The word “cameo” is said to be of unknown derivation. Dr. Brewer says it means “onyx” and there seems evidence enough to indicate that on account of the great use of onyx and sardonyx for cutting symbolic figures in relief, the term onyx was usually accepted as indicating the completed work. The derivation from the Arabic CHEMEIA, a charm, is noted by Mr. King who draws attention to the light in which such relics were universally considered in those ages by Orientals and Europeans alike. The Arabic word has affinity with the Talmudical Hebrew word KHEMEIA, an amulet, and there seems little reason to doubt that Chemeia or Khemeia is the parent of our word “cameo,” known in the ancient world as an onyx, meaning a charm, an amulet or a talisman.
CHAPTER XXII
THE OPAL
THE OPAL IN ASTRO-PHILOSOPHY: PETRUS ARLENSIS DESCRIBES THE OPAL: PLINY’S POETICAL OPINION: THE PAEDEROS CHILD BEAUTIFUL AS LOVE: THE ORPHAN: ROMAN SENATOR AND HIS OPAL: OPHTHALMIOS THE EYE STONE: OPINION OF MEDIAEVAL WRITERS: THE BAY TREE: ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THE OPALS THAT SPARKLED IN DARKNESS: THE ZODIACAL SIGN OF ROYALTY AND THE OPAL: KERAUNIOS OR THE THUNDER STONE: THE BEAUTY STONE: THE STONE OF HOPE, ACHIEVEMENT AND LOVE: THE LARGE HUNGARIAN OPAL: AUSTRALIAN OPAL FIELDS: SIR DAVID BREWSTER’S THEORY OF COLOURS IN OPALS: DR. G. F. H. SMITH’S EXPLANATION: SENSITIVENESS OF THE OPAL: SUPERSTITION AGAINST OPAL: THE PLAGUE AT VENICE: THE “BURNING OF TROY”: THE CRIMEAN WAR: SCOTT’S ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN: COMBINATIONS OF DIAMONDS AND OPALS: DESTRUCTION OF THE VANITIES AT FLORENCE: STORY OF THE OPAL OF ALFONZO XII OF SPAIN: A CHOLERA STONE FATAL TO THE KING AND TO ALL WHO RECEIVED IT FROM HIM ACCORDING TO ASTROLOGICAL SCIENCE: THE BARON’S OPAL OF FORTUNE.
“Everyone knows how capriciously the colours of a fine opal vary from day to day and how rare the lights are which fully bring them out.”
Ruskin.
The word “opal” is derived from the Latin OPALUS, and is identified with the Sanscrit UPALA, a precious stone. It appears under the forms opale, opall, opalle, opalis, ophal.
This beautiful inimitable gem is a hydrous silica, and is allied to the non-metallic minerals of the agate family from which, however, it differs in brilliancy, lustre and degree of hardness. It is sensitive to the action of strong chemicals and does not present, like other minerals, crystalline form. As a gem of the Sun it exhibits flows of fire like the sun at midsummer—as a gem of Venus its delicate beauty radiates her colourful charms, and as a gem of Uranus its refusal to submit to the all-embracing law of mineral structure harmonizes with the iconoclastic character of that planet according to astro-philosophy. Ancient and modern poets unite in singing the praises of the opal. Onomacritus, known as the religious poet of the ancient Greeks, over 2,400 years ago wrote that “the delicate colour and tenderness of the opal reminded him of a loving and beautiful child.” Joshua Sylvester (16th century) writes of “the opal-coloured morn,” and the poet Campbell of a time when “the opal morn just flushed the sky,” thus echoing William Drummond of Hawthornden’s:
“Aurora ... with her opal light
Night’s horrours checketh, putting stars to flight.”