A Hand-book of Precious StonesRothschild, Meyer D.
Science
A Hand-book of Precious Stones
Rothschild, Meyer D.
Precious stones
The layers or bands are in even planes, and the colors, white and
black, white and brown, or brown, white, and black, alternate. This
stone is largely used for cameos, the base being usually of black or
brown, and the engraved or upper part white- or cream-colored.
When one or more layers are of carnelian or sard, the stone is called
sard-onyx. Sard is a rich brown color inclining to red, and when held
against the light shows a red hue.
Onyx and sard-onyx are often artificially improved by boiling the
stones in honey, oil, or sugar water, and then in sulphuric acid. The
acid carbonizes the sugar or oil which the stone has absorbed and gives
it a deeper color.
For red, protosulphate of iron is added, and for a blue color to
imitate lapis lazuli, yellow prussiate of potash is added to the
protosulphate of iron.
Only the porous parts of the stones, usually the dark parts, absorb the
sugar or oil, and so aid the contrast of the colored with the white
layers.
CARNELIAN.
Carnelian is a clear red translucent chalcedony, and is usually of a
gray or grayish-red color. Several weeks of exposure to the sun’s rays
and subsequent heating in earthen pots enhances and deepens the color.
The brownish-red or dark-brown carnelian is called sardoine or sard;
the blood-red to pink varieties, with an upper layer of white onyx, are
called carnelian onyx, and the stones with a brown or sard base and a
white top are called sard-onyx.
Carnelians are sometimes of a yellowish-brown or yellow color, but red
to brown are the principal colors.
The secret of coloring agates was discovered in the early part of this
century, and about the same time agates became scarce in Oberstein,
while large finds were made in Brazil and Uruguay, especially of agates
with red layers. This variety comes chiefly from Brazil.
Besides Uruguay and Brazil, carnelian is found in Arabia and India. The
most beautiful specimens of intaglios are engraved on sardoine, and
some of the finest cameos extant are of sard and carnelian onyx.
JASPER.
Jasper is an impure opaque quartz, usually containing more iron than
agate, and lacking the quality of translucency. Jasper occurs in red,
brown, ochre-yellow, dark green, brownish-green, grayish-black, and
grayish-blue; sometimes containing bands or spots or quartz formations,
and often found with regular zones or bands of various colors.
Egyptian jasper or Egyptian pebbles are names given to varieties that
are usually brown with inner bands of lighter hue, approaching cream in
color, and sometimes having dark bands with spots or markings.
Egyptian jasper is found near Grand Cairo, and other varieties are
found in the Urals, Saxony, Devonshire, Nova Scotia, Canada, and the
United States.
The specific gravity of jasper varies from 2.31 to 2.67; it scratches
glass, but yields to rock-crystal.
FALSE LAPIS.
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