The Washington herald., 1913-08-10
Court Gossip of Interesting
Events on THO Continents

both Of which are not found together
in an imitation stone. The diamond
is brilliant because it IL hard. o,ber
stones and limitations become scratcbed
and dull by friction. For an eYn.rt-
enced eye IL is not difficult 10 dacids
from the appearance OF the fsca,s
whether a stone is genuine or NOT for
those Of real diamonds are seldom so
regular as those of fine imitations
With the latter. the greatest care is
taken in grinding. to smooth and mol
ish not only the facets, but also the
whole form, into such shape as to avoid
differences in the reflection, refraction
and scattering of the rays
In the grinding and polishing Of real
brilliants. on the other hand. effort is
made to keep the original size as much
as possible. and some little irresularf-
ties in the faces and angles are pre-
ferred TO any diminution in weight. In
the limitations the superfluity Of chez,
material which may be wasted withou,
it making any difference causes a per-
rect counterfeit to be made. A tool
necessary for testing Is the file, which
cannot inture or scratch a real dia
mond, while on an imitation II quickly
makes its mark. But better than a file
Is fragment of sapphire, because il
Is the next hardest stone to the dia
mond- Any stone that can be scratched
oy a sapphire is no diamond. II a.
small drop of water is placed on the
upper face of a brilliant and touched
with a pointed pencil. the drop will
Keep Its round form, while the stone
remains clean and dry. II the same
thins Is done to glass imitation, the
drop spreads out at once. A diamond
plunged into water will be plainly Wis
ible and will glitter through the LIQUID
while the imitation stone is almost in
visible.
II a person looks through a diamond az
through bit Of glass, at a black dot on
a sheet of white paper, one single poinr
will be seen clearly. II several point.
appear, or blur is seen, il is an imi,a-
ton.
Inc white sapphire, the white topaz, and
rock crystal are commonly sold a.
diamonds, but more often limitations are
made of glass. To recognize the glass
imitation. treatment with acids also "a
recommended, which removes the polish
from the faces. while it does not affect
a diamond. ruby. sapphire, or emerald.
however, as an imitation made of glass
Yields TO the hardness-test, a chemical
test is superfiuous.
Speaking of precious stones, a new
Jewel with a romantic history was en-
hibited at the Royal Society's Conver-
sazione at London recently. 1t is
priceless ornament of carnelian, lapis
lazuli, and turquoise. and was made by
the order OF one OF the Pharaohs of
Egypt 3.i0o years before the birth of
Christ. 1t was given by that monarch
to one of his favorites. and when the
latter died it was buried with him in his
tomb. Some years after that the tomb
was entered by a thief, who was abou,
to steal the gem, when the heavy slabs
that formed its roof fell on him and
killed him. In the course of centuries all
trace of the ancient tomb were lost, AMI
as the result Of frequent sandstorms in
the Nile Valley it lay buried deep under
the sands. 1t was excavated, however,
last March by a great Egyptian arckae.
"logist The crushed body of the thief
in the act OF stealing the jewel was
found and told MS own story, and the
beautiful gem was brought TO England.
FLANECR