234 Count de Bournon*s Description of 
obviate every possible objection ; and, consequently, my opinion 
was not yet in a state fit to be presented to the Royal Society, 
as an established truth. Since that time; I have never lost sight 
of this object, nor have I neglected any means in my power, 
which could conduce to the end I had in view ; and I may say, 
that my success has far surpassed my expectations. The spe- 
cimens of corundum that have been lately sent from India, 
joined to the very considerable collection of oriental gems, in 
their perfect crystalline forms, which I have been able to pro- 
cure, have afforded me the most satisfactory demonstration that 
a mineralogist can wish for ; and nothing was now wanting to 
fix, in a complete and decisive manner, the general opinion 
respecting this stone, except to give it that additional support 
which is furnished by chemical investigation. Mr. Klaproth 
indeed had already published an analysis of the corundum stone, 
and of the sapphire; but he had not submitted to the same 
scrutiny, the perfect red corundum or oriental ruby ; it is 
possible also, that the specimens of corundum he made use of 
in his analysis, which had been taken from among the first spe- 
cimens of this stone sent from India, were not so pure as 
might have been wished, and that this impurity was the cause 
of the difference, (which however was very trifling,) between 
the result of their analysis and that of the sapphire. I there- 
fore chose, from among the specimens of corundum which had 
been sent from China, from the kingdom of Ava, from the 
Carnatic, and from the coast of Malabar, such pieces as ap- 
peared to me the most pure ; and, after having added to them 
a quantity of oriental rubies and sapphires, sufficient for many 
repeated analyses, I requested Mr. Chenevix, whose chemical 
labours are so useful to mineralogy, by his constant application 
