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<h1>THE CHEMISTRY,</h1>
<h1>PROPERTIES AND TESTS OF</h1>
<h1>PRECIOUS STONES</h1>
<h4>BY</h4>
<h3><span class="smcap">JOHN MASTIN, M.A. D.Sc. Ph.D. Litt.D.</span></h3>
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<h2>PREFACE</h2>
<p>Some little time ago certain London diamond merchants and wholesale
dealers in precious stones made the suggestion to me to write a work on
this section of mineralogy, as there did not appear to be any giving
exactly the information most needed.</p>
<p>Finding there was a call for such a book I have written the present
volume in order to meet this want, and I trust that this handbook will
prove useful, not only to the expert and to those requiring certain
technical information, but also to the general public, whose interest in
this entrancing subject may be simply that of pleasure in the purchase,
possession, or collection of precious stones, or even in the mere
examination of them through the plate-glass of a jeweller's window.</p>
<p class="right">
JOHN MASTIN.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Totley Brook</span>,<br/>
<span class="smcap">near Sheffield</span>.<br/>
<br/>
<i>June 1911.</i><br/></p>
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