The Pyrope or Bohemian Garnet derives its name from the Greek word
PUROPOS, fiery, and is known to Pliny as Apyroti. It is a stone of the
same hardness as the beryl and is commonly called the “Cape Ruby,” or
the “Arizona Ruby.” In the regalia of Saxony, set in the Order of the
Golden Fleece, is a large pyrope, 468½ carats in weight, and that
strange Emperor Rudolph II under whose patronage Tycho and Kepler worked
at the Rudolphine (Astronomical) Tables, is said by De Boodt to have
possessed a specimen worth 45,000 thalers. One as big as the egg of a
pigeon lies in the Green Vaults at Dresden. Large pyropes are, however,
rare. Swedenborg corresponds Pyrope to “good,” and it is regarded as a
talisman of faithfulness and stability, of hope, of happiness and true
friendship. Its influence is said to aid psychic development and occult
understanding. It is a health stone, and in the East is regarded as a
banisher of plagues and poison, changing colour, it is said, when danger
or mishap of any kind threaten the wearer.
(_d_) MANGANESE ALUMINA GARNET
Shades of colour: Red, brownish red, hyacinth red. Example: Spessartite
or Spessatine. Under the celestial Virgo.
The Spessartite obtains its name from SPESSART in Germany. It is
sometimes called the Brown Garnet, but is little used in jewellery. The
Spessartite is a prayer charm for the uplifted soul.
IRON GARNET
The sesquioxide base is chiefly iron.
LIME IRON GARNET
Shades of colour: Various.
Example: Andradite, named after the Portuguese mineralogist D’Andrada.
In the variety called Topazolite (so named after the topaz), the colour
is wine yellow, in Jelletite it is green, and in Melinite and Pyreneite
it is black or grey-black. The Aplome (named by Hauy after the Greek
word APLOOS, simple), is red. The Kolophonite, named after Kolophon in
Ionia, is coarse, granular, resinous and frequently iridescent. Green
Andradite has been termed the “Uralian Emerald” and the Olivine (wrongly
so-called under this head). Brilliant specimens have been named by
jewellers DEMANTOID. A dark, almost black, andradite showing a gleam of
red was much used in mourning jewellery. This is the stone which
Leonardus said drove away pestilential airs and banished unworthy
thoughts. It was a binding charm for friends. It protected from
epidemics and the lightning-stroke, and lent favour to the desires of
the native. Specimens have been found engraved with the names of angels
in Chaldaic, Hebrew, Greek and other ancient languages. It is under the
celestial Aquarius.
CHROME GARNET
The sesquioxide base is chiefly Chromium.
Shades of colour: Emerald green.
Example: Ouvarovite, Uvarovite or Uwarowite, after the Professor of that
name of the late Russian Imperial Academy at Petrograd. This variety
will not, like other varieties, yield to the blow-pipe. It is a hard
stone and few specimens large enough for cutting have been discovered.
It is under the celestial Aquarius.
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