PEARL DEALER 42 AN AIR-SHIP OF 1709 53 THE TREE THAT EXUDES AMBER 56 A PRACTICAL TEST OF THE VIRTUES OF THE BLOODSTONE TO PREVENT NOSE-BLEED 60 CARNELIAN SEAL, WORN BY NAPOLEON I, NAPOLEON III, AND THE PRINCE IMPERIAL 64 SPECIMEN PAGE OF ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT OF FOURTEENTH CENTURY 77 OBSIDIAN MIRROR, FROM OAXACA, MEXICO. NOW IN TROCADÉRO MUSEUM, PARIS 99 ROCK-CRYSTAL SKULL, ANCIENT MEXICAN 100 ENGRAVED HELIOTROPE 124 ENGRAVED RED JASPER 124 GNOSTIC GEMS 127 ANTIQUE JADE CELT CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN 129 MONOGRAM OF THE NAME OF CHRIST ENGRAVED ON AN ONYX GEM 136 TWO GOLD RINGS SET WITH ENGRAVED ONYX GEMS 138 THE “ORPHANUS JEWEL” IN THE GERMAN IMPERIAL CROWN 147 TITLE PAGE OF ROBERT BOYLE’S WORK ON THE ORIGIN AND VIRTUES OF GEMS 169 TITLE PAGE OF A GROUP OF TREATISES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS, COLLECTED AND EDITED BY CONRAD GESNER AT ZÜRICH IN 1565 258 THE HEBREW HIGH-PRIEST ATTIRED WITH HIS VESTMENTS 279 THE BREASTPLATE UNFOLDED, I, II; EPHOD WITH BREASTPLATE FOLDED AND ATTACHED, III 281 TITLE PAGE OF THE EDITION OF MARBODUS ON PRECIOUS STONES, PUBLISHED IN COLOGNE, 1539 290 CARNELIAN, ENGRAVED WITH THE ZODIACAL SIGNS, TAURUS, LEO AND CAPRICORN; IN THE CENTRE A SIX-RAYED STAR, THE FORM OF ONE OF THESE RAYS DENOTING A COMET 322 The Curious Lore of Precious Stones I Superstitions and Their Sources From the earliest times in man’s history gems and precious stones have been held in great esteem. They have been found in the monuments of prehistoric peoples, and not alone the civilization of the Pharaohs, of the Incas, or of the Montezumas invested these brilliant things from Nature’s jewel casket with a significance beyond the mere suggestion of their intrinsic properties.