Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/351

 STONES

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STONES

bvioiis that the ancient versions have comf)leteIy lissed the sense; they even felt it bo well that in one lace they merely transliterated the Hebrew word, n Ezech., xxvii, 16, coral is mentioned as one of the rticles brought by the Syrians to Tyre. The Phoeni- ians mounted beads of coral on collars and garments, 'hese corals were obtained by Babylonian pearl- shers in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Icbrows made apparently very little use of this sub- l.ancc, and hence it is selclom mentioned in their writ- igs; this explains also the difficulty felt by the trans- itors in rendering the word. Gesenius (Thesaurus, i. 1113) translates C'J'JS (Job, xx-viii, 18; Prov., iii, 5; viii, 11; xx, 15; xxxi, 10; Lam., iv, 7) by "red oral"; but many maintain that the pearl is meant in hese passages. The coral spoken of in the Bible is he precious coral (corallum rubrum), the formation of .hich is well known. It is a calcareous secretion of ert ain polyps, ha\ing a tree-like format ion. At pres- nt coral is found in the Mediterranean, the northern oast of Africa furnishing the dark red, Sardinia the ellow or salmon-coloured, and the coast of Italy the osc-pink coral. One of the greatest coral-fisheries of he present day is Torre del Greco, near Naples.

Crystal, Heb. tO^ (Job, xx^dii, 18), nip (Ezech, i, 2) : both words signify a glassy substance; Sept.7a^'i; 'ulg. emincnlia (Job, x-xviu, IS); KpiSraWos, crystallus Ezech., i, 22). — This was a transparent mineral re- embling glass, most probably a variety of quartz, ob places it in the same category with gold, onyx, apphire, glass, coral, topaz, etc. The Targum ren- lers the r of Ezech. by "ice"; the versions trans- ite by "crj-stal". We find crystal again mentioned a Apoc., iv, 6; xxi, 11; xxii, 1. In Ps. cxlvii, 17, and i^cclus., xliii, 22, there can be no question but that ice s meant. The word .t;';;. Job, xxvdii, 17, which ome translate by crj'slal, means glass.

DiA.MGNDiHeb.T):";"; Sept. dSoMoiTfros; Vulg. ada- nas, adamaniums (Ezech., iii,9 ; Zach., vii, 12; Jer., xvii, ). — Whether or not this stone is really the diamond annot be ascertained. Many piissages in Holy Writ )oint indeed to the qualities of the diamond, espe-
 * ially its hardness (Ezech., iii, 9; Zach., vii, 12; Jer.,
 * vii, 1).. In the last Jercmias informs us of a use to

vhich t his stone was put, which agrees admirably with he use to which the diamond is put at this day: "The lin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point )f a diamond". But although diamond is used to en- hat other stones may ser%-e the same purpose. The ^(•pluagint omits the passages of Ezech. and Zach., \ hile t he first five verses of Jer., xvii, are missing in the _'od. Vaticanus and .\lexandrinus, but are found in he Comphitensian edition and in t he Syriac and Arabic versions. Despite the qualities mentioned in the Bible, he htone spoken of in the places referred to may )e the limpid corindon, which exhibits the same qual- ties, and is used in India for the same purposes as we isc the diamond. The diamond was not very well cnown among the ancients; and if we add to this rea- son the similarity between the words ff^'p", the Egyp- ian n.smir, "emerj-", a species of corindon used to )lish precious stones, and — '^".l', the Hebrew word supposed to mean the diamond, wc may conclude with
 * rave hard substances, yet it should be remarked
 * >rl)al)ility that the limpid corindon was intended.

!Vben-E.sra and Abarbanel translate sSl* by "dia- mond"; but cV~' we have showTi above to be the r)er\-l. The diamond is made up of pure carbon, mostly of a white transparent colour, but sometimes tinted. The white diamond is the most precious, Dwing to its beauty ami rarity. South Africa con- tains the largest diamond fields.

Emekai.d, lleb. •'^p'- ; Sept. <rndpaySoi;V\i\g. smarag- ■lus: the third stone of the rational (Ex., xxvdii, 17; xxxix. 10). where it represents the tribe of Levi; it is the nintfi stone in Ezech., xxviii, 1.3, and the fourth foundation stone of the celestial Jerusalem (Apoc, xxi,

19). The same precious stone is also mentioned in Tob., xiii, 16 (Vulg. 21); Jud.,x,21 (Vulg. 19); and in the Greek text of Ecclus., xxxii, 8, but there is no indi- cation of it in the MS. B. of the Hebrew text, found in the Genizah of Cairo in 1896. That ,ini3 stands for "emerald" is verified by the fact that practicallv all versions, as well as Josephus (Ant. Jud., Ill", vii, 5; Bell. Jud., V, v, 7) translate it thus. The Hebrew root p"l2, from which it is prob- ably derived, signifies " to glitter", which quality agrees eminently with the emerald. The word may also come from the Sanskrit marakiiin which is cer- taiidy the emerald; the Greek form <rixipayoo% is not so di.stant from the Hebrew tliat no sinnlarity can be found between them. In Job, xiii, 21; Jud., x, 19; Ecclus., xx-xii, 8; and Apoc, xxi, 19, the emerald is cer- tainly the stone spoken of. The word ~S3 also has sometimes been translated by smaragdus; but this is a mistake, for ~Ci is the carbuncle. The emerald is a green variety of beryl and is composed of sihcate of alumina and glucina. Its form is a hexagonal crystal; its colour is a brilliant reflecting green. The stone ad- mits of a high polish. The emerald is found in meta- morphic rocks, granites, and mica schists; the finest specimens come from Muzo, Bogotil, South America. The ancients obtained the stone from Egypt and In- dia. It has sometimes been asserted that they knew nothing of the emerald; but this is plainly refuted by Pliny, Theophrastus, and others, though the name ma\- liave been used possibly for other stones. In the Miildle Ages marvellous powers were attributed to the emerald, tlie most conspicuous being the power to pre- serve or heal the sight.

Hyacinth, Greek udKipfes; Vtdg. hyacinthus (Apoc, xxi, 20); the eleventh stone of the foundation of the heavenly city. It corresponds very probably to Heb., the ligurius of Ex., xxviii, 19; xxxix, 12 (St. Epiphan., "De duodecim gemmis" in P. G., XLIII, 300). The stone spoken of in Cant., v, 14, and called hyacinthus in the Vulgate is the Hebrew "j— i?in, which has been shown abo\'e to be the chrysoUte. The exact nature of the hyacinth cannot be determined, the name hav- ing been applied to several stones of similar colours, and most probably designating stones of the same colours as the flower hyacinth. Hyacinth is a zircon of a crimson, red, or orange hue. It is harder than quartz and its cleavage is undulating and sometimes lamellated. Its form is an oblong quadrangular prism terminated on both ends by a quadrangular pyramid. It was supposed to be a tahsman against tempests.

Jasper, Heb. ,~Ct'"'; Sept. fao-n-is; Vulg. jaspis; the twelfth stone of the breastplate (Ex., xx-^dii, 18; xxxix, 11), representing Benjamin. In the Greek and Latin texts it comes sixth, and so also in Ezech., xxviii, 13; in the Apocalypse it is the first (xxi, 19). Despite this difference of position ja^pis is undoubtedly the ~tZ' of the Hebrew text. The jasper is an anhydrate quartz composed of silica, alumina, and iron. There are jas- pers of nearly every colour. It is a completely opaque stone of a conchoidal cleavage. It seems to have been obtained by the Jews from India and Egypt.

LiGURUs^ Heb. db; Sept. Xi7i'pioi'; Vulg. ligurius; the first stone of the third row of the rational (Ex., xxviii, 19; xxxix, 12), representing Gad. It is miss- ing in the Hebrew of Ezech., .xxviii, 13, but present in the Greek. This stone is probably the same as the hvacinth (St. Epiphan., loc. cit.). This identifica- tion, admitted by tradition, rests on the remark that the twelvi^ foundation stones of the celestial city in Apoc, xxi, 19-20, correspond to the twelve stones of the rational, from which it would appear that the lig- urus is the .same as the hyacinth. Some have iden- tified it with the turmaline, a view rejected by most scholars.

Onyx, Heb. snri Sept. <i'T'X«»'; Vulg. lapis onychi- nus; the eleventh stone of the breastplate in the Hebrew