Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Precious Stones, Continued.? The Emerald, Zircon Or Hyacinth, Topaz, Spinelle, TourMaline, And Garnet Groups. The Emerald Group. Of all green things which bounteous earth supplies, Nothing in greenness with the Emerald vies; Twelve kinds it gives, sent from the Scythian clime, The Bactrian mountain and old Nilus’ slime. Highest their value which admit the sight, And tinge with green the circumambient light: Unchanged by sun or shade their lustre glows, The blazing lamp no dimness on it throws. But best the gem that shows an even sheen, Lustrous with even never-varying green. Of mighty use to seers who seek to pry Into the future hid from mortal eye. Wear it with reverence due, ‘twill wealth bestow, And words persuasive from thy lips shall flow, As though the gift of eloquence inspired The stone itself, or living spirit fired. Hung round the neck it cures the ague’s chill, Or falling sickness, dire mysterious ill; Its hues so soft refresh the wearied eye, And furious tempests banish from the sky. If steeped in verdant oil, or bathed in wine, Its deepened hues with perfect lustre shine. The true emerald and the beryl, with some othergems less known to jewellers, belong to this group. The Emerald and Beryl are exceedingly different in their composition from the valuable gems described in the last chapter, but in value they rank next to the ruby and are certainly among the most beautiful of the precious stones. The stones now under consideration consist of a combination of silica and alumina, with about 12 per cent, of an earth called glucina, the latter being very rare, and not known to exist except in crystals of this group. Specimens of the gem that have been analyzed show small quantities …
