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Ch. 6: Ruby

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CHAPTER VI
RUBIES
A LTHOUGH we place the ruby fourth among the precious stones, so few are the superior rubies in commerce, or that the world sees, that when a perfect ruby of the weight of ten or more carats enters the market, it brings a price three times as great as does a diamond of the same weight.
The natives of India indiscriminately apply the name " ruby" to all coloured precious stones, and it is the habit of American dealers in precious stones to be almost as general in calling various red gems rubies, although they do distinguish by calling the corundum ruby " Oriental ruby." This being a book for every­one, other red stones commonly or even occa­sionally appearing in the jewelry trade and called by merchants rubies will be compre­hended and described in this chapter, leading with the corundum reality, which is beyond compare.
Corundum crystallises in the hexagonal sys-
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Ch. 5: Pearl Page of 451 Ch. 6: Ruby
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