fire in the stone, and partly, perhaps, to the occasional observation
of the phenomena of phosphorescence or fluorescence in certain
precious stones.

It will have been seen that the text of Shakespeare's plays gives no
evidence tending to show any greater familiarity with precious stones
than could be gathered from the poetry of his day, and from his
intercourse with classical scholars, such as Francis Bacon, Ben
Jonson, and others of those who formed the unique assemblage wont to
meet together at the old Mermaid Tavern in London. That a diamond
could cost 2000 ducats ($5000), a very large sum in Shakespeare's
time, is noted in one of his earliest plays, the _Merchant of Venice_
(Act iii, sc. 1), and the following injunction emphasizes the great
value of a fine diamond:


Set this diamond safe
In golden palaces, as it becomes.
_I Henry VI_, Act v, sc. 3.
"Histories", p. 116, col. B, line 54.


In _Pericles_ we read (Act iii, sc. 2):


The diamonds of a most praisèd water
Do appear, to make the world twice rich.
Third Folio, 1664, p. 7, col. B, line 38;
separate pagination.