The emerald is one of the softest of the precious stones; and is almost exclusively indebted for its value to its charming colour. The brilliant purple of the ruby, the golden yellow of the topaz, the celestial blue of the sapphire, are all pleasing tints; but the green of the emerald is so lovely, that the eye, after glancing over all the others, finds delight in resting upon this. In value it is rated next to the ruby; and, when of good colour, is set without foil and upon a black ground, like a brilliant diamond. Emeralds of inferior lustre are generally set upon a green gold foil. These gems appear to greatest advantage when table cut ([Pl. II, Fig. 9]), and surrounded by brilliants, the lustre of which forms an agreeable contrast with the quiet hue of the emerald. They are sometimes formed into pear-shaped ear-drops; but the most valuable stones are generally set in rings. A favourite mode of setting emeralds among the opulent inhabitants of South America is to make them up into clusters of artificial flowers on gold stems.
The largest emerald that has been mentioned is one said to have been possessed by the inhabitants of the valley of Manta, in Peru, at the time when the Spaniards first arrived there. It is recorded to have been as big as an ostrich’s egg, and to have been worshipped by the Peruvians, under the name of the Goddess, or Mother of Emeralds. They brought smaller ones as offerings to it, which the priests distinguished by the appellation of daughters. Many fine emeralds are stated to have formerly been bequeathed to different monasteries on the Continent; but most of them are said to have been sold by the monks, and to have had their place supplied by coloured glass imitations. These stones are seldom seen of large size, and at the same time entirely free from flaws.
The emerald, if heated to a certain degree, assumes a blue colour; but it recovers its proper tint when cold. When the heat is carried much beyond this, it melts into an opaque coloured mass.
The precious stone called oriental emerald ([56]) is a green and very scarce variety of the oriental ruby.
68. The BERYL, or AQUA MARINE, is a light or mountain green variety of the emerald, sometimes straw-coloured, bluish, yellow, or even white.
These stones are of such frequent occurrence, even in large pieces perfectly clear and free from flaws, they are in general so soft, and have so little the brilliancy of other gems, that they are usually considered of inferior value. The most beautiful kinds are brought from Dauria, on the frontiers of China, from Siberia, and from Brazil. They are also found in Saxony and the South of France, and are very common at Baltimore, in North America. Specimens of aqua marine have been obtained from the upper parts of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where they sometimes occur in alluvial soil, along with rock crystal and topaz. These stones have also been found, embedded in granite, near Lough Bray, and Cronebane, in the County of Wicklow, Ireland; and also in mountain rock, in some parts of Devonshire.
They are cut by means of emery ([58]), and polished with tripoli ([119]). The darkest green specimens are set upon a somewhat steel-coloured foil; and the pale ones are either placed, like the diamond, on a black ground, or upon a silvery foil. The aqua marine is usually made into necklaces; but it is likewise employed for brooches, and not unfrequently for steel stones and intaglios. The larger ones are in much esteem among the Turks for the handles of stilettos.
69. The TOURMALINE is a stone belonging to the same family as the emerald, and generally of a smoky blackish colour: sometimes, however, it is green, red, blue, or brown; and, when not very thick, it is transparent.
It is occasionally found in shapeless masses, but more frequently crystallized in three, six, or nine-sided prisms, variously truncated or terminated; and its weight is somewhat more than three times that of water.
This stone was first made known in Europe, about the beginning of the last century, by the Dutch merchants, who brought it from the island of Ceylon, where it is principally found. When strongly heated it becomes electric; one of the summits of the crystal negatively, and the other positively. An early writer, by whom it is mentioned, says, that “it has the property not only of attracting ashes from the warm or burning coals, but that it also repels them again, which is very amusing: for as soon as a small quantity of ashes leaps upon it, and appears as if endeavouring to writhe themselves by force into the stone, they in a little time spring from it again, as if about to make a new attempt. It was on this account that the Dutch called it the ashes drawer.”