Deep green and translucent, this stone at its best is very rare. It was prized before and beyond all other stones and, for large flawless gems, outvies the diamond. Among church stones it ranks very high; Andreas, Bishop of Caesarea, wrote of the emerald: “Its transparency and beauty may not change; we conceive the stone to signify John the Evangel.” The potency of the emerald has been extolled in various fields. It was especially prized as a panacea for poisons. In this field, it was an admirable alexipharmic; it protected against poison from fangèd bite, and from the gangrene of wounds. It warded off the dangers of poison artfully secreted in food; also, of poison from eating the wrong food, as toadstools for mushrooms, spoiled food, or just too much food. And it preserved one from that most pestilent of all poisons, the poisoning of the mind. Still more widespread was the use of the emerald as a talisman and a cure-all for the eye. The calming influence of its dark green hue has been recognized from early times to the modern eye shade. The Roman Emperor Nero, who suffered from an eye ailment, used to hold a specially ground emerald before his eye to relieve the strain, and to enjoy the relaxation that came with its gentle soothing. In the early Renaissance the watchmakers and the goldsmiths, their eyes bleary from long strain at their fine operations, would pause in their work and gaze upon an emerald. The emerald is the only stone that delights the eye without ever bringing fatigue. Less worthy use was made of the emerald by those ambitious in love. In the Orient, the emerald was the token of love and was often used to adorn the statues of the god or the goddess of love. But later it became associated (as were the gods themselves) with the more passionate aspects of love. Then the emerald was employed—often, of course, as a bribe to the pandar or a gift to the girl, but also as a talisman—by those who sought success in their amours. It is in its more peaceful aspects, of the green and eye-enchanting colors of May, that one cherishes the emerald. Spring in its glory Tells the bright story Of the young year at play. It tries on the sheen Of gold and of green: Emerald’s the precious for May. _June: Pearl_ Who comes with summer to this earth And owes to June her day of birth, With ring of pearl upon her hand Can health, wealth, happiness command. And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days, Then heaven tries earth, if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays. Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, and see it glisten. What symbol of glistening life could be more significant than the lustrous pearl? It is one of the gems that delights in more than the beholding, for the feel of the soft fine smoothness of the gem is like the petal of a pansy.