of the Arabian deer, was a charm
that could cure the plague. In the nests of Arabian birds was the
aspilates, that, according to Democritus, kept the wearer from any
danger by fire.

The King of Ceilan rode through his city with a large ruby in his hand,
at the ceremony of his coronation. The gates of the palace of John the
Priest were "made of sardius, with the horn of the horned snake
inwrought, so that no man might bring poison within." Over the gable
were "two golden apples, in which were two carbuncles," so that the gold
might shine by day, and the carbuncles by night. In Lodge's strange
romance "A Margarite of America" it was stated that in the chamber of
the queen one could behold "all the chaste ladies of the world, inchased
out of silver, looking through fair mirrours of chrysolites, carbuncles,
sapphires, and greene emeraults." Marco Polo had seen the inhabitants of
Zipangu place rose-coloured pearls in the mouths of the dead. A
sea-monster had been enamoured of the pearl that the diver brought to
King Perozes, and had slain the thief, and mourned for seven moons over
its loss. When the Huns lured the king into the great pit, he flung it
away--Procopius tells the story--nor was it ever found again, though the
Emperor Anastasius offered five hundred-weight of gold pieces for it.
The King of Malabar had shown to a certain Venetian a rosary of three
hundred and four pearls, one for every god that he worshipped.

When the Duke de Valentinois, son of Alexander VI., visited Louis XII.
of France, his horse was loaded with gold leaves, according to Brantome,
and his cap had double rows of rubles that threw out a great light.
Charles of England had ridden in stirrups hung with four hundred and
twenty-one diamonds. Richard II. had a coat, valued at thirty thousand
marks, which was covered with balas rubies. Hall described Henry VIII.,
on his way to the Tower previous to his coronation, as wearing "a jacket
of raised gold, the placard embroidered with diamonds and other rich
stones, and a great bauderike about his neck of large balasses." The
favourites of James I. wore earrings of emeralds set in gold filigrane.
Edward II. gave to Piers Gaveston a suit of red-gold armour studded with
jacinths, a collar of gold roses set with turquoise-stones, and a
skull-cap _parseme_ with pearls. Henry II. wore jewelled gloves
reaching to the elbow, and had a hawk-glove sewn with twelve rubies and
fifty-two great orients. The ducal ha