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atmosphere. Always in storage a damp sponge should be placed with them. No wonder many believe the pearl both lives and dies. The chemical changes that insensibly take place in its constitution are appalling. It would seem, indeed, as if its body sickened, and its soul passed away. One can understand how more credulous generations believed that pearls brought tears. They do, in a sense, even to this hour. Yet the pearl was not always significant of ill-luck, as are shown by some lines of Browning, who ought to know, being a poet, the magic of a gem: A simple ring, with a single stone, To the vulgar eye, no stone of price ; Whisper the right word, that alone Forth starts a sprite, like fire from ice, And lo, you are lord (says an Eastern scroll) Of Heaven and earth, lord whole and sole, Through the power in a pearl! The pearl is the one jewel in history connected with sorrow. All else were coveted by the great majority less for their beauty than their benign mystical influences. But the pearl as the herald of woe was feared throughout the Middle Ages and down even to our time. The night before her husband's assassination the wife of Henry IV. of France dreamed her diamonds were turned to pearls. Three nights in succession before the battle of Flodden Field, which made her a widow, the wife of James IV. of Scotland dreamed of pearls. There are women to-day, foolish maybe, who are afraid to wear a pearl. One such says the day has never dawned when she could put one on without trouble closely following. Pearls spell tears. Though unmistakably the herald of sorrow, the pearl at the same time stands for purity and innocence, and is, therefore, appropriate for the young. It is the alternate natal stone for February and June. Some mothers give their daughters a pearl for each birthday, and finally string them into a strand which charms, de- spite its hint of accummulated misfortune. Yet, while pleasing to the girls and the jewelers, such may become an inconvenient witness to the flight of time, unless one is careful to lose a few, or ceases the collection suddenly. "The high value attached to the pearl by the ancient Hebrews is illustrated by a beautiful Rabbinical story in which only one object in nature is ranked above them," says that repository of rare knowl- edge, "The Book of the Pearl," from whose influence it is difficult to break away : 102
On approaching Egypt, Abraham hid Sarah in a chest, that foreign eyes might not behold her beauty. When he reached the place for paying custom dues, the collector said : 'Pay us the custom' ; and he replied, 'I will pay your custom.' They said to him, 'Thou earnest clothes'; and he stated, 'I will pay for clothes.' Then they said to him, 'Thou earnest gold' ; and he answered, 'I will pay for gold.' On this they said to him, 'surely thou bearest the finest silk' and he replied 'I will pay custom for the finest silk.' Then said they, 'Truly it must be pearls that thou takest with thee' ; and he answered, 'I will pay for pearls.' Seeing that they could name nothing of value for which the patriarch was not willing to pay custom, they said, 'It cannot be but that thou open the box and let us see what is within.' So the chest was opened, and the land was illumined by the light of Sarah's beauty. 103
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GEMS - BY- Helen Bartlett Bridgman
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To Zona Gale Lover of Gems in Earth
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since it never can be wrested from
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tion of the three species of Hyacin
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CARVED GEMS. For nearly three thous
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He must be able not only to judge t
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they plainly represent the owner's
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special significance and power. Kin
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He putteth his hand upon the rock;
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The following are all the voice of
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FAMOUS JEWELS. The finding of the C
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and the Great Mogul are identical,
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in gems Mrs. Edward B. McLean of Wa
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of Russia. Besides these diamonds t
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But for these invaders of the deser
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appears. As Cattelle : says "Gem co
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white diamond results from further
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lacking in reserve power. One of th
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negative little woman it is not in
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takes a hand here, too, in the boug
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SAPPHIRE. Hyacinthus was the ancien
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ing five karats in weight are excee
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cave, and thus Nero may have discov
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CHRYSOBERYL. Chrysoberyl, though ha
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every year. Moreover, it is the onl
Page 58 and 59: that again a fourth, with the commo
Page 60 and 61: fainter tinge of blue which was the
Page 62 and 63: OPAL. No wonder that in the absence
Page 64 and 65: cold has a repressive eftect. Alway
Page 66 and 67: TOPAZ. Attention was first called t
Page 68 and 69: a crucible, with powdered charcoal,
Page 70 and 71: at Mt. Mica, bringing in during the
Page 72 and 73: cients, in a crude way, what fine i
Page 74 and 75: GARNET. The garnet has been known f
Page 76 and 77: instead of merely tapped by the ent
Page 78 and 79: HYACINTH. Three various kinds the s
Page 80 and 81: for January, but it is not without
Page 82 and 83: practice obtains even to the presen
Page 84 and 85: SPODUMENE. Spodumene or triphane, b
Page 86 and 87: JADE. The word jade is magical in i
Page 88 and 89: ity only 2.9. In hardness the nephr
Page 90 and 91: TURQUOISE. The turquoise is exquisi
Page 92 and 93: est color by a surface application
Page 94 and 95: The agate is the birthstone for Jun
Page 96 and 97: LAPIS LAZULI. Lapis lazuli is a mag
Page 98 and 99: PEARL, CORAL, AMBER, JET. The above
Page 100 and 101: AMBER. Amber, prized less as an orn
Page 102 and 103: jeweler and traveler Tavernier, in
Page 104 and 105: of the most exquisite ornaments in
Page 106 and 107: white satin or black velvet; pearl
Page 110 and 111: ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION. The diamon
Page 112 and 113: Burmese gem, though the price of th
Page 114 and 115: METHODS OF TESTING STONES. Hardness
Page 116 and 117: Why did not somebody teach me the C
Page 118 and 119: Pole, while Polaris is practically
Page 120 and 121: I have seen the mysterious shores,
Page 122 and 123: You know how, in and for themselves
Page 131: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 39
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