Excerpt from The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones<br><br>To avoid unnecessary repetition, reference is occasion ally made in this volume to its companion on 'precious Stones,' but to no great extent, it having been my object to render each division of my subject complete in itself. For the same reason, some observations properly belonging to the other Part, have_been reintroduced in this, when absolutely required for the elucidation of the points under consideration.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.