Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/152

 specific gravity and hardness, it bears no comparison with the oriental amethyst; it is also inferior in beauty and lustre; though I have often seen the common amethyst offered for sale as Oriental.

, Siberia, and Ceylon, produce very fine amethysts: they are found in rolled pieces in the alluvial soil, and finely crystallized in fissures of the rock, From the first of these localities, they have lately been imported in such quantities, as considerably to diminish their value: but, as they are the only colored stones, except garnets, that are worn with mourning, they still retain, when perfect, a distinguished rank among the precious gems.

present price of inferior light colored stones, in the rough state, is about twenty shillings per pound, whilst those of good quality sell at ten or twelve shillings per ounce. Ame-