Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . Fig. 93.—Egyptian Moulding in Ceramic Paste. In the time of Pliny, the manufacture of falsestones was far advanced as a branch of industry-. Fig. 94.—Egyptian Ring, with a Bezel of Ceramic Paste. among the Romans. There existed several treatises 16 242 PRECIOUS STONES. upon the subject; and Pliny declared that it was adifficult task to distinguish between the false andthe true. Not only in Rome were false stones invogue, but, according to Pliny, the Indians coun-terfeited jewels with success, especially opals. The processes that Plin

---

Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . Fig. 93.—Egyptian Moulding in Ceramic Paste. In the time of Pliny, the manufacture of falsestones was far advanced as a branch of industry-. Fig. 94.—Egyptian Ring, with a Bezel of Ceramic Paste. among the Romans. There existed several treatises 16 242 PRECIOUS STONES. upon the subject; and Pliny declared that it was adifficult task to distinguish between the false andthe true. Not only in Rome were false stones invogue, but, according to Pliny, the Indians coun-terfeited jewels with success, especially opals. The processes that Pliny was so careful not todivulge, were not held sacred with the same scru-pulousness by the alchemists of the twelfth andthirteenth centuries. Both Albertus Magnus andSt. Thomas Aquinas refer openly to this subject;

---

Size: 1082px × 2309px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectgems, booksubjectprec