Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/122

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SAPPHIRE.

bright Indigo blue, united to a high degree of translucency; but it more generally occurs pale blue or cloudy; and not unfrequently transparent in one part, and spotted and streaked of a dark inky blue in the other.—It is found in the streams and rivers in Ceylon, and various parts of India, but more particularly in the kingdom of Pegu, where it is met with in rounded or crystallized fragments, generally small, seldom exceeding the size of a a common nut, though sometimes much larger.

There are several choice specimens in Europe, and one of the finest is in the possession of P. H. Hope, Esq. which weighs 133 carats, and is without a flaw. In perfection this gem is unrivalled, and although not so large as some, it surpasses all in brilliancy and beauty. It is cut in exact proportion, and is set round with brilliants.