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Python High Performance
Programming

Boost the performance of your Python programs

using advanced techniques

Gabriele Lanaro

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Python High Performance Programming

Copyright © 2013 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
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Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
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However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: December 2013

Production Reference: 1171213

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-78328-845-8

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Cover Image by Gagandeep Sharma (er.gagansharma@gmail.com)

 Credits

Author Project Coordinator

Gabriele Lanaro Sherin Padayatty

Reviewers Proofreader
Daniel Arbuckle Linda Morris
Mike Driscoll
Albert Lukaszewski Indexer
Rekha Nair

Acquisition Editors
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 About the Author

Gabriele Lanaro is a PhD student in Chemistry at the University of British

Columbia, in the field of Molecular Simulation. He writes high performance
Python code to analyze chemical systems in large-scale simulations. He is the
creator of Chemlab—a high performance visualization software in Python—and
emacs-for-python—a collection of emacs extensions that facilitate working with
Python code in the emacs text editor. This book builds on his experience in
writing scientific Python code for his research and personal projects.

I want to thank my parents for their huge, unconditional love and

support. My gratitude cannot be expressed by words but I hope
that I made them proud of me with this project.

I would also thank the Python community for producing and

maintaining a massive quantity of high-quality resources made
available for free. Their extraordinary supportive and compassionate
attitude really fed my passion for this amazing technology.

A special thanks goes to Hessam Mehr for reviewing my drafts,

testing the code and providing extremely valuable feedback. I would
also like to thank my roommate Kaveh for being such an awesome
friend and Na for bringing me chocolate bars during rough times.
 About the Reviewers

Dr. Daniel Arbuckle is a published researcher in the fields of robotics and

nanotechnology, as well as a professional Python programmer. He is the author
of Python Testing: Beginner's Guide from Packt Publishing and one of the authors
of Morphogenetic Engineering from Springer-Verlag.

Mike Driscoll has been programming in Python since Spring 2006. He enjoys
writing about Python on his blog at http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/.
Mike also occasionally writes for the Python Software Foundation, i-Programmer,
and Developer Zone. He enjoys photography and reading a good book. Mike has
also been a technical reviewer for Python 3 Object Oriented Programming, Python
2.6 Graphics Cookbook, and Tkinter GUI Application Development Hotshot.

I would like to thank my beautiful wife, Evangeline, for always

supporting me. I would also like to thank friends and family for
all that they do to help me. And I would like to thank Jesus Christ
for saving me.

Albert Lukaszewski is a software consultant and the author of MySQL for

Python. He has programmed computers for nearly 30 years. He specializes in
high-performance Python implementations of network and database services.
He has designed and developed Python solutions for a wide array of industries
including media, mobile, publishing, and cinema. He lives with his family in
southeast Scotland.
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 Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: Benchmarking and Profiling 7
Designing your application 7
Writing tests and benchmarks 13
Timing your benchmark 15
Finding bottlenecks with cProfile 17
Profile line by line with line_profiler 21
Optimizing our code 23
The dis module 25
Profiling memory usage with memory_profiler 26
Performance tuning tips for pure Python code 28
Summary 30
Chapter 2: Fast Array Operations with NumPy 31
Getting started with NumPy 31
Creating arrays 32
Accessing arrays 34
Broadcasting 37
Mathematical operations 40
Calculating the Norm 41
Rewriting the particle simulator in NumPy 41
Reaching optimal performance with numexpr 45
Summary 47
Table of Contents

Chapter 3: C Performance with Cython 49

Compiling Cython extensions 49
Adding static types 52
Variables 52
Functions 54
Classes 55
Sharing declarations 56
Working with arrays 58
C arrays and pointers 58
NumPy arrays 60
Typed memoryviews 61
Particle simulator in Cython 63
Profiling Cython 67
Summary 70
Chapter 4: Parallel Processing 71
Introduction to parallel programming 72
The multiprocessing module 74
The Process and Pool classes 74
Monte Carlo approximation of pi 77
Synchronization and locks 80
IPython parallel 82
Direct interface 83
Task-based interface 87
Parallel Cython with OpenMP 88
Summary 91
Index 93

[ ii ]
 Preface
Python is a programming language renowned for its simplicity, elegance, and
the support of an outstanding community. Thanks to the impressive amount
of high-quality third-party libraries, Python is used in many domains.

Low-level languages such as C, C++, and Fortran are usually preferred in

performance-critical applications. Programs written in those languages
perform extremely well, but are hard to write and maintain.

Python is an easier language to deal with and it can be used to quickly write
complex applications. Thanks to its tight integration with C, Python is able to
avoid the performance drop associated with dynamic languages. You can use
blazing fast C extensions for performance-critical code and retain all the
convenience of Python for the rest of your application.

In this book, you will learn, in a step-by-step method how to find and speedup
the slow parts of your programs using basic and advanced techniques.

The style of the book is practical; every concept is explained and illustrated with
examples. This book also addresses common mistakes and teaches how to avoid
them. The tools used in this book are quite popular and battle-tested; you can be
sure that they will stay relevant and well-supported in the future.

This book starts from the basics and builds on them, therefore, I suggest you
to move through the chapters in order.

And don't forget to have fun!

Preface

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Benchmarking and Profiling shows you how to find the parts of your
program that need optimization. We will use tools for different use cases and
explain how to analyze and interpret profiling statistics.

Chapter 2, Fast Array Operations with NumPy is a guide to the NumPy package.
NumPy is a framework for array calculations in Python. It comes with a clean
and concise API, and efficient array operations.

Chapter 3, C Performance with Cython is a tutorial on Cython: a language that acts

as a bridge between Python and C. Cython can be used to write code using a
superset of the Python syntax and to compile it to obtain efficient C extensions.

Chapter 4, Parallel Processing is an introduction to parallel programming. In

this chapter, you will learn how parallel programming is different from serial
programming and how to parallelize simple problems. We will also explain
how to use multiprocessing, IPython.parallel and cython.parallel to
write code for multiple cores.

What you need for this book

This book requires a Python installation. The examples work for both Python 2.7
and Python 3.3 unless indicated otherwise.

In this book, we will make use of some popular Python packages:

• NumPy (Version 1.7.1 or later): This package is downloadable from the

official website (http://www.scipy.org/scipylib/download.html)
and available in most of the Linux distributions
• Cython (Version 0.19.1 or later): Installation instructions are present in the
official website (http://docs.cython.org/src/quickstart/install.
html); notice that you also need a C compiler, such as GCC (GNU Compiler
Collection), to compile your C extensions
• IPython (Version 0.13.2 or later): Installation instructions are present in the
official website (http://ipython.org/install.html)

The book was written and tested on Ubuntu 13.10. The examples will likely run on
Mac OS X with little or no changes.

My suggestion for Windows users is to install the Anaconda Python distribution

(https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/), which comes with a complete
environment suitable for scientific programming.

[2]
 Preface

A convenient alternative is to use the free service wakari.io: a cloud-based Linux

and Python environment that includes the required packages with their tools and
utilities. No setup is required.

In Chapter 1, Benchmarking and Profiling, we will use KCachegrind (http://

sourceforge.net/projects/kcachegrind/), which is available for Linux.
KCachegrind has also a port for Windows—QcacheGrind—which is also installable
from source on Mac OS X.

Who this book is for

This book is for intermediate to advanced Python programmers who develop
performance-critical applications. As most of the examples are taken from scientific
applications, the book is a perfect match for scientists and engineers looking to
speed up their numerical codes.

However, the scope of this book is broad and the concepts can be applied to any
domain. Since the book addresses both basic and advanced topics, it contains
useful information for programmers with different Python proficiency levels.

Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between
different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an
explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions,
pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows:
"The plot function included in matplotlib can display our particles as points
on a Cartesian grid and the FuncAnimation class can animate the evolution of
our particles over time."

A block of code is set as follows:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation

def visualize(simulator):

X = [p.x for p in simulator.particles]

Y = [p.y for p in simulator.particles]

[3]
Preface

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the
relevant lines or items are set in bold:
In [1]: import purepy
In [2]: %timeit purepy.loop()
100 loops, best of 3: 8.26 ms per loop
In [3]: %timeit purepy.comprehension()
100 loops, best of 3: 5.39 ms per loop
In [4]: %timeit purepy.generator()
100 loops, best of 3: 5.07 ms per loop

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

$ time python simul.py # Performance Tuned
real 0m0.756s
user 0m0.714s
sys 0m0.036s

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the
screen, in menus or dialog boxes, for example, appear in the text like this: "You
can navigate to the Call Graph or the Caller Map tabs by double-clicking on the
rectangles."

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about
this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for
us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to feedback@packtpub.com,

and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing
or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

[4]
 Preface

Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to
help you to get the most from your purchase.

Downloading the example code

You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased
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[5]
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
 The ancient Britons had them. That these rings were used for
money, is confirmed by the fact that, on being weighed, by far the
greater number of them appear to be exact multiples of a certain
standard unit. Layard mentions[5] that Dr. Lepsius has recently
published a bas relief, from an Egyptian tomb, representing a man
weighing rings of gold and silver, with weights in the form of a bull’s
head; and Layard also gives a seeming outline of the subject,
(although its description speaks of “weights in the form of a seated
lion.”) It is presumed that these rings are intended for ring-money;
the fact of weighing them strengthens this idea; and see Wilkinson’s
Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, (revised,) ii. 148-9.

§ 4. We not only find rings in the most ancient times, but we also
trace them in mythology.
Fish, in antediluvian period, were intelligent, had fine musical
perception and were even affectionate. Thus, in relation to Theseus,
the Athenian prince: Minos happened to load Theseus with
reproaches, especially on account of his birth; and told him, that, if
he were the son of Neptune, he would have no difficulty in going to
the bottom of the sea; and then threw a ring in to banter him. The
Athenian prince plunged in, and might have been food for fishes,
had they not, in the shape of dolphins, taken him upon their backs,
as they had done Arion, and conveyed him to the palace of
Amphitrite.[6] It is not said whether she, as Neptune’s wife, had a
right to the jetsam, flotsam, and lagan, to the sweepings or stray
jewelry of the ocean; but she was able to hand Theseus the ring,
and also to give him a crown, which he presented to the ill-used lady
Ariadne, and it was afterwards placed among the stars.
And, coupled with mythology, we have, according to the ancients,
the origin of the ring. Jupiter, from revenge, caused Strength, Force
and Vulcan to chain his cousin-german Prometheus to the frosty
Caucasus, where a vulture, all the livelong day, banqueted his fill on
the black viands of his hot liver. The god had sworn to keep
Prometheus there (according to Hesiod[7]) eternally; but other
authors give only thirty thousand years as the limit. He who had
punished did, for reasons, forgive; but as Jupiter had sworn to keep
Prometheus bound for the space of time mentioned, he, in order not
to violate his oath, commanded that Prometheus should always wear
upon his finger an iron ring, to or in which should be fastened a
small fragment of Caucasus, so that it might be true, in a certain
sense, that Prometheus still continued bound to that rock. Thus, as
we have said, came the idea of the first ring, and, we may add, the
insertion of a stone.[8]
While some writers, under this story, connect Prometheus with the
first ring, Pliny still says that the inventor of it is not known, and
observes that it was used by the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians
and Greeks, although, as he thinks, the latter were unacquainted
with it at the time of the Trojan war, as Homer does not mention it.
[9]

It has however been said that Dschemid, who made known the
solar year, introduced the use of the ring.[10]
Touching Pliny’s notion of the antiquity of rings, there is, in
Southey’s “Commonplace Book,” (second series,[11]) the following
quotation from “Treasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times,” (1619:)
“But the good olde man Plinie cannot overreach us with his idle
arguments and conjectures, for we read in Genesis that Joseph, who
lived above five hundred yeares before the warres of Troy, having
expounded the dreame of Pharaoh, king of Ægypt, was, by the
sayde prince, made superintendent over his kingdom, and for his
safer possession in that estate, he took off his ring from his hand
and put it upon Joseph’s hand.” ... “In Moses’s time, which was more
than foure hundred yeares before Troy warres, wee find rings to be
then in use; for we reade that they were comprehended in the
ornaments which Aaron the high priest should weare, and they of his
posteritie afterward, as also it was avouched by Josephus. Whereby
appeareth plainly, that the use of rings was much more ancient than
Plinie reporteth them in his conjectures: but as he was a Pagan, and
ignorant in sacred writings, so it is no marvell if these things went
beyond his knowledge.”
It is pretended that seal-rings were an invention of the
Lacedemonians, who, not content with locking their coffers, added a
seal; for which purpose they made use of worm-eaten wood, with
which they impressed wax or soft wood; and after this they learned
to engrave seals.[12]

§ 5. Cylinders, squares and pyramids were forms used for seals

prior to the adoption of ring-seals.[13] These settled with the Greeks
into the scarabæus or beetle, that is to say, a stone something like
the half of a walnut, with its convexity wrought into the form of a
beetle, while the flat under surface contained the inscription for the
seal. The Greeks retained this derivable form until they thought of
dispensing with the body of the beetle, only preserving for the
inscription the flat oval which the base presented, and which they
ultimately set in rings. This shows how ring-seals came into form.
Many of the Egyptian and other ring-seals are on swivel, and we are
of opinion that the idea of this convenient form originated with the
perforated cylindrical and other seals, which were, with a string
passed through them, worn around the neck or from the wrist.[14]
The sculpture of signets was, probably, the first use of gem
engraving, and this was derived from the common source of all the
arts, India.[15] Signets of lapis lazuli and emerald have been found
with Sanscrit inscriptions, presumed to be of an antiquity beyond all
record. The natural transmission of the arts was from India to Egypt,
and our collections abound with intaglio and cameo hieroglyphics,
figures of Isis, Osiris, the lotus, the crocodile, and the whole
symbolic Egyptian mythology wrought upon jaspers, emeralds,
basalts, bloodstones, turquoises; etc. Mechanical skill attained a
great excellence at an early period. The stones of the Jewish high-
priests’ breast-plate were engraved with the names of the twelve
tribes, and of those stones one was a diamond(?). The Greek gems
generally exhibit the figure nude; the Romans, draped. The Greeks
were chiefly intaglios.
It is generally understood that the ancients greatly excelled the
moderns in gem engraving, and that the art has never been carried
to the highest perfection in modern times. Mr. Henry Weigall,
however, states that “this supposition is erroneous, and has probably
arisen from the fact of travellers supposing that the collections of
gems and impressions that they have made in Italy are exclusively
the works of Italian artists; such, however, is not the case, and I
have myself had the satisfaction of pointing out to many such
collectors, that the most admired specimens in their collections were
the works of English artists.”[16]

§ 6. Rings have been discovered in the cinerary urns of the

Greeks. These could hardly have got there through the fire which
consumed the body, for vessels still containing aromatic liquids have
also been discovered in the urns. It is very possible they were tokens
of affection deposited by relations and friends. Such remembrances
(as we shall see) are found in the graves of early Roman Christians.
The idea that rings in Roman urns were secretly and piously
placed there, is strengthened by the fact that it was contrary to the
laws of Rome to bury gold with the dead.[17] There was one
exception to this rule, which appears odd enough to readers of the
nineteenth century, namely, a clause which permitted the burial of
such gold as fastened false teeth in the mouth of the deceased, thus
sparing the children and friends of the dead the painful task of
pulling from their heads the artificial teeth which they had been
accustomed to wear. It seems strange to find that these expedients
of vanity or convenience were practised in Rome nearly two
thousand years ago.
Maffei[18] gives a description and enlarged illustration of a gold
ring bearing a cornelian, whereon is cut the story of Bellerophon
upon his winged horse, about to attack the chimera; and also a
small but exquisite urn of porphyry, which contained funeral ashes
and this ring. These were found in the garden of Pallas, freed man
of Claudius; and Maffei reasonably makes out that the ring had
belonged to him. Bellerophon is said to have been a native of
Corinth, and Pallas was from that city. Nero became emperor mainly
through Pallas, and yet he sacrificed the latter to be master of his
great riches. These relics thus possess much interest. Although a
freed man, merely as such, had no right to wear a gold ring, yet
Pallas gained the office of Prætor, and so was entitled to one. (In
Plutarch’s Galba, the freed man of the latter was honored with the
privilege of wearing the gold ring for bringing news of the revolt
against Nero.)

§ 7. In the unpleasant story of Judah and Tamar, we see that the

former left in pledge with the latter his signet.[19] This, most likely,
was in the shape of a ring, although such signets were often worn
from the wrist: for, in this case, he also pledged his bracelets.
 In the Scriptures, the signet ring is frequently named; and Quintus
Curtius tells us that Alexander wore one. After his fatal debauch, and
finding himself past recovery, and his voice beginning to fail, he gave
his ring to his general, Perdiccas, with orders to convey his corpse to
the temple of Ammon. Being asked to whom he would leave his
empire, he answered, “To the most worthy.”[20]

§ 8. The ring was generally the emblem of fidelity in civil

engagements; and hence, no doubt, its ancient use in many
functions and distinctions.[21] A ring denoted eternity among the
Hindoos, Persians and Egyptians; and Brahma, as the creator of the
world, bears a ring in his hand. The Egyptian priests in the temple of
the creative Phtha (Vulcan of the Greeks) represented the year
under the form of a ring, made of a serpent having its tail in its
mouth—a very common shape of ancient rings. Although Jupiter is
often figured with attributes of mighty power, yet he is seldom
coupled with a mark of eternity. There is, however, a gem (an aqua-
marine, engraved in hollow) of this deity holding a ring as the
emblem of eternity.[22]
Pythagoras forbade the use of the figures of gods upon rings, lest,
from seeing their images too frequently, it should breed a contempt
for them.[23]
It has been attempted to connect with a ring the consecration of a
circle, as emblematical of the Deity. Over the door of a Norman
church at Beckford, in Gloucestershire, England, is a rude bas-relief,
representing the holy cross between the four beasts, used as
symbols of the Evangelists. The “human form divine” appears to
have been beyond the sculptor’s power; he has made a ring. The
others are an eagle, lion, and bull.[24]

§ 9. The Romans distinguished their rings by names taken from

their use, as we do.[25] The excessive luxury shown in the number
worn, and the value of gems and costly engraved stones in them,
 and the custom of wearing
lighter rings in summer and
heavier in winter, are among the
most absurd instances of Roman
effeminacy, (as we shall
hereafter more particularly
show.)[26] The case in which
they kept their rings was called
Dactylotheca. No ornament was
more generally worn among the
Romans than rings. This custom
appears to have been borrowed
from the Sabines.[27] They laid
them aside at night, as well as
when they bathed or were in
mourning, as did suppliants.
However, in times of sorrow,
they rather changed than
entirely put them aside; they
then used iron ones, taking off
the gold rings.[28] It was a proof
of the greatest poverty, when any one was obliged to pledge his ring
to live. Rings were given by those who agreed to club for an
entertainment. They were usually pulled off from the fingers of dying
persons; but they seem to have been sometimes put on again before
the dead body was buried.
There is no sign of the ring upon Roman statues before those of
Numa and Servius Tullius. The rings were worn to be taken off or
put on according to festivals, upon the statues of deities and heroes,
and upon some of the emperors, with the Lituus ensculped, to show
that they were sovereign pontiffs.
This lituus is a crooked staff; and the Roman priests are
represented with it in their hands. They, as augurs, used it in
squaring the heavens when observing the flight of birds. It is traced
to the time of Romulus, who being skilled in divination, bore the
lituus; and it was called lituus quirinalis, from Quirinus, a name of
Romulus. It was kept in the Capitol, but lost when Rome was taken
by the Gauls; afterwards, when the barbarians had quitted it, the
lituus was found buried deep in ashes, untouched by the fire, whilst
every thing about it was destroyed and consumed.[29] Emperors
appropriated to themselves the dignities of the office of high priest,
[30] and hence this priestly symbol upon their medals, coins and
signets. Although it is a common notion that the pastoral staff of the
Church of Rome is taken from the shepherd’s crook, it may be a
question whether it did not take its rise from the lituus?
Brave times those Roman times for lawyers—or patrons, as they
were called. Their clients were bound to give them the title of Rex;
escort them to the Forum and the Campus Martius; and not only to
make ordinary presents to them and their children or household,
but, on a birth-day, they received from them the birth-day ring. It
was worn only on that day.[31]
There were rings worn by flute-players, very brilliant and adorned
with a gem.
In the Sierra Elvira, in Spain, more than two hundred tombs and
an aqueduct were discovered. Several skeletons bore the rings of
Roman knights; and some of them had in their mouths the piece of
money destined to pay the ferryman Charon.[32] These skeletons
crumbled into dust as soon as they were touched. What a perfect
subject for a poem by Longfellow!
Roman stamps or large seals or brands have been found of quaint
shapes. Some of them are in the form of feet or shoes. Drawings of
them appear in Montfaucon. They were fashioned to mark casks and
other bulky articles. Caylus gives an illustration of a ring in the form
of a pair of shoes, or rather, the soles of shoes.[33]
Pliny observes that rings became so common at Rome, they were
given to all the divinities; and even to those of the people who had
 never worn any. Their divinities were
adorned with iron rings—movable rings,
which could be taken off or put on
according to festivals and circumstances.

§ 10. At Erpfingen in Germany,

remarkable stalactical caverns have been
discovered. Every where, and especially in
the lateral caves, human bones of
extraordinary size, with bones and teeth of
animals, now unknown, have been discovered, and there, with
pottery, rings were found.

§ 11. Rings were in use among the Gauls and Britons, but
seemingly for ornament only. They are often found in British
barrows. Anglo-Saxon rings were common.[34] William de Belmeis
gave certain lands to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and at the same time
directed that his gold ring set with a ruby should, together with the
seal, be affixed to the charter for ever. The same thing was done by
Osbart de Camera, he granting to St. Paul’s, in pure alms and for the
health of his soul, certain lands; giving possession by his gold ring,
wherein a ruby was set; and appointing that the same gold ring with
his seal should for ever be affixed to the charter whereby he
disposed of them.[35]
Anglo-Saxon kings gave rings to their wittenagemot and courtiers,
and they to their descendants.

§ 12. In metals the Anglo-Saxons worked with great skill. We read

of the gold cup in which Rowena drank to Vortigern. So early,
perhaps, as the seventh century, the English jewellers and
goldsmiths were eminent in their professions; and great quantities of
other trinkets were constantly exported to the European Continent.
Smiths and armorers were highly esteemed, and even the clergy
thought it no disgrace to handle tools.[36] St. Dunstan, in particular,
was celebrated as the best blacksmith, brazier, goldsmith and
engraver of his time. This accounts for the cleverness with which he
laid hold of the gentleman in black:

“St. Dunstan stood in his ivy’d tower,

Alembic, crucible, all were there;
When in came Nick to play him a trick,
In guise of a damsel, passing fair.
Every one knows
How the story goes:
He took up the tongs and caught hold of his nose.”[37]

§ 13. Ladies used seal-rings in the sixth century; but women of

rank had no large seals till towards the beginning of the twelfth.[38]

§ 14. There is scarcely a hard substance of which rings have not

been composed. All the metals have been brought into requisition.
First, iron; then, as in Rome, it was mingled with gold.
Conquerors wore iron rings until Caius Marius changed the
fashion. He had one when he triumphed over King Jugurtha.[39] And
while stones have lent their aid as garniture for metal, these too
have made the whole hoop.
We find rings of two stones; such were those which the Emperor
Valerianus gave to Claudius.
Near to the Pyramids, cornelian rings have been discovered. Rings
of glass and other vitreous material have been found. Emerald rings
were discovered at Pompeii, also glass used instead of gems. Some
made entirely of one stone, as of amber, have been obtained.[40]
With the Egyptians, bronze was seldom used in rings, though
frequently in signets. They were mostly of gold and this metal seems
to have been always preferred to silver.
Ivory and blue porcelain were the materials of which those worn
by the lower classes were made.[41]
 An ancient ring of jet has been dug up in England.
There were some rings of a single metal, and others of a mixture
of two;[42] for the iron, bronze and silver were frequently gilt, or, at
least, the gold part was fixed with the iron, as appears from
Artemidorus.[43] The Romans were contented with iron rings a long
time; and Pliny assures us that Marius first wore a gold one in his
third consulate. Sometimes the ring was iron, and the seal gold;
sometimes the stone was engraven, and sometimes plain; and the
engraving, at times, was raised, and also sunk. (The last were called
gemmæ ectypæ, the former gemmæ sculpturâ prominente.)
An incident, mentioned by Plutarch, shows how distinctive was a
gold ring.[44] When Cinna and Caius Marius were slaughtering the
citizens of Rome, the slaves of Cornutus hid their master in the
house and took a dead body out of the street from among the slain
and hanged it by the neck, then they put a gold ring upon the finger,
and showed the corse in that condition to Marius’s executioners;
after which they dressed it for the funeral, and buried it as their
master’s body.
The rings of the classical ancients were rather incrusted than set
in gold in our slight manner.[45]
The first mention of a Roman gold ring is in the year 432 U. C.;
but they, at last, were indiscriminately worn by the Romans. Three
bushels were gathered out of the spoils after Hannibal’s victory at
Cannæ.[46]
“Lovely soft pearls, the fanciful images of sad tears,” have been
used in rings from the time of the Latins. Cleopatra’s drinking off the
residuum of a pearl, worth three hundred and seventy-five thousand
dollars, aside from luxurious extravagance, seems to be somewhat
nasty; but we are inclined to believe that this fond queen had faith
in its supposed medicinal and talismanic properties:
 “—— Now I feed myself
With most delicious passion.”

Pliny, the Roman naturalist, gravely tells us that the oyster which
produces pearls, does so from feeding on heavenly dew. Drummond
thus translates him:

“With open shells in seas, on heavenly dew,

A shining oyster lusciously doth feed;
And then the birth of that ethereal seed
Shows, when conceived, if skies look dark or blue.”[47]

Early English writers entertained the same notion; and Boethius,

speaking of the pearl-mussel of the Scotch rivers, remarks, that
“These mussels, early in the morning, when the sky is clear and
temperate, open their mouths a little above the water and most
greedily swallow the dew of heaven; and after the measure and
quantity of the dew which they swallow, they conceive and breed
the pearl. These mussels,” he continues, “are so exceedingly quick of
touch and hearing, that, however faint the noise that may be made
on the bank beside them, or however small the stone that may be
thrown into the water, they sink at once to the bottom, knowing well
in what estimation the fruit of their womb is to all people.” In the
East, the belief is equally common that these precious gems are

“—— rain from the sky,

Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea.”

The ancient idea that pearls are generated of the dews of heaven,
is pretty conclusively met by Cardanus,[48] who says it is fabulous,
seeing that the shell fishes, in which they are conceived, have their
residence in the very bottom of the depth of the sea.
The charlatan Leoni de Spoleto prescribed the drink of dissolved
pearls for Lorenzo the Magnificent, when he was attacked by fever
aggravated by hereditary gout.[49]
 There was supposed to be a gem called a carbuncle, which
emitted, not reflected, but native light.[50] Our old literature abounds
with allusions to this miraculous gem. Shakspeare has made use of it
in Titus Andronicus, where Martius goes down into a pit, and, by it,
discovers the body of Lord Bassianus; and calls up to Quintus thus:
[51]

“Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here,

All on a heap, like to a slaughter’d lamb,
In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.
Quintus. If it be dark, how dost thou know ’tis he?
Martius. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear
A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,
Which, like a taper in some monument,
Doth shine upon the dead man’s earthy cheek,
And show the ragged entrails of this pit:
So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus,
When he by night lay bathed in maiden’s blood.”

Ludovicus Vartomannus, a Roman, reporteth that the king of Pege

(or Pegu), a city in India, had a carbuncle (ruby) of so great a
magnitude and splendor, that by the clear light of it he might, in a
dark place, be seen, even as if the room or place had been
illustrated by the sunbeams. St. or Bishop Epiphanius saith of this
gem, that if it be worn, whatever garments it be covered withal, it
cannot be hid.[52]
It was from a property of resembling a burning coal when held
against the sun that this stone obtained the name carbunculus;
which being afterwards misunderstood, there grew an opinion of its
having the qualities of a burning coal and shining in the dark. And as
no gem ever was or ever will be found endued with that quality, it
was supposed that the true carbuncle of the ancients was lost; but it
was long generally believed that there had been such a stone. The
species of carbuncle of the ancients which possessed this quality in
the greatest degree was the Garamantine or Carthaginian; and this
is the true garnet of the moderns.[53]
 Rings, with a death’s head upon them, were worn by improper
characters in the time of Elizabeth of England. This kind of ring is
referred to in Beaumont and Fletcher:

“—— I’ll keep it,

As they keep death’s head in rings:
To cry memento to me.”[54]

Although we meet with nothing to show the motive for wearing

such rings by the characters referred to, we are inclined to fancy the
desire was to carry the semblance of a widow and to let the ring
have the character of a mourning token. Lord Onslow, who lived in
the time of Elizabeth, bequeathed “a ring of gold with a death’s
head” to friends.[55]
Sir Isaac Newton was possessed of a small magnet set in a ring,
the weight of which was only three grains, but which supported, by
its attractive power on iron, seven hundred grains. It has been
observed that such instances are by no means common, although
the smallest magnets appear to have the greatest proportionate
power.[56]
Our own sailors, in the quiet weather of a voyage, will, with the
aid of a marlinspike, make exceedingly neat rings out of Spanish
silver or a copper coin.
Some of the Egyptian signets were of extraordinary size. Sir
Gardiner Wilkinson mentions an ancient Egyptian one which
contained about twenty pounds worth of gold. It consisted of a
massive ring, half an inch in its largest diameter, bearing an oblong
plinth, upon which the devices were engraved; on one face was the
successor of Amunoph III., who lived B. C. 1400; on the other a lion,
with the legend, “Lord of strength,” referring to the monarch; on the
other side a scorpion, and on the remaining one a crocodile.
In the work of Count Caylus, there is a vignette of a ring of
bronze, remarkable from its size and the subject upon it.[57] The
 collet or collar of the ring is an inch in
height, and eleven lines in thickness. The
figure upon it is an ox—or, as the author we
have referred to calls it, a cow, recumbent
and swaddled, or covered by draperies; and
it wears a collar, to which hangs, according
to this author, a bell. He considers that it
was made when the Romans wore them of
an excessive size, and while Gaul was under
the dominion of the former. He does not
give any guess at the intention or meaning
of the subject. We believe it was, originally,
Egyptian; and made in memory of the
sacred Bull Apis, (found in tombs,) honored
by the Egyptians as an image of the soul of Osiris and on the idea
that his soul migrated from one Apis to another in succession. And
as to what Caylus considers a bell, we are inclined to designate a
bag. In Dr. Abbott’s collection of Egyptian Antiquities are not only
mummies of these sacred bulls, but also the skulls of others, and
over the head of one is suspended a large bag, found in the pits
with the bulls, and supposed to be used to carry their food.
Addison, in observing upon the size of old Roman rings,[58] refers
to Juvenal, as thus translated by Dryden:

“Charged with light summer rings, his fingers sweat,

Unable to support a gem of weight.”

And he goes on to say, that this “was not anciently so great an

hyperbole as it is now, for I have seen old Roman rings so very
thick-about and with such large stones in them, that it is no wonder
a fop should reckon them a little cumbersome in the summer season
of so hot a climate.”
As a proof of the size to which Roman rings sometimes reached,
we here give an outline of one as it appears in Montfaucon.
 This ring bears the portrait of Trajan’s good queen Plotina. The
coiffure is remarkable and splendid, being composed of three rows
of precious stones cut in facets.
According to Pliny, devices were not put upon the metal of rings
until the reign of Claudius.
When a wealthy Egyptian had been embalmed and placed in a
superb case or coffin, with a diadem on his head and bracelets upon
his arms, rings of gold, ivory and engraved cornelian were placed
upon his fingers.[59]
Contrary to what might have been supposed, the British Museum
is not rich in rings. Through a dear friend, the author is able to give
drawings of a few of its treasures, and the following extract from a
letter: “They can trace none of their rings with any certainty. The
collection is not large, and has been bought at various times from
 other collections and private sources, which
could give no history, or, if attempted, none
that can be relied on. Mr. Franks, the
curator of this department, kindly made the
impressions I send of those he considered
most curious, and selected the others for
me.”
Here is one of those rings. It bears the
heads of Isis and Serapis. A similar ring
(perhaps the same) is figured in Caylus,[60]
who observes on the singularity of form and
the ingenuity attendant upon shaping it, while it is considered
extremely inconvenient to wear. It would, however, suit all fingers,
large or small, because it can be easily diminished or widened. The
two busts are placed at the extremities of the serpent which forms
the body of the ring contrariwise—if we may be allowed the
expression—so that whatever position or twist is given to the ring,
one of the two heads always presents itself in a natural position. The
ring given by Caylus was found in Egypt, but is said to be of Roman
workmanship and made when the former was under the dominion of
the Romans; and he hints that the heads may represent a Roman
emperor and empress under the forms of Isis and Jupiter Serapis,
adding, “I will not hazard any conjecture on the names that may be
given them. I will content myself with saying that the work is of a
good time and far removed from the lower empire; and I will add,
that the quantity of rings which were wrought for the Romans of all
the states may serve to explain the extraordinary forms which some
present to us.”
Here is another, from the British Museum, in which Isis and
Serapis appear, singularly placed. This ring is Romano-Egyptian, and
of bronze.
Here are two, Etruscan, from the same source, with an impression
from each.
 No. 1. No. 2.

They are both of gold, while No. 2 has a white stone which works
upon a swivel.
We add, in this portion of our book, another from
the British Museum. It is worked from Greek or
Etruscan gold, and was found in the Abruzzi.
Illustrations of some of the Egyptian seal-rings
contained in the British Museum, will be found in
Knight’s Pictorial Bible, at the end of the third chapter
of Esther.
Fashion and Fancy have given us rings of all
imaginable shapes, and these powers, joined with
Religion and Love, have traced upon them every supposable subject.
 Although modern rings seldom display
the exquisite cutting and artistic taste which
appear upon antiques, still the latter exhibit
sentimental phrases and sentiments similar
to such as are observed upon rings of the
present day. The Greeks were full of
gallantry. Time has preserved to us
incontestable proofs of the vows which they
made to mistresses and friends, as well as
of the trouble they took and the expense
they went to in order to perpetuate their
sentiments. Caylus,[61] who says this, gives
a drawing of a ring bearing the words KIPIA
KAAH, Beautiful Ciria; and adds, “This
inscription is simple but energetic; it
appears to me to suit the sentiment.” In
Montfaucon are several illustrations of Greek sentences upon rings,
which carry out what Caylus has observed; thus there are (rendered
into English), Good be with you, Madam. Good be with you, Sir.
Good be with him who wears you and all his household. Remember
it. Theanus is my light. Upon a ring bearing a hand which holds a
ring: Remember good fortune. There are, also, upon Roman rings,
sentiment and compliment in Latin sentences, as thus translated:
Live happy, my hostess. You have this pledge of love. Live in God.
Live. And Caylus[62] gives a description and drawing of a remarkably
formed gold ring; and although it bears Greek words, he leaves it in
doubt whether it is of Roman or Grecian workmanship. It has the
appearance of three rings united, widened in the front and tapering
within the hand. Upon the wide part of each are two letters, the
whole forming ZHCAIC, Mayest thou live. The Romans often
preferred the Greek language in their most familiar customs.
A ring of bronze has been discovered, in the form of a snake with
its tail in its mouth, made on the principle of some of our steel rings
which we use to hold household keys, widening their circle by
 pressure.[63] In the finger-ring, the part in
the mouth is inserted loose, so as to draw
out and increase to the size of the circle
needed.
Rings of gold are common in England at
the present day, made to form a strap with
buckles, precisely, in shape, a common belt
or collar. It lies flat like an ordinary leather strap, and is formed of
small pieces of gold which are kept so delicately together that the
lines of meeting are scarcely perceptible. This is accomplished by
having many minute and unseen hinges, which make the whole
pliable and allow it to be buckled (as a ring) upon the finger.

Nothing is new. One of the prettiest modern rings, used as a

remembrancer, has a socket for hair and a closing shutter. Roman
remains were found at Heronval in Normandy, and among them
were rings. One of these was almost of modern form, with a small
place under where the stone is usually fixed, into which hair might
be inserted.[64] We are constantly retracing the steps of antiquity.
A Roman gold ring of a triangular form has been discovered in
England, with an intaglio representing the story of Hercules
strangling the Nemean lion.[65] And also a ring that, while it was
remarkable for its thickness, had a whistle on one side, which was
useful in calling servants before the time of domestic bells.[66]
We shall find that there were rings in which poison was carried.
Wilkinson has discovered several Egyptian rings, where the subject
is made up of two cats sitting back to back, and looking round at
each other, with an emblem of the goddess Athor between them.
 We do not know why Athor, Venus, should be between these
sentinel cats. Had the symbol of Pasht, Diana, been there, the thing
would have been less difficult; for cats, like maids, “love the moon,”
and their guardian goddess was Pasht. Their attitude is more
watchful than sacred cats would be supposed to assume, and might
rather appear to apply to the species embalmed in Kilkenny history.
There is an Anglo-Saxon ring inscribed Ahlstan, Bishop of
Sherborne, which has the hoop of alternate lozenges and circles. It
has, also, a Saxon legend. Epigraphs in that language are extremely
rare. It has been supposed that Ahlstan had command of the Saxon
army.
In the catacombs of Rome, where the early Christians “wandered
about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented,”[67] where they stealthily prayed and lived and died, vast
quantities of signet and other rings have been discovered, as well as
medals, cameos and other precious stones. Signet rings of different
devices, as belonging to different owners, are in the catacombs
here; and this has raised the idea that they were deposited by
relatives and friends as the stone lid of the grave was about to be
shut,—offerings of love and affection.[68]
“What a picture,” exclaims a writer in the London Art Journal,[69]
“do these dark vaults display of the devotion, the zeal, the love of
those early Christian converts whose baptism was in blood! I picture
them to myself, stealing forth from the city in the gloomy twilight,
out towards the lonely Campagna, and disappearing one by one
through well-known apertures, threading their way through the dark
sinuous galleries to some altar, where life and light and spiritual
food, the soft chanting of the holy psalms and the greeting of
faithful brethren, waking the echoes, awaited them. The sight of
these early haunts of the persecuted and infant religion is
inexpressibly affecting; and I pity those, be they Protestant or
Catholic, who can visit these hallowed precincts without an
overwhelming emotion. How many martyrs, their bodies torn and
lacerated by the cruel beasts amid the infuriated roar of thousands
shrieking forth the cry of Christianos ad leonem! in the bloody
games of the Flavian amphitheatre, breathing their last sigh, calling
on the name of the Redeemer, have passed, borne by mourning
friends or by compassionate widows or virgins to their last dark
narrow home, along the very path I was now treading! How many
glorified saints, now singing the praises of the Eternal around the
great white throne in the seventh heaven of glory, may have been
laid to rest in these very apertures, lighted by a flickering taper like
that I held. But I must pause—this is an endless theme, endless as
the glory of those who hover in eternal light and ecstatic radiance
above; it is moreover a pæan I feel utterly unworthy to sing.”
We have received a drawing and impression of a ring
which is in the British Museum; and our opinion is that
it belonged to one of the early Christians. While the
ΧΑΙΡΩ, I rejoice, upon it, favors the idea, the
monogram (upon the signet part) confirms it. This is,
evidently, the name of Jesus in its earliest
monogrammatic form, made up of the letters Χ. and Ρ.
As commonly found on monuments in the catacombs
of Rome, it has a single cross with the Ρ. thus, ☧ while
in our illustration the cross is multiplied; and this is the
only difference. Surely such a memorial as this is more
likely to have been the ring of the lowly-minded
“fisherman,” than the one which is said to be framed
with diamonds and worn by the Pope. In Dr. Kip’s very interesting
work on the Catacombs of Rome, there is an illustration of a seal-
ring, upon which a like monogram appears, although somewhat
complicated.[70]
Near Cork, in Ireland, a silver ring was discovered, the hoop
whereof is composed of nine knobs or bosses, which may have
served instead of beads and been used by the wearer in the Catholic
counting of them. The antiquaries of Ireland have considered this
ring as very ancient.[71]
 In referring to Irish rings, it may be well to mention one which
was found in the county of Westmeath, with some very ancient
remains.[72] It is remarkable, from being set with many diamonds in
beautifully squared work. On account of the place where it was
discovered, a suggestion has been made that it may have belonged
to Rose Failge, Prince of Ireland, eldest son of Calhoir the Great,
who reigned A. D. 122, he being called the Hero of Rings. However,
diamonds do not appear to have been named among precious
stones at that early period.
The author is not aware that diamonds are often set loosely or
upon swivel in a ring. We have mention of one in the reign of James
I. of England. Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, (nicknamed by a
cotemporary “Robert the Devil,” and by James called his “little
Beagle,”) was dangerously ill at Bath; but on a report of his recovery,
the King sent purposely the Lord Hay to him, with a token, “which
was a fair diamond, set or rather hung square in a gold ring without
a foil”—and this message, “That the favor and affection he bore him
was and should be ever, as the form and matter of that, endless,
pure and most perfect.”[73] A writer, given to detraction, says that
this great statesman died of the disease of Herod, upon the top of a
mole-hill; and that his body burst the lead it was wrapped in. On his
tomb lies the skeleton of the Earl curiously carved. He seemed well
to weigh the glory of a courtier, for in writing to Sir John Harrington,
[74] he said: “Good Knight, rest content and give heed to one that
hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a Court, and gone heavily even
on the best seeming fair ground. ’Tis a great task to prove one’s
honesty and yet not spoil one’s fortune. You have tasted a little
hereof in our blessed Queen’s time, who was more than a man, and,
in truth, sometimes less than a woman. I wish I waited now in your
presence chamber, with ease at my food and rest in my bed. I am
pushed from the shore of comfort, and know not where the winds
and waves of a Court will bear me. I know it bringeth little comfort
on earth; and he is, I reckon, no wise man that looketh this way to
heaven.”
In the year one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-two, some citizens of California
presented President Pierce with a gigantic
ring. We here give an outline, and add a
description of it from Gleason’s Pictorial
Newspaper for the 25th of December, 1852.
 “It is already pretty widely known to the public generally, that a
number of citizens of San Francisco have caused to be manufactured
and forwarded to Gen. Pierce, a most valuable and unique present,
in the form of a massive gold ring, as a token of esteem for the
President elect. Of this ring our artist has herewith given us an
admirable representation. It is a massive gold ring, weighing
upwards of a full pound. This monster ring, for chasteness of design,
elegance of execution, and high style of finish, has, perhaps, no
equal in the world. The design is by Mr. George Blake, a mechanic of
San Francisco. The circular portion of the ring is cut into squares,
which stand at right angles with each other, and are embellished
each with a beautifully executed design, the entire group presenting
a pictorial history of California, from her primitive state down to her
present flourishing condition, under the flag of our Union.
 “Thus, there is given a grizzly bear in a menacing attitude, a deer
bounding down a slope, an enraged boa, a soaring eagle and a
salmon. Then we have the Indian with his bow and arrow, the
primitive weapon of self-defence; the native mountaineer on
horseback, and a Californian on horseback, throwing his lasso. Next
peeps out a Californian tent. Then you see a miner at work, with his
pick, the whole being shaded by two American flags, with the staves
crossed and groups of stars in the angles. The part of the ring
reserved for a seal is covered by a solid and deeply carved plate of
gold, bearing the arms of the State of California in the centre,
surmounted by the banner and stars of the United States, and
inscribed with ‘Frank Pierce,’ in old Roman characters. This lid opens
upon a hinge, and presents to view underneath a square box,
divided by bars of gold into nine separate compartments, each
containing a pure specimen of the varieties of ore found in the
country. Upon the inside is the following inscription: ‘Presented to
Franklin Pierce, the Fourteenth President of the United States.’ The
ring is valued at $2000. Our engraving gives a separate view of the
lid, so as to represent the appearance of the top of the ring both
when it is open and when it is closed. Altogether, it is a massive and
superb affair, rich in emblematical design and illustration, and worthy
its object.”
Rings appear to have been worn indiscriminately on the fingers of
each hand. It would seem, however, from Jeremiah, that the
Hebrews wore them on their right hand; we there read that when
the Lord threatened King Zedekiah with the utmost effects of his
anger, he told him: “Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck thee
thence.”[75]
Trimalchion wore two rings, one large and gilt, upon the little
finger of his right hand, and the other of gold, powdered with iron
stars, upon the middle of the ring finger.[76]
Among the Romans, before rings came to be adorned with stones,
and while the graving was yet on the metal itself, every one wore
them at pleasure on what hand and finger he pleased. When stones
came to be added, they had them altogether on the left hand; and it
would have been held an excess of foppery to have put them on the
right.
Pliny says, they were at first worn on the fourth finger, then on the
second or index, then on the little finger, and at last, on all the
fingers excepting the middle one.
Clemens Alexandrinus has it that men wore the ring on the
extremity of the little finger, so as to leave the hand more free.
According to Aulus Gellius,[77] both the Greeks and Romans wore
them on the fourth finger of the left hand; and the reason he gives
for it is this, that having found, from anatomy, that this finger had a
little nerve that went straight to the heart, they esteemed it the
most honorable by this communication with that noble part.
Macrobius quotes Atteius Capito, that the right hand was exempt
from this office, because it was much more used than the left, and,
therefore, the precious stones of the rings were liable to be broken,
and that the finger of the left hand was selected which was the least
employed.
Pliny says, the Gauls and ancient Britons wore the ring on the
middle finger.
At first, the Romans only used a single ring; then, one on each
finger, and, at length, as we gather from Martial,[78] several on
each. Afterwards, according to Aristophanes,[79] one on each joint.
Their foppery at length arose to such a pitch that they had their
weekly rings.
The beast Heliogabalus carried the point of using rings the
farthest, for, according to Lampridius, he never wore the same ring
or the same shoe twice.
Heliogabalus was a funny wretch:—he would frequently invite to
his banquets eight old men blind of one eye, eight bald, eight deaf,
eight lame with the gout, eight blacks, eight exceedingly thin, and
eight so fat that they could scarcely enter the room, and who, when
they had eaten as much as they desired, were obliged to be taken
out of the apartment on the shoulders of several soldiers.
Egyptian women wore many, and sometimes two or three on one
finger; but the left was considered the hand peculiarly privileged to
bear these ornaments; and it is remarkable that its third was
decorated with a greater number than any other and was considered
by them as the ring finger.[80] This notion, as we have observed, the
Grecians had.
The idea of wearing rings on the fourth finger of the left hand,
because of a supposed artery there which went to the heart, was
carried so far that, according to Levinus Lemnius, this finger was
called Medicus; and the old physicians would stir up their
medicaments and potions with it, because no venom could stick
upon the very outmost part of it but it will offend a man and
communicate itself to the heart.
With regard to the translation of rings from the right to the left
hand, it may be pleasing to refer to that charming old work,
Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors, by Browne:[81] he says,
“That hand [the left] being lesse employed, thereby they were best
preserved, and for the same reason they placed them on this finger,
for the thumbe was too active a finger and is commonly imployed
with either of the rest: the index or fore finger was too naked
whereto to commit their pretiosities, and hath the tuition of the
thumbe scarce unto the second joynt: the middle and little finger
they rejected as extreams, and too big or too little for their rings;
and of all chose out the fourth as being least used of any, as being
guarded on either side, and having in most this peculiar condition
that it cannot be extended alone and by itselfe, but will be
accompanied by some finger on either side.”
As to the Egyptians deriving a nerve from the heart in the fourth
finger of the left hand, the priests, from this notion, anointed the
same with precious oils before the altar. And Browne, in his Vulgar
Errors, says, “The Egyptians were weak anatomists, which were so
good embalmers.”[82]
In the General Epistle of St. James,[83] we have this: “For if there
come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel,
and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit
thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there or
sit here under my footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves and
are become judges of evil thoughts?” In an illustrated edition of the
New Testament, it is said, the expression “with a gold ring” might
very properly be rendered, “having his fingers adorned with gold
rings;” and that about the time referred to in the text, the wearing
of many rings had become a fashion, at least among the master
people, the Romans, from whom it was probably adopted by persons
of wealth and rank in the provinces. The custom is noticed by Arrian;
while Seneca, in describing the luxury and ostentation of the time,
says, “We adorn our fingers with rings, and a jewel is displayed on
every joint.” There is a newspaper anecdote of an eminent preacher
at Norwich, in England, which shows that he had the above verse
(from the Epistle of St. James) in mind when it occurred. His
Reverence made a sudden pause in his sermon; the congregation
were panic-struck. Having riveted their attention, he addressed
himself by name to a gentleman in the gallery. “Has that poor man
who stands at the back of your pew a gold ring on his finger?” The
gentleman turned round, and replied, “I believe not, sir.” “Oh, then, I
suppose that is the reason he must not have a seat.” The gentleman
had three gold rings on his hand; and his pew was nearly empty.
Here is another anecdote of a priest, in worse taste than the last.
Albert Pio, Prince of Caspi, was buried with extraordinary pomp in
the Church of the Cordeliers at Paris. He had been deprived of his
principality by the Duke of Ferrara, became an author, and finally a
fanatic. Entering one day into one of the churches at Madrid, he
presented holy water to a lady who had a very thin hand,
ornamented by a most beautiful and valuable ring. He exclaimed in a
loud voice as she reached the water, “Madam, I admire the ring
more than the hand.” The lady instantly exclaimed, with reference to
the cordon or rope with which he was decorated, “And for my part, I
admire the halter more than I do the ass.” He was buried in the
habit of a Cordelier; and Erasmus made a satire on the
circumstance, entitled the “Seraphic Interment.”
The Hebrew women wore a number of rings upon their fingers.[84]
Hippocrates, in treating of the decency of dress to be observed by
physicians, enjoins the use of rings. We have somewhere seen it
suggested, that the rings thus worn by physicians might have
contained aromatic water or preservative essence, in the same way
as their canes were supposed to do; and hence the action of putting
the heads or tops of the latter to their noses when consulting in a
sick-room.

§ 15. The author deems it as well to refer to the law, in relation to

rings. In common parlance, we consider precious stones to be
jewels; but rings of gold will pass by that word. In the time of Queen
Elizabeth, the Earl of Northumberland bequeathed by his will his
jewels to his wife, and died possessed of a collar of S’s, and of a
garter of gold, and of a button annexed to his bonnet, and also
many other buttons of gold and precious stones annexed to his
robes, and of many chains, bracelets and rings of gold and precious
stones.[85] The question was, whether all these would pass by the
devise under the name of jewels? It was resolved by the justices,
that the garter and collar of S’s did not pass, because they were not
properly jewels, but ensigns of power and state; and that the buckle
of his bonnet and the button did not pass, because they were
annexed to his robes, and were no jewels. But, for the other chains,
bracelets and tings, they passed under the bequest of jewels.
Persons who desire to leave specific rings to friends should
designate them; for, otherwise, the particular article will not pass.
Thus, “I give a diamond ring,” is what is called a general legacy,
which may be fulfilled by the delivery of any ring of that kind; while
“I give the diamond ring presented to me by A,” is a specific legacy,
which can only be satisfied by the delivery of the specified subject.
[86] A legacy of £50 for a ring is but a money legacy; it fastens upon

no specific ring, and carries interest like other money bequests.[87]

A family ring may become an important piece of evidence in the
establishment of a pedigree; and the law admits it for that purpose:
upon the presumption, as Lord Erskine has it, “that a person would
not wear a ring with an error upon it.”[88]
In ancient times dying persons gave their rings to some one,
declaring thereby who was their heir.[89]

§ 16. We do not find in any work on orders of knighthood, any

association having direct reference to a ring; but in a volume of the
Imperial Magazine there is a reference to the Order of the Ring, said
to have been copied from a beautifully illuminated MS., on vellum.
[90] The sovereign of the order was to wear upon the fifth finger a
blue enamelled ring, set round with diamonds, with the motto, Sans
changer. The matter looks fictitious, for it embraces the seeming
signatures of Leonora, Belvidera, Torrismond and Cæsario.
Lorenzo the Magnificent, of the Medici family, bore a diamond ring
with three feathers and the motto, Semper; and when the Medici
returned to Florence, Giuliano de Medici instituted an order of merit,
denominated the Order of the Diamond, alluding to the impresa, an
emblem of his father. This was done to secure influence by recalling
the memory of the parent. The members of it had precedence on
public occasions, and it was their province to preside over festivals,
triumphs and exhibitions.[91]

§ 17. Rings have been found in strange places, and under

interesting circumstances. We find them upon and below the earth;
within the Pyramids; beneath the ashes of Pompeii and
Herculaneum; and strewed over battle-fields.[92] They have been
discovered on the field of Cressy.
 § 18. In Persia, at the present day, letters are seldom written and
never signed by the person who sends them; and it will thus appear
that the authenticity of all orders and communications, and even of
a merchant’s bills, depends wholly on an impression from his seal-
ring.[93] This makes the occupation of a seal-cutter one of as much
trust and danger as it seems to have been in Egypt. Such a person is
obliged to keep a register of every ring-seal he makes; and if one be
lost or stolen from the party for whom it was cut, his life would
answer for making another exactly like it. The loss of a signet-ring is
considered a serious calamity; and the alarm which an Oriental
exhibits when his signet is missing, can only be understood by a
reference to these circumstances, as the seal-cutter is always
obliged to alter the real date at which the seal was cut. The only
resource of a person who has lost his seal is to have another made
with a new date, and to write to his correspondents to inform them
that all accounts, contracts and communications to which his former
signet is affixed are null from the day on which it was lost.
Importance has been given to signets in England. This was at a
time when the schoolmaster had not made many penmen. “And how
great a regard was had to seals,” says Collins, in his Baronage,
“appears from these testimonies; the Charter of King Henry I. to the
Abbey of Evesham, being exhibited to King Henry III. and the seal
being cloven in sunder, the King forthwith caused it to be confirmed,”
etc., etc.; “and in 13 Ed. III., when, by misfortune, a deed, then
showed in the Chancery, was severed from the seal, in the presence
of the Lord Chancellor and other noble persons, command was not
only given for the affixing it again thereto, but an exemplification
was made thereof under the Great Seal of England, with the recital
of the premises. And the counterfeiting of another man’s seal was
anciently punished with transportation, as appears from this record
in the reign of King John,” etc., etc. “It is also as remarkable that in
9 H. III. c. c. marks damages were recovered by Sir Ralph de
Crophall, Knight, against Henry de Grendon and William de Grendon
for forcibly breaking a seal from a deed. Also so tender was every
man in those times of his seal, that if he had accidentally lost it, care
was taken to publish the same, lest another might make use of it to
his detriment, as is manifested in the case of Benedict de Hogham,”
etc. “Also not much unlike to this is that of Henry de Perpount, a
person of great quality, (ancestor of his Grace the Duke of Kingston,)
who, on Monday, in the Octaves of St. Michael, 8 Ed. I., came into
the Chancery at Lincoln and publicly declared, that he missed his
seal; and protested, that if any instrument should be signed with
that seal, for the time to come, it should be of no value or effect.
Nor is that publication made by John de Greseley of Drakelow, in
Com. Derb. 18 R. II., upon the loss of his seal, less considerable,”
etc., etc.[94]

§ 19. We are aware of the value of many modern rings, arising

from their being used as mere frames for jewels. And ancient ones,
from the same fact or from having exquisite engraving upon them,
were also highly prized. Nonius,[95] a senator, is said to have been
proscribed by Anthony for the sake of a gem in a ring, worth twenty
thousand sesterces.
The “Roving Englishman”[96] informs us, that the Pasha wears on
his right-hand little finger, a diamond ring which once belonged to
the Dey of Algiers, and cost a thousand pounds sterling.

§ 20. An English work, of but little note, professes to make out

“Love’s Telegraph,” as understood in America, thus:—If a gentleman
wants a wife, he wears a ring on the first finger of the left hand; if
he is engaged, he wears it on the second finger; if married, on the
third; and on the fourth if he never intends to be married. When a
lady is not engaged, she wears a hoop or diamond on her first
finger; if engaged, on the second; if married, on the third; and on
the fourth if she intends to die a maid.[97]
Many of our readers are aware that there are name-rings, in which
the first letter attaching to each jewel employed will make a loved
one’s name or a sentiment. In the formation of English rings of this
kind, the terms Regard and Dearest are common. Thus illustrated:—
R(uby) E(merald) G(arnet) A(methyst) R(uby) D(iamond).—
D(iamond) E(merald) A(methyst) R(uby) E(merald) S(apphire)
T(opaz). It is believed that this pretty notion originated (as many
pretty notions do) with the French. The words which the latter
generally play with, in a combination of gems, are Souvenir and
Amitié, thus: S(aphir or Sardoine) O(nix or Opale) U(raine)
V(ermeille) E(meraude) N(atralithe) I(ris) R(ubis or Rose diamant).—
A(méthiste or Aigue-marine) M(alachite) I(ris) T(urquoise or Topaze)
I(ris) E(meraude).
Here are the alphabetical French names of precious stones:[98]
A. Améthiste. Aigue-marine.
B. Brilliant. Diamant, désigniant la même pierre.
C. Chrisolithe. Carnaline. Chrisophrase.
D. Diamant.
E. Emeraude.
F. (Pas de pierre connue.)
G. Grenat.
H. Hiacinthe.
I. Iris.
J. Jasper.
K. (Pas de pierre connue.)
L. Lapis lazuli.
M. Malachite.
N. Natralithe.
O. Onix. Opale.
P. Perle. Peridot. Purpurine.
Q. (Pas de pierre connue.)
R. Rubis. Rose diamant.
S. Saphir. Sardoine.
T. Turquoise. Topaze.
U. Uraine.
V. Vermeille (espèce de grenat jaune).
X. Xépherine.
Y. Z. (Pas de nous connus.)

Kobell says,[99] “In name-rings, in which a name is indicated by

the initial letter of different gems, the emerald is mostly used under
its English and French name (Emeraude) to stand for e, which would
otherwise not be represented. (The German name is Smaragd.)
While on this point, it may be mentioned that a difficulty occurs with
u, but recent times have furnished a name which may assist,
namely, a green garnet, containing chrome, from Siberia, which has
been baptized after the Russian Minister Uwarrow, and called
Uwarrovite.”
The Poles have a fanciful belief that each month of the year is
under the influence of a precious stone, which influence has a
corresponding effect on the destiny of a person born during the
respective month. Consequently it is customary among friends and
lovers, on birth-days, to make reciprocal presents of trinkets
ornamented with the natal stones. The stones and their influences,
corresponding with each month, are supposed to be as follows:
January—Garnet. Constancy and Fidelity.
February—Amethyst. Sincerity.
March—Bloodstone. Courage, presence of mind.
April—Diamond. Innocence.
May—Emerald. Success in love.
June—Agate. Health and long life.
July—Cornelian. Contented mind.
August—Sardonyx. Conjugal felicity.
September—Chrysolite. Antidote against madness.
October—Opal. Hope.
November—Topaz. Fidelity.
December—Turquoise. Prosperity.

Modern jewellers are known to palm off imitations of gems; and

so did sellers of trinkets in ancient times. The moderns only run the
chance of a loss of custom; but the latter were well off if they got no
greater fright than the jeweller who sold to the wife of Gallienus a
ring with a piece of glass in it. Gallienus ordered the cheat to be
placed in the circus, as though he were to be exposed to the ferocity
of a lion. While the miserable jeweller trembled at the expectation of
instant death, the executioner, by order of the emperor, let loose a
capon upon him. An uncommon laugh was raised at this; and the
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