Page:Handbook of Precious Stones.djvu/32

 The stone to be determined should be first placed in liquid A, in which all stones but red, dull-green, puce, yellow, white, and brown zircons will float. After removal from A, washing with hot water and wiping dry with a cloth, the stone (which has not sunk in A) is placed in liquid B, where, if it sinks, it may be almandine, spessartite or golden -zircon. Should it not sink, it is transferred with due precautions to C. Here, if it sinks, itmay be ruby, sapphire or one of the other varieties of corundum, or possibly a green zircon. If, however, the stone floats in C it may belong to one of the much larger groups, with which we will now endeavour to deal in a tabular form :

In solution D

In solution E

In solution F

Much may be learnt by the behaviour of a stone in the liquid employed. It may sink or rise slowly when its specific gravity is near that of the liquid, or it may remain, as it were, suspended in the midst, in cases where its density is the same as that of the liquid. Before using any of the solutions their specific gravity should be carefully determined, they must be preserved from