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XX. 



A DESCEIPTION OF TWO LAEGE SPINEL EUBIES, WITH 

 PEESIAX CHAEICTEES EIs^GEAVED UPOjS" THEM. By 

 y. BALL, C.B., LL.D., E.E.S., Dii^ector of the Science and 

 Art Museum, Dublin. (Plate X.) 



[Eead January 22, 1894.] 



About a year ago I T^as informed that Lady Carew possessed a precious 

 stone, with inscriptions in Persian characters engraved upon it. Some 

 months later I wrote to her ladyship on the subject, and she was so 

 kind as to furnish me with sealing-wax impressions of the Persian 

 characters, and she subsequently afforded me an opportunity of examin- 

 ing the stone itself, which proved to be a spinel ruby; she also per- 

 mitted a careful model of it to be prepared. It was at the same time 

 weighed, but, being mounted with gold attachment, the actual weight 

 could only be estimated, and the specific gravity could not then be 

 ascertained. 



Though polished superficially, it is quite uncut, and is of an 

 irregular pear shape. Upon four of its surfaces, respectively, the 

 names or titles of four of the Mogul Emperors are engraved. These 

 facts led me to make a preliminary communication on the subject to 

 the AtJiencBum (No. 3454, 6th January, 1894). I now propose to re- 

 capitulate the facts with the further detail and illustration which such 

 an opportunity as the present affords. 



The history of the stone is, that it was purchased by Lady Carew's 

 grand-uncle, Mr. Charles Alison, c.b., H.M. Ambassador in Persia, from 

 a merchant at Teheran, before the year 1870, say some twenty -five 

 years ago. Having been brought to England, it was for a time placed 

 in the hands of Messrs. Hunt and Eoskell, the well-known jewellers 

 of Bond-street, and by them I have been informed that its true weight 

 is 133 J carats, and they have fully confii'med the view that it is a 

 spinel, by a further examination. Its dimensions are as follows : — 

 length, 1-62 inches; maximum breadth, -9 inches. As was the case 

 with many other rubies and other precious stones of the period to 

 which it belonged, it was bored through fi'om end to end, to admit of 



