TH1U GEMS, JEWELS, COINS, AND MEDAL ANCIENT AND MODERN. ARCHIBALD BILLING, M.D., A.M., P.K. FRLLOW OF THE ROYAL, UOLLKOK OK PIIYKXCIAXri ; MKMBKR 0V TIIH BENATK OK TUB UNIVEHBITY OF LONDON; HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBElt OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETIES OF FLORENCE, BUUSSBL8, DBEflDTCN, AND NEW YORK ; KOItMERLY PBOFEBBOR OF CLINICAL MEDIOFNE AND OF THE THEO11Y AND I'RACTTCK IN TIIIC SCHOOL OF MBDICINK, AND PHYHICIAN, OF TRD LONDON nOSPITAL ; EXAMINER IN MEDICINE IN THE UNIVERSITY OP LONDON; PRESIDENT OP THE HUNTEBIAN SOCIETY 5 VICK-PUESinENT OF THE BOYA.L MEDICAL AND CniBITRG-iaAL SOCIETY, F.R. OEOL. fi., ?.R. MIC. R., ETC. AUTHOH OF "FinsT rRiNCiPLrefl OF MEDICINE;" " PRACTICAL OBSKRVATIONB ON DISEASEfl OF THE LUNGS AND HEART, "ON THE TREATMENT OF ASIATIC CHOLERA," ETC. NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. LONDON : DALDY, ISBISTER, & CO, LUDGATE HILL ; J. MITCHELL, BOND STKEET. 1875. [The Right of Translation is reserved.] LONDON : PRINTED BY VIKTOR AND CO., CITY ROAD. THB AUTOTYPE ILLUSTRATIONS BY SPENCER, BAWYEB, BIED, AND CO., BATHBONB PLAOK. THE PHOTOGRAPHY BY F. COLKB, EUBTOtf ROAD. RAMAN RE8EAR8H WtTITtfTE BANGALORE A*, TO THE QUEEN. bicafefc bjr permission:. A TREATISE on Groins naturally embraces tlie precious ston or jewels; for although the word "gem" has been for u< conventionally applied to stones with some subject or dcv engraved upon them, such as the ring-stones alluded to ILncenas, one of the first connoisseur gem-collectors oil rcco in his epistle to Horace,* the Romans had no name for jewel but yemwri ; t nor jeweller, except ycnnnarins. 1 Itomans of the present day, however, apply the word <jl c to jewel, as in the pretty Italian ballad, where it is u. figuratively : " Ikmedetta sialu madro, chi te focn coai Imlhi; * + ** + soi la &c. Tu f/itn'n mia," J ; * "Lncfutos, inea vita, uoc IJeullos inilii, Placce, noc nitonto.s, Nee percandida margarita quajro, Nee qiios Thynica lima perpolivit Anellos, noquo jaspios lapillos," " tliat is, sc.al- rings and jasper pebblew, poli*h(id by tlio Thyntuii fil< boaidos tho jewuls which he hud previously eiiuineral<jd. " " t Won gominis, ncque purpuia venale noc auro l< not to be purchased by jewels or gold." " bloat be the mother who made ihrw so ] Oh, ******pretty ; Tuoii art. my own j<iw*4,' &<;. ART. V> TOETKY, MUSIC, AND as with and the lyric poet Moore writes gem synonymous jewel : 111 Rich and rare were the gems she wore." and ennoble the soul ; Poetry, music, and the fine arts cheer the nations and individuals who excelled in them are immor- talised in the traditions and memorials of mankind, from the " time of Homer until now. David, the man after God's own and heart," poured forth strains of harmonious melody poetry in the united, which are perpetuated to the present day peals of the oratorio. The Caucasian race of Greeks, combining in themselves the turn held highest union of beauty and intelligence, in their sway, and perfected the rudiments of art which they found in and Assyria, India, and Egypt, corrupted by luxury, vice, fallen, idolatry, but still exquisitely beautiful. Even when conquered by the overwhelming force of Borne, the Greeks* remained the arbiters of elegance, until Rome rivalled its teacher in refinement, and became so imbued with taste and skill, that Italy is still the alma mater of the fine arts, and the source of gems. At almost all times the gem-engravers have cut devices on precious stones amethyst, emerald, garnet, sapphire, ruby, ant" even diamond so in as are al ; that, fact, jewels gems, though gems are not jewels, we must treat of them together. Besides the beautiful and interesting statues, such as th( Apollo Belvedere, and others, copied from the human figure which is the most beautiful thing in nature, as being madt after "God's own image and likeness" (Genesis i. 26), w< know that the ancient sculptors exercised exquisite skill, taste and care in the execution of basso relievo and alto relievo, a; evinced in the Elgin and Phigalian marbles, and variou; * " Grseciacapta ferum captorem cepit, et artes Intulit agresti Latio." HORACE, Ep. 11. i. SCULPTURE HAS KKLIEF. o 1 and 2 of in the (I ) frieze* (2' ) public buildings, and numerous 3 and subjects sculptured on iomls, sarcophagi (I3 ), 4 ri /Y/.SV.S- 5 also the fiiie reliefs in (4 , ) ; bas executed bronze, some of them upon various pieces of armour, such as those discovered near the river Liris, in Campania, and presented to the British Museum by the Chevalier Bronsted : there are two of them, " which were one on each side of the breastplate of a cuirass, about six inches : is high (6) a cameo by Pistrucci, which gives an exact representation of one of them. Bus relief, then, has been always estimated as a beautiful and effective branch of sculpture, from the earliest periods down to Thorwald- 7 sen Can ova 8 and Plaxman and this (7 ), (8 ), (0) ; applies 14 lc to the bas reliefs called lfi equally gems, cameos (14 and ), 10 and the impressions produced from intaglios or seals (10 and II 11 ). The intaglio and cameo gems are executed in stones much harder than marble, and highly valued, both for the beauty of the workmanship and the quality of the carnelian, sardonyx, * N.B. Tho figures in the plates arc uniformly (unless specif iod as of otherwise) the same size as the gem, coin, medal, or other objocf. represented. Tho larger figures refer to the plates, and tho smaller to the notes. 1 Elgin metop, the figures of which are about four foet high. 2 Elgin frieze figures, about three foot three inches high. 3 Bas relief, on marble sarcophagus, British Museum. Pour feet long ; eighteen inches high. Achilles discovered amongst tho daughters of Lycomedes. 4 Marble vase, British Museum. Three feet high. > Portland (or Barberini) vase, British Museum. IVn inches high. 7 to marble baa roliof tho Cupid restoring Psycho life, ; figures two foot high; by Thorwaldson. * The of Vulcan of forge ; figures Venus, Mars, and Cupid, an intaglio, from the marble bas relief by Canova. 9 Mercury conveying Pandora to oarth, designed by Flaxman. 11 Laocoon, a cameo, sardonyx, by a Boman artist. 10 Parting of Hector and Andromache, cameo, sardonyx, by Giroinotti. 10 Impression of an intaglio, Laocoon, by a Roman engraver. 11 Impression of an intaglio, Hector and Andromache, by Pichlor. 4 GEMS COINS IXTAGLJO. sard, amethyst, emerald, or other stones upon which they r are of engraved, and which often high price. These ge: stones are all so hard as to require diamond to cut them,- hencc the Italian epithet, pictra dura. Inasmuch as every <Uc used for coining is an intaglio, the is an intimate connection hetween the execution of gems a of coins and medals the ; thus, two most celehrated ge: engravers in the early part of this century, Girometti a Pistrucci, were at the head of the die department of the m: Girometti in Borne, and Pistrucci in London. And so eai as the "archaic Greek' 1 period, three or four hundred ye; before Christ, there is some evidence that at least one c graver, Phrygyllus, executed hoth coins and gems. Be venuto the Cellini, immortal statuary, gemmist, Jewell chaser, and medallist, was chief engraver in the mint of PC Clement VII. The of heauty jetcch consists in the material, that of ge in the essentially workmanship of the sculptor. The ge engraver, if he has not gone through the studies and traini of a in sculptor, drawing and modelling from life, can more succeed in executing good gems which are, in fa Mwtafurc than a sculpiurc miniature-painter, or any paint can works of produce merit, if he has not practised drawi the of superficial anatomy the living human figure, equa to and and it is the necessary sculptor painter ; deficiency this of education part which has caused much imperfection some miniature works of painting and sculpture. The beat of workmanship of most intaglios or seals cannot he estimai without the bas-relief but of th making impression ; many are in engraved fine transparent stones, which, when h. against the show of light, every part the design distinctly, and such are in gems displayed this manner on frames, in 1 museums of the as Continent, (16) and (17) which show 1 CYUNDliK SCAKABEUS. 5 appearance of intaglios on fine transparent carnelians held up to the light. The first intaglio seals used for making impressions were on the and in and on the under cylinders (18 19), Assyria ; aide of scarabs (20), or beetles, as (21 and 22) in Egypt. The cylinders, however, spread into Persia and Egypt, and the scarabs into 23 and Etruria and some Assyria (23 ), Greece, ; light is thrown on the obscure history of the Etruscans by the investigation of the gems found in that country. The scarabei were, apparently, in as common use with them as with the Egyptians, which was not the case with any other nations, though many scarabei have been found in Assyria, Phoenicia, and the Grecian coasts, whose inhabitants traded with the Egyptians. This circumstance, added to the mode of interment used by the Etruscans, their pottery, and the forms painted on their vases, seem to indicate an Egyptian, origin. Expatriated " 3 Shepherds/ or some emigration from Egypt to Etruria, may have been the connecting link. The cylinders are of various sizes, from less than one inch to two or more, and the thickness or diameter about half of the length : they are not always perfectly cylindrical, being on the sides and sometimes convex, sometimes concave, ; they are perforated by a hole passing from end to end, the bore being wide enough to admit a thick cord, or ribbon, so that they could be worn on the wrist or neck : they are engraved various a of as with devices, sometimes group figures, (18-24) ; a as the of which are sometimes single one, (19) ; impressions made by rolling them along over wet clay, wax, or other im- pressible substance (24).