CORUNDUM (RUBY): OCCURRENCE IN BURMA 269 



which materially improves their appearance. In Burma it is customary, instead of setting 

 such a stone on a foil, to hollow out the miderside and fill it in with gold. 



Besides being iaceted and cut en cabochon, rubies are sometimes engraved with 

 inscriptions or figures, this being most frequently done in the .East. Such antique gems of 

 ruby engraved with the head of Jupiter Serapis and a figure of Minerva are known. 



^^U|| 



.Asserted loeality of ruby betiveen 

 Mogauru) and Sanka. 

 Approximate position of the 

 asserted loeality of spiiiel (and 

 rtiiy?) on the Upper Irrawaddy. 

 Extent of the ruby-bearing dis- 

 trict of Mogok. 

 Jtuby-field of the Sagyin Hills. 



Fig. 51. Occurrence of rubj' and sapphire in Burma 

 and Siam. (Scale, 1 : 15,000,000.) 



Fig. 55. Euty-fields of Burma. 

 (Scale, 1 : 10,088,500.) 



OccuERENCE. — While the poorer qualities of ruby are widely distributed, clear, 

 transparent material suitable for cutting is found in but few countries, of which Burma, 

 Siam, and Ceylon are alone of commercial importance at the present time. 



Now, just as in former times, Upper Burma furnishes us not only with the finest 

 but also with the largest supply of rubies. The distribution of precious stones (I'uby, red 

 tourmaline, jadeite, and amber) in this country is shown on the map in Fig. 54, the ruby 

 localities being given in special detail in Fig. 55. The ruby mines of Upper Burma were 

 worked at least as early as the fifteenth century and have ever since supplied the greater 

 part of the material used in jewellery, including the finest stones known. The majority of 



