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PART X.
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Cutting. Setting. Engraving of Precious Stones.
" There is a fire And motion of the soul, which will not dwell In its own narrow being."
As
we have already shown in our first part, precious stones are sometimes
amorphous and sometimes crystallized, but even in the latter case they
are almost always masked or very imperfect; and as much of their
beauty, especially that of the diamond, depends upon what is called play of light, it is one of the first concerns of art to remove this mask and these imperfections.
For
every species of precious stone known to us there exists one form
better suited than all others to show to advantage the effects of the
light, which undergoes different modifications according to the
peculiar molecular constitution of the stone on which it falls.
The artistic series ot operations by which this desirable form is attained is called the cutting of
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