Spinel. A mineral occurring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colors, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby, It consists essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also chromium. The fine specimens of spinel ruby are worth rather more than half as much as the diamond.

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“Prayer and thanks are like the double motion of the lungs, the air that is sucked in by prayer is breathed forth again by thanks.”
–Thomas Goodwin, The Return of Prayers