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SAPPHIRE.
87
Sapphires of less note are by no means rare, and smaller stones of ten or twenty carats are always in the market. They are generally offered for sale in lots cut and polished, consisting of stones of various sizes and quality, and of the value of from twenty to sixty shillings per carat. 1 possess one of eighteen carats, for which I paid £30. The price of stones of three or four carats, may be said to be capricious, depending on thie brilliancy of the gem, and the peculiar beauty of its color.
A very remarkable variety of this gem is the Asteria[1] or Star-stone. This is a semi-
- ↑ The Asteria is produced by cutting the stone across, (en cabochon), and if the primitive crystal (the rhomboid) should be in the centre, the rays of light entering the stone will be refracted and diverge from the angle of the nucleus in the form of a star with six rays.
