared to
ascend the river" that led to the mine.

In the East, emeralds are admired for extent
of surface rather than for beauty of any other
kind, and vast multitudes were sent over at the
time of the great Exhibition in 1851, most of
which were mere slices of crystals marked with
many a flaw. Most of them were set as the
ornaments of saddles and other horse and elephant
trappings, and others were in jade boxes
and cups of agate.

The emerald, like the gems already mentioned,
has been regarded as possessing remarkable
properties, restoring sight and memory, guarding
from epilepsy, putting evil spirits to flight, and
if unable to do good, shivering into atoms; for,
in the words of a great authority on these
subjects, "Elle doit ou lever le mal ou céder comme
s'avouant vaincue par le plus fort dans le combat
qu'elle rend."* That is, it ought either to remove
the evil, or acknowledge itself vanquished.
The emerald taught the knowledge of secrets, it
bestowed eloquence, and it increased wealth.
Even more than this, we have the poet's warrant
that,
* Boetius de Boot. Traité des Pierreries, 1. ii.
ch. liii. p. 253.

It is a gem which hath the power to show,
If plighted lovers keep their faith or no:
If faithful, it is like the leaves of spring;
If faithless, like those leaves when withering.
L. E. L.

Such are the recorded qualities of this beautiful
gem; we may worship the excellence of the
diamond, and wonder at the deep mystery of the
ruby, or the cold brilliancy of the sapphire, but
no one can fail to love the soft beauty of the
emerald.

BERYL is a mineral much more commonly
found in an impure state than capable of use as
a gem. When in the latter state, it is of a
transparent bluish green or sea-green colour,
passing into blue by many shades. It is hence
called aqua-marine. It resembles in many respects
the emerald, but is less valued and is
more widely distributed. Formerly it was