As we see, only three stones are mentioned by name: the sapphire, the carbuncle, and “agates.” This last rendering is quite doubtful, as the Hebrew word (_kodkodim_) signifies shining or gleaming stones, and their use for windows indicates that they must have been transparent. It is easy to understand that in later times the twelve stones of the breastplate, dedicated to the twelve tribes of Israel, were used to fill out and complete the picture, following the indication given by the general terms “stones with fair colours” and “pleasant stones.” In commenting on this text Rabbi Johanan is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud as saying that God would bring jewels and pearls thirty ells square (twenty ells in height and ten in width) and would place them on the gates of Jerusalem. There may be in this some reminiscence of the Apocalyptic foundation stones. A sceptical disciple said to the Rabbi, “We do not ever find a jewel as large as the egg of a dove.” But not long afterward, when this same disciple was sailing in a boat on the sea, he saw angels sawing stones as immense as those described by Rabbi Johanan, and when he asked for what they were designed, the reply was, “The Holy One, blessed be He, will place them on the gates of Jerusalem.”[426] IX Birth-Stones The origin of the belief that to each month of the year a special stone was dedicated, and that the stone of the month was endowed with a peculiar virtue for those born in that month and was their natal stone, may be traced back to the writings of Josephus, in the first century of our era, and to those of St. Jerome, in the early part of the fifth century. Both these authors distinctly proclaim the connection between the twelve stones of the high-priest’s breastplate and the twelve months of the year, as well as the twelve zodiacal signs. Strange to say, however, in spite of this early testimony, we have no instance of the usage of wearing such stones as natal stones until a comparatively late date; indeed, it appears that this custom originated in Poland some time during the eighteenth century. The reason for this seems to have been that the virtues attributed to each particular stone, more especially the therapeutic virtues, rendered it necessary to recommend the wearing of one or the other, according to the disease from which the person was suffering, for his natal stone might not have the power to cure his particular ailment, or might not bring about the fulfilment of his dearest wish. In other words, the belief in the special virtues of the stone was paramount, and it was long before the mystic bond between the stone of the month and the person born in that month was fully realized.