VALUE AND PRICE 103 



Company of the so-called topaz mines in Spain. Topaz, which was formerly much worn 

 and therefore prized, is now, in common with other yellow stones, regarded with but little 

 favour and its price is therefore low. The mines mentioned above had been acquired in the 

 hope that sooner or later the topaz may regain its former popularity ; it may be stated here, 

 however, that the mineral derived from these mines is not true topaz but quartz of a 

 beautiful yellow colour, which is frequently sold for topaz. 



it will not now be surprising to learn that those precious stones, which always have 

 been and always will be most highly prized, have in past times varied greatly in their relative 

 value ; in other words, different stones have at different periods been held in the highest 

 esteem. According to C. W. King, to whom we are indebted for much important historical 

 work in connection with precious stones, the diamond was the most highly esteemed of 

 precious stones among the Romans, and also in earlier times in India ; in the estimation of 

 the Persians, however, it occupied the fifth place, following after pearl, ruby, emerald, and 

 chrysolite. Benvenuto Cellini placed on record that in the middle of the sixteenth century 

 ruby and sapphire were esteemed more highly than diamond, which had only one-eighth the 

 value of ruby, this latter stone being prized above all others. The Portuguese author, 

 Garcias ab Horto, writing at the same time (1565), placed diamond in a series of pi-ecious 

 stones, arranged according to their value, in the third place, giving the first place to emerald, 

 and to ruby, when clear, the second. We find a parallel to this at the present time, for 

 diamond is to-day far exceeded in price by ruby, and is often equalled in price by emerald. 

 These comparisons of course refer to stones of the same size and quality and, when cut, with 

 the same perfection of form. 



The value attached to a precious stone depends veiy largely on the size of the specimen, 

 which is estimated from its weight. The special unit of weight almost universally used is 

 the carat. This is supposed to have the weight of a seed of an African leguminous tree, 

 known to the natives as " kuara," a species of Erythrina (E. abyssinica) ; the fruit of this 

 tree when dry is characterised by its very constant weight, and is said to have been used in 

 Africa for weighing gold. It is supposed that it was afterwards adopted in India as a 

 standard of weight for precious stones. According to another view, the carat is the weight 

 of a seed from the pod of the locust-tree, its name being derived from the Greek word 

 keration, signifying the fruit of the locust-tree. The origins claimed for this standard of 

 weight being so diverse, it is not surprising to find that its value, like that of the old pound 

 and ounce, varies not inconsiderably in different countries. On an average the carat does 

 not differ in value much from a fifth of a gram (200 milligrams), or about 3^ English 

 grains. The exact values in milligrams of the carat at different places are tabulated 

 below : 



Amboina 



Florence 



Batavia 



Borneo 



Leipzig 



Spain . 



London 



Berlin .... 



The fractions of the cai-at used in weighing precious stones are \, \, \, &c., down 

 to ^ij, smaller fractions than these being neglected ; these fractional parts of the carat are 

 usually expressed with a denominator of sixty-four. One sixty-fourth of a carat of 205 



