Jasper was a stone treasured in antiquity. Although Biblical references indicate a greenish stone, the jasper we know today is usually reddish, yellow, or brown, in mottled colors. It is an opaque variety of quartz. The jasper was sometimes used as a symbol of perfection. Thus the Scot poet William Dunbar, about 1525, hailed the growing capital of England: London, thou art the flower of cities all! Gem of all joy, jasper of jocundity! One might suspect Dunbar of bringing in the jasper to chime with the jocundity, were it not more likely that he brought in the jocundity to chime with the jasper! _Jet_ This stone, which gives its name to its color, a shiny dark black, might be called kissing kin to the diamond. It is a kind of lignite, one of the forms of pure carbon, differing from coal and diamond only in the arrangement of the molecules. It is an intense black in color but very soft. The name jet is from the Greek _gagates_, which indicates that it comes from Gagas, a town and a river of Lycia in Asia Minor. Jet, however, was known also to the ancient Celts, who carved it. Although its color has made it popular mainly for religious and especially (in the western world) for mourning motifs, jet has a bright glow upon its black that can be effective in earclips and other jewel forms. _Kunzite_ Named for the American gem expert George F. Kunz (1856—1932), kunzite is a stone of attractive lilac crystals. It is a transparent variety of spodumene which is a crystalline mineral, lithium aluminum silicate, chemically Li Al (Si O₃)₂. Spodumene is usually yellow or light green; in its more delicate shadings, used for ornament, it is now called kunzite. _Lapis Lazuli_ Known from earliest times, and in high repute as an ornamental stone, lapis lazuli is a mixture of various minerals. It is azure blue and opaque, usually with tiny golden flecks. The name means the azure stone. Some old-time customs and cures, persisting in spite of superior smiles and “scientific” derision, have been found to incorporate materials which modern medicine has in its time welcomed into the pharmacopoeia, the checkbook of current remedies. In ancient times, lapis lazuli was used as a “charm” against bleeding of the nose, against inflammation of the eyes, against any kind of hemorrhage. The Egyptians prescribed lapis lazuli 4,000 years before chemists noted the astringent qualities of copper oxide—which is what gives the golden flecks to lapis lazuli. _Malachite_ Malachite is a basic copper carbonate, chemically CuCO₃Cu(OH)₂. It can be highly polished and takes its name from the green color of the leaves of the mallow plant, the marsh variety of which gives its name to a popular candy. The stone is used for small boxes and other decorative pieces; well polished, it makes an attractive ring. _Moonstone_ Moonstone is a milky-white translucent variety of feldspar, with a pearly lustre.