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= 64 ~ Practical Remarks on Gems. e 
a, rings, bracelets, &c., &c. Any and every device has been cut on 
- this stone and aah good effect: the contrast of the unpolished 
s* » engraving With its natural brilliancy is very striking; stones are ~ z : 
- sometimes cut from this substance to imitate the rose diamond 
with the star and pavilion facet, and palmed offas yellow roses. 
4. White Crystal, (Limpid Quartz, Nova Mina, British — 
Diamond or Rock Crystal. ) It bears a very high polish, is per- 
fectly transparent, and is in reality second only to the diamond. 
This is used for the under parts of doublets, and is the base of 
_all the imitative gems. It much used in jewelry of all kinds— 
Po shows a beautiful play of colors when set in clusters, and is cut 
“ for seal stones and desk seals ; also for dagger, knife handles and 
. = the like, and being so completely a transparent medium, is pol- 
«ished bys ue optician for spectacles. It is said to be less trying to 
a __ the ey un glass, which is not the only advantage derived from 
“using: iti n this way ; ; it being ae harder than glass, is 
* _ not costly: Saale by scratches. Th is is found in great abundance 
in many places in the United Gentes: and often appears fully equal — 
to the best Alpine or Madagascar specimen. 
6. Brown Crystal, (Smoky Quartz.) Some make a erounild 
less distinction between the brown and smoky varieties. The | 
smoky appears perhaps a little darker in the rough, but there is | 
certainly no difference when polished, with the exception that | 
the one may be a shade deeper than the other—they stillare both 
brown. I have a very fine specimen, cut as a large seal stone | 
from Lancaster Co., Pa.—beautiful as any similar thing from | 
Scotland. This is frequently cut like a rose diamond and sold 
for jargon or zircon; and the better to deceive, odd shapes are 
selected and artificial defects introduced. At one time, also, an 
extensive traffic was carried on among the jewellers, by coloring 
this stone and calling it “ Egyptian ruby ;” but this no longer 
being a secret, the practice is discontinued. I remember also to 
have seen it when in England, cut thin like a garnet and painted 
and backed with garnet foil, which it not only imitated, but ex- 
celled the finest vinegar garnet I ever saw; and to render the | 
illusion more complete, a hole is sometimes drilled in the centre; 
into which a turquoise is inserted—this. being the expedient re 
‘sorted to, to fill up the holes in real garnets, the finest and largest 
of which come drilled as beads to evade a heavy British duty. A. a 
eA 
