As existing in a state of nature precious stones do not, as a rule, exhibit any of those beautiful and wonderful properties which cause them to be so admired and sought after as to become of great intrinsic value, for their surfaces have become clouded by innumerable fine cuts or abrasions, because of the thousands of years during which they have been under pressure, or tumbled about in rivers, or subjected to the incessant friction caused by surrounding substances. All this occurring above and under ground has given them an appearance altogether different to that which follows cutting and polishing. Further, the shape of the stone becomes altered by the same means, and just as Michael Angelo's figure was already in the marble, as he facetiously said, and all he had to do was to chip off what he did not require till he came to it, so is the same process of cutting and polishing necessary to give to the precious stones their full value, and it is the manner in which these delicate and difficult operations are performed that is now under consideration. Just as experience and skill are essential to the obtaining of a perfect figure from the block of marble, so must the cutting and polishing of a precious stone call for the greatest dexterity of which a workman is capable, experience and skill so great as to be found only in the expert, for in stones of great value even a slight mistake in the shaping and cutting would probably not only be wasteful of the precious material, but would utterly spoil its beauty, causing incalculable loss, and destroying altogether the refrangibility, lustre and colour of the stone, thus rendering it liable to easy fracture: in every sense converting what would have been a rare and magnificent jewel to a comparatively valueless specimen.