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Precious Stones and Gems

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PREFACE.
works have been written on the fascin­ating subject of Precious Stones and Gems. Authorities on authorities, from re­mote antiquity to our own day, have been cited as to their value, their uses, and their properties. But, not­withstanding all that has been written, I have arrived at the deliberate conviction, that, as a merchant and dealer engaged for over fifty years in the purchase and sale of gems, as well as in their cutting and setting, I might ser -viceably offer to the Public much information regarding the nature, the sources, mining, cutting, testing, and value of these stones. A practical and popular guide to those who have an interest in ascertaining the genuineness and value of Precious Stones cannot fail to be generally useful.
As an illustration of the difficulties of the subject, it may be stated that Prof. A. H. Church, in a lecture delivered before the Society of Arts on April 6th, 1881, pointed out a number of errors in the identification of a collection of Precious Stones which had been exhibited for years at the South Kensington Museum, although the official description of these stones had been confided to a well-known professor in mineralogy and expert in gems. I have reason to believe that other collections, on the Conti­nent, if not in this country, contain many specimens of Precious Stones erroneously named.
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