1820.] " The Book of Precious Stones." 187 



Chap. XVII.— 0/ Me Coral {Bessed and Merdschan.)* 



Sect 1. Of the Properties of the Coral. — There are four kinds 

 of corals : 1. The red. 2. The white. 3. The black. 4. The 

 dark-coloured. They are soft and white as long as they are in 

 the water, only become hard when out of the water, and assume 

 different colours : the genuine can be distinguished from the 

 counterfeit by the smell of the sea weed ; in oil, they become 

 beautiful and shining, but in vinegar soft and white. They are 

 very much valued in China and India, because they are used for 

 adorning the idols. Teifaschi relates that he had seen a smell- 

 ing bottle made of a coral, a span and a half long, and three 

 fingers broad. 



Sect. 2. Of the Places u-herc they are found.— They are gene- 

 rally fished up in the jNIediterranean Sea. The best are the 

 reddest, and the largest of a straight stem. They are pohshed with 

 spar, and bored through with steel of Damascus. 



Chap. XVIU.— Of the Jasper (Jascheb, or Nassb). 



Sect. 1. Of the Properties of the Jasper. — It has five kinds: 

 1. The white and licrht. 2. The whitish-vellow. 3. The black- 

 green. 4. The transparent black. t 5. The dust colour. la 

 China, they make a false jasper, which is distinguished from the 

 genuine by its smoky smell. If a vessel of genuine jasper 

 breaks, it is repaired with artificial pieces, which are scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the natural. 



Sect. 2. Of the Amines of the Jasper. — In China there are two 

 mines of it, of which the one called Ak Kasch produces light 

 jasper, and the other called 7{//^ Kasch, dark. The large pieces 

 belong to the Emperor, the smaller to the workmen. Jasper is 

 also found on the frontiers of Kaschgar, in Kerman, and Arabia^ 



Chap. XIX.— Of the Crystal {Bellor). 

 Sect. 1. Of the Properties of the Crystal.— li is more pleasing, 

 pure and clear than other precious stones, and is of two kinds ; 

 1. The clear and pure. 2. The dark-yellowish. It can be 

 melted like glass, and then coloured in imitation of the jakut, 

 laal, or emerald. Teifaschi relates, that in his time a merchant 

 of Mauritania was in possession of a bath made of two pieces of 

 crystal, which was so large that four persons could sit in it. la 

 the Treasury of Gff.s7/rt there were four crystal vessels, each of which 

 contained two skins (^o7«t7//o) of water. Abu liihan mentions the 

 assertion of the lapidaries that there was often found in crystal 

 wood, and the like, and that he himself had seen two crystals, ia 

 one of which was enclosed a green twig, and in the other a 

 hyacinth. 



• Some say thai hetsed isJhc Pcisian, and merd.c/tan the Ar.ibian word forcoralsj 

 •thers, that the fiiiiiier figjiififs the bicii), and the lalti-r the hranche-i. 



+ The transparent black jasper iinv, porhaps, be the iib.-.idjan, if it is known ta 

 orirniul naturalists. 



