The Amethyst- Oriental

The oriental amethyst is a rare substance of magnificent lustre, and of a violet colour slightly tinted with red.

The amethyst was the ninth stone in the breast-plate of Aaron; and in modern times it is the sacred stone which ornaments the cross and the pastoral ring of Catholic bishops.

In the inventory of the crown jewels of France, 1791, three superb oriental amethysts are mentioned, one of which weighed 13 8/16 carats, and was valued at $1116.

But the greater part of the amethysts of commerce are occidental amethysts. As their composition and value have nothing in common with the oriental amethyst they will be described elsewhere.

Ancient engravings upon amethyst are numerous. That which has been chosen as an example (Fig. 63) represents Antonia, the daughter of Mark Antony, and the wife of Drusus, a beautiful princess, who, to use the touching language of Lenormant, "embodied in herself all the glory and the sorrow of her time." She is represented as the goddess Ceres, and carries a horn of plenty. In the National Library of France there is a magnificent work in amethyst, a profile (supposed to be Maecenas at an advanced age) engraved by Dioscorides, one of the four celebrated engravers mentioned by Pliny.