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Industry and Marketing
Topaz
is not considered a very costly gem-stone and could be had fairly
cheap, but coloured varieties command higher prices. Brazil is the most
important place for gem topaz and next come the Ural mountains.
Amongst
the ancients, like the ruby, the topaz was also supposed to be gifted
with marvellous medical properties, and also believed to be capable of
giving light in the dark. When powdered and taken in wine, it was
considered a cure for asthma, sleeplessness and many other diseases.
Celebrated Topazes
Tavernier
saw in the treasury of Aurungzebe one topaz crystal when he had the
audience of the Emperor in 1665. It weighed 157-3/4 carats and was of
an octagonal shape. It is said to have been purchased for Rs.1,80,000
at Goa. The Braganza, supposed to be a celebrated diamond, is now
considered a topaz. One topaz crystal 4-1/2 x 4-3/4 which weighed 31
pounds was at St. Petersburg. There is also a big lump of topaz, which
served once as a door-knob, and later was discovered to be a topaz. A
few good stones are also found with the Tagore family.
Chapter XVII GARNET
Introduction GARNET
is the name given to a group of minerals, having a close relationship
or form or known as an isomorphous series. It is a group of important
rock forming minerals. The garnets possess bright colours and lustre to
qualify them as precious stones, but they are so common that they could
never rank as a precious stone. They are also very cheap. All the
varieties of garnet crystallize in the cubio system with very similar
forms. The rhombic dodeca hedron and icositetrahedron occur either
alone or in
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