The ancient writers held that all kinds of divination were helped by the emerald, and when worn during the transaction of honest business it gave favour to the wearer. In Brazil, medical students on becoming doctors of medicine wore on their fingers rings of emeralds as an indication that they had received their diploma. The lighter emerald, or beryl, bound man and wife together in mutual love, and raised the wearer to success and honour. Among the Hindoo philosophers the emerald held its place as a gem of the zodiacal Taurus, and in the First Heaven of the Muslims the tents of the faithful are represented as studded with emeralds, pearls and jacinths. Mr. E. W. Lane (“Modern Egyptians”) writes that the inhabitants of Paradise are said to be clothed “in the richest silk, chiefly of green, and all superfluities from their bodies will be carried off by perspiration which will diffuse an odour like that of musk”—a plant recognized by old astrologers as belonging to the sign Taurus. Paracelsus wrote that the emerald was in sympathy with the metal copper—also recognized as the chief metal of Venus. Mr. King notes a fine emerald, a quarter inch square, belonging to the earliest Christian periods, on which is cut a fish, which besides being an early Christian emblem is symbolical of Venus and later of the Virgin. Venus is exalted in the Zodiacal sign of the Fishes which enters largely into the Christian mysteries. The beryl was used in magical rites as an instrument for foretelling future happenings. For special magical purposes the stone was held in the mouth when—says Freeman, writing in the early part of the 18th century—a person may call an elemental and receive satisfaction for any question he might ask. In this connection one is tempted to think of the delightful Venusian spirit Ariel in Shakespeare’s “Tempest.” Again the beryl is recommended by Leonardus as a charm against diseases of the throat and jaws. In the “water divination” of the Middle Ages a beryl stone was suspended just to touch the surface of the water in the bowl, and it answered questions by automatically striking the edges of the vessel. It was also thrown into a shallow dish of water, information being gathered from the reflections seen in sunlight in the water.