THE WEARING OF RINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 58, 9 March 1935, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE WEARING OF RINGS.

It is supposed that in early ages the wearing of rings was instituted as an emblem of authority and government. Wo read in tlic Bible that Pharaoh took his ring from his linger and presented it to Joseph, as a sign of vested authority. In conformity to ancient usage, the Christian Church adopted the ring in the ceremony of marriage, as a symbul of the authority with which the husband invested his wife. This was made of gold, which metal the ancients used as a symbol of love, the ring itself being an emblem of eternity, or love without end. Kings, it appears, were first worn in India, whence the practice descended to the Egyptians, thence to the Greeks, from whom it passed to the Romans and others. The wedding ring was placed on the third finger of the left hand, because it was believed that a small artery ran from this finger to the heart. This has been contradicted by experience; but several eminent authors were formerly of this opinion, therefore they thought this finger the most proper to bear the pledge of love, that from thence it might be carried to the heart. Others are inclined to think that it was in consequence of this finger being used less than any other, and is more capable of preserving a ring from bruises. Family rings wen; formerly given away, at a marriage as wedding presents.