gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Fischer discusses methods for testing minerals for the presence of water, particularly the water released when specimens are heated. He considers the practical difficulties of distinguishing structurally or chemically bound water from moisture and describes procedures for detecting the small quantities evolved from mineral samples. The note reflects the increasing importance of chemical and blowpipe tests in nineteenth-century mineral identification and analysis. Of relevance to gemology and Fischer’s later research on jade and prehistoric stone implements, determination of water content provided an additional means of characterizing minerals and distinguishing superficially similar substances. The paper is a brief contribution to analytical mineralogy rather than a study devoted specifically to gemstones.