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We
quote a few passages from
"Marvellous
Treatise"
"The Treasure of Joys"
"About the virtues and most valuable peculiarities
of all the Joys, Pearls, Gems…
and of all other Stones…
…from ancient and modern diligent writings, sacred and mundane…
…Arabs, Greeks, Latin peoples and Italians…
Published in Venice, close to Gio-Battista Ciotti
M.DCII
For Mr. Podestà Luigi BRAGADINO
On commission of Archangelo Riccio .A.V.
"...about
Carbuncle Rubies".
Plinio called
them Carbuncles and they were named Pyrops by the Greeks for
their
resemblance to the "lame of fire ...some people called
them Apyrots.
The Families of these stones are Indians and Garamantines, which
were called Carta- gifts as a sign of respect for the wealth
of Carthage…
 These
are also the Ethiopians and the Alabandics, which are derived
from the Orthosian stones. Furthermore, in every species, the
brightest stones are called
Males; and those with a paler shade Females.
The Males burn inside like the stars, and the Females spread
all their splendour around... some have a pale flame, others
a darker one. Other stones have a sort of liquid splendour within
them.
Nevertheless, all of them are more shining under the sun.
...the false Ruby is the ancient Careledonii, the modern one,
the Garnet, has a darker shade.
Camillo Leonardo thought that the Ruby with a deep blackish
colour, was similar to the Garnet.
Its properties are:
- To
clear away a poisonous and stinking air.
- To restrain lust.
- To make the body healthier.
- To carry nasty thoughts away.
- To make peace between friends.
- To increase prosperity.
The noblest
gem is the Carbuncle which does not shine in the darkness; it
glows in open air, and shines under the sun.
Ruby is
called Yacut by the Arabs and the Persians; and it is called
Maricca by the Indians.
I sum up
my experience saying that the Ruby, the finest and noblest of
all gems, is called Red Pyrop, which means Red Flame of Fire,
and it doesn't s look very dark. It is also named real Anthrax,
which means burning coal; it is pleasantly red and transparent;
in its depth it holds shining splendours that come to the surface
lighting the bottom of the gem itself.
The Sapphirine Ruby is different. I saw this gem in Constantinople
where it is considered as the real Ruby; but the pale blue of
the Sapphire has a faint trace of the red of the Ruby; and the
colour changes; and I think that that one is the noblest species
of the Hyacinth, and Pope Gregory preferred the beauty of the
Sapphire to the Ruby itself. And this is because the Ruby and
the Sapphire come from the same pit; therefore sometimes one
side gives Sapphire and another side gives Ruby...
"...peculiarities
and virtues of the Emerald..."
Plinio thought
that Emeralds enjoyed a high reputation; no colour gives more
delight than green, therefore looking with pleasure at the green
foliage of the trees and at the green grass, we'll look even
much more willingly at the green of the Emeralds, the greenest
of any other thing. They are beautiful gems which fill up the
eyes and never satisfy them.
They restore a longer perspective.
It was thought that Nero used to oversee the battles only with
an Emerald...
The best stones are found in Sithia and in Egypt...those from
Cyprus are extracted from the Hills and from the rocks.. others
can be found in the copper pits...
The Egyptian and Cyprus emeralds are more transparent and translucent
than the others; it means that they spread their colour and
are admired at the same time.
They don't change colour under the light or in the shadow.
The Ethiopian emeralds have a beautiful, bright green, but it
is difficult to find them neat or of the same colour.
Then there are the Persian and Armenian emeralds; they don't
shine too much.
The Athenians and the Chalcedonies are found in the silver pits;
they have a greenish colour, but streaked and full of flakes.
Ludovico
Barteme Bolognese thought that the most beautiful emeralds were
to be
found in the island of Jara and in India...
The Persians and the Indians called the emeralds with the same
name, Pachec; and the Arabs called the stones Zamayrut...
Cardan
thinks that the Diamond is the best gem for its hardness, the
Sapphire is the greatest, the Ruby the merriest; the Opal is
the best for the shades of its colour; the Agate is nice because
it is different; ...the Emerald is the most precious of all
gems for its clearness, its splendour, its holiness...
...put on the neck, or kept under the tongue helps to foresee
the future. It increases wisdom and caution...
...it is useful against poisons, if kept on the table...if it
is chopped in nine ounces and dipped into almond-water or violet
essence saves the life of the man dying from poisoning...
...it is good for epilepsy and gives relief to the eyesight
and makes human beings fertile and comforts memory...
...it is useful against the illusions of the Devil and against
storms and rough seas...
...people who wear it on their fingers will be preserved from
constipation...
...even in small quantities, if drunk it is useful to the Lepers…
...it is useful for fat people…
...it restrains the lust prompted by the Devil...
It is the
greenest of all Gems, but...
...it breaks during a sexual intercourse -and if it is true,
it can be for this reason: because it is the frailest of all
precious stones, and feeling the heat, it may break...
...it gets dark during the sexual intercourse if it comes into
contact with the skin...
"...fortunes
and virtues of Sapphires..."
Plinio said,
"Sapphires are of a perfect Blue and shine, rarely with a
purple colour...those are excellent, and come from Media; and
the stones are easy to engrave.
The deep blue stones are called Males. The Ceraunius or Cyeneus
named as such
for its blue colour, is darker than the others, and it comes as
second."
Both
Galen and Diascoride thought that "the Sapphire swallowed
into the throat was useful against the bite of scorpions and against
intestine ulcer...
...it
stops the warts on the nails and the ulcerations of the eyes.-
A wet Sapphire will clarify the eye if applied many many times."
Beda says,
"that Sapphire is a stone similar to a deep blue, clear sky,
called Gem of the Gems, and sacred gem for its colour...
- It
is valuable against envies and terrors, drives away the pain
that is called "don't touch me".
- It reduces cancer and takes the headaches away.
- It renders mankind pure.
- It gives a fine complexion, strengthening the body; it quenches
the fervent impulses of lust; therefore it renders mankind pure
and chaste.
- It stops abundant perspiration.
- Those who wear it are rendered amiable and prone to good deeds.
- It discovers frauds.
Cardan thought
that the best Sapphire was the brightest and the more transparent.
If put under the sun it gives a shining splendour; and it never
returns the images of things...with the exception of the Diamond,
no stone is harder than the blue Sapphire. And no gem revives
more effectively the whole person, like the Emerald...
- it is useful to relieve mankind from Melancholy...
Sometimes the Sapphire has a lunar colour, looking like a Diamond,
and therefore
somebody has been cheated by this less precious stone... moreover
a Sapphire can
be faked into a Diamond; you can take a Sapphire of a brighter
colour, and without inclusions; and you put it on the fire with
gold, starting to pour it slowly, and then more and more, until
gold turns liquid within three or four hours; then you keep it
on the fire, until it burns away by itself, because if you took
it out before, it would break.
And you can find the Sapphire as white and shining as a Diamond.
The best
Sapphire are brought from Zcilan and the most precious are the
ones extracted from Burma. If the stone glitters with golden spots
and it is not transparent, it is called Lapis Lazuli, which is
false but has a beautiful colour, and it shines only in the golden
Arena.
There are
many Sapphires in Constantinople, and not very bright, called
Nilin and are shaped in grains for pendant-earrings, and rings.
Other stones
have been dyed more intensely and have green and purple spots
inside, but are not very valuable and are called Niphilin.
Almost all the Turkish, Greek, and Jewish women, who are rich
and live a comfortable life, wear sapphire as a Pendant of the
kind named Giacinto Veneto or Giacinto Ciani.
"
… of gold… "
...the fire
purifies gold, and does not consume it, that is why gold is found
intact after fires, it is not stained by salt or vinegar, corrosive
substances for all the other things...
...gold is found in rivers, like in Spain in the Tago, in Thrace
in the Ebro, in India in the Gange river, in Hungary, in the Danube,
in Lamagna, in the Rhine, in Italy in the Adda river, in the Po
river and in the Ticino region... it is not found in all types
of sands, but only in certain peculiar areas...
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