18 



RUBY 



RtlCKERT 



are R. Ckamtrmorut, the Cloudberry (q.v. ); K. 

 Jtirrtu, the Raspberry ; R. ar-n'iu, the I>ewberry ; 

 K. articus, characterised by I. inn. i us RH the prince 

 of wild berries ; R. frvtttottu, the 1'oiiiiiinii Bramble 

 (q.r. ); and R. taxatilu, the Stone Bramble. Of 

 I lie Common Bramble a number of varieties having 

 very large Inaciouii fruit have been introduced into 

 Britain from North America within tlio last few 

 yearn with the view of cultivating them for tln-ir 

 fruit The opinion of gardener* as to their merits 

 for profitable culture in Britain is varied, but they 

 are much appreciated in Canada and in the I'nitcd 

 States of America. The varieties which are most 

 approved are the Lawton, Wilson Junior, Early 

 Harvest, and Mammoth. The ornamental species 

 frequently planted in British gardens are R. odor- 

 attu, the Virginian Raspberry ; R. laeiniatiu, with 

 large flowers and elegant leaves ; and /.'. kifloriu, 

 whom snow-white liark contrasts strikingly with 

 the dark-green leaves. 



It iihy, a gem much prized, is apure transparent, 

 red-coloured Corundum (M.V.), just as Sapphiie. 

 (q.v.) is a blue variety of tne same mineral. It is 

 inferior in hardness to the diamond only among 

 gem*. Although usually red, yet violet, pink, and 

 purple rubies are met with, luit the most liighly 

 eeteemed are those which have the colour of pigeon s 

 blood. The finest true oriental rubies are more 

 highly prized than diamonds of similar size and 

 quality; those over a carat in weight are worth 

 from 20 to 100 j>er carat, and no stone increase* 

 so much in value in proportion to increase in size. 

 But perfect specimens, as regards colour, transpar- 

 ency, and freedom from Haws, are niucb less com- 

 mon than good diamonds. Gems of this character 

 seldom exceed 8 or 10 carats ; but (instnvus III. of 

 Swedenpresented one, now in the Russian regalia, 

 to the Empress Catharine, which was of the size of 

 a pigeon's egg. The throne of the Great Mogul, 

 according to Tavernier, was adorneil with 108 

 rallies of from 100 to 200 carats each. One pos- 

 sessed by the king of Ceylon was, according to 

 Marco Polo, a span in length, as thick as a man's 

 arm, ami without a flaw ; Kublai Khan offered for 

 it the value of a city, but the king would not part 

 with it. The Burmese government sent two rubies 

 to London in 1875, one of which, reduced by re- 

 cutting to 32f f carats, was sold for 10,000 ; the 

 other, of 38,*, carats, was sold for 20,000. The 

 specific gravity of the ruby (3-900 to 4-2833) ex- 

 ceeds that of all other p-m-. Wlien rubbed it 

 becomes electrical, and remains so for some time. 

 The finest rubies those having the colour of 

 pigeon's blood come from Upper Burma, neur 

 Mogok, north of Mandalay (nee Hi KM A, Vol. II. 

 p. 563). Dark-red rubies, sometime* with a brown- 

 ish tint, are found in Siam, ami purplish rubies in 

 Ceylon. Rubies are also met with in the moun- 

 tain region of Yunnan in China, in Afghani 

 and in the basin of the Oxus. The true or oriental 

 ruby, as above described, occurs in crystalline lime- 

 stone in Burma, ami in alluvial <le|>osit.s liich have 

 been derive.) from the denudation of granitoid igne- 

 ous and schistose rocks. Ruby-bearing gravels and 

 and* occur sparingly in Europe, as in Auvergne, 

 Bohemia, the Urals, \-c. Small rubies have also 

 been detected in such rocks as basalt, as in Victoria 

 and New South Wales; and fine rubies have been 

 reported to lie found in New Guinea. Many of the 

 so-called rubies of jewellers are not true or oriental 

 rubies, but varieties of Spinel (q.v.), a mineral 

 coni|MMod chiefly of alumina and magnesia, inferior 

 in hardness and of less s|,,.,.j|j,. gravity than the 

 oriental ruby, and crystallising in the cnhieal 

 system. Oriental rnliii-s In-long to t he hexagonal 

 system, and, unlike the spinel, are always dicimiic. 

 Spinel rubies are found in tin' form of crystals 

 or rounded pebbles in alluvial deposits and 



in the beds of rivers in Ceylon, Siam, Pegu, 

 Badakshan, and other eastern countries, having 

 been derived like the true rub) 1 from crystalline- 

 igneous and scliistose rocks. They occur also in 

 crystalline limestone and in serpentine. Small 

 rounded spinel-rubies occur in the sands of moun- 

 tain-streams in Wicklow ; and large crystals have- 

 been found in various parts of North America, hut 

 rarely, if ever, fit for the purposes of the jeweller. 

 Spinels are also found in Australia. Sjnnrl-ritby 

 is the name given by jewellers to a stone of a 

 deep carmine-red; a rose-red stone is ili-tin 

 Blushed as Bolus-ruby; red with a decided tinge 

 of orange is Vermetl or Vermeille ; yellow or 

 orange-red is Rubictlle ; violet is Alrmaulm, niliy. 

 There are also transparent spinels, which when Urge 

 and fine are treated as jewels. All these, however, 

 are merely variously-tinted varieties of one and 

 the same mineral spinel which is allied to 

 Corundum (q.v.), being composed mainly of 

 alumina, with a smaller proportion of magnesia. 



As early as 1837 small rubies were produced 

 chemically by fusion of alumina ; but it was not 

 till 1878 that Fremy ami Yemenil produced rubies 

 on a scale of commercial importance, though less 

 brilliant than oriental rubies. In 1890 they suc- 

 ceeded in making larger and finer stones, which 

 for the purposes of the watchmaker quite equalled 

 natural rubies. 



Kllckert, FRIEDRICH, German poet, was born 

 at Schweinfurt, 16th Mav 1788, and educated 

 there and at Wfinborg, For some years he led 

 a wandering life, studying philology 'and poetry, 

 and cultivating the muses. During this period of 

 his life he helped Arndt and Thcodor Korner to 

 fan the flame of German patriotism by his lifiit,->ir 

 Gedichte (1814), especially by the Gelt<iniixi-l,t<: 

 Sonette included in this volume. From 1826 to 

 1841 he filled the chair of Oriental Languages .-it 

 Erlangen ; but the greater part of his sunin 

 were passed at the country seat of his wife's 

 parents, Reuses near Coburg. After learning 

 Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, incited thereto by 

 Hammer- Purgstall at Vienna (1818), Riickert re- 

 cast in German verse, with great skill, several of t lie. 

 famous books of the East, as Die Vertcandlungett 

 des Abu Seid of Hariri ( 1826), Nal nnd Dtnnnjiinti 

 from the Mahdbhdrata (1828), Rostem untl Suhrab 

 from Firdausl's Shah-NamtJi (1838), Amrill;<iix 

 (1843), Hamdsa (1846), a collection of Arabic folk- 

 songs, and others. His most popular book- are the 

 collection of lyrics entitled Liebufrii /i/in;/ (1H44; 

 Mtli ed. 1888) and the reflective poems pitheicd 

 together as Die Weisheit des Brnluiiinirii ( Is.'iii :>!l ; 

 12th ed. 1886). In 1841 Frederick-William IV. 

 invited him to Berlin, making him professor of 

 Oriental Languages; but the poet preferred hN 

 idyllic life at Neuses, and went back then' in ISIS. 

 There he died on 31st January IM'.I;. llii.'kert 

 wrote with fatal ease; he tried nearly all foims of 

 poetical composition, and produced too much. 

 Nevertheless he penned ' several charming little 

 lyrics, which maybe read in the selected Cnlu'lilr 

 (is 1 1 ; 22d ed. 1886). Two qualities distinguish 

 his work in general a marvellous command of 

 language and rhyme, and the gift of giving poetic 

 expression to philosophic thought. The former 

 has sometimes led linn into mannerisms of form 

 and unpleosing tmir* de force ; the latter often 

 betrays him into throwing a poetic glamour over 

 dull, ]iedaniic. and unimportant ideas. His post- 

 humoiislv published work includes tinman adapta- 

 tions of Theocritus, Aristophanes, Knlidasa's 

 X,,l.>n<t<it<i (18(17), Sadi's Jlo*l,in (1882), and a 

 good deal of original poetry. 



See biographical work* by Beyer (3 vo). 1868-77), 

 Boxberger ( 1*7* ), Konnul Fischer ( 1889), and F. neuter's 

 BUctert in Erlanyen und Joteph Kopp ( 1891 ). 



