Gems Notes and Extracts Augusto Castellani, Mrs. John Brogden 1871

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GEMS

GEMSNOTES AND EXTRACTSBYAUGUSTO CASTELLAN!TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIANBYMES. JOHN BBOGDEN.THE PROFITS FROM THE SALE OF THIS TRANSLATION WILL BE GIVEN TO THEGOLDSMITHS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.LONDON :BELL & DALDY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.1871.

LONDON :PKIXTED BY W. CLOWES AND SUN'S, STAMFOUD STHF.ETAND CHASING CROSS.

CONTENTS.INTRODUCTION.General Observalions . . 1Hardness ..... 5Specific Weight ... 6Brightness, Colour, andTransparency ... 7Electricity 9Fusion and Solution . .10History and value of Gems .J.I. 47Adularia 17Aquamarina 20Agate 22Alabastrite and Alabaster . 25Almandine 27Amazzonite 28Amber 30Amethyst 33Apatite 35Argirite 36Asteria 38Ivory 40Aveuturine 42Axinite 44Beryl 45Boort, or Knotty DiamondCacholong 48Calcedony 49Calcedonyx 51Carbon 52Cyanite 54Cymophaue 55PAGEClorophane 57Cocca di Perla .... 58Shells 59Coral 60Corundum 63Carnelian 65Chrysoberyl 67Chrysolite 68Chrysoprase 70Eock Crystal .... 72Diamond 74Brilliant 82Historical Diamonds. . 90The Artificial Diamond . 100Jasper 102Dichroite 106Hematite 108Epidote 108Essonite 110Enclasio 110Fluorine 112Gagat, or Greek Jet . .114. . 115-Jacinth . . . .Jade ....... 117Jargoon 118Girasol 120Garnet 121Hauyna 125Idocrasium 127Hydrophane 128Hypersthenum .... 130Iris 131Jolite 132Labrador 132

viCONTENTS.PAGELapis-lazuli, or Lazulite . 134Lava 138Petrided Wood . . . .139Lepidolite 140Lumachella 141Lunaria, or Moon-stone . 142Malachite 142Marquisite 145Marble 146Mica 147Mosaic 149Natrolite 151Nephrite 151Niccolo 152Cat's-eye 152Olivine 155Onyx 156Oolite 157Opal 158Owarovite 161Touchstone 162Pastes 163Peridot 166Pearl 168False Pearls 175Pyroxenum 178PAGEPisolite 180Plasma 181Porphyry 182Prase 184Quiritine 186Rubellite 187Ruby 188Oriental . .Ruby .188SpmelRuby .192. . .BalaisRuby .... 195Sard 198Sard-agate 200Sardonyx 201Emerald 202Emery 210Spuma Marina . . . .212Stalactite 212Tourmaline 214Topaz 215Tripoli 219Turquoise 220Variolite 223Vermilion 224Sapphire 225EPILOGUE . . 234

INTRODUCTION.GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.MINERALS consist of all those substances which haveneither animal nor vegetable life, and are thereforedevoid of sensation,existing merely by the power ofaggregation or chemical affinity.The science which treats of minerals is calledMineralogy, and is divided into two distinct branches,viz., that which preserves the name, and treats simplyof minerals with regard to their component elements,and Geology, which regards minerals pure ormixed,as they exist in nature and in relation to the soil.Mineralogy describes the individual quality of thevarious mineralogical species; geology treats only ofminerals as constituent parts of the earth.Those minerals which are used ornamentally and areprized for their rarity are called Gems.In mineralogy, as in other departments of naturalhistory, minerals are united in groups, forming greatclasses, which are divided into genera, species, andvarieties.We are indebted to Theophrastus, philosopher of

2 GEMS.Lesbos, for the most ancient treatise on stones. Themineralogical part of the Natural History by GainsPliny includes a list of observations, manyare still useful and acknowledged in the science.of whichBut,mineralogy has only taken the name and position of adistinct and separate science in modern times.Bauer, the German (known by the name of Agricola,which he assumed in Italy, where he studied with thelearned men who rendered it at that time the home ofarts and sciences), wrote a work about the middle of'the sixteenth century, De natura fossilium,' underwhich denomination minerals were then comprehended,and he was the first person who distributed them intodistinct classes.In Italy, the works of Andrea Cesalpino, of CamilloLeonardo, of Abramo Portaleone, of Giovan BattistaPorta, and of Giovanni Serapione were already known.Linngeus, who found the system of Agricola still 'inexistence, wished to adopt a new classification forminerals, and was the first to introduce importantobservations on crystalline forms.In 1758, Cronstedt, a Swede, discovered the elementarycomponents of metals, and Werner, the Saxon,in 1774, gave some rules for determining mineralspecies in an empirical manner, and was able to definetheir character with great precision.After him, the celebrated Abate Haiiy, having discoveredthe laws which regulate the symmetry ofcrystals, shed great light on that science, which hethus founded on a more certain basis.

INTRODUCTION.Chemical discoveries very much assisted the rightclassification of minerals, introducing in the science anew law, founded on analysis, which helped to confirmor slightly modify that which had been already establishedas to crystalline forms. Berzeliiis, Weiss,Becquerell,Ebelmen, Brewster, Mitscherlich, Brocchi,Spada-Medici, Pouzi, and a number of learned men ofevery other nation contributed tothe science.the advancement ofNow, the learned, generally speaking, divide mineralsinto three classes : the first contains combustibleminerals; the second, metals; the third, lithoids orstones.These three classes are subdivided, as we havealready remarked, into genera, species, and varieties.To the first class belongs the genus of carbonates,which is divided into four species, the first of which iscarbon, properly so called, and of which one of thevarieties is the cubic carbon, otherwise the diamond.The third class distributes stones into twenty-fourdifferent genera, which are subdivided into many morespecies and varieties.refrain from giving theFor the sake of brevity we shalldenomination of each of thesetwenty-four genera, or orders, as they are called byothers.It is sufficient for us to know that amongst theseorders are the alumina, the silicates, and the fluorites.To the alumina belongs the species of corundum, ofwhich the ruby, the sapphire, and, in short, all socalledoriental gems are varieties. Amongst the silicatesis pure silex or quartz, from which is derived

4 GEMS.the varieties of amethyst, rock crystal, plasma, agate,jaspers, obsedian, and opal; amongst the fluorites isthe topaz; amongst the aluminous silicates are thespecies of garnet, emerald, felspar,and porphyry.Gems are found naturally under two distinct modesof composition. Some have the atoms arranged evidentlyaccording to a fixed law, and are called" crystallinegems," crystallized gems and crystals. Othershave very minute particles or molecules simply collectedtogether, without constant regularity of form, and arecalled amorphous gems, from the Greek " a, without,""/xo,oj, form ;" all the gems that solidify, after havingbeen in a fluid state, belong to this class : when theyare found under condensed gelatinous forms like opalsthey are called porodine when ; they appear to havebeen condensed by ignition into vitrifications they arecalled "jaline," i.e., vitreous crystal; this in mineralogydenotes a solid body, which presents naturally,and without the assistance of art, a many-sided figure,more or less regular, which varies almost infinitely.However, it must be remarked that these can bedivided into six very distinct groups or systems, asfollow :1st system, cubic.2nd, , square prismatic.3rd, , straight rhomboidal.4th, , oblique rhomboidal.5th, , oblique prismatic.6th, , rhombohedric.

INTEODUCTION. 5The natural characteristics of gems are :1st. The properties derived from the nature of thesubstance itself; namely, hardness and specific gravity.2nd. Those phenomena which are produced moreimmediately by some external influence as; light,and heat.HARDNESS.electricity,In gems, hardness denotes not only tenacity, but alsothe greater or less resistance which they oppose tobeing cut, scratched, or polished by others ; thus,while the diamond from its small tenacity is easilybroken, and does not give out sparks under the actionof the steel, it is the hardest amongst gems, becauseit cuts all other bodies, without being itself markedby them.The hardness of gems, considered as the attractionof cohesion that is, in the power they have of resistingthe blows they receive to break and divide themmechanically differs considerably in the same species,according to the direction of the cutting, the surfaceof the stone on which the trial is made, and its moreor less perfect quality.Hardness, and not cohesion, is the basis on whichgeneral experience rests for determiningto whatspecies a given gem belongs. For such a purpose,practitioners adopt the file but;the mineralogist rubsthe stone which is to be tried against another, beginningwith the hardest gem, which is the diamond,

6 GEMS,and thus forms, by comparison, a graduated table,which is useful afterwards for new trials and experiments.*In many crystals, perpendicular planes at rightangles exist, and it appears that between these planesthe cohesion is so slight that they can be separatedwith greater facility there than in any other place.This particular property is called " cleavage." In somegems it is very easy to ascertain the point of cleavage,hut in others it is found with difficulty.Many gems, as, for example, rock-crystal and emerald,will only break into irregular fragments.SPECIFICGRAVITY.In order to determine the specific gravity of differentbodies, distilled water is chosen as a means of comparison.If it be a gem which weighs 17 carats in the air,and in the water but 12, there will be :Weighed in the air 17 . . . carats,.Weighed in the water 12 .. , ,Difference . . 5Now, dividing the weight of the gem 1 7 by the difference5, the quotient will be 17:5 = 3*4, which* MoLs has made a graduated table as follows : 1. "White talc.2. Sal gemma. 3. Calcareous spar. 4. Fluoric spar. 5. Apatite.6. Adularia. 7. Rock crystal. 8. Topaz. 9. Corundum. 10. Diamond.

INTBODUCTION. 7represents the specific gravity of the gemwhich hasbeen put to the proof.It is often very useful to know the specific gravityof gems, as a means of determining their quality, andto prevent the danger of their being changed for others,similar in appearance but very different in value ; as,for instance, the diamond and the jargoon.In the case of cut and polishedgemsit is thereforeof great use in ascertaining the class to which theybelong, without the possibility of injuring them bythe otherwise necessary operation of filing.The comparison of the specific weight of gems was,according to Emmanuel, known to, and practised by,the ancients, and certainly in the Indies, for manycenturies, in order to ascertain the quality of a preciousstone.BRIGHTNESS, COLOUR, AND TRANSPARENCY.Gems acquire more or lessbrightness, lively, variedcolouring, and transparency, in proportionto theirsingle or double refraction, and to the polarization oflight.The brightness of gems may be distinguished asfollows :I. Adamantine brightness; that which gives outthe splendour peculiar to the diamond.II. Vitreous brightness; that which resembles glass.III. Eesinous brightness; that which shines as ifthe surface had been rubbed with oil.

8 GEMS.IV. Pearly brightness; that which resembles theparticular light of a pearl.V. Silky brightness; that which gives the appearanceof silk-stuff.The value of a gem depends principallybeauty of its colour. The colouring011 thematerial isgenerally composed of metallic oxides.The wonderful variety of colours in the gems, whichmore than all others resemble those of the solarspectrum, gave rise to the diversityof names whichare often given to the same substance. The redcorundum is the oriental ruby the blue corundum is;the oriental sapphire; the yellow corundum is theoriental topaz. The bluish-green emerald is nowcalled beryl. Quartz has many names; and more orless value in its different colours.There are crystals which not only have a variedgradation of the same colour, but also present threedistinct colours.I possess a quartz in which the central disc is red,surrounded by a green zone, ending ina white band.Corundums have been seen in which shone red, blue andyellow ;and we sometimes see the tormaline variouslycoloured, watered, and marked with strange figures.In some gems the colour differs according to thereflection or transmission of light. The opal withreflected light is prismatic, and with transmitted lightit is whitish. The tormaline with reflected light isred, blue, or some other equally bright colour, butwith transmitted light it is olive.

INTRODUCTION. 9Many crystals present beautiful changes of light,when this is reflected in certain given directions, asin the Labradors, the moon-stone, and the Asteria.Minute crevices cause the iridescence, as in the stonecalled Iris.Many gems are more or less transparent ; that is,they possess in a greater or less degree the power oftransmitting light; and, according to these degrees,they have different denominations. That stone iscalled " transparent " which, when placed before anobject, does not impedeits view.When the stone allows an object to be seen indistinctlythrough it, it is called " semi-transparent," and" translucent " when it allows the light to pass, buthinders the view of objects.ELECTRICITY.Electricity is produced in gems by heat, friction, orviolence. In some gems it is caused by warming themat the fire,and then they are said to possess pyrelectricism.Electricity is produced by friction in the topaz,the amethyst, all quartz, the diamond, the garnet andemerald. Some crystals become electrical by percussion,as, for instance, the Iceland spar.Some stones conduct, others rejectelectricity, whichin those cases is either positive or negative.The power of retaining electricity when producedis very variable in stones, and the time which elapses

10 GEMS.before they lose it forms a valuable mark of distinctionamongst them.The Indians have for a long time been aware of thisproperty peculiar to gems.The celebrated Haiiy speaks of it at great length,while describing many instruments used by him tocertify the phenomenon.FUSION AND SOLUTION.The facility or difficulty experienced in melting ordissolving a gemserves to indicate the elements ofwhich it is composed.The diamond alone will not dissolve,combustible.althoughit isAll the corundums can be dissolved by means ofborax, but with great difficulty ;the emerald, the jargoon,and the spinel more easily.Caloric produces very different effects on other gems ;some change colour, others swell and crackle, and manyothers burn are changed into vitreous globules, intoa kind of cement, into a powder ;and in some othersphosphorescence is produced.Many other precious stones, besides the diamond, areincapable of injury by acids ; amongst these are thecorundum and the spinel.Not a few change colour in acids, as, for example, theGerman agate.

INTRODUCTION. 112. HISTORY AND VALUE OF GEMS.From the most remote antiquity, and previous toevery historical tradition, men anxiously sought forgems, and it pleased even the most rude and savagepeople to use them as ornaments and signs of civil,military, or religious dignity.Of this we are certain from the discoveries made inthe most ancient tombs of Asiatic, Tyrrhenian, andEgyptian peoples, where gems were found, differing inquality, but almost all cut and wrought in the samemanner. It appears that sapphires, emeralds, rubies,pearls, as well as jargoons, garnets, and agates werethe gems most anciently known and used.Before these, we find ornaments were used, of amber,glass, and enamel, together with bronze, gold, andsilver ;whence we conclude that, although nature suppliedman with very hard stones, which required nolabour but that used in discovering and digging themout, he nevertheless applied himself first to the manufactureof glass, amber, bronze, silver,and gold beforeusing gems, perhaps on account of the difficulty ofgiving these a form suitable for armlets, necklaces,buckles, diadems, and rings.It is also remarkable that these ornaments of amber,as well as of glass, stone, silver, and gold have beenfound from the first, wrought in the same fashion inthe tombs of Tyrrhema, Etruria, Egypt, Assyria, andMexico. Whence in all parts of the world it has been

12 GEMS.found, accordingto the most recent discoveries andstudies, that amber, bronze, glass, silver, gold andenamel have been always used first ;afterwards oxidesand agates, in their natural state, but soon after engraved;and lastly gems, at first merely polished intheir primitive forms, but finally engraved and in relief.The form of theseornaments and jewels was especiallysimilar in that primitive period,as much inEgypt, Phoenicia, and Assyria, as in Italy, Germany,and America. Amber was found in a variety of forms,because more easily fashioned; glass was always inperforated globules, which, when threaded, formednecklets or bracelets ; bronze, silver, and gold were'found in forms differing according as the ductility ofthe metal allowed fine and finished work. Agates,like glass, were pierced as beads, or made into " margherite,"flat, circular, oval, rhomboidal, or square.They were afterwards found engraved as cylinders andscarabaei, but also pierced:finally, gems were obtainedin their natural crystalline form, but polished on theouter facets, to give them transparency and brightness,after which they were with much labourpierced, andat last engraved.With regard to gems, as to many other things, theancients had uncertain, if not altogether false, notions,almost always mixed with foolish superstitions.Plinyand Theophrastus asserted in their writings that, inorder to preserve health, it was useful to wear certaingems.Every one knows how universal was the use of auiu-

INTRODUCTION. 13lets, which, were generally gems to which secret orsupernatural virtue was attributed, as that of givingbeauty, youth, honour, power, and fortune.The twelve stones, which in the breastplate of thehigh priestof the Hebrews indicated the twelve tribesof Israel, are the same as those which, amongst theRomans, signified the twelve months of the year andthe signs of the zodiac.They areFrom an ancient Hebrew tradition we learn thatwhen the high priest, on days of humiliation, askedthe Most High to forgive the Israelites their sins, theprecious stones of the breastplate cast an extraordinarylustre if the Lord graciously granted pardon, butbecame dull w^hen his wrath was great towards hispeople.** Emmanuel, p. 28.

14 GEMS.The Indians believe that a diamond taken withthem in their long journeys is a certain earnest of safereturn to the bosom of their families.*In the East, the ruby is a stone of good augury,provided it is never shown to friends ; it presages evilwhen it has a blackish spot, fThe same stone is given by the Chinese in token ofsincere friendship. JEven in the present day the Persians believe thatwearing the spinel causes joy and prevents evildreams.Not a few people, even in Europe, think it veryunlucky to receive the gift of an opal or to possess asapphire.One of the principal deities of the Peruvians Esmeraldahad a niche formed of an enormous emerald.||Now in speaking of the value of gems we mustmention a term known to and all, commonly used to"distinguish broadly the most precious stones theterm Oriental gems.In fact, the gems discovered in the East generallyexcel in beauty those found in the West.But the qualities by which precious stonesare distinguishedfrom each other, and which in a greaterdegree prevail in the Oriental, are, as we have alreadystated,* Feuchtwanger, p. 149. t Ibid. J Ibid.Ibid.(IIbid.

INTRODUCTION. 151. Hardness. 5. Chemical composition.2. Colour. 6. Crystalline form.3. Clearness. 7. Earity.4. Specific gravity.Therefore, according as these qualities, either all oralmost all, are united in good proportionsin the samegem, the higher is its value and the more it is prizedamongst precious stones and feminine ornaments.Whence, in giving a list of precious stones accordingto the value at present attributed to them, the abovementionedqualities must be taken into account, andallowance made for the different value caused by diversityof size, greater or lesser transparency, and so on.Thus, considering them as equal in quality, they maybe ranked as follows :1. Diamond. 10. Jacinth.2. Ruby. 11. Amethyst.3. Sapphire. 12. Jargoon.4. Emerald. 13. Aquamarine.5. Pearl. 14. Peridote.6. Opal. 15. Chrysolite.7. Turquoise. 16. Tormaline.8. Garnet. 17. Eock crystal.9. Beryl. 18. Agate..Nevertheless, this is not the order in which oursubject shall be treated, as there are many gems whichcan by no means with certainty be declared superioror inferior to others, because the supply of, and

16 GEMS.demand for them varying, cause also a change in thevalue at different times attributed to them. We shall,therefore, following the example of many other writers,adopt the alphabetical order* as the most simple, convenient,and useful to those who wish to study thissubject, although perhaps it is the least scientific in amineralogical point of view. But we wish it to beunderstood that this work is not a strictly scientifictreatise so much as a collection of useful and curiousnotes about all sorts of precious stones.* This order cannot be observed in the translation, the initialletters of some gems being different in English.

ADULAEIA. 19beauty. In commerce it has a strange multiplicity ofnames ;now it is adularia, again it is lunaria or moonstone,sun-stone, girasol, fish'seye, water opal, or opalof Ceylon, according to the colours reflected.From Siberia we have a special quality which isa yellow colour, sprinkled over all the surface with aninnumerable quantity of small golden spots, producedby very small crevices in the lamina. The most beautiful,cut invariably into smooth beads, have reflectionsin form of a star, diverging from the centre, but arevery rare. It is wrong to confuse this species ofadularia with the Oriental aventurino, because, althoughitmay have the same appearance,hardness.ofit has not similarThe adularia from Ceylon is generally in largerpieces than that from St. Gothard, but it is not sobright.The brilliancy and slightly bluish whiteness of themoon-stone (lunaria) of Monte Stella are indescribable ;however, its value is diminished by certain obliquelines which cross it internally.It does not appear that the ancients used this felspar,nor do I believe that it can be engraved. Caire, nevertheless,asserts that Pini had a head of Achilles engravedon a moon-stone by Grassi, and that it came out withextraordinary effects. He believes, however, that theancient names of astrios, lapis specularis, and selenites,applied to this stone.

20 GEMS.THIS stone isresembles sea-water.II.AQUAMARINA.so named from its colour, which so muchLike other gems,it is divided into Oriental andWestern. Amongst those which, on account of theirhardness, are called " Oriental," the most hard ismerely a light blue corundum with a slighttint ofgreen and yellow. It is easily known by its specificgravity, which isalways above 4. This gem isvery scarce, and it would have all the value of othercorundums but for the colour which is common to agreat number of other stones possessing little value.The others are found in the Island of Ceylon, and fromit they take their name. They are of a deeper greenishbluecolour, which renders them somewhat differentfrom the Western stones.Their specific weight variesfrom 3-549 to 3'908, and it isthought that their hardnessnearly equals that of the Brazilian chrysolite.They resistthe wheel more than the others, and theirbrightness exceeds that of the Western gems. Theseare very transparent, and take a beautiful polish notwithstandingtheir inferior hardness, which is lessthan that of the topaz. The specific weightis from2-70 to I'll. They possess double refraction, but in aweak degree. The cleavage is brilliant and wavy,sometimes scaly.hexagonal prism.Their primitive form is an elongatedThey melt when exposed to fire and

AQUAMAEINA. 21lose their colour. They are found in Daouria, in theUralian mountains, in Siberia, in the Altai mountains,and in America. When analysed they yieldSilex 68Alumina ,. .. .. ..15Glucine .. .. .. ..14Lime .. 2Iron .. .. .. .. .. 1Those from Brazil are at present most prized becausethey are most beautiful.The aquamarina of Saxony is a variety of quartzvery little valued, and in that countryit takes itsname from the different stones whose colour it resembles;thus, the bluish is called aquamarina; theyellow, topaz and the olive, ; chrysolite. Great crystallizationsof Western aquamarinas are found. Thatwhich was exhibited in London in the year 1855 wasvery beautiful. Caire possessed one which weighedfive hundred and forty carats.Fine and beautiful aquamarinas are worth fromfour to five hundred lire * the ounce ;those which arebeautiful, but small, are valued at but twenty-five.The ancients used the aquamarina in its natural state,and also engraved, and they tell us of several celebratedintagli on that stone. They knew it under the genericname of aquamarina, and perhaps they often confusedit with the beryllus, of which Pliny says," It has thesame nature as the emerald, and is of a green colour."*A lira is about equal to 8f d.

22 GEMS.III.AGATE.So called from the Latin name, Achates (A'^ar^s), of theSicilian river now called Drillo, on whose shores thissubstance is found. This term generally indicates agreat variety of semi-transparent quartzes. Agates arefound in almost every part of the earth. Some arefound in the East, some in the West, and the differenceof their constituent parts makes the specific weightvary from 2-5891 to 2-6901.The agate, properly so called, like that of Sicily, isnaturally translucent less ; transparent than crystallinequartz, but yet less opaque than jasper it is too hard:to be scratched even by rock-crystal ; it takes a verygood polish ; it is never found in regular forms, butalways either in nodules, in stalactites, or in irregularmasses. Nevertheless, the agate called chalcedonyfrequently crystallizesin rhomboids. The Sicilianagate is often of a pale or grey colour, veined in avariety of forms ;sometimes it is spreadin reddishvioletspots.The " fasciatella " agate is like a sample of manyin bandsagates united in a single piece, and disposedclose to each other like ribbons or belts. The bandsare sometimes in right lines ;others are curved, andthen of a circular form arranged round a commoncentre.Eye agates consist of those parts of the stone in which

AGATE. 23the cutting discovers circular bands of very smalldiameter, arranged with regularity round one circularspot. These circles are frequently so perfect that theyappear to be traced by the compass, and consist of twoor three, seldom of a greater number. The first roundis white ;the second, black, green, red, blue or yellow ;the most rare are those whose circles are at equaldistance from the centre.The tree, or dendrijica, agate, from the Greek So/Spov,a tree, is that in which the material being formed insuccessive strata, it has allowed access between thestrata to metallic solutions, which, under the pressureof the and air, by the solidification of crystals, remainthere in a metallic state after evaporation.It is called tree agate when the enclosed pieces representtrees, and muscosa when the pattern resemblesflies :very seldom are these two phenomena representedtogether on one piece. Agates are found containingimpressions of different plants, and of what appeargroups of herbs, bushes of box tree, and ramificationsof various sorts. The tree agate of the East is superiorto that of Europe ; the beautiful polish which it takes,and its natural brightness, contrast in a marvellousmanner with the dark-coloured ramifications.Whenthe colour of the plants is red, the agates are morevalued, because more rare.Figured agates are greatlyadmired for the form oftheir spots.Towards the close of the last centurythey were much in demand, and brought a high price,whence they were eagerly sought for, and perhaps

24 GEMS.deservedly, on account of their singularity ; for theywere discovered with such combinations of design aswould appear impossible without a hand and mind tohave executed them purposely.In fact, the figures formed by metallic oxides insidethe agate do not exist in a natural state exactly asthey appear when the stone is cut. The skilful artistoften finds it necessary to cut away some lines, marks,or spots which would otherwise deprive the design ofregularity whence itmay be said that, in this ;respect,the lapidary resembles to a small extent the sculptorwho carves the statue from the block, cutting away thesuperfluous parts. No little study and cleverness arerequisite in deciding on the best treatment of the spotsexisting in the interior of the stone, and in executingthe intagli so that they produce the best effect. CamelloLeonardo da Pesaro statesthat he has seen a figuredagate in which were distinctly represented seven treeson one even ground. Boe'ce de Boot declares that hepossessed one in which a mitred bishop was designed ;on another Poujet saw a Turk; Caire had one on whichwas delineated a cock in an attitude of defiance.Crystallized agates are those whose mass is dividedby numerous fissures into divisions, which are eithersquare, triangular, or radiating. They are vitrified,translucent quartz.The agate xyloidina, so called from the Greek wordvAov, wood, is that kind generally designated agatizedwood.The Oriental agate is almost always transparent, and

ALABASTRITE AND ALABASTER. 25of a vitreous light ;its material is homogeneous, andresists acids, being harder than the Western agates.Agates of all sorts have the property of acquiringstains of every colour by artificial means; black isgiven by boiling the stone in honey, in olive oil, or inwater and sugar, and afterwards in sulphuric acid,which carbonizes the oil and sugar absorbed by thestone. To give a red colour, protosulphate of iron isadded to the sulphuric acid, by which means the ironremains oxidized. The bluish colour is obtained byusing yellow prussiate of potassium, together withprotoxide of iron.The Oriental as well as the Western agate, whenmuch variegated, is used in works of art. We havebeautiful fragments of cups, both smooth and carved,in this substance, which bear comparison with themost classical remains of the art, wealth, and magnificenceof antiquity.IY.ALABASTRITE AND ALABASTER.A WHITE chalk of veryalabastrite.close substance is calledIt is a species of sulphate of lime ; specific gravityfrom 2*7 to 2'8 ;and in scientific languageis calledchalky alabaster: it is veryMuch softer anddifferent from true alabaster,for which it is often mistaken.more transparent than white marble, alabastrite excelsit in whiteness, and its substance is more homogeneous.

26 GEMS.There are mines of alabastrite at Volterra, in Italy,and at Lagny, in France. Ityields easily to the lathe,the file, the scalpel, and the graving-tool ;and verygenerally in Italy ornaments for common use are madeof it under the name of Volterra chalk, and sold at avery low price.equal to that of marble.It receives a fine polish, although not\Vhen formed into a hollowglobe, and reduced to a substance of extreme thinness,it acquires such transparency asvery pleasantly ;to allow light to passwhich, when transmitted through it,is more vapoury than that which passes through groundglass. Although generally white, sometimes it has aveining similar to that of the Oriental alabaster.It is easy to distinguish alabastrite from alabaster ;it is less resistant, and can even be scraped by the nail ;and being dissolved in acetic acid, gas is not disengaged,as is the case with alabaster, which is afterwards alwaysof a colour tending to yellow. Besides, this latter isformed of a carbonate of lime harder than that sulphatewhich composes alabastrite.Alabaster is found in stalactites and stalagmites inthe caves of calcareous districts ;and is there formedby the filtration of water loaded with carbonate oflime, often mixed with colouring substances, such asmetallic oxides.The large masses of alabaster are produced fromclosely crowded stalactites, in which fresh nitrations ofsimilar substance have filled the vacant spaces; andconsequently stripes and various undulations are visiblein their interior.

ALMANDINK 27Those alabasters are specially prized which have awhite tint inclined to yellow, a beautiful semi-transparence,and veins of a milky white colour: this varietyconstitutes the Oriental, or antique alabaster. Nextfollow the yellowish sorts, having zones of varioustints, but not differing much from the ground colour :to these varieties belong the veined alabaster, the onyxmarble, and the agate marble.The ancients used alabaster and alabastrite for makingcertain vases for balm, without handles ;which on thataccount were called oAa/Saorpa, from the privative particlea, and from Xa^avw, to take; whence arose thename given to these two stones.We have no proof that they made any other use ofalabastrite ;but they used alabaster in many otherways. In this material we have Italian and Egyptianscarabsei, and very beautiful sculpture of the Eomanepoch.Y.ALMANDINE.THIS is a sort of dark red vitreous quartz, somewhatsimilar in colour to logwood. Some have called itviolet-red spinel ;but this is an error, since it has noteven the hardness of the amethyst.The red tourmaline of Ceylonhas sometimes thesame appearance, but not the same degree of electricity,and its light is not equally resinous.

28 GEMS.The specific gravity of almandine is from 2*571,which, together with its slight hardness, helps todistinguish it easily from otherstones which resembleit. It is seldom found in large crystals, and it is soopaque, in consequence of its dark colour, that it isonly transparent when placed between the eye and thelight.Barbot declares that he has seena very large specimen,which seemed like an inferior garnet; and, infact, it may be well compared with the red lava of Etnaor Vesuvius.Generally, the almandine is confounded with one ofthe rubies which Pliny declares are found in Alabanda,and therefore named Alabandina. In fact, Boe'ce deBoot, copying the Eoman naturalist, says that " Almandinestake a place between garnets and rubies, so thatthey appear to be darker rubies ;but they are morecommon than these, and have less vivid light." Butsuch descriptions are not adapted to the kind of quartznow under consideration ;which is not only inferiorto the garnet, but is placed lowest amongst the colouredclear quartzes, and has no commercial value.VI.AMAZZONITE.THIS stone, easily mistaken for green jade, on accountof its colour, is nevertheless quite different, as it belongsto the felspars, of which it possesses all the properties.

AMAZZONITE. 29The amazzonite is absolutely opaque unlike the;jade, it takes a very bright polish its colour is a;beautiful pear green, and fixing the eye on it, thelongerit is looked at the brighterand more beautifulit appears. Its material iscompact; no pores arevisible in it : it is, however, covered with very minutemarks, in the form of little straws, which are of alighter green. When it is grey-green, the marks areof a greenish- white ;and when the groundis of adarker green, the marks or points are very close toeach other, and of a darker shade, although always tobe clearly distinguished on the ground colour.They are found in both East and West in;Siberiaas well as in America.There are veins of it on the Eussian frontier ofMount Ouralska ;and the mineralogists of that countrycall it Krim-spaih, that is, green-spar which name is;more suited to the substance than that of " stone of theAmazons," or amazzonite, as this name was not theresult of scientific examination, but given because thestone was found at a short distance from the EiverMaranon, or Amazon, near the savage American tribeof Eupinambas.It was known to the ancients, who procured it fromthe East ;but we are not certain by what name theyparticularised it. Caire speaks of a beautiful antiquevase, made entirely of this stone, and which he saw inFlorence.This gem, which is easily engraved, can be used withfine effect in every sort of precious ornament.

30 GEMS.VII.AMBER.ALTHOUGH amber is not a stone, all writers place itamongst gems, as well for its value as that it has beenused ornamentally by almost every nation of the earth,from the remotest period, and anterior to every historicalrecord.Feuchtwanger asserts that the Phoenicians sailed tothe Baltic for the sole purpose of procuring amberthere. I am of opinion with Italian archaeologists,that the Tyrrhenians, long before the Phoenicians, hadexplored those seas, and drawn from the coasts incrediblequantities of amber, with which they madeornaments of every kind and domestic utensils. Thisis proved by the vases, cups, spindles, and other articlesof unknown use, collectedthe very ancient Pelasgic cities of Italy.by me from the necropoli ofThe Tyrrhenians, and afterwards the Phoenicians,exchanged this substance with the Greeks, who namedit electrum, r/Ae/crpov.Homer says that the Trojanwomen wore necklaces of amber.which thisIt seems that the electrical phenomenamaterial exhibits were observed by the ancients, sinceTalete, as a result of his observations, came to theconclusion that amber was animated. Philemon andPliny thought it a fossil ;and the latter person said," heat resuscitates amber."Tacitus, having observed that it often contains insects.

AMBER. 31believed that it was a vegetable juice, and from this itderives the Latin name of succinum or sap.People used it as an amulet, and it was administeredas a drug.Even in our own day many naturalists have consideredamber a mineral ;but Sweigger and Brewsterfinally proved that it is a resinous gum that; is, thefossil juice of a now extinct tree of the primeval period,called the amber tree.This substance is found in round nodules, whichvary from the size of a grapestone to that of a man'shead, and sometimes several of them are groupedtogether.When broken, one surface appears concave and theother convex; it is translucent and transparent; hassingle refraction, and resinous light. It is found indifferent gradations of colour, from greenish yellow toreddish yellow. It oxidizes in the course of years, anddarkens into red, but its dust is always of a whitishyellow. It scratches chalk, but is scratched by carbonateof lime.This substance, under the action of the blow-pipe,burns with a yellow or bluish-green flame, emitting adense smoke having a pleasing smell,and leaving acarbonized residue. Warm oil bends and makes itpliable, but it does not melt so soon as other gums, asit requires the heat of 517 Fahrenheit. By distillationit produces an acid, which from its name is called acidosuccinico, and an essential oil named oil of amber ; whilslin the retort there remains a brown deposit, known

32 GEMS.as amber resin, which is used as a varnish. Insolublein water, it dissolves in alcohol, as also in a solutionof subcarbonate of potass. Its component parts arecarbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with lime, alumina, andsilex. Of a specific weight varying from 1*080 to1-085, its power of refraction is from 1-365. Mixed withdrying oil of linseed and essence of turpentine, it makesanother excellent varnish.Amber is found thrown from the sea on the shore.It is gathered in great abundance by the fishermen onthe Prussian coasts, after the autumnal tempests of theBaltic.It is also found in China and America; in smallquantities in Sicily and in Catania a very singular;kind, of a bluish colour. Even in France some is found.In Prussia, however, there exist numerous caves ofamber, which are explored by practised miners at adepth often of more than one hundred feet. Theamber of the mines differs from that of the waters onlyin being more brittle, and it is often covered with athick crust of clay.Those ambers which containinsects take the nameof insectiferous amber.The yellow amber cut in the form of beads, eithersmooth or in facets, is much used both in the East andWest as a feminine adornment. In the East it iscalled Karabe, and used to ornament pipes, pistols,guns, daggers, and yataghans.

AMETHYST. 33VIIITHE AMETHYST.THE amethyst, like all gems, is both Oriental andWestern.The Oriental amethystis a clear corundum of a violetcolour, somewhat reddish and of an elegant velvetlikeappearance ; very bright ; perhapsless hard thanthe ruby ; specific gravity 4 ;of weak double refraction;and it cuts deeply into the rock crystal. TheWestern amethyst can be distinguished from it by thefact that when rubbed it preserves vitreous electricitybut twenty or thirty minutes, whereas the Orientalpreserves it for many hours.The Western 'amethyst is a clear quartz, colouredviolet by the oxide of manganese which it contains :of the specific gravity of 2*7, it crystallizes in the formof a hexagon, terminated at the two heads by a speciesof cone with six facets. These crystals are often inmasses, and the base isalwaysless coloured than thetop. The cleavage in one of such masses appearsfibrous and concave in crystals of small size. Thecolour is more or less dark, and does not resist fire.This gem possesses double refraction, but in a moderatedegree.It is motionless under the magnetic needle.It may be remarked that amethysts are generallyfound in metalliferous mountains, and are always incombination with quartz and agate.This substance isfound in Ceylon, Siberia, Kamtschatka, Arabia, Brazil,D

34 GEMS.Prussia, Hungary, Spain, France, and Italy. TheCarthagenian Spanish amethysts are of a very "beautifulpurple-violet colour, very similar to that of the Oriental,to which, however, they cannot compare in hardness.The Brazils supply some very valuable, which, whencut, are worth from 1000 to 3000 lire the kilogramme.There are immense lines of them at one hundredleagues from Bahia, but the difficulty of extractionand of transport has rendered them useless hitherto.Unpolished amethysts, in their ordinary condition,are very much prized, and it is easyto know whatcountry they come from, because those from Siberiaoften have the points of the crystals mixed with chalcedonythose from the Brazils are fragments coming;from considerable masses, partly fibrous and partlycrystallized those from Hungary are under the form;of crystals joined together in a strange manner, whilstthe largest are surrounded by many others muchsmaller ;as to those from Mexico, they have the pointsof the crystals perfectly white.There remains a great number of antique engravedamethysts, and Pliny gives as a reason for this thatthey are very easily cut : Sculpturis faciles. The Westernstones were preferred, but were generally of a palecolour and rather inferior quality ; and King assertsthat an engraving on a dark stone may beof being modern.suspectedScarabaei, both Egyptian and Etruscan,in amethyst, are rare. Koman intagli in this .stone, however abundant, are seldom of good execution.

APATITE. 35In all ages amethysts were used as feminine ornaments.With regard to their colour, lliny says: Adricinium crystalli descendent, albicante purpurce defectu.The Romans gave the name of amethyst to manydifferent substances, beginning with violet corundumdown to the purple garnet. Perhaps the name is ofmore ancient origin, therefore the vain Greeks interpretedit as from their language because it was believedthat he who drank from an amethyst cup was securefrom the effects of any poison it might contain. Arpesaniremarks that the name came from a, non, and/xe$v, wine ; or from a, and //,e0uo-K(o,to intoxicate ; and inthat case it would refer to the other opinion held bythe ancients, viz., that it was a powerful antidoteagainst drunkenness.IX.APATITE.THIS mineral was thus named by Werner, from theGreek aTraraw, to deceive, on account of its deceptivecolour, which resembles that of many other preciousstones ; whence, before its nature was precisely determined,many mineralogists were led into error. Itcontains ninety per cent, of subsesquiphosphate of lime,and the rest fluoride of calcium.It is found in hexagonal crystals ; its fracture isconcave ;it has a vitreous lustre, of a sea-green colour,or bluish green, bluish violet, often white, and some-

36 GEMS.times red, gray, or yellow. It is sometimes transparent,and sometimes opaque. It resembles the beryland emerald; its specific weightis from 3 to 3'235.In some specimens, especially in the white variety, abluish opal tint is observed in the direction of thevertical axis.It is fragile. Some are phosphorescent in heat,others become electrical by friction. This substancedoes not melt under the action of the blow-pipe, exceptingat its extreme edge. It dissolves slowly innitric acid, without effervescence. On account of thephosphoric acid which it contains when solid, it is veryuseful as a manure.Apatite is generally found in primitive rocks, traversinggranite, serpent marble, and in the rocks ofthe spent volcanoes in Saxony, England, Switzerland,Norway, and many American countries, where there isa great trade in it as a material for enriching land.Asparagine, which is a yellowish, translucent varietyof apatite, is found in Estremadura.AEGIPJTE.ARGIRITE is a stone only known in modern times bythe description given of itby the ancients, who alsonamed it argirodama and magnes, and it appears that insomewhat more recent times it was called argentina.Caire tells us, on the testimony of Theophrastus, that

ARGIRITE. 37argirite, or magnes, was a very lustrous stone, so likesilver that it might easily be mistaken for it; itstexture, and the large sized pieces in which it wasfound, allowed of its being formed, carved, and engravedin every manner ;therefore the ancients madeit even into vases, and it was much prized and used inmany different ways.Hill observes that the precious stone which theGreeks named magnes was totally different from thatwhich to-day is generally understood under the namewhich we translate magnetica. Kirman gives the denominationof argentine* to the schistose spar, whichhas a very bright pearly light. Haiiy,at the word:Argentina, says see moon-stone. Dutens believedthat argentina was a resplendent girasol on a silverywhite ground; but the description of argentina doesnot give us the characteristics of the girasol, whichalways has a little yellow inside, is semi-transparentand sometimes transparent, whereas the argirite wasnecessarily opaque from its similarity to silver.Caire says that by chance he became possessed of ahard stone, whose appearance led him to compare itwith " argirite, which was thought quite lost, and hadbeen sought for so long." He continued: " It is formedof very thin leaves ;a very bright silvery colour pervadesit, without the deviating hues which are seen incat's eye."I remember two objects of similar form, of unknownuse and material, likecornucopias terminated by twohorses' heads, which were in the Campana Museum.

38 GEMS.They were of a whitish colour, and were much oxidized,whence, at first sight, it seemed a recent precipitate ofsilver ;but this was not so, as, under the action oflight, they did not become darker, but always remainedwhite. Now, might not these two cornucopise havebeen formed of the unknown argirite ?Mineralogistscan see and examine them in the Paris Museum.XLASTERIA.WE read in Pliny : " After opals, amongst whitejewels, the asteria naturally takes the pre-eminence,because it has enclosed in it a light, like that of theeyeball, which it sends out, now from one place, nowfrom another, as ifmoving about in the jewel, and'when placed facing the sun, it emits rays, whence itsname." *Is it possible from such a descriptionto understandwhat stone Pliny wished to particularise? The soledistinctive character such a stone bears is the propertyof sending out bright rays when it reflects those of thesun. But this property is common to many gems.I saw,some years ago, a large sapphire, very thick,cut smooth, of a whitish colour, and almost transparent,which in the sunlight presented a beautifuldouble star, therefore it deserved the name of asteria.* Nut. Hist, xxxvu. ix. 47.

ASTERIA. 39Caire saw in London a large Oriental ruby, which,when placed in the sun, gave out a luminous star, andhe describes it as an asteria-ruby ; the star-reflectingdiamond of the Mineralogical Museum, in the Jardindes Plantes, in Paris, would thus be an asteria-diamond.There is in the School of Mines, in Paris, a star-reflectingopaline corundum, therefore it is also an asteria-corundum.It seems to me we mayconclude from the above thatin the present dayit is not intended to give the nameof asteria to one separate species of gem, but rather touse it as indicating the different character of variousspecies.The imperfect knowledge of mineralogy possessedbythe ancients did not enable them to distinguishthe different species of precious stones bytheir essential characteristics; whence Pliny thoughtto describe and determine one single class by a qualitywhich is common to many.The phenomenon with regard to which these conclusionshave been drawn is the result of a particularcombination of molecules, which may be formed inevery gem crystal; and by means of a very convexcutting, it takes place under a given inclination. Ifbe certainthe name of asteria is retained, we maythat the most rare are corundums, and that amongstthese the azure, or sapphires, give the appearance ofstars more brilliantly.

40 GEMS.XII.IVORY.ALTHOUGH ivory is an organic substance, and notmineral, yet writers on precionsstones do not fail tospeak of it as an article which at all times was largelyused in works of art, and chiefly in ornaments of everykind.Ivoryis well known to be the teeth of the elephant,among which some are so large as to weigh two hundredkilogrammes, to be about three metres long, andto have at the base a circumference of almost sevenhundred and fifty millimetres. They are procuredfrom Africa and the Indies. The negroes wage a warof extermination against elephants for the sole purposeof sending ivory to the Europeans.In art, ivory is divided into green and dry, exactlyas in speaking of timber for workmen. Articles ingreen ivory please the eye most, because they are of awhite but slightly greenish tint. Yellow ivory isinferior in value to the white, because it shows thebeginning of decomposition oxygenized muriatic acid:and the steam and water of slaked lime nearly restoreyellow ivory to its original whiteness.The ivory of the hippopotamus' teeth is verymuchvalued, because it never loses colour.Ornaments of most beautiful design in ivory havebeen obtained from the ancient tombs, but, on account

IVORY. 41of their great antiquity, they were nearly decomposed ;but now means have been discovered bywhich theiroriginal consistency is restored. This is done bydipping them in a glutinous solution, such as, for instance,thin gum-arabic water. Burnt ivory, or ivoryblack, is usually put at the back of those diamondswhich, not being of the purest water, are set in themanner technically called a notte, i.e., dark, and in thatcase helps to give them an admirable lustre.Fossil ivory has been excavated,of different degreesof hardness, but always recognisable by its thread-liketissue. Sometimes it preserves its natural colour ;atother times it takes various tints, according to the substancesamongst which it is found ;hence it would beeasily mistaken for a turquoise or a fossil gem, if, whencut, the colour were the same as that of the surface.History tells us that Dipoenus and Scyllis, disciples ofDaedalus, excelled in making statues of ivory and ebony.The statues of Diana and Tegea, also that of Ajax atSalamis, were entirely of ivory. The seats of the kingsof Eome, and those of the consuls, were also of thatmaterial. According to Winckelmann, there were inGreece upwards of one hundred colossal statues in ivoryand gold.Boethius the Carthaginian, Suidas of Naupacia,Parhasius of Athens, Phidias and Mys, were equallycelebrated for this description of statuary work.I have seen antique works in ivory of the Tyrrhenian,Italo-Grecian, Etruscan, Roman, and Renaissanceperiods, and they all gave an exact idea of the

42 GEMS.dominant taste in the various epochs, and are examplesof the best style of each.XIII.AVENTURINE.IT is said that the accidental discoveryof the artificialcomposition of a red vitreous substance, sprinkledinternally with bright gold-coloured filings, and similarto the quartz much used in jewels of the peruke period,caused the name of aventurine to be given to both,merely distinguishing them by the addition of artificialor natural.Scientifically speaking, one cannot, from such a term,understand one special stone, since the agate, jasper,chalcedony, rock crystal, opal, and even the commonestfluate of lime, exhibit at times the golden filings, andtherefore, as with respect to the asteria, so with theaventurine, there are stones of every species, whichreceive this name from the accidental quality abovementioned.Thus Borson had a chalcedony covered internallywith a golden sand : it was aventurine chalcedony.Bossi describes a garnet jasper with small golden dots :it was an aventurine jasper.In New Granada a similarstone was found, there called :pentaura it therefore isan aventurine stone.We are of opinion that the aventurine quartz is thestone described by Pliny under the name of sandastro :

AVENTURINE. 43" Which some people call garamantife. It is found inIndia, in a place of the same name, and also in Arabia.The greatest beauty consists in the drops of gold,which always sparkle inside, but never on the surface.Some people esteem the Arabic more than the Indianstones." * There are two qualities of aventurine quartz,of which the most common, which has marks of yellowmica, or Muscovy talc, is found on the shores of theWhite Sea, in some mines of Silesia, of Bohemia,France, and Siberia ;the other, more rare, has brightreflections from minute chinks, and is found in Spainand Scotland.Its specific weightis from 2*6 ; it slightly scratchesrock crystal; has a bright light, does not acquireelectricity from heat, and has no power over the magneticneedle. The ground colour is generally russetbrown,but there are some of yellow, grey, reddishwhite,and green with black and white marks.However, aventurine quartz has two different aspects,viz., semi-transparent and :opaque the first has theexact specific weight of 2-6670, the second 2-6426.The great demand for aventurine quartz, when itwas fashionable, originated the idea of making thestone artificially. I do not believe that chance could,by an accident happening to a workman, make such afine combination ; therefore, with many modern authors,I claim the glory for Miozzi, who, in the infancy ofmodern glass work, after long study, was the first tomake an aventurine glass, which, excepting in hard-* Nat. Hist, xxxvu. vii. 28.

44 QJEMB.ness, excelled all other aventurine stones. lie, however,was jealous of his secret, which he carried with him tothe grave.After many years, in 1827, another Venetian, namedBibaglia, with infinite labour and perseverance, succeededin composing a yellowish -brown enamel, tolerablyconsistent, but very easily melted, and superior to allother aventurine in beauty.Its analysis givesSilex 0-652Phosphoric acid .. .. .. 0-015Deutoxide of .. ..copper 0-030Protoxide of iron .. .. 0-065Lime .. .. .. .. 0-080.. .. .. ..Magnesia 0-045Soda 0-082Potash 0-021This, however, like all chemical analyses, is not theformula for the real composition of this substance.The sale of this beautiful product of Italian industryyields to our country, and especially to Venice, fromfifty to eighty lire for every kilogramme of the roughmaterial.XIV.AXINITE.THE name of this mineral is derived from the Latinaxis, the edge of the axe, and was given to it becauseits crystalline form resembles that utensil. It is also

BERYL. 45called Thumerite, from the name of Mount Thumor,where it was first procured. It is found in greatagglomerations, and in somewhat different forms, whichmay, however, allbe reduced to the rhomboidal, thatis, to an oblique rhomboid or prism with four sides, somuch compressed as to make the angle so sharp that itresembles the edge of an axe. It is translucent, andsometimes transparent ;it has single refraction ;itslight is vitreous and resinous ;its colour brown, violetblue,grey, or yellow. It scratches glass,but isscratched by the topaz ; it yields a whitish powder ;its specific weightis from 3-27. It becomes electricwhen warmed or rubbed ;under the action of the blowpipeit melts into a brown-grey glass ; acids have noeffect on it, and it is composed of lime, alumina, andsilex, with oxide of iron and manganese. It is foundprincipally in primitive rocks, but also in others ofdifferent formations, in the Dauphine, in the Pyrenees,in Norway, and at St, Gothard. This mineral, especiallythat from the Dauphine, takes a beautiful polish.XY.BERYL.THE stone which the ancients named beryllus is noneother than that now called aquamarina of Ceylon,of which we have already spoken.Compared with other gems, the beryl is but littleprized at the present day, being procured in great

46 GEMS.abundance, and found in all parts of the globe ;whereasthe ancients had it only from India, and prized it asmuch as the emerald, with which they even confoundedit; so that the enormous emeralds of which Theophrastusand Apion speak are now thought to have beenaquamarina, as this stone is found in very large pieces.There are very few undoubtedly antique intagli inthis stone, and they are as rare as those on the emerald ;the best, according to my experience, belonged totheMertens collection. Generally the engraved berylsare Ionian work, whereas the engravings on emeraldare Eoman.But although the Eomans did not engrave the berylthey facetted it, and it was the only stone they cut inthat manner. They used it for ear-drops and rings.When the shade of Cynthia appears to Propertius, heremarks that" Et solitam digito beryllon adederat ignis."Here we may remark, itappears that the ancientsapplied the term " beryllus " also to a magnifyingglass, and perhaps they used aquamarina for the samepurpose. This supposition is rendered probable fromtwo reasons ;the first is that in the German ^languagespectacles are called " brille," and no other derivationhas been found for this word than the Latin " beryllus ;"the second is that Nero is said to have looked at thespectacle in the theatres through a very large emerald.We have already seen how easily the ancients con-and therefore wefounded the emerald with the beryl,

do not think itunlikelyBOORT. 47that Nero's emerald was anaquamarina cut for the purpose of a magnifying glass.In corroboration of the above, we bring to the notice ofthe reader the fact that Nicola de Cusa, Bishop ofBrixen, who died in1454, gave the name of Beryllusto one of his works for this reason, that " by means ofits assistance, people could understand things otherwiseincomprehensible ;" and in the second chapter heexpressly says : " The beryl is a bright, transparent,colourless stone, to which a concave or convex form isgiven by art, and by means of which whoever looksthrough it sees things otherwise invisible to thenaked eye."XYI.BOORT (KNOTTY DIAMOND).THIS particular species of adamantine carbon, whichseems placed by nature between crystallized carbon andthe pure diamond, bears a name of unknown etymology,but certainly of Dutch origin.Most frequently it is of spherical form, and its crystallizationis so irregular that it resembles the mostcomplicated knots in certain woods.It is a mixture of molecules without order or continuity,and these, adhering solely bythe force ofcohesion, are the cause of its wonderful hardness. Ithas not any regular cleavage.The boort is externally more roughthan some

48 GEMS.uncut diamonds; most frequently it is of a greyishwhite, and cannot acquire the diversified colours of thepure diamond, which it however exceeds in specificgravity. With us, it is only used to polish the regularlycrystallized diamond ;and for this purpose it ispounded in a mortar, and its dust, mixed with oil, andspread over a surface of soft iron, renders the frictionof the two diamonds more efficacious, and thus assistsin obtaining the polish and splendour of the differentfacets.It is known that, whatever the variations of certaincrystals, it is easy by means of their cleavage to reducethem to a regular determined form ;but in the knottydiamond this is impossible, as its texture does notpermit of cleavage.The knotty diamond is found in the mines of Brazil,whence they are sent to Europe.Some people say that the boost iscut and used bythe Orientals; but, even if this be so, they certainlyhave not in it a bright or valuable gem.XVII.CACHOLONG.A BARBAROUS name, not yet translated into any Europeanlanguage, and originating in Bokhara, from thewords of its dialect, each, river, cholong, stone ;that is," stone of the river." It belongs to the variety of theopal chalcedony opaque on the surface and of a milky;

CALCEDONY. 49white ;when broken, the interior has a pearly reflection,slightly translucent at the sharp edges. Harderthan the opal, this substance takes a good polish ; it isunaltered under the action of the blow-pipe, and itsspecific weightis 2'2.The cacholongis found in separate bits in the riversof Bokhara, in the Feroe Islands, in Iceland, in trapprocks, and in Greenland. It is also procured in France ;and in Champigny, near Paris, it is brought from thecaves of calcareous breccia, and some of it is hard, ofbright cleavage, whilst others are light, rough to thetouch of the tongue, and soft as chalk, and thereforeof inferior quality, and to be regarded as imperfectlyformed.There is a variety of this stone called striped, comingfrom Feroe and Ireland, which being composed of thinstrata of white and opaque opals over strata of calcedony,often bluish or greenish, makes very finecameos. Italian artists call it French stone.XVIII.CALCEDONY.THIS hard stone is thus named from the province ofCalcedony, in Asia Minor, whence, in ancient times, itwas procured in great quantities. It is a variety ofagate quartz, generally of a milky- white colour, sometimesbluish ;and this last tint somewhat increases itsvalue.

50 GEMS.The calcedony is semi-transparent,but sometimesopaque and translucent. Its cleavage, although concave,is a little scaly and quite opaque, which helps todistinguish it from the carnelian, the sardonyx, theplasma, the chrysoprase, the onyx, silex and cacholong.It is found abundantly in uniform piecesor in stratawithin nodules of agate, and is round, uniform, stalactiform,primitive, rhomboidal, and seldom in crystallizedcubes ;under this last form it encrusts crystalsof shining quartz, of madrepore, of wood and of variousother substances.It is not fusible, nevertheless the colour palesthe action of heat, but without producing water.underIts specific weight is from 2*6. When analysed theresult isSilex 84Alumina .. .. .. ..16Sometimes alumina gives place to lime.Like all gems, it is distinguished into Oriental andWestern.This latter, less hard than the other and alsothan the white agate, is of a milky light ;it is common,and but 'little valued. There is one remarkablevariety, which has red or grey dots on a striped milkyground, and is known byStephen.the name of stone of St.the fine calcedonies so muchAccording to Pliny,esteemed by the ancients came from Africa ;theyywerebought at Carthage, and then cut and engraved inRome.

CALCEDONYX. 51At present this stone is found in France, England,Scotland, Ireland, Transylvania, Norway, Iceland,and the Feroe Islands. Those of a green colour areprocured only in India, and are very rare. Thosespecimens, however, are particularly prized whichcontain a drop of water inside, althoughit does notalways remain, as can be observed in some rock crystals,from which the water at last disappears by means ofevaporation.The term " calcedonious stone " is applied to all gemshaving internally a milky tint. Eubies, sapphires,chrysolites, bluish diamonds, all diminish greatly invalue when the term is applicable to them.The ancients used the calcedony very much inmaking valuable ornaments the; primitive Babylonishseals, in form of the cylinder, and the latest Sassamanstamps, were formed of this stone. We also seeEtruscan scarabaei and Greek and Roman intagli inthis material.Statuettesof the period of the decadence of Romanart are found in this material, and it appears thatbluish calcedony was considered better, and preferredfor this kind of work.XIX.CALCEDONYX.THIS stone is very rare and little known ;its name is anabbreviation of calcedon-onyx. Its rarity therefore is

52 GEMS.the cause of the difficulty that exists in distinguishingit from the onyx agate, which it much resembles.It ismuch harder than this stone, but the difficulty of determiningthe degree of hardness without testing thestone prevents the possibility of deciding whether agiven substance be really calcedonyx, except by thelapidary who tests it on his wheel.Barbot is said to have determined the specific weightof this substance, which according to him is 2'6180.It is often even more translucent than agate.It appears that it came from the East, and was notonly known to, but engraved by the ancients, andthese engraved stones are the only specimens in existenceof the calcedonyx, as, at present, none is foundin any part of the world that we are aware of.In the ancient collection of Genevosio, Caire saw anengraved calcedonyx, representing a warrior seated oppositea dead body. In the Viennese cabinet of engravedgems there is another, which represents a youngman leaning on a column.XX.CARBON.Bv this name, of which every one understands thegeneral signification, we would specially indicate, technically,a mineral substancediscovered in Brazil in theyear 1812, which was found mixed with deposits ofdiamonds in alluvial lands and in the mud of rivers.

CARUON. 53It is black, opaque, vitreous, of an irregular form,and of a specific weight of 3-782.Its most precious quality, and that which alonewould distinguish it from every other mineral at allresembling it, is its prodigious hardness, which quiteequals that of the diamond.This mineral, which is found in pieces varying fromthe weight of one to a thousand carats, has, since itsdiscovery, been constantly used, in the same way asdiamond dust, to cut and polish the diamond. It isalso used in making certain graving tools capable ofcutting gems of any degree of hardness.Sometimes pieces of this carbon are found whichhave an evident principle of crystallization, and presenta number of small, bright, white points, which,however, are devoid of transparency.It appearsthat this is the raw material of thediamond before crystallization ;in the last stage of density.in other words, carbon,Xevertheless, we must acknowledgethat this substance is different from the diamond,inasmuch as it cannot be divided in plates, whichfact is explained by its non-crystalline composition.Subjected to a heat of 2765, it burns with a smoky,phosphorescent flame, much less clear than that of thediamond during combustion. After being a long timesubjected to a great degree of heat, it is found, onwithdrawal from it, to be of the same dimensions, ofequal hardness, and still without transparency, althoughhaving lost all its black colour, and become greyishwhite.

54 GEMS.The carbon of which we speak can be cut intofacets on the mill like the diamond, and,in thatcase, it reflects light while still remaining perfectlyopaque.It is found in great abundance, and therefore can behad for from six to seven lire the carat.Its dust is preferable to that of the diamond, onaccount of its low price,and is found exceedinglysuccessful in engravings on pietra dura and in cuttingcameos.We must not mistake this substance for the adamantinespar of China.THE name of thisXXI.CYANITE.stone comes from the Greek KVO.VOS,blue, which was givenit on account of its colour. Ithas been known in various ages, and there is a traditionthat it was wrought in England,under thereign of James I., by one Cornellius, a German artist,who called it seppara, which name it still retains inFrance.The tint of the cyanite is Prussian blue, and occasionallyit fades from that to grey or green.It does not melt under the blow-pipe. It is transparent,and presents prismatic reflections, especiallywhen cut smooth. Its specific weightis 3*5. It isnot very hard, but scratches glass with its angles.

CYMOPHANE. 55When analysed, it yields, according to Barbot,Silex 43Alumina .. .. .. ..55*50Iron 00-50And besides, it presents traces of potassium.The cyanite is found in granite, and in the micaceousschist of primitive mountains, either in masses ordisseminated. The primitive form seems to be aquadrangular oblique prism, having watered, brilliantiridized facets. Easily broken,it has a double cleavage,and is translucent and sometimes transparent.It is found in Asia, Europe, and America, and is alsoprocured from St. Gothard and England.It is easily distinguished from the blue corundum orOriental sapphire, although in India it is cut so as toimitate the latter gem, with the view of selling itdeceptively at a high price.XXII.CYMOPHANE.THE name of this gem came from the Greek wordsKv/jia

5GGEMS.for base has two rectangles.It is found enclosed in amatrix of white felspar, grey quartz, and granite.However rare, it is not of much value, althoughitenjoys a special singularity ; when cut and polished itpresents internal milky-blue reflections, which seemto follow the different inclinations given to the stone ;and this peculiarity has originated the name of cymophanegiven to this gem by Haiiy.Up to the present time it has only been procuredfrom Brazil, Ceylon, Connecticut, in the United States,and Nortschink, in Siberia.The cymophane of Brazil is generally found in fragments,of the specific weight of 3*7337. When analysed,it givesGlucine .. .. .. .. 0-1794Alumina .. .. .. 0-7810Peroxide of iron .. .. 0-0447The cymophane of Ceylonis rather softer than theaquamarina of that island. When analysedit is founddeficient in iron, which makes the colour lighter, andless inclined to green.That from the Urals is coloured with chrome.However, that from Brazil is better than all others.Pliny gives the name of cymophane to a variety ofgreenish-yellow beryl.Until Haiiy had clearly distinguished the cymophanefrom all other stones, Verner believed it a chrysoberyl ;Lametherie, a chrysoprase ;and many others, an Orientalchrysolite.

CLOROPHANE. 57Although the cymophaneis not of a very agreeablecolour, yet, when cut so as to exhibit the bright globulewhich it seems to contain, it acquires beauty andvalue. It is now used in rings, buckles, and similarornaments. We cannot say whether the ancients knewit,or if they did, by what name they indicated it.XXIII.CLOEOPHANE.THIS is a kind of translucent felspar found in Cornovaglia,in Siberia, and principally at New Stratford, inConnecticut, United States of America.It presents beautiful variegated colours, amongstwhich red, green, blue, and violet predominate.It is prized for its phosphorescence. When placedover a flat piece of hot iron, in the dark, it emits thelight of a beautiful green emerald.The clorophane is also found in Massachusetts, andthere it is in large pieces, opaque, and of a purplecolour. This variety, when placed over a flat pieceof heated iron, acquires phosphorescence more easily,and becomes quite white.

58 GEMS.XXIV.COCOA DIPERLA.THIS production of the nautilus of the IndianOcean, so much used in the last century, seems topartake of the nature of the pearl and of the motherof-pearl.The substance of the " cocca " is identicalwith that of the pearl, which it seems is not producedby the nautilus.The cocca of pearl is formed of a membrane of motherof-pearl,often iridescent, almost always a perfect oval,and therefore very easily paired.Although extremelybrittle on account of its thinness,it is nevertheless sufficiently hard.It is renderedartificially less fragile, by dropping melted gum into itshollow.However, this operation has the disadvantageof imparting a yellowish colour to the cocca.The cocca is obtained by sawing carefully the raisedconvolutions of the nautilus shell. This work is prosecutedalmost exclusively in London and Holland; itmerely requires a lighthand which understands thehandling of the saw.At Genoa there were very clever artists, who couldnot only saw the nautilus with elegant precision, butmake flowers and leaves of it, thus forming light inexpensiveornaments ;and in this art the Genoese wereexcelled by none. I believe that this work has beennow for a long time neglected, but it is desirable that

SHELLS. 59it should be resumed, in order that Italy may not losean industry which belongs to her, and from which shemay derive profit.XXY.SHELLS.SHELLS must be permitted to enter in a small degreeinto this treatise, as some of them are used in makingjewels and ornaments.Such are those known by the name of cama, cassisrufa, and cyprea, which are upright, thick, and generallycomposed of strata of varied colours and differentdegrees of hardness. Each of these is composed ofmany very thin lamina, which are perpendicular to thelevel of the principal stratum, which is the hardest,and perfectly resembles enamel ; every lamen consistsof a series of prismatic, lengthened cells, adhering bytheir longest side.It can easily be perceived, from this short description,that some shells can have parallel strata ofdifferent colours distinctly separated, and that, therefore,at a cheaper rate, they can take the place of theonyx and agate used by cameo workers. In fact, theymake very delicate camei of them, because cut with asteel graving tool.It is to be regretted that the art of carving shellcamei, which was, itmay be said, peculiar to Rome,should be now so little valued. This must be caused

GOGEMS.by the great number of such camei lately produced,and which, in consequence of competition and coarsework, were and are sold at very low prices. Thismade them common, and the upper classes of societyconsidered them merely as ornaments for their inferiors.XXVI.CORAL.CORAL is a marine production, the secretion of a particularpolyp, agglomerated according to certain laws,and disposed so as to resemble small trees withoutleaves.In the sea it is covered with an almost cartilaginousnet work of very delicate texture, covered with tubercles,.in the centre of each of which is the polyp, of a milkywhitecolour, and provided with eight tentacles roundthe mouth.'This net-work is called the bark of thepolypi ; it is more delicate and soft than the centre, andis taken off in order to show the trunk, which, whenout of the water, acquires the hardness of marble.The substance of coral is composed of carbonate oflime, of organic elements in a great quantity, and ofphosphate of lime.Like all calcareous substances, it does not resist thefile ;it can also be cut, carved, engraved, and polishedin the same manner as shells.Alkalies do not corrode it, and in diluted acids it

CORAL. 61loses the calcareous substance, dimiiiislies in size, butpreserves both form and colour.The native place of the coral is, doubtless, the immensesea-shore of the Mediterranean, and principallythe coast of Africa.It is necessary here to say that the term " banks ofcoral," given by navigatorsto some reefs celebratedfor numerous shipwrecks, does not at all apply to theproduction of which we now treat, asthose banks areonly agglomerations of madrepore. The coral, whosevery slow growth is in proportion to the greater orless depth of its strata, which are often found fromfifteen to three hundred feet deep, is now fished upabundantly by daring divers, who go and gather itwith their hands or by means of an instrument madeof wood and iron, in the form of a cross of St. Andrew,to the spikes of which is fastened a net, which receivesthe coral detached by repeated blows given by themachine.This manner of fishing, so very injurious to thecoralline rocks, is disapproved in these days, whenmeans abound by which it could be done more successfully,and without interfering with the future formationof the coral.For this purpose the submarine boats, one of thebest of modern inventions, would be very useful : andwe advise all rich speculators in coral fisheries to bewarelest this essentially Italian industry be, in consequenceof their negligence, transferred to France,where, of late, many have been studying the subject

62 GEMS.carefully in order to enrich their countrytrade.with theNaturalists, and those who devote themselves to thisculture, agree that it is not difficult to produce thiszoophyte in the different seas of every climate, and tocultivate and increase it as in the case of fish. In 1 754Lord Ellis observed that the polyp has an ovary fullof infinitesimal ova, which, all joined together in akind of thread when thrown in the sea-w T ater, open andbecome little worms, that is, polyps, which, when arrivedat maturity, can also produce coral in any place.Focillon, in 1856, wrote a scientific essay on the artificialformation of coral-banks in the most favourablesites. Coral is used in every sort of ornament andjewellery, and becomes the pretty blonde as well as thelively brunette. Formerly the deep red colour waspreferred at present the pale pink is in demand, and;this, when natural, is most rare ;but the red can befaded to this shade by placing it in an acid solution,although in this case the colour is more dull than thatof the natural pink.Barbot affirms that coral immersed in boiling oliveoil loses the purple hue, and becomes yellowish grey.The ancients knew and used the coral, called inLatin iris nobilis :they discoursed largely 011 its nature,and attributed to it medicinal virtues.The Eomans used it as an amulet, and put coronasof it on their children's necks as a preservative fromcontagion. The Gauls decorated their warlike instrumentswith it.

CORUNDUM. 63In the East both, men and women use it ornamentallymen in their turbans, pipes, arms, and horses';saddles ;and women in the usual European manner.I never saw camei or engravings011 this materialwhich could with certainty be said to be of anteriordate to the fourteenth century. In the sixteenth, cupsand sacred utensils were adorned with coral in profusion,not without elegance. Afterwards, at Genoaand Naples, necklaces and all sorts of jewelry weremade of it.XXVII.CORUNDUM.THE name of corundum is derived from the Indianword Korund. In my opinionthe ancients called itHyacintlms. Haiiy named it Telesia.Corundum is a compound of aluminum.All Oriental gems are merely vitrified corundums,coloured variously in consequence of their fundamentalsubstance being mixed with some particular colouringprinciple, such as oxide of iron, oxide of chrome, oxideof titanium.Corundum is found especially and abundantly atMatourah, in the island of Ceylon, under almost everyirregular form; nevertheless, it most frequently approachesthe hexahedral prism, and the double hexa-infer that UKhedral pyramid, from which we mayformation does not follow the general laws of other

64 GEMS.crystals, and is not made by deposit,the result of fusion.but is ratherThe mountains of Ilmena, in Siberia, furnish a brightblue corundum, which is found in the granite. From therivers of India crystals of this substance are procured ;they are pellucid, and therefore said to be vitrified,and so well fused that their smoothness is attributedto their having been a long time in the water. Adamantinecorundum is a very hard spar, first found inChina ;and it liesamongst granites and mica-schistsin Asia as well as in Europe.There is also the granular corundum, called " emery,"which is opaque, and of almost every colour. It isfound in Saxony and Greece. Next to diamonds andcarbon, corundum are, generally speaking, the hardestof all minerals.The Chinese corundum, analysed by Klaproth, givesAlumina .. .. .. ..84Silex 6-5Oxide of iron . . . . . . 7 5Waste 2The specific gravity of vitrified corundum variesfrom 3*83 to 3*88, and some qualities of a clearer andbrightercolour reach to 4-30. Some have double refraction;none of them melt, and they all bear to becut and polished with emery and by the lathe withoutneeding diamond dust.

CAENELIAN. 65XXVIII.CARNELIAN.CARNELIAN is a species of calcedony, the colour ofwhich varies from blood red to carmine, with infinitegradations even to milky white. Its name comes fromthe Latin word " corneolus," the diminutive of " corneus,"as this stone has the appearance of a hornysubstance. The French, who call the word cornaline,think it is derived from caro, carnis, from its fleshcolour.The carnelian is semi-transparent; its cleavage isperfectly concave, and its specific weightis from 2*6137to 2-6301.As analysed by Barbot, it yieldsSilex 97Alumina .. .. .. .. 3*25Oxide of iron .. .. .. 0*75and in some cases,Colouring material .. .. 1There is both Oriental and Western carnelian.The Eastern carniola is very hard, of rather a brightcolour, clear and transparent, without spots or undulations,and it takes a good polish. This very rarequality, found only in Persia, equals the garnet inbeauty and colour. Other inferior kinds come fromSurat, in India, where they are found in the bed of theF

GGGEMS.torrents. The Hindoos increase their brilliancy bysubjecting them to the action of heat. The price ofthis substance in a rough state varies from six to ten" " lire the kilogramme.The Western carnelian is less hard, of a clearyellowish red, and not very brilliant.One variety, called panacea, or stigmite, is of a paleyellow red, striped white, with red or black curvedlines ;sometimes this kind is pale, whitish, and as ifspotted with blood.The tree carnelian has marks of ramification of abright red colour on a very white ground.Certain chemical agents act on this stone with theassistance of heat. When a fine carnelian is coveredwith carbonate of soda, and afterwards exposed to acertain heat, a silicate, hard as the stone itself, formson the surface ;whenever then, over this silicate whichcovers the carnelian, a design is made with a ferruginouscement, the silicate loses its colour at the pointsof contact and reappears in that of the carnelian. Bythis means, therefore, very ingenious designs can bemade on the stone in question.The ancients made no distinction between thesardonyx and the carnelian, which are often foundinside one another; the sardonyx being more densein the centre ;the carnelian at the outside.We must not silently pass over the fact that thecarnelian, since theremotest period, has been used notonly as an ornament but has also been cut and engravedin a thousand ways. This may be attributed to the

CUEYSOBERYL.G7nature of its substance, which is not so delicate as tobreak easily, and yet not so hard as to resist emery.The Tyrrhenians, Etruscans, Greeks, and Romanshave leftan immense quantity of engraved carnelianswhich were used for ring stones.The greatest numberof the amulets in the form of scarabeei which have beengot in the ancient tombs are of this substance. Moreover,the Roman engraved gems which have been dugup in the territory about Home are found to be, for themost part, on carnelian.XXIX.CHRYSOBERYL.THIS mineral isof an asparagus-green colour, crystallizedin prisms of eight sides, crowned by a kind ofsmall cupola having sixfacets, which subdivide occasionallyin as many more little facets ;notwithstandingwhich, its primitive form may be said to be a prismwith four rectangular faces.The hardness of the chrysoberyl is almost equal tothat of the corundum. Its light is very bright; itbreaks easily ; is semi-transparent ; does not melt underthe action of the blow-pipe; has but slight doublerefraction; becomes electrical; its cleavage is double,and its specific weight from 3-60 to 3'76. When analysedit yields, according to Barbot,

C8GEMS.Alumina .. .. .. ..71Silex 13Glucine 18Lime .. .. .. .. .. 6Oxide of iron ., . . . . . . 5Sometimes the chrysoberyl is prismatic.It is found in Ceylon, Connecticut, Brazil, andSiberia.That from Brazil is generally found in transparentyellowish-green fragments. Specific gravity3'7337.The chrysoberyl from Siberia is chrome-coloured ;inits chemical combinations the relative quantities areequal to those of the spinel. This mineral, thoughrather rare than otherwise, is little used in jewellery.It appears that the ancients did not know it, or atleast we are in ignorance of what name they may havegiven it.XXX.CHRYSOLITE.THE ancients gave the name of chrysolite to thetopaz, and the name suited it, coming from the GreekX/wo-oAt.005, which signifies " golden stone."In modern times this name has, instead, been given toa yellowish-green stone, which is often confounded withthe cymophane and the peridot, but from which, nevertheless,it differs not a little.

CHRYSOLITE.G9Less hard than all other gems, for in the scaleof hardness it occupies the nineteenth grade,it isscratched by quartz, and often by the file. It crystallizesin the form of a rectangular-based prism ;it hasdouble refraction in the highest degree ;it is brightand transparent. Its specific weight varies from 2'692to 2-782. According to Klaproth, when analysed ityieldsSilex 39-0Magnesia.. .. .. 43 '5Oxide of iron .. .. .. 19'0According to Vauquelin :Silex 38-0Magnesia.. .. .. .. 50*5Oxide of iron .. .. .. 9'5Its cleavage is concave ;under the blow-pipe, whenwith borax, it melts to a pale green glass.This substance is often distinguished by the name ofthe place where it was found.The Oriental, which is sufficientlyrock crystal, is the most esteemed ;hard to scratchit is found in Amapapourahand different other countries of the East.The chrysolite of Brazil is much brighter than theperidot, and often even of a beautiful golden-greencolour.That of Bohemia is rather inferior to the latter.The chrysolite of Saxony is merely a greenish topaz,peculiar to that country.

70 GEMS.Finally, the chrysolite of Spain crystallizes in hexahedralprisms, which are flattened at the edges andterminated at the two poles by cupolas having sixfacets.This Iberian species is a phosphate of lime, andis softer than all the others.Volcanic earths, lava and basalts, often contain irregulargrains which have all the characteristics of thechrysolite nevertheless it isthought to be nothing but;coloured lava, such as is found at Vesuvius.All these substances are cut on a leaden wheel,slightly spread with emery, and then polishedcopper-mill.The gem which we now call chrysoliteon thewas wellknown to, and must have been prized by the ancients ;as I have had the opportunity of seeing some, set ingold and very well preserved, and I even possessedsome, engraved in the best periodof ancient art.Nevertheless, we shall perhaps always remain ignorantof the name which that stone then had, as also of theplaces where it was procured.XXXI.CHRYSOPRASE.THIS is a rather common calcedony. Its name, fromthe Greek words xprtros, Trpdo-ov,has been givenit onaccount of the beautiful leek-green colour, or greenverging on yellow, which distinguishes it.

CERYSO PRASE. 71It is generally transparent and sometimes opaque, oflittle brightness although it takes a good polish.Itscleavage is united and resrnous. Its hardness is somewhatless than that of the calcedony. It is coloured bynickel, and when subjected to a great heat it loses itstint.It is found in small veins or lines of about fifteen millimetresin thickness, interrupted by a green earth containingnickel. Its analysis presentsSilex 96-16Lime 0-83Alumina 0'08Oxide of iron 0'08Oxide of nickelI'OOIts specific weightis 2 5.The mineralogical strata of the chrysoprase are immediatelyunder the vegetable earth, at two or threefeet depth sometimes it is procured in the clefts of;the rocks, inclosed in a kind of asbestos. It is full ofdeep cavities, like the malachite.The, chrysoprase, unlike all other gems, is only foundin Europe, and even there in but one country, that ofPrussia, in the province of Silesia, in a part of thecountry called Kosemuth, situated on the mountain ofGlasendorf, and at Stachlan, near Cologne ;and for thisreason it is commonly called " Prussian grey." As italways presents chinks intermingled with grains, it isnot easy to understand the union of its heterogeneousparts.

72 GEMS.It was much used in jewellery at the beginning of thiscentury I do not know if it; was used previously, norhave I ever seen a chrysoprase, cut or engraved, whichbore the stamp of antiquity.XXXII.ROCK CRYSTAL.THIS name was given to the transparent, white vitrifiedquartz, probably because the finest pieces of thismineral are found on the highest mountains. It is anoxide of hydrate of silica, and crystallizes in hexahedralprisms but this form is only met with in the perfect;state in crystals which are isolated and detached fromtheir matrix.The rock crystal is so hard that it scratches agates,and emits sparks when struck by the steel. Its specificgravity is from 2'6548, and it iscomposed of silica andoxygen in equal parts, besides a very small quantity ofalumina and lime. It resists fire and acids well ;hasdouble refraction, and cleavage.It is found in every part of the globe ; the Alps,Sardinia, Ceylon, Haiti, the Indies and Hungary possessit. From Madagascar and Brazil it is taken in thelargest masses.However pure this mineral may be, the lamina whichcomposeit are not all of the same hardness. This hasbeen proved by various experiments nevertheless, the;

ROCK CRYSTAL. 73forms are always identical, in the small as well as inthe large crystals.This mineral was known to the ancients. Muchesteemed by the Greeks on account of its purity andregularity of formation, they made it the symbol ofmodesty, loyalty, and sincerity. Homer, Thucydides,and Plutarch declared their belief that it was watercongealed by time into crystal. Aristotle confirmedthis "supposition, saying: Ex aqua generatur crystallusremoto totaliter calido."All ancient works in rock crystal are of beautiful designs.In Imperial Eome vases of this substance werevalued very highly. Nero, when forced to fly,brokeone immense vase, on which was engraved the story ofthe Iliad.Kock crystal offered to the Italians of the MiddleAges a very extended industry, to which art lent additionalvalue. The works executed on this mineral inthe fourteenth and seventeenth centuries followed, accordingto the times, the taste prevalent in other arts ofdesign. At present, the manufacture of artificial crystalhas reduced that industry to nothing, having substitutedone on a larger scale, which is practised not onlyby Italians, but by almost all civilized nations.

74 GEMS.XXXIII.DIAMOND.THE ancients gave the name of aSa/x,as,that is," invincible,"Latinized by " adamans," to this gem, becausethey believed it capable of resisting every chemicalagent, without itself experiencing the least alteration.In fact, the hardness of the diamond is such that itscratches all other bodies, while it cannot beby any.But this perfect hardness isscratchednot the only quality forwhich the gem is prized. It holds the first rank forother reasons ;and in all ages it was most precious,and possessed an excessive value. The diamond is rare,not only because it is much in request, but also becauseit is found only in certain countries, almost always.mixed with other precious minerals, in a comparativelysmall quantity, and scarcely ever in a state of completecrystallization it appears that Nature elaborates it:with infinite difficulty and is therefore not lavish ofthis gift.The diamond, then, is a mineral substance, crystallizedin octahedrons and dodecahedrons, as also in almostall the derivations of these two forms.Its brightness is so superior to that of every otherprecious stone, that it is always distinguished asadamantine.Its natural surface is often unequal ; its sides arelined, somewhat convex, and generally appear dulled,

DIAMOND. 75or, as they are commonly called, rough, by the evidentaction of fire, which Kature uses in forming them.It breaks regularly into four principal cleavages.Reduced to powder, it still preserves its prodigioushardness ;and thoughitmay appear that this qualitymight prevent its pulverization, yet it must be rememberedthat the hardness of a body does not generallyprevent its being reduced into minute particles.This mineral becomes electrical and phosphorescent.It acquiresthe first property by friction, but only preservesit fifteen or twenty seconds.Its phosphorescent property is apparent not only ina strong light, but when shaded by glass, paper ormuslin, and even covered by a sheep's skin, and behinda table of linden wood of the thickness of two hundredmillimetres.In order to deprive it of phosphorescence,it must be wrapped in black or dark coloured paper.The specific gravity of the diamond varies from 3*444to 3-550, that isOriental Diamond.Yellow 3-550Rose-coloured .. .. .. 3 '531Blue 3-525Green 3-524White 3-521Diamond of Brazil.Yellow 3-519White 3-444

76 GEMS.Placed in the hydrostatic balance, it loses two-fifthsof its weight, and this is the sole point of resemblancebetween it and the white topaz of Brazil, excepting thecolour.The different specific gravity of the various diamondsunder the same form is clearly produced by the differentdegrees of colouring, proceeding from the metallicoxides, which are heavier than the crystalline substancewhich contains them. It seems, however, that thosecontained in the American diamond areless pure, andtherefore lighter.One of the most beautiful qualities of the diamond isitspower of refraction ;that of water is 0*785 ;that ofthe ruby, O739 ;that of the rock crystal, 0*654 ;that ofthe diamond, 1'396.The refraction of the diamond is single in the entirecrystals ; when broken, it possesses double, but imperfectrefraction, in the thin layers.The polarization of light gives in the topaz an angleof 31 ;in the Strass, 35 ;in the diamond, 22.The purest diamonds, that is, those of the finestquality, are quite devoid of colour ;in other words,when facetted, they reflect all the prismatic colours.In the mines, however, these were only found inthe proportion of one-fifth ;those of the second quality,and much less esteemed, are in the proportion of onefourth,and are covered with a yellowish, greenish orbluish colour ;the remainder present the most variedcolours.The colouring principles are due to oxides and me-

DIAMOND. 77tallic vapours, which, in the formation of the diamond,are introduced amongst the molecules.Coloured diamonds almost always preserve theirtransparency and limpidity.yellow, have often more lightSome of these, of a finethan the colourlessstones, but some of these become dark, and evenopaque, from the presence of too much colouringmaterial.The largest diamonds, in a rough state, were called" parangons," and, according to their degree of purityand brightness, were said to be, as at present," of thefirst and second water" Small diamonds, partly rough,are called *' grani di sale" The so-called " old rock "diamonds are all distinguished by extraordinary lightand purity, and are found in both the old and new world.Pliny states that the hardness of the diamond cannot beequalled ;and that ittriumphs over fire, so that itcannot be warmed. In more recent times, Cronstedtsupposed that the diamond, consideringits excessivehardness, ought to be regarded as a formation of particularelements, rather than of quartz and corundum.De Born, Scopoli, Pott, Cartheuser, and Wollendorfbelieved it to be nothing but the purest earth. Bergmanwas the first who ranked itamongst combustibles.Linnaeus said, the diamond was differentfrom all othergems. Buffon looked on it as a distillation of igneousmaterial produced from water. Guyton Morveau conjecturedthe diamond to be a pure water deprived ofthat principle which, at a certain degree of heat,renders it liquid. Baume affirms that the diamond is

78 GEMS.a phlogistic material in a particular condition. Valmont-Bomarecalls it " the purest rock crystal."Boece de Boot, in 1609, suspected that the diamondwas an inflammable body.Boyle, in 1673, succeeded inburning it. Newton, in 1 704, having measured its refractingforce, and found it greater in proportion to itsdensity, compared with other gems, placed it immediatelyamongst combustibles.Averani and Targioni, in the Florentine Academy ofCimento, made some fineexperiments on the diamond,tending to prove Newton's opinion.The celebrated Lavoisier proved the truethe diamond, and declared it to be carbon.nature ofIn the year 1800 Clouet, Weller, and Hachette,placing in a crucible sixty partsof iron and one ofdiamond, and holding it to an intense fire, obtained apiece of most perfect steel ;which proved that thediamond combines chemically with iron, and thereforethat it is a carbon. In progress of time similar experimentswere many times repeated,and all demonstratedthat the diamond resolves itself in carbonic gas.Brewster believes it to be composed of vegetableelements. Arago holds it to be an hydrogenatedcarbon ; Davy finally has decided that it is an oxygenizedcarbon.It has never been precisely declared who firstdiscovered the diamond, and by what nation its valuewas first known and prized.It is said that the Etruscans, bymeans of theircommerce with the interior of Africa, knew it, and

DIAMOND. 79used it ornamentally. Others affirm that it was firstdiscovered in Syria. The Greeks certainly valued itvery highly, and attributed to it extraordinary magicalvirtues. The Komans also used it ;but we cannotassert whether they had it traditionallyfrom theTyrrhenians, and afterwards from the Etruscans, or ifit first became known to them by means of the tradebetween Greece and the East.The ancients, however, only used the diamond in itsnatural state, without facetting it or subjecting it toany process but that of being polished.It appears, nevertheless, that before the time ofPliny this gem was very rare in Italy. In the timeof the Caesars it became more common, owingmore easy communication with the East.to theI now have a Eoman ring of the Imperial epoch, inwhich a beautiful hexahedral diamond is set, in itsnatural state, weighing about one carat.In the catalogueof the Hertz collection a similar one is described.There are said to be five different kinds of diamonds,viz., the Indian, the Arabian, the Cyprian, the Macedonian,and the Siderite.The two first, described by Pliny, are really diamonds;but the others are white corundums, that is,very pale sapphires, especially the Cyprian, denotedthus :Vergens in aereum colorem.The most probable opinion respecting the placewhence the ancients obtained the diamond is, that itwas India; but the question remains yet what wasthe particularly adamantiferous part of that country?

80 GEMS.We only know that the Greeks named the centralriver of India, Adamas, which now is called Mahynady.In Pliny, we find the African diamond of Gourmelmentioned, and this river flows near Constantina.The mines and adamantine deposits of Visapourwere discovered in 1430, and those of Golconda in 1662.Afterwards otherswere found in Borneo, in Sumatra,in the Celebes, in the gold mines of Antioquia, inBrazil, Columbia, Carthaginia, and California.In modern times, the villages of Mannemurg andof Muddemurg, in Asia, are celebrated as being placeswhere the largest known diamonds are found.At Latarwar, also in Asia, the largest and finest areprocured and those of more usual ; size, at Gani,Malacca, Bisnagur, Gazerpelle, Gouart, Pegu, and otherplaces situated near Mont Catti, an immense chainof granite, which extends from Bengal to CapeCormorin.In the last century, the most important mines werethose of Par teal, situated about twenty miles fromGolconda. Diamonds are also found in the EiverGomel, which empties itself into the Ganges; inKrichnak, and in many other places.Now, as formerly, the principalmarket for theseprecious gems is held at Benares and at Bowanipour,in the province of Bengal.In the territories of the city of Pontianak and ofBenjermassin, situated in the south-eastern part of theisland of Borneo, and in the crystalline mountains ofthe north of that island, very rich mines of diamonds

DIAMOND. 81are found ;the most famous of them being situated nearLandak, one of the principal cities.The largest are sent to Batavia, whence they godirectly to Holland. The smallest are sold at Pontianak.At Murtapsera, the ancient residence of theSultan, the inhabitants themselves search for diamondsin the surrounding mines.About the year 184o diamond deposits were discoveredin the district of Doladoulo, in Sumatra. Inthe Malays, the islandof Celebes has some, but thereare very few at Java.The Chinese have so few diamonds that one canscarcely believe they possess any mines. The signs ofrank, and the precious decorations of which the Celestialemperor, the imperial princes and mandarins makesuch parade, are in pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires,jade and coral, but diamonds are never seen.In Siberia diamonds have been found in strata offerruginous clay on Mount Ural ;and this discoveryhas destroyed the formerly received opinion concerningthe formation of this gem.Pliny had noticed the Eiver Gourmel, near Constantina,as being adamantiferous, and Hericart de Thury,in 1840, confirmed the truth of this opinion by presentingto the Institute of France some diamonds procuredthere by himself.About the year1729 Bernardo di Fonseca Lobodiscovered very rich diamond lands, sixteen leagueslong, and twelve leagues wide, at Erasile, in theprovince of Miiias-Geraes, a district of Serra-da-Frio.G

82 GEMS.The central point of the mines here openedis thelittle city of Tejuco (Diamantina), situated 134 leaguesfrom Rio de Janeiro, and 240 from Bahia. It is theresidence of the general-intendant, and contains upwardsof six thousand inhabitants, all employed inexcavating the mines ;which at the beginning yielded:abundantly the firsttwenty years it is calculatedthat about three million carats of rough diamonds weiedug out but the;product did not continue in the sameproportionit diminished gradually ; : in the five yearsfrom 1801 to 1806 they only yielded 23,135 carats ;andin the ten years from 1807 to 1817 but 18,000.Other mines were discovered in 1839, not far fromthese, on a very high mountain of the same province.There are also mines at Tibbigi, near San Paulo, in theprovince of Goyaz ; in the plains of Cuba ja ;in theriver of Audaya ; in that of Malkoverde, and also inBrazil.BRILLIANT.In Italy they generally denominate thatdiamond a" brilliant " which is cut on every side in many facets.With us, then, the brilliant is a diamond renderedbrilliant, that is, worked on the wheel to giveit incertain proportions planes or facets, which, accordingto the laws of optics, reflecting back luminous rays,cause the gem to shine with great brilliancy.It is not improbable that in a very remote periodthe Indians understood the method of polishing thediamond.

DIAMOND. 83A passage in "Pliny (xxxvii. iii. 15), the polishedhexahedral Indian diamond thins to a point," leads usto suppose that in his time it was known that thediamond itself was capable of wearing away otherdiamonds, and therefore of facetting and polishingthem.They say, however, that antiquity of about fivethousand years since claims a diamond which waspolished on its natural planes, and belonged to KingCarna, who in India was said to have lived threethousand years before the Christian era.It appears that until the time of Charles the Greatthe diamond, in Europe, was only planed on its naturalfacets and polished four ; very large ones of this descriptioncan be seen, even now, in the buckle of thatemperor's mantle.It appears probable that even in India they thenbegan to cut the diamond so as to add new facets to1he natural ones.About the year 1000 we find that in the jewels usedby the great personages of Europe were sometimesdiamonds having four rectangular planes, and one upperfacet, in the form of a parallelogram, leaving the underpart in its natural state, but the stone on every sidebeing equally polished ; and this particular form preservesto this day the name of Indian, or, technicallyspeaking, lustre of India.The wandering merchants who kept alive the Indo-European commerce through the Caucasus, the Caspian,and the steppes of Asia, were perhaps the first to bring

84 GEMS.into Europe the ideas which the Hindoos possessed onthe art of diamond-cutting. From the Bosphorus itreached the West ;the Franks with Baldwin, theVenetians with Enrico Dandolo, the Hanseatics by thevalley of the Danube, derived itprobably from Constantinople,and brought it to France, Italy, andHolland.Certain it is that from the beginningof the fourteenthcentury this art was practised with greatindustry in Paris and Venice this is;confirmed by theregistry of the French commune and by the ancientVenetian shops. Thus, in the inventory of jewelsbelonging to Louigi d'Angio, made in 1365, variousdiamonds are mentioned, amongst which, one havingeight facets, and another in the form of a shield.In 1407 we find that this art made remarkableprogress in Paris, under the direction of a workmannamed Hermann, which name sounds more Germanthan French.About that time the Duke of Burgundy, at a banquetwhich he gave in the Louvre to the King of France,presented to the noble guests, amongst other gifts,eleven diamonds, valued at seven hundred and eightysixgolden crowns.We are assured that in 1465 Brugesrivalled Parisin this respect, and amongst the legalised experts ofthat city there are registered in that year threediamond-cutters, or diamants-liper.Finally, the same year, Louigi di Berqueen, nativeof Bruges, and renowned as a mathematician and gold-

DIAMOND. 85smith, having perceived that the art of diamond-cuttingwas still in its infancy, and deriving rules for it frommathematical and optical principles, he arranged theinclination of the facets so as to produce the wonderfuleffects of light which are so much admired in thebrilliant, and to which it has scarcely been possibleadd anything from his time to our days.A book entitled ' The Wonders of the East Indies 'attributes to Berqueen not only the perfecting, but thetoinvention of diamond-cutting.This we have alreadyproved untrue ;let it be sufficient for the Bruges goldsmithto claim the merit of havingif we may soexpress it given to the diamond its true light.Eoberto di Berqueen, his nephew, relates that Charlesthe Bold gave him five thousand ducats as a rewardfor cutting three very large diamonds, of which hereafterwe shall relate the history. The disciples of thiscelebrated engraver went to Paris and Antwerp, butAndfor want of rough material their art languished.thus it went 011 until Cardinal Mazarin gaveit newimpetus, and protected it, so that in Paris diamondswere cut for all the courts of Europe. He entrustedto his engravers the twelve largest diamonds of thecrown of France, that they might be newly cut, andthus have their lustre increased ;therefore these werecalled the twelve Mazarins.About this time some Italian artists, who were veryclever engravers, tried to cut the diamond. The hardnessof this stone was conquered by art and perseverance.Giacomo da Trezezo, a Milanese, was the first to win

S(JGEMS.praise in this difficult work. Clement Birago, also aMilanese, cut on the diamond the likeness and coat ofarms of Prince Charles, son of Philip II. ;and this isasserted by Clusio, Lomazzo, and GiulianelH. It issaid that the celebrated Caradosso delighted in similarwork. A lion's head, a Leda, and a head of Antinous,were, according to Caire, engraved in diamond byGiovanni and Carlo Costanzi, who were Eomans.Whilst Venice, London and Amsterdam with treatiesof commerce provided for the necessity of procuringsets of rough diamonds, France, after Colbert, did notforesee that the diamond mines of India would benearly exhausted ;and meanwhile fettered the artof diamond- cutting, by making regulations even tothenumber of tools to be retained by each artist. Thusthe industry of which we speak continually declined,and although, under the great minister of Louis XIV-.,there had been seventy-five engravers, the greater partof them were dispersed at the revocation of the Edict ofNantes :some withdrew to Holland, others to England,and the few who remained lostthe rough material.their work for want ofUnder Louis XVI., near the close of the ministry ofCalonne, a stranger, named Schrabsacq, wished, withthe help of the State, to revive this art in Paris ;hetherefore opened a workshop with twenty-seven millsfor cutting diamonds, but in a short time he disappearedfrom Paris, and went no one knew whither.One of the engravers of the ancient Venetian school,Vincenzo Peruzzi, near the close of the seventeenth

DIAMOND. 87century, when trying to deprive inferior diamonds ofcolour, and to cut them so that they might acquire thebrightest lustre, discovered the double facetting whichrenders the play of light so wonderful in the brilliant,and which is now adopted in gems of the best quality.At Venice those who exercised that art continuedlonger than was the case in France. Some remainedthere even in 1825, but the last of these died blind andpoor in the hospital. At present, diamond-cuttingisprincipally practised in Holland ;after that country,in England ; and after England, in France, where itpromises to revive.As we have remarked, diamond-cutting, up to thepresent day,has necessarily varied with time and artprogress. The first form was that called Indian, orIndian lustre. When the cleavage of this was known,table-cutting and cutting in thin plates were discovered,and of late years great quantities of these havebeen brought from India; so much so, that at thecoronation of Queen Victoria it was found possible, inexcess of magnificence, to present many of the guestswith their likenesses in a frame which, in place of glass,had one of these leaves of large, thin diamonds. Tothis form, which we may call primitive, succeededBerqueen's invention, from which this stone took thename of brilliant. The most simple cutting of thebrilliant is now in sixteen facets, eight upper and eightunder ;in the smaller ones theyoften make but fourupper and four under facets. Both are called singlebrilliants ;and the sets met with in commerce, " single

88 GEMS.sets." Double brilliants are those cut in sixty-fourfacets, thirty-two upper and thirty-two lower; andthe sets of these met with in commerce are calleddouble sets.The Holland rosediamonds are cut in twenty-fourupper facets, arranged so as to have the form of a cupola,the lower part remaining flat and smooth. When thiswork is perfect the stone is said to be well crowned.The rose diamonds having six, eight, or twelve facetsare called Antwerp rose. Those called " fiamminghi,"or half brilliants, have thirty-two upper facets, and asmooth surface underneath, the lower part being wanting.To these the deficient part is frequently added, beingformed of common crystal equally facetted, and joinedto the diamond by means of mastic ;in this case it iscalled" doubled diamond."In working the diamond there are threeoperations,viz., cleavage, cleaning, and polishing.The weight of the finished diamond differs sensiblyfrom that of the rough stone, as in the cutting andother operations a considerable part is lost.Barbot calculates this diminution to be forty percent, in diamonds of one carat, and fifty in the largerones.A brilliant is considered perfect when it has a regularform, a very clear colour,and is without spot or defectinside or outside. With respect to the prices of thesegems, we give here Barbot's table of current prices atParis in 1858 :

DIAMOND. 89Table of the Prices of Diamonds.Lire.Diamond . of 4 grains.. .. 75*3 .. .. 60-2 .. .. 52-501 .. 45-double J.. ..45-i.. .. 47-50single J.. .. 35-i 5, 37-50i - - 40-Holland Hose.Stone of 4 grains.. .. .. 50-3 42-052 40-1 35-i v - 40-f - - 41-35i.. .. 45-A 50-The stones of fifty to a hundred in each grain aresold in sets of 2500 pieces, for Lire 1*20 each.The very minute rose diamonds of one thousand tothe carat, or two hundred and fifty to the grain, areworth each 20 centesimi.

90 GEMS.The extraordinary valueHISTORICAL DIAMONDS.always attributed to largediamonds, combined with their scarcity, rendered itpossible to follow for ages the history of some whichbelonged to high and celebrated personages, and neverpassed into the possession of different families or personswithout great vicissitudes, of which, for the most part,mention is made in history.In relating that Berqueen was the first who cut thegem to sixty-four facets, by which the diamond tookthe name of brilliant in Italy, we remarked that he hadin this fashion cut three large diamonds, given to him forthat purpose by Charles the Bold. Duke of Burgundy.The first of these has now the name of Sancy; itweighs car. 33f ; it is of the first water, and in theform of a water-drop.The brave but unfortunate duke wore this stone inhis helmet the fatal day of Granson. It remained withhim on the field of battle, and was there found by a Swisssoldier, who sold it to a priest for two Turin lire : thepriest, without being aware of its value, resold it for threelire to some unknown person, whose traces were lost.In 1589, by means of the form, the weight, andquality of water, this diamond was known to be inpossession of the Court of Portugal. King Antoniogave it in pledge to the treasurer of the King ofFrance, Niccola Harley de Sancy, who at last bought itfor one hundred thousand " tornesi."From the family of the treasurer, who possessed it a

DIAMOND. 91long time, and from whom it took its name, Henry III.of France borrowed it. He attempted to pledge it, andso raise money for the payment of his mercenaries ;andfor this purpose he intended sendingit to Switzerland.He therefore consigned it to a trustworthy person, who,however, was not able to reach the end of his journey,for on the road be was attacked and killed \by robbers,which came to be heard of some years after,although at the time nothing was known of it. It appears,however, that the king's messenger, wishing tosave the gem confided to his care, swallowed it, todisappointthe robbers. We have not heard how themagistrates of the place became aware of the fact, butit is certain that the dead body was disinterred, andthe brilliantbeing found in its stomach, was restoredto the house of Sancy.One of the barons of this family gave it to KingJames II. of the Stuarts, when in exile at St. Germain,and he sold it for 625,000 tornesi to Louis XIV. Thusthe Sancy entered the French treasury.In the inventory made in 1791 it is valued at onemillion francs. When, in 17i

92 GEMS.in the pontifical treasury, set in various forms at differenttimes.It is used at the grandsacred functionsby the Pontiffs as an episcopal ring. It is a largethin stone, cut in long regular facets ;of fine water,but of little brightness on account of the single cutting.It weighs 14 j carats, light weight, and may now bevalued at fifty thousand lire.The third, a mis-shapen stone, was cut by the cleverworkman into a triangular form, and the duke had itset in one of the rings then worn, formed by two handsclasped in friendship he gave it as a token of ;loyaltyand friendship to Louis XI. of France.The finest,if not the largest of known brilliants isthat found in the natural adamantine deposits ofParteal, forty-five leagues south of Golconda ;in itsrough state it had the extraordinary weightof 410carats ;but the labour requisite for polishing them,and which lasted two years, reduced the weight to136^ carats. From the cutting it acquired an almostsquare form, with double facetting, which impartedgreat brightness to When it.in a rough state it wasbought by the grandfather of the celebrated Pitt, whengovernor of Fort St. George, at Madras, for 312,500 lire.The expense of cutting it amounted to 125,000 lire.The pieces remaining from the cleavage were valuedat from 75,000 to 100,000 lire. The Duke of Orleans,regent of France during the minority of Louis XV.,bought it in 1717 for the sum of 3,375,000 lire, and fromthat time this brilliant has been called the Eegent.In the inventory of the treasury of France, to which it

DIAMOND. 93still belongs, its value was estimated at 12,000,000 lire ;but this price is evidently exaggerated.The largest diamond known would certainly be thatsaid to belong to the King of Portugal, and which isincluded in the imperial treasure of Brazil, if therewas not a reasonable suspicion that itmay be realtybut a white topaz.Guarded with jealous care, no exact description ofthis gem has ever been obtained ;and this secrecygives more foundation for the opinion that it is not atrue diamond.It is said to be of a yellowish colour, and in sizenearly equal to that of a hen's egg but in form similar;to the chick-pea, and concave at one side.It was found in Brazil, at a place called Cay-de-Merin,near the river of Malho verde. According to Ferri, itweighs 1,730 carats, and, according to Marve, 1,680.is valued at seven thousand million lire. The slavewho discovered it was set at liberty, from which fact iscorroborated the aphorism that " liberty is inestimable."Besides this, the Emperor of Brazil possesses two otherdiamonds of less dubious quality, but of much smallersize ;the largest of these two weighs 215 carats. Theyrare beauty, and were found by three banditspossessnear Abayte, a river that runs in the province ofMinas-Geraes. Marve saw them, and states that theyare rough, and have a surface of 28 millimetres, and9 in depth. Marve also affirms that he saw there twooctahedral diamonds, weighing one, 134 carats, andthe other, 120.It

94 GEMS.A brilliant of pyramidal form, valued at 827,000lire, belongs also to the Brazilian treasury, andornaments the handle of King Giovanni's staff.Here is still preserved the robe of state belonging toKing Giuseppe I., which has twenty buttons, each ofwhich is a single brilliant, and all together are worth2,500,000 lire.In the neighbourhood of Landak a diamond wasfound in the year 1787 which in its rough stateweighed 318 carats. It belongs to the Kajah of Matau,in Borneo. In 1820 the Governor of Batavia sentStewart to the rajah, tooffer him in exchange for thisgem two armed ships of war, and the sum of 150,000dollars ;but the rajah refused to give it, on account ofa superstition held by his Malay subjects, who consideredthis stone as inseparable from the destinies oftheir nation, and believed that the water in which ithad been immersed could cure every kind of illness.Under the name of Mzam a diamond is knownwhich belonged to the King of Golconda, and weighs340 carats ;its value is as much as 5,000,000 lire.The Grand Mogul diamond was dug out of themines of Gani. As described by Tavernier, at first it wasthought by some to be a white sapphire but, as there;did not appear sufficient reason to keep to this opinion,it is now spoken of as a true diamond. A famousIndian captain, named Mirghimola, made a present ofit to the Grand Mogul Aurung-Zeb. It appears thatThamas Koulikan, so celebrated under the name ofNadir Schah, took possession of this gem, which there-

DIAMOND. 95fore, in Persia, would now be called Deiyai-noor, orOcean of light. According to Caire, it weighed, whenrough, 780f carats ; worked, but 279^. He affirmsthat it is in the form of half an egg ;that it is cutin rose form, and that it is of a beautiful water, thecolour tending to pink.This gem was cut in the eighteenth century in Indiaby one Ortenzio Borghia, an Italian.Marco Polo, Tavernier, Methold, Chardin, Jaubert,and many other travellers, relatewonderful things ofdiamonds seen by them in India, and of which we haveno particulars. Amongst these the most remarkablewould be that which Tavernier called the Agrah,and which, according to him, weighed 645|- carats.The Koh-i-noor, or Mountain of light,of which we haveit isalready made mention when speaking of diamond-cutting,belonged, it is said, to Carna, King of Anga ;the most anciently known of 'all large diamonds. Itweighed about 1 86 carats. The superstitious Hindoosbelieved that this diamond brought misfortune towhoever possessedit. It is said that in the seventeenthcentury it was given to the already-nominatedGrand Mogul Aurung-Zeb, and from that hour hisdynasty began to degenerate, every son being worsethan his father, until 1739, when the last of thesesovereigns, Mohamed Schah, in the sacking of Delhi,his capital, was deprived of the ill-omened jewel byNadir Schah. The conqueror was assassinated by hisgenerals on his return to Persia, and the diamond fellinto the hands of one of the conspirators, Ahmed-Schah-

96 GEMS.Doorannee, founder of the Afghan monarchy, whosehistory is a perpetual succession of crimes. Kunjeet-Singh, Schah of the Punjaub, or Five Rivers, extortedit from the last of the Afghan kings of Caboul, Soujah-Schah ; and, in order to deprive it of its fatal influence,he dedicated it to the Temple of Juggernaut. But hissuccessor, not respecting the paternal will, took itfrom the temple, and the Punjaub became subject toEngland.It is said that the English East Indian CompanyLord Dalhousie presentedbought it for 6,000,000 lire.it to Queen Victoria in 1849 ;and the superstitiousIndian subjects of Great Britain, always retaining thesame idea, attributed to the Koh-i-noor the revolt ofDelhi and the death of Prince Albert.After beingtaken to London it wasagain cut, andconsequently diminished in value ; nevertheless itremained extraordinary "on account of its length andwidth.Russia, of all states, contains perhaps the greatestnumber of brilliants.The Imperial treasury has three crowns, all formedof these gems. The first, that of Ivan, contains 881 ;the second, that of Peter the Great, has 847.That ofCatherine, which is the third, is ornamented with2536 stones. For size, the first is that which bearsthe name of Orloff; it weighs 193 carats, and is aslarge as half a pigeon's egg; it adorns a sceptre.This diamond formed one of the eyes of the famousidol of Brama in the Temple of Scheringham.In the

DIAMOND. 97first part of the eighteenth centuryperceived that the two eyesa French soldierof the idol consisted ofprecious stones of an extraordinary size, and he determinedto take possession of them. For this purposehe simulated an ardent zeal for the Brahminical religion,and by that means succeeded in acquiring thecomplete confidence of the chief priests. He thusobtained permission to guard the temple. During avery tempestuous night he began to take the eyes ofthe idol out, but only half succeeded in his attempt, ashe could take but one of the two brilliants. With thishe fled to Madras, where he sold it for 50,000 francs toa captain of the English navy ;and he, when arrivedin England, sold it quickly to a Hebrew for 300,000.From the hands of the Hebrew it passed into those ofa Greek merchant, who had the good fortune to yield itto Catherine II. for 2,250,000 lire and an annuityof 100,000 lire.One of the most singular diamonds of the RussianCourt is that known by the name of Schah. It hasthe form of an irregular prism, is of a good colour,and weighs 95 carats. It belonged anciently to theSofi of Persia, and, lastly, to Nadir-Schah. Russiahad it from some of the rebel soldiers of that conqueror.The superb diamond called the Moon of Mountainswas sold by an Afghan chief to an Armenian namedSchafrass, a merchant at Bassora, for 50,000 piastres.He keptit for twelve years, and then sent his brotherto Europe to try and sell it, both at the English andH

98 GEMS.)Russian Courts. After long negotiations,Court bought it for 450,000 silver roubles.the latterFinally, most beautiful amongst the jewels of theMuscovite crown is the perfectly red brilliant boughtby Paul I. for 100,000 roubles.There is in Russia, belonging to the princely HouseYoussoukofF, a diamond known by the name of thePolar Star, which is cut and very brilliant.40 carats.It weighsThe House of Austria boasts of the beautiful yellowdiamond called Grand Duke of Tuscany. It weighs139f carats, is cut in nine sides, and covered withfacets, which form a star with nine rays. It belonged,as others of which we have already spoken, to Charlesthe Bold, who lost it at the battle of JYIorat, withanother smaller one, which now adorns the tiara ofthe Pope.The Pacha of Egypt has a brilliant, which also iscalled Pacha. It weighs 40 carats, and cost 700,000lire.The Piggot, which in 1818 belonged to the goldsmiths,Rundell and Bridges, of London, and whichweighs 821 carats, isperhaps the same gem which wasput in a lottery in England in the year 1801 for750,000 lire. It is not very fine.During the wars of the eighteenth century in theterritory of the Mahrat'a the diamond called Nassakwas taken by the East Indian Company.It thenweighed 89J- carats. Cut by the order of the Marquisof Westminster, it was reduced to 78|.

DIAMOND. ,99The treasury of Dresden contains an emerald greenone very highly valued. It weighs 31 f carats.The goldsmith Bapst, of Paris, sold a black one toLouis XVIII. for 24,000 lire.collection.It came from the DogniThe Prince of Riccia, a Keapolitan, had one of abeautiful red, which weighed 15 carats.The merchant, Hope, of London, possessed one of ablue colour, weighing about 44 carats. On account ofits rare perfection, it isthought to be the superb bluebrilliant, recut, which belonged tothe French crown,weighing 67 carats. It was stolen in 1792, and neveragain heard of.The Prince of Piombino has the largest brilliants inKome. Amongst these, one weighs 25 carats,is ofa beautiful form, of good colour, and limpid. It waspaid to Emmanuel Godoy, formerly Prime Minister of aKing of Spain, for upwards of 100,000 lire.In 1853 a negress at Bogagem, in Brazil, found one,which, when rough, weighed 254J carats. It wasbought by the Halphens, gem merchants in Paris, whonamed it The Star of the South.by them, it only weighed 124|-When cut as a brilliantcarats. It is of ovalform, 35 millimetres long, 29 wide, and only 19 deep.These are the most celebrated and universally knowndiamonds ;and we have rather enlarged on them, becauseamongst all other precious stones the diamond shinesout as queen.

100 GEMS.THE ARTIFICIAL DIAMOND.From the days when, under the name of alchemy, thatscience arose which, still progressing, and established ona new basis, is called chemistry, people tried to produceartificial diamonds. The studies and experiments whichalchemists made on this subject were all thrown away,for it was impossible that the diamond should be manufacturedby those who were ignorant of the true componentparts of that gem.But when chemistry succeeded in discovering thatthe diamond is nothing but pure carbon vitrified, thehope was indulged in of obtaining it by making commoncarbon pass through different states by means ofIt was necessary first to melt thechemical operations.carbon, or dissolve it into its elements in some solution,so that the result might be a crystallization, from whichshould be obtained directly, or by condensation in theusual manner, pure vitrified carbon.To the first of these two operations, not a few naturaliststurned their best attention in trying experiments.But the constant study and noble perseverancewith which they unceasingly pursued the desiredaimwhich would have been a step in advance and asplendid triumph of sciencehave hitherto resulted infailure.On the contrary, it has been proved to a certain extent,that with any instruments, or by any means hithertoknown, it is not possible to melt or dissolve carbon, inwhatever state found.

DIAMOND. 101Carbon is combustible and evaporates, when subjectedto strong heat, but it never melts.Carbon mixes with certain liquids, but never dissolves.Carbon and the diamond crackle in the fire, butnever soften.How then, in the present state of our knowledge, canthe transformation of carbon into diamond be effected ?It is self-evident, that to this end is necessary eitherthe discovery of a new liquid or the concentration ofsuch heat asno chemico-physical instrument has yetproduced.It appears that in the formation of the diamondNature uses heat of an extremely high temperature, buther power infinitely exceeds that of man.In 1828 Cagnard de la Tour sent to the Academy ofSciences at Paris ten tubes full of small crystals, of abrown colour, which he presented as crystallized carbon;after many experiments they proved to be merelyvarious transparent silicates, harder than quartz, lessso than diamond, and also incombustible.A short time after, Gannal tried various experimentswith phosphorus and sulphur; but the trial whichappeared most likely to conduce to the desired endwas that of the celebrated Desprez, who hoped to succeedin melting carbonby uniting all the voltaic pilesin Paris, in order to concentrate the heat to a degreenever previously attained, over pieces of carbon enclosedin a glass receiver. Under this terrible temperaturethe carbon evaporated entirely, excepting that

102 GEMS.on the sides of the receiver was precipitated a blackishdust, which presented no signs of crystallization.Notwithstanding this failure, Desprez continued tomake other experiments, but all equally in vain.Finally, Ebelman and Gaudin, who had discoveredthe method of crystallizing boron, affirmed that itmight be hoped to produce even white boron, perfectlysimilar to the diamond, by improving their process,and taking from the crystallized boron all colouringmaterial which makes it resemble the ruby, thesapphire and other gems.Making the diamond, either by imitating Nature'splan or by using means partly or wholly different inorder to obtain the same end, is not yet an accomplishedfact ; nevertheless, in these days, itmay be said thatnothing is impossible, and perhaps, soon, the chemistin his laboratory may produce this gem which now issoughtfor with so much anxiety on mountain precipices,in rivers, in the centre of Asia, of Africa andAmerica.XXXIY.JASPER.THIS is a dark quartz, very compact, capable of receivinga beautiful polish.It received its name from the Greek term tacrTrts.White jasper is very rare, and isalways milky ;thebrown and black are also rare ;but red, blue, yellow,

JASPEE. 108violet, and green are found abundantly; the latterbeing most common. When it is green spotted withred, it constitutes sanguineous jasper, the value of whichincreases according to the quantity and fineness of thered spots on it.India, so rich in gems, furnishes the most beautifulof these. Some, of inferior quality, are found in Bohemia,Saxony, Siberia, England, Italy, and France.Generally speaking, every jasper gives by analysisSilex 60-75Alumina .. .. 27 '25Magnesia.. .. 3*Oxide of iron .. .. 2-05Potash .. .. 3'66The specific weight of jaspers variesfrom 2'5630 to2-7640, and between these two extremes may be collectedtwenty-one different species of jasper, each ofwhich is mixed with heterogeneous materials, which,imparting to them different colours* cause them to beardifferent names. The twenty-one species are alwaysranged under seven principal divisions, as follows :1.Sanguineous Jasper. This is recognised by itsopaque ground, of a bright green, marked with spots ofred, purple, pink, or brown. Itwas much prized by theancients, who attributed to it anti-hemorrhagic andanti-apoplectic virtues. Even now it is much soughtas very suitable for being engraved on.2.Egyptian Jasper. This includes two species, redand brown ;and is marked with zones. It constitutes

104.GEMS.the agate jasper and the onyx jasper. It is found inround, opaque pieces, and has a concave breakage the;opaque parts are pure jasper, and the zones or circles,agate. It is slightly translucent near the edges hard;and easily broken. Besides Egypt,it is found in theGrand Duchy of Baden, in a bed of ferruginous redclay. The brown kind has the different tints of itscolours arranged in concentric layers ; it is found particularlyin the sands of Egypt, near the Pyramids, inround pebbles ;it has little brilliancy, and its breakageis concave. Sometimes Egyptian jasper is calledjasper of Ethiopia.3. Striped Jasper. This is of grey, green, red, andyellow, disposed in stripes which form designs in flamesor spots. All jaspers belonging to this division, w hichrcontain more than three colours, arecalled flowered orvariegated. Those that have a white stripe on a redground are known as " grammasio." Striped jasper isfound in a secondary argillaceous porphyry, in Scotland,Siberia, Corsica, and in Sicily, where it isverycommon.4. Universal Jasper. Presents a very great variety,without any distinct design.5. Porcelain Jasper. Is an imperfect volcanic vitrification,of a grey, blue, or yellow colour. It has naturalcrevices in every side is ; opaque, not bright, and muchsofter than other jaspers. It can be melted, and becomesin that case a white or grey glass.It is foundnear ^7 ulcanized earths, and in every place where mudhas been in combustion. Germany and England fur-

JASPER. 105nish a great deal of this, and also of the opaline jasper,which is reckoned amongst jewels.6. Common Jasper. Is red and brown, opaque, notvery hard, and of variable brightness. Under the actionof the blow-pipeit does not melt, but loses colour. Ittakes a fine polish, and isGermany, and Sicily.found in Scotland, England,7.Heliotrope Jasper. The name of this stone comesfrom the Greek ^Aios, sun, and r/aeVw,to turn. Theancients believed that, when placed in water,it reflectedthe image of the sun as red as blood. Theyeven used it as a means of observing the solar eclipses,as we do with smoked glass. It is well known howthe ancients loved the marvellous, and therefore thisstone was highly esteemed by them.Although similarto the sanguineous jasper in having red spots, it is easyto distinguish itas being of a brighter green, tendingto azure.When thinned it becomes translucent, and has avery beautiful effect when worked with taste.It is found in the mountains of La Giumella and ofLa Valle, in Yal di Fassa in Upper Italy, together withsanguineous jasper.Jasper of every kind, on account ofits hardness and the quality of its texture rendering itsuitable for all kinds of intaglio and relievo work, hasbeen used for this purpose from remote times to thepresent day.Therefore antique engravings on this gemrare. Even rings and little images in jasperin the excavations of ancient monuments.are notare found

106 GEMS.Almost all the Gnostic gems are engraved greenjasper. Many camei of the Byzantine periodare injasper. About the year 1600, when art began to decline,sanguineous jasper was used to carve the figureof Christ crowned with thorns and spotted with theblood which dropped from his wounds.Great use is now made of this stone for engravings,camei, rings, bracelets, strings of beads, and othersimilar works.Of the Sicilian jaspers, which are very common withus, cups, knife-handles, tables, altars, even pillars andcolumns are made.XXXV.DICHEOITE.THERE are many gems known under different names-.The cause of this multiplicity pf names is, in myopinion, that the first persons who found or observeda gem had not the complete knowledge of the substanceof which it was composed.It is very desirable that custom should prescribe,amongst many, one single name by which to designatethe same stone, always, in order to prevent confusionin the mind of the student.Thus the dichroite is called also, water sapphire, cordierite,iolite, peliom, steinheilite, and prismatic quartz.Amongst all these, we keep to the first, which is derivedfrom the Greek, and has been given on account of oneof its properties, which is, that of presenting two dif-

D1CHE01TE. 107ferent colours blue, when looked at in the direction ofits axis, and dark yellow when regarded at a rightangle.It is found chiefly in hexagonal and dodecahedralprisms. Its cleavage is concave and unequal. Sometimes,the dichroite, when cut, sends out a ray of lightsimilar to that of the asteria.This substance scratches crystal, and is scratched bytopaz its ; specific gravity is 2'88 ;it becomes electricby friction, and acquires polarity by heat. Mixed withborax, it melts into a transparent glass, on which acidshave no power.Its component parts are magnesia, alumina, andsilex, with a little oxide of iron and water.The dichroite is found in primitive rocks, in bluechalk, in pyrites of copper, in the various kinds ofquartz, in felspars, and in scattered flints.It isbrought from Spain, Bavaria, Greenland,Sweden, Norway, and Finland. In Ceylonit is foundin small blue stones. In Connecticut it is embedded ingranite.Blue quartz might be mistaken for dichroite, butquartz is the hardest, and dichroite offers the phenomenonof double colour, which in the former does notexist. Many are similar to the sapphire at first sight,but eventually they are easily to betheir hardness.distinguished by

108 GEMS.XXXVI.HEMATITE.THE hematite, or blood stone, thus called from theGreek at/xa, Wood, to indicate its tint,is a substancewhich ought not to be placed amongst gems. It is a.sesquioxide of iron, as perfect as the oxide of copperwhich the malachite yields.It is used for making those tools called burnishers,so necessary to goldsmiths, to setters of gems, gildersand polishers of precious stones.We bringit to notice here, merely to remark thatthis mineral was the substance used inmaking thosevery ancient cylindrical seals, engraved all round,which were for the most part found in the ruins ofBabylon and Nineveh, and known by the name ofAssyrian cylinders, and which were used for makingthe impression of their engravings, in the same manneras printers use cylinders to ink type. These seals,in the opinion of antiquarians, are the most ancientoriental memorials of stone engraving.XXXVII.EPIDOTE.ALUMINOUS silicate in rhomboidal prismatic crystals,transparent and striped of an olive green, more or less;dark ;it takes its name from the Greek word eVtStSco/xi,which signifies to add to, because traces are perceivedof the successive increase of its volume by depositionsof new strata on the outside.

ESSONITE. 109This substance isby many persons called tellite,definite, arendalite, and many other names.The epidote is found chiefly in Norway, but some isprocured from France, Scotland, and Bavaria, where itis found in primitive strata.Under the blow-pipe, this substance ischangedinto a brown scoria. Its specific gravity varies from3-39 to 3-45. It has double cleavage ;its hardness isless than that of quartz, and greater than that offelspar ; it receives a fine polish. It is semi-translucent,and the pearly light which it emits preventsits being confounded with various kinds of idocrasio.According to three different chemists, it gives onanalysisVanquelin. Descotils. Laugier.Silex 37 37 38Alumina .. ..21 27 26Lime 15 14 20Oxide of iron.. ..24 17 13Oxide of ..manganese 1*5 1'05 1Water 1-5XXXYIII.ESSONITE.THIS gem was at first considered a jacinth, underwhich name it is still denoted in commerce, and inFrance it is known as jacinth of Ceylon.In mineralogical works, however, it is called cin-

110 GEMS.namon or cannellina, on account of its colour, whichresembles that of oil of cinnamon. Werner was thefirst to call it essonite.The cleavage of the essonite is concave, but somewhatunequal ;it has single refraction ; is transparentand translucent ;its light is vitreous and resinous.It is found of a dark red, or jacinth red, or orangeyellowcolour.It scratches glass and quartz, and is scratched bythe topaz.Its specific gravity varies from 3*5 to 3'6.It becomes electric by friction, and sometimes acts onthe magnetic needle.Under the action of the blow-pipeit melts easily into a light green glass;have no effect on it.borax and acidsThe essonite is found in the sand of the rivers and inthe primitive rocks of Ceylon and Scotland.It is distinguished from the gorgonzio by its superiorhardness, specific gravity, and brightness, and also theabsence of double refraction. The garnet is heavier,and the idocrasium lighter than the essonite, whichthey both very much resemble.XXXIX.EUCLASIO.Ax aluminous silicate which crystallizes in prisms,having four oblique faces, with longitudinal lines.This substance, in repeated analyses, never gives thesame result ;whence it is not possible to place it with

EUCLASIO.Illprecision in an} T determined class. The followingtable of three analyses made by Barbot of the euclasioshows how differently itmay be composed invarious crystals:Parts .. 100 100 100The colour of euclasio varies from green to blue inmultiplied gradations of tints, and on this account itmight be placed amongst beryls, were it not for theglucine it contains, which assimilates it more to theemerald. It becomes electrical by friction and increasesits cleavages.It was from the beginning considered a green topaz,but it is distinguished from it by being more fragileand having less specific weight, not reaching to 2-9.It has double refraction, and under the action of theblow-pipe becomes opaque, and changes into a kind ofblue enamel.

112 GEMS,XL.FLUORINE.THIS substance, known stillby the mineralogicalname of fluor spar, isvery common, and found inmany countries.It has an unequal and 'chipped cleavage; transparentand translucent at the edges; its light isvitreous, and refraction single.It is found of all thesingly or mixed.colours of the rainbow, eitherIt scratches terra-cotta, but not crystal ;it yields tothe knife, and when pounded gives a white powder.Its specific weightvaries from 3' 14 to 3' 17. Itbecomes electric by friction; melts with ebullitionunder the action of the blow-pipe into an opaquesubstance, retaining its globular form; mixed withborax, it forms a transparent glass ; it becomes phosphoricwhen thrown on a hot iron.It iscomposed of lime and fluoric acid.When fluorine, with its dissolvents, is placed at thefire, it emits a vapour, which is used for etching onglass. This vapouris fluoric acid, which is disengagedfrom the lime, with which it had been combined;it has such extraordinary corrosive powerthat it is injurious, and sometimes proves fatal, tosmell it.The fluorine, according to its colours when cut, takesthe name in commerce of false emerald, false ruby, or

FLUOEINE. 113false amethyst, when ithas the transparency of thisgem.It is procured principally from England and theUnited States of America. It is also found in Germanyand Italy ; that which is found in the tufa bedsis beautiful and always amethystine.In Derbyshire fluorine is cut into large vases,obelisks, columns, plates, and candlesticks, a qualitybeing used which is indigenous to England, and withcolours arranged in zones.Eluorine was certainly known to the ancients, whomade of itvery elegant balsamari.Some people think that this may have been thesame substance as the celebrated murrina, of which somuch has been spoken, without any decision as to itsmaterial having been arrived at. Nevertheless, itseems to me impossible with certainty to establish theidentity of murrina with fluorine from the descriptionof their qualities given by Pliny the elder, and this,especially, because to fluorine, which emits no smell,"the sentence, est aliqua in odore commendaiio" is notsuitable ;nor to a stone, tolerably hard, does the followingapply : " ob amorem abroso ejus margine" which thesame Pliny affirms of the murrina.In any case, the ancients were ignorant of thevaluable qualities of this stone.Not till the year 1600 of our era was it adopted as acorrosive, and in 1670 the art of engraving on glass,with its assistance, was practised at Nuremberg.

114 GEMS.XLLGAGAT,OR GREEK JET.THIS substance, which is a sort of compact ligniteof very fine texture, and a beautiful black, presents asuccession of folds, and is of easy cleavage.Its specific gravity is To, but some of it remainsfloating.It catches fire quickly, emitting an unpleasant smell.When rubbed it acquires magnetic power, and thereforewas also called black amber.Although not hard, the gagat has sufficient consistencyto allow of its being worked at the lathe, cutand polished. It can be repolished, being rubbed withwalnut oil.It is found in mines of fossil carbon, in round pebblesof every size. Ar ery often, impressionsof fish arefound in it, as in slate.In Prussia it abounds in the caves of amber, to whichsubstance it often serves as an envelope, and to whichit really bears a great resemblance.At the present dayit is used for making feminineornaments to be worn in mourning.In ancient times it was also used in making ornamentsfor women, and of this we have full proof in thebeautiful articles found in 1841 at Cologne withintwo mortuary chests, deposited under the principalentrance of the church of St. Gideon ; they consistedof buckles, armlets, rings, necklets, hair pins, and

JACINTH. 115various articles, believed to liave been used ornamentallyby the priestesses of Cybele.The gagat was used in medicine and alchemy. Itwas also used in marking fictile vases indelibly inblack :" Fictilia ex eo inscripta non delentur"XLII.JACINTH.THIS stone, of a fine reddish-yellow colour,is distinguishedas either Oriental or Western.The Oriental is much more esteemed, and chiefly forits colour and hardness. It scratches quartz, but isscratched by corundum ;for which reason it cannot bemistaken for it, although some people have confoundedthem.It comes from Pegu, Ceylon, and Arabia.It isverybright and receives a fine polish, although its lightis rather resinous.It crystallizes in oblong tetrahedral prisms, terminatingin two short pyramids ; has double refraction,and its specific gravity is from 3'631 to 3'687.The Western jacinth is, on the contrary, a verycommon yellow quartz, which is found in Brazil andin France.In colour it is more yellowish than the Oriental.analysis it yieldsOn

116 GEMS.Zirconium .. .. 64*5Silex 32Iron 2Lead .. .. .. 1'5Its specific gravity, greater than thatof Ceylon, is from 4-38.lightof the jacinthIn spite of its brightness, itsis more resinous than the other. Under theaction of the blow-pipeit does not melt, but losescolour and becomes white.Jacinths have very often a defectwhich diminishestheir beauty and value, viz., bubbles in the interior, ofwhich no satisfactory explanation can be given.Some of an inferior quality, yellowish white, arefound in Bohemia, Silesia, and Spain.The essonite and idocrasio were also called jacinth,but we cannot see the reason, as they do not in anyrespect resemble that stone.The gem named by the ancients hyacinthus is acorundum, and not our jacinth ;we mayrather believethat the latter was by them called lyncurium.They frequently used the lyncurium, pale and darkcolour equalty, for engravings and camei ;but for thiswork they preferred the dark kind, which, perhaps,was that which was called mono, on account of itsmulberry colour, and of which Pliny says: ad ectypassculpturas faciendas.

JADE. 117XLIII.JADE.A MINERAL substance very common in India and China.It is of an olive-green colour, but there is a particularkind of it quite white,because destitute of theoxide of iron which renders jade more or less a deepgreen, according as it exists in greater or less quantity.Its light is resinous ;it isvery compact,and lastslonger than jasper.White jade is generally milky, opaque, and not verytransparent. Its specific weightis of 2-9502 ;it is thehardestof all, and it more particularly bears the nameof Oriental jade.The nephrite or nephritic stone is a kind of jade whichis found in Persia, Egypt, Turkey, Poland, the Hartz,and in Switzerland, generally in formless or roundedrocks. It is opaque, and its cleavage scaly ; its specificweightis 3'3890.In New Zealand a species of jade is found, somewhatdifferent from the Oriental, as the colour is darker, andit has a specific weight of 2'2829.America produces jade somewhat inferior in quality,but, nevertheless, tolerably hard. It undoubtedlyfalls from the mountains, as pebbles of it are foundhere and there in the plains and fields.Oriental jade always comes to us worked, and therefore,not being known in Europe in its rough state, it

118 GEMS.has not been possible for us hitherto to determine itsnature ;it is however suspected that its extreme hardnessis communicated to it artificially by its beingexposed to a strong fire. Nevertheless, we see jades inmany burial-places with engravings or sculptures ofGreek or ancient Italian work on them.Did this stone, then, come in a rough state from theEast, to be worked here, or was it found in our country ?In the middle ages it was believed that amulets injade possessed the virtue of warding off kidney complaints,and from this came the name of Jiijada, whichsignifies " kidneys " in Spanish. Such, moreover, is theorigin of the scientific name of nephrite, which has thesame meaning in Greek. In the East, handles ofdaggersand of scimitars made of this substance arevery much valued. The Hindoos make vases andshapeless statuettes of it. The inhabitants of New-Zealand make it into axes and arms. The indigenousAmericans made great use of it, especially for amulets,and they even knew how to pierce and carve it.XLIV.JABGOON.A SPECIES of siliceous zirconite, which was so named inCeylon. It is a vitreous substance, almost alwaystransparent; generally either red, bluish, or evencolourless, and of a particularly resinous brightness,which somewhat resembles that of the diamond.

JAEGOON. 119It isalways found in a crystallized state its ;crystalsare seldom in the octahedral form ;modified prisms.It is sufficiently hard to mark quartz,marked by the topaz.they are generallybut can beIt does not melt under the actionof the blow-pipe, and it loses its colour when exposedto heat.The natural white jargoon is rare, but when renderedcolourless by fire it is called diamond jargoon ;and withrose-cutting, it is used as a jewel.This stone resists the file but ; though hard, it crumbleseasily. Its specific weight is 4*78. Analysed, ityieldsZirconium .. .. 70*00Silex 25-00Oxide of iron .. .. 00 -50It possesses double refraction in a very high degree.Its cleavage resembles that of the diamond.Besides the jargoon of Ceylon, there is the inferioror Western stone, which is found in the Trapp rock,near Lisbon ;in the masses of sienite in the county ofGalway at Expailly in France at Leonedo in the; ;province of Yicenza, and in the auriferous sands of theshifting district of Lombardy.Since jargoons of a large size are seldom found,those in commerce acquire a certain price, althoughnever extravagantly high. A very fine pure olivejargoon, of -012 metres square, is worth 100 lire; oneless pure, of another colour yet of equal size, costs25 lire.

120 GEMS.Some authors confound the jargoon with the jacinth ;but the jargoon has a specific weight of 4*78, and thejacinth of 3*68 ;the jargoon is yellowish white, andthe jacinth reddish yellow ;the jargoon cannot be engravedbecause it is too fragile, but the jacinth is oftenfinely cut.XLY.GIRASOL.UNDER this name is understood a gem which reflects,in a different manner from the asteria, a combinationof rays diverging from a central point like the sun.Very many substances produce this effect, when cutin a spherical or semi-spherical form. The adularia,the hydrophane, the Brazilian chrysolite, the opal quartz,the milky corundums, the calcedony, and some agatescan, by the lapidary, be converted into girasols that;is, when the work is executed in such a manner as tocause the incidental rays tq convergepoint.to the centralNevertheless, authors say that the girasol can bedivided into Oriental and Western, like gems which arescientifically distinguished. The Oriental girasol is avitreous corundum resembling a pale milky sapphire,somewhat reddish and yellowish, and asa corundum,its specific gravity is declared to be 4. It reflects aluminous pencil of six rays, at whatever inclination itis seen. This particular stone is Indian ;and I have no

GARNET, 121hesitation in calling it a calcedony sapphire, whichbeing made convex, was thus turned into a girasol.That which is called the common or Occidental girasolisa resinous quartz, of a bluish-white colour, incliningto yellow. Although harder than the opal, it cannot becompared with the corundum. It is found at Cyprus,in Brazil, Hungary, Bohemia, and principally inSiberia, where it is mixed with opal, within a softreddish stone spotted with black.I have already remarked that the asteria is not to beconsidered a separate species, nor, in my opinion,is the girasol.XLV1.GARNET.THIS gem was named by the ancients, who calledit granatica on account of its colour, which resemblesthatof the seeds, of the pomegranate, Punicumgranatum.It would be endless to try and enumerate the placesin which garnet is found, and the multiplied namesgiven to it, according to place and colour, both by theancients and also by modern mineralogists. I think,nevertheless, that the origin and variety of namematter very little, since the ferruginous, aluminoussilicate will be always a garnet, and mineralogicalscience must always allow a place in its collections for

122 GEMS.very many qualities of garnet, which, on account ofslight modifications of colour, of transparency, and ofgrowth, take, scientifically, a different name.In general, the garnet is seldom found in veins, butmore frequently in round or crystallized grains: in thefirst case, its surface is rough and unequal when crystallized,it is always smooth its ;; primitive form is therhombohedral dodecahedron. Either in a rough orpolished state, it is not very bright, but it reflectsnatural light admirably.Of a specific weight between 3-10 to 4'30, and of adegree of hardness between 6 '5 and 7*5, it marks quartzand sometimes even the topaz. It yields a greenish-redpowder ; its fracture is more or less concave, and itsrefraction is single. Under the action of the blowpipe,it melts into a kind of black enamel.The garnet may be divided into three principal qualities,which are called :1st. Garnet of Syriam.2nd. Garnet of Bohemia.3rd. Common black garnet.The most beautiful, which comes from Pegu, theancient Syriarn, are called amethystine garnets, or, accordingto Caylus, garnets of Syriam.They are of a beautiful violet-rose colour ; transparent;and exactly correspond to the description givenby the ancients of the carbunculus amethystizontus, whichPliny considered the firstamongst the garnets, as it isthe hardest.

GARNET. 123When analysed, they giveSilex 39-66Alumina .. .. 19-64Oxide of iron .. .. 39-68Oxide of manganese.. 1-80They are generally cut into eight facets, of whichfour are large and four small. AVhen they are withoutdefect, and of sufficient size, their colour amongst gemsis most prized. The garnet of Bohemia is also calledthat of Ceylon.Its colour isso strikingly blood-red, that it is calledred garnet. Its specific weight greater than that ofthe amethystis 4-1888. It is less hard than thegarnet of Syriam, melts with greater facility, butbreaks with difficulty. Analysed, it presentsSilex ; 36Alumina .. .. .. 20Lime .. .. .. 3Oxidized iron . . . . 41It is found in veins, and sometimes, though butrarely, crystallized. It exerts a sensible influence onthe magnetic needle ;is of a very vivid blood colour,but, looked at through the light, it has a yellowish-redcolour, more vivid at the edges, and almost like thejacinth.It has the peculiar property of resisting the firewithout losing either colour, weight, or transparency.

124 GEMS.The extreme fineness of the texture of this garnet,compared with that of other European stones, is verymuch superior, as it equals in this respect the Balaisrubies belonging to the Great Mogul.The unchangeableness of its lovely red colour leadsto the conclusion that the elementary molecules whichconstitute the gem must have been impregnated withcolour previous to crystallization, so that it is as itwere fused in it, and not received afterwards by infiltration,as generally happens in other gems.until the beginning of this century,In Italy,it was called" giacinto guarnarino."The common black garnetis found both in the Eastand the West.Their opacity results from the greater quantity ofoxide of iron which they contain, and which rendersthem more sensitive to the attraction of the magneticneedle.They are found in the lava thrown out by Vesuvius :scattered about the fields that surround Prague ;mixedin the sands of the Alpine torrents ; amongst the volcanicremains of the Tusculan mountains; in themountains of Silesia; in Hungary, and in America.The transparent garnet was very much used in ancienttimes. I have seen innumerable Italian and Etruscanjewels made of this stone.The Eomans and Greeks used to engrave it for rings,but only on the decline of the Western Empire.Pliny says that every variety of carbunculi obstinatelyresists incision. In fact, good intagli in garnet are

HAUYNA. 125very rare, and the few that are to be met with belongmost certainly to the Greco-Komano school.Likenesses of the Persian kings belonging to theSassanidee dynasty may be often seen engraved onthese gems.Nothing is more easy than to recognise an antiqueintaglio on garnet; because, being very brittle, thegreater number of them found are broken or in fragments.Besides, time confers on them a softness ofcolour which defies imitation byeven the ablest artists.XLVILHAUYNA.FROM the illustrious Abbe Haiiy, one of the mosteminent mineralogists, this stone takes the namewhich, in compliment to him, was givenitby Monti -celli.It was first discovered by Gisniondi, who, having metit associated with mica and green pirosene, on MountsLaziali, called it, hence, Lazialue.Afterwards, Monticelli found it on Vesuvius.The hauyna, then, is a substance composed of alumina,silex, potash, protoxide of iron, sulphuric acid andsoda, and of which, according to the celebrated LuigiCeselli, the exact analysis is as follows :

126 GEMS.Silex 35-48Alumina .. .. 18-87Potash 15-45Lime 12-00Sulphuric acid .. .. 12-39Oxide of iron .. .. 1-16Water 1-20It is formed in dodecahedral prisms with brightfaces, and also in grains and pebbles. Its breakage isconcave ;it is transparent and translucent ;of a strongvitreous lustre, and iscomposed of folds, irregularlyplaced, one over another. In colour, it is sometimesblue ;at other times white, green, grey, or black.It marks white glass deeply, but is sometimesmarked by quartz, although but slightly. Its dust iswhitish.Friction confers on it negative electricity.Under the action of the blow-pipe, it loses colour ;does not yield water when calcined, and ititmelts intoa white porous glass. When mixed with borax andsubjected to fire, it effervesces and forms a clear glass,which becomes yellow when cool. With salt of phosphorus,it melts, with effervescence, and forms aniridescent glass. Under the action of acids, it is transformedinto a gelatinous substance.Its specific weight varies from 2*60 to 3-33. It isfound in liquefied basalts, and in the vulcanized matterof Vesuvius, also at Bodemnaise, at the Lake of Laach,in various parts of Italy, in the island of Tiree, and inScotland.

IDOCEAS1UM. 127The hauyna is not much known. It is used inmaking rings, buckles, and ear-rings, being cut like theidocrasium, and will be always prized on account of itsrarity.XLVIII.IDOCRASIUM.THIS mineral is almost always found crystallized inthe form of aprism of four sides terminated by fourpyramids, and also sometimes in pebbles.Its cleavage is parallel to all the sides of the prism.It is opaque and transparent ; has double refraction ;itslight is between vitreous and resinous. Its breakageis concave. All its crystals are striped lengthways.It is generally yellowish green, brown, or orangeyellow, and sometimes black and blue.It marks white glass and felspar, but can be markedby the topaz. It yields a white powder, and its specificgravity is from 3*4 to 3*8. It melts under theaction of the blow-pipe into a dark glass. It is composed,like the garnet, of silex, alumina, lime, and someoxide of iron and manganese. Idocrasium is found invarious geological positions, amongst volcanic andprimitive rocks. When first discovered at Vesuvius itwas distinguished by the name of volcanic scoria,brown jacinth, volcanic chrysolite, and Vesuvian gem;but found afterwards in the cavities of the windingson the Alps, on ^Etna, in Sweden, Norway, Spain, and

128 GEMS.America, the name of Vesuviana was changed tothatof idocrasium, which is derived from cISos, /orm, andKpacris, mixture, which is intended to signify the multitudeof forms under which it is naturally found.When transparent, and of a pure green or brown, itis used for rings and pins, and is principally workedin Naples and Turin.It is cut on a leaden wheel, and receives polishingby means of the pumice-stone.It is of little value, and isverylittle known toforeign traders.The Neapolitan idocrasium is often called in mineralogythe Italian chrysolite ;it is, however, different fromthe true chrysolite, having much less specific gravity.It was even mistaken for green garnet, but the hardnessof the latter is much greater.XLIX.HYDROPHANE.THIS stone is a resinous quartz.It is almost opaque, iridescent, and has the singularproperty of becoming transparent when dipped inwater ;whence its name of 8wp, water, and 0a/w,todisplay, that is, transparent by means of the water.It is either white or grey, sometimes greenish andsometimes yellowish. It is solid, rather soft and

HYDEOPHANE. 129porous. It takes a good polish. Its specific weightnever exceeds 2-3.What is most extraordinary with regard to this substanceis, that it adheres to the tongue, because itimbibes humidity easily.\\ hen immersed in water, it immediately gives outlittle bubbles of oxygen these were in the ; pores,which soon fill with water, renderingit thus clear andbright until dried up again by contact with the air.It is found in China, Arabia, Egypt, the Feroe Isles,Hungary, Silesia, Saxony, Piedmont, and in France.When analysed, it givesSilex 93Alumina .. .. .. 2Water .. .. .. 5From the increase of its weight, it is proved that itabsorbs the liquid in which it is immersed.Acids have no power over it, excepting tartaric acid,which makes the colour brighter. It is insoluble inether.It is found but seldom, and then in calcedony andopaline rocks, which must be broken in prodigiousquantities before finding a really fine hydrofane.This stone is but little used. It cuts smooth andthin, and is generally set clear, or without any backgroundof metal or talc ;so that, when immersed, allits properties may be better known and appreciated.

130 GEMS.L.HYPERSTHENUM.THE great hardness and the specific gravity whichthis mineral possesses originated its name, which inGreek signifies supreme force, from vTrep, above, andcrOevos, force.This mineral is found in crystalline masses ;it hasconcave breakage ; is opaque,and found in differentcolours; red, dark brown, greenish-black, and greyblack.Its cleavage is parallel to the sides. It has ametallic light. Looked at in one direction it showsgradations in copper-red, in golden or dark yellow and;in another direction it reflects greenish colours.It marks crystal ; gives a dark green dust, and hasa specific gravity of 3*38.It melts easily. Acids do not corrode it, and it iscomposed of magnesia, silex, alumina, and water.It is found in the rocks of Labrador, of Greenland,and of New Jersey.Although used in French jewellery, the hypersthenumhas never been a fashionable gem, notwithstanding itsbeautiful colours.

IBIS. 131LI.IRIS.A VARIETY of very transparent and clearrock-crystal,remarkable for its peculiar property of reflecting allthe prismatic colours, by means of certain naturalcrevices which it contains.There is artificial iris,which is formed by producingchinks in the rock-crystal. And this can be done bythe blow of a mallet ; by throwing the crystal intoboiling water ; or, finally, by first warmingit and thenthrowingit into cold water.But by all these methods crevices are produced whichtake their rise at external points, and never reach thecentre, which remains like an intact fruit stone ;whereasthe natural iris, which alone is valuable, has chinkswhich part from the centre, and do not reach totheedges, which remain smooth and compact.The most beautiful iris, called Oriental, has veryvivid colours, but these are rendered less clear by aslight bluish-milky tint. Its specific gravity is equalto 2-640.The iris called " calcedonyosa " presentsvisible colours when looked at against the sun.but threeThat which is called " citrina " is a false topaz, butof very hard texture.Many gems possess this particular phenomenon ofthe iris; but this, instead of increasing, diminishes

132 GEMS.their value, as an iridised gem is considered worth onlyhalf as much as otherwise it would be.The Empress Josephine possessed a well-known setof ornaments composed of the iris, in which the colourswere so vividly reflected that it was said to be composedof brighter and more precious jewels.LILJOLITE.As already remarked, this is one of the variousnames of the dicroite ;but it is well to know that thepeculiar kind found in Sweden, and therefore calledliydro-jolite of Sweden, is very soft, of a dark olivegreencolour, and isalways in red granite. Thisstone is not used as a jewel, and it is only valued inmineralogical collections. LIILLABRADOR.AT first it was thought that this substance was anopaline felspar, but in time it was acknowledged to bea separate species.It was discovered by some Moravian missionaries inthe island of St. Paul, on the coast of Labrador, andwas brought to Europe in 1775, under the name of thecountry where it was found.

LABEADOR. 133The labrador has a grey ground with whitish stripes,and looked at when it facesthe light it reflects variedcolours, like the opal. Where broken, its light isbetween that of glass and pearl ;and it isonly transparentin its most minute fragments.It is found not only in Labrador, but also in Norway,and amongst the lava of Etna and of Stromboli.Less brittle than common spar, and still less hard,its specific weightis from 2'71 to 2'75. It melts withdifficulty under the action of the blow-pipe ; and it issaid that it loses colour at the fire.Its hardness is unequal. It marks white crystal,but is marked by rock-crystal.It iscomposedof silex,alumina, lime, soda, oxide of iron and water.The labrador, also called lahradorite, is only used inarticles of not very small dimensions, such as snuffboxes,clock-cases, vases, because the pieces only producea good effect when they are of a tolerable size.The refraction of light produces admirable effects inthis mineral ;so much so, that ardent imaginationsfancy they perceive symbols or figures in it, createddoubtless by their own desire.In 1799 it was told to the Legitimist emigrants ofFrance, that in Eussia, a flat, broad stone of labradoritehad been discovered, on which was perfectlydelineated the face of Louis XVI., in azure on a greenishground. The head of this unhappy prince was coveredwith a reddish crown, shaded into prismatic colours.It appeared illuminated beyond the powerwhence it was regarded as miraculous.of art,

134 GEMS.It is certain that the Count of Kabassomme, whowas the happy possessor of this wonder, asked 200,000lire for it, trusting perhaps a little too much to thecredulity of the simple.LIV.LAPIS LAZULI, OR LAZULITE.THE name of this mineral comes from the Arabicazul, which signifies heaven, and refers to its colour.This substance was known to the ancient Eomansunder the name of sapphirus, the word with which wedesignate the blue corundum.That particular kind of it which exhibits pyrites ofiron in its mass was called sapphirus regilus.Pliny gave the name of cyanus to a stone whichsome modern authors thought to be lapis lazuli, butfrom his description does not appear to be such.Lapis lazuli is sufficiently hard to cut glass, heavy,opaque, of a blue more or less bright, often coveredwith brilliant ferruginous pyrites, of a close texture,and capable of receiving a bright polish. It is translucentat the edges when thinned, and breaks intovitreous fragments; it is often found crystallized inthe regular form of the oblique prism, having fourfaces ;it is in folds, and has a specific gravity whichvaries between 2-7675 and 2-9454.A triple analysis gave the following results, whichpresent a very striking difference :

LAPIS LAZULI, OR LAZULITE. 135I believe that this difference isdifferent compositionmore the result of aof the stone than of the error ofchemists, as in experiments I have "been able to observethat all lapis lazuli do not present the same characteristics.Thus, those that come from Persia andChina unite to a finer colour an equal and very finetexture, almost similar to that of the agate ;and itshardness is greater than of that found in the Siberiansteppes, which to a darker colour unites a granulatedtexture, and is of a much inferior quality. WhenceI believe that some comparative experiments wouldhelp to explain the cause of so much diversity, andrender it possible to divide the lapis lazuli, like othergems, into Oriental and Western.This gem, when exposed to a strong heat, melts intoa yellowish-black mass.Under the action of the blowpipeit forms a white crystal, but, when mixed withborax, it melts with effervescence into a very clearcrystal.As I have remarked, the most beautifulcome from

136 GEMS.China, Bucharia and Persia. TheySiberia, and there areare found intraces of them on Mount Zebra,in the district of Sondrio, and on Mont Blanc. Itwas found at Vesuvius by Monticelli, in small masses,sprinkled with minute dots of sulphuretted iron,embedded in granular chalk, which is chiefly of aviolet colour; and in the eruption of October, 1822, acalcareous mass containing a small lazulite was thrownout.Ceselli found a piece in 1843 in the lava of theLaziali Mountains. Eecently, great quantities havebeen excavated in California ;but the colour, whichfrom blue tends to green, sprinkled with grey spots,renders it valueless ;and in fact if the fine Orientalgem is worth upwards of 300 lire the kilogramme, theformer is not worth sixty centimes.Pieces of lapis lazuli of a good colour, free fromspots, and of a tolerable size, are of great value.are much used in jewellery and ornaments.TheyThis stone was engraved by the ancients, thoughbut roughly, because its material is not adapted forfine cutting. Nevertheless, the Italian artists afterthe sixteenth century made statuettes, busts, camei,and intagli of it ;and amongst these is celebrated apiece by Gorle, which represents the emblem of Peace.The Chevalier d'Azara had a cameo, on a verybeautiful lapis lazuli, which represented the head ofMedusa. Maffei mentions an intaglio on lapis lazuli,representing Venus and Cupid.In the treasury of the French crown there is a

LAPIS LAZULI, OR LAZULITE. 137beautiful collection of cups, knife-handles, and ornamentsin this stone. There is a great profusion ofit in the palace which Catherine IF. built at St.Petersburg for Orloff it ;richly adorns the villa palaceof the Demidoffs at Florence, and the altars of St. Pauloutside the walls of Rome. In China, statuettes andidols are made of it.The colour which painters call ultramarine is madeof lapis lazuli. We have the testimony of CamilloLeonardo that the production of ultramarine wasknown in Italy, most certainly from the year 1502,under the name of azurum ultra-marinum.The Chinese have used it for a long time in paintingon porcelain, and call the beautiful lapis lazuli zui sang ;and that which is darker, and marked with pyrites ofiron, tchingtchang. They choose the latter for makingidols,cups and snuff-boxes.True ultramarine is prepared chiefly in Rome. Itsspecific gravityis 2-36. It costs from 200 to 300 lirethe ounce ; and to this high price must be attributedthe efforts made by painters and chemists to substituteother substances for it.In 1828 Professor Gmelin discovered that sulphateof soda would do as a substitute. By dint of study,he succeeded in extracting that substance from silex,alnmina, soda and sulphur; and now his productionsells at the low price of 80 lire the kilogramme.

138 GEMS.LY.LAVA.THIS natural production is the spontaneous unionof various stony substances which volcanoes ejectduring their eruptions, and which, in a state of pastyfusion, flow like torrents down the sides of mountains,and sometimes to great distances.Lava has a broken and concave breakage ;light ;a resinousit is opaque, and is found of almost all colours.It often contains crystals of felspar, of leucite, ofgarnet, and of other minerals.The blue lava of Vesuvius has the appearance of theblue, transparent, artificial enamel, and is in muchrequest for jewellery and ornaments. Even cameos aremade from it.Where it most abounds, as in Naples, they use it tomake vases, candlesticks, boxes, and other similararticles.Lava is cut with iron, emery, and sand; and ispolished with pumice, olive oil, and tripoli.The graving tool is used in working on the cameo,as well as on shells.

PETRIFIED WOOD. ]39LYI.PETRIFIEDWOOD.UNDER this denomination are included, without distinction,all woods that have .undergone such alterationsas entitle them to be numbered amongst minerals.Here, omitting every other kind, we must give ourattention solely to the agate-wood, which most resemblesfine stones.The petrifaction of wood is a wonderful phenomenon.Trunks, branches and roots, which once had life,become mixed substances ; remaining for ages buriedin the earth, and preserved by the infiltration theyexperience, they at last acquire a great degree of hardness: the organic fibres of the once vegetating bodybecoming recipients of silicious saline materials.For the petrifaction of wood, it is necessary1st. That it be of a nature to be preserved underground.2nd. That it remain there covered from air andrunning water.3rd. That it be preserved from the action of corrosives.4th. That it be in a place where there is also a concentrationof liquids containing either metallic particlesor stony molecules loosened, which, without destroyingthe ligneous body, penetrate it and become assimilatedto it, at the same time that its particles dissipate byslow evaporation.

140 GEMS.How long does Nature take for this operation?This can never be determined.Wood petrifies into silex, agate, and chalky substance.The bushes which surround the so-called Layo delTartari, which is in the Tibertine territory, petrifyfrom year to year.It is not long since a beam of timber was foundunder the bed of the Danube ;it had been used in theconstruction of the Emperor Trajan's bridgeover thatriver, and it was found that in 1,500 years it was onlypetrified |ths of an inch from the circumference towardsthe centre.Agate wood has a concave and rough breakage;acquires a resinous light it cuts ; crystal, and has aspecific gravity between 2*53 and 2-65.This substance is sometimes opaque, at other times itis transparent, but more frequently translucent.It is easily worked as its texture yields to every tool ;it is therefore used in making vases, snuff-boxes, knifehandles,and seals.It is generally worked in Germany, and in the sameway as the agates of Oberstein,itLYII.LEPIDOLITEIs a sort of mica with a base of lithia, thus namedfrom the Greek ACTUS, scale, and XiOos, stone, because,in general, it is found under the form of small pebbles,

composed ofLUMACHELLA. 141scales rather bright, like mother-of-pearl,white, pink, greenish, and violet, like the scales on thewings of the butterfly.Of this substance is made the golden, silvery, pink,blue, and black dust which is used to dry writings.LYIII.LUMACHELLA.IF this substance was known to the ancients, thename which they gaveit is unknown to us ;but weare led to believe that it is a recent discovery.The opaline lumachella comes from Coiinthia, whereit is found in a mountain called Pleybourg.There, under a ridge of lead minerals,is found agrey -brown marble which contains many fossil shells ofthe primitive period, which are now extinct. Theyare seldom found unbroken, and this will not appealstrangewhen we consider throughhow many terrestrialrevolutions they must have passed before beingdepositedamongst the substances which, together withthem, form the lumachella.Some of these shells, brought to light by the help ofthe saw and polish, present all the colours of therainbow.Art adds much to the natural effect of the lumachella,and then it clearly shows most vivid wateringsof a golden red, and emerald-green colour.

.Theophrastus142 GEMS.The lumachella is also found in Piedmont and inFrance.There is a great quantity in the Antilles and in theEast.It is not used in jewellery, but only in making usefularticles, as snuff-boxes, vases, and clocks.LUNARIA,LIX.OR MOON-STONE.IT is under this name, described bysome as theadularia, that the English know the moon-stone, orpietra di luna.LX.MALACHITE.THE name of this mineral comes from the Greekword fj.aXa.xn-,account of its colour.which signifies mallows, and was given onHowever, it is not certain that the ancients understoodby this term the same substance to which wenow applyit.says," The malachite is a falseemerald," and Pliny,* under the name of molochites,speaks of a mineral which " is not transparent, is of adeep green colour, and is found in Arabia."* 'Natural History/ xxxvn. viii. 36.

MALACHITE. 143Corsi states, though, with hesitation, that the molochiteswas our malachite;* whilst King affirms, thatunder the same name the ancientsunderstood a kindof plasma, and not the carbonate of copper, which hesays the Eomans called chryso-colla,soldering gold.j*If the chryso-colla is reallyfrom its use inthe stone now known asmalachite, it must have been very common in the timeof Nero, who once caused the arena of the circus to bestrewn with the powder of the chryso-colla, wishingthus to show favour to the green party.The principal beauty of the malachite consists in thebrightness of its colours. It is an oxygenized carbonateof natural copper.It is divided into two kinds : the fibrous and thecompact.The fibrous malachite is of a uniform colourof perfect emerald green. It is found in crystals ofacute-angled prisms of three faces. Its crystals areneedle-pointed and very thin. Its specific weight is3*66. It presents, with diversified veining, beautifulspots in deep but brilliant green. When polished, ithas a delicate, but, generally, resinous light. Its breakageis rough and bright. It decomposes in acetic acid,and communicates to it a dark green colour. It blackensonly over burning coals, but crackles, becomes quiteblack, and at last leaves a button of pure copper underthe irresistible action of the blow-pipe, having lostmuch of its weight.* Delle Pietre/ x.f 'Antique Gems,' page 15.

144 GEMS.This variety is most rare, and, consequently, themost esteemed. It is found in ridges in Sweden,Hungary, Saxony, the Tyrol, and particularly on theUralian mountains.When analysed it yieldsCopper.. .. ..58Carbonic acid .. .. 18Oxygen 12-5Water 11-5The compact malachite is found in large opaquerocks, where all gradations of green are seen intertwinedin zones, in concentric strata, and in segmentsof circles. Its breakage is unequal and its texturevery fine. Its specific gravityis 3'65.This kind is found abundantly at Goumichefsky,near Ekaterinebourg, in Siberia, in which country,unique in the world for the wealth of its coppermines, malachite under every possible form is found.But frequently cavities occur in the large pieces,filled with earth or other foreign materials, whichinterrupt the natural design, and often prevent thecompletion of works of art in this mineral.For jewellery, malachite of a light colour is preferred,if gradually varied and covered with darker marks,especially when some are iridescent, or marked withdiverging spheres or peacock's eyes.Its price varies from four to twentylire the kilogramme.The hardness and inequalities in the solidity of this

MARQUISITE. 145stone render it little adapted for cutting. Many attemptswere made to engrave it at the beginning ofthis century, and many ornaments were made of it,but the}>"did not result in good works of art.LXI.MARQUISITE.SULPHURET of iron, in mineralogy and in jewellery,takes this name, which is to me of unknown etymology,unless we allow it to come from the French wordmarquis,which would in that case be the base of itsname in that language, marquisite.As, at the time when firearms were invented, itwasused instead of flint, it therefore took the name ofpii ite, from the Greek 7rt>p, fire.The marquisite is found in large pieces, in the shapeof a cube and the forms derived from it. It has avitreous and very bright cleavage. It is found purein various forms, including the hemispheric and dodecahedric.Its specific weight varies from 3'900 to 4'954.When cut in facets like the rose diamond it isverybright.But all the marquisites in commerce are generallysmall, not exceeding in size a gem of 2 carats.There are many varieties of marquisite, some tendingto bronze, others to grey, or steel colour. When struckby the steel, it emits numerous sparks which exhale asulphurous smell.Metallic, arsenical, and sulphurous particles abound,L

146 GEMS.more or less, in it, according to the mine from which itis extracted. It is also found with small portions ofcopper and very small particles of gold.It is obtained in the Alps, in Switzerland, Piedmont,and America.Peruvian marquisite is called stone of the Incas,because the ancient sovereigns of Peru attributed verygreat virtues to it, and wore rings and amulets whichwere made of it, and were enclosed with them in theirsepulchres. They also used this material to makemirrors, and executed so muoh fine work in it as togive a high idea of their civilization.The most beautiful kind of marquisite, of a strawyellowcolour, comes from the Vale of Antigorio, nearthe Lago Maggiore, but it is rare.In the beginning of the present century marquisitewas much used in feminine ornaments.LXILMARBLE.ALTHOUGH marble cannot be placed amongst gems,nevertheless, as a mineral, having some affinity withthem, I consider it well to speak of it now briefly.Innumerable are the minerals to which we mightgive the name of marble, but naturalists confine it tothose only which are adapted for the chisel.The characteristics which divide and distinguishmarble from porphyry and granite are three :first,

MICA. 147it is freely soluble in acetic acid ;in the second place,receives a mark from steel ;and, finally, it is reduced tolime by fire while giving out a great quantity ofcarbonic acid.Marble is partly composed of a sort of metal offerruginous appearance, combined with carbon andoxygen. The proportions of itscomponent parts varyaccording to the different qualities however, in general,;it is equal to three-tenths of metal, one-tenth of carbon,and the remainder of fixed oxygen.The specific gravity of this substance varies from2-650 to 2-850.The purest marble is always white, and the variouscolourations which form its different qualities are dueto extraneous substances, either stony or metallic, thedifferent arrangements of which modify it by thecolour of its different tints.Marble of all kinds is amongst the productions whichare most generally used in art and manufactures. Butto. give their history and classification would be beyondour proposed limits.LXIII.MICA.FOR a long time, this name has distinguished certainsubstances capable of being divided into layers, whichare elastic, very thin, translucent and fusible, of whichthe surface always remains bright, whence its name from

148 GEMS.the Latin verb micare, to shine. Some kinds of micaare known which have only one axis of double refraction,attractive in some, repelling mothers.even some which have two axes,degrees of divergence.There areand present variedThese peculiarities, which areeasily perceived, on account of the layers being perpendicularto the axis, indicate essential differencescrystallization, and also different species. Their compositiondoes not offer less difference ;some containlithia, others potash, magnesia, or lime. Sometimesthese substances are all united in it, in varied proportions.Black and dark mica is found, having in it a greatquantity of peroxide of iron or of the correspondingoxide of manganese, and also of chromium.In general magnesian mica is softer to the touch, andalways less elastic than the others. That kind havinga base of lithia is frequently called lepidolite, as alreadyremarked. Mica is often found crystallized, but onlyseldom under the form of regular crystals, which seemhexagonal prisms or oblique rhomboidrical prisms.Its specific gravity is 2' 7. It is found particularly incrystalline earths or in primitive rocks, and itofmay besaid to exist in every part of the earth, being foundin granite and in sand, in basalts and slates, intufa, and in the latest deposits of tertiary districts.The colours of the different materials called micaoffer every gradation of shade.There is the downy mica, which takes its name fromthe resemblance it bears to down. This effect is pro-

MOSAIC. 149duced by the diverging arrangement of its layers andits pearly colour. Finally, it is found in large foldsor slabs, like that of glass which is used in windows.Mica, when of a good colour, could be used for manyornaments. The ancients, under the name of vitrumspeculare, used great squares of this substance to excludethe air from their rooms, and very often fragments ofit are dug out of ancient ruins. In Siberia it is stillused for this purpose, and it is put, in place of glass,in Eussian ships.The glazing of the stove invented by Dr. Xott, ofNew York, is of mica.LXIY.MOSAIC.THE place which mosaic takes in feminineornaments,and the material of which it is formed, induce me tosay a few words about it, although most frequentlyit is composed of materials which cannot be strictlycalled gems.Mosaic is a work done in minute inlayings of glass,breccia, or agate, of varied colours, which, cementedtogether by a particular stucco, are formed into designsof all kinds, like colours on canvas.From this it may be easily understood that theymay be divided into three classes, viz., mosaics inglass, mo aics in breccia, and mosaics in pietra dura.

150 GEMS.The most ancient works in mosaic are found amongstthe Egyptian jewels. They consist of pieces of glassvariously painted, and in enchased gold setting.Many pavements of the Greco-Romano period weregreat mosaics of -square marble of every colour. Thiswork was called opus musivum.After the fifth century, mosaic was used in the wallsand ceilings of churches, no longer in heavy marble,but in bright square enamels, united and supported bya stucco,over a great surface, with the utmost exactness,of which we have a splendid example in theBasilica Constantiniana of St. Sophia, and St. Mark's atVenice.In jewels of the period of Charlemagne, carnelian,plasma, and other agates have been found, set in gold,like the enamel of Egyptian work.In the seventeenth century, at Florence, and soonafter at Dresden, they made mosaics of pietra dura,that is, of agate, jasper, and other gems, worked separatelyfirst into the desired form on the wheel, andthen fixed with cement into gold, bronze, or marble, toform elegant tables, beautiful ornaments, or prettyfeminine adornments.The mosaic workers of the Vatican, in the eighteenthcentury, began to make mosaics of glass, in very smallproportions, and thus originated the so-called Eomanmosaics, which were and are still executed by artistsof no little cleverness, who adapt this kind of workto every kind of ornament.

NATROLITE. 151LXY.NATROLITE.THIS mineral has been but recently discovered.It received its name from the Latin natrum, whichmeans soda, because that alkali is its principal component.It has a rough breakage, is translucent at the edges,and of a pearly or white light; sometimes deep red oryellow, and often in alternate zones.It scratches glass with difficulty, but can be markedby felspar.It produces a white powder ; has a specificgravity of 2'16 ;melts under the action of the blowpipe,into a spongy, colourless glass; is composed ofsoda, alumina, silex and water; sometimes a smallquantity of oxide of iron is mixed with it.Natrolite is found in Switzerland, Bohemia, Saxony,Scotland, and Nova Scotia.Natrolite, on account of the polish which it takes,has been used in jewellery, but it was not satisfactory,and now nothingisthought of this gem, so that it hasno value in commerce.LXVI.NEPHRITE.See JADE.

152 GEMS.LXYII.NICCOLO.A VARIETY of onyx cut in such a manner that a zoneof bluish white lies over a base of deep brown.This name is from the diminutive of onyx, viz.,onicolo, whence niccolo, and not from the name of acertain Nicolo, perhaps an artist of the sixteenth century,as some assert.This stone, of little intrinsic worth, acquires valueby being used in works of cameo and intaglio.It may almost be said that niccolo is a kind of onyxagate which has an extraordinary fineness of texture.Its specific weightis 2-590.Everythingleads us to believe that niccolo is theEgyptilla thus described by Pliny :intelligit, per alvum sarda, nigroquejEgyptiUam saccJiusvenis transceuntibus :vulgus autem in nigra radice cceruleum facit.* It was oftenused by the ancients this is; proved by the works ofintaglio and relievo which have been found executed inthis stone.LXVIII.CAT'SEYE.THE name of this mineral is derived from the peculiarplay of light refracted by its surface, which resemblesvery strikingly the eye of the feline race.* Caire, 260, note.

CATS EYE. 153It consists of a quartz, mixed with parallel fibres ofasbestos and amianthus.Asbestos and amianthus are two varieties of rnagnesiansilicates ;the first, rigid in its fibres ;the othersoft and somewhat elastic, having a bright silkenlight and very fine fibres,easily separated and ratherpliant.The ancients used asbestos to make lamp wicks fedwith petroleum, and being incombustible it obtainedthe name which is(not to consume), incombustible.derived from the Greek a-cr/2eViyu,They wove the amianthus into a cloth, in which werewrapped the dead bodies theywished to reduce toashes, because the amianthus being incombustibleretainedand preserved the ashes of the burned body.Besides, this material, becoming purified by the actionof the fire and remaining in, it separated from everyorganic element, did not, in the operation, take anyblemish, whence its name of amianto, from the Greek a,privative, and /ueuVco,to stain.The cat's eye is found in pebbles and in pieces moreor less round ;it has a concave breakage;is translucentand also transparent at the edges. It has avitreous and resinous light. It is generally eithergreen, red, yellow, or grey. It marks glass.Itsspecific gravity is from 2-560 to 2-730. When exposedto a great heat, it loses lustre and transparency, butdoes not melt under the blow-pipe unless reduced tominute fragments.On analysis it gives

154 GEMS.Silex .. .. 95-00Alumina .. .. 1'75Lime .. .. 1'50Oxide of iron . . 25Cat's eye is found in pieces which are never largerthan half a walnut; it is found in Malabar, in theisland of Ceylon, in the Hartz Mountains, in Bavariaand in the United States of America.The finest come from Ceylon. We must be carefulnot to confound them with certain iridized agateswhich come from Arabia and Persia and much resemblethem, but are softer, of a finer texture, and havebrighter colours.In order to make them shine more brightly they arecut like the asteria, but the mineralogist assigns thema higher value in the rough state.It is not known whether the ancients were acquaintedwith this gem, or whether it was included inthe asteria. The Moors and the Malabarese, from theremotest time, have held this stone in great veneration.In every country of the East it is worn as an amulet,which procures riches to the possessor.The Indiansbelieve that the largest and most beautifulvirtue in an eminent degree.Cat's eye, on account of its hardness, ishave thiswell suitedfor engraving, but its colour, and the fact of its beingiridized, only adapt it for such designs and ornamentalfigures as have been executed on this stone from thesixteenth century to the present time.

OLIVINE. 155LXIX.OLIVINE.SILICATE of magnesia,\vliicli receives the name fromits colour.It is like the chrysolite, but less transparent andless hard. It is coloured with iron. It is found inmasses and also in round pebbles, as frequently inFrance as in Italy, Scotland, Bohemia, Ireland, onVesuvius, and in many other places.The cleavage of the olivine is imperfectly double,and its breakage is unequal and granulous.Its specific gravity is equal to 3-240. Analysed ityieldsSilex .. .. 50-00Magnesia.. .. 38 '5Lime .. .. 00-25Oxide of iron .. 12-00Subjected to the action of the blow-pipe, with theaddition of borax, it forms an opaque button of darkglass:When put into concentrated acetic acid it losescolour; this phenomenon indicates a great porosity,most rare in the texture of gems of this kind, and aprincipal sign by which to it distinguish from thosewhich resemble it.Olivine is found in pieces large and small, in basalts,in porphyry, and in lava: it is almost always withpyroxenic augite.

156 GEMS.The Vesnvian olivine is crystallized in long stripedprisms. This stone is not much thought of, and thereforeof little value.LXX.ONYX.A VARIETY of quartz having a regularalternation ofstrata more or less even, and variously coloured inblack, white, brown, grey, yellow and red.Its name comes from the Greek word 6Vv, nail, onaccount of the similarity which is found to existbetween the arrangementof its strata and that of thehuman nail.When an onyx has one or two strata of red carnelianit is more valued, and takes the name of sardonyx*In the onyx the dark strata are always opaque, andcontrast strongly with the clear, which, when thinned,become almost translucent.There are Oriental and Western onyx.The Oriental onyx is extremely hard, and of very finetexture ; acids have, in general, verylittle action onit. When in this mineral substance are found unitedneat lines, straight strata, and bright colours, it is ofa relatively high price, especially if it has more thanfour fillets.The Western onyx, and especially that from Germany,is softer than the Oriental, and is deteriorated by acids,which alter the colour.Industry turns this peculiarity

OOLITE. 157to good account, and gives the stone a higher value.This onyx is worked principally at Oberstein, in Germany.Lapidaries formerly chose, and now prefer,executing their Arabian and Indian onyx work in thatplace, and the best camei are composed of that beautifulmineral substance. The low price of German stonescauses them to be much used now.The ancients used the onyx engraved or simply cut,and very many of both kinds are still to be seen.LXXI.OOLITE.THIS mineral is a calcareous spar composed of veryminute spherical particles, whose cohesion depends ona calcareous substance which acts as a cement.Its principal componentis carbonate of lime.The name it bears is derived from the Greek (ioV,ovum, on account of its similarity to the spawnof fish. The oolite is found in pebbles or in masses.It is white, red, brown, or yellow.Large ridges of itare found in France and England.Cut and polished it is a fine marble, and it is used inornamenting houses, as may be seen in many housesthe city of Bath, in England.of

158 GEMS.LXXILOPAL.THE gem is a hydrated silicate, insoluble in acids,and when subjected to a strong heat it becomes white,leaving a remarkable quantity of water.It possesses the property of reflecting all the colouredrays of the prism, and this property originated itsname, derived from the Greek OTT, root of OTTTW, (obsolete),to see, and aAAos, other, in allusion to the multiplicityof its colours.The changing lights which it emits are caused byan immense quantity of minute fissures.In general it is injured by potash.of crystallization, or of double refraction.almost always resinous.It shows no traceIts light isIt is found in scattered pebblesand in veins within a matrix of a reddish tintwith white, in trachytic districts.Its hardness varies,spottedalthough it always yields to thefile ;it is of very fine texture, and takes a beautifulpolish. Very brittle, its breakage is bright and perfectlyconcave it;does not melt under the action of theblow-pipe, but crackles, splits and loses colour.When just extracted from the damp earth, the opalbut the air and sunis very soft and destitute of light,soon succeed in giving it various degrees of beautyand consistency;and it is a very curious phenomenonto see it sensibly hardening and the colours beingcreated as the water evaporates from the minute

OPAL. 159chinks, in which, the air immediately takes its place.This phenomenon is very clearlyHungarian opals.exhibited in theIt only preserves its brightness in a temperate atmosphereand; although sometimes it is placed in thesun that its iridescence may be increased, it spoils ifleft in it too long. In such a case, the bubbles of aircontained in the internal chinks evaporate, and withthem the colours depart ; the same thing happens inan intense and prolonged frost.Although, mineralogically, the opal may be dividedinto seven varieties, according to the countries wherefound, viz., Arabia, Ceylon, Hungary, Iceland, Scotland,Ireland, and Mexico, yetit has been generally agreedto distinguish it into three principal kinds, namely,the noble or Oriental opal, the fiery red or Mexicanopal, and the common opal.The noble or Oriental opal is called harlequin, onaccount of itsmany colours, which shine in triangularreflections. Its hardness, and the softness of its coloursare remarkable. Its specific gravity is 2*95. Whenanalysed, it yieldsSilex .. ..90Water 10It came formerly from Arabia, but now it is procuredin Upper Hungary, amongst the porphyry ridges.The Mexican fire-red opal, known also under thesingle name of Mexican opal, was, not many years ago,discovered by Humboldt. It is found at Zimapan, in

160 GEMS.Mexico, in a variety of trachy tic porphyry, and in theFaroe Isles in amygdaloid.Although beautiful when just separated from thematrix, it loses much when exposed to the damp andair ;when immersed in water, it comes out quite transparentand dull, but it partly re-acquires its fire whendried. Placed on the tongue, it leaves a disagreeabletaste, by which it is easy to distinguish it from othervarieties.When looked at against the light it is quite transparentin the solar rays it appears iridescent in a;peculiar manner. Its specific gravity is 3*12. Byapplying to its surface a thin layer of olive oil, itsbrightness is increased, but only for a short time. Itgives, on analysis,Silex .. .. 92-Water .. .. 7 '75Iron .. .. 0-25The common opal is found in great masses, in pebblesand in stalactites. Its breakage is concave it is trans-;lucent and sernitransparent. It is found of variouscolours, milky, yellowish, whitish green, red, and winered. Sometimes it is dendritic. Its specific gravityis between 1'90 and 2-10.It is composed ofSilex 93-05Water 5Oxide of iron . . 1

OWAEOVITE.1G1It is met with in veins alongwith the Orientalopal, in argillaceous porphyry, and sometimes inmetalliferous ridges. The opal in general cutssmooth and full, whether in an oval lenticular formor as a drop.Fine opals are always set clear, as those set otherwiseeasily deceive the eye. It is well known thatblack increases very much the natural or artificialfire of the opal ;and this is so well known, that sets ofopals in commerce are always presented on a smooth,bright black card.The common opal is of very little value ;the Mexicanred is of less ;and the Oriental isvery much esteemed.The opal was well known to, and appreciated by theancients.Pliny tells us that it was found only in India.Everybody knows that the Roman senator Nuniopreferred enduring the penalties of exile rather thanyield a very beautiful opal to the rapacious MarkAntony.The Indians valued it as much as the diamond.This gem does not take engraving well.A SORT of garnetLXXIII.OWAROVITE.thus named in honour of one Owarovit,President of the Imperial Academy ofScience atM

162 GEMS.Petersburg, to whom it was dedicated bythe scientificHess, who first studied it and gaveit a distinctplace.It isvery similar to the green garnet, but harder.It is found at Bissersk, in Siberia.LXXIV.TOUCHSTONE.TOUCHSTONE is a black, hard, rugged schist, of very fineclose texture.More than any other stone, it preservesmarks ofwhatever metals are rubbed over it; this propertygained it the name of touchstone, or stone by whichthe qualities of the different precious metals may betested.This mineral substance, also called Lydian stone, issomewhat attractedby the magnetic needle, and diffusesa clayey odour when bathed in warm water.It takes a good polish, and is not hurt by acids. Itsspecific gravity is 2'415.Although the touchstone is generally black,it isalso found of an extremely dark green. It does notemit sparks under the flint, and is perfectly fusiblewithout the addition of any other material, provided itbe exposed to an intense fire, and then it is convertedinto a black or greenish glass. It is somewhat harderthan horn stone properly so called-*it much resemblesbasalt, and when broken, its fragments are rhoniboidal.

PASTES. 163The touchstone came formerly from Asia Minor ;nowit is found in Bohemia, Silesia, and in Saxony.This stone may be considered as very useful in thearts, but not as a gem.Schistose silicates, jaspers, basalts, and black" breccie" can sometimes be used instead.Very ancient weapons have been found, made of thismaterial.LXXY.PASTES.IMITATIONS ofgems, of camei, and of engraved stones,as well as other ornaments made in glass, are, in Italy,always called paste. These imitations were also madeby the ancients. In the Tyrrhenian tombs and onEgyptian mummies, necklaces of margherite are found,made of coloured glass.Besides the margheriteand other feminine ornaments,the Tyrrhenians made vases, cups, and balsamari,all of which were made in two different manners;some have a foundation of terra-cotta covered with avitrification of generally-opaque colours; and theseare found in the most ancient tombs. Others are ofbright colours, transparent and opaque,in glass.Amulets, also,and altogethercups, balsamari, and globules of glass,often figured and interspersed with globules of goldfinely worked, are found in the Etruscan tombs, and

164,GEMS.bear witness to the high degreewhich this art hadreached amongst this people in Italy.The Etruscans, however, used glass to imitate engravedagates, which they set in seal rings.The Egyptians continued for many centuries thisTyrrhenian art, and sent out great quantities of terracottaornaments covered with a vitrification, which wascoloured either blue, greenish, or white. They areprincipally " margherite," little idols, amulets, andscarabaei of rough design and it is strange to remark;that some, of very similar design, have been found inthe Tyrrhenian tombs.In the days of Ptolemy theEgyptians made manyelegant pieces of work, with very thin small sticksvaried-coloured glass, cemented together by a softerglass, almost always blue, the whole so disposedofas torepresent a given design.The Greeks and Romans also cultivated this art.Pliny often laments the difficulty experienced in Eomeof discerning true, from imitation glass gems, and mentionsa sort of crystal "which was used in making cups(escaria vasa), another entirely dark red, called hcematinum,and others perfect imitations of agate, lapis-lazuli,and sapphires."* The Greco-Eomani fragments nowfound are of a thousand different kinds, and it would betedious to describe them ;modern glasses of Murano.some of them resemble theIn the third century, A.D., Egypt was already celebratedabove all countries for the manufacture of its* Nat. Hist, xxxvi. xxvi. 67.

PASTES. 165glass;and we know that Adrian sent to his friend Servian,as a memento of his sojourn there, two preciousglass cups (calicesallasontes versicolores),which hadbeen given him by the priest of the temple of Serapis,in Alexandria.*After the Antonines, the art of making glass continuedto flourish in Rome.This is proved by the sacred vasesfound in the catacombs, where, on white and transparentglass, we see figures and inscriptions in gold, allin the rough style of the period, i.e., from the fourth tothe eighth century. |The dark barbarism of mediaeval times makes anyresearch useless as to the arts in glass in the MiddleAges ; but the ornaments in engraved bronze, and inintaglio filled with enamel, also the stained glass insome sanctuaries, prove that it continued to thefifteenth century.At this period, the ancient tradition of this art havingperhaps been preserved in Rome and Venice, we findthat it already flourished there, engraved pastes beingmade there of every description, in imitation of gemsand glass.Of this we have proof in the laboratory ofMurano, where probably the identical method of theTyrrhenians was preserved.In 1691, the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France,established a great laboratory of paste intagli inthe Palais Royale at Paris, under the direction ofthe chemist Homberg.In this factory beautiful works* 'King, Antique Gems,' page 74.f Garucci, ' Vctri Omati.'

166 GEMS.were produced, which, from the originator, were calledOrleans pastes.The art of imitating gems was much improved inthe last century, by means of the discovery of newchemical components by a German named Strass, incompliment to whom all transparent glass, wroughtinto gems and used in imitation jewels, were calledStrass stones.Towards the end of the eighteenth century there werepublic and private workshops in Eome, where imitationcamei and glass intagli were made with such perfectionas to render it difficult, if not impossible, for the mostexpert to distinguish the false from the true agate.Goethe relates, that he found the art so highly appreciatedin Eome that strangers went there to practiseit as amateurs. At present, Cades and Paoletti are theremaining representativesart.there of excellence in theThe filograna glasses and Venetian enamels are preferredto all made in any part of Europe.LXXVI.PERIDOT.THIS silicate of magnesia, coloured with oxide of iron,is of a dull olive-green colour.Being found generally enclosed in basalts and vol-

PEEWOT.1G7canic sands, it acquired its name from the Greek TT/D

108 GEMS.Now it is not much, valued ; nevertheless, in Italy,England, and Germany,it is used.Notwithstanding its rather soft . nature, it was,and is often, engraved. A great number are foundin various tombs. In that belongingto the Orleansthere was a cameo in peridot representing Cato.Crozat saw one on which was engraved a sibyl.The Abbe Pulini had in his collection a head ofMedusa beautifully executed on a peridot, remarkablefor clearness and good colour.LXXY1LPEARL.UNDER this name is understood in jewellery a concretionof carbonate of lime, round or tubercular, containingsome organic substance.It has a light peculiar to itself, and therefore calledpearly.It is generally of a milky- white colour, but issometimes green, red, blue, and yellow.Its specific gravity is from 2 084; in consistencyit equals all other calcareous substances, and, underthe action of a diluted acid, it changes into a gelatinoussubstance, but only on the surface, the inner partsremaining intact. It is formed of various pellicles,one over the other, in a similar manner to the onion.The pearl isnot a gem, but simply the productionof a secretion of some bivalve shell.

PEARL. 169Different opinions are expressed by various authorsas to the formation of this product. Some insist that itothers, that it is a stone whichis an unfruitful ovum;covers a wound accidentally given by the animal toitself; others, lastly, suppose that the bivalve coverswith an animal secretion some small extraneous body,which may have entered its shell by chance, and thisit does perhaps that it may not be injured by its sharpedges.This opinion seems to us to be the most reasonable.We can assert as a fact that, when any pearl issawn in two, various strata are seen to succeed eachother, regularly, to the primitive nut which occupiesthe centre, and is of quite a different nature from thethin pearly layers.Feuchtwanger says that the Chinese string verysmall pearls on a thread, separating them with knots ;then they put them insidebivalves, which are takenat the suitable moment when they are open to enjoythe sun, placing them so that they do not touch theshell. They are afterwards put into the sea, but in anenclosed place,whence they are withdrawn aftermany years, when the pearls are found more or lessenlarged, according to the time passed, and withoutthose spots which in others are produced by adherenceto the shell.It is thought that if a microscopic body of any formwas put into a pearl oyster purposely, and that itcould remain without adhering to the shell,it wouldserve as a nut for a pearl,which would retain its formexternally.

170 GEMS.Bivalves in which pearls are found are of threekinds, and are called in scientific language meleagrinamargaritifera, haliotis gigas, haliotis iris.There is another pearl, but of inferior quality, procuredfrom a shell which is known to mariners underthe name of putellamola, or sea-ear.The most valued bivalve is the meleagrina margaritifera,otherwise known as the pearl oyster.Pearl oysters inhabit both eastern and western seas,but always in warm latitudes.Inferior bivalves and the pearliferous turbinite arefound in other seas, and in many rivers.Where the meleagrine are found collected in greatquantities they are distinguished by the name ofpearl banks. The most celebrated of these lie nearthe coasts of Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, near Japan, inthe waters of Java and Sumatra, near the Isthmus ofPanama, and at the mouths of the Eio la Hacha, inAmerica.The ear-shells and bivalves which live in rivers aretaken by hand ; but, on account of marine monsters,the fishing of meleagrine oysters is very dangerous, asthey adhere to the deep submarine rocks.In the East pearl fishers before going out receiveextreme unction from their priests; and, on reachingthe pearl bank, they murmur a prayer, throw themselvesinto the sea, rake up oysters as long as they canremain under water, and then rise up to deposit theirtake in the boats. After a little rest, they return totheir dangerous fishing.

PEARL. 171The daring Americans go toPanama to fish pearliferousbivalves in the depths of the ocean, rivallingeach other in vigour and dexterity.The quiet Swede, while seated in his boat, seeksthe meleagrine in the depths of his seas, and loosensthem from the rocks with solid and long pincers ofiron.The pearls which are brought by the fishers arecalled virgin pearls. The merchant classifies anddivides them according to form, colour, and quality ;puts the round ones together, pairs those in form of apear, takes away the irregular ones, which are called~barocche, or out of the round, and puts the smallestones aside.The round pearls are pierced and strung with asilken thread, and often with much art, to give abetter effect, whilst the equality of colour and of sizegreatly influence their price.A perfect pearl ought to be without inequalities ofsurface. "Whatever its form, pure, of a silvery whitecolour, slightly blue or yellow, without roughness, andrather bright.In such condition pearls weighing1 grain are worth 25 lire the pennyweight.2 693 150 .4 300and so on ;the value increases according to the size ;but when they weigh more than two pennyweightsthey obtain fancy prices.

172 GEMS.The barocche pearls are rather valued in Spain andin Poland. The smallest are sold by the ounce.There are some which, on account of the singularityof their form, have been compared todifferent objectsand figures.The goldsmith avails himself of this peculiarity bymaking art finish that which Nature has, so to say,merely sketched ; and, by means of the setting in gold,and the addition of other ornamental stones, brighterand better formed, making a desired figure. Cairesaw in one pearl almost the head of a dog ; in anotherthe golden fleece ;and in a third he thought he perceivedthe form of the famous torso of Belvidere.Amongst all feminine ornaments the pearl is thatwhich is the most becoming to youth. Unlike allother gems, it cannot be beautified byman, who, in trying to improve it, spoils it.the hand ofIt is falsely affirmed by some that the yellow tintthey acquire in the course of years by contact with theair can be counteracted, either by cooking them inbread, rubbing them with rice, boiled salad, or placingthem for a short time in the gastric juice of a fowlrecently killed.Italian jewels are often found set with pearls. Inthe New Testament they are mentioned. Twentycenturies ago they were used as ornaments in Greece.Theophrastus thought them equal to precious stones.Julius Caesar made a present to Servilia, mother ofBrutus, of a pearl which had cost him a sum equal toone million two hundred thousand lire.

1\EAEL. 173In one of Pompey's triumphs there were amongst thespoils of the conquered thirty-three crowns of pearl.Who has not heard of Cleopatra's pearls? She, thatwith oriental splendour she might spend on one supperan amount of wealth which could notbe calculated,took off the pearls she wore, and drank them in vinegar.So say the ancient authors, who would have us believethat pearls were dissolved into a gelatinous substance;but if this may be true of pearls infused in pure aceticacid, it is not possible if they are put into potable vinegar,where they only decompose if left a very long time ;whence this tradition must be considered fabulous.The Romans, in the time of the Empire, thought sohighly of pearls, that they reckoned them amongsttheir most precious articles to be transmitted legally totheir heirs.Often in the sales sub asta they bid against eachother for them, so much as to increase their price enormously.They possessed an inestimable quantity ofthese gems taken from subdued provinces, and, nevertheless,had not sufficient to satisfy their magnificent ideas.The commerce with Arabia increased this inordinateluxury. The interior of the Temple of Venus in Eomewas adorned with pearls, and the dress of the wealthywere ornamented with them all over, even to the shoes,"which made Pliny exclaim, with bitter irony, It isnot sufficient for them to wear pearls, but they musttrample and walk over them."*Alexander Severus in this respect* Nat. Hist. ix. xxxv. 53.showed com-

174 GEMS.mendable moderation ; for, having received a gift of twovery large pearls, he desired that his wife should neverwear them in public. After the fall of the KomanColossus the barbarian invaders adorned themselveswith pearls, and with them also ecclesiastical ornamentswere enriched.The Greeks of Byzantium made immoderate useof them ;and in this they were imitated by theinhabitants of the banks of the Danube, and by theTartar successors of Eurik.At the period of the revival of the arts, the discoveryof Columbus brought a great supply of them toEurope, whilst the East still continued to hold herown in great estimation.Eudolf II. of Austria exhibited a superb pearl, whichweighed 180 grains.Philip II. of Spain had a pear-shaped pearl of the sizeof a pigeon's egg, weighing 134 grains. It was valuedat 50,000 ducats, and was called ^eregrina^or the incomparable.However, they had not yet seen thatwhich Gougitas, a merchant of Calais, brought fromIndia to Philip IV., which was pear-shaped, andweighed 480 grains. It is said that this king askedthe merchant, " How did you venture to risk sucha fortune in acquiring so small an object ?" " Sire,"answered the other," because I knew there was a kingin Spain who would buy it."Leo X. bought a pearl for 80,000 crowns.Tavernier describes one belonging to the King ofPersia, which he states to have cost 1,600,000 lire.

FALSE PEARLS. 175Two Greek merchants at Moscow had one whichweighed 27-J carats.It is said that the King of Portugal has one as largeas a pear.In the votive crown dedicated by the Luke of Aostato the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and which wasmade by me, I put a pearl, which, similar to thatsold by Gougitas to Philip IV., King of Spain, weighsabout 480 grains. It is in the form of a pear, andhangs like a drop from the crown.LXXVIII.FALSE PEARLS.THE beauty of the pearl, which so much enhancesfemale loveliness, creates the desire for exact imitationsat much lower prices.Nevertheless, we do not know whether the ancientsmade false pearls or not.The French claim the invention of imitating pearlsfor one of their citizens, named Jacquin.We shall not dispute as to who is the author of thisinvention, but merely state that in Italy false pearlshave been made for some centuries past, and by amethod altogether different from that of the Paris beadmaker.It is said that Jacquin being one day at Passy,observed that those small fish which we call argentine,

176 GEMS.or silver fish, when washed in a sea-shell, left certainparticles, which seenied to silver the surface.Seeing that they much resembled the brightness ofthe pearl, he thought of applying them, mixed withmucilage, inside some small balls of glass. Havingsucceeded, he gave the strange name of essence of theEast to his production. The argentine is a verycommon, white little fish, which is found abundantlyin the rivers of Italy, France, and Germany. In orderto extract the essence of the East, they are washed,while tightly compressed, in a vase of very pure water.The result is a material of silvery colour which, whentaken from the water, dried and compressed, is againimmersed in another vase, and after a few days theliquid is decanted and the precipitate gathered withcare.Eighteen thousand argentine yieldfive hundredgrammes of essence of the East.In order to prevent the decomposition of this animalsubstance, they had recourse to various chemical expedients,which for a long time remained secretbut the inventors. Now, the most usual plan is to addammoniacal liquid or volatile alkali to the decantedto allmass.The pearls of France in glass, and those of Eome inwax, are both made of the essence of the East ; but theprocess adopted in Eome differs very much from theFrench method, and perhapsis connected witha tradition more ancient than the invention ofJacquin.

FALSE PEARLS. 177For here the beadmakers are accustomed tomakelittle globes of alabaster or Volterra chalk, which arethen covered with very white virgin wax ;over thisthey afterwards spread the essence of the East, mixedwith fish glue, by which means the extract of argentineremains fixed and bright on the round surface.The Venetian pearls are, instead, made of white glassfused into globules, within which they pour substancesof various colours by means of particular processes,which, coming to us directly from the only city thatpreserved the tradition of ancient art, are perhapsthose same which were used in the most remote antiquity.The Lemaire pearls are balls of glass covered with akind of varnish, composed of3 ounces of extract of pure argentine.Jvellum.1 white wax.1powdered alabaster.Many chemical compositions were proposed asBarbot advises the mixture ofsubstitutesfor these.1 ounce of bismuth,2 corrosive sublimate,pounded separately, mixed and distilled twice. Heasserts that this substance serves to imitate pearls, orto represent them in painting, with beautiful effect.

. 1178 GEMS.LXXIX.PYROXENUM.THIS name is given to certain substances found byHaiiy, scattered in lava and in rocks of igneous origin,to which he thought them quite foreign, whence thename of 7r9p, fire,and eyos, stranger.For a long time they were confounded with the amphibole,with which they have in common the form of thecrystal and its components, but in different proportions.That which distinguishes the pyroxenum from theamphibole completely is its inferior brightness, its vitreouslight, and, above all, its cleavage in three differentplanes parallel to the base.The colours of the pyroxenum are black, dark green,white, and grey.Its most common crystals are differentprisms with oblique axes ; they are, however, sometimesmet with in irregular octahedral prisms, more or lessmodified, and in pebbles either granular or of a densesubstance.All these crystals are generally small ;their specificgravity is from 3-1 to 3-4, and their very variable conformationyields on analysisSilex 48 to 52Chalk .. .. 13 to 24Alumina .. .. 3 to 5Magnesia.. .. 8 to 10Oxide of iron . . 1 2 to 14Oxide of manganese.to 2

PYEOXENUM. 179The basalt pyroxenum is of a better and brightergreen than that found in lava. It easily marks glassand is translucent ;it has unequal breakage and veryeasy cleavage.Those found on Etna are of a bright greenish black,having a concave though imperfect breakage.\Ve cannot declare to a certainty whether crystals ofpyroxenum existedprevious to volcanic eruptions, or ifthey crystallized afterwards, but the first hypothesisseems the most likely. Some black varieties of pyroxenumare known by the name of augite ; their dust isbrown, and they took this name on account of theirbrightness, from the Greek avy-rj, splendour.Certain green pyroxenum crystals from the Tyrol,more or less modified irregular octahedrons, receivedthe name of fassaiti, because they are found in thevalley of Fassa.The salilitepyroxenum, formed in crystals, is greenand variegated.The pyroxenum diopsido, much more rare, and foundin transparent crystalsof a grey-greenwhite, contains only lime, magnesia,and sometimesand a smallquantity of protoxide of iron ;the double refractionwhich its cleavage gives caused Haiiy to give it thename it bears of &uo, two, ot/as, sight, that is, doublemew, or mineral which has two distinct characters ;itbears the name of alalite on account of itsbeing foundcrystallized in the valley of Ala, near Turin ;it isdugup in lamina, in the valley of Mussa, in the sameprovince, and thence called mussite.

180 GEMS.The pyroxenum Jiederibergite,from the name of thechemist Hedenburg, is dark -green and almost black ;itonly contains protoxide of iron, to which there issometimes united a quantity of magnesia.Ingeneral, pyroxenum of every qualityis but littleused, although well adapted for jewellery, in makingornaments for mourning.LXXX.PISOLITE.THIS stone, which iscommonly called pisinella stone,differs from the oolite, to which it is related, in thelarger dimensions of the aggregated particles, which, init, are composed of concentric leaves.Like the oolite, it iscomposed of small spheresunited by a calcareous cement, and it is found ofdifferent colours reddish, brown, yellowish, andwhite.It looks well when cut and polished. It is found inthe alluvial deposits of the warm waters, rising atCarlsbad, in Bohemia, and at the baths of San Filippo,in Tuscany. Its name is derived from TTIO-OS, pease,, stone, on account of its most common colour.

PLASMA. 181%LXXXI.PLASMA.UNDER this name many people understand two differentstones, thinking that the ancients confounded themtogether and called them prasius.But I think that the prasina, or prasius of antiquity,isnot the stone which, with more propriety, we nowcall plasma ; moreover, it appears to me they ought tobe accurately distinguished.I shall speak here of the plasma, and afterwards ofthe prasina, showing how this is not a variety of theplasma, and the ancients did not confound them, as itis said, one with the other, but that they indicated theplasma by a different name from the prasius, andperhaps by that of molochites.The plasmais a semi-transparent agate, colouredgreen by some metallic oxide, probably copper ornickel; although often in the purest quality it approachesthe colour of a fine emerald, yet it neverpossesses its brightne-s, is never pure, but alwaysmarked with little black and yellow spots.Like the calcedony, it scratches glass deeply, and itsisspecific gravity from 2'58 to 2'66.In colour it is dark olive, resinous, and semi-transparent.The extreme fineness of its texture renders itsuitable for engraving.It is found in the East and in the Black Forest.As we do not know exactly what name the ancients

182 G-EM8.gave it we cannot know where they procured it, butfine pieces, both rough and worked, are often foundamongst the remains of Italian monuments.It appears 'that the plasma was only used ornamentallyduring the time of the Lower Roman Empire,as the subjects of the ancient intagli and the qualityof the execution bear witness. Contrary to my opinion,to which for the above mentioned reasons I firmlyadhere, Emmanuel assertsthat even the Greeks calledthis stone plasma, because its name was derived fromthe word TrA-aayxa, image; and Barbot, misled by thesame ambiguity, says that the plasma comes only fromIndia, and that in ancient times it was probablythence brought to wealthy Carthage, and from thereto Rome.LXXXII.PORPHYRY.ALTHOUGH porphyryis not a gem, we think it rightto make some mention of it, as we did of marble, asmuch for the purpose of following the example of thosewho have written on the subject of gems as becausemany works of art have been executed in that material -Porphyry is composed of a felspar rock called, scientifically,mixed l&ptinite, with crystals of ortosa andalbite. The different kinds are distinguished by theirground colour, in red, green, white, brown, or black.Their specific gravity varies, according to theiraggregated substance, from 2'69 to I'll.

PORPHYRY. 183The variety of porphyry most prized for its beauty,its urichangeableness, the beautiful polish it takes, forhardness and close texture, is that which was mostgenerally adopted by the ancients, and is called antiqueporphyry. This variety is inclined to red or purple,whence the generic name of this stone, from the GreekTropvpa, which signifies purple.Red porphyry, originally from Arabia, was subsequentlyfound in Sweden and Saxony,where it isprocured of a dark colour, and sometimes blackish,mixed with grains of white. Black porphyryis thatstone which the ancients called ophite,which is thesame as serpentine.The figured porphyry of Egypt, which must not beconfounded with the figured marble, is most valuedwhen it has numerous yellow marks on a white ground.That kind with a dark red groundis more common.The green porphyry of Siberia, also found in Alvernia.shows spots or whitish grains on a greenish ground.The green porphyry of antiquity is now very rare : itis known by its long white square marks, which arein the form of St. Andrew's cross.Italy, France, and some other countries in Europenow yield us porphyry, some of which rivals the ancientstones in hardness and beauty, but the greater partare very inferior to them. Italian porphyry, especially,is almost all very hard and scaly; the variety of alight green, on a very dark is green ground, so commonthat it is used in Turin to pave the streets.The Romans and Greeks prized highly and used

184 GEMS.largely red, green, and black porphyries, which theyprocured from Egypt and Arabia, and many of theirsarcophagi, statues, busts, and columns composed of thisstone, now adorn our museums.Antique porphyries were often of considerable dimensions,and in proof of this we see the obelisk of Sixtus V.and the splendid columns of the church of St. Sophia ofConstantinople.In the seventeenth century porphyry was still usedall over Italy.At present porphyries are found in various regionsof Europe, but, on account of their hardness, they areonly used in works of art, or for utensils, as mortars,palettes, and stones for grinding colours.In 1823 two Englishmen, named Burton and 'Uilkinson,discovered the great caverns which suppliedporphyry to the ancients, and which are situated in. agroup of mountains, about twenty-five miles from theRed Sea, and called Djebel Dokhan.LXXXIII.PRASE.PRASE is a diaphanous mineral, semi-transparent, andnot very hard, and on account of its colour is calledprase, or prasina, from the Greek Trpacrov, leek, becauseit isgreen as the leaves of the onion.

PEASE. 185It takes a polish which would be perfectif it wasnot resinous, and which it losesin the course of time.Its colour, quite different from that of the plasma,which is rather olive, is of a decidedly emerald green.Small and rare are the pieces of pure prase, as thisstone isalways mixed and marked with lime, and itsinternal crystallization is not homogeneous or perfect.When it presents the appearance of a regular crystalit takes the form of a prism or pyramid, having sixfaces of medium size ;its external surface isrough andnot very bright, but the breakage is scaly, concave, andof a vitreous light.The prase in block is often formed of pieces stucktogether, whose faces, somewhat rough, are obliquelylined.This mineral, which has a specific gravity of 2-67,yields on being analysedSilex 92-5Alumina .. .. .. 0*5Glucine .. .. .. 4' 5Magnesia . . . . . . 1 'Oxide of iron .. .. 0'5Oxide of nickel . . . . 1 'The ancients believed prase to be a kind of imperfectemerald, and besides the name of prasium, they alsocalled it smamgdoprasium ; but no one has left anexact description of it ;and Theophrastus, who succeededAristotle, made greater confusion by giving thename of smaragdus to every kind of green stone. This

186 G.EM8.confusion was perpetuated by rendering the Greco-Latino name of the stone common, and it was called,indifferently, prasma, plasma, or the matrix of the emerald.I have explained above which is the stone thatproperly claims the name of plasma ;that which I callprase (or prasina) is now acknowledged to be thematrix of the emerald : this can be proved by observinghow the pieces anciently used, of this substance,are identical with the prase which was taken from theemeraldiferous mines of America.Prase is still found in Saxony, Bohemia, Finland,Scotland, and Siberia.The brittleness of the prase prevents it being engraved.I have seenan immense number of ancient pierced" "margherite in prase, but I never saw any piecesengraved. I tried to cut some, but they broke underthe trial.LXXXIV.QUIRITINE.BY this name Ceselli denoted a mineral composed ofsilex, alumina, soda, lime, protoxide of iron, and tracesof magnesiait was found by him on Mount Lazuli in;1856.

RUBELLITE. 187LXXXV.RUBELLITE.THIS mineral, but little known,rubeus, which signifies red, and Ai#os, a stone.is so called fromIt is however called sibarite, because found chiefly inSiberia.The rubellite has all the properties of the tourmaline,and its colour varies from hyacinth to pink sometimes,;when shaded from the light, it seems blue.The rubellite is found in the United States ofAmerica as well as in Siberia. Feuchtwangcr speaksof one of these stones found there whose form is aperfect prism, dark red on one side, and dark greenon the other; it was found in 1850, and exhibited atNew York in 1853.Such stones are alsofound at Chesterfield, in Massachusetts.The Siberian rubellite cuts smooth and has often amilky- white iridized light. When transparent it isquite clear, acquires a beautiful polish, and may becalled rather a valuable gem.A rubellite, when pure and of a perfect colour, maybe worth as much as 7,000 lire.lyThose found in Maine are rare.It has been thought by some that the rubellite is the11 curium of the ancients, but their properties are notsimilar.We have rubellites which are certainly antique, butnone of them are found engraved.

188 GEMS.LXXXYLRUBY.BY this name, which comes from the appellative ofrubeus, on account of their colour, three gems areknown, very different in their constitution, but resemblingeach other in colour so as often to be confoundedtogether; they are the red corundum orOriental ruby, the red spinel, and the balais. Weshall treat of them separately.The gem most prized1. ORIENTAL RUBY.next to the diamond is theruby, or red corundum of the naturalists.The splendour of its tints, sometimes purely red, atother times violet, pink, or purple, makes it the mostbeautiful coloured gem in nature.The hardness of the Oriental ruby is immediatelysecond to that of the diamond, and it is superior tothat of the other corundums.It has double refraction, although not of a highdegree its light is vitreous it bears the ; ; strongestfire without losing colour or form, but by means of aspecial solvent it is transformed with difficulty into aclear glass.It is easily perceived from its crystalsthat it hasexperienced the action of fire, but, notwithstanding,they are capable of cleavage. Their form is not welldefined, generally oval and imperfect,but still octagonalor round, or flattened at one part.

RUBY. 189The specific gravity of the Oriental ruby, greaterthan that of all other gems, is from 8-900 to 4-2833.When analysed it yieldsAlumina .. .. .. 98 '5Oxide of iron . . . . 1Remainder .. .. 0'5When rubbed it becomes electric, and remains so fora considerable time.The best Oriental rubies come from China and India.They are found in the island of Ceylon, in the mountainsof Capelan, in Pegu, ten days' journey from Syrian,at Carnbaja, and at Lahore. Those from China areprocured in the mountains of the province of Ya-nan.The mines of Burmah, which produce the best, havebeen known for many centuries.Being a governmentmonopoly, they are rigorously guarded, and no Europeancan even see them. It is said that the king of thatcountry possesses some of the most beautiful, and henumbers amongst his titles that of Lord of the Rubies.When the superintendent in those mines sends noticeto the Court of the discovery of an extraordinary gem,the king orders an immense and sumptuous processionof soldiers, lords, and elephants to go and take it.The rubies of Ceylon, which are those most prized,are gathered on the shore of a river which flows toSittivacca.The red corundums of Australia, hitherto found,are of a bad quality. None have yet been found inAmerica.

190 GEMS.An Oriental ruby maybe considered fine whenneither too light nor too dark, but precisely of thatcolour which we call pigeon's blood.It is cut on a wheel covered with diamond dust.Emmanuel asserts that rubies of the finest colour, ofless than one carat in weight,are worth from 50 to200 lire the carat; that those weighing upwards offour carats have no determined price, and for the othershe gives the following table :1 carat from 350 to 500 lire.If 625 to 9002 1,750 to 2,0003 5,000 to 6,25^ .,4 10,000 to 11,500He adds, that pale, blackish, violet, and split rubiesare common, and of little value. Those which are redasterias are prized on account of their rarity.The ancients gave many names to this beautifulgem.Marbodio called it granaticus, from its colour beingsimilar to that of the pomegranate.Marbodius named itAntrax, which signifies burningcarbon, because of the vivid rays it emits when struckby the sun. In describing it, he asserts that a verysmall gem of this kind was sold for a sum equivalentto one thousand lire.Pliny describes them by the name of carbuncle, or" carbunculi a similitudine ignis appellati"Amongst the many varieties, he placescarbunculi

RUBY. 191acausti and apiroti " cum ipsi non sentiant ignes" whichproperties perfectly suit the red corundum.He, according to the ancient custom, divides themasculine, which is bright and resplendent, from thefeminine, which is pale and less bright : " Fcemincelanguidius refulgentes"It is said that preference is given to the Indianrubies, amongst which those are retained as bestwhich, from the extreme vivacity of red, incline toamethystine violet " :optimiores .... quorum exfremus igniculusin ametysti violam exeat." As these are the finestnow seen, they are denominated ametliyslizonti.In the second rank as to value, they place the" sirtiti pinnato fulgore radiantes" and give the nameof lifhyzonihi to the dark, pale, and discoloured Indianstones.We conclude that it is most difficult to distinguishthe different kind of carbuncles when set, as it is stillusual, at the present time, to modify the tint, by placingunder it a coloured substance, which can impart brightnessand beauty to a gem naturally pale 'and dull :" nee est aliud difficilius quam discernere Jicec genera,tanta est in eis occasio artis subditis per quce translucerecogantur"As in the case of other gems, the ancients used tomake even false rubies in red glass. King says, hesaw one beautifully engraved with ahead of Medusa,so well imitated that he could not at first declaiewhether it was gem or glass;even the flaws of animperfect gem were imitated in it ;and Pliny asserts

192 GEMS.that, in his time, carbuncles were made of glass so likethe real that it was only possible to know the differenceby the hardness.In some ancient jewels, as in Eastern ornaments,rubies are seen very roughly worked, but well poli>hedand pierced from side to side, with grave injury tothe beauty of the gem.In the Hertz collection there was a necklace composedof rubies and rough emeralds of excellent qualityand colour, and of the size of small beans, pierced andstrongly fastened together with a golden thread.I have never yet seen Oriental rubies engraved whichcould with certainty be called antique.I have tried 1manj-times to have some engraved, but,in spite of the best efforts of skilled artificers, theresults were but mediocre.Wherefore, Lessing, a scientific German, and theCount de Clarac, a French archa3ologian, having, asthe result of their long experience, declared as generallymodern all the intagli on corundums whichwere asserted by others to be antique, I adhere totheir authoritative opinion with regard to the Orientalruby.2. SPINEL RUBY.The spinel is an anhydrous aluminate, having a baseof magnesia, zinc, and iron, crystallized in regularoctahedrons differently modified, and sometimes intetrahedrons.In general, the planes of its crystal are more regular

RUBY. 193than those of the corundum, from which it differsin its composition only by having a lesser quantityof alumina.It has single refraction like the diamond. It marksquartz, but is marked by the corundum. It acquireselectricity by friction ;does not melt under the actionof the blow-pipe, and in contact with acids does notalter in the least.Its specific gravity is 3*7 ;its hardness, 7*56. It iscoloured by chromic acid.The spinel isalways found with the corundum,and it appears that both are produced by the samecause.The spinel is of various colours ;and in thatsection of the mirieralogical cabinet of the Eomanuniversity where the collection of the illustriousConte Lavinio Spada Medici is arranged above fiftydifferent kinds of spinelle, belonging to this eminentcultivator of mineralogical science, are to be seen ;there are some perfectly white and clear, reddish-white,pale rose, and passing through alltillthey reach blackish-red.shades of wine-redThey are found in violet of every gradation of tint.In Greenland and at Vesuvius they are found ofamethyst colour. At Aker, in Sweden, as also atStraskan, in Moravia, are found spinels of a blue colour,but not transparent.The ferriferous spinel, Cingalese, or black spinel,a variety which isvery small, bright, and black, isfound in the lava of the Somma, in the lands of Valo

194: GEMS.di Fassa, in the Tyrol, in Bohemia, in the island ofCeylon, and in many parts of South America ;and arecalled pleonasto, from the Greek, which means veryabundant.The zinciferous spinel, also called automalite orgahnite, is an alumina of greenish or greyish zinc,generally opaque. Up to the present time it has onlybeen found in Switzerland, and near the city of Franklin,in South America.White spinel is procured from Mount Laziali.Berzelins asserts that when the spinel is heated,it first takes a dark tint, then becomes black, afterwardsopaque, but on cooling itchangescolour and.becomes of a limpid green, from which it graduallyreturns to its natural colour.The finest of the spinels is that which bears theadditional name of ruby, because red ;it is like theOriental ruby, although itslively tint tends a little 'toyellow, yet not so much as the jacinth and garnet.Its chemical composition isAlumina .. .. 69-01Magnesia.. .. 26-21Protoxide of iron .. 0*71Oxide of chrome .. 1 10Silex 2-02The other varieties differcomponent parts ;substances.in the proportion of theirand in some by the mixture of otherMany spinel rubies are fraudulently sold as Oriental

'ItUBY. 193rubies, but the deceit is easily discovered by the differinghardness and the specific gravity.We do not know the name by which the ancientsindicated the different varieties of spinel ; only, inmy opinion, it may be asserted that the red or rubyspinel was described by Pliny under the name ofalabandic carbuncle, carbunculus alabandicus, because, inspeaking of carbuncles in general, he affirms," Alabandicoscseteris nigriores esse ;" that is, to have a darkercolour, and this is the case with the spinel ruby. Itis saidto be procured in Ortosia, and cut in Alabanda,whence the name given to them.3. BALAIS RUBY.By balais is meant a ruby of a lighter colour thanthe spinel, rather tending to pink, and whose specificgravity is never more than 3*446. It is even less hardthan the spinel ruby, and contains a greater quantityof magnesia.The balais is more easily scratched by the emeraldthan the emerald isby the rock-crystal. It will takea beautiful polish, but only as the result of muchpatience, and the use of a special chemical composition.on the wheel when being worked. Caire is convincedthat in India they have, for this purpose, a secretspecific, as balais are brought thence scarcely out ofthe original form, yet having a beautiful artificiallight.Neither balais nor spinels have ever been seenhaving the qualities of the asteria.

196 GEMS.The balais is often found in large crystals ;and ifthat is true which we read in the history of the Grecianempire in the dark ages, there were seen some of enormousdimensions ;and one of the Cantacuzeni, emperorof Constantinople, had giventen balais rubies,weighing each eight ounces, to the Venetians, in theyear 1343.Pliny says that, amongst burning stones, the chalcedonyand lichnite alone were found large enough topermit of their being made into cups; and in describingthe lichnite he thus expresses himself : "Of the samespecies is the lichnite, so called because it shinesbrightly by lamp-light. It is procured in the neighbourhoodof Ortosia, and all over Caria and its vicinity;but the most beautiful comes from India, and it issaid by some to be a carbuncle of minor brightness.When warmed in the sun, or rubbed between thefingers, it attracts straws."From this description, Kingconcludes that thelichnite is an Oriental ruby ; and in confirmation ofhis opinion, he repeats a passage of Solinus, who saysthe lichnite is thus called because it shines much bylamp-light, is transparent, very bright, attracts strawswhen warmed in the sun, or rubbed ;is not easily cut,and is of no use for seals, as it repels wax as if bittenby it :velut quodam animalis morsu.However, it seems to me that this description, andalso that of Pliny, agree in general more with the balaisthan with the corundum.It is true that the balais and spinel can be very

RUBY. 197well engraved by the tool, but how could this havebeen done by the ancients? Besides, did they everfind clear corundums of sufficient size to make cups?" Potoria vasa ct ex hoc lapide et ex licknite factitatainvenio."Therefore, I believe the lichnite to be rather ourbalais than the Oriental ruby.In the dark ages this name was given itthroughthe Greek rendering of Balassus, or Palassus, because itwas supposed to be the bark or house in which thetrue ruby resided; and Andrea Braccio says, explicitly,that " The name of balais comes from the word palatium,because it is supposed to be the matrix or palace inwhich the rubyis found."Emmanuel believes, on the contrary, that this namehad its origin from the provinceof Asia now calledBeloochistan, and anciently Badakschan or Balaschan.Emmanuel makes the same observation as SebaldoSavio " : Nomen ejus belashsch diciturque a Teifaschioadduci ex BalashcJiane, quam regionem barbari Badachschanvacant, cstque secundum eum pars terra? Turcarum quce adTartarmm vergit." And he goes on to assert that evenat the present day this gem is called Badakschiani, inPersia.A Persian tradition holds that the balais remainedunknown until the occurrence of an earthquake,which, by dividing the mountain in which it hadbeen concealed, discovered and oifered it to humanrapacity.Marco Polo, in the description of his voyages, tells

198 GEMS.us that this gem is found principallymountains called SheJcinim.in certainOne of the finest balais known was in possession ofthe King of Oude. On it was engravedthe name ofone Julal-u-din, and from this it took the name atcourt of Lal-i-ja 1 adi.It was the size of a walnut, andvery brilliant.In the middle ages it was thought that the balaisand the red corundum had certain occult and supernaturalvirtues. Eliano relates how a stork, havingbroken a leg, was cured by an old woman namedEraclide; he afterwards flew away, and returning,placed in her bosom a very fine balais which he carriedin his bill, and gave to her as a token of gratitude.The balais is easily cut on the wheel, as already remarked;and I have seen many of them engraved, butnone that I could, with certainty, say were of antiqueworkmanship.LXXXVII.SARD.SARD is that stone which is generally called sardonica,to distinguish it from sard-onyx,speak presently.The sard, then, calling itof which we shallby the name bestowed onitby the Eomans, is an agate- quartz of a dark colour,between red and yellow.Consisting of the same components as the carnelian,it only differs from it in colour and fineness of texture.

SARD. 199Its specific gravity is equal to 2-603.When looked at against the light it is transparent,and appears more yellow than red; otherwise, itscolour is more that of dark marone. Nevertheless, itis found of varied tints, from blackish-red to lightchesnut.The beauty of the sard asused for engraving consistsin the purity and evenness of colour, when lookedat through the light.When a sard is very hard,it takes the name ofOriental sard, in accordance with the term applied to themost precious stones.This agateisbrought from India, Arabia, Egypt andArmenia.Bohemia and Silesia also yield us sards, but theyare much inferior. Engravers despise them on accountof their smoke-coloured tint, sprinkled with bluishspots.In substance the sard appears to resemble the plasmavery much, excepting in the colour.Scipio Africanus is the first of whom it is related thathe continually wore a sard ring on his finger: thisis told us by Demostrato.The origin of its name is disputed. Pliny believesit to be that this stone was originally found nearSardis, chief city of Lydia. He says, however, thatverybeautiful sards are found on the mountains ofMaranai, near Babylon, and on the confines of Egypt.Others think that this name is derived from Sardinia ;but Cesio and St. Epiphaniusmaintain that it is

200 GEMS.called sard on account of its colour, which much resemblesthat of the flesh which adheres to the backboneof the dried and salted sardine.The sard was, and is, much used in works of art, orin engravings. The most celebrated engravers preferthe quality called $andy, which is of a beautiful colour,but sprinkled with small opaque spots of a darkershade. At the present dayit has become precious fromits rarity.The most beautiful intagli known on sard are, Marsand Venus surprised by the gods, a group of nine figures,attributed to Yincenzo Belli, of Vicenza, and whichbelonged to the Orleans collection ;and the nuptialsof Cupid and Psyche, cut by Trifone, and mentioned byStosch, who saw this engraved gem in London.LXXXYIII.SAKD-AGATE.Tins isa sard which has an upper stratum of whiteagate, and is perfectly similar to the onyx in appearance.Caire and other authors thought they could substitutefor the ancient name that of agate carnelian ;butit does not exactly express the nature of the stone, andtherefore the other remains.The finest specimens have one stratum in sard andthe other in white agate. The scarceness of the bestkind makes them valuable.

SARDONYX. 201In this well-known stonethere is a cameo belongingto the Genevosio collection, of Turin, which representsthe Medicean Venus ;it is as largeas the stonesgenerally worn in rings, and the artist had the clevernessto cut it on the reverse side ; thus, on the whitecrystalline ground of the agate, he has admirablyraised the form of the goddess of Love, in sard, whichfrom its colour has a very beautiful effect.LXXXIX.SARDONYX.THE ancients called this stone sar da-onyx. In thisbeautiful quartz are found, mixed in strata, the substancesof the sard properly so called, and of some, ormany kinds of agate ; that is to say, of the chalcedony,jasper, carnelian, and such like; from this arises anenormous variety of colours, which, being mostlyarranged in zones or regular lines, allow the artistto make the finest and most valued camei in sardonyx.One of these stones, even without being cut, may beworth as much as two thousand lire, a price to whichneither the sard or sard-agate ever reaches ;it differsfrom this last by the multiplicity of strata,or, when ithas but two, by the opacity of the upper one.The most remarkable cameo now existing in sardonyxis in the Vienna cabinet ;it is attributed to Dioscoride.

202 GEMS.Although composed of but two strata, of which the onethat forms the ground is of the finest sard, while theother, which is the relievo, is chalcedony, it may be saidto be, if not the finest, at least amongst the most rare ofthe true antiques which have great artistic merit.It is187m. long and 0-217 wide. It belonged to Philipthe Fair, King of France, who gaveit as a gift to themonastery of Poissy, whence it was stolen, during thereligious wars that devastated France in the last century,and taken to Germany ; Eodolph II. there purchasedit for the sum of 12,000 gold ducats, and placedit in the imperial cabinet.It represents, with twentyfigures, the apotheosis of the Emperor Augustus.xc.EMERALD.THIS is a splendid and transparent gem, of a greencolour, from the lightest to the darkest shade.It appears that its name has the same root in manylanguages; as in Arab it is zamarut; in Chaldaic, ismaragdon; in Greek, smaragdos ; in Latin, smaragdus ; inSpanish, esmeraldo ; and in French, emeraude.It is said to be derived from the Sanscrit smarakato,which means green ;or from the Greek word d/^apuo-crw,to shine or lighten.The emerald, like other gems, is divided into Orientaland Western. The most rare Oriental emerald is nothingbut a clear green corundum.

EMERALD. 203This variety of corundum is very remarkable in beingsofter than the red and blue stones, and it would seemthat the glucine which enters into its composition isthe cause.Itcrystallizes in regular prisms having six faces, besideswhich may be seen various truncations ;its cleavageis straight and quadruple, which property makes iteasily distinguishable from other emeralds which haveno cleavage. All Oriental emeralds have not the samedegree of hardness ;their specific gravity, althoughitmay differ from that of other corundums, yet in thehardest varieties often amounts to 3-01.The perfect corundum is of an herbaceous green,more or less dark, which by its silken light reposesand renews the sight. When analysed, it generallyyieldsSilex 64-05Alumina .. .. 15 '00Glucine 13-00Oxide of chrome . . 8*25Lime 1-06Water 2-00Sometimes it givesin the residue a little oxide ofiron. There were caverns of it in the island ofCeylon, at a place called Matoiila, but now they seemexhausted; even there they were seldom found inlarge crystals.This gem, when perfect and weighing more thantwo carats, is as valuable as the diamond.

204 GEMS.Between the emerald corundum and the Westernemerald of fine quality there is the same difference asbetween the perfect red corundum and the perfectspinel.The Western emerald is a silicate of alumina, almostidentical in its composition with the "beryl or aquamarine.It is the least hard amongst gems,breaks easily.and thereforeIt crystallizes in truncated hexagonal prisms attwo extremities ; its crystalsthelie between the compositerocks and argillaceous schists, and also in theaccidental cavities which occur in granite blocks.Sometimes it is found united with crystals of quartz,mica, and felspar. It is, moreover, procured from sulphurettediron, in carbonate of lime, and in sulphurettedlime.This emerald has a vitreous and seldom aresinouslight. It is soft when just taken from the mine, buthardens in the open air.Its specific gravity is between 2'73 and 2-76. Itshardness between 7 '05 and 8. It yields a whitepowder. It becomes electric by friction. It meltsunder the action of the blow-pipe, forming a limpidvesiculated glass of the consistency of borax. Whencalcined and still hot, if thrown into water, it breaksinto fragments of various colours.It gives, on analysis,

EMERALD. 205Silex 68-50Alumina .. .. 15 '75Glucine .. .. .. 12 '50Protoxide of iron . . 1 00Earth 0-25Oxide of chrome .. 30Magnesia.. .. Traces.Soda .. .. .. Traces.It is not corroded by acids, but issoluble in salts ofphosphorus. It is found in micaceous schists at Salzburg,in the mountains of Sahara, in the argillaceousearths of Peru and of Siberia, at Henbachthal, in Germany,at the height of 8,700 feet above the level of thesea.The Western emerald is now procured principallyfrom America, where the mines of Muzo, in Xew Granada,are celebrated.Emeralds of very good quality are dug up at Odontchelong,in Siberia, and at Ava, in India.This gem has often imperfections and flaws insidewhich quite deprive it of its lustre ;there are some,too, very opaque.It has been thought that the greenemerald is derived from oxide of chrome ;colour of thebut Levy, inthe analysis, perceiving such a small quantity ofchromic acid, formed theopinion that it was producedby some organic substance, which he imagined was acarburet of hydrogen similar to the chlorophyll whichcolours the leaves of plants.

206 GEMS.A great number of emeralds areseen in the preciousornaments of every age, as often in their natural crystallineforms, simply pierced, as cut in different shapes.But under the name of smaragdus, all green stonesaregenerally understood ;and so, the emerald, jade, jasper,malachite, plasma and prasina were confused together,and about twelve varieties of smaragdus were thusdescribed.Theophrastus, in describing the emerald, distinguishesit, nevertheless, from jasper and from otherstones of minor value." The emerald " (he says) " possessessome particular virtues it ; imparts its colour towater when dipped in it.It also rests the eyes."After him, Pliny wrote " : The third place is givento emeralds, for many reasons. There is no colour whichgives more pleasure to the sight than this ;for we viewleaves and grass with delight, but emeralds with somuch more, as nothing, however green, can be comparedwith them in intensity of colour. Besides this,they are the only gems that fill the eye, withoutfatiguing it ; and, moreover, when the sight is wearied,the emerald restores and relieves it; and for gemengraversno other means of refreshing the eyeagreeable as its beautiful greenScythiais socolour. Those ofare the best none are harder or with lessdefect (nullis major austeritas aut minus vitii).And inthe same proportion that emeralds differ from othergems, the Scythian differ from other emeralds. . . .After the Scythian, come those from Bactriana. TheEgyptian stones hold the third rank, and are found at

EMERALD. 207Coptos, a city of the Thebai'd. Other kinds are foundin copper mines."After all that has been said, it appearsto me that weshould not hold as truth the statements of many oldauthors, and among them Taveinier, who assert thatthe ancients had no knowledge of the emerald, and thatit was firstbrought by the Spaniards from Ameiica toAsia and Europe, in times not very remote from ours.The Greeks and Eomans then had their preciousemeralds from India, Bactriana and Eg}Tpt.In Upper Egypt there is a chain of mountains, notfarfrom the city of Asna, where there are some placesstill called the mines of emerald. By order of theViceroy, the French traveller Cailloud explored thoseplaces and found there some old mines there were;houses and tools abandoned, in all probability, in thesecond century A.D. Wilkinson afterwards discoveredextensive caverns, also, on Mount Zahara, and therepicked up emeralds similar to the ancient Greek andKornan gems, that is, inferior to those from Americaand India.The emerald continued to be used in precious ornamentseven in the darkest times of barbarism.The iron crown which Theolinda gave in the sixthcentury to the cathedral of Mouza had many emeraldsmixed with its rubies and sapphires. There were somein the crown of Agilulfo, restored by the celebiatedAnguillotto Braccioforte in the fourteenth century, andtherefore many years before the birth of Columbus.There were emeralds in the cross of Lothairius, a

208 GEMS.work of the ninth century, and in the celebrated crownof St. Stephen of Hungary, made in the tenth.There was a veryfine emerald in the tiara ofJulius II., who died in 1513, thirty-two years beforethe discovery of Peru. And, finally, Benvenuto Cellini,when speaking of the antique gems which he boughtfrom the country-people of Eome, describes an emeraldwith an engraving, said to be antique, representing thehead of a horse.The discovery of America really furnished allEuropewith a great quantity of those gems which of all theWestern stones are the most beautiful.When Pizarro conquered Peru, he went as far as Calcamalca,a considerable city, whose chief offered himmany gold and silver vases, with a quantity of largeemeralds, which had probably been obtained from themines of Warta. But this did not satisfy the cupidityof the invaders, who forcibly took the treasureswhich for ages had been accumulating in the principaltemple of that empire. Amongst the rest, they got agreat number of these gems, as the priests persuadedthe people that the goddess Esmeralda, to whom thetemple was dedicated, dwelt in an emerald the size ofan ostrich egg, and that no offering was more acceptableto her than these stones.The price of emeralds isvery variable, depending onthe size, colour and clearness.A very pure and perfect Oriental emerald, of sixcarats, may be worth 10,000 lire ;and there are someof more than fifty carats, which are not worth more

EMERALD. 209than 10 lire the carat. It is believed that in the treasuryof Loreto there is still a quantityof emeraldcrystals, which being naturally united together, are ofthe size of a human head.They were dedicated thereto the Virgin, by the miners of Peru, represented bythe Marquis of A'ragon, then ambassador from Spain toRome.It is said that in the imperial treasury of Viennathere is an emerald which weighs 2,205 carats and isvalued at 300,000 gold crowns. In a work entitled*Memoires du Regne de Catherine II.,' it is assertedthat there is an emerald belonging to the Russiancrown as large as a hen's egg. The finest emeraldknown is in the imperial cabinet of St. Petersburg ;itweighs 30 carats ;its colour and clearness areperfect.I saw, with the Count Lavinio Spada, a naturalemerald which came from Peru ;it was of a beautifulcolour, and was ten centimetres longwide.and about fiveIt is said that Dhuleep Singh has a very perfectemerald about five centimetres long, three in width,and two in height.The Duke of Devonshire has one which weighs nineounces.Beautiful engravings on emerald are made, notwithstandingthe fragility of the material. Ismenia, anancient Italian musician, is said to have ha'd one representingAmimone, daughter of Diana ; Gorlee, of Antwerp,published the illustration of a large oval emerald

210 GEMS.on which is represented, with three figures,the soulcarried away by pleasures.The ancients dedicated this,gem to Mercury, andbelieved that it had the peculiar virtue of preservingthe sight if worn in a ring, of alleviating the painsof parturition, and of being an infallible talisman forpreserving chastity.AVhen reduced to powder, six grainsof it wereswallowed as a noble remedy for various maladies.According to Ebelman, Western emeralds could bemanufactured by melting a mixture ofSilex 7-00Alumina .. .. 1*60Glucine 1-40Boracic acid, fused .. 4 '06Oxide of chrome .. 10From this results a green crystal, having a specificgravity of 2*73 to 2-77, which can be marked by anEnglish file, but deeply marks common white crystaland the softer kinds of quartz.XCI.EMERY.MINERAL substance whose name is derived froma wo'rd by which the Greeks meant the stoneused by lapidaries in cutting gems..It is divided, like those, into Oriental and Western.

EMEEY. 211Oriental emery is nothing but granular corundum,that is, an aluminate whose specific gravity is 4, andwhich, when analysed, yieldsAlumina .. .. ..86Silex 3Iron .. .. .. 4Waste 7By some it is called adamantine spar, and is found inChina, Bengal, and Ceylon in large octahedrons, which,under a given angle of luminous rays, reflect bluishlight, but are generally opaque.The best comes from China, and contains moreoxidized iron than that from Bengal. When pulverised,it scratches some gems, but not the diamond.The Western granular corundum, or Western emery,is rarely found in crystals ; it is more frequentlydisseminated in grains, like sand.Although excessively hard,it is less so than theOriental. Its colour is black grey, reddish grey, orbluish grey.It is seldom transparent, yet some of itsvery fine particles shine brightly.The Western emery, which must not be confoundedwith the granite, magnetic iron, and the compact redhematite, is found in Italy, Germany, and Spain, atSmyrna, in the island of Xasso, at Jersey and Guernsey.That kind which is found in Saxony lies between thestrata of mica and steatite. It is united with a greatquantity of iron, from which cause it is often attractedby the magnetic needle.

212 GEMS.Emery is most useful in all arts connected withglass, stone, and metal work. It can be reduced intoexceedingly fine powder, and when used it is firstmelted in water, oil, diluted sulphuric acid, or invinegar. It is often used spread and glued over astrong, stiff card-paper. It is impossible to judge atfirst sight the quality of an emery. Certain kindswould not do to work stones of medium hardness, beingtoo large in grain. It is remarkable that these areuseful in cutting harder stones, and this happens becausethe grains are then crushed by the hardness ofthe stone, and reduced to the finest powder.XCII.SPUMA-MARINA.HYDRO-SILICATE of magnesia found in nodules, invarious countries, and bearing the above name, fromthe German word meerschaum, which signifies froth ofthe sea, because the German labourers who gather itin the Baltic provinces believed that it was producedby the waters of the ocean.XCIII.STALACTITE.THIS name is giyen to certain calcareous sparsform of cones, pillars, and columns.in th

STALACTITE. '213They have a fibrous breakage ; are translucent, of awhite or yellowish-white colour, and a smooth ortubercular surface.When water loaded with calcareous matter filtersin a cavern, the first drops that dripfrom the roofleave, after evaporation, a small ring of solid substance,which, by the successive addition of fresh drops,increases in size, while gradually forming a kind ofjutting cylinder. Each following drop depositing onthe sides of the littlecylinder additional solid matter,increases itby degrees, and especially on the upperpart, where the drops remain longer, and thus it takesthe form of a reversed cone.The watery part which falls from the stalactite onthe ground is not totally deprived of calcareous substances,and therefore is not entirely absorbed, butleavesa deposit which rises in the form of an uprightcone, and is called stalagmite. Thus the two cmes,always increasing in the same line, frequently jointogether and form columns, which seem placed therefor the support of the roof.If the water, impregnated with calcareous substances,glides slowly over the walls of a grotto,it leavesdeposits arranged in festoons or disposed in drapery ofmost varied form, and these are distinguished from'other stalactites by the name of drapery configurations.'and these festoons, are seenStalactites, stalagmites,in many caverns and natural grottoes both in the oldand new world. The most celebrated are those of Antiparos,of Collepardo, of Bauman, and of Monsummano.

214 GEMS.The substance composing stalactites is worked likealabaster, and made into vases, cups, and other littlearticles.XCIV.TOURMALINE.A GEM remarkable amongstall others on account ofits electric qualities.Tourmaline is often found amongst antique jewellery,but we do not know what name the ancientsgave tothis stone, of which no description remains relative toits physical properties. Equally ignorant are we as tothe etymology of its name, which, nevertheless, seemsto have come to us from India.In 1717 some German travellers found it at Cey'onand broughtit to Europe, calling it ascentrekker, becauseit especially attracted or repelled ashes.In 1758 an Italian, the Duke of Najo Caraffa, procuredtwo in Amsterdam, which he presented to thecelebrated Buffon, who was the first to give a scientificdescription of them.Then they received the name of electric sciorlo, fromthe German sciorl, derived from Shorlaw, a Saxonvillage, in whose environs it was abundantly found.But the term sciorlo is now only applied to the blackkind, the others being called touimaline.Tourmaline is found crystallized in pebbles ofdifferent forms. The crystals are rhomboidal, and

TOPAZ. 215sometimes very large. It isunequally opaque andsemi-transparent. It has vitreous light, and is of allcolours of the prism in all their gradations. It cutsquartz, but is cut by the topaz. It gives a whitepowder. Its breakage is concave and imperfect.Its specific gravity is from 2 99 ! to 3*33. It hasdouble refraction and great power in polarizing light,which power increases when it is heated. Under theaction of the blow-pip'e it swells without melting,while its thin extremities vitrify.United with borax,it easily reduces into a clear and vitreous substance.Tourmaline cut into plates is used in the polaroscopeto ascertain the optical propertiesThe analyses made of this gem are manyof other substances.and complicated,and amongst these the following is the mostsimple ; it is of the red tourmaline :Silex 43Alumina .. .. ..47Soda 10Tourmaline is found of all colours, and many ofthem have a great resemblance to the more preciousstones, such as the ruby, emerald, and similar.XCY.TOPAZ.THE topaz,like other gems, is divided into two kinds,viz., the Oriental and Western.

216 GEMS.The Oriental topaz is a clear,coloured corundum, ofa very bright golden-yellow colour, having a specificgravity of 4. It has double refraction, although ina small degree. It is found in crystals, which aregenerally round, like those of other corundums, butsometimes it shows its primitive form, which is aquadrangular prism.Its hardness equals that of other corundums. It isfound atIndia.Peru, Ceylon, and in various other parts ofWith respect to value, it never equals the ruby,sapphire, and emerald. Sometimes it contains littlegrains which shine like those of the aventurine, butthese rather diminish than increase its value.There is a beautiful topaz in the mineralogical cabinetof Paris 0'023 metres long, and O014 metres wide.The Western topaz is divided into four differentkinds, viz., Brazilian, Saxon, Mexican, and Siberian.The Brazilian topaz, which is now most valued nextto the Oriental, is generally of a fine, clear deep yellow ;it has such a particular appearance that it is easilyrecognizable.One of its physical qualities, by which its naturemay even better be determined is, that when somewhatheated it acquires electricity, which it preserves sometimesfor thirty hours.It cuts rock crystal deeply, and its specific weightis 3-52. The most extraordinary of its peculiarities isthatof changing colour from yellow to a pink shadewhen warmed to a certain temperature.This discovery

TOPAZ. 217was made by Damelle in 1750. The rough topaz ofBrazil is worth from two to one hundred lirethe kilogramme,according to colour and purity.The Saxony topaz is generally of a pale yellow ;somehave considerable brightness, but these are rare. Itchanges colour when warmed, then becomes white, butwhen again cool it resumes its first tint. It is found atSchnaknistein, in the valley of Daneberg. It has novalue unless it be very large and very beautiful. TheMexican topaz, which in the two last centuries wascalled Indian topaz, is almost the same as that of Saxony,onlyit is more varied in its tints.There is a fine, very clear Siberian topaz, in coloursimilar to the yellow of the jonquil. Those which areof the aquamarine colour, and are very common,ought not, according to the general opinion, to bereckoned amongst topazes. These various kinds, whenanalysed, gaveBrazilian. Saxony. Siberia.Alumina .. 58 -38 57*45 59Silex .. .. 34-01 34-24 35Fluoric acid .. 7-79 7-54 5We have already observed that the stone calledtopaz by the ancients is not the topaz of modern times.But if we clearly explained, that to them the chrysolituswas what is now the modern topaz, we did notdeclare that our chrysolite and the peridot were theirtopaz.Pliny says," In our days the green kind of topaz

218 GEMS.(in suo virenti genere) is greatly prized. . . since it isalways compared to the juice of the leek . . . and itis one of the noble stones which bears the file." *It is said that its name is derived from topazein,which word, according to him, signifies, in the Troglodytetongue, to seek " "; because " (he continues) Jubawrites that Topazos is an island of the Eed Sea, which,being surrounded by fogs, often requires to be sought outby navigators, whence its name."fWe receive it then as a fact that the descriptionshanded down to us from the ancients of the stone calledtopaz by them refer to the modern chrysolite; andall they say of the chrysolite, or golden stone, concernsthe modern topaz. I have never seen an intaglio onthis stone which could with certainty be called antique.In fact, the topaz, on which isengraved an IndianBacchus, which came from the Vatican and is preservedin Paris, seems, from the description given of itbyBarbot, to have been cut in the seventeenth century.They have also on other topazesthe likeness ofPhilip II. and of Don Carlos, the work of Giacomo daTrezzo, who lived in the sixteenth century. Caire hadan Oriental topaz pierced which weighed twenty-ninecarats, and on which was cut in Arab letters the littleverse, " God alone will finish it."This was probablyone of the amulets called by the Arabs gri-gri.* See ' Chrysolite,' page 7.t * Nat. Hist.' xxxvn. viii. 32.

TRIPOLI. 210XCYI.TRIPOLI.THIS mineral substance is not a gem, although necessaryto the working of gems ; and therefore all treatiseswhich have mentioned it, have spoken very briefly of it.ByThe name which we give to itthe ancients it was called stone of Samos.now comes from thecity of Tripoli, whence it was procured before beingfound in Europe.It is used principally in giving the last polish toprecious stones, and it is useful besides to engravers,opticians, workers in precious metals, gun-makers, andvarnishers.It appears that tripoli is a schist or a clay. It isfound more or less calcined, and mixed with otherschists and clay. On this account it has differentdegrees of hardness.Analysed by Hasse, it gaveSilex 90Alumina .. .. .. 7Iron 3comes in commerce in small pieces.Barbary tripoliThat from Polinier, a country near Pompean, and fourleagues from Eennes, in France, is harder, and thereforemore in request by the polishers of precious stones.The white kind is preferred, because it is seldomgranular.

220 GEMS.In France it is found in a cavern near Menat, inAlvernia. Bomare says that there the banks of thissubstance are arranged from east to west, and coveredwith 3,898 metres of earth. He adds that tripoli foundthere is rather soft, but hardens by contact withthe air.XCYII.TURQUOISE.THK Venetians, who were the first to bring this geminto Europe from Turkey, called it turchesa, and afterwardsturquina. Turquoiseis of three kinds, viz.,aluminous Oriental turquoise, fossil or osseous Orientalturquoise, and Western turquoise.The aluminous Oriental turquoise is found in thealluvial lands of India and Persia inglobules disposedin lines, or in small fragments. It is of a beautifulsky blue colour, sometime's slightly spotted with green.It is less hard than quartz, but scratches glass, andyields to a good steel file. Notwithstanding itsopacity, it takes a beautiful polish.It is insoluble in azotic acid ;and thus it is easilydistinguishable from the other kinds. Its specificweightis 3-127. On analysis it givesAlumina .. .. .. 73Oxide of copper.. .. 4' 5Oxide of iron . . . . 4Water 18

TURQUOISE. 221Fine turquoises of this kind are of a most charminglight blue colour, clear and even, at least on one side.Itisvery rare in large pieces, and therefore of high price.The Oriental fossil turquoise is an osseous animalsubstance, coloured by oxides of iron and copper, petrifiedby calcareous nitration*.This turquoise is of a blue colour slightly tending togreen, and having a smooth surface. It scratchescrystal weakly, and resists acids almost like thealuminous species.On analysis it yieldsPhosphate of lime . . . . 80Carbonate of lime .. .. 8Phosphate of iron .. .. 2Phosphate of magnesia.Phosphate of manganese. 2.. Traces.The Western turquoises are also osseous substances,generally the teeth of animals, but in a natural state,and not petrified. They are coloured by oxide ofcopper, and are more likely than the others to discolourunder the influence of the air.They lose their colour in distilled water, and dissolveunder the action of acids, especially of aquafortis.It is commonly believed that in certain cases everyturquoise loses its fine colour. In the middle ages itwas asserted that the turquoise grew pale on thefinger of a sickly person, but that it regained itscolour on the hand of a perfectly healthy person.Others asserted that its colour varied with the hours of

222 GEMS.the day, and insisted that an attentive observer mightuse it as a sundial. In Germany even now it is believedthat, when offered as a love gift,it remainsunchanged while love lasts, but loses its colour whenaffection declines. But if the colour of the Westernand that of the fossil Oriental turquoise change, it isnot so with the aluminous turquoise, which alwaysremains the same.Fossil turquoises change colour only on the surface,so that they can regain it by means of the wheel.Not so with the Western turquoises, which, changingaltogether, can only for some days be made to regaintheir lost colour by dipping them in a solution of oxideof copper. They are then called bathed turquoise, andare of very little value.Some people think that the turquoise is the stonewhich the ancients called callais, and is thus describedby Pliny " The callais grows in the islands of Mount:Caucasus, .but isspongy and full of.spots: that fromCaramania is clearer and better, In both places it isfound in inaccessible and cold banks protruding in theform of an eye, which does not appear to have been producedin the stone, but fastened on it. It can be cutand worked, but is fragile. When set in gold, nojewel looks so well. Thehandsomest ,lose their colourin oil, grease, or wine ;the worst preserve theirs best.No stone can be better imitated in glass thanthis."*Theophrastus is more explicit on this subject, when* Nat. Hist.' xxxvn. viii. 33.

VARIOLITE. 223lie plainly says that callais is a fossil ivory spotted withlight and dark blue.All turquoises work smooth.In the East they cutand inlay them with gold.Many engravings in turquoise are thought to beGreek and Roman works. In the Orleans collectionthere was a turquoise having an engraving of Diana,and another a portrait of Faustina.In the Genevosio collection of Turin Caire saw anamulet having on one side the head of Diana, with aveil on the head, and on the other a cittern, a starand a bee. The Florence gallery had a turquoisewhich was as large as a small billiard ball, and onwhich was engraved a likeness of Tiberius.Nevertheless, I think, with King, that there is muchreason to doubt the antiquity of these works. For mypart, I have never seen engravings on turquoise thatwere anterior to the twelfth century A.D. But therehave been precious ornaments, both Tyrrhenian,Etruscan, Grecian, and Roman, in which I have seenthis stone used.XCYIII.VARIOLITE.THIS stone is a dark-green felspar, with grey marksor black spots encircled with white.It is opaque, very dense, very heavy, and emitssparks under steel. It is broken and worked on the

224 GEMS.wheel with difficulty. It takes a very good polish,especially on the spotted parts, as being hardest.This felspar came originally from India. Now it isbrought from the Alps, where it is found in pieces ofimmense size.The appearance of this stone, which has a certainresemblance to the human skin marked by small-pox,created the belief, in times of ignorance, that it hadthe power of curing that infirmity, for which reason itreceived the name of variolite.However, it is not always green there are somewhite, red, and blue. The marks also vary in colour.There are some which, besides the black spot encircledwith white, have a second circle of a lighter colourlike the onyx.I have never seen antique engravings on variolite,although, on account of the substance of which they arecomposed, it would be very easy to engrave on "it,especially animals of the feline race.XCIX.VERMILION.THIS stone is divided, like other gems, into Orientaland Western.The Oriental vermilion is of a crimson red, slightlytinged with orange.specific weightIt is a clear corundum, having aof 4*2. It is almost as hard as theruby or the sapphire. I do not know how it was

SAPPHIBE. 225formerly, but at present it is scarce beyond everything.Some have even expressed a doubt as to whether itreally exists.Western vermilion is a garnet of a crimson-redcolour, inclining somewhat to yellow, and not to blackand violet, like other garnets, from which it is distinguishedby these qualities.It is very common ;but principally in Germany,as elsewhere, it is only found in small pieces.It has been a question among mineralogists ifvermilion is distinct from the garnet, or to beconsidered simply a variety of it ; nevertheless,goldsmiths, lapidaries, and jewellers easily recognizeit, and know that Oriental vermilion is a corundumof great value, and the Western stone differs fromgarnet, as it is said, in colour, and also in beingclearer.c.SAPPHIRE.IN vain have I sought amongst writers for the etymologyof this word, which was given originally, notto a single gem, but to all stones of a beautiful bluecolour.I found that this gem, like the emerald, has almostan identical sound in various languages. Thus inGreek it is called Zapphiros ; in Latin, Sapphirus ; inHebrew, Sapphir ; in Chaldaic, Sapirinon ; in Syriac,Saphilo ;and in Samaritan, Salia. Q

226 GEMS.The sapphire is also divided into two kinds, viz.,Eastern and Western.The Oriental sapphire is a clear corundum, which hasall the gradations of blue. It is found only in India,and especially in Ceylon.In hardness it is equal, if not inferior, to that ofthe red corundum.Its crystals, like those of other corundums, havethe primitive form of a dodecahedron with triangularfaces, but most frequently they are rounded.Its specific gravityis 4-01. It possesses doublerefraction in such a degree as to surpass every otherstone, not excepting the diamond.It takes its place amongst the translucent and transparentgems, and often its imperfect crystallizationgives it a milky opacity.Like the ruby, it iscomposed of alumina almostpureits colorization being due to oxide of iron. It is;remarkable how the same metallic oxide produces twosuch different colours in the same stone ;and, whilstremembering that the ruby darkens at the fire, and thesapphire tends to becoming colourless, we must attributethis diversity to the greater or less oxidation experiencedby the metal at different degrees of heat.The Oriental sapphire, to be considered beautiful,must have a clear blue colour, not too light, and ofperfect limpidity.It thus appears soft as velvet, and is so charmingthat it justifies the simile used by Dante to indicatethe clearness and vivacity of the air :

SAPPHIRE. 227" Dolce color d' oriental zaffiro,Che s' accogliena nel sererio aspettoDell' aer pur, infino al primo giro,Agli occhi miei rincomiucio diletto." Purg. 1*The blue corundum is, however, often defective,having milky spots, white lines, flaws, or nodules, allwhich must diminish its value.Some of these become more beautiful if exposed to astrong reflected heat in a crucible full of cinders andclay.The celebrated English chemist Brewster, havingperceived the great refracting power of the bluecorundum, recommended and used it beneficially formicroscopic lenses.The price of sapphire is variable. Feuchtwangergives the following table :Lire.1 carat .. .. 102 .. .. 203 .. .. 304 .. .. 455 .. .. 606 .. 808 .. 10010 .. .. 200* " Sweet colour of the oriental sapphire,That was upgathered in the cloudless aspectOf the pure air, as far as the first circle,Unto mine eyes did recommence delight."Longfellow's trans.

228 GEMS.The Western sapphire is a blue quartz, but it isfound of very varied tints, as some stones of thiskind are of a greenish blue ; many of a dark bluesomewhat inclined to amethyst; others almost allwhite, but slightly bluish.They receive different names. Thus, French andleaden sapphires are called water sapphires ;but allthe stones called Western sapphires are not reallysuch. And I remember that Count Lavinio Spadastated that he had never seen a clear blue quartz,because all the stones that had b*een shown him underthat denomination, if really clear, oughthave been known as dicroites.The Western sapphire israther tomore frequently dark, andit always has a resinous light. In general its specificweight is 2-580, and its hardness equals that of otherquartz. It loses colour under the action of fire.Bluish quartz is found in Silesia, Bohemia, Alsatia,and France, but it also comes from the East, andFor agesit has been knownespecially from Ceylon.that France produces Western sapphires, and even in1753 a countryman of the village of Expailly obtaineda precarious livelihood by seeking these gemsin theneighbouring brook called Eiouppezzouliou.There has been much discussion as to what theancients understood by the name of sapphire.Aristotle and Theophrastus described the zapphirosas a blue gem, covered with spots and veins of gold.Pliny, by the word sapphirus, similarly describes agem " which shines with gold spots. Sapphires are blue,

SAPPHIRE. 229and very seldom purple.The best are found in Media,but nowhere are they found transparent. Besides this,they are difficult to be worked and useless for theengraver, as they contain certain crystalline spots."Isidore, however, remarks that the " sapphirus ccerulensest cum purpura Jicibens pulveres aureos sparsos"May not this be the lapis-lazuli ?Some modern authors believe the modern sapphireto be the ancient cyanos, of which Pliny writes :" Turquoise stone of a blue colour. . . . The bestare found in Scythia; the next best in Cyprus, andafter them, in Egypt.means of a certainThey are generally imitated bytincture, and the discovery of thisis attributed to a king of Egypt. This stone is alsodivided into masculine and feminine. It sometimescontains dust of gold, not like that of the sapphire."It is generally believed that this substance is thesulphate of copper, which, in its native state, is almosttransparent, and of considerable hardness ;this opinionagrees with the description given by Theophrastus* ofthe cyanos, in which it is clearly seen that the Egyptianimitation of the cyanosis the paste or blue vitrificationwhich is found in almost all ancient Egyptianornaments, and still made by modern Egyptian workmen,and called zaffre.But, on the other hand, let us remember what Solinohas written :"Amongst the Ethiopian thingsof which we havespoken, the hyacinthus is of a brightbluish colour :* Chap. 55.

230 GEMS.this stone ishighly prized when found without spots,being very subject to defects, so that it is oftendiminished in value by having a violet tint, cloudedwith a black shadow, or deadened by a wax tintwhich whitens it too much."The best colour for this stone is clear, neither toomuch dulledby a dark tint, nor too light by excessivetransparence, but inclining to a medium colour betweenblue and purple. This is the gem which is sensitiveto the air and sympathises with the heavens, andwhich does not shine equally whether the firmamentBesides this, when put in the mouth,is dark or light.it is colder to the taste than other gems.As to beingengraved, it is not very suitable, because not easilycut (attritum respuat):nevertheless, it is not altogetherinvincible, as itmay be cut and engraved indifferent forms (scribitur et figuratur) by the diamond."From all these descriptions, it appears certain to methat the ancients applied the term sapphirus to someblue stone, like that which we now call zappherine.under the name ofBesides, they denoted speciallysapphirus that particular stone called by us lapis-lazuli.And that, finally, they gave the name of hyacinthus,without any doubt, to that precious substance nowcalled by us corundum, because in its various formsit is like the different colours of the flower intowhich Hyacinth, the young friend of Apollo, waschanged. And therefore they called the ruby corundumhyacinthus purpureus, and the blue corundum hyacinthussapphireus.

SAPPHIRE. 231The ancients attributed magical power to thesapphire, and said that it kept away sickness andevil thoughts, whence the ancient distich :" Corporis ardorem refngerat interioremSapphirus et Ciprise languida vota facit."It was said to be so inimical to poisons, that whenplaced in a glass vessel with an asp or any othervenomous animal, immediately the animal perished.King says he read in ' San Girolamo ' that thesapphire procures the favour of princes, pacifiesenemies, delivers from enchantments, and gains longdesiredliberty for the slave.Galen and Dioscorides speak of the medical propertiesof the sapphire, and consider it an active remedy againstfevers.The sapphire was sacred toback when consulting his oracles.Apollo, and worn on theBoezio asserts that this gem preserved chastity, forwhich reason it was much used by the priests.At present the sapphire is the gem set in thestate ring which the cardinals receive in taking thepurple.Many beautiful Oriental sapphires furnish the casketsof the sovereigns of every country, for the blue corundumis less rare than the ruby.In Europe, one of the most celebrated is now in theParis Museum ;it was found in Bengal by a poor woodcutter; it belonged to the bankers Euspoli, of Borne,from whom it passed to Germany, where a Frenchman,

232 GEMS.named Ferret, "bought it for 170,000 lire; it weighsabout 132 carats.There are many very largesapphires in the Eussiantreasury. In the French treasury there are 160 thatare valued at 600,000 lire. At Dresden, in the greenvaults, there were many of remarkable beauty. In theViennese Kronenschatze is one which is wonderfullylarge and fine.According to Emanuel, an English gentleman hadone, perhaps the finest ever seen, but he sold it, andsubstituted a false one in the precious ornament whichhad contained it. This was so like the real one, thatthe appraiser of the jewels left by him at his deathestimated it at 2,500,000 lire, and made the heirs paylegacy dutyon it.It is said that the King of Aracan had one as large asa thumb.Most beautiful isthat sapphire which belongs to theBorghese of Eome, for which, not many years since,was offered 20,000 gold zechins, or about 235,000 lire.Some authors assert that the sapphire cuts betterthan the ruby, because it is more easily broken.We find corundums engraved by the ancients, and atthe present day they are still engraved. I have howevernever had the opportunity of seeingblue quartz,that is, Western sapphires, having antique engravings.In the Genevosio collection of Turin there was awhite sapphire which had the head of Tiberias engravedon it. In the Strozzi collection was one withthe profile of Hercules. In that of Paris they have a

SAPPHIRE. 233fine sapphire on which is engraved the emperor Pertinax.It is said there is in the Petersburg Museuma sapphire whose colour varies from whitish to clearblue, and on it isengraved a draped head ;so that theface is white and the folds blue, which produces abeautiful effect. I have a sapphire on which is thehead of Vespasian in relievo ;it was found in theAppian Way. It was copied on a blue quartz by thegifted Odelli, a skilful Roman engraver, whose work,in my judgment, succeeded excellently but the artist;assured me that the quartz cuts very badly on accountof the want of closeness in the material. The sameartist engraved for me two large blue corundums, andon them he succeeded in giving his work a beautifulfinish, because, being harder, they offered more resistanceto the tool.

234 GEMS.EPILOGUE.AFTER having carefully considered the differentgems,and with as much minuteness as I have found possible,it seems to me that it will be useful to collect underthe classes, genera and species to which they belong allthe substances mentioned in our catalogue, the greaterpart of which are called precious stones.Let us remember, then, that all the mineral constituentsof our globe are divided into three greatclasses, viz. :1. Minerals combustible.2. Minerals metallic, or metals.3. Minerals lithoid, or stones.Amongst gems, the diamond belongsto the firstclass, that is, the combustibles, and must be considereda variety of carbon properly so called, underthe genus of carbonates. With this are comprehendedthe carbon, or opaque black diamond, and theboort, or knotted diamond.Of the second class, that is, of metals,it does notfall within my province to speak, because, althoughgold, silver, platina, and other similar metals, arecommonly used ornamentally, and aie called preciousmetals, we have excluded them from our treatise,because they must not in any degree be identifiedwith gems, and neither could we .speak of them with-

9.6.EPILOGUE. 235out a lengthened dissertation on the goldsmith's art,which would have caused us to deviate from theprincipal subject. Besides, this subject has alreadybeen treated by me in a short work entitled DelTOreficeria antica, and perhaps will be again consideredin a more voluminous work.The genera of the third class, to which belong almostall the substances called gems, are, as stated in theintroduction, twenty-four; but we need not namethem all, those being sufficient which include everysubstance partaking of the nature and name of preciousstones.All gems, then, are arranged under the followinggenera and orders of the third mineralogical class :The 1st.6th.7th.8th.9th.Non-metallic oxides.Aluminates.Aluminous silicates.Non-aluminous silicates.Silicates mixed with other components.To the first genus, of non-metallic oxides, belong thespecies1st. Of corundum, some of whose varieties are :1 . The oriental ruby.5. The oriental amethyst.2. The oriental sapphire.IThe oriental emerald.3. The oriental aqua- 7. The oriental topaz.marine. 8. The adamantine spar.4. The oriental alaban-:Emery.dine. 10. The oriental jacinth.

236 GEMS.quartz, amongst whoseamethyst.2nd. Of the silicates or13. Thevarieties are :1 . The agate.14. The quartz aquamarine.2. The chalcedonyx.3. The carnelian.15. The almandine.4. The calcedony.16. The xyloidina.5. The cacholong.17. The niccolo.6. The jaspar.18. The onyx.7. The rock crystal.19. The cat's eye.8. The chrysoprase.20. The opal.9. The aventurine.21. The plasma.10. The girasol.22. The sard.11. The iris.23. The sard-agate.12. The hydrophane.24. The sardonyx.To the sixth genus, that is, of the aluminates, belongthe species1st. Of the aluminate of magnesia, amongst whosevarieties the principal are :1. The spinel. |2. The balais.2nd.Of aluminate of glucine, amongst whose varietiesare :1. The chrysoberyl. |2. The cymophane.3rd. Of the aluminate of copper, amongst whosevarieties is reckoned :The turquoise.To the seventh genusthe speciesof aluminous silicates belong

|EPILOGUE. 2371st. Of the composite aluminous silicates, amongstwhose varieties are :5. The chrome 1. The calcareous garnet.4. The manganese garnet.2. The magnesian garnet. 6.garnet.The ovarite.3. The ferruginous garnet. 7. The vermilion.2nd. Of the aluminous silicate of magnesia : someof its varieties are :1. The dicroite.2. The hypersthenum.3rd. Of the aluminous silicate of glucine: some ofits varieties are :1. The beryl.2. The emerald.3. The aquamarine ofCeylon.4. The prasina.4th. Of the aluminous silicate of soda: one of itsvarieties is :Natrolite.5th. Of the aluminous silicate of lime or of magnesia:amongst its varieties are :1. The idocrasium.2. The pyroxenum.4. The touchstone.5. The epidote.3. The schists.6th. Of the aluminous silicate of lithia, of magnesiaor lime :amongstits varieties are :1. Mica.|2. Lepidolite.

238 GEMS.7th. Of felspars:amongstits varieties are :1. The adularia. 6. The cyanite.2. The amazzonite. 7. The clorophane.3. The argentina.8. The labrador.4. The argirite. 9. The variolite.5. The axinite. 10. The porphyry.To the eighth genus of non -aluminous silicates belongthe speciesare:1st. Of the silicate of zirconia :amongstits varieties1. The jacinth.I 3. The essonite.2. The jargoon.2nd. Of the silicate of magnesia amongst its varie-:ties are :1. The chrysolite.4. The spuma marina,3. The peridot.2. The olivina.or sea froth.To the ninth genus of united silicates and othercomposites belong the species1st. Of the fluoriferous silicates :amongstits varietiesis found :The topaz.2nd. Of the sulphuric silicate :amongstits varietiesare found :1. The lapis-lazuli. |2. The lazulite.

EPILOGUE. 2393rd. Of the silicate of lime and potash:amongst itsvarieties is found :The hauyna.ith. Of the silicate of borax, magnesia, alumina, &c. :amongst their varieties are :1. The tourmaline. 2. The rubellite.To the eleventh genus of different carbonates belongthe species1st. Of carbonate of lime: amongstits varietiesare :1. Marble.2. Alabaster.3. Stalactite.4. Alabastrite.5. Lumachella.6. Oolite.7. Pisolite.2nd. Of carbonate of copper. The principal amongstits varieties is :Malachite.To the fourteenth genus of phosphates belongsCarboniferous phosphate of lime, and amongst itsvarieties is found :The phosphoric turquoise.To the eighteenth genus of sulphates belongsThe sulphate of iron :amongst its varieties are :1. The marquisite. 2. The hematite.

240 GEMS.Besides the mineralogical classes under which wehave arranged the greater part of these gems, thereremain some which belong more properly tothe vegetableor animal kingdom.Of these I do not give a scientific classification. Inthe first place, because they are few ;and in the secondplace, because doing so would lead me into a specialtreatise foreign to the present subject, and which belongsmore to the province of botanists and zoologists.On this matter it is sufficient for me to sayprecious substancesnamed in this book which, belongingto the vegetableare:1. Amber.|that thekingdom, are used ornamentally,2. Gagat.And to the animal kingdom :1. Ivory.2. Shells.3. Coral.4. Mother-of-pearl.5. Pearl.I have besides mentioned in my listmosaics, pastes,and enamels of various colours. These, being productionsof art and not of nature, are not included inany class or genus, although mentioned in this treatisebecause they serve the same purpose as gems.With these observations I conclude my work, sufficientlyrewarded if, by this effort, I shall in somedegree have been an assistance both to those who studyprecious stones as naturalists, and to those who make ita subject of art and of commerce.

EPILOGUE. 241I do not pretend in this work to teach anything new,or to have made wonderful discoveries, but only tohave given a book on gems, in which vis/ collected thebest observations hitherto made in works on similarsubjects ; my object having always been, both in mywork as a goldsmith and by my pen, to promote, inItaly, the further increase and greater glory of the artwhich I profess.Vale.16th October, 1869.

LONDON :PUINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.r'J

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARYBERKELEYReturn to desk from which borrowed.This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.FEB 2 3 ZU06w11973SEC 2 8 1974CWCLD 21-100m-ll,'49(B71468l6)476