358 Oriental Accounts of [Aug. 



extracted from below, for the various minerals which are disseminated 

 in it." 



The medical properties of this gem are remarkable : " it puri- 

 fies the blood, strengthens, quenches thirst ; it dispels melancholy re- 

 flections ; and, as a talisman, averts dangers, insures honor and com- 

 petence." 



In hardness it only yields to the diamond : it is unaltered by the 

 fire, the red and yellow varieties, if any thing, improving in color there- 

 from. The blue, or sapphire, when pure, is of equal value with the 

 diamond. The Arabs are fond of engraving their names upon it. 



Besides the Silani or Ceylon yaqut y there is stated in the Jawdhir- 

 nameh to be " another ruby, now very much in vogue, which is 

 extracted from a mine in Bengal, near Tahat-ul-Surda, in the vicinity 

 of which is an island, called Rakhang, nigh to which is a stream, 

 where also the ruby is procured." Tahat-ul-surda may mean a deep 

 mine; Rakhangis the Arracan of Europeans. "It is greatly valued in 

 Hinduslhan. Jewellers assert, that its nature is soft, and that fire will 

 dissolve it, but from its appearance or touch no idea can be formed 

 of these defects." This account may refer to the spinelle ruby 

 about to be described, or to a species of garnet. 



DODECAHEDRAL CORUNDUM or SpINELLE RuBY. 



p. Idl; h. manilc ? or Id I. 



Concerning this gem there is considerable incertitude among oriental 

 authors, which an acquaintance with mineralogy alone can dissipate. 

 Jewellers of the present day apply the term Idl to all rubies of a fine 

 red color. It is evident however from the books before us, that the Idl is 

 quite distinct from the yaqtit, and that it properly designates what we 

 term the spinelle* ruby. The Idl rumani, scarlet or pomegranate- 

 coloured ruby, is probably the true spinelle; while the Idl Badak* 

 sham, or ruby of Badakshan, of a rose color, is what Europeans call the 

 Balas ruby ; indeed it appears possible that Balas may be a corrup- 

 tion of the latter name ; for, the French Encyclopedia says, the name is 

 derived from the kingdom whence the rubies come, supposed to be 

 situated, vaguely, somewhere between Pegu and Bengal. Balkh, the 

 capital of Badakshan, might have been written Balach in French, and 

 afterwards softened to Balas by the same process which has converted 

 the Khan into the Cham of Tartary. 



» 



* The etymology of the word spinelle is obscure — Tavern ier describes among 

 Indian varieties of the ruby, the " espinels or mothers of rubies," 



