64 Practical Remarks on Gmns. 



rings, bracelets, &c., &c. Any and every device has been cut on 

 this stone and with good effect : the contrast of the unpohshed 

 engraving with its natural brilliancy is very striking ; stones are 

 sometimes cut from this substance to imitate the rose diamond 

 with the star and pavilion facet, and palmed off as 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 — 

 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 by the optician for spectacles. It is said to be less trying to 

 the eyes than glass, which is not the only advantage derived from 

 using it in this way ; it being considerably harder than glass, is 

 not easily dimmed by scratches. This is found in great abundance 

 in many places in the United States, and often appears fully equal 

 to the best Alpine or Madagascar specimen. 



5. Brown Crystal, (Smoky Quartz.) Some make a ground- 

 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 still are 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 hke 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 



