The natural stones represent the slow chemical action of water, decay, and association with, or near, other chemical substances or elements, combined with the action of millions of years of time, and the unceasing enormous pressure during that time of thousands, perhaps millions, of tons of earth, rock, and the like, subjected, for a certain portion at least of that period, to extremes of heat or cold, all of which determine the nature of the gem. So that only in the earth itself, under strictly natural conditions, can these rare substances be found at all in any workable size; therefore they must be sought after assiduously, with more or less speculative risk. CHAPTER II. THE ORIGIN OF PRECIOUS STONES. Though the origin, formation, composition, characteristics and tests of each stone will be examined in detail when dealing with the stones seriatim, it is necessary to enquire into those particulars of origin which are common to all, in order thoroughly to understand why they differ from other non-metallic and metallic minerals. At the very commencement we are faced with a subject on which mineralogists and geologists are by no means in full agreement, and there seems just ground for considerable divergence of opinion, according to the line of argument taken. It is a most remarkable fact that, precious as are certain stones, they do not (with a few exceptions) contain any of the rarer metals, such as platinum, gold, etc., or any of their compounds, but are composed entirely of the common elements and their derivatives, especially of those elements contained in the upper crust of the earth, and this notwithstanding the fact that gems are often found deep down in the earth. This is very significant, and points to the conclusion that these stones were formed by the slow percolation of water from the surface through the deeper parts of the earth, carrying with it, in solution or suspension, the chemical constituents of the earth's upper crust; time and long-continued pressure, combined with heat or cold, or perhaps both in turn, doing the rest, as already mentioned.