148 Gems and Saxyphires. 



You will have an opportunity of saying what you think 

 of it yourselves ; but for my part, I look on it as a most 

 perfect gem, both as to colour, cutting, and size. It was 

 found by a digger in North-east Gipps Land, and is believed 

 to have been picked up about Donnelly's Creek. Unfor- 

 tunately, Mr. Wright, of Geelong, who owned it in its rough 

 state, forgot to ask particulars from the digger from whom 

 he procured it ; and the man has not been seen about 

 Geelong latety. In the rough state it had the appearance 

 of a roundish, flattened drop of rather Polish green glass, 

 much the same in shape and colour, but smaller than the 

 nodules of transparent green obsidian. Its true colour was 

 greatly altered by the presence of two large flaws or " fouls/' 

 as lapidaries call them, one on each side, which reflected pale 

 yellowish light right into it. In the rough state, therefore, 

 it looked to great disadvantage. The removal of these "fouls" 

 gave the lapidary, Mr. Spink, much trouble ; while, at the 

 same time, it very gTeatly reduced the size of the stone. 

 On removing the outer crust a little bubble was seen some 

 depth doAvn, right in the face of the stone ; and this had to 

 be removed, thereby reducing the weight still further. It 

 had, however, still abundance of thickness after this was 

 taken out, and so it did not injure the gem. I mention this 

 because this particular bubble, small as it was, greatly inter- 

 fered with the true colour of the stone. 



Gut andj 'polished it now weighs rather more than five 

 and three-quarters carats (5| + ), and is the largest sapphire 

 of any colour both found and cut in Victoria. 



Shape. — It is now a perfect oval, well proportioned, single 

 cut on the bizil, and with four rows of facets on the collet 

 side. The cutting and polishing are unexceptionable. 



The colour is a peculiar soft, but well-pronounced green 

 of chrysoberyl cast, but yet with not so much of the apple 

 green tint. In fact, the nature of the green is very marked 

 and distinctive. The colour is also equally distributed all 

 through it — a rare occurrence in sapphires. Its lustre and 

 fire are exceedingly good, as you can see for yourselves, and 

 as one might expect from a stone of its depth and absolute 

 freedom from foul, flaw, feather, or speck of any kind. The 

 work reflects great credit on Mr. Spink. 



Its hardness — diamond being 10 — is equal to = 9 + , and 

 is the hardest stone ever cut in Melbourne. The specific 

 gravity 4.001. 



The coefficient of refraction has not yet been determined. 



