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to the blue stone. The amount of greenness a stone takes on, contrary to an old Indian story, does not indicate the degree of a spouse’s unfaithfulness.
Nature’s shortcomings have not stopped man from “improving” stones—and their value—deepening the color, and adding luster and hardness, with mutton tallow, butter, ear wax, Prussian blue dye, or liquid plastics.
Such stablized turquoise can make, beautiful jewelry. But selling it as natural, untreated turquoise is against federal law and the statutes of at least nine states, with violators subject to $5,000 fines.
In his pioneering analysis technique, Parsons aims a powerful electron beam at the stone, stirring up radiation which is then read and analyzed with help from a computer. Since every stone’s chemical makeup is slightly different, identities are as individual as fingerprints.
Certificates with “fingerprint” descriptions already are helping police, museum directors, gem dealers, and customers to detect fraudulent and stolen turquoise.
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Life is the only real counsellor; wisdom filtered through personal experience becomes a part of the moral tissue.—Edith Wharton
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