fascination
of penetrating a realm difficult and dreaded, as the reptile kingdom,
or of gaining new facts about the life histories of powerful or
carnivorous wild beasts proves most potent to some investigators.
Geology allures some with its prospecting rambles and the employment
found in classifying and installing specimens for exhibition.
The
high intrinsic value of diamonds and other precious stones and of
precious metals and of all but the least valuable of semi-precious
stones, in the rough or in ore, prohibits, for most of us, the
possession of representative groups of specimens, and men are not apt
to interest themselves deeply in subjects that are difficult of access
for the student and observer. This, no doubt, is why the sciences and
the arts and crafts immediately concerned with precious stones and
their settings can hardly be called popular. Such being the case, there
is certainly a place for a book on gems that will be of substantial
value to the practical dealer in jewels, to the designer of settings
for precious stones, and to the general public who, for a hundred
different reasons, are curious in regard to the subjects of which the
work treats. It is the author's hope that the present volume will meet
the needs of
