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PREFACE
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T
HE object of the
author is to gather together in the present volume information of all
sorts about precious stones and the minerals which form their bases; it
has been his endeavour to include all of the many aspects of his
subject, and, at the same time, to present it in such form that it may
serve at once as a guide to the professional jeweller, a book of
reference to the amateur, and yet prove of equal interest to the
general reader.
The
study of gems, in its more obvious aspects, forms a division of
mineralogy—or more specifically of crystallography—and of the allied
science, chemistry; but the author has attempted to avoid the
technicalities of these subjects and present the matter in a popular
manner.
While
it is true that "gemology" may be included under mineralogy or
chemistry, nevertheless, so varied are the associations with gems,
that if this scientific treatment of them were alone attempted, there
would be disregarded
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