Ruby. A precious stone of a carmine-red color, sometimes verging to violet, or intermediate between carmine and hyacinth red. It is a crystallized variety of corundum. The ruby from Siam is of a dark color and is called ox-blood ruby. It has about the same value as the diamond. The ruby from Burmah, called the pigeon-blood ruby, is of a lighter color and several times more valuable than the ox-blood ruby.
“Walk as on the borders of the invisible world.”
–Robert Hawker Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions, July 17