precious stones, gems, general

The object of this little book is to convey to the merchant, the workman, and the amateur, in a condensed and accurate form, information concerning the variouspropertiesofpreciousstones. Be-sides drawing freely on a number of au-thorities, the author has used his practical experience to indicate such tests as an amateurcanreadilymake. Specificgrav-ity, hardness, and dichroism are tests which are easily mastered, and a thor-ough understanding of these three prop-erties will assist in classifying doubtful gems. Such stones have been dealt with prin-cipally as are used in commerce for jewelry and ornamental purposes. The attention of the writer has often been called to the general lack of knowledge among the jewelers regarding pre-cious stones other than diamonds, rubies,sapphires, and emeralds. As there are so many other beautiful and rare gems which nature yields to man, and which are worthy of the jew-elers' art, the author trusts that his book will awaken a new interest in the fascina-ting study of mineralogy as applied to precious stones, and that at some future day he may feel encouraged to enlarge upon this treatise.