216 Precious Stones. 



readily met with from the directions given in our last No., 

 p. 142, for finding Knott's Crimson Star. 



OCCULTATIONS. 



Oct. 4th, B. A. 0. 221, 6 mag., 9h. 23m. to lOh. 29m.— 

 9th, 130 Tauri, 6 mag., 8h. 46m. to 9h. 30m. 



PRECIOUS STONES* 



Objects that possess remarkable beauty, and are at the same 

 time rare, are most likely to be sought after and prized in 

 wealthy communities, and hence the various kinds of minerals 

 called " precious stones" have stood in high favour amongst 

 civilized nations in ancient and modern times. A certain class 

 of philosophers have endeavoured to ridicule the taste, and the 

 same theorizers on social morals have denounced all ornamen- 

 tation in apparel or domestic implements as a mere matter of 

 vanity and ostentation. Sir Thomas More tells us that his 

 Utopians " find pearls on their coasts, and diamonds and car- 

 buncles on their rocks : they do not look after them, but, if 

 they find any by chance, they polish them and therewith adorn 

 their children, who are delighted with and glory in them during 

 their childhood ; but when they grow to years, and see that 

 none but children use such baubles, they of their own accord, 

 without being bid by their parents, lay them aside, and 

 would be as much ashamed to use them afterwards as children 

 amongst us, when they come to years, are of their nuts, puppets, 

 and other toys.'''' A great many things in Utopia evince a 

 mind far in advance of the age, but in matters of clothing and 

 decoration we should decline to accept the teaching of its 

 learned author, who represents his model peoj)le as wearing 

 garments made of skins and leather, and making them last 

 seven years. " When they appear in public/' he adds, "they 

 put on an upper garment which hides the other." These 

 Utopians " wonder how any man should be so much taken 

 with the glaring, doubtful lustre of a jewel or a stone, that 

 can look up to a star or to the sun itself." The argument 

 thus put, obviously breaks down, and we are entitled to ask 

 how any man who loves the brilliant effects of light in one 

 class of natural objects can fail to admire them in another ? 

 and we should doubt any one's appreciating the lustre of a 

 star or the variegated hues of the rainbow who told us that 



* Diamonds and Precious Stones : their History, Value, and Distinguishing 

 Characteristic.-!, with Simple Tests for their Identification. By Harry Emanuel, 

 F.R.G.S. John Camden Holten. 



