SPINEL. After chrysoberyl come the materials rated as about 8 in hardness. First and hardest of these is spinel, then comes true or precious topaz. The various spinels are very hard and tough stones. The rough material persists in turbulent mountain streams where weaker minerals are ground to powder, and when cut and polished, spinel will wear well in any jewel. The author has long worn a ruby spinel in a ring on the right hand and has done many things that have subjected it to hard knocks, yet it is still intact, except for a spot that accidentally came in contact with a fast-flying carborundum wheel, which of course abraded the spinel. TOPAZ. The true topaz is a bit softer than spinel, and the rough crystals show a very perfect basal cleavage. That is, they will cleave in a plane parallel to the bases of the usual orthorhombic crystals. This being the case a cut topaz is very likely to be damaged by a blow or even by being dropped on a hard surface, and it would be wiser not to set such a stone in a ring unless it was to be but little used, or used by one who would not engage in rough work while wearing it. Thus a lady might wear a topaz ring on dress occasions for a long time without damaging it, but it would not do for a machinist to wear one in a ring. GEMS BETWEEN 7 AND 8 IN HARDNESS. We now come to a rather long list of gem minerals ranging between 7 and 8 in hardness. Of these the principal ones are zircon, almandine garnet, and beryl (emerald and aquamarine) rated as 7-1/2 in hardness, and pyrope and hessonite garnet rated as 7-1/4 in hardness. Tourmaline and kunzite may also be included in this group as being on the average slightly above 7 in hardness. The above minerals are all harder than quartz, and hence not subject to abrasion by the quartz dust which is everywhere present. In this respect they are suitable for fairly hard wear. The garnets are of sufficient toughness so that they may be freely used in rings--and the extensive use of thin slices of garnet to top doublets proves the suitability of the material for resisting wear. The zircon is rather more brittle and the artificially whitened zircons (known as jargoons) are especially subject to breakage when worn in rings. Fortunately jargoons are not commonly sold.