History Of Rings.

eight old men blind of one eye , eight bald , eight deaf , eight lame with the gout , eight blacks , eight exceedingl y 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 .

The origin of the wedding ring is unknown . The Jews and Egyptians are said never to have employed it . But the ring was used in connection with marriage before Christian times . The Greeks had it , and the Romans employed the ring . There was commonly a feast On the signing of the marriage contract ; and the man gave the woman a ring by way of pledge , which she put upon her left hand , on the finger next the least , because of the suggested nerve running to the heart . The ring was generally of ironthough sometimes

, of copper and brass , with little knobs in the form of a key , to represent that the wife had possession of the husband ' s keys . The use of the wedding-ring is now almost universal . It is practiced even in the most barbarous communities , and by many people a marriage in which a ring is not used is believed to be null . A wicked trick upon weak and confiding women used to be played b

y forcing upon their finger a rush ring , as thereby they fancied themselves married . Richard , Bishop of Salisbury , in 1217 , forbids the putting of rush rings or any of like matter on women ' s fingers . De Breveil says it was an ancient custom to use a rush ring in cases where necessity for marriage was apparent . Gifts of rings by lovers have always been common . One of the prettiest

tokens of friendship and affection is what is termed a Gimmal or Gimmow ring . It is of French ori gin . The ring is constructed of double hoops , which playwithin one another , like the links of a chain . Each hoop has one of its sides fiat and the other convex , and each is twisted once round and surmounted with an emblem or motto . The course of the twist , in each hoop , is made to correspond with that of its counterpartso that on bringing together the flat surfaces

, of the hoops , these immediately unite in one ring . The lover putting his finger through one of the hoops and his mistress hers through the other , were thus symbolically yoked together , a yoke which neither could be said wholl y to wear , one-half being allotted to the other , and making , as it has been quaintly said , a joint tenancv .

Some of the queerest superstitions to which the credulous incline , or bavo inclined , are connected with rings . Their potency as charms was directed against fascinations of all kinds , chief among which ranks the dreaded evil eye . ^ Magic rings and magical inscriptions on rings were used to combat this malignant charm , and in Spain , Italy , and the Orie ' ut are still . There is a bigtraffic in rings of this kind carried on in Naples yet . They were also used to cure diseases and avert dangers and mischiefs . As a sovereign specific against

all ills , even Galen has recommended a ring with jasper set in it and engraved with the figure of a man wearing a bunch of herbs round the neck . This stone takes the lead among this class of charms . The diamond was supposed to render a man invincible , the agate eloquent and prudent , amiable and agreeable , and the ameth yst made him insensible to intoxication . The carbuncle was believed to contain latent light , and to disseminate it like a lamp , and a

species of rub y was credited with the power to restrain fury and wrath . The ameth yst was said also to hinder the ascension of vapours , and this was done by the stone drawing the vapours to itself and then transmuting them . Andreas Baccius says that it sharpens the wit , diminishes sleep , and resists poison . The emerald was said to be at enmity with all impurity , and would break if it touched the skin of an adulterer . The topaz was affirmed to free men from passion to sadness of mind . The opal , to sharpen the sight , and so on in an almost endless list . All these charmed stones were worn in rings with cabalistic inscriptions .