PRECIOUS STONES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21315, 7 November 1934, Page 3

PRECIOUS STONES

♦ COLLECTION AT THE ' MUSEUM LECTURE BY PROFESSOR K. - SPEIGHT The fascinating subject of gems and precious stones was dealt with by Professor R. Speight in the last but one of the lectures designed to arouse and increase interest in the collections in the Canterbury Museum. The lecture was given in the museum yesterday morning before a small, but greatly interested, audience. The concluding lecture, which is to be on birds, will be given next Tuesday by Mr Edgar F. Stead. Professor Speight, in his introductory remarks, differentiated gems from ornamental stones, the last-mentioned usually referred to as precious stones. The cases before them, he said, would be used to illustrate both classes of stones. The collection was ouite a good one, but was, of course, mostly of rough stones. The love of pretty stones was not restricted to women, but was inherent not only in the human race, but was found in the lower animals. Crocodiles swallowed white stones found in the beds of rivers, probably as an aid to digestion; and white and red stones had been found in the position of the crops of skeletons of moas. Coloured stones were selected for charms and necklaces even as early as the Bronze Age; the oldest necklace was one found in a grave in Bohemia, and dated back well into that age. It was a string of rough garnets, each stone being pierced. Some of the most ancient charms made of precious stones were the cylinders found in Assyria, Persia, and Babylonia, and dated back 4000 years before Christ. Precious Stones Worn by Ancient Beauties He had read a reference to the sapphires of Helen of Troy and to the emeralds of Cleopatra. In Homer there was no mention of Helen of Troy wearing sapphires, and possibly what she wore was lapis-lazuli. In the relics of Troy no lapis-lazuli, emeralds, or sapphires were found, but in the strata before the existence of Troy lapislazuli did occur—blue stones with yellow specks. It was possible that lapislazuli was the stone worn by Helen. There seemed to be more solid foundation for Cleopatra's emeralds, because it was on record that the only known emerald mine was worked in Egypt 700 years before the days of Cleopatra. . . Early Uses Several indigenous peoples used the stones found in the countries they inhabited; the Gallic tribes used agates, the Persians torquoises, and the Maoris greenstone. Regular trade in some of these stones developed. There was a regular jade route from Asia across the middle of Europe. Hie earliest stones used for decoration were generally lumps of rock; in some cases they were drilled and in process of time their sides were smoothed by rubbing. In early times there was a rooted objection to reducing the size of the stones. Afterwards shaping was done by hand without any steel tools, involving much labour and skill, as some precious stones were harder than steel. In the process of time, the bow drill was developed, a drill similar to that used by the Maoris, which must have' been a fairly efficient implement. Before the idea of using precious stones as adornment became prevalent, these stones were used as charms and talismans to protect their wearers against the evils and misfortunes of life. Some were credited with mystic powers, and as time went on they were specially engraved with invocations to the gods they were supposed to represent. There seemed little doubt that'the diamond was amongst the stones referred to in the Bible as having been used in the breastplate of the priests. The references in the book of Revelation to huge pillars of precious stones were not beyond the bounds of possibility in human affairs. Migrations of Precious Stones The Arabs and Persians were responsible for introducing to Europe a number of precious stones, the East having been a regular storehouse of gems, but the storehouse was now exhausted, with the exception of India and Ceylon. There had been 1 great accumulations of beautiful gems in ancient Greece and Rome; the Goths and Vandals when they sacked "Rome took the gems they found to northern Italy, France, and Germany. Then the gems drifted back through Spain and

North Africa to Persia and India. After the Indian Mutiny they started again on their travels to Europe. In one instance, a Russian carried a gem from India to Russia in the calf of his leg, in which an incision was made and opened up when he got to Russia; ultimately, the gem found its way into the Russian Crown jewels. Before the days of banks it was a convenient way of storing one's property in a little stone, and gems and precious stones had been quite an important medium of trade. The most striking feature of gems was their durability, then came their splendour or beauty, then their rarity, and finally their fashionableness. The lecturer dealt with the properties of different gems and precious stones. One of the easiest methods of telling a good gem from an imitation one, he said, was through specific gravity. If a diamond were dropped into a liquid with a specific gravity of 2.9, it would sink; if it was imitation, it would float. Coloured diamonds were more valuable than white ones; and Borneo diamonds were harder than South African- ones. On the motion of Mr W. J. Carlisle the lecturer was accorded a vote of thanks by acclamation.