394 
RUBY. 
form three different gems amongst the lapidaries, are 
known by naturalists to be merely varieties of the 
same stone. They are in effect of the same form, 
and nearly of the same specific gravity ; but what 
places the analogy in a still stronger light is, that 
the different colours of the three gems are some- 
times found united in the same crystal. According 
to Tavernier, all coloured hard stones are called ru- 
bies in the East Indian mines ; and Wallerius, as 
well as Rome de T Isle, asserts that the hard and bril- 
liant oriental rubies, sapphires, and topazes, are the 
very same stone, the colour excepted. 
Oriental rubies crystallize in elongated hexagonal 
pyramids, like those of rock crystal, but much 
longer. 
They are found in Brasil, and in several parts of 
the East Indies ; among other places, the mountain 
called Capelan, about twelve days journey from. 
Sirian, the capital of Pegu, is famous for them. 
They are generally discovered in the sands of rivers 
of a red colour, or in a clayey earth of a greenish 
colour, and sometimes adhering to red rocks. 
The Mogul’s throne must be very rich in rubies, 
if Tavernier is accurate in his account, who tells us 
that there are 108 , weighing from one to two hun- 
dred carats each, besides a round one of almost two 
ounces and a half. 
Patrin mentions, from Faujas, the circumstance of 
sapphires being found in a rivulet that passes through 
the village of Expailly, near Puy en Velay, which 
he considers as like those of the Indies. They were 
