turning on a green stone in the ring of the South African lady which she described as a "malacoot".
A
"malacoot"? I had never heard of such a stone. My professional
curiosity was aroused. I begged for a sight of the stone. With the
greatest of pride and affability she had it passed down to me. In
indifferent English, but with the greatest complacency in the world I
pronounced it (in a double sense) to be a "malachite", a mineral found
in great abundance in the Ural Mountains, which is sometimes used for
ornamental tables, mural inlays and decorations.
The
South African lady was not greatly impressed. Her stone, she said, was
a "malacoot", guaranteed to be nothing else by the reputable Capetown
jeweller who had sold it to her. What did I know about South African
gems?
At
this point tact belatedly overtook me and I allowed her to make her
point. But later on, when the ladies and most of the men had adjourned
to the drawing-room (this was still the custom even in Bloomsbury
boarding-houses), those who had remained, suspecting that I knew what I
was talking about, drew me out on the subject of "malachite".
I
was only too eager to shine. "Yes," I said. "Malachite is a very common
substance. I don't think it occurs in South Africa at all. It is a gem
stone only by courtesy. Mineralogically speaking it is just a copper
carbonate. I have handled large plaques of it and beads by the bushel,
I assure you, gentlemen."
For the further information of those who want to be able to distinguish malachite from any other green stone,
