.MX.] .- COMMON AND PRECIOUS STONES. 713 



every mineralogist knows that there are innumerable inter- 

 mediate stages between these minerals which are so dissimilar 

 though absolutely identical in composition. This gave the old 

 naturalists occasion to speak of ripe and unripe precious stones. 

 They said that in order to ripen jDrecious stones the heat of the 

 south was required. This transference of well-known circum- 

 stances from the vegetable to the mineral kingdom is certainly 

 without justification. It points however to a remarkable and 

 hitherto unexplained circumstance, namely, that the occurrence 

 of precious stones is, with few exceptions, confined to southern 

 regions.^ Diamonds are found in noteworthy number only in 

 India, Borneo, Brazil, and the Transvaal, Tropical America is 

 the home-land of the emerald, Brazil of the topaz, Ceylon of 

 the sapphire and the hyacinth, Pegu of the ruby, and Persia of 

 the turquoise. With the exception of the diamond the same 

 stones are found also in the north, but in a common form. 

 Thus common sajophire (corundum) is found in Gellivare iron 

 ore so plentifully that the ore from certain openings is difficult 

 to smelt. Common topaz is found in masses by the hundred- 

 weight in the neighbourhood of Falun ; common emerald is 

 found in thick crystals several feet in length in felspar quarries, 

 in Poslagen, and in Tammela and Kisko j^arishes in Finland ; 

 common sj)inel occurs abundantly in Aker limestone quarry ; 

 common zircon at Brevig in Norway, and turquoise-like but 

 badly coloured stones at Vestana in Skane. True precious 

 stones, on the other hand, are not found at any of these places. 

 Another remarkable fact in connection with precious stones is 

 that most of those that come into the market are not found in 

 the solid rock, but as loose grains in sand-beds. True jewel 

 mines are few, unproductive, and easily exhausted. From this 

 one would be inclined to suppose that precious stones actually 

 undergo an ennobling process in the warm soil of the south. 



During the excursion I undertook from Galle to Batnapoora, I 

 visited a number of temples in order to procure Pali, Singhalese, 

 and Sanscrit manuscripts ; and I put myself in communication 

 with various natives who were supposed to possess such manu- 

 scripts. They are now very difficult to get at, and the collection 

 I made was not very large. The books which the temjDles 

 wished to dispose of have long ago been eagerly brought 

 up by private collectors or handed over to public museums, 

 for example, to the Ceylon Government Oriental Library 



^ The only considerable exce])tions from this are two localities for pre- 

 cious stones in Southern Siljeria and the occurrence of precious opal in 

 Hungary. The latter, however, in consequence of defective hardness 

 and translncency, can scarcely be reckoned among the true precious 

 stones. 



