of igneous
origin.

Montana furnishes considerable quantities of sapphire, some of which is
of very good color. It is, of course, as good as the Oriental if of
equal color, being of the same material. The better colored sapphire
from Montana is mined from the rock. Most of the sapphires found in the
river gravels near Helena, Mont., are greenish blue or of other colors,
and not of fine blue.

Queensland and Victoria in Australia supply considerable quantities of
sapphire. When blue the Australian sapphire is usually too dark to be
very valuable. The golden and other "fancy" sapphires of the trade come
largely from the Ceylon gravels. Siam yields silky brown stones and some
fine green ones. Some of the Australian sapphires when cut in certain
directions yield green stones.

CHRYSOBERYL. Chrysoberyl of the variety Alexandrite now comes mainly
from Ceylon, although formerly from the Ural Mountains.

The cat's-eyes also come chiefly from Ceylon.

The yellowish-green chrysoberyls (which jewelers sometimes call
chrysolite) come both from Ceylon and from Brazil. They are frequently
found in papers of "fancy sapphires" or "fancy color stones," so called.

SPINEL. Spinels are found along with ruby in Burmah and in Siam and they
also occur in the gem gravels of Ceylon. Limestone is the usual matrix
of spinel, although it is more often mined in gravels resulting from the
weathering of the matrix.

TOPAZ. True topaz, of wine-yellow color, comes mostly from Brazil.
Ceylon also furnishes yellow topaz. Asiatic Russia furnishes fine large
blue or blue-green crystals resembling aquamarine in appearance. Most of
the topaz found in other localities is pale or colorless. Several of our
western States, notably Utah, Colorado, and California, furnish
colorless topaz. Mexico and Japan also produce it. It is seldom cut,
for, while producing a rather brilliant stone, it has little "fire" and
is therefore not very attractive.

EMERALD AND AQUAMARINE. Beryl of the emerald variety is exceedingly
scarce in the earth. Most of the best emerald comes from Colombia, South
America. Large crystals of paler color come from the Urals.

Like ruby and spinel, emerald usually originates in limestone. One is
tempted to suspect that these stones are of aqueous origin and that
sapphires, and beryl, other than emerald, are more likely of igneous
origin.

Beryls of the aquamarine type occur in many places, but usually of too
pale a tint, or too imper