All precious stones in general are improved in brilliancy by being boiled in honey, Corsican honey more particularly; but acrid substances are in every respect injurious to them. As to the stones which are variegated, and to which new colours are imparted by the inventive ingenuity of man, as they have no name in common use, they are usually known by that of “physis;”[3464] a name which claims for them, as it were, that admiration which we are more ready to bestow upon the works of Nature. But really, these artificial stones have names without end, and I could never think of recounting the infinite series of them, coined as they have been by the frivolous tendencies of the Greeks.
Having already described the more noble gems, and indeed those of inferior quality which are found among the stones that are held in high esteem, I must content myself with knowing that I have pointed out those kinds which are the most deserving of mention. It will be as well, however, for the reader to bear in mind, that, according to the varying number of the spots and inequalities on their surface, according to the numerous intersections of lines and their multiplied tints and shades, the names of precious stones are subject to repeated changes; the material itself, for the most part, remaining just the same.
CHAP. 75.—THE VARIOUS FORMS OF PRECIOUS STONES.
We will now make some observations in reference to precious stones in general, following therein the opinions that have been expressed by various authors. Stones with a level surface are preferred to those which are concave or protuberant on the face. An oblong shape is the one that is most approved of, and, next to that, the lenticular[3465] form, as it is called. After this, the stone with a plane surface and circular is admired, those which are angular being held in the least esteem. There is considerable difficulty in distinguishing genuine stones from false; the more so, as there has been discovered a method of transforming genuine stones of one kind into false stones of another.[3466] Sardonyx, for example, is imitated by cementing together three other precious stones, in such a way that no skill can detect the fraud; a black stone being used for the purpose, a white stone, and one of a vermilion[3467] colour, each of them, in its own way, a stone of high repute. Nay, even more than this, there are books in existence, the authors of which I forbear to name,[3468] which give instructions how to stain crystal in such a way as to imitate smaragdus and other transparent stones, how to make sardonyx of sarda, and other gems in a similar manner. Indeed, there is no kind of fraud practised, by which larger profits are made.
CHAP. 76. (13.)—THE METHODS OF TESTING PRECIOUS STONES.
On the contrary, we will make it our business to point out the methods of detecting these false stones, seeing that it is only proper to put luxury even on its guard against fraud. In addition to the particulars which we have already given, when treating of each individual kind of precious stone, it is generally agreed that transparent stones should be tested by a morning light, or even, if necessary, so late as the fourth[3469] hour, but never after that hour. The modes of testing[3470] stones are numerous: first, by their weight, the genuine stone being the heavier of the two; next, by their comparative coolness, the genuine stone being cooler than the other to the mouth; and, next to that, by their substance; there being blisters perceptible in the body of the fictitious stone, as well as a certain roughness on the surface; filaments, too, an unequal brilliancy, and a brightness that falls short before it reaches the eye. The best[3471] mode of testing is to strike off a fragment with an iron saw; but this is a thing not allowed by the dealers, who equally refuse to let their gems be tested by the file. Dust of Obsian[3472] stone will not leave a mark upon the surface of a genuine stone: but where the gem is artificial, every mark that is made will leave a white scratch upon it. In addition to this, there is such a vast diversity in their degrees of hardness, that some stones do not admit of being engraved with iron, and others can only be cut with a graver blunted at the edge. In all cases, however, precious stones may be cut and polished by the aid of adamas[3473] an operation which may be considerably expedited by heating the graver. The rivers which produce precious stones, are the Acesinus[3474] and the Ganges; and, of all countries, India is the most prolific of them.
CHAP. 77.—A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF NATURE AS SHE APPEARS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE COMPARATIVE VALUES OF THINGS.
Having now treated of all the works of Nature, it will be as well to take a sort of comparative view of her several productions, as well as the countries which supply them. Throughout the whole earth, then, and wherever the vault of heaven extends, there is no country so beautiful, or which, for the productions of Nature, merits so high a rank as Italy, that ruler and second parent of the world; recommended as she is by her men, her women, her generals, her soldiers, her slaves, her superiority in the arts, and the illustrious examples of genius which she has produced. Her situation, too, is equally in her favour; the salubrity and mildness of her climate; the easy access which she offers to all nations; her coasts indented with so many harbours; the propitious breezes, too, that always prevail on her shores; advantages, all of them, due to her situation, lying, as she does, midway between the East and the West, and extended in the most favourable of all positions. Add to this, the abundant supply of her waters, the salubrity of her groves, the repeated intersections of her mountain ranges, the comparative innocuousness of her wild animals, the fertility of her soil, and the singular richness of her pastures.
Whatever there is that the life of man ought not to feel in want of, is nowhere to be found in greater perfection than here; the cereals, for example, wine, oil, wool, flax, tissues, and oxen. As to horses, there are none, I find, preferred to those of Italy for the course;[3475] while, for mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron, so long as it was deemed lawful to work them,[3476] Italy was held inferior to no country whatsoever. At the present day, teeming as she is with these treasures, she contents herself with lavishing upon us, as the whole of her bounties, her various liquids, and the numerous flavours yielded by her cereals and her fruits. Next to Italy, if we except the fabulous regions of India, I would rank Spain, for my own part, those districts, at least, that lie in the vicinity of the sea.[3477] She is parched and sterile in one part, it is true; but where she is at all productive, she yields the cereals in abundance, oil, wine, horses, and metals of every kind. In all these respects, Gaul is her equal, no doubt; but Spain, on the other hand, outdoes the Gallic provinces in her spartum[3478] and her specular stone,[3479] the products of her desert tracts, in her pigments that minister to our luxuries, in the ardour displayed by her people in laborious employments, in the perfect training of her slaves, in the robustness of body of her men, and in their general resoluteness of character.
As to the productions themselves, the greatest value of all, among the products of the sea, is attached to pearls: of objects that lie upon the surface of the earth, it is crystals that are most highly esteemed: and of those derived from the interior, adamas,[3480] smaragdus,[3481] precious stones, and murrhine,[3482] are the things upon which the highest value is placed. The most costly things that are matured by the earth, are the kermes-berry[3483] and laser;[3484] that are gathered from trees, nard[3485] and Seric tissues;[3486] that are derived from the trunks of trees, logs of citrus[3487]-wood; that are produced by shrubs, cinnamon,[3488] cassia,[3489] and amomum;[3490] that are yielded by the juices of trees or of shrubs, amber,[3491] opobalsamum,[3492] myrrh,[3493] and frankincense;[3494] that are found in the roots of trees, the perfumes derived from costus.[3495] The most valuable products furnished by living animals, on land, are the teeth of elephants; by animals in the sea, tortoise-shell; by the coverings of animals, the skins which the Seres[3496] dye, and the substance gathered from the hair of the she-goats of Arabia, which we have spoken of under the name of “ladanum;”[3497] by creatures that are common to both land and sea, the purple[3498] of the murex. With reference to the birds, beyond plumes for warriors’ helmets, and the grease that is derived from the geese of Commagene,[3499] I find no remarkable product mentioned. We must not omit, too, to observe, that gold, for which there is such a mania with all mankind, hardly holds the tenth rank as an object of value, and silver, with which we purchase gold, hardly the twentieth!