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Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire.

Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire. Page of 401 Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire. Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
252
PRECIOUS STOXES.
pigeon's blood ; sometimes the same crystal exhibits different
colors. There is only one true ruby, the oriental, of the
corundum species, but the name has been applied to other
gems, and we have the Brazilian ruby and the balas-ruby,
which are not rubies at all, being different in composition and
form of crystallization from the real ruby. The oriental
carnelian, of a brownish red color, has been called a ruby,
while some of the earlier mineralogists have classed under
this name a dozen or more other gems of different composition and properties, which has caused no little confusion in
the classification of precious stones.
A ruby of the finest color is one of the most beautiful and
the most valuable of all the gems, and, compared to its size,
the price is higher than that of any other, surpassing even the
diamond, in the ratio of five to one, while there is no other
that increases in commercial value so much in proportion to
its increase in weight. It is found in Ceylon, the Burman
Empire, British Burmah, Siam, Tartary, Bohemia, France, and
on the Western Continent, but the best and most numerous
specimens are obtained from a place sixty or seventy miles
from Mandalay, the capital of Burmah, whose king is styled
"Lord of the Rubies." These mines were a royal monopoly,
and laws were in force strictly prohibiting all fine specimens
from being carried out of the country, and to this cause is
attributed the extreme rarity of large rubies in Europe.
Strangers not being allowed to visit the region, very few
Europeans have ever had access to the mines ; consequently
all knowledge of them is derived through government officials,
who represent them as best suits the royal wishes.* When
a valuable ruby was discovered, the occasion of taking
* These mines, since the annexation of Northern Burmah to Great Britain,
will, probably, be accessible to any one who wishes to visit them.
Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire. Page of 401 Ch. 13: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire.
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