corundum, history.1, gems

gems, history of gemology, tourmaline

The tourmaline is one of the most interesting species in the mineral kingdom”—so The Popular Encyclopedia assured its readers almost a century ago. As with Abraham Trembley’s polyp, however, the tourmaline enjoyed its greatest renown during the eighteenth rather than the nineteenth century, and by the time the above remark was published, it had long since ceased to occupy the centre of the scientific stage in the way it once had done. In this paper I intend to look briefly at some of the circumstances surrounding the initial upsurge of interest in the stone in the middle years of the eighteenth century. As we shall see, important developments in the theories of electrical and especially magnetic action flowed from this first detailed investigation of its properties. I shall not extend the discussion, though, to the later years of the century, when the general recognition that the electricity acquired by a heated tourmaline was constantly associated with a particular axial direction in the crystals gave the stone a renewed importance, this time in the rapidly developing science of crystallography.

quartz, inclusions, gems

chrysoberyl, alexandrite, gems

corundum, synthetic corundum.7, flux, Kashan, gems

corundum, bibliography.0, books on books, gems, bibliography

corundum, USA.12, Montana.12, inclusions.5, gems

gems, jade, nephrite, jadeite, fei cui, Chinese jade carving

Sinkankas: Handsome, well illustrated catalog of jades in the Chauncey J. Hamlin Collection. Remarks on formation of the collection, materials in the pieces, artistry, etc., followed by the catalog proper briefly describing 118 pieces. Comment by G. M. Born, 161–2; Yang, Ancient Chinese, 1483.

corundum, quality.10, gems

gems, corundum, history.1, Ceylon.12, history of gemology, Pliny, early gemology, Ceylon

No part of India has such an uninterrupted historical tradition as Ceylon for the period prior to the fourth century A.D. Except for the rule of the Tamils, who are known as Damiḷas in the Pāli chronicles and as Damedas in the Sinhalese inscriptions, no foreigner ever disturbed the continuity of ancient Sinhalese history from its recognizable beginnings in the third century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. During this period the “horse dealers” (assavācāri) Sena and Guttaka ruled at Anurādhapura for twenty-two and twelve years respectively in the second century B.C. Then, towards the end of the second century B.C., Eḷāra, the celebrated lover of justice, established his reign on the island. In third place are to be mentioned the Pañca-Dravida, the famous five Tamil rulers, who, after having exercised power at the capital Anurādhapura for more than fourteen years, were vanquished by the popular Ceylonese hero Vaṭṭagāmaṇi Abhaya about the middle of the first century B.C. And finally—following King Mittasena, who lost his life in a Tamil invasion—the South Indian supremacy lasted till the end of the fifth century A.D. But though there was hardly any break in the steady development of early Ceylonese history, we are far from able to give a reliable chronology. In order to demonstrate the many difficulties and uncertainties that arise in a quest for well-grounded criteria for a better knowledge of Ceylon’s history, we will give a short survey of the sources relevant to the history of ancient Ceylon.