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VII.
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THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY.
T
O give a full account
of this precious stone would almost involve the writing of the history
of England from the reign of Edward in. down to the present time. We
shall therefore limit ourselves to a few of the most striking scenes in
which the Ruby figured.
Though
differing much in appearance—the one being red and the other blue —the
ruby and the sapphire are, chemically speaking, the same, viz. pure
alumina. The perfect ruby is very rare and more valuably size for size,
than the diamond. It is tested in a curious manner. If it exactly
agrees in tint with the fresh blood of a pigeon dropped upon the same
sheet of white paper on which it lies, it is pronounced perfect. A
stone of such beauty and rarity was 149
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