Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/130

 lity, was sold for above £120; but I have known much larger sold for less; the price depending entirely on brilliancy and perfection. I possess five or six, not very fine, which 1 purchased at forty shillings per carat; they weigh from about two carats to sixteen grains each.

exhibiting two colors are occasionally met with, but they may be deenied rare. The ruby and sapphire frequently present a chatoyant or cloudy appearance, which is termed milky, and is considered an imperfection, except in the Asteria, which owes its principal beauty: to this characters I have seen inferior sapphires so dense as to appear black; and I accidentally met with two or three of a dull green tinge, but very different fromthe color of an emerald, Transparent and opalescent sapphires are not uncommon; they