less
valuable mineral as yellow Quartz—thus " Occidental Topaz." The red of
the Ruby varies a good deal, the "masculine" Ruby showing the deeper
tints of carmine or blood-red (often referred to as " pigeon's blood
"-red, from a Burmese simile), while the "feminine" Buby is paler, and
more of a rose-red ; in this, as in other varieties of Corundum, a
transition is seen, and the feminine Buby may pass gradually to
colourless Corundum. The masculine Buby, in its most admired shades,
has a slight blue tone in the red, which thus tends to magenta. The
colour is usually evenly distributed in the Buby, but in the Sapphire
it is quite usual to find much variation in depth of colour. All shades
of blue are found and of all depths. Perhaps the most characteristic
colours are a smalt-blue and a cornflower blue. Deep-coloured stones
are known as Lynx- or Cat- Sapphires, and the paler ones as feminine
stones or Water-Sapphires, though the latter term is more often applied
to the blue Iolite (Cordierite). Pale Sapphires merge insensibly into
the next colour variety, Leuco-Sapphire, which is really devoid of
colour—simply colourless crystallised Corundum. It also passes into
the blue-green variety, known as Oriental Aquamarine. In fact, in many
crystals of Corundum a gem might be cut from one end which would be a
Sapphire, while from the other end of the crystal a Leuco-Sapphire
might be obtained. The yellow-green variety of the colour of Chrysolite
(Olivine) is called Oriental Chrysolite. The intense green stones are
Oriental Emerald; the pure amber, or honey-yellow stones, are Oriental
Topaz ; while those of a rich brownish-red are known as Oriental
Hyacinth, and the violet specimens as Oriental Amethyst. All these
tints are found in the
