Show MIXTURE OF COLOR IN THE SAPPHIRE stone long famous for its wide range sapphire the birthstone of september may be golden yellow pink brown black gray blue green or violet and occasionally has no color nt at all aall I 1 the terra term to the lapidary means any corundum except the ruby and includes the oriental amethyst the oriental peridot and the oriental topaz ns as well ns as the brilliant lustrous blue stone to which people through the ages have given the title sapphire corundum Is a combination of oxygen and aluminium created in the volcanic fires ot of the dawn of time says nature magazine ot of wit washington hing ton like cleopatra age cana cannot 0 t wither nor custom stale its te variety and yet the wide range of colors Is caused merely by minute impurities which crept into the atomic structure of the stone it Is one of the marvels of the mineral kingdom that a crystal occasionally cas casio I 1 0 nally Is blue on one halt the length of the crystal and yellow on the other half or that sometimes the blue and red alternate in thin stripes to impart to the crystal a purplish plum color and it Is equally marvelous that come stones viewed through the length of the crystal appear blue although a side view discloses them a as n reddish plum shade or without color at all aall I 1 now how or why these phenomena occur Is stin unexplained pla ined although it Is known that the oxides of chromium titanium tit yinlum and iron will produce stones colored red blue yellow and brown in any event the result of them anre either rubles or sapphires sapp hires and the beauty loving long world orld is far richer for their creation a writer utter of the sixteenth century has written that the vision moses siw saw on the mount was within the crystal of a sapphire and that the original tables of the law ft ere made ot of the some same material abet whether h er his account t Is authentic or not it Is known that the greeks had dedicated the gem to apollo the god of prophecy long before the christian era and when consulting this deitos arnele at delpha inquiry ers eis wore ore this jewel to secure quick and favorable fao rable answers to their petitions |