It is possible that the dread of the opal may be derived from the superstitious fancies that have descended to us from neolithic times, like the superstitions connected with the ancient stone implements which are now called in Western Europe elf-stones. In Scotland at the present day the ancient arrow-heads of stone are known as elf-bolts or fairy shots, and believed to protect the wearer from disease or misfortune. Thus it appears that stone weapons of an extinct race are used as ridiculous charms by later nations far advanced in civilization. History shows us how elves and fairies were created in the popular imagination from neolithic sources, and how weapons and ornaments of stone, amber, and metal became invested with mystic powers as objects of handicraft of the elves themselves. These objects are not only regarded as fairy charms among the races of the East, but the belief in their powers and use is quite as strong and tenacious among the Celtic portions of Europe. In other countries these primitive ideas of fairies and charms have become modified, and blossomed into poetic fancies to please chiefly the innocence of childhood. Some of these the genius of Shakspeare and other poets have made beautiful, and to these we offer no objection. Poetic license may sometimes invest an object with a positive effect which eventually may assume the appearance of fact. Thus the allusion to changes in the beauty of the opal in connection with misfortune, which was made by Sir Walter Scott, in his novel “Anne of Geierstein,” was taken to heart seriously by many of his readers, and the gem was placed under ban. The popular imagination became so strongly affected that the commerce of the opal in England became very seriously injured; and even at the present day many a timid maiden hesitates over the selection of the opal for ornamentation. Every mineralogist and man of science will rejoice to learn that Queen Victoria exhibits sterling good sense in selecting the opal among her choicest family gifts, thereby presenting a pleasing contrast to the superstitious and foolish fancies of the Empress Eugénie. To the amateur who loves the rare and beautiful, with a feeling untrammelled by any of the misty traditions of the past or the caprices of fashion of the present, the opal is the dearest of all the gems. For it is not only rare, but it displays the glories of all the other gems; and it is the only one that defies the skill of the modern artisan to imitate. Its flash instantly betrays its character, and places it above suspicion, while quite all of the precious stones regarded as gems are now imitated so perfectly as to require close and careful inspection, and sometimes the application of scientific tests.