During a careful search over a small area for nearly two days, no diamonds were found ; but this by no means demonstrates that diamonds may not yet be discovered.
The best time to search for gems in that locality is immediately after a heavy rain, when they are most likely to be well exposed upon the surface. It is proposed by those most interested to keep up the search economically, by furnishing to responsible individuals in the vicinity a number of rough diamonds mounted in rings, for comparison, that they may know what to look for under the most favorable circumstances.
Besides pyrope garnets, a few of which are good enough for cutting, several fairly good specimens of a green pyroxene were found. They resemble the same transparent mineral from Arizona. The South African specimens of this mineral are a little more opaque, but of a richer green color.
Artificial rubies. The subject of artificial gems is at the present moment of considerable interest. Early this summer the Syndicate des diaments et pierres precieuses was informed that certain stones which had been sold as rubies from a new locality were suspected to be of artificial origin. They were put upon the market by a Geneva firm; and it was surmised that they were obtained by the fusion of large numbers of small rubies, worth at the most a few dollars per carat, into one fine gem worth from $1,000 to $2,500 per carat.
Some of these artificial stones were kindly procured by Messrs. Tiffany & Co. I was not, however, permitted to break them for analysis, to observe the cleavage, or to have them cut so as to observe the optical axes more correctly. It is possible, however, to detect the artificial nature of this production with a mere pocket-lens, as the whole structure is that peculiar to fused masses. Examination elicited the following facts : The principal distinguishing characteristics between these and the genuine stones is the presence in them of large numbers of spherical bubbles, rarely pear-shaped, sometimes containing stringy portions showing how the bubbles had moved. These bubbles all have rounded ends, and present the same appearance as those seen in glass or in other fused mixtures. They are nearly always in wavy groups or cloudy masses. When examined individually they always seem to be filled with gas or air, and often form part of a cloud, the rest having the waviness of a fused mixture. Some few were observed inclosing inner bubbles, apparently a double cavity, but empty. In natural rubies the cavities are always angular or crystalline in outline, and are usually filled with some liquid, or, if they form part of a " feather," as it is called by the jewelers, they are often arranged with the lines of growth. Hence the difference in appearance between the cavities in the natural gem and those in the fused gem is very great, and can readily be detected by the pocket-lens. I have failed to find in any of the artificial stones even a traco of anything like a crystalline or angular cavity. Another distin-
