SAPPHIRE (ante). The chemical formula of sapphire is with the addition of a minute quantity of chromic oxide, the amount of which determines the color. Common corundum contains other oxides which destroy the beauty of the stone. It is found in various parts of the world; in the granite of Siberia, in granular limestone in New Jersey, and in the ripidolite of North Carolina. The finest rubies are found in Burmah and Siam, and the finest blue -sapphires in Ceylon. A barbekblue sapphire, a fine gem, but weighing only 6 carats, once brought, at a public sale in Paris, $350. The ordinary price of blue sapphires is the square of the weight in carats multiplied by $2.50. If the above had not been a rare specimen its price would have been about 00. The ruby, or red sapphire, is, however, the most precious variety. A ruby of over 20 carats is com monly called a carbuncle, and the finest tint, the one most prized, is what is known as pigeon's blood. In Burtnah, when a very fine stone is found, a procession of elephants
carrying dignitaries an soldiers is sent to meet it, and one of the titles of the king is lord of the rubies. The topaz or yellow sapphire was the second stone in the breastplate of Aaron. A perfectly pure crystal of corundum, without any color, but transparent, is called a white sapphire, and is so beautiful a gem that it has been mistaken for a diamond. The emerald corundum is one of the rarest gems. Some specimens have been found in Devine and Caron formed small crystals of sapphire by the action of boracic acid on fluoride of aluminum at a white heat, adding variable quantities of finoride of chromium to impart the various colors. Gaudin formed them by decomposing potash alum 'with charcoal at a very high heat.