A gold ring, evidently of Byzantine origin, bears on the face, divided into six segments, an invocation to the saints Cosmas and Damian. According to Catholic legend these saints were brothers, of Arabian birth, who practised medicine in Ægae in Cilicia at the end of the third century. They were regarded as the patron saints of physicians and were often invoked by those suffering from disease. Hence this ring probably represents a type common in the Eastern Empire and used as a talisman for the cure or prevention of various illnesses. We know that the Byzantines were fervently devoted to three groups of saints, regarded as physicians, whose festival days were July 1, November 1, and October 17.[554] The initial letters of some magic or religious formula believed to operate as a charm, were engraved on certain rings, as, for example, the four Hebrew letters א נ ל א or their equivalents in Roman characters, sometimes disposed as follows: _a_ | _l_ ---+--- _g_ | _a_ This was called the Shield of David and was believed to afford protection from injury by wounds, fire, etc. The Hebrew letters are the initials of the four words: אח נבוד לעולם אלתים “Thou, God, art mighty for ever.” A gold ring with a Runic (old Scandinavian) inscription was owned by the Earl of Aberdeen in 1827. It had evidently been destined for use as an amulet, the characters reading in translation as follows: “Whether in fever or in leprosy, let the patient be happy and confident in the hope of recovery.” On rings for wear as protection from the plague the favorite inscriptions were ~IESVS~--~MARIA~--~IOSEPH~ and ~IHS NASARENVS REX IVDEORTUM~.[555] A massive thumb-ring in Mr. Hamper’s possession bore an old French legend more in accord with true Christian piety than the inscription we have noted, namely: _Candu plera meleor cera_, or “When God pleases, things will be better.” The curiously learned theologian and natural philosopher, Albertus Magnus (1193–1280), Count of Bollstädt, and Bishop of Ratisbon, affirmed that he had seen a sapphire set in a ring remove impurities from the eyes. He had also witnessed the curative effects of the stone when applied to carbuncles, and declares the common belief that after operating such a cure a sapphire would lose its virtue, to be entirely false.[556] As the name carbuncle (or _anthrax_ as Albertus puts it) was given both to a boil and to ruby or garnet, we have here an instance among many of the cures by antipathy, the blue stone curing a red, inflamed tumor.