rer stones.

The study of this section of mineralogy is one of intense interest, and
by understanding the nature, environment, chemical composition and the
properties of the stones, possibility of fraud is altogether precluded,
and there is induced in the mind--even of those with whom the study of
precious stones has no part commercially--an intelligent interest in the
sight or association of what might otherwise excite no more than a mere
glance of admiration or curiosity. There is scarcely any form of matter,
be it liquid, solid, or gaseous, but has yielded or is now yielding up
its secrets with more or less freedom to the scientist. By his method of
synthesis (which is the scientific name for putting substances together
in order to form new compounds out of their union) or of analysis (the
decomposing of bodies so as to divide or separate them into substances
of less complexity), particularly the latter, he slowly and surely
breaks down the substances undergoing examination into their various
constituents, reducing these still further till no more reduction is
possible, and he arrives at their elements. From their behaviour during
the many and varied processes through which they have passed he finds
out, with unerring accuracy, the exact proportions of their composition,
and, in many cases, the cause of their origin.

It may be thought that, knowing all this, it is strange that man does
not himself manufacture these rare gems, such as the diamond, but so far
he has only succeeded in making a few of microscopic size, altogether
useless except as scientific curiosities. The manner in which these
minute gems and spurious stones are manufactured, and the methods by
which they may readily be distinguished from real, will be dealt with in
due course.

The natural stones represent the slow chemical action of water, decay,
and association with, or near, other chemical substances or elements,
combined with the action of millions of years of time, and the unceasing
enormous pressure during that time of thousands, perhaps millions, of
tons of earth, rock, and the like, subjected, for a certain portion at
least of that period, to extremes of heat or cold, all of which
determine the nature of the gem. So that only in the earth itself,
under strictly natural conditions, can these rare substances be found at
all in any workable size; therefore they must be sought after
assiduously, with more or less speculative risk.

CHA