The Magic of Jewels and Charms “A Volume of Absorbing Interest.”—_N. Y. Sun._ THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES BY GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ, A.M., PH.D., D.SC. BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR SENTIMENTS AND FOLKLORE, SUPERSTITIONS, SYMBOLISM, MYSTICISM, USE IN PROTECTION, PREVENTION, RELIGION AND DIVINATION, CRYSTAL GAZING, BIRTH-STONES, LUCKY STONES AND TALISMANS, ASTRAL, ZODIACAL, AND PLANETARY With 86 illustrations in color, doubletone and line. Octavo. Handsome cloth binding, gilt top, in a box. $5.00 net. Carriage charges extra. This work represents the observations and discoveries during twenty-five years of collecting on the part of Dr. Kunz, and will be found a rarely interesting galaxy of anecdote, research, and information upon a fascinating subject. J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA [Illustration: By courtesy of W. Griggs and Sons, Ltd., London. MODEL OF A HINDU LADY, ILLUSTRATING THE MODE OF WEARING JEWELRY IN NORTH INDIA From the Journal of Indian Art. ] [Illustration] The Magic of Jewels and Charms BY GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ A.M., PH.D., D.SC. WITH 90 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR, DOUBLETONE AND LINE [Illustration] PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. Lippincott Company COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE PROFESSOR THOMAS EGLESTON, PH.D., LL. D. OFFICIER DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR AND FOUNDER OF THE SCHOOL OF MINES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, AN ARDENT LOVER OF MINERALS, KEENLY APPRECIATIVE OF PRECIOUS STONES, AND A KINDLY FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED Preface Jewels, gems, stones, superstitions and astrological lore are all so interwoven in history that to treat of either of them alone would mean to break the chain of association linking them one with the other. Beauty of color or lustre in a stone or some quaint form attracts the eye of the savage, and his choice of material for ornament or adornment is also conditioned by the toughness of some stones as compared with the facility with which others can be chipped or polished. Whereas a gem might be prized for its beauty by a single individual owner, a stone of curious and suggestive form sometimes claimed the reverence of an entire tribe, since it was thought to be the abode or the chosen instrument of some spirit or genius.